We in the United States have lost (or, perhaps have thrown aside) a basic awareness of 'things' and 'how things work'. We cannot any longer be depended upon to make fundemental judgements as to the value of things effecting humanity on Earth. Our only concern appears to be financial. All of our judgements seem to be encompassed in dollar signs. That most people over historical time would identify with humanity and the natural world has been replaced by our focus on making money. Money, gold, increased revenue, growing economy, higher profits, and similar related concerns thoroughly dominate our systems.
That our air is becoming unbreathable and our water becoming undrinkable hardly gets a second thought. That we are striving to be vaporized in a nuclear exchange doesn't seem to cause any real concern. It would seem that a basic fundemental tenet of humanity is a desire to see our genetic off-spring thrive and prosper into the future. And this is where, at least for those of us in the modern, western world, we have lost touch with reality. As one examines the path forward as declared by our leadership (the oligarchy, the wealthy elite who dictate life in today's world) one can easily see the disconnect between healthy human growth and the direction in which we have been pointed by our leaders. The determination with which we are directed to ignore climate change and global warming is astonishing given the scientific evidence and knowledge that humans have accumulated. The determination with which we are steered toward wars (and potential nuclear exchanges) must cause one to conclude that our leadership has figured out a way to survive with their family intact beyond a nuclear war. But, we know that whatever disaster befalls us will befall all of us. Global warming or nuclear war will end any dreams any of us have about a 'better tomorrow' for oursleves or for our children and grand-children. With this truth, we must then conclude that our oligarchy leadership group has gone insane... they have lost it completely and gone off of the rails. There is no other way of looking at our situation. And, as for the rest of us, the 99.99 percent of humans inhabiting this planet, if sanity prevails, we had better come up with some solutions for ourselves and we need to do so quickly. Maybe we are only left with the ideas being presented by Chris Hedges. Chris argues, in his book, “Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt,” that the world is at a point where rebellion is essentially the only answer to humanity's present prediciment. He offers comparisons to other rebellious times in history and points out that today's circumstances make things much worse than they have ever been. Of necessity, rebellion must be just around the corner. The only questions remaining are, who the rebels will represent, when will they start, where will they start, and what exactly will be the immediate stimulus that gets it started ??? 
Steve Lambert, an artist living in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, created this sign in 2012 to find out from people in the Greater Boston area what they thought of this question. (Photo: Nate Goldman/WBUR)
Capitalism in America: Giving Crazy a Bad Name While Subverting Democracy
by John Atcheson Ever since Milton Friedman’s series of essays on Capitalism and Freedom, conservatives have tried to link democracy and capitalism into essential handmaidens. But as the evidence shows, it’s a reality-busting bundle that only a psychotic could love. Or believe. The fact is, capitalism as practiced in America – far from being democracy’s handmaiden -- is anathema to freedom, and ultimately, impoverishing to the vast majority of its citizens. And it’s driving us crazy. Let’s Take a Look at Crazy Destroying the Climate for Fun and Profit: Sometime around 2050, large portions of many of America’s coastal cities will become uninhabitable due to periodic floods of epic proportions, unless we spend trillions of dollars on sea walls and pumping systems. Think Katrina and Sandy occurring every year in the majority of our coastal cities. The coastal flooding will be accompanied by droughts, huge forest fires, famine, massive migrations of climate refugees, and extinction of up to half the world’s species. Oh, what the hell, throw in widespread pestilence, too. But of course, the most ardent believers in capitalism say we can’t afford to take steps to prevent this – even though clean energy systems would create more jobs and economic growth than continuing to use fossil fuels. So, what’s a psychotic to do? Well, the true believers are in denial, with some even trying to pass laws prohibiting people from acknowledging the reality of climate change, which is the cause of all these catastrophes. Or, in the case of Florida – the State which will suffer the most – the governor is prohibiting state employees from using the words “climate change” or “global warming.” Yeah, that’s sane. Any objective look at this kind of behavior would have to label it as certifiable, mandatory lock-up, straight-jacket worthy insanity. But it gets worse. Starving the Future for Profit: You’d think preserving the capacity to feed people would be pretty much an imperative. But you’d be wrong. As George Monbiot pointed out, the UN estimates we will need about 6 million hectares of new farmland each year to keep up with population growth – instead, we’re losing 12 million hectares to depletion. Why? Because the consumptive monocultural approaches we use are “profitable,” according to capitalism. So, basically, capitalism is setting us up for starvation and calling it profitable. Let Them Eat Jellyfish: Meanwhile, we’re turning the oceans – the main source of protein for more than a billion people – into sterile acidic and nearly lifeless crypts. Already, fisherman across the globe are pulling up nets fouled with jellyfish, which will dominate the seas in the not too distant future. Another clear sign of psychosis. Can’t Use the Oil We’ve Found, So Let’s Look for More: Then of course, there’s the fact that Obama is proposing aggressive measures to cut carbon at the same time as he’s permitting exploration for more oil in the Arctic, even though we know we have to leave most of what we’ve already found in the ground or risk global catastrophes of biblical proportions. Yeah, that makes sense. Let’s Elect the People Who Hate Government to Govern: We the people share a big part of the blame. While the Plutocrats take over the country, we keep electing people who hate government and want to turn it over to the private sector – aka the plutocrats -- to run government. Yet government is the only force capable of stopping the march of the fat cats and olgarchs. At the state level, we’re seeing the fruits electing fruitcakes to run the state and the economy. In Kansas, they’re so hot to cut taxes that school systems can’t even finish the year. And once promising Ohio has been consigned to the trash bin of economic history by this counterfactual clap trap, while Wisconsin – another bastion of conservative psychosis, lags far behind the nation in job growth and wages. Crazy? It doesn’t get any crazier. OK, now let’s move on. How Capitalism Subverts Democracy For starters, let's acknowledge that in the United States, the interests of Big Money routinely trumps the will of the people. Here’s the proof: The list could go on and on. Over the years Americans have favored an end to fracking, single payer health care, greater public investment in infrastructure, an increase in minimum wage, and an end to the perennial wars and removal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet Congress and the President routinely ignore these wishes at the behest of monied interests. So much for the will of the people. Stacking the Deck in Favor of the Plutocrats: Democrats received 20 million more votes for Senate than Republicans in 2014, yet Republicans hold the majority of seats. Similarly, it only takes about 48% of the popular vote for Republicans to hold a majority in the House. Why? Because a sophisticated cadre of the ultra-rich have been on a 30 plus year campaign to buy government. Think tanks, corporate “free” speech, Democratic complicity, and a bought and paid for media has resulted in a gerrymandered map, a stacked Supreme Court and elections in which money trumps the wishes of the people, and routinely puts the will of a tiny rich minority over those of the majority. From Democracy to Oligarchy: By any measure, the US is an Oligarchy, not a democracy. This too, is a result of our doctrinaire belief in unconstrained capitalism, which inevitably results in grotesque income inequalities, and – ironically – economic collapse. Pushed by an unholy alliance of true believers and rich special interests, we’ve tried unconstrained capitalism three times now, and each time it has obliterated the middle class, and wrecked the economy. Welcome to the New Dark Ages – where belief trumps facts; where wishful thinking beats reality The facts show that pure unadulterated capitalism not only limits freedom and destroys the planet, it is self-extinguishing. But facts have little sway with the true believers. Like inmates in the asylum, the plutocrats keep pushing the very thing that will destroy them. Unfortunately, they’re taking us with them. John Atcheson is author of the novel, A Being Darkly Wise, an eco-thriller and book one of a trilogy centered on global warming. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the San Jose Mercury News and other major newspapers. Atcheson’s book reviews are featured on Climateprogess.org.  |
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
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