Critically Examining Human Civilization
Here’s a good perspective on human life here on Earth.
We wouldn’t regard our civilization kindly were we to discover it on another planet.
Tagged with: human life here on Earth
A Startling New Low for America
The second in line to the U.S. presidency is a man who voted to decertify the 2020 election, so as to keep Trump in office after he got shellacked at the polls.
Journalist Brian Tyler Cohen asks a valid question here re: the role that the bible plays in his worldview.
“System Change” Means Removing Money from Politics
Progressives hope to see systemic changes to our world that will make this planet a greener and more just place to live. That means many things, but especially decarbonizing our transportation and energy sectors, while dealing with our huge and ever-growing wealth inequality.
If you’re asking yourself why essentially none of this is happening, you really don’t have to go any further than the massive amounts of money that are inflecting our lawmaking.
To take just one small example, how is it possible that 89% of Americans want to see gun laws into place that are proven to reduce the carnage in our day-to-day lives? Here’s a list of U.S. senators who accept financial contributions from the gun lobby, in exchange for their blocking legislation that would make us all safer.
It’s not rocket science.
Tagged with: Wealth Inequality
From the New York Times: New House Speaker Champions Fossil Fuels and Dismisses Climate Concerns
From this: Representative Mike Johnson comes from Louisiana oil country and has said he does not believe burning fossil fuels is changing the climate.
A Republican who hails from “oil country” is unlikely to hold too much concern about climate change in the first place, but this is exacerbated by the Speaker’s position as a devout Christian. In Genesis, the bible explicitly tells us that “only God can end the Earth,” so why worry ourselves with environmental matters, when God has everything under control?
The U.S. Had a Close Brush with Tyranny
Here’s a reminder from John Locke, one of the very few philosophers whose thinking informed the original design of the United States, on exactly how close the U.S. came to tyranny.
Donald Trump’s multi-pronged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, including suggesting that we “suspend the Constitution” in order to return him to power, came very close to success.
Wildfires Are a Growing Threat, But Is This a Viable Concept to Protect Your Home?
These people are raising investment capital, or at least claim to be, for this idea in homebuilding: the house is constructed over a deep hole, and, in the event of a wildfire, it can be lowered into that hole using hydraulics, then raised back up when the danger has passed.
It’s true that a minute fraction of 1% of U.S. homes are consumed each year by wildfires, but does this concept sound even remotely feasible?
Tagged with: wildfires
Assault Weapons
As suggested here, humans aren’t the only ones who suffer the senseless loss of loved ones.
At blame are the cowardly lawmakers who won’t stand up to the gun lobby.
Tagged with: Assault Weapons and Misery
Assault Rifles Are Easy to Come Across
This fellow makes a good point.
The problem is that the American people have exactly zero control of their lawmaking processes, at least in cases where large amounts of money are at stake.
Tagged with: Assault Rifles
Interpreting the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
If you want an honest answer to the question posed at left, you’ll need to ask the National Rifle Association. How, precisely, did they buy our lawmaking processes? I’m sure it’s an interesting story.
Tagged with: Second Amendment
New House Speaker Not Strong on Rule of Law, Human Rights
Unless you’re a seditionist and/or hard-core religious zealot, these are not good times for America.
