Anyone who thinks our new and growing climate chaos is the ‘new normal’ (and assumes that we merely have to adapt), anyone who thinks that the “Trump transition” merciless administrative actions are the new normal, anyone who thinks that what they imagine is the ‘new normal’ has any relation to ordinary (normal) social change or … More The “New Normal” is Extremely Abnormal
What will it take to cause “shock and awe” over increasingly frequent and devastating catastrophic climate events? Consider this context: “The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows.” (see story in The Guardian, 1/10/2025.) Climate science predicts the devastating consequences clearly. Even so, LA burning becomes … More Charade: As Cities Burn, Perverse Politics Prevail
Just today, I ran across a New York Times article describing the latest, and possibly one of the least dangerous of the many efforts at geoengineering proposed in this era of illusions about the actual nature of climate change and human life on planet Earth. A little over two weeks ago, an article appeared in … More The Illusion Prevails. Why?
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash There is an old statistical principle having to do with probability and risk in trying to estimate future conditions and how to prepare for or take action to mitigate them to try to alter the outcome of our past and present bad behavior. In assessing the two potential errors in judging the … More Are We All Here? “Balance” and Meaning in Seeking a Livable Future
I guess the saying, “There is no accounting for taste” may be true after all. Nevertheless, some things can be said of choice when it involves contagion and fear. Sometimes taste may be only part of the explanation of political self-destructive behavior. There are, for example, too many reasons why people who really do not … More A Gang of Sycophants and the Dominator Culture
“Yes, sometimes we need to take a moment, shed a tear, and then double down on our commitment to building a cleaner, fairer world for all. The recent #USElection results may have left many of us rattled, though perhaps not surprised.“ ~ Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director, She Changes Climate I have tried to maintain a … More Does Realism Trump Hope?
I suppose it is not reasonable to speculate on the limits of human creativity. But one thing is certain. We all have an initial capacity for creative expression, if only in one way and not another. For some, it is crushed by their earliest experiences of life-conditions that I would not wish on anyone. For … More Living the Good Life, Somewhere
The other day, the grandson of dear friends was gunned down, murdered in a drive by shooting in Albuquerque. He was a vibrant nineteen year old reaching out to a life to be led. Yesterday, another dear friend mentioned the continuing grief of the death of her twenty-something son by a hit and run driver … More Suffering and Death Do Not Become You.
I was never really comfortable with the conservative-liberal bifurcation of political thought or action. As a teenager, of course, I took exception to every political utterance my father offered. He was a staunch Republican who stood for absolute moral principles and standards of behavior, deviation from which could muster no excuse whatsoever. I was a … More Will the Real Conservative Please Stand up?
I vaguely remember when I first encountered sociology and wondered, ‘what’s that about.’ I had taken an ‘aptitude test’ during my first year in college. It indicated that my highest strengths were in ‘science’ and ‘social.’ My first thought was, “What’s ‘social?” When I explored the social sciences, especially sociology and psychology, I encountered a … More The Empire Is Not Us
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 