You and I aren't rich enough to ignore the world. by 1kiki

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

You and I aren't rich enough to ignore the world.

POSTED BY: 1KIKI
UPDATED: Sunday, August 26, 2018 03:03
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Saturday, August 25, 2018 7:59 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Now, if we were really REALLY rich, if one country fell apart, we could fly elsewhere in our private jets, and be met by our dear friends who would make us feel at home. If our estates were threatened, we could simply deploy our private security. If the oceans and lakes got too polluted to enjoy, we could build massive naturalistic pools. We might even have (presumably) nuclear-safe bunkers.

But you and I - in the real world, here we are, down in steerage. Anything bad that happens is going to hit us hard. We simply don't have the resources to avoid, mitigate, or outlast major crises.

Most immediate on my list is the nuclear threat:
Russian Official Shocks By Urging Tactical Nuke Deployment In Syria After Bolton Warning
One Minute To Midnight: Latest US Sanctions Propel Nations Towards Risk Of War
The Bromance Is Over: Trump Tells Pompeo Not To Go To North Korea
All the same neo-cons who were angling in that direction are at it again. So as a result, wouldn't it be funny - though not really - if we stumbled our way into nuclear annihilation?
If you think YOU PERSONALLY being stampeded into a confrontation with Russia the exact same way you were stampeded into Iraq doesn't matter - you should probably think again. Many countries had populations that were massively, vocally, actively against going into Iraq. And quite magically, those countries didn't participate.
It's time to get out of the cozy, hazy, rewarding righteousness you've been drugged with, and save your own asses.

Global warming is next. And I have to say - nothing about humanity makes me think we will abandon the systems we are literally entirely invested in, so that we can turn aside at the cliff's edge. When I look at a previous example of a global response to a global problem - ozone destruction - all I can think of is that it took years of negotiations just to address the threat from one relatively minor class of chemicals. And by contrast, here we are, faced with having to give up our intensive use of energy across all economies that are based on. More. And More. And then some More of More. I don't see us giving up that entire edifice of corporate structures, financial systems, balance sheets, government lampreys, and so on.
So when droughts hit and food gets exorbitant, temperatures are too high and electricity goes out, water is rationed when you need it most - maybe you need to come up with a strategy AND an exit plan. Just in case.
OR - you could vote for people who understand we need to solve these problems, and stop worrying about about bathroom genders and orange skin.

Then there is the general pollution problem. Plastics in the oceans. Pesticides in the food. Nanoparticles killing the cells of everything. And the general resource depletion problem as well. And species extinction, caused by over-use and over-development. There is nothing natural about these problems. They're all entirely self-made in the search for the cheapest way to make the most profit.

And finally - economic collapse. But at this point it almost seems, well, trivial.

So here we sit, you and I, in steerage, with a few minute to go before the Titanic grinds into the iceberg. What are we going to do?

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Saturday, August 25, 2018 9:21 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:

So here we sit, you and I, in steerage, with a few minute to go before the Titanic grinds into the iceberg. What are we going to do?

If you're a Tibetan Buddhist monk, you will take the end calmly.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, August 25, 2018 11:20 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

WE need to come together to decide our collective national fate: What problems are important, and which ones are merely urgent? How do we best address them?

Unfortunately, too many people are way too ignorant and way too invested in the way things are. So if there's going to be a collective solution, it isn't going to come from here, since it is our elite which drives much of the western world. They are The Heart of Darkness in our system. And the media stupefies the people, conveniently for TPTB.

But FWIW I don't believe that the USA deep state (and the elite that they serve) will be allowed to run roughshod over the globe much longer. Sooner or later ... possibly even as soon as next year ... there will be a major defection from the dollar by one of America's major partners. It's one thing for China, Russia, India, Iran, Venezuela and Turkey to dump out of the dollar system for their own bilateral dealings with each other. But I'm looking at Germany and Russia: If Trump insists on sanctioning any company that deals with the Nord Stream2, while Germany absolutely requires its completion, what do you suppose will happen? Putin and Merkel met last week, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that Merkel and Putin were strategizing how to weasel around sanctions. I can think of a couple of ways for Germany to do this: (1) The same way that they got around sanctions before, by creating subsidiaries in Russia or other sacrificial business entities or (2) taking the much bolder step of paying for gas in Euros using a non-SWIFT system.

My point being, change is not going to come from within the USA but will be imposed from without. And, like I said, it may come sooner than many people think. Also, if the USA military stops steaming/flying its way around the world, it will save a lot of energy, since the USA military is the largest single energy hog in the world!

So all I can do is prep for whatever emergencies might come our way, most notably earthquake and financial/social disruption.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND

America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876

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Sunday, August 26, 2018 2:38 AM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Your reply reminds me of one of the Asian (immigrant, educated, and Trump voter) women at work. I mentioned my discouraged conclusion that we would not avoid devastating global warming. And she said "I agree". So I said that most people avoid thinking about global warming because the end of the story is too uncomfortable. And she said "All we can do is our best to prepare".

But fwiw, I've obviously identified what I think my interests as a citizen are, in order of pressing priorities.

THUGGER admits it's not about RUSSIA !!! and is, in fact, a witch hunt. "Trump better be innocent of any wrong doing, anywhere, anytime."

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Sunday, August 26, 2018 3:03 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Your reply reminds me of one of the Asian (immigrant, educated, and Trump voter) women at work. I mentioned my discouraged conclusion that we would not avoid devastating global warming. And she said "I agree". So I said that most people avoid thinking about global warming because the end of the story is too uncomfortable. And she said "All we can do is our best to prepare".

Well, I don't see too many people around here willing to think about anything, let alone change their minds.

Yanno, it's kinda funny ... I find myself pissing off almost everyone here at one time or another. When GWB was President I had none-too-kind words about him; the Rush Limbaugh crowd hated my guts. But since I called Hillary a globalist neocon shill, the people who CALL themselves "liberals" hate me even more. I'm confounded by a general lack of reason; people seem so eager to jump at each other's throats, but for what? Reason, science, fact-based thinking ... it won't get thru on global warming, thats' for sure.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND

America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876

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