To those who have been with us since our inception in 2009, as well as to those who are just joining us now for the first time, here’s a brief summary of what we at 2GreenEnergy are all about. We offer:
• A platform on which we connect cleantech entrepreneurs with sources of investment capital. (more…)
The substance of the meme here is correct; Florida public schools actually do require comprehensive K-12 instruction on the history and dangers of communism, following a series of legislative moves and curriculum standards. The updated “History of Communism” curriculum is rolling out for the 2026–2027 school year, mandating that students learn about the “brutal realities” and (the catastrophic) global impact of communist regimes.
When I was a schoolboy in the 1960s and early 1970s, we came to learn that all efforts to establish a viable communist nation had failed, but our teachers were not shackled as to what they could teach and how they could teach it. As a result, we came to have access to a variety of helpful viewpoints, and these are what I offered my own kids as they were growing up, e.g.,
Now, will American schoolchildren turn out better if they’re cut off from the capacity to think critically about all this and forced to accept the mantra that “communism = evil?” The typical Florida Republican would say the answer is an obvious yes, but most intelligent people would dispute that.
An educational system that produces young people who can think for themselves is an idea quite opposed to the ongoing control of an ignorant population.
Trump appeals to two groups of constituents: a) a small group of billionaires who lavish him with campaign contributions in exchange for huge financial favors, and b) a large number of poorly educated white people who call themselves Christians–the so-called MAGA base.
Trump has little if any appeal to everybody else: honest, fairly well-educated people of a variety of ethnicities and religious affiliations.
For Trump, staying in power means making sure that there is a minimum of leakage away from the MAGA base. That requires barraging these people with messaging to the effect that the president is the only thing standing in the way of communism/socialism, open borders, the invasion of Muslims, godlessness, teaching our little children about LGBTQs, critical race theory, choking environmental regulations, and whatever else may be on the radical left’s agenda.
Maintaining this chasm means not letting up on the propaganda for a single minute. No nuance, no critical thinking, no considering what we’ve learned from history–just constant bombardment.
To the author of the meme here, I say: It’s safe to say that most folks in Trump’s MAGA base are stupid, though one needs more than a low IQ to fit into this segment.
In particular, we mustn’t omit mean-spiritedness. People who are kind, compassionate, decent and tolerant of others are grossly unqualified to be rank-and-file Trumpers.
The mural here reminds us of what Tom Joad famously tells his mother at the end of in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, in response to her asking Tom where he’s going:
Wherever people are fighting for their rights, where kids are hungry and crying, and where folks are struggling to be free. Everywhere in the dark, wherever there is a fight so hungry people can eat or a cop beating up a guy.
What the late Frank Zappa said here about atheism is what I began predicting when I was in my teens, but I’m not so optimistic today.
In fact, there seems to be a trend towards the rejection of science, fear, brutality, and tribalism–each one a pillar of religion and the fanaticism that so often surrounds it.
As shown at left, “communism” and “socialism” have been used to scare American idiots for almost a century.
The lead story on tonight’s episode of the long-running CBS show “60 Minutes” proposed to answer how is it possible that the rest of the developed world, as well as communist dictatorships like China, offer their citizens and visitors the opportunity to travel around the land speeds of hundreds of miles per hour, where such projects in the U.S. have never gotten close to even the feeblest level of success.
They imply that the answer lies mainly in government mismanagement and outrageous over-promises for political purposes.
In the process of creating 2GreenEnergy, I coincidentally tripped across a story that explains this far more convincingly.
I happened to interview a very bright and dedicated young man in the Texas state legislature about 20 years ago, who told me that he and his team had done a great deal of research and legal work surrounding connecting Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio with highspeed rail, and had offered their plans to the public for comment.
One of the first comments came in the form of a phone call he received from Herb Kelleher, then-CEO of Southwest Airlines, which operated out of airports in those four cities. He said, “Normally, tickets between any of these cities are priced at $80 each. If you drive your first spike, I’ll reduce that price to $8. Perhaps with free parking and cocktails on the house. Let’s see how that works out for you.”
What I inferred from the interview I conducted with the young, perhaps naive Texan who was bold enough to propose low-carbon mass transportation to the Lone Star state, was this: money and power talk here, and nothing else matters.
Yet that’s not true elsewhere around the globe.
Had Kelleher publicly taken this position in China and pushed after it, he would have likely been executed by a firing squad. Though we hate to see the threat of violence as public policy, we all must admit that the Chinese are quite effective in carrying out their plans, regardless of what those plans might be or how they are brought to bear.
In Europe and the rest of the OECD nations, the situation is, fortunately, far more nuanced and less savage. People are highly educated, and they understand the need for decarbonizing their electric grid and transportation sectors. Having some billionaire jackass strong-arm their culture would not have enjoyed any success there either.
Many things in these parts of the world get done simply because they are right, as mystifying as that seems to us in the U.S.
Today, I met a professional driver for the film-making industry whose principal focus is stunt-work.
Somehow, we got to talking about the many movie stars for whom he’s worked over the years, and how pleasant most of them are to be around.
He started by mentioning Kevin Costner.
“I really like him,” I said. Please tell me he’s not an asshole.”
“Oh no; he’s a prince,” my new friend replied. “I also do the driving for Jay Leno’s show about his massive garage full of vintage cars. He’s even kinder. When we’re having lunch between shootings, he’ll often come up to our table and ask if we need another Coke or two. Maybe desserts?”
We eventually got around to the stars who are, in fact, assholes.
“I drive in Lethal Weapon 4,” he began.
“Let me make a stab. Mel Gibson?”
Yes. One of the most hateful, most miserable people you could meet in 100 lifetimes.”
“That’s the rumor everyone’s heard,” I responded. “It’s weird how people who have more money that God feel the need to be such terrible people.”
“Well, my theory is that money doesn’t change people; it only amplifies them.”
I remind him of Henry Ford’s observation above.
Great conversation.
How Trump has any credibility with Americans–or the other citizens of our planet–is a mystery that is impossible to unravel.
It’s good to hear Bernie Sanders say what he did here, but it’s sad that it needs to be said at all.
Are we really interested in lowering grocery prices if we’re living in a dictatorship?
