Economists

This quote from the director of Trump's National Economic Council says it all: "There is no faster way to deliver benefits across the board than lower energy prices. The forced scarcity of the Green New Deal, one of the great policy blunders in modern history, should be replaced with an “all of the above” approach to domestic energy supply. The benefits will be felt at the pump, in heating bills, at the grocery checkout and in every small business." Despite decades of international climate conferences and hundreds of scientific reports, mainstream economists still dismiss externalities and consider impacts to the ecosystem totally irrelevant. In this case he is 100% correct about short-term "benefits" while ignoring the inevitable catastrophe. Like most Americans, this particular economist is willing to write off future generations to preserve political power and the treats that go along with it. Despite all the warnings. For capitalists, any limit to growth is considered "forced scarcity" and must be overcome. Even if it is physics. But of course physics cannot be overcome. This is why physics is ignored, dismissed, pretended away or disavowed. For capitalist economists, there can be no relinquishment or even reduction, it is all grow, grow, grow. More, more, more. "All of the above". Keep the train speeding toward the cliff, keep the people lobotomized with consumer "benefits", keep your party in power. What can possibly go wrong?

Influencers

The Saudi minister lays it out : “But now we see that the U.S. has no power or influence over Israel — to a humiliating degree,” he added, “and that the Israelis have no intention to create a Palestinian state.” It is true that the US political "leadership" is reluctant to cut off arms shipments to Israel but the US Jewish lobby has plenty of influence and they are using it to support the genocide. The US electorate is clueless, having been brainwashed for the last eighty years, and will accept any criticism of Israel as "antisemitic". The Saudis are now insisting a "two-state solution" be part of any normalization deal but we'll see how deep that committment runs. It is "humiliating" that a rogue politician like Netanyahu rubs it in Biden's face, we expect Israeli leaders to pretend deference as they pursue their goal of an apartheid ethno-state. But like Trump, Netanyahu has decided to forgo these pieties. Neither are inhibited by established norms, which explains their popularity. Apparently, Trump's crude, "hypermasculine" act has a great deal of influence over young men. According to the NY Times: "Compared with when Mr. Trump ran in 2020, young male voters are now less likely to support government-backed climate change solutions (down 15 points, according to our poll)" At the same time they feel hopeless about the future, they also don't want any threats to their American Dream. If you can't get laid, the least you can do is drag the ecosystem down with you. It would be just if these morons were the only ones to face the consequences of their obliviousness. But that's not how ecosystems work.

What's Roiling Democrats

I listened to a podcast by three left-of-center NY Times columnists where they discussed the issues "roiling" the Democratic party's coalition. They went over foreign policy and economics and domestic issues like immigration and crypto and all kinds of topics. But they never once mentioned climate change. Not even the environment. This tells us something about how effective the "climate movement" has been. It's never a polling question, it has no "constituency", it is not, despite all the alarming reports, an "issue" with voters. It will take catastrophe to change anything here in the U.S. That might not be so far down the road. “Florida-focused property insurers, they are really at the highest level of danger,” Mr. Manyem said. Those companies, he said, are likely to have the hardest time getting new reinsurance policies, too." An opinion piece titled "America is Walking into an Economic Storm" never mentions climate change. All about the aging population and AI and bah blah. It is written by an econ-science MIT prof who won this years Nobel Prize. For him, climate change doesn't exist as a threat. Without having watched it, I guarantee the FOX news interview of Harris had no mention. Disavowal: I know it is true but I act as if I don't. Trumpism cannot be blamed for this obliviousness, though it helps legitimize it. Most people understand at some level that there will be a cost to decarbonization and they don't want to pay it. So much easier to kick the can down the road so you can keep buying treats for yourself. It's the economy stupid.

Unacceptable Violence

The NY Times is shocked that there are groups on American college campuses advocating armed resistance for the Palestinians. For liberals who want "human rights" and "social justice", any talk of violence or using "any means necessary" to achieve that aim is unacceptable. Over the top. Beyond the pale. Just to be clear, I am no fan of Hamas and don't believe their attack on civilians was a wise tactic. Just as the bus bombings and other acts of terror were tacticly destructive. But we can't expect traumatized prisoners to behave strategically. What is most glaring, once again, is the insane hypocricy, the double standard that justifies actual genocide while excoriating rhetoric. It is the rhetoric which offends Zionist sensibilities and makes some Jews feel unsafe. And it is now unacceptable to have a Jew feel unsafe. Lots of white people feel unsafe around Black people, but that is the fault of Black people and their "tendencies". I know, it's hard to keep this all straight. The violence and armed incursion of Zionists, dropping bombs on neighborhoods, sniping kids from roof tops, bulldozing homes etc.. gets a tsk tsk in the NY Times and calls for a ceasefire. If Within Our Lifetime has a provacative chant, Israel has exploding pagers which kill and maim innocent bystanders. Collateral damage is now the strategic objective. Tsk Tsk.

Missing Costs and Class Belonging

“The focus on inflation and the economy seems to be driving a reluctance to talk about emissions reductions,” he said, adding “They’re missing the costs of climate impacts.” A study published in Nature earlier this year estimated that climate change-fueled weather disasters will cost the global economy $38 trillion per year by 2049. Those who might read this blog understand the issue with unacknowledged, unaccounted for externalities. I have stressed the point that cost has nothing to do with price. But the problem extends to the arena of language itself. If there is hegemonic understanding around the meaning of a word like "cost" ( ie. the price of a good or sevice) and it purposefully leaves out much of the actual meaning (ALL the impacts) , you now have cognitive dissonance. An empty signifier designed to confuse. And an ambiguity that negates discourse as such. Which reinforces the power structure in a most subtle, I would even say elegant fashion. Without language there is no resistance. It's all gobbledygoop and people talking past one another. Mission accomplished! Here is a quote from Jacobin magazine on the definition of working class: "Using the college degree metric, the working class is less white and female than the rest of the population." College degree metric? Even the self-described "left" has pathologized language and doomed its own project. Why not describe hair styles of the working class? Or preferred vegetables? It does the same work.

More Green Capitalism

At the invite of Missoula climate activists, Bill McKibben is coming to the annual Climate Expo. Given the increasingly dire climate situation, it will be interesting to see what tone he adopts. For decades he has led the "since we can't do anything about capitalism, let's not bring it up" camp. These folks don't want to put off the average Joe so they avoid the C word and focus on the wonders of The Paris Accord and The Inflation Reduction Act. An Electric Vehicle in every garage! But a sober assessment would show a planet not just stuck up Shit Creek but headed over the falls. Because profit. The Paris Accord is words on a document. The IRA is giant subsidies seeking low-risk investment. But instead of Market Miracles harnessing technological wizardry to save our bacon we see accelerating market failure. Forget the obvious protectionist tariff war with China -whch totally undermines de-carbonization. Look to eel grass. Capitalist profiteers want to dump lime in rivers to create carbon sinks ( how much CO2 does it take to mine and transport lime?) Meanwhile, a natural carbon sink, eel grass, is disappearing at a frightening rate due to the effects of industrial civilization. Fossil Fuel emmissions are increasing, energy demand is increasing, global extracivism is increasing and "overshoot" of 1.5 is certain. Because profit. As for that great movement Bill Mc Kibben inspired, Democrats now boast about presiding over the oil boom. From the NY Times: "Democrats feel no pressure from the environmental movement or young climate-minded voters." Kind of says it all.

End of Protest

Opinion writer and scholar of social movements Zenep Tufecki writes: "2024 looks like the end of the road " for the era of mass protest. She astutely points to the underwhelming results of protest starting with the invasion of Iraq, Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, Womens March, Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, and the latest protests around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: "protesting just doesn’t get results anymore. Not the way it used to. Not in that form. It can’t." Not even mentioned are climate protests, which is sad but telling. With some ntable exceptions, the climate justice movement stuck with a playbook of one-off marches. No risk. Little disruption to capital flows or system legitimacy. Unfortunately, she lumps "civil disobedience" as practiced in the 2000's as part of that "form" and doesn't consider the tactic of filling the jails, used successfully by the civil rights movement. Otherwise she is spot on."considering the popularity and energy of these movements, they didn’t change the world that much. Two decades later, globalization still favors corporations. Wealth is as inequitably distributed as ever." Kamala doesn't mention Palestine, emissions keep rising, same as it always was. As the UN meets in New York, protestors, as always, take to the streets: "The New York marchers on Friday chanted climate protest favorites such as "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now" and "The people, united, will never be defeated" as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. They carried banners with messages such as "Tear Down Fossil Fuels" and "We Strike for the Future." The Left is in love with its failed protest playbook. Wave signs, march and chant. Post stuff online. Maybe get a couple people arrested. No one controls the messaging or enforces tactical discipline and a few wacky outliers end up with the headlines. Everyone goes home and prepares to do it all over again. As an aside, I saw this little tid bit about the civil rights leader MLK. When approached by a student who attacked Zionism, Dr. King responded: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism.” King believed he could see into people's minds and deduce what they REALLY mean. A real problem.