Yes, our planet is facing ruination in the form of droughts, wildfires, flooding, desertification, loss of landmass, food shortages, loss of biodiversity, and ocean acidification.
The question: Why didn’t we do anything about it? can only be answered as follows: The wealthiest and most powerful interests on the planet refused to give up even one thin dime of their wealth and power.
I disagree with the first part of Stephen King’s statement here; I would replace it with “extremely effective criminal conman.”
And yes, what happens from here is their responsibility, but keep in mind that the America of their dreams is embodied in Trump’s promises, as detailed in Project 2025: systemic racism, the rejection of science in policymaking, abortion bans, and so forth. It’s essentially the politics of Mississippi implemented on a national scale.
For my money, the top generals and admirals who lead the U.S. military do a good job at protecting our interests against foreign aggression, and do not need to take orders from an alcoholic Fox News anchor.
Obviously, not everyone agrees.
At left we have the words of American historian and political activist Howard Zinn.
It’s something to contemplate as we enter the second term of Donald Trump. Some people fear the worst, as Trump is now a lame duck with no one to answer to. Zinn warns us to not let that paralyze us into rigidity.
According to this article, many people who decry wokeism have trouble defining the term.
When challenged in this regard, I borrow from what etiquette maven Emily Post said about manners, in an effort to calm an anxious lady who had been invited to a fancy dinner party and didn’t know what fork to use with a given course. “Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”
In a related way, we have this definition of “empathy,” which is used in the introduction to each episode of “The Hidden Brain,” a weekly radio show syndicated on NPR: “Empathy, at a deep level, is the understanding that someone else’s world is just as real as yours.”
Actually, there is no way to answer that question with any real accuracy, though here is a data point: If confirmed by the senate, Doug “Drill Baby Drill” Burgum will be serving as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, overseeing public and federal lands and their natural resources. If his name is familiar, it’s because he’s a former governor of North Dakota and 2024 presidential candidate, who dropped out of the race to support Donald Trump.
As presented in this article by National Public Radio, Burgum is a big booster of oil and gas drilling, and the popular scam known as carbon capture and storage.
We hear a great deal of speculation regarding the fundamental differences between Trump’s first and second terms, and the author of the meme here seems to have a good point.
When we elected Trump in 2016, we knew that he was a vulgar conman and a pathological liar, but we didn’t know that he would commit treason against his country. Now we’re about to get what we so richly deserve.
Here’s another meme that projects “doom and gloom” associated with the incoming Trump administration, this one specifically concerning an assault on the free press.
I’ll grant that times are scary. Anytime you have an FBI Director like Kash Patel, who has sworn vengeance against Trump’s enemies, you know you’re in hot water. Yet there is a limit.
I have some very bad news for the author of the meme here. Barring a miracle, Trump will spend the next four years trying to make himself an autocrat, along the lines of Putin, Xi, Jong Un, and the scores of other people whose names are unknown to most Americans, i.e., those that rule less internationally important countries like Somalia, Uzbekistan, or Myanmar.
The idea that Trump will be out of our lives anytime soon is pure fancy.
If you want to hear from someone who’s truly pessimistic about the next four years of life here in the United States, check out Michael MacKay at left. Holy cats.
I join those who hold out hope that this isn’t going to be as bad as most of the world fears.
