Some of America’s More Conservative “Think Tanks”
The clever meme here depicts a harsh reality of life in the U.S. There are groups, heavily funded by billionaires, whose aims are to convince congress to dismantle all aspects of the federal government that serve the common American.
I’m reminded of Charles Koch, who, when asked what he regarded to be “fair” regarding taxation, replied, “I get to keep my money.” Not much nuance there. No recognition that this man, worth many billions of dollars, lives in a society that needs infrastructure, national defense, public education, etc. When I heard these words come out of his mouth, I said, “All you’re saying is that you’re a swine.”
OK, so exactly how much real “thought” exists in these so-called “think tanks?” For a chapter on the subject for my third book, “Renewable Energy–Following the Money,” I interviewed a spokesperson from the right-wing Cato Institute, and focused the discussion on his organization’s approach to climate change.
Frankly, I found their position to be shockingly indefensible. It included ideas like, “The most devastating effects of climate change lie decades in the future, so, we recommend delaying mitigation tactics until that time.”
I’m generally very noncombative when I conduct interviews, but I couldn’t help responding, “Oh, but that’s like having an oncologist tell a cigarette smoker that the patient has lung cancer, but since the disease is unlikely to kill him in the next ten years, it’s OK to continue to smoke until the cancer has ravaged his body. I don’t think that doctor would be practicing medicine much longer.”
Efforts to invest in a future of things like quality education and environmental sustainability are met with pseudoscientific attacks from institutes with high-sounding names, all to protect the rich from paying taxes.
There is a limit to which this can be taken before the United States becomes a cesspool of ignorance and toxic chemicals, and fades into irrelevance on the global stage.
The graphic below shows that California, a few of the plains states, the mid-Atlantic, and New England rank highest in terms of educational achievement, and that the Deep South ranks lowest.
We need to ask ourselves, once again, how it’s possible that working class people don’t support Biden overwhelmingly.
The intense scrutiny that the rising temperature of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere is receiving raises an important question, and interestingly, it doesn’t concern the current temperature, which modern science has nailed with great precision. Rather, it’s this: 
Here’s a 
Below, environmentalist Zan Dubin, whom I highly respect, makes a point not too dissimilar to what I’ve often said about the failure of the media to cover Biden’s accomplishments, especially those pertaining to climate change mitigation and adaptation. She writes:
Most people around the world, including the majority of Americas, find their heads spinning at the level of corruption that is spreading through the United States like a metastasizing cancer that appears to have beaten all the patient’s treatment options.
Leguizamo brings up a good point: How is it possible for any of the ethnic minorities that Trump and his supporters are so desperately anxious to harm want to see the former president back in the White House?
From the candidate herself:
FWIW, I agree with the author of the meme here. The reason most of us refrain from committing harmful acts isn’t that we think we’ll be rewarded by some sort of force that pervades the universe. Nor is our motive an eternity in heaven vs. hell.
