Politics and Me
I’ve gone through an evolution with respect to the importance of politics, and where I want to volunteer. When I was a young man, I believed it should go to the gay struggle, because that was personal for me, and it actually felt good to be around like-minded people. In that case, the intersection between politics and GLB (gay/lesbian/bisexual) rights was clear as a bell, even though I might not have called it an intersection. My political involvement with respect to gay rights only went as far as voting for gay-affirming candidates; I was not active in the political movement beyond putting myself out there at Penn State staffing the table for the gay group (Homophiles of Penn State, or HOPS for short) at class registration during my senior year. What I was most interested in while in college and for some time after was keeping the space around me as safe as possible, and finding myself a long-term partner.
Fast forward to the 1980’s and 90’s, and the emergence of HIV and AIDS. Somehow, through that period and for a number of years beyond, I was not touched personally by the virus and was in a monogamous relationship. I presumed I was safe from the disease, and by the higher power’s grace, I have been. For much of that time, I feared HIV, especially after said relationship changed into something not so traditional, and then ended. However, I did not join Act Up or become more politically active; if anything, I became less active, as just living my life seemed to keep me too busy to do more.
Move further into the last couple of decades. George Bush won the presidency. We went to war illegally in Iraq. I did my duty and voted. I also did my duty and contributed to the Democratic Party to effect change. I remember during 2004 believing a conspiracy theory that gays and other minorities were going to out in detention centers (or worse) if Bush were reelected. In 2008 and 2012, I volunteered for phone banking and a little door-to-door work for Pres. Obama. During this period also, I began writing blog entries (diaries, in what then was DKos-speak) on the annual progression of Arctic Sea Ice, particularly in the northern summer when the impact was most evident.
In 2016, I backed off some, probably because I was mistaken about Trump’s chances. Still gave $$ to Democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton. I should have done more. Trump won and worked to recreate the United States in his image, with the help of those who believe he’s the Second Coming or at least its herald. We came close to exactly that with the post-election sedition of Trump and a select group of elected Republicans. And now, even though Joe Biden became president in 2020, somehow things have become worse. Trump validated and continues to enable a particularly virulent and overtly fascist right wing, which has taken over the Republican Party through the enforcement of white supremacy.
This is now the undercurrent of my life; fear of the fascists and what they will do if they get the chance. And it is now clear that this fear is intersectional with all people who do not believe that someone’s whiteness gives carte blanche for them to rule those of us who do not conform with them and the vision of a world in their image. And now, the privileged countries, especially the United States, are selfishly ignoring their unequivocal role in magnifying the climate crisis that threatens everyone.
Politics and Us: Intersectionality; We’re All In This Together
The awareness of how the climate crisis hurts so many non-privileged groups has finally brought me to a personal understanding, feeling in my gut the intersection of existential risk with classism, sexism, racism, and all the other ‘isms’ that are the hallmarks of unfairness. That we are all at existential risk should be sufficient to motivate the necessary collective action to restore at least a modicum of fairness in such an unfair world.
I said in a previous diary that each decision we individually make in our day-to-day lives impacts the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, that is, our carbon footprint. It’s also the thing over which we have the most control. The bad decisions we make collectively as a country are what make the U.S. one of the worst offender with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. But do we have the time to convince enough people to collectively make the necessary good decisions to bring us to zero net greenhouse emissions by 2050, which is what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated is necessary to keep global warming to 1.5°C? I don’t believe so.
A country-wide decision to reach the 2050 zero net emissions goal would have the biggest impact on addressing the climate crisis, and has to be made collectively. This means the work must be political. However, we currently do not have a government that will respond to the electorate (a.k.a. the People), especially where the vested interests of the privileged are involved. This has been true since perhaps the beginning of the Republic and, arguably, by design. As I see it, this is built into an electoral structure designed to prevent one of the things the Founders most feared, what they called “the Tyranny of the Majority” (or as I’m sure they put it when no one else could hear, government by the “rabble”). Elements to prevent the rabble from getting their way are found in the Senate (2 senators per state, no matter the state population), the Electoral College (over-representation of rural voters at the expense of urban voters), and a number of “rules” that are neither in the Constitution nor its amendments, such as those arcane ones that constrain action in the Senate. Lifetimes appointments of U.S. Supreme Court judges might also be considered, though this can be mitigated through changing the size of the Supreme Court or the District Courts if there is the political will to do so. Without changing the aspects of U.S. government that allow it to ignore the will of the majority, we won’t be able to respond to the existential challenges we face as a planet or as a country. I don’t believe we’ll be able to accomplish anything through the rule of law.
What Needs to Happen: A Tall Order
So where does this leave us with respect to addressing all aspects of intersectionality, in particular climate change and everyone other than the 10% or so who are privileged in ways that exclude everyone else? Here’s a ordered/unordered list based on the news and opinion pieces I’ve heard or read. I’d welcome additions and/or subtractions in the comments, as I am a scientist, but not that kind of (political) scientist.
- Generally
- Public pressure by various means (demonstrations, calls, letters, visits to offices, etc.) under the current system.
- Making changes to that system to make it more fair. This would require pressure as in item 1 above.
- The Electoral College/Presidential Elections:
- States deciding that its electoral votes will go to the national popular vote winner. An example is the National Popular Vote interstate compact, which would take effect once states with an aggregate of 270 electoral votes approve it.
- Caveat: this will likely be challenged at the Supreme Court level as unconstitutional since it allegedly would require approval by Congress
- The Senate
- Eliminate the filibuster or reduce its application so that human rights, including voting rights and climate justice, can pass by majority vote.
- Proportional representation, where the number of Senators from each state is determined by that state’s population.
- An extreme measure would be to remove the Senate as a governing body.
- The House
- Make decadal redistricting required to follow nonpartisan/numerically fair methodology
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Expand the Supreme Court, based on the number of District Courts in the Judicial system
- I’d argue that the district courts, including District 5, which has recently caused problems with abortion and voting rights, should also be expanded.
- Remove lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court by, for example, having justices serve finite terms as voting members and then have them moved to some sort of emeritus position in the judicial system.
Thanks for your attention!
The writers in Climate Brief work to keep the Daily Kos community informed and engaged with breaking news about the climate crisis around the world while providing inspiring stories of environmental heroes, opportunities for direct engagement, and perspectives on the intersection of climate activism with spirituality, politics, and the arts.
Climate Brief posts every evening at about 5pm ET.
