As The World Burns

 

Toasty 

Man, I feel like I could write for days and days about everything going wrong. Our slow graveyard spiral is transitioning rapidly into an unrecoverable flat spin. It is not too late to save ourselves but we are speeding past that point in short order (if we have not already). There's the covid pandemic which seems never ending. It is more complicated than anti-vexers, anti-maskers and shortsighted politicians. See also; for profit healthcare, crushing poverty and medical experiments on minorities. It is far more easy to blame the whole thing on right-wing nut jobs. Sure, they deserve some blame but like most serious problems, oversimplifications will not get us where we need to be. We continue to play under the table footsies with an American brand of Neo-fascism. Oh, more and more jobs are disappearing to technology and as of this writing no sure way to deal with the fallout. Will the unemployed unknowingly take the footsies game to first, second or third base? Will they go all the way with it? Not depressed yet? Allow me to share three larger issues. A quick look out the window tells me all is not well. 

View in New York City July 2021

Yeah, the sky is blue. Look closer. Notice the odd tint? Here in Greensboro, NC August 12th 2021 the sky looks similar to the picture above (maybe a little bluer but not a bright summer blue). That's ash from massive wildfires burning out of control all across the west. Wildfires are nothing new but what is new is the lengthening fire season and parade of record setting years of destruction. Yes friends, it is related to climate change. On the flip side are floods in Europe, China, USA and Australia. Floods are nothing new but what is, is each year setting more horrible records than the last.  And even the ocean currents cannot escape. Yup, looking grim indeed. The planet is doomed. Nope... it will keep on spinning around the sun which spins around the galactic center same as before. There will just be far fewer of us along for the ride. But wait! There's a faster way to kill off our civilization, much faster! 

BOOM!!

   

Then there is the quietly growing danger of nuclear war. The nuclear weapons club is growing slowly but steadily. We have come close to nuclear war but managed to inch back from the edge of doom. There has been countless near accidents and incidents of near Armageddon (LOW-- Launch On Warning). More and more countries are acquiring nuclear weapons technology. From there is is just simple math before something goes catastrophically wrong. Unlike climate change that unfolds over a few decades nuclear war can wipe out our entire civilization in a matter of days or even hours. If you happen to live through this, good luck. The Road is a powerful read but not a lifestyle you really want. Being Mad Max is no fun either. Good luck looking for safe food much less fuel five to ten years in. Just trying not to freeze to death will be a struggle. 

Income inequality plays a role in both disasters.

Follow the Money...

It may be a bit of a stretch but hear me out. A big driver of both the dire problems above come from growing income inequality. Resistance to understanding and dealing with climate change comes in large part from those who benefit from the status quo. It is short-term, civilization ending thinking. Change is our only constant. Those who fail to adapt, die. Fossil fuels and industrial farming will go. We still have a choice, the easier way or the hard way. The easier way is transitioning to cleaner energy (and yes kids, using a lot less energy, and food production that works with, not against nature. The hard way is to let Mother Nature take care of it.