Revolutionary Reactionaries

Liberals are freaking out that the Freedom Caucus refuses to observe accepted norms. It turns out tax cuts for the rich and an abortion ban are not enough to satisfy these true believers- they want to tear down the government and start from scratch. As do I. They believe the whole system is rigged and corrupt. As do I. They are willing to say fuck the established norms, as am I. The difference is, these radicals don't see any problem with capitalism, don't understand that it is the contradiction of capitalist so-called "democracy" that is at the root of the governance crisis. These legislators are being called all the same names I get called: norm shattering rebels, extremist wrecking crew, guerilla outliers, "jettisoning decades of tradition" oh my! It's too bad the Squad couldn't join forces with the rebels, really give liberals something to think about. But they won't. It will be up to the "hard-right" to do the disrupting. Of course, like Trump, these rebels are clueless about what comes after the revolution- probably something like freer markets, fewer regulations, a war of each against all. But like Trump, they are at least making an attempt to keep things entertaining as we rush towards the precipice. And if all they accomplish is to jettison a little bullshit tradition, more power to em. The King is not wearing any clothes and these dumbass Republicans might just be the ones to prove it.

Here It Comes

In 2012, an entrepreneur added 100 tons of iron to the ocean and created a dramatic short-term plankton bloom. Many scientists and policymakers worried about what else could happen if commercial entities scaled up without government oversight. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is releasing a report in response to a Congressional mandate in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022 related to solar radiation modification, also known as solar geoengineering. Guy Mc Pherson predicted this along time ago. Capitalists would let the warming get to a crisis stage, start wringing their hands about "no viable solution" and go for the obvious fix- geoengineering. In my novel a group of capitalists decide to take matter into their own hands, with disatrous results. Kim Stanley Robinson has a less dire result in his novel. In any case, geoengineering is what you get when the obvious solution - stop burning fossil fuels- is beyond the pale.

When America Was Great

There was a time when America didn't fuck around. If some shitty little country like Cuba or Guatemala or El Salvador or Nicaragua started getting uppity, we would put them in their place. Back when we we were great. If they started giving land to peasants or talking shit about us or calling us "imperialists" we'd just send in the troops and gunboats and put them in their place.If we took a shine to some nice island like Hawaii we just claimed it, because we were great. This is what history books should be teaching our children...no, wait, maybe not so much in those words. Frame it as liberation. Exactly as Russia's claims in Ukrain, these places were within our sphere of influence. So was Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. It's one big sphere, baby. The greater you are, the bigger your sphere. Because it was our Manifest Destiny as a great nation of great people we could march across a continent already occupied and claim it as our own. What's the point of being Great if you can't take what you want?

Burning Up Man

The Fun Burning People are bummed that it rained on their parade. They were just out their being inclusive and self-reliant and Free until the muck and filled-up porta potties ruined the party. Climate is really changing, they all shrug, last year it was scorching temps and wind, now this deluge. Now those 70,000 groovy people will have to go back to their real lives, scrape the mud off all their stuff, and bemoan the fact that extreme weather is wrecking their vacation. Not that there is anything they could do about it. Not like 70,000 groovy people have any REAL power to change anything. So they will just have to find different venues to perform symbolic self-affirmation, venues a little less "sere". A little less harsh or prone to extremes. Some are calling it a preview of an increasingly chaotic future and how we will need to adapt. We know how people will adapt; they'll just go party somewhere else. Let's form an awesome utopia for a week so we can experience personal liberation. Then we can go back to the real world, the capitalist world, and save up some money for next year's party.

Gas Power

The American working class traded political power for gas power. Unable to control any of the big things that determine their existence, they have been given gas pedals, a viceral, immediate sense of power as they push down and feel that giant truck accelerate. Yes, it takes money to feel that surge but hey, that's what credit is for. Yes, you will be making someone else rich while you slave for wages but you have a giant truck that goes really fast when you stomp on that pedal. It's enough. Much has been said about the "crisis of masculinity" and there is no doubt big trucks help guys feel less impotent. I wouldn't be too surprised to learn there are females who are attracted to big trucks and their drivers, the same gals who are aroused by Trump. In place of actual politics you get to feel like you can make a difference by voting. You get to spend hours reading about campaigns and politicians and elections, an entire entertainment spectacle you can turn on or off at will. You can post on the internet. Or you can ignore the whole thing and drive around. Same difference. Political theorists tell us governments fear a "crisis of legitimacy", something usually equated to cost of living. When you can no longer afford to live, you question governance. But governance has been de-coupled from economics, so that people clamor for a new leader under the same regime of Capital.