Year-end always makes me reflective. Unfortunately, my reflections this year are depressing. Let’s start with the big issue — climate change. Yes, it’s already happening, and not for the better. Australia is on fire. Not just a city, but the whole continent. Kind of like the way California has been for the last few years. There’s a section in the sea east of New Zealand that’s 5 degrees Celcius warmer than average. It’s the size of my home state of Texas. The latest round of global negotiations to do something about this ended in catastrophe. The reality is that climate change is already here and it’s not getting better.
And then we have the racist in chief and his entire party of Republican enablers who could care less about accepting help from a known enemy or extorting a vulnerable ally to gain a domestic political advantage. The fact that Trump has spent 1/3 of his days at a Trump property hasn’t even raised an eyebrow. And, just to increase my depression, there’s a real possibility that the racist could win again because racism is the central organizing concept of the Republican party.
However, there is something we can do about this. Get rid of the people in power. And that’s where this set of graphs comes in very handy:
This was posted by DK writer Brainwrap in a diary that, as of this writing, is still on the recommended list. And it so highlighted a basic problem: people like me: white guys, mostly over the age of 50 are largely responsible for our problems.
Folks, I’m about as privileged as you can get. I’m a fifth-generation lawyer whose family on one side goes all the way back to England. I’ve got a ton of education and am involved in law, finance, and economics. And it’s guys like me that have done a great job of screwing things up royally. Folks like me at Exxon knew 40 years ago that climate change was bad and then paid a ton of money on a massive and successful disinformation campaign. It’s guys like me that sold the idea that tax cuts pay for themselves. It’s guys like me that created the whole sexual harassment problem and then did everything we could to prevent any type of accounting. And don’t get me started on slavery and discrimination.
So, here’s where I’m going to give myself a little bit of hope. If you’re a woman or are younger than me (let’s just say 40 years and younger), please, take the reigns of power as soon as you can. And don’t be gentle about it if guys like me resist (and they will). Use the ballot box, use organizing tools, and use persuasion. And if you have to use Ray Donovan style tactics, use them too. Please spare me the, “if our ideas are better we’ll win” line. The other side has no problem knee-capping people. We can’t be shy in that area if we’re going to win.
Happy new year.