Much Later

106 years ago Emma Goldman wrote : "Sooner or later the American people are going to wake up." Open ended predictions such as this are never "wrong", but I think it is fair to say that by the time the American people "wake up", it will hardly matter. In the current conjuncture, being awake is taboo. People now strive to be extremely asleep, which somehow correlates with being "politcally uncorrect". If this seems incoherent, it's because it is. Such are the times we are living through. It is increasingly difficult to imagine the event or scenario that might precipitate Emma's awakening. It is not that people have unformed or ill-informed opinions or ideas. They now find it easier to let others have their opinions and ideas for them. Let others fuck with all that! Let the AI fuck with that. So far the strategy is working fabulously. Our country has the most bombs, the most famous celebrities, the Superbowl champions. We have the funniest President and the biggest cars and trucks. Why would you want to wake up from that? A lot of leftists worry that identity politics have superceded class politics. That happened about sixty years ago. It is now identity all the way down. Still the pundits worry about our "fragile democracy" and pine for the days of old. You know, FDR and the New Deal. Here is how capitalist "democracy" actually works.From the Washington Post: "The treasury secretary said he also has heard from “numerous US companies who intend to make substantial foreign direct investments in Argentina” if Milei’s coalition wins next month, which could boost reserves." Our elected reppresentatives get to make a few token decisions but the veto power rests with "foreign direct investments", another word for Capital. A word you won't hear Ezra Klien use as he considers ways for Democrats (the left?) to regain power ( basically conceding on culture). As to Argentina, they just made a deal to sell China the soybeans American farmers no longer can, due to tariffs and export controls. Farmers are angry but they also hate tansgender commies so they will take a payout and grouse and vote "conservative". And a lot of farmers are Christians and who is more Christ-like than Trump? Now we have to pretend to be interested in yet another "government shutdown" and yet another madman shooting up a church or shooting a celebrity or whatever. Sooner or later Americans will wake up.

Chevron: Green, Woke and Here for the Duration

In an interview with NYTImes, the CEO of Chevron says they are investing plenty in "carbon capture and storage, lithium and renewable fuels." And you thought they didn't care about warming. He also claims they " put a premium on diversity and inclusion," which they might want to keep a little closer to the vest. Cause it sounds a little bit like gay race communism to me. Basically, the CEO uses Doomberg's logic; every last molecule of hydrocarbons is going to be used by somebody so it might as well be us. " When the world stops using oil and gas, we’ll stop looking for it" he says with a shrug. They are just giving the customer what she wants. "We need to do things that meet demand as it exists and then evolve as demand evolves." In other words, capitalism. It's just the way it is. " The CEO says he has to " balance out all these competing interests." You know, the mass extinction of species versus making a profit. The forced displacement of millions of people versus keeeping his job. A very tough task, doing this "balancing". I'm not saying he is a monster, but what he does is monstrous. Not everyone is cut out for this line of work, balancing your children's future against keeping the economy humming. Actually, his kids will be mostly fine, they'll learn to live with the suffering around them much as he has. "We’re not engaged in idealism. We’ve got to be pragmatic and real," he says. He's real and realistic, not caught up in some idealistic "save the glaciers" bullshit, save the coral reefs, whatever. What is real is the lifestyle we have become accustomed to. Doomberg will tell you the same thing. Speaking of capitalist realism, some heavy hitters in NY are getting nervous about this Mandami upstart. "“The time to act is now,” read the email. “If we fail to mobilize, the financial capital of the world risks being handed over to a socialist this November. We cannot — and will not — let that happen.” Sounds like the Czar, fretting about the Bolsheviks. Maybe Rudy Guiliani should step in! In other world news, Gen Z has overrun the government of Nepal because "democratic" capitalism has failed the country. Old story, corruption, elite capture, rule of the wealthy. Which takes us to France where the government is calling for , wait for it...austerity! Cutting back on social provision and taxes for the wealthy. How original. The rich are threatening "capital flight" if they get taxed. The system cannot work. Period.