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SuZieCoyote's avatar

Thank you, Thom! Great article.

I don't see how we can stop climate change. To do that requires national intelligence and will. The Republican Party has courted two demographics - the obscenely wealthy, as you have pointed out, and the ignorant/uneducated (half of us are, of course, below the average intelligence line). The Democrats do their best, but they have to be in the same moneyed pockets to run for office. SCOTUS has seen to that. The obscenely wealthy are also part of the Democratic base, though they know to keep quiet about it.

I once worked for what was then the third largest defense contractor in the world. As a director, I was pressured, but not forced, to be a part of their PAC. It surprised me to learn we donated nearly as much (but not quite so much) to Democratic politicians as Republicans. The company president noted: "Though Republicans are generally more favorable to us, we never know which side will be in power, so we have to hedge our bets."

In the USA, our "left" is actually center right. Our center right is far right and our far right is reactionary extremist. Most of the House Republicans are in the reactionary extremist category, while those in the senate tends towards far right. There are no center right Republicans in power. Even when they can't directly assert their will, they block all progress so Democrats can't have a win, never mind the win would be for the citizens of this country.

Our best approach to resolving the issues Thom brought up would be to get the money out of political campaigns - publicly fund them. Then, politicians would have to answer to the American people, not just the wealthy. But I don't see that happening, given the extreme right-wing SCOTUS. I find it appalling, frustrating and disappointing that Biden will not reform this disastrous court by increasing the seats on the bench.

In Feb 1994, Robert Kaplan wrote an article in The Atlantic entitled "The Coming Anarchy." I was always a fan of The Atlantic and would often pick up the magazine while traveling. I remember reading this frightening article on an airplane. It presaged a lot of what is going on today.

Education would greatly improve the situation, but the Republicans know this, which is why they have had a decades long sustained attack on public schools and why they do nothing to rein in college costs. It's why they are banning books that make people think. It's why they are trying to erase history to make their demographic happy. Education is out of reach for the very people who need it the most.

One last thing to point out; much of the destabilization of Mexico and South America is the result of our the war on drugs. We have enabled the vicious cartels, destroying rule of law and terrorizing their citizens. Here, it has militarized police, put literally millions of citizens in jail, and destroyed communities.

I wish I could be more optimistic. At this point, I'm down to how can I best protect myself and my family through the coming chaos.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/02/the-coming-anarchy/304670/

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Patricia Lane's avatar

Thank you Thom for another absolutely timely article.

We will not win against climate change, if we continue to ignore it. We lose more everyday.

As we speak the flooding in the Northeast is getting worse .

Some areas are expecting

many more inches of rain in areas that have had accumulations of 7 inches or more .

We can continue this acquired “ Militant Ignorance” and pretend its all fine.

But we sign our democracy’s death warrant if we do .

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