- Is Kim Stanley Robinson right this time, about inevitability? (See the epigraph)
- Do you blame all "boomers," whether captains of industry or mere consumers, for not doing more to avert the present situation? ("You don't learn these things [anthropogenic climate change etc.] in school.... "You sold our future, just for profit!"... "You have failed us all so terribly." 3 )
- Is it time to drop the "grandchildren" rhetoric? 5-6
- Do you admire Greta?
- Is Greta right, "we autistic are the normal ones... if emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. To me that is black or white." 15
- Thoughts on The Leap Manifesto?
- Thoughts on H. Res. 109, the Green New Deal? 25f.
- Are "ideas about nature's boundlessness" and the perpetual quest for "new new worlds" necessarily bound up with "theories of white and Christian superiority"? 19-20
- Will the Sunrise Movement (22) continue to grow?
- Do we really now have less than ten years? 25
- Do you admire AOC?
- Will the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party continue to grow? 30 Must it cultivate that affiliation in order to be effective in American politics, or has the time come for an effective 3d Party or Independent Party challenge?
- Klein advocates "systemic economic and social change" (33). Does that mean reform, internal to a capitalist system, or frank "dismantling" of the system as we know it?
- Will the climate crisis become dire enough, if it "will never feel as menacing as Nazis," to make a new WPA attractive enough to voters? 34-5
- A question for Carolin, perhaps: Why has Germany invested so heavily in renewables? Was there a particular quality of leadership that made that possible there? 37
- Is it now really "possible to change all aspects of society on an extremely tight deadline"? 39
- How, besides voting out eco-fascists obviously, should we confront eco-fascism? 40f.
- "Young people are ready for this kind of deep change" (52) -- But are enough of you ready?
W 28 - GND -p.103
- If the earth is a "living organism" is that metaphorical or literal? Does it matter? What part of the organism are humans? 54
- Do most Americans, particularly those living on the Gulf Coast, really believe that oil spills irreparably and permanently diminish those ecosystems? If they do, why do they continue to support policies that favor deep water drilling and extraction? 57
- Is the positive-thinking, motivational culture of American business ("If you knew you could not fail..." etc., 60) intrinsically arrogant and greedy?
- How would Teddy Roosevelt respond to Republicans who think caring about the environment is "for sissies"? 62
- Is it necessarily mythic to call the earth sacred, or spiritual in a naturalistic sense? 67
- Are you surprised or disappointed that Obama chose BP's former chief scientist as undersecretary of energy? 67
- What do you think of the Heartland Institute (and similar organizations) that devote themselves to providing pseudo-scientific platforms for "die-hard denialists" and claim that the climate movement is "suicidal"? 72-3
- What would John Rawls say about climate denialists whose position is "core to his or her identity"? (75)
- Are progressives who deplore "the perils of unrestrained greed" merely the flip-side of denial? 77
- Is Klein's "inconvenient truth" something she shouldn't so openly acknowledge, or should she embrace and publicize it? 78
- Can there be a policy of "free trade" that does not devolve into a reckless ally of corporate malfeasance?85
- Is our choice between "trashing the system or crashing the planet"? 87
Do you admire Greta?
ReplyDeleteI do admire Greta. I think that it is admirable for such a young person (or any person for that matter) to take on a cause and fight for what she believes. The fact that notable and powerful adults have so much to say about her clearly shows that she is a threat to the status quo. She is beyond her years and is using her platform to make the world a better place. If that isn't admirable, I don't know what is!
Do you blame all "boomers," whether captains of industry or mere consumers, for not doing more to avert the present situation? ("You don't learn these things [anthropogenic climate change etc.] in school.... "You sold our future, just for profit!"... "You have failed us all so terribly." 3 )
ReplyDeleteAs I said in class, I don't think it is fair to blame an entire generation, but I do think it is fair to point out specific people and companies for their role in this mess. However, I completely agree with Betty Mae that it isn't terribly productive to harp on whose fault the crisis is. We are in the midst of a crisis, and the main thing we should be focusing on is what we are going to do to fix it. One day, when we have figured this out, we can look back and piece together the timeline and figure out who all is at fault. Right now, we don't have the luxury to spend too much time in that space (unless, of course, it will help us find a solution). Until then, let's treat this like the emergency that it is!
I definitely do not blame all Boomers for the state of the environment today. In fact, I would argue that blaming a generation for the consequences of corporate violence is an easy scape goat and inevitably will not lead to any further change. I do not blame the average Boomer, just as I do not blame anyone who participated in fast fashion or other things that are not insanely environmental friendly. I do not find it fair to blame individuals for participating in the society they have no other option in. Whether or not my grandfather recycled or acknowledged climate change at all would not have changed our outcome, as these people are also just victims of the system.
ReplyDeleteDQ: Do most Americans, particularly those living on the Gulf Coast, really believe that oil spills irreparably and permanently diminish those ecosystems? If they do, why do they continue to support policies that favor deep water drilling and extraction?
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that is most difficult to understand is why people vote and support policies that are adverse to their own interests. It is not rational. Remember when working class Tennesseans protested with honking horns a plan to impose an income tax on high income people which would not affect them, but accepted a sales tax increase that did? I saw a black woman social activist on the news last night saying she would vote for Trump, because she felt he would do the right thing to make things better. How could this possibly be? There are two answers, I think. One is that people vote based on emotion, not reason. Either some moral reason (it’s unfair to take my tax money to give to loafers) or fear (socialism! Freedom!). The Republicans are masters at promoting fear and dismissing reason. The other reason is propaganda. People live in information bubbles, and their thinking is informed by the information they are fed by parties focused on manipulating their opinion. Thoughtful, well-informed, educated people don’t stand a chance.
One of my most memorable conversations was with a family member who was talking politics with me. She agreed on most fronts on what I said but could not bring herself to vote for the person she mostly agreed with because of one issue. While I understand the need to stand for certain principals, I cannot fathom how people can vote when they are not even sure what they are voting for. They see one point and go all in on it.
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