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| Which to choose? |
I. It's Them
A recent post at Tom Dispatch has the title "Engelhardt, Why Voting for Donald Trump Is a Suicidal Act", but that post goes further by pointing out that voting for him alone is only one part of the suicide pact:
"And unfortunately, Donald Trump is anything but alone ... In fact, according to a recent Guardian report, almost one-quarter of this country’s congressional representatives (100 members of the House and 23 senators) deny the very existence of climate change — and be shocked, very shocked, but every last one of them is a Republican!"
(ibid). This is the despotic minority Dredd Blog has alluded to as the image of the group think dynamics of civilizations past researched by notable historians:
"Toynbee wrote volumes about two dozen or so civilizations that we only think about when we are in a history class or a library, however, unlike us he didn't just skim the surface, no, he followed ugly all the way to the bone:
"In other words, a society does not ever die 'from natural causes', but always dies from suicide or murder --- and nearly always from the former, as this chapter has shown."
That is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, as a world famous encyclopedia points out:
"In the Study Toynbee examined the rise and fall of 26 civilizations in the course of human history, and he concluded that they rose by responding successfully to challenges under the leadership of creative minorities composed of elite leaders. Civilizations declined when their leaders stopped responding creatively, and the civilizations then sank owing to the sins of nationalism, militarism, and the tyranny of a despotic minority.
(How To Identify The Despotic Minority - 14). There are also notable psychologists who have researched the psychological aspects of this repeating phenomenon:
"If the evolution of civilization has such a far reaching similarity with the development of an individual, and if the same methods are employed in both, would not the diagnosis be justified that many systems of civilization——or epochs of it——possibly even the whole of humanity——have become neurotic under the pressure of the civilizing trends? To analytic dissection of these neuroses, therapeutic recommendations might follow which could claim a great practical interest. I would not say that such an attempt to apply psychoanalysis to civilized society would be fanciful or doomed to fruitlessness. But it behooves us to be very careful, not to forget that after all we are dealing only with analogies, and that it is dangerous, not only with men but also with concepts, to drag them out of the region where they originated and have matured. The diagnosis of collective neuroses, moreover, will be confronted by a special difficulty. In the neurosis of an individual we can use as a starting point the contrast presented to us between the patient and his environment which we assume to be normal. No such background as this would be available for any society similarly affected; it would have to be supplied in some other way. And with regard to any therapeutic application of our knowledge, what would be the use of the most acute analysis of social neuroses, since no one possesses power to compel the community to adopt the therapy? In spite of all these difficulties, we may expect that one day someone will venture upon this research into the pathology of civilized communities. [p. 39]"
...
"Men have brought their powers of subduing the forces of nature
to such a pitch that by using them they could now very easily exterminate one another to the last man. They know this——hence arises a great part of their current unrest, their dejection, their mood of apprehension. [p. 40]"
(ibid, quoting Sigmund. Freud). Note that I am not saying that there is no hypothetical solution to this existential threat.
II. It's US Too
But I am and have been saying that the existential threat is not given the weight that the economy is given, and until that changes 'a solution' is only an imagination.
That is because we are governed by a private empire which I still call 'Oil-Qaeda' (Humble Oil-Qaeda, cf. Petroleum Civilization: The Final Chapter (Confusing Life with Death), 2, 3, 4).
III. Closing Comments
A politician running for president of the USA has recently chanted Drill Baby Drill ("We will do it at levels that nobody's ever seen before") even as the President of the USA has stated in public that the USA produces more oil now than any other country.
Both statements are in reference to 'oil' a.k.a. petroleum.
An expert on oil production indicates what the reality is:
"McNally, a former energy official to former President George W. Bush, said there isn’t that much presidents can do about US oil production, short of taking drastic emergency powers.
Unlike OPEC nations, the United States oil output is largely set by the free market.
'It’s not like President Biden or any president has a dial in the Oval Office to increase production,' McNally said."
(CNN). Meanwhile, a 'United' Nations official statement warns:
"Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures."
(United Nations). In the series "will elections cure the disease" Dredd Blog asserts that elections are impotent in this regard.
That is not a fantasy assertion:
"The Biden administration has now outpaced the Trump administration in approving permits for drilling on public lands, and the United States is producing more oil than any country ever has. The unplanned fossil fuel boom reflects an uncomfortable truth for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris: It is difficult for any president to stop the spigot of U.S. oil production, a leading driver of both the economy and climate change.
'If you were to show someone who came from Mars the line of U.S. oil and gas production over the last 15 years, they probably would not be able to tell whether a Republican or Democrat was in the White House,' said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University."
(Why no president has slowed the U.S. oil boom). The political/election dynamics are second rate compared to 'the private empire' (The Private Empire's Social Media Hit Squads).
In other words, the disease is not being treated adequately by mere elections:
"Every person, in every country in every continent will be impacted in some shape or form by climate change. There is a climate cataclysm looming, and we are underprepared for what this could mean.
Climate change is caused by human activities and threatens life on earth as we know it. With rising greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is occurring at rates much faster than anticipated. Its impacts can be devastating and include extreme and changing weather patterns and rising sea levels.
If left unchecked, climate change will undo a lot of the development progress made over the past years. It will also provoke mass migrations that will lead to instability and wars."
(United Nations). Thus, perhaps A.J. Toynbee was more than a 'mere' historian:
"In other words, a society does not ever die 'from natural causes', but always dies from suicide or murder --- and nearly always from the former, as this chapter has shown."
(How To Enjoy The End Of Bad Choices, again quoting "A Study of History" by Arnold J. Toynbee).
The previous post in this series is here.
"Earth hit a grim milestone earlier this year: The planet not only had its warmest January on record, but also, for the first time, its average temperature over 12 consecutive months was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than preindustrial times. And each month since then, the streak has continued" (Link).
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