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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Several theories could be advanced as to why the United States is the only nation in the developed world that doesn’t offer its citizens government-sponsored healthcare.

By far the most obvious is that a population of healthy and happy people who are not desperately living on the brink of impoverishment is not conducive to the process of turning millionaires into billionaires.  Wealth beyond the imagination is the main force that motivates American society.

This, of course, transfers itself directly into lawmaking.  Congress is elected almost exclusively on the basis of donations from the uber-rich.  Do you think these people could possible give a damn that our citizens–even our war veterans–are living in the streets or in their cars, dying of treatable diseases?

Providing universal healthcare would have another consequence that may be even more unacceptable, i.e., the epiphany that government isn’t the enemy of the people.  Once there exists the idea that we can all be a part of something that is compassionate and organized, the dog-eat-dog, stressed out environment so necessary for maintaining grindingly horrific working conditions begins to recede.

Bad news for the billionaire class.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I’ll never forget my first exposure to American political scientist Michael Parenti.  I was in my late teens, and my education up to that point had been fairly neutral in terms of the United States’ position in the geopolitical world.  I believe I had come across this very speech (linked above), which completely knocked me off my feet.

If you check out this short excerpt, you’ll see why.

I chuckle when I hear Trump supporters asserting that the U.S. is a socialist nation, or is at least headed in that direction.  Want to see what socialism actually looks like?  Look no further.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

This from a reader:

The founder of Dubai, Sheik Rashid, was asked about the future of his country, and he replied, “My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I ride a Mercedes, my son rides a Land Rover, and my grandson is going to ride a Land Rover…but my great-grandson is going to have to ride a camel again. “Why is that, he was asked?  (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

When we think about the “Hollywood elites,” DiCaprio might be the very first to come to mind.  And here he is, doing his damndest to convert this great nation to socialism.

“Take science seriously?” Are you kidding?

What’s next? Vaccinations?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

This is from former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub.

One has to like the optimism, i.e., the assertion that Trumpism will one day have run its course, and American politics will regain some level of rationality.

The problem, however, is that only 20% of Republican voters believe the 2020 election was legitimate, and, as suggested here, there has been essentially no change in this figure a full year later.  At this point, it appears that there is no mechanism to convince these people otherwise.

What this means going forward is that when a Republican presidential candidate loses, only a handful of GOP voters will accept the outcome as valid.

Loss of faith in American democracy may be a jumping off point to the actual annihilation of that democracy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics

This is about what anyone who knows anything about clean energy would have predicted about Eco Wave Power Global: a loss of about 75% of its market value since it hit NASDAQ about six months ago.  How long does it take people to figure out that ocean wave energy cannot be competitive to solar and wind, with the exception of a few extremely tiny niche markets?

The answer, obviously, is about six months.

This is sad, because anyone with a computer and access to the information all over the Internet could have run a series of simulations, and determined that this was a loser long before it began.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Now, I know a certain percentage of 2GreenEnergy readers have no training in chemistry beyond what they learned in high school half a century ago.

In any case, trust me that the A7P is the purest of technoBS.

I’m reminded of this famous YouTube video.  How this guy pulled this off without smiling is beyond me.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Plato then went on to write, “Wealth and poverty; one is the parent of luxury and indolence, and the other of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent.”

Since organized human civilization emerged on this planet, people have been commenting on the ideal state of man; this is arguably the most astute example.

What amazes me most is the phrase, “both of discontent.”  It’s so obviously true that the increasingly wide chasm between rich and poor produces massive discontent at both ends, but this is so far away from modern thinking.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

It wasn’t that long ago that stupidity was a bad thing, and that unintelligent people were at a distinct disadvantage in life.  That’s no longer the case.

They support one another with reassurance; they fit in well and form an important part of American society. In fact, it is through this reassurance that they perceive that they represent the last bastion of American greatness. They form a very vibrant wing of an entire political party.

It’s reminiscent of what Isaac Asimov said on the subject.  Yes, he  did say that it’s always been here, which may be true, but it sure is flourishing and prospering in the age of Trump.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

American history features centuries of slavery followed by 170 years of segregation, Jim Crow laws, and systematic exclusion of blacks from the affairs of the wealthy white society. In 2019 the median white household held $188,200 in wealth—7.8 times that of the typical black household.  That, of course, is before the pandemic hit and made all this far worse.

The academics who study this arena refer to these sad facts as “critical race theory.”

Ted Cruz wants to fight and defeat CRT, something akin to fighting the law of gravity or the theory of evolution.

As usual, the problem here isn’t Cruz himself.  Rather, it’s that there is a huge market for stupidity like this, and, as we know, demand creates its own supply.

 

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