I usually find Robert Reich's heart to be in the right place, but his policy suggestions to be too-little-too-late, at best. I had to stop reading him/watching his videos because, while his cartooning was really entertaining, and he seemed to understand problems fairly well, he seemed to believe that the system still worked for everyday people. I would argue that it has *never* actually worked for everyday people, but it absolutely doesn't today. His proposals rely on going through "the right channels" and all that, and yet he never acknowledged that those channels were long since cut off to those of us without billions to buy politicians.
It would be difficult not to like Robert, he's a good person and I find his knowledge valuable. However, like you, I find it falls short (no pun on Professor Reich intended). Not considering the multilevel climate crisis and massive species extinction taking place make traditional economic thinking obsolete. It's tragic, with so many issues needing attending, we lack vision and moral clarity to transform society into a degrowth model. Such a transition, even started immediately, would take many years to implement and likely be undermined by the endless disasters created by an overheating planet. Already the seeds of disinformation are being planted for COP29. I concluded sometime ago the whole thing is either abject ignorance or a deliberate plot to depopulate the planet. Tough read, this one. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/circumstantial-evidence
Chicklet will likely end his days in an attempt to steal water or food from a similarly intelligent, similarly-armed (but better shot) “prepper/survivalist.”
Yeah, it's really a deluded vision. I've met these kinds of people in person. One was in a hardware store looking for stuff for his culvert pipe in the ground. He was planning to hunt to survive, was older and looked unhealthy. When I asked if he wasn't worried about the woods being cleared out in weeks or months, or where he would get his medications, he had no clue. Chicklet probably has money to do something fancier (if he wasn't just a complete bullshitter), but at some point something is going to happen to him, too. I think the surviving rich will be bored, as well. They won't have us around to play games with.
I'm sure with Chucky cheeses obvious superior intelligence that he had his underground bunker built 3 ft above high tide mark so he'll drown the first hurricane tidal surge or from the 40ft tidal wave from the Antarctica ice shelf falls into the ocean. Expensive shore frontage is in vogue after all- "Look at the view!"
In reality -
My guess is he lives in a trailer park somewhere in Arkansas with Trump posters plastered all over his trailer and tuna cans opened with a knife all over his yard. His bunker is likely a 55 gal. Hefty plastic trash can stocked with lots of canned tuna and Cheetos. You should be kind to him and remind him to stock up on Keystone beer for the duration.
Glad I'm not the only one laughing, or I might have to admit I'm insane. You have restored my faith enough to write at least one more article. When I do, don't forget you brought that on yourself. Thank you. Damn, what's that thing about Antarctica?
Yeh the Antarctic ice shelf is gonna be a problem even if it doesn’t cause tidal surge. It’s also a place that some intense geo-engineering could stabilise melting glaciers. See Kim Stanley Robinson’s sci-fi on this.
Short term we need to create multinational solutions to stop the Greenland sheet melting (nuclear reactor navy powered pumping seawater to top of glaciers maybe... drilling down to base of glaciers and pumping UP the water that lubricates the movement!?) to get underway to have a chance to prevent the Gulf Stream stopping. Fun!
Glad it gave you a couple of laughs. If you're not in a perfect state of denial, gallows humor is helpful.
This glacier scheme sounds pretty crazy. I'm not dismissing it, but any type of geoengineering will be at the point of desperation. Sadly, that is the trajectory we are on. It's not an area I have focused on, although I did write an article on SAI some months ago. If we were an intelligent species, we would have brought the behavior that has gotten us to this point under control, rather than be forced to try high-tech band-aids. I think I vacillate somewhere between despair and bemusement. My article on SAI if you're interested: https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/stratospheric-aerosol-injection-earths
Yeh it’s a ‘how the hell do we give ourselves enough time given the heat already baked in’ solution. But I think it’s gonna take those efforts at some point. Makes more sense than many geoengineering ideas I’ve heard of
SAI is certainly low-tech and possibly with uneven benefits. Its success could lead to burning more FFs rather than addressing the root problem. However, I am aware we could well be on a path to these grand experiments. It's truly sad.
Hilarious. What a f**kwit. Well done for engaging. I usually can't be bothered. Chuckles the Chump will find himself kissing the shoes of the lesser mortal he once employed to protect him in his idiot bunker, when his money and status become worthless, and the real power in that cloistered place flows, naturally, to the folks with real world skills. Good luck to him. I hope he likes the taste of boot polish.
Clunky is somewhat correct, “De-growth” is a major issue/problem. Even if done in an orderly manner, how do you separate that from a command economy? Or is that always a bad thing? Bureaucrats, the epitome of incompetence, managing anything, is scary. The Great Depression was really only about 10% drop in GDP, and we need to wind GDP out of existence. Flying must end, stay on the ground. Reduce energy consumption to world per-capita average or less. Grow most of your own food. Remember, life in a city is just a long-term hotel stay, it has nothing to do with life. Everything, EVERYTHING, you learned in school is wrong, “middle-class” life is totally incompatible with this planet. Most importantly, the concept of “Progress” must be severely curtailed. Therefore, Robert Reich cannot answer your question.
Degrowth is moral and sane. Implementing it has multiple profound problems. The start would be enough people in power of vision communicating the concept. Do we have anyone of adequate vision in those positions? It appears not. Instead, we have a world still hanging onto fossil fuels, and pretending our last ditch effort to build wind turbines and solar fields is going to bridge us into lives unchanged. We both know it's not. The politicians, if they understand, don't have the courage to tell the truth, and the corporations running the show don't give a damn. Yes, everything we were taught is wrong. Robert Reich has recognized the climate problem to a degree in some of his writing. I appreciate that he speaks of economic injustice. IDK if he understands that traditional economic thinking is unsustainable or not. That's why I put the question to him.
I learned long ago that it is a waste of time and energy to try to reason with someone who does not live in the real world. You will never convince them of anyting. I try to stay far, far away from them. They are usually very unhappy people and must pay for their vitriole by living with themselves.
There are other, more reasonable people who are actually looking for information and are open to discussion. These are the ones to reach, and I believe that their numbers are growing. The only question is, will it be in time?
I agree, some people aren't worth the time to argue with. I may have started earnestly with this guy (not with any real hope), but as his responses got worse it turned into a game for me. I don't worry about Chunky. Although my readership is growing steadily, I do sometimes wonder about subscribers who leave, what the made them do so. In those cases, I feel like I may have lost someone persuadable.
I think you are right, that more people are realizing we're in trouble. I share your concern that we may be waking up too late. I think agriculture is in trouble, which will spur inflation. The wealth gap has never been greater, a fundamental reason Trump has a voice. Biden, not popular to begin with, has dug a hole in arming Israel's slaughter in Gaza. We are living in a boiling pot. There should be a national conversation about climate change and a call for citizen participation. Instead, we're getting a massive corporate build out of mining and a fantasy our lives aren't going to change. Not wise. When the crisis really hits, it will likely be chaos rather than people prepared with knowledge and leadership. Our political leadership is failing miserably.
I usually find Robert Reich's heart to be in the right place, but his policy suggestions to be too-little-too-late, at best. I had to stop reading him/watching his videos because, while his cartooning was really entertaining, and he seemed to understand problems fairly well, he seemed to believe that the system still worked for everyday people. I would argue that it has *never* actually worked for everyday people, but it absolutely doesn't today. His proposals rely on going through "the right channels" and all that, and yet he never acknowledged that those channels were long since cut off to those of us without billions to buy politicians.
It would be difficult not to like Robert, he's a good person and I find his knowledge valuable. However, like you, I find it falls short (no pun on Professor Reich intended). Not considering the multilevel climate crisis and massive species extinction taking place make traditional economic thinking obsolete. It's tragic, with so many issues needing attending, we lack vision and moral clarity to transform society into a degrowth model. Such a transition, even started immediately, would take many years to implement and likely be undermined by the endless disasters created by an overheating planet. Already the seeds of disinformation are being planted for COP29. I concluded sometime ago the whole thing is either abject ignorance or a deliberate plot to depopulate the planet. Tough read, this one. https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/circumstantial-evidence
Chicklet will likely end his days in an attempt to steal water or food from a similarly intelligent, similarly-armed (but better shot) “prepper/survivalist.”
Yeah, it's really a deluded vision. I've met these kinds of people in person. One was in a hardware store looking for stuff for his culvert pipe in the ground. He was planning to hunt to survive, was older and looked unhealthy. When I asked if he wasn't worried about the woods being cleared out in weeks or months, or where he would get his medications, he had no clue. Chicklet probably has money to do something fancier (if he wasn't just a complete bullshitter), but at some point something is going to happen to him, too. I think the surviving rich will be bored, as well. They won't have us around to play games with.
I'm sure with Chucky cheeses obvious superior intelligence that he had his underground bunker built 3 ft above high tide mark so he'll drown the first hurricane tidal surge or from the 40ft tidal wave from the Antarctica ice shelf falls into the ocean. Expensive shore frontage is in vogue after all- "Look at the view!"
In reality -
My guess is he lives in a trailer park somewhere in Arkansas with Trump posters plastered all over his trailer and tuna cans opened with a knife all over his yard. His bunker is likely a 55 gal. Hefty plastic trash can stocked with lots of canned tuna and Cheetos. You should be kind to him and remind him to stock up on Keystone beer for the duration.
Thanks for the laugh. It made my day.
Glad I'm not the only one laughing, or I might have to admit I'm insane. You have restored my faith enough to write at least one more article. When I do, don't forget you brought that on yourself. Thank you. Damn, what's that thing about Antarctica?
It was pretty funny thanks 😅
Yeh the Antarctic ice shelf is gonna be a problem even if it doesn’t cause tidal surge. It’s also a place that some intense geo-engineering could stabilise melting glaciers. See Kim Stanley Robinson’s sci-fi on this.
Short term we need to create multinational solutions to stop the Greenland sheet melting (nuclear reactor navy powered pumping seawater to top of glaciers maybe... drilling down to base of glaciers and pumping UP the water that lubricates the movement!?) to get underway to have a chance to prevent the Gulf Stream stopping. Fun!
Glad it gave you a couple of laughs. If you're not in a perfect state of denial, gallows humor is helpful.
This glacier scheme sounds pretty crazy. I'm not dismissing it, but any type of geoengineering will be at the point of desperation. Sadly, that is the trajectory we are on. It's not an area I have focused on, although I did write an article on SAI some months ago. If we were an intelligent species, we would have brought the behavior that has gotten us to this point under control, rather than be forced to try high-tech band-aids. I think I vacillate somewhere between despair and bemusement. My article on SAI if you're interested: https://geoffreydeihl.substack.com/p/stratospheric-aerosol-injection-earths
And pretty low tech frankly
Yeh it’s a ‘how the hell do we give ourselves enough time given the heat already baked in’ solution. But I think it’s gonna take those efforts at some point. Makes more sense than many geoengineering ideas I’ve heard of
SAI is certainly low-tech and possibly with uneven benefits. Its success could lead to burning more FFs rather than addressing the root problem. However, I am aware we could well be on a path to these grand experiments. It's truly sad.
I didn’t know the government told us about climate change. I thought that was scientists all over the planet. Wow
You probably believe the Earth is more than 6,000 years old, too. Sorry, Justin, I'm gonna have to block you.
Hahaha
Hilarious. What a f**kwit. Well done for engaging. I usually can't be bothered. Chuckles the Chump will find himself kissing the shoes of the lesser mortal he once employed to protect him in his idiot bunker, when his money and status become worthless, and the real power in that cloistered place flows, naturally, to the folks with real world skills. Good luck to him. I hope he likes the taste of boot polish.
He threw me off a more difficult piece of work, but it was worth it. Kind of a palate cleanser. Should I thank him?
On behalf of us all, yes, you should!
Glad it's behind you now. Am looking forward to reading your AI piece.
Clunky is somewhat correct, “De-growth” is a major issue/problem. Even if done in an orderly manner, how do you separate that from a command economy? Or is that always a bad thing? Bureaucrats, the epitome of incompetence, managing anything, is scary. The Great Depression was really only about 10% drop in GDP, and we need to wind GDP out of existence. Flying must end, stay on the ground. Reduce energy consumption to world per-capita average or less. Grow most of your own food. Remember, life in a city is just a long-term hotel stay, it has nothing to do with life. Everything, EVERYTHING, you learned in school is wrong, “middle-class” life is totally incompatible with this planet. Most importantly, the concept of “Progress” must be severely curtailed. Therefore, Robert Reich cannot answer your question.
Degrowth is moral and sane. Implementing it has multiple profound problems. The start would be enough people in power of vision communicating the concept. Do we have anyone of adequate vision in those positions? It appears not. Instead, we have a world still hanging onto fossil fuels, and pretending our last ditch effort to build wind turbines and solar fields is going to bridge us into lives unchanged. We both know it's not. The politicians, if they understand, don't have the courage to tell the truth, and the corporations running the show don't give a damn. Yes, everything we were taught is wrong. Robert Reich has recognized the climate problem to a degree in some of his writing. I appreciate that he speaks of economic injustice. IDK if he understands that traditional economic thinking is unsustainable or not. That's why I put the question to him.
The Mark Twain quote couldn't be more perfect....
I would like to have seen Mark Twain and George Carlin on stage together.
Yeah. It's a great quote.
What a combo! Saw GC at a small college outside Atlanta in the early seventies. I definitely miss him!
I learned long ago that it is a waste of time and energy to try to reason with someone who does not live in the real world. You will never convince them of anyting. I try to stay far, far away from them. They are usually very unhappy people and must pay for their vitriole by living with themselves.
There are other, more reasonable people who are actually looking for information and are open to discussion. These are the ones to reach, and I believe that their numbers are growing. The only question is, will it be in time?
I agree, some people aren't worth the time to argue with. I may have started earnestly with this guy (not with any real hope), but as his responses got worse it turned into a game for me. I don't worry about Chunky. Although my readership is growing steadily, I do sometimes wonder about subscribers who leave, what the made them do so. In those cases, I feel like I may have lost someone persuadable.
I think you are right, that more people are realizing we're in trouble. I share your concern that we may be waking up too late. I think agriculture is in trouble, which will spur inflation. The wealth gap has never been greater, a fundamental reason Trump has a voice. Biden, not popular to begin with, has dug a hole in arming Israel's slaughter in Gaza. We are living in a boiling pot. There should be a national conversation about climate change and a call for citizen participation. Instead, we're getting a massive corporate build out of mining and a fantasy our lives aren't going to change. Not wise. When the crisis really hits, it will likely be chaos rather than people prepared with knowledge and leadership. Our political leadership is failing miserably.