It seems that we Americans are watching our president working hard to destroy as many of our most beloved and important institutions as possible.
Sure, most of these targets are in the realm of public health and safety, education, and the environment. But the Kennedy Center? Who saw that coming?
Thanks to the reader who sent me this, as it provides hope.
It’s possible that significant numbers of Trump supporters will come to realize that they’ve been conned, and that virtually nothing in this country is better under this administration than it was in the past.
The point this fellow is making is the reason that it’s incorrect to say that one “believes” in anthropogenic global warming (AGW, aka climate change).
We either understand science or we don’t. We have beliefs in things that are based on faith or opinion.
This, of course, opens up the discussion regarding the trend in the United States to base public policy on anything other that science. We don’t seem to have a problem with the fact that our Secretary of Health and Human Services is a crackpot.
The modern-day insanity in U.S. politics and the ways it’s covered in the media has allowed many Americans to realize something important: there will always be a way to spin current events in favorite of the Fox News “Trumpists” as well as the progressives on the other side.
The meme here is a great example. Trump and Musk and the right-wing news that supports them are reporting that they are saving taxpayers tons of money, where sources like MSNBC are pointing out that gutting/eliminating government programs that provide Americans real value is actually an extremely costly and cruel thing to do.
Carl Sagan said something similar to Orwell’s observation at left:
“Once a democracy is lost, it’s almost impossible to recover.”
A key tactic employed by the Donald Trump / Elon Musk duo is to inflict so much damage to our nation and the rest of the world that individual citizens like you and me are paralyzed by the sheer velocity with which all this is coming at us.
The closing of USAID is just one of dozens of pieces of destruction, but, as shown at left, it’s a mighty one.
One might think that alerting American citizens to impending life-threatening weather catastrophes would be something that would survive the “great purge” of the current administration. As shown at left, the ROI numbers are very strong, but, sorry, no.
The U.S. government provides real value to Americans, but about half the country doesn’t seem to care.
The meme here is from a group called the “Power of Positivity.”
As for me, I like to see a mechanism that suggests that “everything will work out in the end.”
Coincidentally, an old friend wrote me earlier today about my association with the Turimiquire Foundation as follows:
This is one of the few things I’ve read about recently that makes me hopeful for meaningful global change. The founder of this organization and the people who are providing these services to Venezuelan women are to be commended on doing such selfless and important work. It’s truly impressive.
The fact that the organization is so efficient in getting the donated dollars to the target population is nice to see as well.
I found the Durian fruit project also to be fascinating. I had never heard of this plant before and the characteristics it displays makes it ideal as a potential tool to mitigate deforestation, global warming and poverty.
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Now that’s what I call a mechanism.
The cartoon here makes an important point, albeit in a kind of tongue-in-cheek manner.
Conservatives tend to have seizures when schools present materials to the effect that our society isn’t perfect in terms of things like social justice and environmental sustainability.
And right now, with Elon Musk at the helm, it appears that the federal government will soon disconnect itself entirely from public education.
The meme here came from a reader who makes an excellent point.
As a country, we don’t seem to be able to get rid of the notion that our country should be run as if it were a business. Obviously, no one likes bloat and waste, but anyone with any sense can see that the purpose of government is to support its citizens, not to make a profit.
