July 4, 2022 thoughts...

 

And it is July 4th again! What's going on? 

There's high gas prices and inflation. The economy runs in cycles. This too shall pass. No, the president does not have a magic gas price controller in the upper right drawer of the desk in the Oval Office. Oil rises and falls no matter what flavor occupies the White House. Gas prices are the freedom of capitalism it's finest! Remember kids, corporations are BOUND BY LAW to maximize shareholder profits, FULL STOP. They don't give a shit about working people, the environment, national boarders or you! Here's a novel idea, look it up! Let me help you. These companies are raking in huge amounts of profit. Oil production is kept low to facilitate higher profits, simple supply and demand. Russia is out of business (for the most part), thus no more oil from them. That means even less oil. So isn't inflation Biden's fault? 

Over-all the economy does better under Democrats than Republicans. I think Biden inherited a shit-show from The Donald. The Donald's massive tax cuts for our richest, an unnecessary trade war with China and a totally inept and pathetic response to Covid-19 only accelerates the looming recession the entire world is facing. Still, it's not all the Donald's fault. Yes friends, there are others living outside the USA. In a global economy, dependent on trade, things going on past our borders affect us. Labor costs are rising, the pandemic caused disruptions are still going on and Russia decided this was the ideal time to start a massive war. All wars end and the age of fossil fuels is winding down. The end of fossil fuels will be messy. No one will give up the cash-cow until they have to. I'm agnostic on electric cars. They also depend on scarce resources. We're going to have to radically change how we live to keep the Earth livable but that's for another time... 

What else? 

We are reaping the rewards of McConnell's radical Supreme Court. Throw it all back to the states. Abortion rights, going. EPA's power to regulate, gone. Gay rights are next. Funny how 9 unelected, politically appointed for life, non-accountable people have so much say in our daily lives. Why do they have that much power? Who do they answer to? No one! That's really Democratic! I think Biden is too much a traditionalist to pack the court to regain balance or to consider alternative legal interpretations. Only 9 get to have the final say in a vast legal system for 320 million! Sounds batshit to me. But here we are. Still, as my grandmother used to say, "nothing lasts." How much damage will be done in the mean time?               

There's more; guns / mass shootings, racism, a collapsing, for profit, healthcare system, sentient AI and so on but that's for another time. 

Remember the arc towards a more just future happens only if we make it so.