The rest of the globe still can’t believe this has happened to the United States. Sure, it’s the type of thing that happens in developing countries constantly, but not here, where until recently, we were the envy of most of the peoples of the planet.
Now we’re an afterthought, a bare remembrance of the nation we once were.
It’s up to you and me to do what we can to put this back together.
Trump and his administration are working hard to control what Americans see and hear; they’re suppressing independent journalism, the only profession that’s specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
Destroying the free press is always among the first actions taken by authoritarians.
We’re living in very dangerous times.
Of course you can. It’s done by many millions of Americans on a daily basis.
We do all kinds of indefensibly stupid things, in case you haven’t noticed.
Yes, but it’s a very tiny number, and one that is extremely unlikely to go much higher.
Ocean wave energy is a subset of hydrokinetics, and, just a few years ago, it seemed that some flavor of extracting energy from moving water might play a significant role in our renewable energy future. That is, until the cost of energy via solar and wind went through the floor.
At this point, anyone interested in the subject are either hobbyists or owners of homes that happen to be in extremely rare positions.
Imagine your property abuts an ocean, and is located with no access to the grid and terrible solar irradiance. Places like the one shown below in the islands off Northern Scotland do exist.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be reorganizing, eliminating its scientific division, known as the Office of Research and Development, a move that will affect the career paths of many hundreds of its scientists.
This seems to follow the trend towards removing science from policymaking, something very few mentally healthy people would recommend on a planet that is rapidly baking itself.
How is it possible that we have lost our way? Maybe this was never our “way” to begin with.
American society is largely built upon a kind of rugged individualism, where our people really don’t care too much about others’ well-being. By contrast, the Scandinavian countries, and to perhaps a lesser degree, the rest of the developed world, live in the belief that the welfare of all citizens is important.
That’s why the citizens of these countries don’t mind paying slightly higher taxes if that means that no one lives in poverty, or is denied healthcare and education. As a result, these nations are constantly getting stronger and more cohesive, where the United States seems to have lost its grasp on even its most basic tenets, like democracy, that have guided it for 250 years.
Dissenters against autocrats in Hungary, Serbia, and Turkey see the same “democratic backsliding” in the U.S. “Americans think this is something that also only happens to others,” said an opponent of Hungary’s Viktor Orban. “That mindset has to be fought.”
Here’s an interesting analysis of the fossil fuel industry from Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson, Director of Stanford’s Atmosphere/Energy Program and a professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Jacobson is best known for the contention that he’s been making for at least 10 years, i.e., that we can power our entire civilization without a single kilowatt-hour of energy from coal, natural gas, and oil.
The story at left is an interesting one, and it has a certain intersection with my own experience. Here goes:
When my daughter was young, she and I volunteered with a local charity that delivered groceries to the elderly and poor. I thought that “giving back” was a good thing to do, and setting an example for my daughter made the idea that much stronger.
Many years later, after she left home, I volunteered solo to be a driver for Meals on Wheels. A problem arose, however, when I realized that many, if not most of these people had Trump flags all over their trailer-homes.
My first day was my last.
There is no question that the Trump administration has launched a massive attack on free speech, but I take exception to the last line here, i.e., “It’s pretty obvious what comes next.”
This battle for your mind will either emerge victorious or it will lose. I wouldn’t say the outcome is obvious at all.
