Hopeful realism today is about assessing our planetary emergency, focusing on observable facts, and finding hope in the search for optimal solutions to the global predicament we face. Most News is Bad News, and It is Worse Than Ever Current carbon emissions have surged to greater rates than ever. The headline for the New York … More The Beat Goes On: But It Is Getting Extremely Loud
Photo credit: NASA, via Unsplash Earthrise viewed from our moon gave many a broader perspective on the living Earth. There are so many well written and seriously researched analyses of where we are today and where we need to go, that there is simply no way to read them all. Most debates within that literature … More The Missing Debate: Modernist Illusions and the Urgency of Now
Of course, in the United States and in other industrialized nations many people wish they were billionaires. That is what the culture of consumerism has taught them. Even the billionaires who turn out to be scoundrels at best, are idolized for their wealth however ill-gotten. The “greed is good” value system of ‘Gordon Gecko’ (played … More Energy Equity Requires No Billionaires
When Senator Markey and Representative Ocasio Cortez first introduced their resolution calling on the U.S. to pass a “Green New Deal” (GND), I was enthused to realize that two members of the legislature could actually call upon their colleagues to take the nation in a whole new direction by directly confronting the growing climate crisis … More How Green is the New “Green New Deal”?
Many thoughtful comments by knowledgeable critics of COP27 and even institutional actors who recognize the climate crisis but fail to take serious climate action, reflect one fundamental underlying dilemma. Great ideas mean nothing unless converted into action. I am often amazed by the superficial clarity of statements of what must be done to avert or … More Global Triage: How to Optimize Opportunity While Mitigating Madness and Risk
Well, that depends. I know of nobody who considers the climate emergency a cheery optimistic prospect to look forward to. On the other hand, some get their buzz from the strangest things—the pain and suffering of others, the death of some creature who did them no harm, the wasted lives of victims of mass incarceration. … More Is the Climate Emergency a Buzzkill?
My enthusiasm and hope for the prospects for the growing Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the converging Earth Systems crises got me to read its founder Roger Hallam’s book, Common Sense for the 21st Century. I had been studying what I call “The New Great Transformation” for my own book, At the Edge of … More Why the Extinction Rebellion is Needed, and So Much More
It seems the highest point in John Kerry’s political career was his impassioned testimony before congress expressing his experience of the absurdity of the Viet Nam war. After that came serial mediocrity in search of sustaining moderate upper-class rule. Never again would he to take a principled stand as he pursued his political path, grounded … More Unrealistic Assumptions Dodge Difficult Decisions
“Risk on” and “Risk Off” are terms heard among stock market traders, analysts, and investment advisors. They indicate whether the speaker feels that risk is high or low for investing in markets or in a particular stock. Risk is always a matter of degree, except under conditions of certainty—and when does that happen? Yet, “risk … More Risk On Risk Off: Likely or Unlikely, Catastrophic or Not
Now that I have read President Biden’s “fact sheet” on his infrastructure plan, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, I have to wonder whether it will devolve into an “upgrade” to “modernize” business-as-usual. What we need is a genuine emergency response to the converging crises of climate, a crumbling main street economy, and the continued enrichment … More Building Back Better: Deferred Maintenance vs. Emergency Response
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 