Feb 11, 2025 | First take a breath and breathe deeply. It’s the first rule of resistance — breathe! That is how you know you are still human. MAGA maniacs just rage. That how you know they are Zombies.
Topics covered in all four parts:
1) Join one of your local resistance cells (Democracy Forward was mentioned on the call I was on in Virginia with Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Individible, local Democratic chapters),
2) Join What’s Happening & How You Can Take Action | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (subscribe and stay informed with AOC )
3) Watch The Rachel Maddow Show [9PM] 2/10/2025 | 🅼🆂🅽🅱️🅲 BREAKING NEWS Today February 10, 2025 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyrMr2VzgPk
Connecting the Dots of Chaos, Confusion, and Authoritarianism
Rachel is a master of connecting the dots and painting the bigger picture so you can’t MISS SEEING WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON. In last night’s show, she paints a picture so clearly of how Trump is decapitating government, you can’t miss it. Trump’s biggest Loser Cabinet will be the biggest, baddest cabinet ever!
Putting LOSERS in Charge
To be selected by Trump to head a government agency or department, you just have to be a LOSER! Once appointed, these LOSERS are executing these government systems Trump put them in control of, and I mean kill them.
Rachel also tells us why we should be VERY concerned about Federal Agencies such as the CFPB being ILLEGALLY shut down. Have you ever been scammed? Well… watch out because now the agency that has worked to get your money back from scammers is gone! Elizabeth Warren tells Rachel in the past 13 years 21 billion dollars has been recovered by this tiny, insignificant agency and put back in USA citizens pockets. But Elon has a plan!!! Turn ex-Twitter into PayPal… do you remember? That’s how Evilon got his toe into making money. And now he can scam the H*** out of anyone stupid enough to use his sketchy system with NO Regulation!
The Three Buckets of Chaos, Doom, and Authoritarianism
The Three Buckets of Chaos Rachel breaks down are CRITICAL. Study them and learn to recognize what wacky thing the Trump-Elon monster has done to day fits under and it is #3 that we must push back on relentlessly and not ignore!!!
The TruMuck Monster
Number 1: Bad Outcomes such as planes crashing or farmers getting screwed by TruMusk – or TruMuck because they turned off Biden’s Inflation Reduction funding.
And He Did Resign — Right Before the Biggest Air Disaster in 25 Years!!!
Even FOX has to report on it!!
Number 2: Double-dealing such as Elon’s Tesla chargers get a big head start and huge advantage over his competitors as Trump administration pauses a federal clean energy program to expand the country’s network of electric vehicle charging stations.
Yep… It’s going right into you and your DOGE bro’s pockets!!!
Damn Right Elon’s Running USA RIGHT NOW!!! IT is the brain of all modern systems… if you highjack the brain, you run the system
Elon is Not that much different than the Toxoplasma gondii virus
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii hijacks the brains of mice and other rodents, causing them to lose their fear of cats.This makes them more likely to be eaten by cats, which can then spread the parasite to other animals.
How does Toxoplasma affect the brain?
It may secrete molecules that rewire the brain
It may cause brain cysts that interfere with dopamine production
It may trigger inflammation in the brain, which changes brain function and behavior
It blocks the rodents’ natural aversion to cat urine, instead attracting them to the pheromone
How long does the effect last?
The effect of Toxoplasma can last for months, even after the parasite is no longer detectable.
How can you avoid infection?
To avoid infection, you can:
Maintain good hygiene for you and your pets
Wear gloves and a mask when gardening
Keep sandboxes closed when not in use
Clean fruits and vegetables
Thoroughly cook meats
Wash hands regularly
Hmmmm, now we need a list of how to avoid infection of the Elon MuskToxoplasma gondii virus
This is what it looks like inside of Elon’s Mind
Back to The Three Buckets of Chaos, Doom, and Authoritarianism
Number 3: Authoritarian Breakthrough such as TruMuckignoring Court Orders to turn funding to HeadStart and Community Health Centers back on — guess what? It.. the TruMuck monster, hasn’t turned the money back on. Nor have they reopened USAID, which a Federal Judge has also ordered halted.
Another sign of authoritarian breakthrough is pardoning criminals such as Rod Blagojevich, January 6ers, Jared’s dad. All of these people are now beholden to TruMuck to do his bidding. TruMuck is still deciding how to use Rod. But January 6ers, they are now TruMuck’s personal band of Terror Police.
This sort of play is not so far back in our collective human history! Are we stupid?! Let’s look back at Russian Czar Alexander III regarded by historians as the last real autocrat in Russia. His secret police force was called the Okhrana. They were tasked with terrorizing or killing any opponents of Alexander III. One of the things they did was kill dogs and tie their heads on the saddles of their horses so that they appeared like demons, which of course they were. [Sources: Wiki-Oprichnik, Study Guide ]
History of Russia & Ivan the TerribleBad Outcomes Again… this is Stupid Ivan killing his own son because he couldn’t control his thirst for Power any more
Stay Awake! Stay Aware! Be Ready to Act!
So, you see there is a reason why Republican Senators and Reps are spineless, sniveling fools right now… but if they don’t stand up Now, which I don’t think they ever well, there is no way to stop TruMuck using our democratic levers of democracy.
Stay Aware. Stay Informed. Take Breaks, But DO NOT IGNORE THIS. Action is Required.
This blog expands upon the themes and issues explored in the podcast above: Are We Hard-Wired to Destroy Ourselves? It dives deep into an excerpt from D. Mann’sSapience: The Moment Is Now, which depicts a dystopian future (2050-2070s) that results from humanity’s failure to address climate change in the 2020s. The narrative highlights the collapse of global cooperation and the prioritization of economic growth over environmental sustainability. The author argues that the inherent drive of civilizations to maximize production, embodied by powerful multinational corporations, prevented effective climate action. This ultimately led to widespread suffering and environmental devastation, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations. The story concludes by showing that even the wealthy elite could not escape the consequences of inaction.
Briefing Document: “Sapience: The Moment Is Now” Excerpts
Date: October 26, 2023 (based on requested date in prompt – assuming today’s date) Subject: Analysis of Key Themes and Ideas Regarding Climate Change and Societal Collapse in the mid 21st Century. Source: Excerpts from “Sapience: The Moment Is Now” by D. Mann, published 4/24/24.
Executive Summary:
This fictional work projects a bleak future in the mid 21st century (2050-2070s), where humanity’s failure to address climate change leads to societal breakdown. The excerpts highlight the failure of global cooperation, the destructive nature of unchecked economic growth, the role of multinational corporations (Multis), and the stark inequalities that exacerbate suffering. The core argument presented is that humanity’s inability to change its fundamental drive towards production and growth, coupled with the amorality of corporate entities, led to a climate catastrophe. The story emphasizes the need to shift human consciousness rather than simply focusing on technical solutions to climate change.
Key Themes & Ideas:
Collapse of Global Cooperation: The narrative emphasizes the disintegration of international agreements and alliances designed to combat climate change.
Quote: “At some point, which no one can quite remember when, every alliance or agreement the world had ever made to fight climate change was abandoned or forgotten.”
Analysis: This highlights a failure of collective action and suggests that in the face of crisis, nations prioritized individual survival over global solutions. The story presents this as almost inevitable due to the lack of accountability for individual nation states.
The Inherent Drive to Produce: The excerpts argue that civilizations are fundamentally driven by a need to produce more, making it difficult to limit resource consumption and therefore, greenhouse gas emissions.
Quote: “This calling is simple and straightforward. It is the mission that propels civilizations through time. And the mission is: produce more things. This is what civilizations do. This is why they exist and what they have been doing for more than 5,000 years.”
Analysis: This idea suggests that our current civilization is inherently unsustainable in the face of climate change because its core function directly contributes to the crisis. The story asserts that the production function is akin to a wild animal eating, therefore difficult if not impossible to contain.
The Failure of Incremental Measures: The story illustrates that the piecemeal efforts made by local, state, federal, and national governments are inadequate because there is no real mechanism for accountability.
Quote: “Local, state, federal, and national governments all made voluntary pledges, but mostly these were pretty words that bloomed like perennial flowers but didn’t last long. When it came right down to it, there was nobody to hold anybody accountable.”
Analysis: This implies that voluntary commitments are insufficient without a system of enforcement. It highlights the inability of established governments to properly mitigate the climate crisis.
The Unchanging Human Consciousness: The work proposes that climate change is a symptom of a deeper “sickness” within human consciousness that needs to be addressed.
Quote: “Really, it wasn’t the climate that needed changing. It was human consciousness. Climate change was simply a fever of a sickness that began long ago.”
Analysis: This reinforces the idea that simply mitigating greenhouse gases is insufficient to save humanity from self-destruction, which requires a fundamental shift in values and behaviors.
Multinational Corporations (Multis) as Agents of Destruction: The excerpts portray “Multis” as amoral entities that prioritize profit above all else, profiting immensely from the climate crisis.
Quote: “Multis don’t suffer, only humans suffer. Multis can’t suffer because they are not made up of living cells capable of feeling pain. Multis are pseudo beings, ideas really. Their existence depends entirely on agreements among the people working for them.”
Analysis: This suggests that corporations, due to their legal status and lack of feeling, are incapable of making moral decisions that are needed to avoid climate disaster. The narrative demonstrates that Multi’s don’t care about the fate of humans or the planet, only their bottom line.
Quote: “It turns out climate catastrophes are impressively profitable!”
Analysis: This quote points to the absurd and dangerous logic where those contributing to the problem benefit most from the chaos.
Inequality and Disproportionate Suffering: The text clearly illustrates how the consequences of climate change disproportionately affect the poor and the vulnerable before impacting the wealthy and powerful.
Quote: “Reality knocked first on the doors of the poorest people of the world. Most didn’t even have doors, but they suffered and died just the same.”
Analysis: The narrative emphasizes that the “Fall” did not happen equally, with the most vulnerable populations experiencing devastation before the more privileged groups were affected.
“Business as Usual” Mentality:
Quote: “Rather than do anything that really needed doing, people went about in a business-as-usual manner. They had to because it was the only way to survive. People did this until reality came knocking on their door.”
Analysis: This quote highlights the tragic inertia and failure of humanity to act decisively, suggesting that our ingrained systems and behaviors led to an inability to pivot from the destructive course. This also indicates that people were trapped in a system that failed to allow them to take appropriate action to change.
Conclusion:
The excerpts from “Sapience: The Moment Is Now” paint a grim picture of a future shaped by our failure to address climate change, focusing on fundamental problems in our civilization itself rather than just the technical or ecological aspects of global warming. The story warns against the dangers of unchecked growth, the amorality of corporate entities, and the disintegration of global cooperation. It suggests that a fundamental change in human consciousness, rather than simply technical solutions, is necessary for long-term survival. The narrative serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences of inaction and the inherent flaws within our current systems.
Consciousness and Climate Inaction
Yes, the sources argue that human consciousness itself was a fundamental obstacle to effective climate action. The author argues that civilizations are inherently driven by a need to “produce more things” [1], making production their essential driving force. This focus on production leads to a constant pursuit of GDP growth, positioning civilizations in a race for economic dominance [2].
Here are some key points that illustrate how human consciousness hindered effective climate action:
Civilizations are inherently driven to produce. This drive is so deeply ingrained in human consciousness that it’s comparable to a wild animal’s instinct to consume. [1, 2]
Modern civilizations have become expert producers, constantly striving to increase their GDP. This makes it nearly impossible for them to voluntarily limit production, even when it’s necessary to protect the planet. [2]
People continued with “business as usual” even when faced with the threat of climate change. They did so because it was the only way to survive within the existing economic system. People only changed their behavior when the direct effects of climate change, such as natural disasters and economic hardship, became unavoidable. [3]
Essentially, humanity’s focus on production and economic growth created a system that was incompatible with the actions needed to address climate change. This system was so powerful that it ultimately overrode concerns about the environment, leading to inaction and a failure to mitigate the climate crisis.
Climate Collapse: A Study Guide
Key Terms Glossary
Multis: A shortened term for Multinational Corporations, often used pejoratively to emphasize their perceived inhumanity and disregard for human suffering.
GDP: Gross Domestic Product, a measure of the total value of goods and services produced within a country’s borders, often used as an indicator of economic success.
Climate Cliff: A metaphor describing the point at which climate change reaches a catastrophic tipping point, leading to irreversible and devastating consequences.
Mamparas: A Spanish slang term, roughly translating to “idiots” or “fools,” used here to express frustration with the wealthy elite who seemed oblivious to the impending crisis.
Short Answer Questions
What is the central argument presented in the “The Fall” chapter?
Why, according to the author, did global efforts to combat climate change ultimately fail?
What is the “mission” that drives all civilizations, and how does it relate to climate change?
What does the phrase “You can’t eat money” signify in the context of the excerpt?
How are Multinational Corporations (Multis) portrayed in the “Multis Don’t Suffer” chapter?
What specific characteristic of Multis allows them to thrive during times of crisis and chaos?
Why does the author argue that Multis “don’t suffer”?
What legal protections do Multis enjoy that contribute to their power and influence?
How do Multis benefit from the climate catastrophes described in the excerpt?
What is the overall tone and message conveyed by the author in these excerpts?
Short Answer Key
The central argument is that human civilization’s inherent drive for production and growth, coupled with the self-serving nature of multinational corporations, led to the inevitable failure to address climate change.
Global efforts failed because they were voluntary, lacked accountability, and ultimately conflicted with the fundamental economic imperative of growth and production.
The mission is to “produce more things,” which, in the context of a reliance on fossil fuels, directly contributes to climate change.
It highlights the harsh reality that wealth and material possessions become meaningless in the face of existential threats like climate catastrophe.
Multis are depicted as powerful, amoral entities that prioritize profit above all else, exploiting chaos and suffering for financial gain.
Their lack of empathy and their ability to operate beyond the constraints of human morality allow them to capitalize on crises that devastate individuals and communities.
They are not living beings capable of experiencing pain or emotional consequences; they are abstract entities driven solely by economic imperatives.
Multis enjoy legal protections similar to those of individual human beings, shielding them from accountability and enabling them to act with impunity.
Climate catastrophes create opportunities for Multis to expand their market share, acquire assets from struggling competitors, and exploit the increased demand for essential goods and services.
The tone is bleak and critical, warning against the dangers of unchecked corporate power and the consequences of prioritizing economic growth over environmental sustainability.
Essay Questions
Analyze the author’s use of metaphors, such as “climate cliff” and “Multis don’t suffer,” to convey their message about climate change and corporate responsibility.
Discuss the concept of “human consciousness” as the root cause of the climate crisis. How does this perspective differ from focusing solely on technological solutions or policy changes?
Examine the historical context alluded to in the excerpt. What past failures of civilizations might the author be referencing to support their argument?
Evaluate the author’s critique of the GDP as a flawed measure of societal success. What alternative metrics might better reflect human well-being and environmental sustainability?
Explore the potential consequences of a world where Multis continue to wield significant power and influence in the face of escalating climate change. What ethical dilemmas and societal challenges might arise?
Climate Change FAQ: A Look at the Fall
1. What was the primary reason global efforts to combat climate change failed?
While many factors contributed to the failure, the most significant was the lack of a binding global agreement with enforcement mechanisms. Countries made voluntary pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but these were often seen as empty promises with no real consequences for non-compliance.
2. How did human behavior contribute to the climate crisis?
Humanity’s inherent drive for production and economic growth, embodied in the pursuit of ever-increasing GDP, fueled the reliance on fossil fuels. This insatiable desire for “more” made it nearly impossible for civilizations to voluntarily limit their energy consumption and embrace sustainable practices.
3. What role did Multinational Corporations (Multis) play in the environmental collapse?
Multis, driven by profit maximization, exploited the chaotic conditions created by climate change to further their own growth. They prioritized short-term gains over long-term sustainability, often lobbying against environmental regulations and continuing business practices that exacerbated the crisis. Their legal protections and immense wealth shielded them from the consequences faced by ordinary people.
4. How did the impacts of climate change differ for various socioeconomic groups?
Climate change disproportionately impacted the poorest populations who lacked resources and infrastructure to cope with the escalating disasters. While the wealthy could initially shield themselves from the immediate effects, eventually, the severity of the crisis overwhelmed even their defenses, leading to widespread societal collapse.
5. Was there a point of no return in addressing climate change?
The text suggests that a “business-as-usual” mentality prevailed for too long, leading to a point where the consequences of climate change became unavoidable. This turning point marked a shift from a potential for mitigation to a reality of adaptation and survival.
6. What does the phrase “Multis don’t suffer, only humans suffer” mean?
This highlights the inherent difference between corporations and living beings. Multis, as legal entities, are incapable of experiencing the physical and emotional suffering inflicted by climate change. This detachment from the human cost allowed them to prioritize profits over the well-being of people and the planet.
7. Did everyone contribute equally to the environmental crisis?
While every individual bears some responsibility for their actions, the text emphasizes the outsized role of the 1% and the Multis in perpetuating unsustainable practices. Their influence on economic systems and political decision-making magnified their contribution to the crisis.
8. What lessons can we learn from this account of the future?
The excerpt serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of inaction and the need for a fundamental shift in human consciousness. It highlights the importance of holding powerful entities accountable, prioritizing collective well-being over individual gain, and embracing sustainable practices before it’s too late.
Briefing Doc: The Fall of Civilization and the Rise of Multis
Source: Excerpts from Sapience: The Moment Is Now by D. Mann (published 4/24/24) – Chapters: The Fall & Multis Don’t Suffer
Main Themes:
The Inevitability of Climate Collapse: Mann argues that the failure to address climate change was not a surprise but a predictable outcome of civilizations’ inherent drive for production and growth. He posits that voluntary agreements and pledges were ultimately ineffective in the face of this ingrained imperative.
The Human Cost of Inaction: The excerpts detail the devastating consequences of climate change on various social strata, highlighting the suffering of ordinary people and the eventual downfall even of the wealthy elite.
The Role of Multinational Corporations: The author identifies Multinational Corporations (Multis) as key actors who profited from the crisis, even as they contributed to it. He paints a stark picture of these entities as amoral and unfeeling, exploiting human suffering for financial gain.
Key Ideas & Facts:
Civilizational Imperative: “This calling is simple and straightforward. It is the mission that propels civilizations through time. And the mission is: produce more things. This is what civilizations do.” This quote encapsulates Mann’s central thesis that civilizations are inherently driven to produce and grow, making it nearly impossible to voluntarily limit consumption.
The Failure of Voluntary Measures: “Deep down, everyone understood the global fight to combat climate change had always been a piecemeal effort that wouldn’t amount to much…When it came right down to it, there was nobody to hold anybody accountable.” This passage highlights the inadequacy of voluntary agreements in tackling a global crisis requiring coordinated and enforceable action.
Climate Change as a Symptom: “Really, it wasn’t the climate that needed changing. It was human consciousness. Climate change was simply a fever of a sickness that began long ago.” This statement emphasizes that climate change is not the root cause but a manifestation of a deeper societal problem – an unsustainable and exploitative relationship with the environment.
The Rise of Multis: “Multis don’t suffer, only humans suffer. Multis can’t suffer because they are not made up of living cells capable of feeling pain.” This quote starkly contrasts the human cost of the climate crisis with the indifference of corporations who benefit from it.
The Profitability of Catastrophe: “It turns out climate catastrophes are impressively profitable!” This cynical observation underscores the perverse incentive structure that allows corporations to thrive amidst widespread suffering.
Overall: The excerpts offer a bleak but thought-provoking perspective on the interplay of human nature, societal structures, and the environmental crisis. They paint a dystopian picture of a future ravaged by climate change, where powerful corporations profit from the chaos while ordinary people bear the brunt of the suffering. The author’s message is a stark warning about the consequences of inaction and the urgent need to challenge the dominant paradigm of endless growth.
Timeline of Events: 2050-2070
2050s:
Global efforts to combat climate change begin to unravel.
Countries prioritize their own survival over international cooperation.
Voluntary pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are abandoned.
Climate catastrophes increase in frequency and severity, first impacting the poorest populations.
2060s:
Climate disasters become commonplace, affecting ordinary people worldwide.
Insurance companies collapse due to the overwhelming costs of climate-related damages.
Countries default on debts as their economies are ravaged by climate impacts.
Even the wealthy elite are impacted as their luxurious homes are destroyed by floods, landslides, and rising sea levels.
Public resentment grows towards the wealthy and multinational corporations.
2070s:
Multinational corporations (Multis) capitalize on the chaos and suffering, expanding their power and profits.
Multis acquire failing corporations and bail out struggling nations, turning people into employees.
The focus remains on economic growth and profit, despite the ongoing climate crisis.
The cycle of climate destruction and corporate exploitation continues unabated.
Cast of Characters:
Ordinary People: The global population, particularly the poor and working class, who suffer the most from the impacts of climate change. They experience displacement, loss of homes and livelihoods, and increased hardship.
The Wealthy Elite: The top 1% of the population who initially seem insulated from the worst effects of climate change but eventually experience losses as their lavish properties are destroyed. They are viewed with resentment by the rest of the population.
Multinational Corporations (Multis): Powerful entities that prioritize profit over the well-being of people and the planet. They exploit the climate crisis to expand their wealth and control, buying up failing entities and turning people into employees. They are portrayed as unfeeling and driven solely by greed.
Governments: National and international governing bodies that are depicted as ineffective and ultimately failing to address the climate crisis. They prioritize short-term gains and national interests over global cooperation, leading to the breakdown of climate agreements and a focus on individual survival.
D. Mann: The fictional author of “Sapience: The Moment Is Now,” who acts as a commentator on the events and offers a critical perspective on the failures of humanity to address climate change.
Source
Excerpt from Sapience: The Moment Is Now by D. Mann published on 4/24/24, a psychological, historical, economic, fictional story about near future climate change and the consequences of not taking action now in the 2020s while humanity still has a chance to mitigate the looming danger. This account is of the 2050 to 2070s.
Key Topics:
Climate Change, Human Nature, Economic Growth, Corporate Power, Societal Collapse
Summary
This excerpt from Sapience: The Moment Is Now depicts a dystopian near-future (2050-2070s) resulting from humanity’s failure to address climate change in the 2020s. The narrative centers on the collapse of global cooperation in the face of escalating climate disasters, highlighting the inherent conflict between civilization’s insatiable drive for production and growth and the urgent need for environmental sustainability. The author argues that the inability of civilizations to voluntarily curb their consumption, particularly driven by powerful multinational corporations (Multis), led to widespread suffering and societal breakdown. Ultimately, the text portrays a world where the pursuit of economic growth overshadowed human well-being and planetary survival, culminating in a catastrophic “Fall” that disproportionately impacts the vulnerable while the wealthiest remain relatively unscathed, albeit ultimately suffering as well.
Blog Summary: Oligarchy, The Fall of Democracy in the U.S. & The Fall of Man Worldwide
This blog explores the perilous trajectory of democracy in the U.S. and humanity’s collective descent into crisis. It begins with Adam Mockler, a pro-democracy YouTuber, who highlights President Biden’s Farewell Address as a wake-up call. Mockler discusses an alarming spike in Google searches for “oligarchy,” revealing widespread ignorance among U.S. citizens, even as a slim majority unknowingly voted for one. He contrasts Russia’s oligarchic emergence and its eventual control by Putin with the U.S. situation, urging viewers not to “obey in advance” but to recognize that corrective actions are still possible.
The blog transitions to economist Richard Wolff’s video Last Warning, where Wolff delivers a sobering analysis of the economic systems driving the U.S. and the world toward collapse. He outlines the rise and fall of empires, focusing on the American Empire’s peak from 1870 to 1970 and its decline since. Wolff paints a grim picture of stagnant wages, skyrocketing debt, and systemic denial, comparing modern America’s plight to 1929 Germany—a desperate population driven to extremism. He warns of the dire consequences of repeating history, particularly the risks of escalating conflict with China, which shows every sign of becoming the next dominant empire.
The blog concludes with insights from the author’s book, Sapience: The Moment Is Now, which delves into the psychological roots of humanity’s denial and inaction. Drawing from chapters on how corruption entered human civilization and led to its downfall, the author provides a framework for readers to build the inner strength needed to confront reality. The message emphasizes the importance of empathy, cooperation, and actionable solutions, rejecting blame and violence as paths that would only hasten humanity’s demise. Together, Mockler’s contemporary analysis, Wolff’s economic perspective, and the author’s psychological insights offer a roadmap to facing and addressing the crises at hand.
Adam Mockler Breaks Down What an Oligarchy Is
Adam Mockler’s Transcript
Google Search Skyrocket on What Is an Oligarchy
0:01: All right I want to break down something incredibly important today there's one word that's been skyrocketing in the Google search engine over the past week as Americans across the country try to wrap their heads around its meaning. And I'd like to really do a deep dive on it today. So just to lay the groundwork we all know that Elon Musk is expected to use office space in the White House complex once Trump takes office in a few days. And this isn't because he was elected by anybody. It's because he bought his way in he spent $200 million of his own wealth on Trump's campaign. He rented a headquarters in Pennsylvania so he could go knock doors himself. He also held a giveaway $1 million giveaway for people who voted in red counties. And this was all after he basically blew $44 billion on Twitter as it hemorrhaged money. I guess he didn't blow the money because look where it got him into the White House. Now that also connects with the corporations and billionaires who are bankrolling Trump's inauguration. Some of the richest people in the country have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Donald Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee. Just listen to this for one second Obama's Inauguration in 2009 was worth $53 million. Trump's inauguration is going to be four times that amount (i.e., $212 million) because people like Jeff Bezos, a founder of Amazon, people like open AI CEO Sam Ultman or Mark Zuckerberg or the Uber CEO or Ken Griffin, who's a hedge fund manager, Elon Musk, they are all donating a massive amount of money to Trump's inauguration fund. And you can probably see where I'm going with this, but I do want to say that rich people meddling with politics has been a thing since the Inception of America.
1:39 It's not always inherently bad people like George Soros have used their money for good. But in this scenario, it's getting quite scary. For example, Bezos the world's second richest man said: "Trump seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation and if I can help him do that I'm going to help him."
Bezo said: "We do have too much regulation in this country," says the world's second richest man.
Their message is clear when Trump takes a presidential oath of office on January 20th. His job is to work for them. This dude (Trump) ran a campaign as a populist who's going to help the American people. Yet he has all of these rich people at his inauguration with $1 million tables. And that's why this article was brought to my attention. Searches for what is an oligarchy Spike after Biden's warning.
2:23 Biden gave his Farewell Address about two days back. And he just straight up said it we are turning into an oligarchy. I'll play the clip in 1 second, but after that we saw a massive spike in the Google search Trends. So this website right here is named Google Trends. It's run by Google and you can see how people search things, what rate they searched at. What is an oligarchy is what I have typed in right here in the interest over time. It spikes from about zero to one or zero to 100 after Biden gave his Farewell Address. You can even see the dark blue states are states where there were extra searches. And we're seeing a lot of searches in red States. So in Indiana you see 89 out of 100 uh in Alabama, 91 out of 100 in Georgia and 86 compared to the interest before [Biden's address] being at about one for a while it was at zero no one was searching for it.
3:12: Then in late December [a little more search activity is shown] and the top related result is down here is Joe Biden. So Joe Biden's Farewell Address directly opened a lot of people's eyes.
What Is an Oligarchy?
So I'd like to dive a little bit deeper into what an oligarchy is. I know I've talked about a lot on the show. I've drawn parallels to Russian oligarchs and the way that people entrench their power with wealth, but I'm not sure if I've ever done a full video laying out the definition, and then building on top of that to show everyone the situation that we're in.
So make sure you drop a like [and] subscribe [and] watch this video till the end, and if you're going to share any video with your family or your Maga family members, it's probably should probably be this one.
3:45: I'm not even going to be talking about Trump as much in this video it's just about the broad state of American politics.
So what is an oligarchy?
Well, Britanica says "Oligarchy governmentby the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and priv group for corrupt or selfish purposes. Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as plutocracies."
4:10: So, you could also say that we're slowly turning into a plutocracy but oligarchy is a term that Britanica and use so we'll just keep digging in on that. There's also this article that talks about how Putin conquered Russia's oligarchy. They used to be run purely by an oligarchy but Vladimir Putin said to the rich people either you're loyal to me or you go to prison.
4:30: Isn't that basically what Trump said about Mark Zuckerberg? I mean Mark Zuckerberg very clearly began going along with what Trump was saying after Trump said: "He may put him in prison." Trump was even asked "Do you think it's because of your threats against Zukerberg that he's now a Republican?" Trump said: "Yeah, probably."
4:44: So let me read this really quickly: "In the summer of 2000-21, [some] of the richest men in Russia exited their bulletproof limousines and entered the Kremlin for a historic meeting. In the previous decade, these men had risen seemingly out of nowhere amassing spectacular fortunes as a country around them descended into chaos through Shady deals, outright corruption, and even murder. These rapaciousoligarchs, as Russians have come to derisively call them, had seized control of much of Russia's economy and increasingly its fledgling democracy. But now their nation's newly elected President Vladimir Putin wanted to tell them face-to-face who was really in charge."
5:20: Quote, I want to draw your attention to the fact that you built the state yourself to a great degree through the political or semi-political structures under your control. So there is no point in blaming the reflection in the mirror. Putin offered the oligarchs a deal: Bend to my authority stay out of my way and you can keep your Mansions, super yachts, and private jets and multi-billion dollar corporations. Corporations that just a few years before had been owned by the Russian government.
5:48: In the coming years the oligarchs who reneged on this deal and undermined Putin would be thrown into a Siberian prison or be forced into Exile or die in suspicious circumstances.
6:00: Now, this is obviously an extreme example. The US is not Russia and people who are saying that we are already Russiaare sort of just obeying in advance. A lot of my commenters are like: "Oh Adam... it's so cute of you to think that we're ever going to have another election again. That is a form of obeying in advance just admitting that that we're never going to have an election before Trump even takes office means in a way you are obeying in advance, and you're just giving up. You're being that cynical!
6:19: We need to keep fighting. We are not Russia, and I know people in the comments are going to be like: Adam, we basically are Russia. We're not we're not Russia yet. Trust me.
6:27: These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people. The White House said in a recent statement announcing sanctions against over a dozen oligarchs connected to Putin, quote: "They sit a top Russia's largest companies and are responsible [for] providing the resources necessary to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine. So, [in] the so in Russia's case, we can safely say that oligarchs are a small group of unelected individuals who have concentrated their power by wielding their disproportionate amount of wealth, and they use their wealth to entrench their power within politics outside of the formal election systems.
Elon Musk & Office Space in Trump’s White House
7:02: Can I just go back to this article Elon Musk is expected to use office space in the White House complex. The richest man in the world has bought his way into the White House, and now he gets an office space not because he was elected, he wasn't even born in America. He was not elected by anybody. The location suggests that Mr Musk, who owns companies with billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, will continue to have remarkable access to president-elect Donald J Trump.
7:28: Can I just go back to what what Bezos said. Quote: "He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation and if I can help him do that, I'm going to help him. We do have too much regulation in this country."7:37: This is the second richest man in the world saying: "Hey, this regulation is making it... uh, really hard for me to get rich and exploit my workers."
7:46: Bro -- you're already rich what type of regulations do you want to remove other than things that will just hurt American citizens?
7:54: So let's watch this video of President Biden during his Farewell Address, now that I've laid out the groundwork. Now I can play this video of president Biden, and we can all be on the same page. I know that you guys know what an oligarchy is but there is something to be said that most Americans had to search this after Biden's farewell address and that this spiked.
8:09: So let's listen to this that's why my Farewell Address tonight I want to warn the country of some things that give me
great
Back to President’s Biden’s Warning to All Americans — Red, White, Blue, Brown, Green
8:13: "I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern this is a dangerous con and that's a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people. The dangerous consequences [is] if their Abuse of Power is left unchecked today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights, and freedoms. [It also threatens] a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. We see the consequences all across America, and we've seen it before more than a century ago. But the American people stood up to the Robert Barons back then and busted the trusts. They didn't punish the wealthy. [They] just made the wealthy pay the by play by the rules everybody else had to just play by the rules that everybody else has to play by. "
9:11: And let me remind you guys, President Biden is very careful with his words. If I have one criticism of his presidency, [it] is that he was probably too risk averse at certain points. There were certain times when he didn't want to rock the boat regarding Russia or he didn't have the strength needed on the international stage to keep Russia in check, and I think Biden had a great domestic presidency.
9:30: I mean I think he passed some historic legislation. He is a great human being, but the least I can say is I think there are certain moments where he he he was a little bit too risk averse. And that showed on the world stage but right here, he is being very careful with his words. He would not say the US is turning into an oligarchy if he didn't mean it. He's not just Trump. Trump will bloviate and he'll throw out any word whenever it suits his interest.
9:54:Trump will literally say anything to anybody. Biden is not like that. Biden is very careful with what he says [and] does because he understands that what he does sends a message.
10:06: So let's finish off with this article President Joe Biden in his farewell address to the nation on Wednesday warned that American democracy is being threatened by a burgeoning oligarchy. Oligarchs are a subset of the very very wealthy and this is an important distinction right here. Being rich doesn't necessarily make you an oligarch.
The 1% Is What Oligarchs Are… and Even a Subset of That Super Elite Group
10:19: "An oligarch is someone who influences politics outside of the formal system," explained by Brooke Harrington who studies this exact thing at Dartmouth University. She spoke with the five-minute fix in 2022 when US sanctions were targeting Russian oligarchs at the outset of the war in Ukraine. Quote: "It's someone who isn't an elected representative or Cabinet member but who has the ear of the president." And she said this before Elon Musk was really Maga. I mean in 2022 Elon Musk had bought Twitter, but he wasn't like full onon full-throated Maga yet.
10:50 She then pointed to the late Sheldon Adon a billionaire Casino Tycoon and Republican Mega donor who did work on US Israeli relations and now Sheldon's wife Miriam is one of Trump's biggest donors and even got the presidential medal of freedom after Trump's first term... that is an example of an American oligarch. Elon Musk almost certainly fits the definition today. No matter where the definition is coming from, whether you're getting it from Marian Webster or even Wikipedia, it doesn't matter Elon Musk almost certainly fits the definition.
11:23: The tech billionaire has taken calls with foreign leaders. He stopped a government spending Bill in its tracks by sending out a few tweets or X's or whatever the hell [that thing is now], and [he] seemingly hasn't left president-elect Donald Trump's side since the end of the campaign. He's an unofficial leader in the Republican party. Some Democrats have derisively called him Pro co-president but he is he is literally the co-president, and this is an oligarchy in every sense of the term.
11:45: Why Trump tends to attract oligarchs this part is important. Harrington argues there have always been American oligarchs like I said at the beginning of the video, rich people have always been putting their thumb on the scale most of the time. We don't want that we can have a separate conversation about money and politics in general, but what we're seeing is new. This is a different scale from George Soros donating to Obama's campaign in 2008. This is different and I also will say I think Trump will change what the presidency in America means or what it looks like. I genuinely think that in 20 years, being president will mean something completely different.
12:19: After Trump's term in 2028 the presidency will not mean the same as what it means in 2024. I can make another video about that but Trump has a lot to do with it and a lot to do with why the oligarchy is growing. Many in the business community view him as a purely transactional president. He's a very transactional person and that you get what you give, and so oligarchs and potential oligarchs are growing in influence [abd] in number.
12:44: And as he prepares again to take [and has taken] office, several Tech Titans are making an almost dizzying amount of business moves that could be easily perceived as being for Trump. [For example] META, Mark Zuckerberg, [is] ending factchecking on a social media platforms and removing tampons from certain bathrooms... undoing things about pronouns. I mean it's all just posturing, right?
13:01: Jeff Bezos who founded Amazon and owns the Washington Post, spiked a comma Harris endorsement from the post editorial board. The Tik Tok CEO will be [and was] at Trump's inauguration on Monday, a day after the platform is expected to be banned. Actually, they'll all be at Trump's inauguration including the heads of Google, the head of Apple they've all donated millions of dollars to Trump's inauguration because, quote: "We're witnessing Tech CEOs scrambling [to] curry favor, and the Trump Administration has not not even begun," said Maximillian Potter a journalist with the group protect democracy.
13:34: Trump also appears to be integrating his wealthy allies into the government not unlike his first term where many of his cabinet members were millionaires or billionaires. Musk, the richest man in the world, and millionaire biotech entrepreneur V Ramaswami will lead an initiative tasked with cutting government spending and waste with republicans in Congress following their lead [Ramaswami actually quit from DOGE and is running for mayor or governor of someplace now].
13:55: And here's what I was saying earlier and I want to make an entire other video about this, but an oligarchy can be hard to stop once it's in motion. I genuinely think that after this Trump term, the office of the presidency will mean something different. It has long been the case that big money controls politicians, as I said, but Musk and other billionaires growing influence on the system could be a product, a direct result of Americans dissatisfaction with how responsive or the lack of responsiveness from the government over the past few years.
14:23: Trump and the billionaires with whom he's aligned himself are seen among his supporters as Outsiders who will disrupt the status quo in Washington. Whether we like it or not quote: "Democrats have become associated with the elite with political correctness. There are times when Democrats are a little bit too finger Waggy--no don't do that don't do that..." uh explaining that the party came across during the campaign [and] is more interested in the causes of higher educated, uh urban communities than the rest of America. I don't know if I agree exactly with that perception, but yes, people did think Trump was for them due to a multitude of reasons.
14:55: Russia is the poster country for oligarchs. There oligarchs are fully embedded in politics. They are directing culture, serving in high-profile governmental jobs... [and] can I just go back to this article one more time, this dude [Musk] is going to have an office in the White House, in the White House.
15:11: Quote: "There are no laws against a president in a super wealthy cabinet using their power to benefit their own class. There is nothing that compels them to look beyond their privilege to address the needs of the citizenry. In other words it's going to be up to voters to hold leaders accountable for putting the rich first. And in order to show voters that their interests are being put second, we're going to have to push back relentlessly. We're going to have to dominate The Narrative and that's where you and I come in every single day we're going to be pushing back on this channel.
15:36: So I'll end off with that drop a like subscribe. I love you guys. I'll see you in the next one and peace out!
Richard Wolff’s Last WARNING
“Most People Have No Idea What’s About To Happen” | Richard Wolff’s Last WARNING
Richard D. Wolff is an American economist and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is known for his critiques of economic inequality and his advocacy for worker cooperatives as a way to empower individuals and address systemic issues within the economy. Through his books, lectures, and public appearances, Wolff explores topics such as economic democracy and alternative economic models.
Richard Wolff’s Transcript
A System in Very Deep Doodoo
0:00 Before I start I have to ask you to understand that old adage that if you don't like the message, please don't take your anger out on the messenger. I am going to be describing to you as best I can what the situation is with the United States's economic system, which has a name... it's called capitalism, and it is to give you a hint of where we're going. It is a system in very deep doodoo.0:30 It is in the greatest difficulty that I have ever seen in my life. And you can tell from my white hair that I've been around a while. I never expected to see what I am experiencing and I imagine for many of you, it is the same unless you are committed to something my psychotherapist wife explains to me as the problem of denial. Not a river in Egypt but an inability to confront what it is that's going on because it's frightening. It's a very human thing to do. It's like a little child who puts his or her hands in front of her face when there's a scary dog in the neighborhood because she still imagines at age three... that if you don't see it it isn't there. And if you don't see what's going on around us then perhaps it isn't there.
1:20And that is something which our political leaders and our cultural leaders and our economic leaders that's one thing they all have in in common with very few exceptions namely a commitment to denial.
Why Is the American System in Very Deep Doodoo? Because of Denial
1:41 So my presentation today is going to try to break through all the mechanisms of denial that surround us in order to tell you what I think is going on. I'm not infallible. I make mistakes like everybody else but this is the fruit of a lifetime of observing US capitalism, which I was born in the United States in Young, Ohio. I've lived and worked here all my life. I have never seen anything like the situation we are in now.
2:12 To give you the framework and then jump in [to my observations], I think that the history of the world is a sequence with interruptions, but a sequence of Empires: the Greek, the Roman, the Persian, the Egyptian, the Chinese. I mean I could go on, and they all have something in common they are born usually out of the demise of another Empire. They evolve and change over a period of time running from a few decades to a few centuries, and then they die. They pass away.
Empires Fall — They Live & They Die
Empires fall — they live & die
2:36 The most recent one perhaps the most and best studied was the British Empire, which depending on how you want to count goes from around the 16th century to the end of the 19th... more or less so three or four centuries.
2:56 Depending on how you come and out of the disintegration of the British Empire, literally punctuated by the war the independence war that swirled around Boston right where you are, a part of that Empire broke away. And in an important lesson, the Empire denied that this was building, even though it was building across the entirety of the 18th century. [The British Empire] denied it, and then in 1776 the denial blew up in its face as the colonists here in this part of the British Empire, by the way a relatively small relatively unimportant part of the Empire, wanted its independence.
3:37 And a war was fought, which to the surprise and nd a war was fought, which to the surprise and chagrin of the British Empire and George III sitting on his throne in England, the British lost. Not to be forgetful, let me remind you that in 1812 they tried again,and they lost again.
3:56 And with that set in motion the disintegration of the British Empire, which ended in World War I [as well as the Ottoman Empire].
4:02 Out of it emerged the American Empire.
4:09 American capitalism across the 19th century resolved certain key internal contradictions holding them back most notably the bizarre coexistence in this country of a capitalist Northeast and Midwest and a slave South that was resolved by the willful destruction of slavery by the capitalists.
4:29 Remember the Civil War is the expropriation without compensation of the single most important wealth of the south in this country the slave.
4:41 The slave was emancipated, and thereby the White Master impoverished. The very Stark disregard for the sanctity of private property and capitalism having destroyed its competitor with enormous violence took off.
5:04 Starting in 1870, the United State's capitalism had a century of economic growth the most amazing thing is if you look at the statistics, crude as they are especially in the early years, the United States grew uninterruptedly for that Century.
5:19 Roughly 1870s to the 1970s, every decade real wages of workers were high higher than the decade before. Even across the Great Depression, profits grew even faster.
5:37 So you had this bizarre situation, quite rare in the world of a capitalism that was able to give Rising profits to its capitalists and Rising wages to the mass of its workers with of course the exception of those workers with the bad luck to not have been born white.
6:00 Very important [to let] that they sink in [a] while. Why? Because if you do something like this, if you have a century of economic growth under an economic system like capitalism, it isn't So surprising that you think of the United States as exceptional... because in that regard it was. If you're religious, perhaps you think God likes Americans better than he or she likes other people. If you're not religious, you will attribute it to who knows what... entrepreneurship. My professors used to like to say, "Whatever in the world that's supposed to be?"
6:33 But it was exceptional, and Americans, whatever there other orientations, took on the notion that we live in an exceptional place.
6:46 And they then really ran with that ball, and [they] began to imagine that this exceptionality was somehow inherent. And so, it would last forever. It was upward and onward... the American economy! And it would carry our culture around the world to become the world's culture.
The American Economy, Onward & Upward Forever & Ever… OH NO!! Help!!!
7:05 Our political system would be the model. Our military would push away those backward people who wanted to resist. It became, and I use this word carefully, crazy.
7:26 And of course when the signs began to emerge that this Empire, the United States Empire, after a 100 Year rise up, was beginning to show the signs of decline, of peaking, of breaking... it's not surprising that the leaders of such a system with such a history would be deep into denying what had happened.
7:52 Not seeing what was exploding around them over the last few days, Americans have been confronted yet again with the level of violence committed every day somewhere in this country by the police against the Citizens.
8:13 And again there are people who want to blame it on this or that particular policeman or woman who will not see that this is a social phenomena.
8:26 It has been going on for a long time and it is getting worse. This the same issue. It's the same denial.
8:34 Okay... what exactly is being denied? Let's begin, and I apologize I'm going to begin with economics, but that is what I know best.
8:41 That is what I have studied all my life. And so if I'm going to be useful to you, I want to share at first what I know best.
8:58 Over the last 40 years, roughly 1980 to now, we have seen (and all economists of all political persuasions understand this and see it).
9:03 We all use basically the same numbers, and with a few exceptions of course, always we come to the same conclusion over the last 40 years: There has been a radical redistribution of wealth from the bottom and the middle to the top.
9:23 And the more top you get [the better]... the top 10% have done really well, the top 5% even better, the top 1% even better than that, and the top one tenth of 1% the best of all!
9:37 And you know them because in our society we adulate them. I'm talking about Bill Gates or Elon Musk or Warren Buffett or fill-in the blank. You know them! Our culture [cult-ure] makes sure you know them!!
As the Rich Get Richer… and the Rise of Wage Slaves
AS THE RICH GET RICHER… UNDER RIGGED TAX CODES THAT BENEFIT CORPORATIONS & THE RICH… THE POOR GET POORER & THE MIDDLE CLASS DISAPPEARS
9:49 They became much richer. The top 10% became [even] richer. All across those 40 years. This was partly because... and this is very important that you understand this.... it was partly because we changed the tax laws in this country.
10:08We relieved taxes from corporations and the rich, and we switched them [taxes] onto the middle and bottom.
10:14It was done by Republicans. It was done by Democrats. It didn't matter who was in The White House or who was controlling the houses of the Congress.
10:25The Democrats did it a little less quickly. The Republicans were a bit more intense.
10:33Speed varied... content did not. Even more important than the changes in taxes was the phenomenon of the relationship between capital and labor--that is corporations and business on the one hand and the mass of people, employees, on the other.
10:52 As I've told you, real wages went up for a century--1870s to 1970.
10:58Why 1970, do I pick that? Now I can tell you because that's when real wages in America stopped rising!
11:06Absolutely epic making change!!What is a real wage? It's the amount of money you get adjusted for the prices you pay. So for example, if your wages go up 10%, you might feel good, but if all the prices you have to pay went up by 10%... you're no better off with a 10% bigger money wage than you were without it because the prices have adjusted.
11:32 We all know that in economics, so we don't use money wages, we use what's called real wages. Wages understood in terms of what it can afford you to buy: Goods, services, food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, education, medical care... whatever.
Americans have not made a real wage… a living wage… since 1978
11:43 Real wages rose. In other words, the money wages workers had from 1870 to 1970 rose more than the prices did. So they really got more stuff that they could afford to buy.
Trapped in the Illusion of Never-Ending Capitalistic Growth
Americans are trapped in an illusion of never-ending growth, which capitalism did from the 1870s to 1970s… but then it stopped
12:04 In the 1970s, that stopped and it has never resumed. The American working class today earns, in terms of what it can afford to buy, the average American worker earns now what he or she did in 1978.
Americans today receive the same real wage, a living wage, that they did in 1978
12:25Try to wrap your head around no more real wage increase. For a country that had enjoyed steady real wage rises for a century, this is a traumatic event.
Back to Denial
12:33 How is it handled in the United States?
12:36 Denial.
How has this been handled in the US?
Denial
12:39 I won't embarrass you by asking how many of you know what I just said, to be the case. How many of you have dwelt in your mind on what it might do to a population used to a rising wage when it is no longer available.
12:52 There was no discussion at the time or since. No debate in this country... what do we do about all of this?!
13:05 The closest you got were vague gestures in which somebody says: "Gee the middle class seems to be fading away..." as if this were I don't know some sort of cosmic effect or maybe the result of sunspots or allergies or who knows what.
13:24 But an analysis either of why it happened or of what its consequences were No, no, no... nothing serious.
No analysts of why this happened or the consequences of it has ever been done.
US Women Sent into the Workforce, Enmasse, Due to Denial
13:29 Well let me tell you what some of the results were.
13:35Number one, [and] by far the most important socially, the women of the United States left the home, where they had been sequestered for the earlier parts of American history and had to go out and do wage labor on mass.
13:48 The only ones who had been doing that beforehand were black and brown women. They long been doing it cuz they had to and the poorest among the whites.
13:55 But now suddenly, all women, all the wives and mothers had to go out. There was no other way to sustain the fantasy of growth of the American dream of what had been experienced in the previous Century.
14:13The second most important effect Americans began to realize that the only way they could participate in further growth of consumption, the way they had been led to believewas somehow inherent in the American Experience besides sending their wives out to work, besides following a career as a worker in a factory you could now go back to work and be a greeter at Walmart's but beside that--you could borrow money.
14:50 In the 1970s, the banks of the United States decided that the consumer... to whom they had never lent money before... they would now lend money to.
15:03 In other words, the credit card, which until then had been
American Express in the hands of rich people and businessmen, would now become socialized.
15:08 Everybody's wallet would be crammed full of plastic cards... live off them.
15:15 And so, the American working class from around the 1970 to the present accumulated debt. We are a debt ridden society in the way we never were before.
America is a Debt Ridden Society
Pioneers of Debt, Depression, and Denial
15:28 We became Pioneers not in covered wagons going west, but in what we could cram plastic in our wallets. All the growth of consumption in the last 40 years has been based on women's labor women's earnings and debt.
15:46 Families have become much more complicated institutions. To survive we have the highest divorce rate in the world. We put our families under levels of pressure that would be impossible for anyone to sustain.
15:56American women consume more psychotropic drugs than any other population on the planet!
American women consume more psychotropic drugs than any other population on the planet… Why?
16:02Why? Because they are druggies?
16:08 No! Because we put them under impossible pressures, which blew up the family, since the mother was what held the emotional life of so many families together, and she was now as exhausted as the husband.
16:20 Coming back from her hours of work, the Empire's Foundation is beginning to crack.16:27 Well, you keep assuming more debt, which the American working class did.
16:33 It borrowed. It had borrowed with government support for its house. That's how mortgages developed.
16:39 For those of you who don't know, mortgages were never given to working class people to buy a home until the Great Depression.
The Great Depression & Greedy Corporations
Mortgages were never given to working class people to buy a home until the Great Depression.
16:46 To get us out of the Great Depression, the government took the step of guaranteeing the mortgages so the banks could lend without a risk.
16:53 Otherwise they wouldn't have. Cuz they never did. The American homeowner Society is a product of the government not of private Enterprise, which was too greedy and too frightened to ever do it.
Private Enterprise was too greedy & too frightened to make loans to ordinary American citizens, so the government did it.
17:05 Home loaning, then the car had to be paid for with loans because the working class couldn't afford it.
17:12 Then the credit card, so you could buy everything!
Why the US Government Had to Step In
Government helped banks prop up the people with home mortgages, car loans, and then the credit card.
17:17 And then in the last 20 years, a new indebtedness, the college student.
17:23 So by now, the family is dying, floating in levels of debt it cannot support because the underlying wage didn't go up... just the debts.
17:31 And it doesn't take a PhD in economics, although I have that, for you to understand that if the underlying wage doesn't go up... you can't keep accumulating debt because the time will come... and it's called 2008... and that's why that song is so appropriate: Cracks in the Empire!
It doesn’t take a PhD to understand that if a person keeps accumulating debt that the time will come when the debt bubble bursts.
That Bubble Bursting is call 2008
Side Trip
I’m not sure which song Wolff is referring to… I am interested which one… but I found these two.
Colin Dodds – Debit Credit Theory (Accounting Rap Song
Cracks in the Empire — Diamond Dan
Back to Richard Wolff
Cracks in the Empire
17:42Cracks... In... The... Empire... this system is so committed to inequality that not only did it grow over the last 40 years as wages stopped rising... of course, where would would workers income go they couldn't grow their wages were flat but they were becoming more productive all the time.
18:00 The last 40 years are the computer, the robot, artificial intelligence... all of that workers productivity goes up [but] workers wages are flat.
18:13Wages are what the employer gives you.Productivity is what you give the employer.18:19 If what the employer gives you is flat and what you give the employer keeps rising... guess what you have:inequality.
Flat Wages = Inequality
If what the employer gives you is flat & what you give the employer keeps rising… guess what you have?Inequality.
18:25 You're taking all your growing out put and giving it to one small class of people employers are 1 2 3% of our population, if that.
Employers are 1, 2, 3% of our population, if that… but they get all the wealth.
18:38 They get it even across Covid-19 pandemic.
Employers benefit from rising productivity even across COVID-19.
18:38 Inequality got worse. And what did we do to the working class after we gave them 40 years of losing everything... their families falling apart, their position in American society, their growing wealth (a kind of affirmation that somehow you're doing better) [but] all of that's taken away.
19:04 Then we hit them with COVID, then we hit them with an inflation and now we're hitting them with rising interest rates.
After 40 Years of Losing Everything…. the Middle Class Is…
40 years of losing everything… their families falling apart, their position in American society, their wealth… then we hit them with COVID, inflation & rising interest rates.
19:10 Let me frighten you, if I may... if what I've said hasn't done that job already.
19:16 There is an example in history of another working class over a small number of years being hit with economic blows on a scale of what's Happening Here.
19:21The example is Germany, and here's how it works in the second half of the 19th century as the British British Empire is declining the United States is not the only competitor looking to replace the British... there is another one, Germany.
Here’s How Another Highly Productive Middle Class/Working Class Society Handled Losing Everything
There is an example in history of another working class over a small number of years being hit with economic blows on a scale of what’s Happening Here… Now… in America.
That example is Germany
19:40World War Idefeats Germany. Britain with its allies defeat Germany... throw them out of the competition, wipe them out, impose at the end a reparations they couldn't possibly pay.
19:51 The German working class, which had been built up across the 19th century to believe it was creating a whole new globe. In German it's called Das Deutsche Reich.
Throughout the 19th Century, Germans were made to believe they were buildingDas Deutsche Reich.
20:03 That's like the German Empire, and it had... you know, territories in Asia, territories in Africa, and so on. All that was smashed when the unthinkable happened in 1914 to 1918.
20:19Germany was defeated. The empire was taken away. Literally, the British took the colonies in Africa away from the Germans and made them British colonies.
20:27 Everything for them [Germans] destroyed. It was a trauma for the German working class.
20:33 It ended in 1918 with defeat. Within four years late 22 to early 1923, literally a century ago, Germany then experienced the worst inflation in modern times anywherein the West.
20:48 In a period of 9 months, the German currency went from six Deutsche Marks to the dollar to 4 trillion Deutsche Marks to the dollar.
In a period of 9 months, the Deutsche Mark went from 6 Marks to the Dollar…
…to 4 Trillion Deutsche Marks to the Dollar
21:01 Prices doubled over weeks at a time, every hour of the day, any savings accumulated by a German family, and they were very frugal, were wiped out.
21:13 [During this time, after] six generations of saving money, [they] had enough money put away to buy a quarter pound of butter. They were done.
21:19 And five years after that, in 1929, the Great Depression hit Germany. It was too much. You cannot hit a working class, even the German working class, which was the best educated, most productive and, most progressive working class anywhere in Europe.
21:38 No contest. Even that... it was too much. And in 1932, those German people overwhelmed by what they had been put through, turned around and supported a little Austrian with a black mustache Adolf Hitler...and you know the rest of the story...
It was too much. And in 1932, those German people overwhelmed by what they had been put through, turned around and supported a little Austrian with a black mustache.
Here We Go Again… This Time in America
21:56 We're just living out... here we go... the same sad scenario: denial, not explaining to people the foundation of what they're assuming, not talking honestly about its disappearance, the cracks what it means when your Empire has that fun ride up... [then] begins to be replaced by the much less fun ride down. We're in very deep trouble,
Here we go… the much less fun ride down… in denial all the way!
22:27 The last half century, we have benefited enormously by the fact that there's one international currency money: It's the US dollar.
22:35 It's as good as gold because it literally functions like gold.
22:41 That's over. Ukraine simply speeds up the process. China, Russia, now Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, and many more countries are signing up for another International currency.
22:56 It shouldn't come as a big surprise whose currency that is... it's the currency of the People's Republic of China.
23:10 China shows all the signs of a rising Empire, matching all the signs of a declining Empire here.
The Day of the US Dollar Ruling Are Over
The days that the US dollar rules the international currency is over.
23:18 You may not like that information. You may be upset by it... that's your business. But to pretend it isn't there... let me give you just some numbers...
23:30 I'm an economist we do that. One of the things we do as economists is we look at the size of an economy to gauge relative economic power. And the number we use it's crude, like all numbers, but it gives you an idea it's called GDP. It stands for gross domestic product.
23:49 It's a measure of the output of goods and services in one calendar year.
23:54 So it helps us if we look at it and we measure it. And it's measured for every country on this Planet. It gives us an idea of the relative size.
GDP
GDP is how economic power is measured worldwide.
24:00 Okay... let's now do a comparison of three countries Russia, China, and the US to get a sense of their economic wealth their economic power.
24:13 Their economic footprint, if you like, in the world to give you an idea of... and if you didn't know this, think about what that might mean. So I'll start with Russia.
24:26 The GDP of the most recent year for Russia it's about 1.5 trillion dollars. The GDP of the United States last year was $21 trillion dollars.
24:49 Do you understand Russia has never been and is not now anything like a serious economic competitor of the United States. It never was. It never came close.
24:54 It may have had some nuclear weapons to worry about. It may have had political influence but like an economic unit?
24:59 Only people [who] systematically denied the simple statistic I just gave you could believe that
25:09 Russia has $1.5 trillion GDP. The United States alone [has] 21 [trillion GDP]
25:13 You know who has a bigger economic footprint than Russia? Italy
25:18 United States is allied with Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and, many other countries against Russia.
25:25 If you put them all together, it's like 30 maybe 35 trillion dollar against Russia with one and a half... what are you talking about a war? 25:37 This is a war between David and Goliath, and you're not going to be happy with who is playing which role. Think about it.
Russia GDP $1.5 trillion dollars
US GDP $21 trillion dollars
25:47 Now China... what's the GDP of China? Ready -- $17.5 trillion.
China GDP is $17.5 trillion dollars
25:47 $175 trillion... that's a competitor, not Russia.
25:53 China that's the Empire emerging, not Russia. China.
25:59 And why? Easy to explain. Over the last 25 or 30 years annual growth of GDP, how fast is the economy growing. Here in the United States is 2% maybe, slightly more 2.5 to 3%, somewhere in there. Let's be generous 2 to 3% US average annual growth.
26:19 China's average annual growth is 6 to 9%. End of conversation.
26:27 That's why China went from being one of the poorest countries in the world to being the competitor of the United States, one of
the richest.
26:32 You know what it's like? It's a story a little like the colony in North America being a place for Furs, and then becoming the new Empire
26:44 So that the roles between Great Britain and its Colony were reversed.
26:49 Now Britain is our Colony, as any honest appraisal of the relationship between these two countries would immediately acknowledge.
26:57 In Britain, one of the most common jokes you can hear is that when the United States tells Britain to jump, the response of Britain is: How high?
In Britain, one of the most common jokes you can hear is that when the United States tells Britain to jump, the response of Britain is: How high?
27:05 China has overtaken the United States in dozens of fields, particularly the highest Tech ones.
27:17 Young people around you are using TikTok... that's Chinese, as a social media. What's going on?
27:23 The United States doesn't know what to do. Having not learned the lessons, having not understood what denial means... for a long time they denied because to see the rise of China is to take a step in the direction that might make you confront what's happening to you and that's a taboo.27:42Finally, the United States figures it out and what does it do as if it learned nothing from its history. It tries Warfare.
How the US Deals with the Fact that Its Capitalistic Systems Are Declining & China is Rising
The signs of denial are all around…
27:55 It tries to slow down, to stop, maybe even to reverse history... just like Britain did. Mr Trump declared a
28:03 Mr Trump declared a trade war against China. You remember... it's not that many years ago he applied sanctions, he applied tariffs, he did everything he could to stop to reverse it.
28:14 None of it worked. It was one big fat failure.
Big Fat Orange Failure… and that Was 4 Years Ago!
None of what Trump did worked 4 years ago… It was one big fat failure.
28:23 Now, we are in a war, we the US and its allies, with the most important ally China had, Russia.
28:29That's what's going on in Ukraine. It has got nothing whatever to do with that sad country suffering this war. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
28:42 The truth of Ukraine, all the rest is propagandistic Foolery on both sides.
28:49This is about weakening the Ally of China,which Russia is.
The Truth About Ukraine from an Economic Perspective
28:55 When the war started, Mr. Biden predicted the Russians couldn't last a few weeks
29:01 With this Armada of countries and weapons and wealth, and new name it, he referred to what they were doing as the Mother of All Sanctions, which it was greatest sanction program ever apply, [that] Russia wouldn't last.
29:15 The ruble would be valueless within weeks.
29:24All of that 100% wrong. The Russian economy bubbling along pretty well took a dip right after came back most of the way.
29:30 You know why? Because the sanctions mainly stop buying.
Russia is an exporter of oil & gas… when the West stopped buying China, India, and Suadi Arabia bought more…
29:35 Oil and gas, which is Russia's Lifeline, that's what Russia is an exporter of oil and gas. I'm exaggerating but it's the basic story.
29:42 [While] Europe said we wouldn't buy it anymore, and that would have crippled Russia, except Russia found other buyers.
29:48 It's not a complicated story. China bought more. India bought tons more. Saudi Arabia is reorganizing its economy. Pakistan is making important agreements with the Chines
30:00 And the Russians on... The World Isn't, guess what?
30:06Controlled by the United States.It's over. It's all around you. The United Nations took a vote on Ukraine, the majority of countries did not agree with the United States.
30:19 They either voted on the side of Russia or they abstained they refused to participate. It's over.
Will they help or not?
30:25 But you live in an environment which needs to deny it. The divisions in our society become worse with each passing day.
30:33 Because they're grounded in a reality that isn't changing inequality
Systemic Denial Persists in the USA
30:39 As I'm speaking to you... [it] is continuing to get worse.
30:45Corporations are working as hard as they ever did to pay no taxes. The mass of people are suffering on a scale that is unspeakable.
30:51The inflation we're still [in]... at prices are going up roughly twice as fast as Wages30:56 That's a destruction of the working class.
31:03 Prices are going up twice the rate of wages. This is impossible. You can't do this without explosions. Now the explosions are happening in our country.
31:16So they explode, how? By taking it out on one another... crime,
bitterness, resentment, a politics of scapegoating.
31:28 I mean how else explain Preposterous Notions that become serious?
31:35 This is a country, United States, of 325 to 330 million people.
Prices are going up twice the rate of wages. This is impossible.You can’t do this without explosions.
Immigrants Are Not the Problem People… MAGA Is Lying to You to Keep You Deaf, Dumb, Blind and Very Obedient to the Oligarchs
31:41 The biggest estimate I've ever seen of undocumented immigrants in our country says 10 million. Okay... there's no way 10 million of the poorest people there are, immigrants from Central America, are the cause of the difficulties of a capitalist economy of 330 million people.
31:58 That's silly. That's on a level, you know, that an elementary school kindergarten kid wouldn't come up with something as off the chart as that.
There’s no way 10 million of the poorest people there are, immigrants from Central America, are the cause of the difficulties of a capitalist economy of 330 million people.
You Are Desperate… I Understand… but Denial Won’t Help You
32:04 You're desperate.
32:10 I understand that. You've been suffering, you have, you have a right to be angry and upset, no question you do.
32:17 You have been screwed in this system, having been led to believe by those 100 years that the opposite was waiting in store for you.
32:23 Instead, you're being being slapped and whacked and deprived with no end in sight.
32:32 I teach at the University. I'm surrounded all the time with people in 18 19 into their 20s. They are not happy this generation.
32:40 They don't see good jobs. They don't see good Futures. They don't see any of it. They were led by their
32:48 They were led by their parents and this culture to expect what they now know they're not going to get.
32:53 And they want some answers too. The most recent Gallup poll indicates that a majority of Americans polled, randomly, [who were] 35 years of age and younger, when asked would you rather live in a capitalist or a socialist economy? the majority say
33:14 The majority say socialist.
33:19 You know after half a century of ideological pressure against everything social that I grew up in, I'm a product of that, this is amazing.
33:25 That the point of view could be twisted like this and when you talk to students as I do about this all the time, I quickly learn the polling is correct.
33:32 But it's not that they like socialism, they haven't a clue what it is.
33:39 Those votes that polling is [revealing is] because they are angry at Capitalism. They know that that system is not for them. socialism I mean let's try that but
33:48 It's not that they like socialism, it's that they don't like capitalism, but that has to be faced. I'm not making these
33:54 I'm not making these numbers up. You can't come away from what I've just said with an imagination that all is well in this Empire.
33:59 But I'm not done. Now, we're blaming Russia. What?
34:06 Russia invaded. I've been a victim of war in my own family. My own life. I'm against war. War is no way to solve problems.
34:13 The Russians shouldn't, could have done something else, should have done something else. I get that, but like with every war you have to ask why did it come to this?
34:20 Russians have suffered from war as much as any other country in the last century.
34:25 They're not going to go into a War easily and quickly. They're not like the United States upon which no war has been fought in the last century.
34:33 Both world wars killed more Russians than anybody else.
34:38 They know. So why? You have to ask why? We don't.
Why So Much War
WHY?
34:45 So let me end with military. Since the end of World War II, the United States has invaded small countries repeatedly, violating norms-rules based international order.
34:59 It invaded Korea. It invaded Vietnam. It invaded Iraq. It invaded Afghanistan. It lost all of them.
35:07 The wars were lost: Korea, Vietnam, they all were lost.
35:13 The Communist Party of Vietnam took over that country. The Taliban took over Afghanistan. I could go on.
35:18 They lost. They didn't win. They lost and if you look at the line between the Russians and the Ukrainians it has moved Westward.
35:28 There is there is no question of who's winning and who's losing.
35:35 Only in the minds of people committed to denial are these things going on.
35:41 I'm not asking you to endorse either side in this war. I'm not asking you to endorse China or the Chinese system.
35:47 I'm just asking you, and I do this with all my public speaking, I'm asking you look at the reality you have in front of you.
35:53 Don't be afraid.
35:59 The danger lies in denial, not in facing it, and if we face it there is a lesson to be learned from the British Empire.
36:05 After two attempts to militarily force the United States back into the British Empire, after those two efforts had failed the British Empire stopped trying and decided instead to try to work out a relationship with the United States, which it did, not the greatest job but did a pretty good job.
36:30 The biggest waffle came in the US Civil War. When the British seriously considered siding with the South.
36:38 They didn't, but they came close. After that though... once they could see who won there, they went with the winner.
36:43 A very courageous move [said with humor] Once the war was over.
36:50 But maybe we have to learn that we have to live with the People's Republic of China. It has virtues.
36:55 We could learn from them, just as they could learn from the United States. And that [could] be a better plan than what they're doing now.
37:03 American 7th Fleet is in the China Sea. There is no Chinese Fleet on our border.
37:08 We are there. We are threatening them. We always have.
37:14 This is a country that is now our economic competitor. Its Global political reach is extraordinary.
37:21 And it has four times the number of people we do, and now that they're close, mostly allied with India, you're talking about the two largest countries by population on this planet.
37:32 You better come to terms with them.
37:39 Because the prospect of defeating that in a war... that's a war everybody loses.
We Must Stop the Denial or We Are Toast
We have to stop the denial & face what is going on… or we are all toast…
37:46 You don't have that option unless you're crazy. We have to stop the denial and face what is going on otherwise we are going to get ourselves into one mess after another.
37:58And who's going to do it? The corporations that are profiting from this system?38:04Unlikely.38:10The rich who have become richer for 40 years, are they likely to question the system that has rewarded them that way?Unlikely.38:16 You know who's going to do it, if anybody does, it's the mass of the people, the employees of this culture, or if you allow me the old language: the working class... because it's their ass that's on the line.
38:28They're the soldiers and they're the taxpayers who keep the system going and that's probably whydenial has won over honest confrontation with our reality. Marx once said that the
38:44 Marx once said that the capitalist class will in the end destroy itself the question for all of us and all of you is: Will we let that system take us down with it?
Will we let “the system” take us down with it?
D. Mann — Sapience: The Moment Is Now
Chapters on How the Corruption Entered Human Civilization Leading to Humanity’s Fall Over the Climate Cliff… a fictional future that doesn’t seem so fictional now… pages 138- 147
The Corruption
Mother called the artery clogging disease that kills civilizations the Corruption. It cuts up cohesive cooperation with selfish self-interests. Money often lies at the root of the Corruption. Money is the shiny, bright object, often presented as a bribe or a false promise of prosperity (but only if…), that lures people to do bad things. The Corruption entices good, peaceful people to do bad things, things that benefit only a few people, not the good of all people living in a system who rely on cooperation to survive.
As the Corruption goes to work eroding cooperation, cohesion, and unity, the shared lines of a civilizations conscious awareness begin to clog with the hard plaque of fear, anger, and pain. People get hurt. People don’t know who to trust. People grow cynical. This toxic brew fosters an internal inferno where even more sticky and toxic plaque gets forged and deposited over the first layer of hardening, rigid consciousness. This second layer of plaque is uniquely human for it can transcend or descend the guard rails of instincts. The toxic plaque deposited over fear, anger, and suffering is hate, greed, envy, and revenge.
When enough civilizing lines of cohesion get clogged or a main artery becomes blocked, the inner crisis quickly manifests into physical reality. Such a blockage initiates destructive metabolism or catabolism. This is a systematic death within the Mental Model that destroys all systems the people living within the civilization depend upon to survive. Left without any means of keeping themselves alive, the people must flee or die. It is a catastrophe. It is the ouroboros who has eaten its own body up completely.
This is why mother travelled into the Western arteries of consciousness. This is why she met her father. This is why her parents were working on a book combining their knowledge and wisdom. Being a person herself of two radically different cultures and tribes of men, Rain understands from Grandmother’s stories the Ojibwe know how-to live-in harmony with their inside world and outside world. They have always known and still know. But they were subjugated and sidelined by the overwhelming virulent collective force emanating from Europe.
This is where one of the most virulent strains of the Corruption migrated at a time white Europeans figured out how to cross the ocean and were intoxicated by their own technical know-how and abilities. A competitive edge that would have devasting consequences for the rest of the world; consequences that would put the world squarely in the jaws of fate, the Ouroboros.
Whiny, Violent, Petulant Thing
Rain understands from Father’s and Mother’s stories that the Corruption started long ago in civilizations developing in and around the Fertile Crescent. Due to the abundance of civilizations evolving there, once the Corruption killed one civilization, it had already infected another civilization—violence, fear, and pain are its vectors. Each time it jumps; it mutates and grows more virulent, more noxious, more pernicious, and deadlier.
The Corruption did not just infect civilizations in the Fertile Crescent. Wherever human cultures grew lopsided, cultivating violence, fear, and pain, it had emerged. But it was the Cradle of Civilization where the Corruption grew most virulently, where it mutated for more than 5,000 years. Where it grew into a disease of consciousness capable of creating catastrophes that only grew bigger and more terrible with time. Where man applied his mind to make weapons of mass destruction, instead of making sure everyone in his civilizations were fed, secure, and sheltered.
The Corruption is the disease that will stop the collective heartbeat of humanity on Earth. White European culture is the tip of the spear that made the Modern world, of course, but this Thing now holding all life for ransom… it is something far deeper… something far more pervasive… something existing inside all humans, of all times, of all places, and of all cultures.
This is why Mother travelled into the darkest and most dangerous realms of human consciousness. And it is why Father studied history and religion. And it is why Yong Xing-li knew the final stages of the Transformation were essential to prevent the world from turning right back around and heading over the Climate Cliff.
This Thing is a whiny, violent, petulant, and very thin, polluted stream of human consciousness. It was, as Mother discovered, not just Western Civilization responsible for the ruin of the planet… Western Civilization simply controlled and imposed by brute force the economic systems that would come to define the Modern World. And the Modern World would readily agree to play by these rules because economic supremacy provides a legitimate, nonviolent means to rule the world!
The Long Game
In this game, everyone willingly agrees to cede power and authority to the person or entity who amasses the most money. By winning the money game, a person or an entity can claim the number 1 spot on the playing board… which is round, not flat, is 71% water, and has an oxygen rich atmosphere. A person or entity in the number 1 spot gets to define the parameters by which everyone else must play the money game, that is… until they get knocked off by someone or something that amasses more money.
The money game is the survival game but with a twist of malevolent satire. It is played on the Field of Mind, which exists anywhere a human can walk or go. People call the money game: Economics. It is a long game. And to play it well requires intelligence, acumen, wit, comprehension, reason, acuity, alertness, cleverness, insight, intuition, talent, and ability. It is a game defined in the early days of civilization, and it was complicated then. In the 5,000 years since, it has only become more complicated and harder to play.
Those who lack mastery or ability to play the game resort to brute force, deception, and violence. These are quite frankly weak, incompetent people who are willing to do anything to win. Incompetent people can only win by cheating, but cheaters are a dime a dozen if the rules of the money game are thrown to the wind. So, the most arrogant, greedy, and crafty incompetent people devised ways to subjugate the Model of Mind used by every modern economic and political power system to cheat at the money game, so they always win.
Pyramid Model of Mind
Masters of Time Fail to Master the Mind
The most powerful Model of Mind is the Pyramid Model, of course. It was conceived long ago by peaceful people who loved life, loved their land, loved their homes and children and culture. People who were mastering their minds and coming together to live in bigger and bigger groups growing into civil societies.
Civil societies grow to become civilizations. It is something that happens naturally like flowers growing in a field or rainbows appearing in the sky whenever rain and sunlight mix. They are the inevitable next step once Homo sapiens grew beyond the embryonic sac of instincts when they learned how to sing to themselves. Civil societies just happen because being civil to each other is how humans survived this long. And when a civil group of people start cooperating more broadly with other civil groups of people, they grow into civilizations.
Many civilizations all over the world conceived of the Pyramid Model of Mind. And many used it to mold their civil societies into a unified collective that can act as a single being. Such unanimity creates the living entity called civilization, which is what Mother came to believe civilizations really are, creatures. The more undivided in belief and behavior, the greater coherence of collective action can be conducted as a large group of people acting as one, like a God or a super being or a monster.
It was the ancient Egyptians who perceived first of the opposite side of growing into a great and glorious civilization. They perceived of a looming and growing danger capable of destroying a civilization no matter how great or glorious it had become. Because of this awareness, they took great care in mastering and perfecting the Pyramid Model of Mind, not just as a mold for their society, but as a way of protecting themselves from the Ouroboros, and then as a way of transforming their collective consciousness when they realized there was not a way to avert their fate once they passed a certain level of civilization.
They were the first to master the Pyramid Model of Mind, and they were the first to decapitate it. What they did not realize then was the Ouroboros is thought, specifically the circular thinking required by civil societies so individuals can specialize. Repetitive thought opens the door to a sort of sleepwalking through life; no longer did a person need to worry about getting food, water, shelter, or how to avoid being eaten—their civilization insulates them from all of that. All they needed to worry about was doing their specialized task really well and following along in the mainstream of their civil society’s norms and behaviors.
Playing Thinkers for Fools
And here is where the Ouroboros plays the thinker for a fool. People who can play the money game reasonably well enough to live and willingly obey the rules become sitting ducks for people who lack access to or mastery of the money game. These are also the people most susceptible to the venom of the split aspects of the Ouroboros—the White snake and Black snake, the Narcissist, and the Psychopath. These are people who flip the rules of civil society into their opposite form and turn the transformative power of the Pyramid Model of Mind into a penitentiary.
It is people corrupted by the Ouroboros who play the systems of their civil societies in reverse. Rather than looking out for the good of all, they look out only for the good of one, themselves. They are attracted to power like a magnet is attracted to nails. And wherever they land within the structure of their society, they punch holes in it like an earth auger. Get enough of such people in a civil society, and they eat away at the fabric of cooperation and civility like a colony of very hungry termites. They do this by infecting others with fear and doubt. They go around blaming and shaming others for their own fears and failures. They play the blame game to create a smoke screen: Blame the other guy for the very things they are guilty of doing or want to do! All the while, they are stealing from, impoverishing, and generally putting the lives of people who wish to live in peaceful, cooperative societies in danger, sometimes grave danger.
Decapitating the Pyramid
Get such a person lodged in the upper rungs of the flow of power in the Pyramid Model of Mind, and you get a person who not only knows how to use the rules of civil society to trap and imprison another person, but you get a person who has access to the very systems responsible for maintaining a civil society. This is very dangerous. Because corrupted men in powerful positions quickly find ways to divert the flow of power to themselves. Then, they consolidate power, wealth, and prestige at the very top, where there is only room for one, themselves. And that is when they strike like a snake, decapitating the flow of power.
This is how the Pyramid Model is decapitated and turned into a prison rather than a system of transformation. Dictators, tyrants, and terrorists tend to decapitate the pyramid it at the soldier level, using violence, fear, and terror to control everyone living below them or to imprison forever or kill those who do not agree with them. They call their new, improved economic game communism, totalitarianism, and despotism. Monarchies, oligarchies, and democracies tend to decapitate the pyramid social order at the scribe level, who in modern societies are intellectuals who use their thinking skills to confuse, baffle, distract, or outright deceive ordinary people from what is really going on. They call their new, improved economic game capitalism. And there are hybrid decapitations too such as commie-capitalism.
Decapitated Pyramid Model of Mind
Just before the Fall, not only was there an abundance of ruthless corrupted rulers eager to rule decapitated hierarchies, but there was an abundance of people who wanted to be ruled by them. What they share is a rigid, aggressive mindset that disliked subjectivity and imagination, and one that is extremely superstitious and views others through simplified stereotypical biases. It is a mindset obsessed with projecting idealized images of their own grandeur, power, and toughness. It is a mindset that takes credit for all the good things that happens and blames others for the bad. It is a cynical and destructive mindset to the point of feeling hostility towards anyone who does not believe exactly like them. Anyone thinking outside of their bubble of belief is assumed to be insincere, self-centered, and dangerous, which is really all the things that they themselves are but refuse to admit, and so they blame the other guy.
In short, these are humans standing in toe-deep water of their consciousness; everything beyond that on their islands of one is believed to be wild and menacing, not to be trusted. Lacking access to and understanding of their own most basic instinctual drives and emotional impulses, they cast their worst nightmares onto everyone else, becoming especially concern with sexual on-goings of others, never taking responsibility for their own short-comings and inability for self-reflection. These are fearful humans, sad humans, pitiful humans who fall victim to the Dark Triad over and over and over again, which is really a Dark Tetrad because there is a fourth hidden, malicious personality that was propagating like hot cakes just before the Fall.
The Dark Triad is the embodiment of narcissism or psychopathy in a human being, and when narcissism and psychopathy are contained inside one human skull, you get the third embodiment, which is a Machiavellian demon being. If sadism is added inside this same skull, you get one of the most disturb personality disorders to have evolved among humans: the Dark Tetrad. These are people who openly tell others that trolling the Internet is their favorite activity; a full-time Internet troll finds pleasure inflicting pain on others and the Internet is their favorite playground.
But given real power over other people, the Dark Tetrad becomes the most venomous vector of the Corruption. It can awaken and activate these same qualities in other people, twisting and contorting their public performances into violent, selfish, gruesome displays of ignorance. This is essentially what personalities are, the performance of a person’s consciousness in public. Through a person’s personality, it is possible to tell how mature or immature consciousness has developed within an individual human being. A mature consciousness can navigate between the extreme opposites arising from inside and choose civil, life promoting action; an immature consciousness cannot. Such a person is susceptible to the pull of extreme points of view, and no matter what side a person takes, uncivil, non-life promoting action results.
With the modern world increasingly revolving around a tiny screen people carried around with them 24/7 connected to a global audience with the ability to be anonymous, uncivil performance became a contest too tempting for most people to resist. Anyone having a bad day could blow off short-term frustration, disappointment, or anger with hostile, pithy comments. And if they get a lot of likes from other frustrated, disappointed, angry people in the world who like them are having a bad day, a culture that cultivates hate arises that soon turns into an addiction, an excuse to not take responsibility for one’s own anger, limitations, bad decisions, and consequences for the bad choices and actions they, and only they, made and acted on.
Rather than work to understand unconscious, underlying motivations and beliefs that feed their inner demon and allow it to take control of their thoughts and actions, people increasingly ignored the root causes of their irritations and anger. More and more people preferred to attack other people who they have never met and will never know or who they have dehumanized, so they feel no responsibility for their wellbeing. And because children like to run in packs, such individuals attract the following of other disaffected people around the world… no longer did losers run in packs of 2 or 3, now millions belonged to a growing cohort of people increasingly uncomfortable in the real world requiring real interactions and real relationships that take real time to grow and that also require taking responsibility for oneself.
Just before the Fall, there was a tidal wave of fake news, trolling, and hate culture exploding on city streets and propagating on the world wide web. This paved the way for the spread of the Totalitarian mindset. It took root in the minds of ordinary people everywhere in the world. People who had conditioned themselves not to take responsibility for anything, and so when “Big Daddy” comes along saying: “I will take care of everything for you!” … losers, haters, trolls of the world bow down and follow because they have trained themselves to be followers.
Mindsets are different than Models of Mind in that they form inside the overarching shape of a civilization like dust or pollen do in the natural world. Mindsets float about and coat ideas emerging within a civilization covering them with a fine layer of goo. Mindsets can obscure good ideas with thick layers of mucky thinking. And they can make ordinary ideas rigid and inflexible. They can also make bad ideas very sticky so that they clump together to create very, very bad ideas, lopsided ideas, extreme ideas, dangerous ideas that fail to see where the real danger is emanating from… and usually, in the world man made, it is coming from inside.
Mindsets require people capable of communicating the key features, traits, qualities, and ingredients of the mindset for they are basically scripts to stories that people are supposed to follow. This is why you can always recognize the difference between a mindset and a mental model because mindsets prescribe, advise, direct, urge, command. Mental models only provide a shape that an individual can choose to stay within or not, and if they choose to stay, it is up to them and their quality of mind how it is filled.
Because of this difference, mindsets must always have creators and purveyors of the mindset. And then, to work, mindsets need followers. The more charged with emotions a mindset is made; the more people are attracted to them. Once fused together, like a shepherd to his sheep, a preacher to his parishioners, or a cult leader to his cultists, it is very hard to separate people from their mindsets.
The Totalitarian mindset is one of the most aggressive, cruel, mean-spirited, spiteful, malicious, nasty, callous, pitiless, savage, cold-hearted, hostile, and beastly mindset ever hammered out inside the human mind. And it was spreading faster and infecting more people than ever just before the Fall.
Game of Isms
Another way to spot a mindset is if it ends with an ism. The Modern world operating underneath decapitated pyramids, aka corrupted hierarchies, ruled by corrupted men was speckled like a face full of pustules of isms just before the Fall.
Isms are thinly veiled attempts to legitimize the corruption that the people on top use to ride roughshod over the rights, opinions, and feelings of the people they have imprisoned in their decapitated pyramid. For people exhausted from just trying to survive, adhering to an ism is easier than going against it if it has gained enough momentum to become the prevailing wind in a system or civilization.
However, what a corrupted person really desires is that people believe in the ism and commit to it before they really understand what they are committing to. Corrupted people work hard to make an ism especially appealing to the hard-working people in a decapitated pyramid. Such isms promise good things to people who follow its teachings or script. These isms have a way of spreading far and wide before an antidote is found for them. By then, it is too late to inoculate the people who have succumb to such isms. Reality itself cannot dissuade a person from the false promises, covenants, and guarantees people believe they will receive if they follow the ism obediently and precisely.
The sad truth is anything that gets infected by an ism, even if it begins as a very good idea, tends to grow to be more stringent, drastic, exhaustive, and insane. This is because isms tend to grow ever more reactionary, fanatical, and revisionary over time. Isms decay like this because their core ideologies must continually warp to keep people trapped in the shallowest regions of their mind, and this is exactly where the Totalitarian mindset want people to be.
Just before the Fall, the Totalitarian mindset was disguised by every make and model of an ism a person could dream up. It came in every shape and color, every creed and system of belief or narrative. Some isms cast longer and darker shadows than others. But all must spin spell-binding stories out of one ism or another—liberal socialism, radical conservatism, crazed conspiracism, or the more standard models of communism and capitalism.
Saving A Dying World
It is decapitated pyramids, cynically called functional hierarchies, that came to rule the survivors of Earth under totalitarian minded CEOs and Multis. Yong Xing-li was unique because he had mastered the economic game using his intellect. But he also possessed compassion, caring, and patience, which is the essence of heart and heart is the home of wisdom.
Yong Xing-li understood it is the combination of intellect and heart that wins the long game of economics. His understanding combined with his intelligence and innate empathy secured Yong Xing-li the number 1 economic spot in the world. But it was a dying world. Rather than capitalize on death, Yong Xing-li used his economic position to do something about it, to change the fate of the world ruled by civilized humans.
In a way, Yong Xing-li is the closest thing the world had to Buddha or Jesus Christ at a time the world needed a savior more than ever. But like Jesus, he was killed for his passion to save people. Yong Xing-li’s mastery of the long game did not make his task easier. In fact, it probably made it a lot harder.
Rain remembers Father often saying with a downcast smile, “If Jesus was alive today and trying to do what he did 2,000 years ago, nobody would care, nobody would listen to him, nobody would follow him, and he would probably end up in prison or institutionalized because everybody thinks that only they, and they alone, know how to fix and rule the world.”
Rain knows now why father always said this with a sad, downcast smile. She not only knows what father knew, but she feels it too. Just like father, mother, grandmother, and Yong Xing-li she feels the suffering of people in a world brought into being based on greed, hate, and violence; a world most people had no hand in making but have been forced to submit to serving.
Conclusion: A Call to Action
As we confront the convergence of political, economic, and psychological crises, this blog underscores the urgency of understanding where we stand and how we got here. Adam Mockler reminds us of the immediacy of our democratic struggle, urging us not to accept the current trajectory as inevitable. Richard Wolff provides a sweeping historical and economic perspective, showing the fragility of empires and the devastating consequences of denial and inaction. Finally, Sapience: The Moment Is Now offers a way forward, emphasizing the power of empathy, cooperation, and self-awareness to confront these challenges head-on.
We stand at a crossroads. Blame and division will only accelerate our decline, but there is hope in recognizing our collective responsibility and capacity for change. The choice before us is stark: to repeat the mistakes of the past or to rise above them, working together to shape a sustainable and just future. The time for action is now.
Episode 1: Climate Change, Disasters & Global Impacts
Wisdom Guardians: A Podcast, A Blog, and Action Kit Series Designed to Illuminate Our Path Forward
The Wisdom Guardians podcast and blog series delves into the profound themes of Sapience: The Moment Is Now, a fictional narrative that unpacks the challenges, crises, and complexities defining our era. As the story unfolds, its characters reveal how humanity’s choices have driven Earth toward the brink of environmental collapse. Each perspective sheds light on the diverse ways our collective actions—and inactions—have shaped this precarious moment in human history.
By 2025, it’s clear that we are already in freefall. Yet many remain oblivious to the growing peril due to the vast inequities embedded within the very systems driving climate change. These systems—designed to generate profit above all else—don’t care about the survival of our species, let alone the flourishing of life on this finite, breathtaking planet we call home.
And yet, we still have a choice. Right now, humanity holds the power to mitigate the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But do we have the collective will to act?
The Wisdom Guardians series is a call to action. It empowers listeners with knowledge, compassion, and wisdom while encouraging the activation of personal agency. By tapping into our shared consciousness, we can transform our voices and actions into meaningful change.
This journey isn’t just about personal empowerment—it’s about collective impact. It’s about amplifying the voices of the voiceless: the ecosystems, creatures, and communities marginalized by systems of exploitation. It’s about uplifting those left behind in underdeveloped regions, building solidarity among ordinary people, and confronting the unchecked power of the few who wield disproportionate control over resources and society.
In a world where connection feels increasingly elusive and people are often reduced to replaceable cogs in a vast machine, Wisdom Guardians offers a space to rediscover humanity’s greatest strength: our ability to unite, to care, and to envision a better future. Together, we can rise above the systems threatening to destroy us.
We invite you to join us on this journey. Share your ideas, feedback, and reflections to help make this series more engaging and impactful for all.
Briefing Doc
Episode 1 of Wisdom Guardians
Briefing Doc: Climate Change, Disasters, and Global Impacts
This briefing summarizes key themes and findings from the podcast, focusing on climate change’s impacts on weather, global food security, infectious diseases, and conflict. It highlights the rising frequency of billion-dollar weather disasters, the role of climate change in amplifying them, and their cascading effects on health, economies, and global stability. These topics align with Sapience: The Moment Is Now, where interwoven narratives reveal humanity’s journey toward the climate cliff by 2065. While we still have a chance to mitigate the worst effects, the critical question remains: do we have the collective will to act?
I. Escalating Climate-Driven Disasters:
NOAA data reveals a dramatic rise in billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S., impacting every state since 1980 ([Source: 2022 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in historical context](, [Source: 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters](, [Source: 2024: An active year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters](.
Analysis shows these disasters are often seasonal: severe storms and flooding in spring and summer, hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts in fall ([Source: 2022 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in historical context](.
NOAA’s county-level risk mapping tool reveals the intersection of disaster risk and social vulnerability, highlighting the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations ([Source: 2022 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in historical context](.
II. Climate Change and Global Conflict:
Experts warn that climate change acts as a “threat multiplier,” exacerbating existing conflicts and driving new ones ([Source: Does Climate Change Cause Conflict?](.
Resource scarcity, displacement, and extreme weather events linked to climate change contribute to social unrest and conflict ([Source: Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wars, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Coups, and Economic Collapse](.
The UN IPCC report emphasizes that climate change “has been associated with the onset of conflict, civil unrest or riots in urban settings” and can worsen existing conflicts ([Source: Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wars, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Coups, and Economic Collapse](.
III. Health Impacts of Climate Change:
Studies highlight the connection between climate change and the spread of infectious diseases ([Source: Climate Change Affect On Mental Health](, [Source: Climate Change and Infectious Diseases](, [Source: Experts warn climate change will fuel spread of infectious diseases](.
Warmer temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and habitat disruptions create favorable conditions for disease vectors like mosquitoes, expanding their range and increasing the risk of disease transmission ([Source: PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change](.
Experts stress the urgent need to invest in climate-resilient health systems that are better equipped to address emerging infectious diseases and climate-related health challenges ([Source: PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change](.
IV. Climate Change and Food Security:
NASA research predicts that climate change could significantly impact staple crops like maize and wheat by 2030, threatening global food supplies ([Source: Global Climate Change Impact on Crops Expected Within 10 Years, NASA Study Finds](.
The UN underscores how climate change undermines global food security by disrupting agricultural production, increasing food prices, and exacerbating existing inequalities ([Source: The World’s Food Supply is Made Insecure by Climate Change](.
The USDA emphasizes the need for sustainable agricultural practices and policies to adapt to climate change and protect food systems ([Source: Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System](.
V. Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels:
NOAA data shows a consistent upward trend in global sea level rise over the past century, primarily driven by thermal expansion of ocean water and melting of glaciers and ice sheets ([Source: Climate Change: Global Sea Level](.
Rising sea levels pose a severe threat to coastal communities worldwide, increasing the risk of flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion ([Source: Sea Level | Vital Signs – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet](.
Scientists warn that even limiting global warming to 1.5°C will not prevent significant sea level rise, highlighting the need for adaptation measures to protect vulnerable populations and infrastructure ([Source: What Will Our World Look Like at 4 Degrees?](.
VI. Environmental and Social Disruptions:
Climate change is accelerating species extinction rates as habitats are altered and ecosystems are disrupted ([Source: Species extinction from global warming](.
The shrinking Great Salt Lake, exacerbated by drought and water diversion, is creating toxic dust hot spots, posing severe health risks to surrounding communities ([Source: Toxic Dust Hot Spots](, [Source: Toxic Metals in Dust from the Great Salt Lake: A Growing Health Concern](.
The UN emphasizes the central role of water in the climate crisis, highlighting how climate change intensifies floods and droughts, leading to devastating social and economic consequences ([Source: Water – at the center of the climate crisis](.
VII. The Urgent Need for Action:
While the sources paint a grim picture of the escalating impacts of climate change, there is a consistent call for immediate action to mitigate and adapt to these challenges.
Experts urge governments, businesses, and individuals to prioritize transitioning to renewable energy sources, reducing carbon emissions, and investing in sustainable practices ([Source: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/FSW_2208_CCS_Subsidies.pdf](, [Source: PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change](.
The UN emphasizes the importance of international cooperation, technological innovation, and behavioral changes to create a more climate-resilient future ([Source: Causes and Effects of Climate Change](.
Youth activists and civil society organizations are playing a crucial role in raising awareness, advocating for policy changes, and mobilizing communities to address the climate crisis ([Source: PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change](.
This briefing document underscores the urgent need to address climate change as a multifaceted global challenge with far-reaching consequences for human health, security, and well-being. It highlights the critical role of science-based policies, sustainable practices, and collaborative action to build a more resilient and equitable future.
FAQs About Climate Change & Its Impacts
Climate Change — Fact Sheet #1
1. What is climate change?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.
2. What are the main causes of climate change?
The main driver of climate change is the increased release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat and warm the planet. The primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions are:
Burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation
Deforestation
Industrial processes
Agriculture
3. What are the main effects of climate change?
Climate change is already having a wide range of effects on the planet, including:
Rising global temperatures
Rising sea levels
More extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and wildfires
Changes in plant and animal life
Impacts on human health, including increased risk of heatstroke, respiratory problems, and infectious diseases
Impacts of Climate Change
4. How does climate change contribute to more destructive hurricanes?
Climate change is intensifying hurricanes in several ways:
Warmer ocean temperatures: Hurricanes draw energy from warm ocean water. As ocean temperatures rise, hurricanes can become more powerful and intensify more rapidly.
Increased atmospheric moisture: Warmer air holds more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall and increased flooding during hurricanes.
Rising sea levels: Higher sea levels make coastal areas more vulnerable to storm surges, the powerful waves driven ashore by hurricanes.
5. How does climate change affect global food security?
Climate change is a major threat to global food security. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events can damage crops, reduce yields, and disrupt food production and distribution. These impacts can lead to:
Increased food prices
Food shortages
Malnutrition
Social unrest
6. What are the mental health impacts of climate change?
The psychological impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly recognized. Experiencing or witnessing the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events and displacement, can lead to:
Anxiety
Depression
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Grief and loss
Feelings of helplessness and despair
Climate Action & Solutions
7. What steps can be taken to address climate change?
Addressing climate change requires a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts that are already occurring. Key actions include:
Transitioning to clean energy sources: Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, is crucial to reducing emissions.
Improving energy efficiency: Using energy more efficiently in buildings, transportation, and industry can help reduce demand for fossil fuels.
Protecting forests: Forests play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Protecting existing forests and planting new trees can help mitigate climate change.
Sustainable agriculture: Adopting climate-smart agricultural practices can reduce emissions from the agricultural sector and enhance food security.
Investing in adaptation: Preparing for the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and extreme weather events, is essential to minimize damage and protect communities.
8. How can individuals make a difference in fighting climate change?
Individuals can contribute to climate action in many ways, including:
Reducing your carbon footprint: Making choices to reduce energy consumption, use public transportation, bike, or walk, and eat a more plant-based diet can lower your emissions.
Supporting policies that address climate change: Advocating for climate policies at the local, regional, and national levels can help drive systemic change.
Educating yourself and others: Staying informed about climate change and sharing your knowledge with others can raise awareness and encourage action.
Supporting organizations working on climate solutions: Donating to or volunteering with organizations working to address climate change can make a difference.
Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health FAQ
Factsheet #2
About the Center
What is the focus of the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health?
The Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH) concentrates on tackling major global health challenges by focusing on three key areas:
21st Century Leadership: Cultivating the next generation of global health leaders through education, training, and mentorship.
Human and Planetary Health: Understanding the interconnectedness of human well-being and the health of our planet, emphasizing sustainable solutions for a healthier future.
Refugees and Vulnerable Populations: Addressing the unique health needs of refugees and other vulnerable groups, advocating for equitable access to healthcare and resources.
Global Climate Change and Impacts
How does climate change impact the spread of infectious diseases?
Climate change creates favorable conditions for the spread of infectious diseases in several ways:
Rising Temperatures: Warmer temperatures can expand the geographic range of disease-carrying insects like mosquitos, leading to outbreaks in new areas.
Extreme Weather Events: Floods and droughts can disrupt sanitation systems and create breeding grounds for disease vectors.
Habitat Disruption: Climate-driven changes in ecosystems force animals to relocate, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases (those that spread from animals to humans).
What are billion-dollar disasters, and what is their relationship to climate change?
Billion-dollar disasters are weather and climate events that cause at least one billion dollars in damages. The frequency and intensity of these events have increased in recent decades, a trend largely attributed to climate change.
Examples of billion-dollar disasters include:
Severe storms: Tornadoes, hail, and high winds, particularly prevalent in the spring months.
Flooding: From snowmelt or heavy rainfall, often impacting the Missouri and Mississippi River basins.
Hurricanes: A major threat during the fall, especially to Gulf and Atlantic coast states.
Wildfires: Increasing in frequency and severity due to hotter, drier conditions.
Drought: Causing agricultural losses and water scarcity, impacting various regions of the US.
How does climate change affect global sea level?
Global sea level is rising due to two primary factors related to climate change:
Thermal Expansion: As ocean water warms, it expands in volume, leading to higher sea levels.
Melting Glaciers and Ice Sheets: The accelerated melting of glaciers and ice sheets adds more water to the oceans.
The consequences of sea-level rise are significant:
Coastal Flooding: Low-lying coastal areas become more vulnerable to flooding during storms and high tides.
Erosion: Rising sea levels erode coastlines, threatening infrastructure and ecosystems.
Saltwater Intrusion: Seawater can contaminate freshwater sources, impacting drinking water and agriculture.
How do wildfires contribute to climate change?
While climate change increases the risk of wildfires, the fires themselves also exacerbate climate change in a dangerous feedback loop:
Carbon Dioxide Release: Burning trees release large amounts of stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Deforestation: Wildfires destroy forests, which act as carbon sinks, absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Black Carbon Emissions: Soot and other black carbon particles released from fires contribute to global warming.
What is the impact of climate change on mental health?
Climate change can negatively affect mental health in several ways:
Stress and Anxiety: Witnessing the impacts of climate change can trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, and helplessness.
Trauma: Experiencing extreme weather events, displacement, or loss of livelihood can lead to trauma and PTSD.
Eco-anxiety: Chronic worry about the future of the planet and the well-being of future generations is a growing concern.
Solutions and Actions
What are some potential solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change?
Addressing climate change requires a multifaceted approach, including:
Transitioning to Renewable Energy: Reducing reliance on fossil fuels by investing in solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources.
Improving Energy Efficiency: Conserving energy through building retrofits, efficient appliances, and sustainable transportation options.
Carbon Capture and Storage: Developing technologies to capture carbon emissions from power plants and industrial sources and store them underground.
Sustainable Land Management: Protecting and restoring forests, promoting sustainable agriculture, and reducing deforestation.
Policy Change: Implementing policies that support climate action, such as carbon pricing, emissions regulations, and investments in clean technologies.
How can individuals get involved in addressing climate change?
Individual actions can make a difference:
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Conserve energy at home, choose sustainable transportation, and reduce meat consumption.
Support Climate-Friendly Businesses: Choose products and services from companies committed to environmental sustainability.
Advocate for Policy Change: Contact elected officials, support climate legislation, and participate in climate activism.
Educate Others: Raise awareness about climate change and its impacts, encourage conversations, and inspire action.
Deeper Dives Study Guides
Global Climate Change and its Impacts: A Comprehensive Study Guide
Short-Answer Quiz
Instructions: Answer each question in 2-3 sentences.
How does climate change impact the spread of infectious diseases?
What are the primary drivers of rising global temperatures?
Describe the impact of climate change on global food security.
Explain the connection between climate change and extreme weather events.
What are the potential social and geopolitical consequences of climate-induced migration?
How does climate change impact mental health?
What role do volcanic eruptions play in climate change?
Describe the significance of the “climate sensitivity” metric.
What are the potential economic losses associated with climate change?
How can communities and individuals mitigate the effects of climate change?
Answer Key
Climate change alters environmental conditions, creating favorable habitats for disease vectors like mosquitoes. Warmer temperatures and increased rainfall expand their breeding ranges, increasing the risk of diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
The primary drivers are increased greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to a gradual increase in global temperatures.
Climate change threatens food security by disrupting crop yields due to changing weather patterns, droughts, and floods. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events can damage crops, reduce productivity, and impact livestock.
Climate change intensifies the water cycle, leading to more frequent and severe extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, and droughts. Warmer ocean temperatures fuel hurricane intensification, while altered precipitation patterns lead to floods in some regions and droughts in others.
Climate-induced migration can strain resources and infrastructure in receiving areas, potentially leading to social unrest and conflict. Competition for resources like water and land can exacerbate existing tensions and lead to displacement.
Climate change can negatively impact mental health, causing anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The experience of extreme weather events, displacement, and the threat of future climate impacts can contribute to psychological distress.
Volcanic eruptions release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, but their impact is relatively small compared to human emissions. They can temporarily cool the planet by releasing aerosols that reflect sunlight, but this effect is short-lived.
Climate sensitivity measures how much the Earth’s temperature will change in response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide. A higher climate sensitivity indicates a more rapid and significant warming response.
Climate change can lead to substantial economic losses through damage from extreme weather events, reduced agricultural productivity, and disruptions to infrastructure. Coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and storm surges.
Individuals can reduce their carbon footprint by adopting sustainable practices like using public transport, conserving energy, and reducing consumption. Communities can implement climate adaptation measures like improving infrastructure resilience and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Essay Questions
Analyze the ethical implications of climate change, considering the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations and future generations.
Evaluate the role of international cooperation in addressing climate change, discussing the successes and challenges of global agreements like the Paris Agreement.
Discuss the relationship between climate change and national security, exploring the potential for resource scarcity, climate-induced migration, and conflict.
Critically examine the strategies for mitigating climate change, comparing and contrasting the effectiveness of approaches like renewable energy, carbon capture, and sustainable agriculture.
Assess the role of technology and innovation in addressing climate change, discussing the potential of solutions like geoengineering, carbon sequestration, and advanced energy technologies.
Glossary of Key Terms
Climate Change: Long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels.
Greenhouse Gases: Gases in the atmosphere that trap heat, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
Global Warming: The observed increase in Earth’s average temperature, primarily due to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Extreme Weather Events: Weather events that are significantly different from average conditions, such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts.
Climate Sensitivity: A measure of how much Earth’s temperature will change in response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Climate Mitigation: Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down climate change.
Climate Adaptation: Adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change impacts.
Paris Agreement: An international agreement aimed at limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
One Health: A collaborative approach recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health.
Climate Justice: The concept that climate change impacts are not evenly distributed and that those who have contributed the least often suffer the most.
U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters and Climate Change
Study GuideQuiz
Instructions: Answer each of the following questions in 2-3 sentences.
What is the primary driver of the increase in the frequency and intensity of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S.?
Identify and explain one specific example of how climate change is impacting the frequency or intensity of a particular type of disaster.
What is the significance of NOAA’s county-level risk mapping tool in understanding and addressing the impacts of billion-dollar disasters?
Explain the concept of “event attribution” in climate science and its relevance to understanding the role of climate change in specific extreme weather events.
Discuss the potential economic implications of climate change, particularly in relation to the increasing costs associated with billion-dollar disasters.
How does climate change impact global food security, and what are some potential consequences for the U.S. food system?
Describe the relationship between climate change and the spread of infectious diseases, providing at least one specific example.
Explain the concept of “climate sensitivity” and its implications for understanding the rate and potential consequences of global warming.
Discuss the role of human emotions, such as anger, sadness, guilt, and hope, in motivating climate action.
What are some key strategies or actions that individuals, communities, and governments can take to mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhance resilience to extreme weather events?
Answer Key
Climate change is the primary driver. Rising global temperatures, primarily caused by human activities that release greenhouse gases, are altering weather patterns, leading to more frequent and intense extreme weather events.
Hurricanes are intensifying due to warmer ocean temperatures. Climate change is warming ocean waters, providing more energy for hurricanes to intensify, resulting in stronger winds, heavier rainfall, and more destructive storm surges.
The tool provides neighborhood-scale information on natural disaster risks and socioeconomic vulnerability. This helps communities identify areas most at risk and develop targeted strategies for hazard mitigation and disaster preparedness, ensuring resources are allocated effectively.
Event attribution uses climate models and statistical analysis to determine the influence of human-caused climate change on specific extreme weather events. It helps us understand whether and to what extent climate change has made an event more likely or more severe. For example, event attribution studies have shown that the extreme heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021 would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.
Billion-dollar disasters are becoming increasingly costly, placing a strain on government budgets and insurance industries. Climate change is projected to exacerbate these economic losses, leading to potential disruptions in supply chains, infrastructure damage, and reduced economic productivity.
Climate change affects crop yields, livestock production, and fisheries, threatening food security. Extreme weather events, changing precipitation patterns, and increased pests and diseases can disrupt agricultural production. In the U.S., climate change could lead to decreased yields of key crops like corn and wheat, impacting food prices and availability.
Climate change creates favorable conditions for the spread of infectious diseases. Warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns can expand the geographic range of disease vectors like mosquitoes and ticks. For instance, warmer temperatures have facilitated the spread of Lyme disease to higher latitudes.
Climate sensitivity refers to the amount of warming that occurs in response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Higher climate sensitivity means the Earth will warm more rapidly, potentially leading to more severe and irreversible climate impacts. Recent studies suggest climate sensitivity may be higher than previously thought, raising concerns about the urgency of climate action.
Emotions can motivate individuals to engage in climate action. Anger at inaction, sadness over environmental losses, guilt over personal contributions to the problem, and hope for a better future can all inspire people to advocate for change, adopt sustainable practices, and support climate policies.
Mitigation strategies focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through transitioning to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency, and protecting forests. Adaptation strategies aim to build resilience to climate impacts through infrastructure improvements, early warning systems, and sustainable land management practices. Individual actions include reducing personal carbon footprints, supporting climate-friendly businesses, and engaging in political advocacy.
Essay Questions
Analyze the historical trends of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S., focusing on the role of climate change in exacerbating these events. Discuss the regional variations in disaster risks and their implications for different communities across the country.
Critically evaluate the role of government policies and international cooperation in addressing the challenges posed by climate change and billion-dollar disasters. Analyze the effectiveness of existing policies and propose specific recommendations for enhancing mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Explore the ethical dimensions of climate change, particularly the concept of climate justice and the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations. Discuss the responsibilities of developed nations in supporting developing countries’ efforts to adapt to climate change.
Discuss the complex interplay between climate change, conflict, and human migration. Analyze the factors that contribute to climate-induced displacement and explore potential strategies for mitigating conflict and supporting climate refugees.
Evaluate the role of scientific research and communication in informing climate action. Analyze the challenges of communicating climate science to the public and propose effective strategies for raising awareness and motivating behavioral change.
Glossary of Key Terms
Billion-Dollar Disaster: A weather or climate disaster that causes at least $1 billion in damages.
Climate Change: Long-term changes in global temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities that release greenhouse gases.
Climate Sensitivity: The amount of warming that occurs in response to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Event Attribution: A branch of climate science that uses climate models and statistical analysis to determine the influence of human-caused climate change on specific extreme weather events.
Greenhouse Gases: Gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Examples include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.
Mitigation: Actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down the rate of climate change.
Adaptation: Adjustments made to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change impacts, aiming to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience.
Climate Justice: A framework that recognizes the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities and advocates for equitable solutions that prioritize the needs of those most affected.
Climate Refugee: A person who is forced to leave their home due to the impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, drought, or extreme weather events.
One Health: An approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts to address health challenges at the intersection of these domains.
Resilience: The capacity of a system to absorb disturbances, adapt to change, and maintain its function and structure in the face of shocks and stresses.
The text describes the societal collapse resulting from humanity’s failure to address climate change.It argues that the inherent drive of civilizations to endlessly produce and grow, prioritizing economic expansion over environmental sustainability, ultimately led to widespread suffering and the destruction of even the wealthiest segments of society. The narrative depicts a world where international cooperation crumbled, leaving individuals to fend for themselves as the consequences of climate change intensified. Ultimately, the passage suggests that a fundamental shift in human consciousness, away from unchecked growth, was necessary to prevent this catastrophic outcome. The author implies that climate change was a symptom of a deeper, long-standing societal problem.
Societal Barriers to Global Climate Action
The sources highlight a multitude of societal factors that hindered global climate action. Some of the most significant obstacles include:
1. Prioritizing Short-Term Economic Interests over Long-Term Sustainability: The pursuit of immediate economic gains, often fueled by a reliance on fossil fuels, has consistently overshadowed the urgency of climate action [1, 2]. This prioritization of short-term profits over long-term environmental sustainability has stalled the transition to renewable energy sources and perpetuated a culture of unsustainable consumption [1, 2]. The reality is that it is currently more profitable to pollute than to pursue sustainable practices [3]. This creates a significant disincentive for industries to adopt eco-friendly practices.
2. Political Disputes and Lack of Global Cooperation: Geopolitical tensions frequently arise from disagreements on accelerating emission reductions and sharing the responsibility for climate action [4, 5]. Countries often engage in debates over who bears the greater burden of action and financial contributions, leading to a lack of unified global efforts [4, 5]. The inability to reach a globally equitable agreement that addresses the transition to renewable energy without disrupting existing fossil fuel consumption patterns further complicates collaborative action [6]. A prominent example is the resistance from oil-producing nations, like those in OPEC, to phasing out fossil fuels, a key issue that has hampered progress at international climate summits like COP28 [7, 8].
3. Insufficient Investment in Climate Resilience and Adaptation: A lack of adequate investment, especially in developing countries, limits the capacity to adapt to the changing climate and prepare for its adverse impacts [9]. This disparity in resources leaves vulnerable communities disproportionately exposed to the consequences of climate change, exacerbating existing inequalities and hindering effective response measures [10].
4. Inadequate Public Understanding and Engagement: Despite growing awareness of climate change as a significant threat, the translation of public concern into concrete policy action has been slow and inadequate [11]. The challenge lies in effectively communicating the urgency of the climate crisis and mobilizing widespread public support for transformative policies. There is a lack of data on effective climate action and successful adaptation strategies, making it difficult to measure progress and inspire collective action [12, 13].
5. Ignoring the Power of Emotions: The climate crisis and the energy transition are often viewed primarily as environmental and political issues, neglecting the crucial role of emotions in driving effective change [14]. Leaders tend to disregard emotions and lack the skills to utilize them, resulting in the failure to engage people effectively, especially when addressing a topic as emotionally charged as climate change [14, 15].
Addressing these societal barriers is essential for accelerating global climate action. Emphasizing long-term sustainability, fostering international collaboration, investing in climate resilience, promoting public understanding, and acknowledging the power of emotions are crucial steps towards a sustainable future.
Growth, Collapse, and Sustainability
The relentless pursuit of economic growth, often measured by GDP, played a significant role in societal collapse, as illustrated by the sources. Civilizations are inherently driven to produce more, viewing production as their sustenance, much like how wild animals consume food. [1] This inherent drive for growth often comes at the expense of environmental sustainability. Modern civilizations have become apex producers, engaging in a race to expand their GDP to demonstrate their success and dominance. [1]
Here are some key ways the pursuit of growth contributed to societal collapse:
Ignoring warnings and prioritizing immediate survival: Despite mounting evidence of climate change, people continued with business as usual to maintain their livelihoods, contributing to the inevitable collapse. [2] Governments made voluntary pledges to combat climate change, but these promises were often superficial and lacked accountability. [3]
Unsustainable Practices: The focus on profit maximization led to the exploitation of resources and environmental degradation. Companies prioritize profits, even resisting changes that could reduce pollution if it affects their bottom line. [4]
Market systems that incentivize pollution: The current economic model rewards polluting industries, making it more profitable to pollute than to pursue sustainable practices. [4] The lack of carbon taxes and the continued subsidization of fossil fuels further perpetuate this harmful cycle. [5, 6]
The sources also highlight the need for a shift in perspective to prevent future collapses:
Prioritizing human well-being over GDP: It is crucial to move beyond the narrow focus on GDP growth and prioritize human well-being and environmental sustainability. [7]
Implementing Carbon Taxes: To discourage polluting practices and incentivize sustainable alternatives, carbon taxes need to be implemented. [6] This would help shift the economic paradigm and make polluting practices less profitable.
Recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health (One Health): To effectively address emerging pandemics and other health threats, a One Health approach is essential. [8] This involves breaking down silos between human, animal, and environmental health sectors and recognizing their interconnectedness.
The collapse of society as described in the sources serves as a stark warning about the consequences of prioritizing unsustainable growth over long-term well-being and environmental stewardship. By embracing a more holistic and sustainable approach that prioritizes human and planetary health, it may be possible to avert future catastrophes.
Climate Change and Global Inequality
The sources indicate that the consequences of climate change do not affect all groups equally. Those who contribute the least to global emissions often experience the harshest health impacts [1]. Low-income countries and small island developing states (SIDS) are examples of such groups [1].
According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change has exacerbated issues like poverty, weak healthcare systems, and water and sanitation services [2]. Additionally, poor governance and lack of participation increase vulnerability and risk to climate change [2].
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report noted that climate change is linked to conflict, civil unrest, and riots in urban settings, as well as increased duration and severity of existing violent conflicts [3]. The report states that inequality can lead to conflict, and the negative impacts of climate change lower the opportunity cost of involvement in conflict [3].
The sources note that climate change is a threat multiplier, undermining and potentially reversing decades of health progress [4]. The effects of climate change can be seen in:
Death and illness from increasingly frequent extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms and floods [5].
The disruption of food systems [5].
Increases in zoonoses and food-, water- and vector-borne diseases [5].
Mental health issues [5].
Climate change also undermines social determinants of good health, such as livelihoods, equality and access to healthcare and social support structures [5]. These climate-sensitive health risks are disproportionately felt by the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including:
Women
Children
Ethnic minorities
Poor communities
Migrants or displaced persons
Older populations
Those with underlying health conditions [5]
Addressing climate change requires those most responsible for emissions to bear the highest mitigation and adaptation costs, emphasizing health equity and prioritizing vulnerable groups [6].
Climate Change Inequality
The sources and our conversation history clearly indicate that the consequences of climate change do not affect all groups equally. Those who have contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions are often the most vulnerable and experience the harshest impacts, particularly in terms of health and well-being. [1-5]
Here’s a breakdown of how different groups are disproportionately affected:
Low-Income Countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS): These nations face the greatest threats from climate change despite having minimal contributions to global emissions. [2] They often lack the resources and infrastructure to adapt to climate impacts, making them highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and disruptions to food and water security. [2, 4, 6]
Marginalized Communities: Within countries, certain communities are more susceptible to climate change due to factors like poverty, lack of access to healthcare, and residing in hazard-prone areas. [3, 7] These factors amplify the health impacts of extreme heat, floods, droughts, and vector-borne diseases. [7, 8]
Indigenous Populations: Many Indigenous communities rely heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods and cultural practices. [9, 10] Climate change-induced disruptions to ecosystems, food sources, and water availability pose significant threats to their well-being and traditional ways of life. [9, 10]
Children and Future Generations: The sources emphasize that climate change poses a grave threat to future generations, who will inherit a planet increasingly impacted by its consequences. [11] Young people are already experiencing distress related to climate change, with evidence suggesting that exposure to extreme climate events during early childhood can increase the risk of developing mental health issues. [12]
Several factors contribute to this unequal distribution of climate change impacts:
Economic Inequality: Wealthier nations and individuals have more resources to adapt to climate change, while poorer communities often lack access to essential services and infrastructure, making them more vulnerable. [3, 5]
Governance and Political Instability: Weak governance, corruption, and political instability exacerbate climate risks, particularly in conflict-affected regions. [13-15] These factors hinder effective climate action and can worsen the impacts of climate-related disasters.
Historical and Ongoing Injustices: The legacy of colonialism and ongoing systemic inequalities have left many communities in the Global South with limited capacity to cope with climate change. [4] The sources point to the need for climate justice, where those most responsible for emissions bear a greater share of the responsibility for mitigating and adapting to climate change. [11, 16]
It’s crucial to recognize that climate change acts as a threat multiplier, interacting with existing social and economic vulnerabilities to exacerbate inequalities and create cascading risks. Addressing climate change effectively requires a focus on equity and justice, ensuring that the needs and voices of the most vulnerable groups are prioritized in climate action and policy decisions.
Climate Change and Infectious Disease
Climate change significantly influences the spread of infectious diseases in several ways:
1. Altering Environmental Conditions Favorable to Pathogens and Vectors: Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns create more hospitable environments for disease vectors like mosquitoes and ticks. [1-7] Warmer temperatures accelerate the breeding cycles of these vectors, leading to larger populations and longer active seasons. [6, 8] This, in turn, increases the risk of transmission for diseases they carry, such as Lyme disease, dengue fever, malaria, and West Nile Virus. [3, 6, 9, 10]
Geographic Expansion: As suitable habitats expand due to climate change, disease vectors can migrate to new regions, introducing diseases to previously unaffected populations. [9-12] For example, ticks carrying Lyme disease are now found further north and west in the United States than in the past. [8] Similarly, mosquitos carrying malaria are expanding their range northward, leading to locally acquired cases in regions like Maryland. [10]
Increased Transmission Potential: Warmer temperatures can shorten the incubation period of viruses within vectors, accelerating disease transmission. [12] Additionally, climate change can alter the life cycles and behavior of animal hosts that harbor pathogens, potentially increasing the risk of spillover events to humans. [7, 13, 14]
2. Compromising Water and Food Safety:
Waterborne Diseases: Climate change intensifies extreme weather events like floods and droughts. [2, 15-17] Floods can contaminate drinking water sources with harmful bacteria and parasites, leading to outbreaks of diseases like cholera and E.coli. [15] Droughts, on the other hand, can force people to rely on unsafe water sources, increasing their vulnerability to waterborne illnesses. [2]
Foodborne Diseases: Climate change disrupts agricultural practices and food production. [18-20] Changing temperatures and precipitation patterns can lead to crop failures, reduced yields, and food shortages, increasing the risk of malnutrition and compromising immune systems. [1, 2, 19, 20] This can make populations more susceptible to foodborne diseases.
3. Exacerbating Social and Economic Vulnerabilities:
As discussed in our conversation history, climate change disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities and countries, particularly those in the Global South. [6, 21, 22] These communities often lack the resources to adapt to the changing climate and prepare for its health impacts. [23-26] The combination of poverty, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, and increased exposure to climate-related hazards creates a perfect storm for the spread of infectious diseases. [21, 23, 27]
4. Interactions with Conflict and Displacement: Climate change can exacerbate existing conflicts and trigger new ones, primarily over scarce resources like water and land. [28-33] Conflicts and displacement often lead to overcrowded living conditions, poor sanitation, and limited access to healthcare, creating ideal conditions for disease outbreaks. [34, 35] The situation in Syria, where conflict compounded by drought contributed to a cholera outbreak, exemplifies this complex interplay. [34, 36]
Addressing the health impacts of climate change requires a multi-faceted approach that focuses on both mitigation and adaptation. This includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change, strengthening healthcare systems to improve disease surveillance and response, investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, and promoting sustainable practices that protect the environment and human health.
Climate Change and Atlantic Hurricanes
The sources reveal a clear connection between climate change and the behavior of Atlantic hurricanes, particularly in their intensity and movement.
Warmer Ocean Waters Fuel More Intense Hurricanes:
The primary driver of hurricane intensity is the heat energy stored in the ocean’s surface waters. As the planet warms due to climate change, oceans absorb a significant portion of this excess heat, leading to rising sea surface temperatures. [1]
Warmer ocean water acts like high-octane fuel for hurricanes, providing them with the energy needed to intensify rapidly. [1, 2]
Hurricanes are drawing on this increased heat energy to become more powerful, leading to stronger winds, heavier rainfall, and greater destructive potential. [1, 3]
Climate change is also increasing the likelihood of rapid intensification, where a hurricane’s wind speeds increase significantly within a short period, often making it harder for coastal communities to prepare adequately. [1]
Climate Change Is Influencing Hurricane Movement:
Slower Movement: While the exact mechanisms are still under scientific debate, research suggests that climate change may be contributing to slower hurricane movement. [4, 5]
One leading theory proposes that the atmospheric wind patterns that steer hurricanes are weakening or becoming more erratic due to climate change. [4, 5]
Slower-moving hurricanes pose a greater threat because they linger over affected areas for longer durations, leading to prolonged periods of heavy rainfall, high winds, and storm surge. [1, 5]
The devastating impacts of Hurricane Harvey, which stalled over Texas for days, dumping record amounts of rainfall, exemplify the dangers of slow-moving hurricanes. [1]
Shifting Tracks: Some studies indicate that the warming of mid-latitudes could be altering hurricane tracks, potentially causing more storms to occur at higher latitudes. [5]
This shift in hurricane tracks could expose regions that historically have had low hurricane risk to more frequent and intense storms, posing significant challenges for unprepared communities. [5]
Rising Sea Levels Exacerbate Storm Surge Impacts:
Global sea level rise, driven by the thermal expansion of warming ocean water and the melting of land-based ice, is making storm surge—the rise in seawater level caused by a hurricane’s winds—more dangerous. [6-8]
Higher sea levels mean that storm surges reach further inland, inundating larger areas and causing more extensive flooding. [6, 8]
The combination of more intense hurricanes with higher storm surges creates a compounding threat for coastal communities, increasing the risk of property damage, economic losses, and displacement. [7, 8]
In summary, climate change is making Atlantic hurricanes more intense, influencing their movement towards slower speeds and potentially shifting their tracks, and exacerbating the destructive impacts of storm surge. These changes underscore the urgent need for proactive measures to mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects, particularly in coastal areas vulnerable to hurricanes.
Climate Change & Agriculture
Climate change poses significant challenges to agricultural productivity, impacting various aspects of food production. Here’s a breakdown of how climate change affects this vital sector:
1. Shifts in Temperature and Precipitation Patterns:
Changes in Growing Seasons: Climate change is altering temperature and rainfall patterns, leading to shifts in growing seasons. While longer growing seasons in some regions might seem beneficial, they can also have negative consequences. Some farmers may need to provide more irrigation over an extended, hotter period, increasing water demand and costs [1].
Increased Heat Stress: Rising temperatures can cause heat stress in crops, reducing their yields. This is particularly concerning for staple crops like maize (corn), which is projected to experience significant declines in production, especially in tropical regions [2, 3].
Impacts on Livestock: Heat stress also affects livestock, impacting their health, productivity, and milk production [4]. This can lead to economic losses for farmers and potentially disrupt the availability of essential food sources.
Disrupted Pollination: Climate change can affect the timing of plant flowering and pollinator activity, potentially leading to mismatches that reduce pollination rates. This is a critical issue because many crops rely on pollinators like bees and butterflies for successful fruit and seed production [5].
2. Extreme Weather Events and Disasters:
Intensified Droughts: Climate change is exacerbating drought conditions in many regions, leading to water scarcity for irrigation and reduced crop yields [6, 7]. The ongoing drought in the U.S. Southwest, one of the most severe in over a millennium, highlights this growing threat [8].
Increased Flooding: More frequent and intense rainfall events can lead to flooding, which damages crops, erodes topsoil, and depletes soil nutrients [5].
Wildfires: Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires, posing major risks to farmlands, grasslands, and rangelands [9-11]. Wildfires also release harmful pollutants into the air, affecting air quality and potentially impacting crop health [10].
3. Impacts on Soil and Water Resources:
Soil Erosion: Heavy rainfall can worsen soil erosion, a major threat to sustainable crop production [4, 5].
Water Contamination: Agricultural runoff containing fertilizers and pesticides can contaminate water bodies, particularly during heavy rainfall events [12].
Saltwater Intrusion: Rising sea levels can lead to saltwater intrusion into coastal agricultural areas, contaminating water supplies and affecting crop growth [13].
4. Impacts on Specific Crops:
Maize (Corn): Projections show significant declines in maize yields, particularly in tropical regions, due to rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns. These declines could have severe implications for global food security [2, 3, 14].
Wheat: Wheat may see an initial expansion of its growing range due to rising temperatures, but these gains might level off mid-century [2, 14].
Other Crops: The impacts on soybean and rice yields are less clear-cut, with varying projections depending on the region and climate model [15].
5. Food Security and Economic Implications:
Reduced Yields and Food Shortages: Climate change-driven impacts on agricultural productivity can lead to reduced yields, contributing to food shortages and price increases. This can have severe consequences for food security, particularly in vulnerable communities that rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods [9, 16-18].
Economic Losses: The agricultural sector is a significant contributor to national economies. Climate change-related disruptions to agricultural productivity can lead to substantial economic losses for farmers, agribusinesses, and related industries [19].
It’s important to note that the effects of climate change on agriculture vary depending on the region, crop type, and adaptive capacity of farmers. However, the overall trend suggests a growing threat to agricultural productivity, posing significant challenges to global food security and economic stability. Addressing these challenges requires both mitigating climate change through reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to its impacts through sustainable farming practices, investing in climate-resilient infrastructure, and supporting vulnerable communities.
Sources
2022 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in historical context | NOAA Climate.gov
Summary This NOAA Climate.gov blog post analyzes the 2022 U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, placing them within a historical context spanning from 1980. The report highlights that 2022 tied for the third highest number and third highest cost of such disasters, totaling at least $165 billion, with Hurricane Ian being the costliest single event. The analysis emphasizes the increasing trend of both the frequency and cost of these disasters over recent decades, attributing this rise to a combination of increased exposure, vulnerability, and the influence of climate change. Finally, the post provides interactive maps and data visualizations to illustrate the geographical distribution of impacts and the seasonal variations in disaster types, concluding with a discussion on the need for improved infrastructure and hazard mitigation strategies.
2. 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters | NOAA Climate.gov
Summary This NOAA Climate.gov blog post analyzes the record-breaking number and cost of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States during 2023. The report details 28 such events totaling at least $92.9 billion in damages, exceeding the previous record and highlighting a concerning upward trend since 1980. The analysis attributes this increase to a combination of growing exposure and vulnerabilityof populations and assets, exacerbated by the influence of climate change on the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The blog emphasizes the rising costs, both in monetary terms (exceeding $2.66 trillion cumulatively since 1980) and in human lives, advocating for improved infrastructure and building practices to mitigate future risks.
3.2024: An active year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters | NOAA Climate.gov
Summary This NOAA Climate.gov blog post analyzes U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters from 1980 to 2024. The key finding is a dramatic increase in both the frequency (403 events) and cumulative cost (over $2.915 trillion) of these disasters, with 2024 ranking as the fourth-costliest year. The analysis attributes this rise to a combination of factors: increased exposure and vulnerability due to population growth and development in high-risk areas, and the potential influence of human-caused climate change increasing the intensity and frequency of certain extreme weather events (like hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding). The post details the specific events of 2024, highlighting the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and concludes by emphasizing the growing challenge of "compound extremes"—multiple disasters occurring simultaneously, straining resources and recovery efforts.
4.Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
Summary This webpage excerpt announces the January 2025 release of data on billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S. from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). It provides the release date, citation information for proper attribution, and contact details for inquiries, emphasizing the accessibility of this critical climate data. The inclusion of social media handles and email/phone contact points highlights the agency's commitment to open communication and data dissemination regarding these significant events.
5. Anger, sadness, guilt, hope: on the complex emotions of climate change
Summary This blog post explores the complex emotional responses to climate change, arguing against the notion of a single "most effective" emotion for driving action. The author contends that individuals experience a range of emotions simultaneously—including anger, sadness, guilt, and concern—and that these feelings are valid and even necessary for prompting engagement. However, the author's personal experience highlights the crucial role of hope, combined with a sense of agency, in transforming paralyzing negative emotions into productive action, emphasizing that while negative emotions initiate action, hope is essential for sustaining it. The post concludes that effective climate action requires acknowledging the multifaceted nature of human emotions and the importance of finding a balance between acknowledging the urgency of the situation and maintaining a hopeful perspective capable of motivating continued effort.
6.California Wildfires: Los Angeles County fires latest: Palisades, Eaton, Hurst
7.Causes and Effects of Climate Change | United Nations
Summary This United Nations webpage details the causes and effects of climate change. It highlights fossil fuels as the primary driver, emphasizing their role in generating power, manufacturing goods, transportation, food production, and powering buildings. The document further illustrates the devastating consequences of climate change, including hotter temperatures, more severe storms, increased drought, a warming and rising ocean, species loss, food insecurity, health risks, and poverty/displacement. Ultimately, the page aims to educate the public about the urgent need for climate action, linking to various UN resources and initiatives for further information.
8.Causes of Climate Change | US EPA
Summary This US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) document explains the causes of climate change. It asserts that human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are the dominant cause of the observed warming trend since the Industrial Revolution. While natural processes like variations in solar activity and volcanic eruptions influence climate, they cannot account for the recent rapid warming. The text details the increased atmospheric concentrations of these gases, demonstrating the link between human activity and rising global temperatures. Finally, the document contrasts these human-induced effects with the influence of natural climate variations.
10. Climate Change Affect On Mental Health | Commonwealth Fund
Summary This Commonwealth Fund explainer from March 2023 details the significant and growing impact of climate change on mental health. It highlights that extreme weather events cause trauma leading to conditions like PTSD and anxiety, while even indirect exposure fosters widespread climate anxiety. The explainer emphasizes the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, including people who are homeless, people of color, young people, and older adults. Finally, it proposes solutions such as improving mental health services, supporting climate action to foster a sense of agency, and investing in research to better understand and address these critical issues.
11. Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Supply | US EPA
Summary This excerpt from the US EPA website details the significant impacts of climate change on American agriculture and the food supply. It highlights key vulnerabilities, such as drought, wildfires, decreased crop yields, and heat stress on livestock, emphasizing the economic and social consequences of these changes. The text also explores the interconnectedness of agriculture with other sectors, including its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and its reliance on healthy soil and water resources. Finally, it proposes various mitigation and adaptation strategies, urging both farmers and consumers to adopt climate-smart practices to ensure future food security and environmental sustainability.
12.Climate Change and Infectious Diseases | NETEC
Summary This NETEC (National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center) resource details the escalating threat of climate change-influenced infectious diseases, particularly vector-borne illnesses like Lyme disease. The text highlights a concerning increase in reported cases of such diseases in the U.S. and globally, attributing this rise to factors like climate change (warmer temperatures, altered precipitation), ecological changes (reforestation, increased deer populations), and expanding human development into wooded areas. The material further explains the complex interplay between these factors and the transmission cycles of tick-borne viruses, focusing on three key climate change impacts: geographic expansion of tick vectors, increased tick numbers and pathogen transmission, and adaptation of ticks to changing climates. Finally, it offers practical guidance for clinicians on diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and resources for managing these increasingly prevalent diseases, emphasizing the crucial need for proactive measures to address this growing public health challenge.
13.Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System | Home
Summary This U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website section focuses on the impacts of climate change on global food security, specifically highlighting its effect on the U.S. food system. It emphasizes the USDA's role in providing a safety net for farmers and consumers, addressing food insecurity and promoting sustainable practices. The site offers various resources, including a peer-reviewed assessment detailing how climate change affects food availability, access, utilization, and stability, ultimately leading to food insecurity through disruptions in production, transport, and storage. Finally, it showcases current USDA initiatives related to climate change adaptation and sustainable agriculture.
14.Climate Change: Global Sea Level | NOAA Climate.gov
Summary This NOAA Climate.gov excerpt details the alarming rise in global sea levels since 1880, highlighting a dramatic acceleration in the rate of increase in recent decades. The text emphasizes the causes of sea level rise, namely melting glaciers and ice sheets, and thermal expansion of warming seawater, alongside contributing factors like groundwater depletion. It then explores the consequences of this rise, including increased coastal flooding, erosion, and threats to infrastructure and ecosystems, particularly in the United States. Finally, the excerpt presents projections for future sea level rise, emphasizing the significant uncertainty linked to greenhouse gas emissions and potential ice sheet collapse, while providing data visualizations and references for further research.
15. Climate Changes Health: Water Quality and Accessibility
Summary This webpage excerpt from the American Public Health Association (APHA) focuses on the detrimental effects of climate change on water quality and accessibility. It highlights how climate change exacerbates both water quantity issues (droughts and floods) and quality issues (contamination from harmful algae and floodwaters), disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and low-income communities. The text emphasizes the urgent need to address these issues, advocating for improved infrastructure and equitable access to clean water, using the example of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate the devastating consequences of inadequate flood protection. Ultimately, the page aims to raise awareness and encourage action to mitigate the health risks posed by climate change's impact on water resources.
16. Climate change — WHO
Summary This WHO document details the profound and multifaceted impacts of climate change on global health. It highlights the escalating frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters—heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and storms—and their devastating consequences, including increased mortality and morbidity from various diseases. The report emphasizes the disproportionate burden on vulnerable populations, particularly in low-income countries, and underscores the urgent need for transformative action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and build climate-resilient health systems. Finally, it outlines the WHO's three-pronged response strategy: promoting health-enhancing emissions reductions, building resilient health systems, and protecting health from climate impacts, with a focus on leadership, evidence-based action, and capacity building.
17. Conflict and Climate | UNFCCC
Summary This UNFCCC blog post explores the complex interplay between climate change and conflict. It highlights how climate change, through indirect pathways like resource scarcity (especially water) and extreme weather events, exacerbates existing vulnerabilities and tensions, often leading to increased displacement and conflict, particularly in already fragile regions. The piece emphasizes that while climate change doesn't directly cause conflict, it significantly amplifies pre-existing risks and makes vulnerable populations even more susceptible to violence and displacement. The text uses examples like the 1991 Gulf War oil fires and the current food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine to illustrate these points, ultimately urging for proactive adaptation and mitigation strategies to prevent further escalation of this intertwined crisis.
18.Does Climate Change Cause Conflict? – Our World
Summary This article from the United Nations University explores the complex and debated relationship between climate change and armed conflict, specifically focusing on sub-Saharan Africa. While some research suggests a direct link, with temperature increases correlating to higher civil war incidence, others argue that climate change acts indirectly, exacerbating existing political and economic factors that fuel conflict. The author highlights the ongoing academic debate, presenting contrasting viewpoints emphasizing the multifaceted nature of conflict, which involves political, social, and economic drivers alongside environmental ones. Ultimately, the article stresses the need for cautious interpretation of data and advocates for comprehensive research encompassing various disciplines to better understand this intricate issue and develop effective preventative strategies.
19. Drying Great Salt Lake Could Expose Millions to Toxic Arsenic-Laced Dust | Smithsonian
Summary A Smithsonian Magazine article reports that Utah's Great Salt Lake is rapidly drying up, potentially collapsing within five years due to excessive water use and exacerbated by climate change. This impending collapse threatens millions with exposure to toxic arsenic-laced dust, causing significant health and environmental problems. The lake's disappearance would also severely impact the regional economy and the diverse ecosystem it supports, including vital migratory bird populations and brine shrimp. The article highlights the urgent need to drastically reduce water consumption to prevent a looming ecological and public health catastrophe.
20.Economic losses from weather- and climate-related extremes in Europe | European Environment Agency’s home page
Summary This European Environment Agency report details the substantial economic losses incurred by the European Union due to weather and climate-related extreme events between 1980 and 2023, totaling an estimated €738 billion. The report highlights a significant increase in losses in recent years, with the last three years ranking among the top five highest loss years. Hazards like floods, storms, and heatwaves are identified as major contributors, and the report emphasizes the increasing frequency and severity of these events, linked to human-caused climate change. The report also underscores the need for increased resilience and adaptation strategies at the national level to mitigate future economic losses, advocating for better data collection and improved adaptive capacity to manage these escalating climate risks.
Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wars, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Coups, and Economic Collapse
Summary This Air University Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs article, titled "Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wars, Climate Change, Natural Disasters, Coups, and Economic Collapse," analyzes the convergence of global crises. The authors argue that simultaneous, multi-layered challenges, ranging from armed conflicts and natural disasters to economic instability and political upheaval, overwhelm existing governance structures. They emphasize the inadequacy of current nationalistic approaches, advocating for a fundamental shift towards international cooperation and a longer-term, inclusive perspective to address these intertwined threats, particularly those exacerbated by climate change. The article uses data and examples to illustrate the interconnectedness of these crises, highlighting the urgency for coordinated global action to mitigate and adapt to the cascading effects.
21. Experts warn climate change will fuel spread of infectious diseases — UC Davis Health Home
Summary This article from UC Davis Health reports on a study published in JAMA warning that climate change is exacerbating the spread of infectious diseases. The experts highlight the expanding ranges of disease vectors like ticks and mosquitos, leading to increased incidence of diseases like Lyme disease and malaria in previously unaffected regions. Furthermore, they emphasize the growing threat of zoonotic diseases due to changes in animal habitats and increased human-animal interaction. The article concludes with a call for improved disease surveillance, updated medical training to address these evolving threats, and advocacy for climate change mitigation policies.
22. Global Climate Change Impact on Crops Expected Within 10 Years, NASA Study Finds
Summary A NASA study, published in Nature Food, projects significant impacts of climate change on global crop yields by 2030. Using advanced climate and crop models, the research predicts a 24% decrease in maize (corn) yieldsunder a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, while wheat yields may increase by about 17%. These changes are attributed to rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and elevated carbon dioxide levels. The study highlights the potential for severe global food security implications due to maize production declines, even suggesting that these effects could become apparent as early as a decade from the publication date.
23. How climate change is changing hurricanes
24. How climate change makes hurricanes more destructive
Summary This excerpt from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) website details how climate change exacerbates hurricane destruction. Warmer ocean temperatures increase evaporation, fueling stronger winds and heavier rainfall. Simultaneously, rising sea levels, a direct consequence of global warming, worsen storm surges, leading to greater coastal flooding and damage. The text also highlights that hurricanes are becoming more frequent, intense, and slower-moving, increasing the potential for catastrophic damage. Ultimately, the EDF uses this information to advocate for climate action and community preparedness.
25. How climate change makes hurricanes worse
26.Hurricanes and Climate Change
Summary This excerpt from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions discusses the escalating impact of climate change on hurricanes. It highlights three key climate-related influences: warmer sea surface temperatures intensifying storms and increasing rainfall, sea level rise exacerbating coastal flooding, and atmospheric changes leading to slower-moving, more destructive hurricanes. The text emphasizes the increased intensity and severity of hurricanes, resulting in greater financial losses and fatalities, while also noting uncertainty regarding the total number of storms. Finally, it underscores the need for enhanced community resiliencethrough mitigation strategies like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing protective infrastructure improvements to lessen the devastating effects of these increasingly powerful storms.
27. L.A. Fires Show the Reality of Living in a World with 1.5°C of Warming
Summary The article uses the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires as a stark illustration of a world exceeding the 1.5°C warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement. It highlights the immediate consequences, including loss of life and widespread destruction, while connecting these events to larger issues of climate change. The piece contrasts political finger-pointing over resource management with the overwhelming scientific consensus on the link between greenhouse gas emissions and increasingly frequent, intense wildfires. Ultimately, the article serves as a warning, emphasizing the urgency of addressing climate change to mitigate future catastrophic events and arguing that decisive action is still possible.
28. Los Angeles wildfires have become perfect fuel for Trump and climate denial
Summary This Salon.com article discusses the devastating Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025, focusing on the misinformation campaign surrounding their cause. While experts overwhelmingly attribute the fires' intensity to climate change-induced drought and dry conditions, President-elect Trump and right-wing media outlets are disseminating false narratives blaming factors like DEI programs and diverting water resources. The article highlights the urgent need to address climate changeand the dangers of spreading misinformation during a crisis, emphasizing the scientific consensus on the link between human activity, fossil fuels, and increasingly severe wildfires. The author warns against the dangers of climate change denial and its potential impact on future disaster preparedness.
29. Moment’s Story
Summary “Step into the year 2147, where we meet Moment, the poignant narrator of Sapience: The Moment Is Now. In the opening scene, Moment describes her struggle for survival in Death Valley-the hottest place on Earth, made even deadlier by a century of unchecked climate change. As the planet burns, her voice rises, carrying an urgent plea for change. This is more than a story; it's a wake-up call. Explore 5,000 years of history and humanity's defining moments in a book that dares to ask: will we awaken to our collective potential before it's too late? Sapience: The Moment Is Now-the future is waiting for your imagination."
30. Navigating Our Future | Five Star Review of Sapience: The Moment Is Now
Summary This YouTube video transcript excerpt discusses the book "Sapience: The Moment Is Now," reviewing its exploration of humanity's journey and the challenges of our present. The author highlights the powerful influence of corporations on the future, emphasizing the importance of mindful action and individual choices in shaping tomorrow. Essentially, it's a call to actively participate in shaping the future, rather than passively accepting destiny.
31.PD 04 – Addressing Pandemic Threats Through the Lens of Climate Change
Summary This transcript from a World Health Summit video discusses the inextricable link between climate change and pandemic threats. The discussion centers on the undeniable impact of climate change on human health, manifesting in increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and the expansion of infectious diseases due to shifting habitats and warmer temperatures. Experts emphasize the urgent need for a holistic, One Health approach—integrating human, animal, and environmental health—to address these interconnected challenges. The conversation highlights the disproportionate impact on low-income countries, the crucial role of research and development (particularly in resilient vaccine platforms), and the necessity for greater global cooperation and equitable resource allocation to build resilient health systems and prevent future pandemics. A key call to action is to integrate climate considerations into pandemic preparedness strategies and to hold polluters accountable for the health consequences of their actions.
32.Sea Level | Vital Signs – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
Summary This NASA-sourced excerpt details rising global sea levels, emphasizing the unprecedented rate of increase in recent years, exceeding anything seen in the last 2,500 years. The text highlights two primary causes: melting ice and thermal expansion of warming seawater, both linked to human-caused global warming. Data visualization is referenced through graphs showing changes since 1993 (satellite) and 1900-2018 (combined satellite and tide gauge data), offering a comprehensive view of the issue. Finally, it encourages users to access and download the underlying data for further exploration via a provided link.
33. Species extinction from global warming – Iberdrola
Summary This Iberdrola document details the alarming biodiversity loss currently underway, termed the sixth mass extinction. It highlights that climate change, alongside human activities like pollution and habitat destruction, is the primary driver, accelerating the extinction of countless species, including a significant portion of mammals, reptiles, birds, and marine life. The text cites alarming statistics from the IUCN Red List, showcasing the drastic decline in various populations and emphasizing the role of climate change in reducing insect populations and threatening pollinators like bees. Ultimately, the document underscores the urgent need to combat climate change through decarbonization, responsible consumption, and equitable energy financing to prevent further devastating biodiversity loss.
34. Study finds that climate change could spark the next pandemic | NSF – National Science Foundation
Summary This National Science Foundation (NSF) news article reports on a study published in Nature that highlights the link between climate change and the increased risk of future pandemics. The study, funded by the NSF, predicts that rising temperatures will force animals to migrate, leading to increased contact with humans and higher chances of viruses jumping from animals to humans. This is because climate change will restructure the global mammalian virome, causing more opportunities for viral transmission and emergence in new regions and species. The researchers emphasize that climate change may become the biggest risk factor for disease emergence, surpassing even deforestation and wildlife trade, urging the need for integrated wildlife surveillance and environmental monitoring.
35. Study: Ocean warming has intensified recent hurricanes | Climate Central
Summary Climate Central's report, published in Environmental Research: Climate, reveals a strong link between human-caused climate change and intensified Atlantic hurricanes. The study, using the Climate Shift Index: Ocean, demonstrates that warmer ocean temperatures, significantly influenced by climate change, boosted the intensity of most Atlantic hurricanes from 2019 to 2024. This intensification, resulting in approximately 80% of hurricanes experiencing an 18 mph average wind speed increase, led to roughly 30 out of 38 hurricanes reaching a higher Saffir-Simpson category than would be expected without climate change's influence. The report emphasizes the significant contribution of climate change to hurricane severity, highlighting that several storms, such as Lorenzo, Ian, and Lee, reached Category 5 strength due to this effect.
36. Tackling the twin threats of pandemics and climate change: an agenda for action – Africa CDC
Summary This document from the Africa CDC highlights the intertwined threats of climate change and pandemics, particularly in Africa. It emphasizes that ending fossil fuel dependence is crucial for a healthier future, citing the WHO's prediction of a substantial increase in climate change-related deaths. The report stresses the increased vulnerability of African ecosystems and populations to infectious diseases due to climate change, noting a significant rise in zoonotic outbreaks. Ultimately, the document calls for urgent, collective action, including investments in resilient health systems and supply chains, to address these interconnected crises.
37. The World’s Food Supply is Made Insecure by Climate Change | United Nations
Summary This UN article highlights the urgent threat of climate change to global food security. It emphasizes that climate change impacts, including rising temperatures, altered precipitation, and increased extreme weather events, will severely diminish crop yields of crucial staples like maize and wheat within the next 30 years. The article cites alarming projections of food production shortfalls compared to rising global population demands, particularly impacting vulnerable populations in less developed countries. Ultimately, the text stresses the need for immediate action to mitigate climate change, enhance food system resilience, and develop early warning systems to avert a looming food crisis.
38. Toxic Dust Hot Spots | College of Science
Summary This article from the University of Utah's College of Science details research by Professor Kevin Perry on toxic dust emanating from the shrinking Great Salt Lake. Three "hot spots" – Farmington Bay, Bear River Bay, and the northwest boundary – are identified as primary sources of dust containing arsenic and other heavy metals. The article emphasizes the significant air quality threat posed by this dust to northern Utah communities, highlighting the need for further research to determine the extent of health risks. While refilling the lake is presented as the most effective solution, the article underscores the immense challenge and cost involved, drawing parallels to California's costly experience with Owens Lake. The article concludes by emphasizing the urgency of addressing this issue, given the lake's significant depletion and the potential for long-term consequences.
39. Toxic Metals in Dust from the Great Salt Lake: A Growing Health Concern
Summary This excerpt from The Analytical Scientist magazine focuses on a study revealing dangerously high levels of toxic metals in dust from Utah's shrinking Great Salt Lake. The research, employing inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), found elevated arsenic and lithium, exceeding safety standards, alongside other harmful metals. The article emphasizes the health risksposed by inhaling this dust, particularly due to its high oxidative potential, and highlights the need for further investigation and preventative measures as the lake continues to dry up. Beyond the specific research, the excerpt showcases the journal's broader coverage encompassing various analytical techniques, application fields (including environmental science), and industry news.
40. Water – at the center of the climate crisis | United Nations
Summary This United Nations webpage focuses on the critical link between climate change and water. It highlights how climate change intensifies both water scarcity (through droughts and reduced freshwater availability) and water-related hazards (like floods and extreme weather). The page presents data illustrating the severity of these problems, emphasizing the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations and ecosystems. Finally, it proposes solutions including improved water management, protection of wetlands, and early warning systems to mitigate these risks.
41. What Will Our World Look Like at 4 Degrees?
Summary This PBS Terra YouTube transcript discusses the alarming effects of rising sea levels due to climate change. It uses paleoclimate data to illustrate that current CO2 levels mirror those from periods with significantly higher sea levels, potentially reaching 5-10 meters above current levels. The video emphasizes the accelerating rate of sea level rise, projecting a one-foot increase in the next 30 years, with potentially devastating consequences for coastal communities worldwide. Finally, it explores different warming scenarios and their implications, highlighting the need for immediate action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and prevent catastrophic sea-level rise.
42. What’s Missing in the Climate Discussions? The Power of Emotions | Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet
Summary This blog post from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) argues that addressing climate change effectively requires acknowledging and harnessing the power of emotions. It highlights how typical climate discussions focus on policies and technology, neglecting the crucial role of feelings like hope, anger, and grief in motivating action. The authors advocate for integrating emotional intelligence into climate discussions, emphasizing the importance of empathy to understand the unequal impacts of climate change and foster global collaboration. Ultimately, the piece promotes optimism as a key ingredient for building a sustainable future, suggesting that emotional engagement, rather than solely rational discourse, is essential to drive effective climate action.
43. Which animals are most impacted by climate change?
Summary This article from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) highlights the devastating impact of climate change on various animal species. It begins by stating the alarming number of species threatened with extinction and then focuses on eleven specific animals severely affected, including the extinct Bramble Cay melomys and the endangered golden toad, coral, Chinook salmon, and polar bear. The article details how rising sea levels, temperature increases, and changing weather patterns are disrupting habitats, food sources, and reproductive cycles, ultimately threatening the survival of these animals. The overall purpose is to raise awareness about the crisis and encourage donations to support IFAW's conservation efforts.
44. Why floods are hitting more places and people – Environmental Defense Fund
Summary This Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) article explains the increasing frequency and severity of floods globally, linking them to climate change. The text highlights how rising global temperatures lead to more atmospheric moisture and intensified rainfall, exacerbating flood risks. Further, human alterations to landscapes, such as urbanization and agriculture, reduce natural water absorption, increasing surface runoff and flooding. The EDF proposes solutions, including incorporating natural infrastructure to manage water flow, improving flood risk information dissemination, and advocating for community resilience and climate stabilization to mitigate these escalating risks.
45. Wildfire climate connection | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Summary This NOAA webpage details the strong connection between climate change and increasing wildfire risk in the United States. The text emphasizes that increased heat, drought, and atmospheric aridity, all exacerbated by climate change, are key drivers in expanding the size and frequency of wildfires, particularly in the West. Studies cited show a direct link between climate change and the drying of fuels, leading to a substantial increase in large fire occurrences and drastically altered fire behavior. Finally, the page provides resources, including data and reports, to help users understand and prepare for the intensifying wildfire threat.
46. Wildfires and Climate Change – Center for Climate and Energy SolutionsCenter for Climate and Energy Solutions
Summary This excerpt from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions details the escalating wildfire crisis in the United States, strongly linking it to climate change. The text highlights how warming temperatures and reduced precipitation create drier conditions, lengthening fire seasons and intensifying fire spread. It emphasizes the substantial economic and environmental costs of increasingly frequent and severe wildfires, including billions of dollars in damages and negative impacts on public health and ecosystems. Finally, the excerpt proposes several resilience strategies, such as improved land management, fire-resistant building designs, and community planning, to mitigate wildfire risks in the face of a changing climate.
47. Wildfires, Communities & Climate Change
Summary The University of Michigan has launched the Berman Western Forest and Fire Initiative, a research group tackling the escalating wildfire crisis in the western U.S. The initiative unites social scientists, policy experts, economists, engineers, and ecologists to analyze the complex interplay between forests, fires, communities, and climate change as a social-ecological system. Their research aims to understand this multifaceted problem and develop solutions by collaborating with on-the-ground organizations, leveraging diverse expertise to improve wildfire management, enhance community resilience, and facilitate adaptation to climate change. Ultimately, the initiative strives to create science-based tools and solutions that empower communities to proactively address the increasingly destructive wildfire problem.
48. Carbon Capture
Summary This Food & Water Watch fact sheet critiques carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies, arguing that they are an expensive and ineffective climate solution primarily benefiting fossil fuel corporations. The report details how billions of dollars in government subsidies, primarily through tax credits and direct funding, are supporting CCS projects, most of which use captured carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), increasing rather than decreasing emissions. The sheet highlights the unproven long-term storage capabilities of CCS, its high cost compared to renewable energy, and the substantial financial gains accruing to fossil fuel companies and investors, ultimately arguing for a rapid transition to 100% renewable energy.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and newsletter, both are connected to this blog. This is my humble effort to stand for truth, integrity, facts, and wisdom. It is my response to President Biden’s urgent call to action: the torch of democracy, freedom, and truth now rests with each of us.
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Planting my stake on the Moon
Thank you for visiting Sapience site and learning more about our climate challenges!
I started watching Season 2 of the Squid Games on the eve of New Year’s Eve. This season takes more time to develop the complexities and motivations of each main character and the parts they will be playing in the up coming games. But, don’t worry… it takes viewers to the games almost as quickly as Season 1. And now you know the motivations and conflicts of several key players in more depth that adds greater stakes and suspense to the games!
Spoiler Alert
Spoiler Alert, if you have not watched Season 2 yet, the games introduce even more democracy into the games. In season 1, players got to vote after the massacre of Red Light, Green Light game. In season 2, players get to vote after every game is played. The only catch is that they have to divide the money accumulated after the deaths of previous players with all the surviving players.
So, this pits desperate players who are willing to risk their lives to pay off their huge debts with equally desperate players who would rather live than risk dying playing one more game just so they can have a little bit more money. This is exactly where Americans (and also South Koreans) find themselves today due to huge failures of their modern day democracies…finely tuned to only make money for the super wealthy.
Don’t worry, the other side of communist countries are doing the exact same thing but under the guise of sharing for the good of all! In reality, both modern day systems are simply the oldest collective governance in the world: Totalitarian societies.
Both kinds of modern human civilization have been absolutely corrupted by money. And in our modern day, lots of money comes with unconstrained power and control that hollows out the human soul.
Sapience Could Help… If People Wanted Help
If you want to find out how we,the little guys and gals, who are all trapped inside these repressive, brutal systems carefully designed to entertain the super rich with our suffering and deaths, read my book: Sapience: The Moment Is Now.
My book currently is languishing on one of our modern day oligarch’s web system of commerce, Amazon, where is sits mostly unnoticed and unread, unable to find its readers.
This is because I self-published and I don’t have thousands and thousands of dollars to feed Jeff Bezos by buy ineffective ads on his website. Also, since I published through Amazon and I was stupid enough to use their ISBN, I am trapped inside Amazon vast ocean of commerce that does not play fair with bookstores or libraries.
This is because Amazon charges full retail price and does not take back books that don’t sell (like Publishing Companies do). Thus, bookstores and libraries cannot buy my book for a fair price that allows them to make some money (or at least not lose money). Therefore, they don’t. Because of this, I cannot get my book to places where readers are looking for something new to read. And believe me, readers coming to Amazon to find something new to read only see book whose authors (or authors via publishers) can afford to pay the most for advertising!
If you feel rebellious after reading this blog, please help me beat an oligarch and read or buy my book on Amazon. Also, please leave a rating… and better yet, leave a review! I would be so deeply grateful to you.
Squid Games — A Provocative Modern Metaphor
Modern democracies mirror the high stakes of deadly Squid Games
You are probably pondering, if you have made it this far in the blog: How Are the Squid Games and Modern Democracies the Same?
Here are seven parallels between modern democracies and the Squid Game Season 2.
#1.Economic Desperation
Be it bored rich people who are watching people die for entertainment or modern day democracies or communistic societies, both the fictional game and modern systems of governance exploit financial vulnerability. In Squid Game, players are willing to risk death for a chance to escape crushing debt. Similarly, in America, many people take dangerous jobs, endure exploitative working conditions, or gamble on high-risk investments to achieve financial security.
Deeper Dive into Economic Desperation
Here is how wealth inequality and the lack of safety nets trap people in cycles of desperation:
Wealth inequality and the lack of safety nets create self-perpetuating cycles of desperation by forcing individuals to make increasingly precarious choices just to survive. Here’s how these factors interact to trap people:
A. Unequal Distribution of Resources
Limited Access to Basics: Wealth inequality means fewer resources for the majority, making essentials like housing, education, and healthcare harder to afford. This forces people to prioritize immediate survival over long-term stability, such as skipping preventive healthcare or higher education.
Concentrated Wealth Power: Wealth is hoarded by a small elite, giving them disproportionate control over policies and opportunities. This exacerbates inequality, as the system prioritizes their interests over those of the majority.
B. Debt as a Trap
Predatory Lending: High-interest loans, payday lenders, and credit card debt target those who lack savings, creating a cycle of borrowing and repayment that often spirals out of control.
Student Debt: The cost of education locks people into decades of debt, with no guarantee of upward mobility. This limits financial freedom and delays wealth-building, such as homeownership.
C. Insecure and Low-Paying Jobs
Lack of Living Wages: Many jobs, particularly in service sectors, don’t pay enough to cover basic needs. Even full-time workers can require multiple jobs or government assistance to make ends meet.
Gig Economy: The rise of gig and contract work removes job security and benefits, leaving workers vulnerable to fluctuations in demand.
D. Lack of Safety Nets
Insufficient Healthcare: Without affordable or universal healthcare, medical emergencies can lead to catastrophic debt. Chronic conditions become untreated, reducing productivity and creating a cycle of poor health and poverty.
Weak Social Welfare: Limited unemployment benefits, housing assistance, and food programs leave people with few options when crises arise. In many cases, these programs are also stigmatized, discouraging people from seeking help.
E. Generational Impact
Intergenerational Poverty: Families without wealth cannot pass down financial resources, leaving each generation to start over. Meanwhile, wealthy families leverage inherited assets to grow their wealth further.
Educational Inequities: Underfunded schools in poorer areas result in lower educational outcomes, reducing opportunities for future generations.
F. Psychological Toll and Reduced Agency
Scarcity Mindset: Constantly scrambling for resources affects decision-making, often leading to short-term thinking that perpetuates the cycle.
Stress and Burnout: Chronic financial strain undermines mental and physical health, reducing productivity and further entrenching desperation.
G. Structural Barriers to Escape
Expensive Mobility: Moving to areas with better opportunities often requires upfront costs (relocation, housing deposits, etc.) that are out of reach for those trapped in poverty.
Systemic Racism and Discrimination: Marginalized groups face additional barriers, such as wage gaps, hiring biases, and redlining, further limiting opportunities.
The Self-Reinforcing Cycle
These factors interact to create a feedback loop: lack of resources leads to poor outcomes, which further reduces access to opportunities and resources. Without systemic change—such as stronger safety nets, equitable policies, and wealth redistribution—the cycle continues, trapping individuals and communities in perpetual desperation.
#2.Democratic Facade
In both the games and modern systems of governance, there is the illusion of choice. While Squid Game allows players to vote, their choices are framed by desperation. In America, the idea of “freedom” can sometimes mask systemic coercion, such as choosing between healthcare or bankruptcy, or enduring unsafe working conditions due to a lack of alternatives.
Deeper Dive into Democratic Facade
Here is how the illusion of choice mirrors democratic processes where choices are constrained by systemic power imbalances:
The illusion of choice occurs when people believe they have agency and freedom to make decisions, but their options are actually constrained by systemic power imbalances. This dynamic is evident in both Squid Game and real-world democratic processes, especially in systems shaped by wealth inequality, political polarization, and entrenched power structures. Here’s how:
A. Limited Options That Favor the System
In Squid Game, players can vote to leave the game, but the alternative—returning to crushing debt and hardship—is equally dire. This creates a “choice” between two harmful outcomes, ensuring the system remains in control regardless of the decision.
In democratic systems:
Economic Constraints: Low-income voters often face barriers such as unpaid time off to vote, long wait times, or inaccessible polling locations, making “free choice” contingent on financial stability.
Political Homogeneity: A two-party system can limit choices to candidates who often prioritize corporate or elite interests, sidelining policies that directly benefit marginalized groups.
The system effectively restricts meaningful options while maintaining the facade of democratic participation.
B. Manipulation Through Fear and Incentives
The players in Squid Game are manipulated by their desperation and the promise of wealth, leading them to make irrational or harmful choices that perpetuate the game’s cycle. Similarly, democratic systems often use fear and incentives to guide decisions in ways that maintain the status quo:
Fearmongering: Politicians and media outlets exploit fears of instability, crime, or economic collapse to sway voters toward particular candidates or policies, often against their own long-term interests.
False Promises: Campaign promises of systemic reform are often diluted or abandoned once candidates are elected, leaving the underlying issues unresolved while maintaining voter engagement.
C. Divide and Conquer Tactics
In Squid Game, players are pitted against each other, making collaboration and rebellion nearly impossible. Votes that should empower them instead deepen divisions.
In democracy:
Partisan Polarization: Political parties and media amplify divisions between voters (e.g., urban vs. rural, young vs. old), preventing collective action to address systemic inequalities.
Identity Politics: While representation is important, the focus on symbolic victories (e.g., electing diverse candidates without systemic reform) can obscure larger structural issues, dividing people along superficial lines.
These tactics ensure that systemic power imbalances remain unchallenged, as voters are too divided to demand meaningful change.
D. The Role of Money in Decision-Making
In Squid Game, the wealthy spectators manipulate the game for their entertainment and profit, ensuring they remain insulated from its dangers. Similarly, in democratic systems:
Campaign Financing: Wealthy donors and corporations wield disproportionate influence, shaping policy agendas and candidate viability. [Think Elon Musk… or Mush is a much better name for the maniac oligarch. Spoiler Alert: I think Mr. Elon is player 001 in Season 2 of the Squid Game.]
Economic Gatekeeping: The cost of running for office excludes many grassroots candidates, leaving political power concentrated among the elite.
This creates a system where voters may “choose” from options that have already been pre-selected by those with money and power.
E. Psychological Impact of the Illusion
Believing they have agency while facing constrained choices leads to frustration, apathy, and disengagement:
In Squid Game: Players become disillusioned with their fellow competitors and themselves, yet they continue to play because they feel there is no other way out.
In Democracy: Voter turnout often declines as people perceive elections as futile, perpetuating the cycle of systemic control. The illusion of choice traps them in a paradox where opting out feels as ineffective as participating.
Key Consequences
Entrenchment of Power: The system remains stable, ensuring those in power stay in power.
Frustrated Populations: People become disillusioned, blaming themselves or their neighbors instead of the systemic structures that constrain their choices.
Cyclical Inequality: With no structural changes, disparities grow, further eroding the possibility of meaningful choices.
This is important so lets expand into specific examples of how voter suppression laws, campaign financing practices, and a two-party system trap modern day humans living in “democratic” societies in an endless Game of Kill the Squid.
1. Voter Suppression
Voter suppression undermines the democratic process by systematically limiting access to voting, particularly for marginalized groups. Examples include:
A. Strict Voter ID Laws
Example: In states like Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin, voters are required to present government-issued IDs that many low-income, elderly, or minority individuals don’t possess.
Impact: Millions of eligible voters face barriers to participation. Studies show that Black and Latino voters are disproportionately affected.
B. Poll Closures and Long Lines
Example: In 2020, states like Kentucky and Texas closed hundreds of polling stations, especially in areas with large Black and Latino populations.
Impact: Voters in these communities faced hours-long lines, effectively discouraging participation, especially for those unable to miss work or arrange childcare.
C. Purging Voter Rolls
Example: Ohio’s “use-it-or-lose-it” law removes voters from registration rolls if they fail to vote in consecutive elections.
Impact: While framed as a way to “clean” voter rolls, the policy disproportionately impacts low-income individuals who may be less consistent voters due to systemic barriers.
2. The Role of Campaign Financing
The influence of money in politics ensures that wealthy individuals and corporations wield disproportionate control over democratic processes. Examples include:
A. Super PACs and Dark Money
Example: The 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling allowed unlimited corporate spending on elections through Super PACs.
Impact: Billionaires and corporations flood elections with money to support candidates aligned with their interests. For example, the Koch network spent over $400 million in the 2018 midterms.
B. Candidate Viability and Fundraising
Example: Viable presidential campaigns now require hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising. In 2020, Joe Biden raised $1.6 billion, while Donald Trump raised $1.1 billion.
Impact: Grassroots candidates with limited access to wealthy donors or corporate funding struggle to compete, perpetuating an elite-controlled system.
C. Lobbying Influence
Example: Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies spend billions lobbying Congress to block universal healthcare policies, as seen in the defeat of the “Medicare for All” initiative.
Impact: Policy decisions favor wealthy industries, sidelining public interest.
3. The Two-Party System
The dominance of two major parties creates structural barriers that limit voter choice and perpetuate the illusion of democracy.
A. Winner-Takes-All Elections
Example: The Electoral College system in the U.S. disproportionately favors swing states, often disregarding the popular vote. In 2016, Donald Trump won the presidency despite receiving nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton.
Impact: Third-party candidates are seen as “spoilers,” and voters feel compelled to choose between the two dominant parties, even if neither aligns with their values.
B. Ballot Access Laws
Example: States like Texas and Georgia have stringent requirements for third-party candidates to qualify for the ballot, such as obtaining tens of thousands of petition signatures.
Impact: These barriers effectively exclude alternative voices, reinforcing the duopoly.
C. Polarization and Gridlock
Example: Partisan gridlock, such as the government shutdowns over budget disputes, highlights how the two-party system prioritizes power struggles over effective governance.
Impact: Voters are left with a system that prioritizes party loyalty over addressing systemic issues, like wealth inequality or climate change.
How These Examples Mirror Squid Game
Suppression as Forced Participation
Just as some Squid Game players are coerced into staying by systemic traps, voter suppression ensures certain groups face disproportionate barriers, effectively silencing their voices.
Financing as Rigged Odds
The wealthy spectators in Squid Game rig the game for their amusement, much like billionaires and corporations dictate political outcomes through campaign financing and lobbying.
Two-Party Entrapment as Limited Choice
Players in Squid Game believe their only choices are to play or die. Similarly, the two-party system forces voters to choose between constrained options, perpetuating systemic inequality.
#3.Winners & Losers in a Zero-Sum System
The “winner-takes-all” nature of both systems is what provides the captivating energy that traps both super rich and super poor in a perpetual, brutal game. In Squid Game, only one person can claim the prize (except Season 2 is allowing players to split the money and leave with their lives if enough players vote to do this… aka, modern day democracies pretty much around the world). The same can be said of capitalism in its most ruthless form—which is what we seem to have collectively molded into existence everywhere—where success for a few comes at the expense of many.
Deeper Dive into Winners & Losers in a Zero-Sum System
Here is how a Zero-Sum mindset fosters competition rather than collaboration in so called modern “democratic” societies, thus leading to societal fragmentation:
The winner-take-all nature of modern democracies fosters competition at every level of governance, reinforcing societal fragmentation by prioritizing individual or partisan success over collective well-being. This dynamic is evident in electoral systems, policymaking, and public discourse, creating a cycle where collaboration is undervalued and division is amplified. Here’s how:
A. Electoral Systems That Reward Competition Over Collaboration
In winner-take-all systems, such as those in the U.S. and the U.K., the candidate or party with the most votes wins outright, leaving all others without representation. This system has several divisive consequences:
1a. Marginalization of Minority Voices
Impact: Third parties and minority groups are often excluded from meaningful participation. Their interests are ignored, fostering disenfranchisement and alienation.
Example: In the U.S., third-party candidates like Ralph Nader in 2000 or Jill Stein in 2016 were labeled “spoilers,” discouraging voters from supporting alternatives to the two dominant parties.
2b. Zero-Sum Game
Impact: The all-or-nothing approach creates incentives for candidates and parties to focus on winning at all costs, rather than building consensus or addressing systemic issues collaboratively.
Example: Gerrymandering—manipulating district boundaries to ensure electoral dominance—prioritizes partisan victories over fair representation.
B. Partisan Policymaking and Gridlock
The winner-take-all mentality extends to policymaking, where parties prioritize short-term victories over long-term collaboration:
1a. Polarization and Tribalism
Impact: Partisan leaders are incentivized to portray the opposing party as enemies, making bipartisan efforts politically costly.
Example: In 2009, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) passed without a single Republican vote, despite addressing a national healthcare crisis. This deepened partisan divides and stigmatized collaboration as weakness.
2b. Legislative Stalemates
Impact: In divided governments, the focus on “beating” the other party results in gridlock, leaving critical issues—like climate change, wealth inequality, or infrastructure—unaddressed.
Example: The frequent U.S. government shutdowns, such as the 35-day shutdown in 2018–2019 over border wall funding, illustrate how competition paralyzes governance.
C. Fragmentation in Public Discourse
1a. Media Amplification of Divisions
Impact: News outlets, driven by profit and political agendas, often sensationalize partisan conflicts, reinforcing tribal identities and fragmenting public understanding of issues.
Example: Networks like Fox News and MSNBC cater to ideologically polarized audiences, creating echo chambers where opposing viewpoints are vilified rather than understood.
2b. Social Media and Algorithmic Bias
Impact: Social media platforms, optimized for engagement, promote content that stokes outrage and division, further polarizing societies.
Example: The rise of “us vs. them” rhetoric online exacerbates divisions, turning political discourse into a battleground of personal attacks rather than constructive dialogue.
D. Societal Fragmentation as an Outcome
1a. Erosion of Trust
Impact: Constant competition erodes public trust in institutions and leaders. People perceive governments as working for partisan or elite interests rather than the common good.
Example: Trust in U.S. government institutions is near historic lows, with Pew Research reporting only 20% of Americans trust the government to do what is right “most of the time.”
2b. Inequitable Policy Outcomes
Impact: Policies often serve the interests of the winning party or their donors, ignoring marginalized groups and exacerbating inequalities.
Example: Tax cuts favoring the wealthy under Republican administrations or corporate bailouts during crises highlight the prioritization of elite interests over broader societal needs.
3c. Alienation and Disengagement
Impact: As people feel their voices are ignored, they become disengaged from the democratic process, leading to lower voter turnout and weakening the system’s legitimacy.
Example: Voter turnout in the U.S. hovers around 60% in presidential elections and is much lower in midterms, reflecting widespread disillusionment.
How Collaboration Is Undermined
Short-Term Thinking: Winner-take-all systems encourage policies aimed at immediate partisan gains rather than sustainable, long-term solutions.
Lack of Inclusive Governance: Minority voices are excluded, stifling innovation and diverse perspectives that could lead to more effective solutions.
Normalization of Hostility: The framing of politics as a zero-sum game legitimizes antagonistic behavior, undermining trust and cooperation across political divides.
Paths Forward: Moving Beyond Winner-Take-All
To counteract these dynamics and foster collaboration, systemic reforms could include:
Proportional Representation: Electoral systems that allocate seats based on vote share encourage coalition-building and fairer representation.
Ranked-Choice Voting: Allowing voters to rank candidates by preference reduces polarization and empowers third-party and independent candidates.
Campaign Finance Reform: Reducing the influence of money in politics can level the playing field and encourage more collaborative policymaking.
Deliberative Democracy: Citizen assemblies and participatory governance models can bridge divides and emphasize collective decision-making.
#4.Moral Compromise & Dehumanization
Both systems (the fictional games and modern day governments) force participants (or citizens) to compromise their ethics. In Squid Game, alliances crumble, and morality is often sacrificed for survival. Similarly, in America, systemic pressures can push individuals or corporations to exploit others for financial gain.
The psychological toll of moral and dehumanization compromises in Squid Game mirrors the experiences of individuals navigating systems of modern democracies, where systemic inequalities force people into decisions that erode their humanity and sense of self. Below, we delve into how these compromises manifest, the toll they take, and their broader implications.
Deeper Dive into Moral Compromise & Dehumanization
A. The Moral Cost of Compromises
1a. In Squid Game
Players are repeatedly forced to make life-and-death decisions, often pitting personal survival against their moral values. Examples include:
Betrayal of Alliances: The marble game forces participants to exploit or betray their closest allies to survive.
Impact: This leads to profound guilt and self-loathing, as participants struggle to reconcile their survival instincts with the harm they’ve caused.
2b. In Democracies
Citizens and policymakers often face decisions that prioritize self-interest or short-term gains over ethical considerations due to systemic pressures. Examples include:
Workers in Low-Wage Jobs: Forced to work under exploitative conditions, such as in sweatshops or unsafe environments, to feed their families.
Voters’ Lesser Evil Dilemma: Choosing between two flawed candidates in elections, leading to feelings of complicity in perpetuating harmful systems.
Impact: Such compromises can result in disillusionment, cynicism, and feelings of helplessness, as people feel trapped in a system where every choice carries moral consequences.
B. The Toll of Dehumanization
1a. In Squid Game
Dehumanization is central to the game’s structure.
Players Reduced to Numbers: Participants are stripped of their names and identities, referred to only by numbers.
Deaths as Spectacle: Their suffering becomes a form of entertainment for wealthy spectators, who view them as disposable.
Impact: The loss of identity and constant objectification lead to a sense of worthlessness and alienation, with many players internalizing their dehumanized status.
2b. In Democracies
Dehumanization occurs subtly but pervasively in systems where human value is tied to economic productivity or political utility.
Economic Systems: People in poverty are often blamed for their circumstances and portrayed as “lazy” or “undeserving,” ignoring systemic barriers like wage stagnation or lack of opportunities.
Partisan Divide: Political opponents are frequently demonized, reducing individuals to caricatures and denying their humanity.
Impact: This dehumanization fosters divisions and erodes empathy, making systemic oppression seem inevitable and even justified.
C. The Psychological Toll
1a. Cognitive Dissonance
Definition: The mental discomfort of holding contradictory beliefs or values.
In Squid Game: Players struggle to rationalize their actions—killing or betraying others—to survive in a system they know is unjust.
In Democracies: Citizens often experience dissonance when participating in systems they recognize as flawed, such as paying taxes that fund unethical policies or working for corporations that exploit workers or the environment.
Impact: Over time, this dissonance can lead to emotional numbness, burnout, or a sense of resignation.
2b. Moral Injury
Definition: The psychological distress resulting from actions—or inactions—that violate deeply held moral beliefs.
In Squid Game: Participants like Gi-hun and Sang-woo endure profound moral injury after betraying their values to survive.
In Democracies:
Policymakers may feel moral injury from enacting harmful policies under pressure.
Low-wage workers or soldiers may grapple with the ethical compromises required by their roles.
Impact: Moral injury often leads to PTSD, depression, and a loss of self-esteem.
Consider the real life recent New Year’s Eve events in the United States. Both bombers were US citizens who had served in the military. Both were decorated servicemen. Both re-entered civilizan society with significant psychological wounds. While the New Orleans bomber found salvation in ISIS, the Las Vegas bomber favored both Elon and Trump and yet blew up a Telsa truck in front of a Trump hotel.
3c. Loss of Agency
In Squid Game: The illusion of choice exacerbates the psychological toll, as players feel forced to act against their will.
In Democracies: Citizens often feel similarly powerless, perceiving their votes or actions as insignificant in systems dominated by corporate interests and elite power.
Impact: A sense of powerlessness can lead to apathy and disengagement from civic life, further entrenching systemic problems.
D. Broader Implications of These Compromises
1a. Fractured Social Bonds
In Squid Game: The competitive structure destroys trust and solidarity, leaving participants isolated and unable to form meaningful connections.
In Democracies: Economic inequality and political polarization erode community cohesion, as people are pitted against each other along class, racial, or ideological lines.
2b. Normalization of Exploitation
In Squid Game: The game normalizes the exploitation of desperate people for entertainment and profit.
In Democracies: Systems like capitalism and the gig economy normalize the exploitation of workers, perpetuating cycles of inequality.
3c. Perpetuation of Oppression
In Squid Game: The system is designed to maintain the power and privilege of the wealthy spectators.
In Democracies: Systemic barriers ensure the continued dominance of the elite, with wealth inequality and voter suppression maintaining the status quo.
Can These Cycles Be Broken?
1. Empowering Individuals: Strengthening education, unions, and community networks to help individuals resist exploitation and reclaim their agency.
2. Systemic Reforms: Implementing policies that prioritize collective well-being over profit, such as universal healthcare or living wages. And, enacting electoral reforms to ensure fair representation and reduce the influence of money in politics.
3. Fostering Solidarity: Building movements that emphasize shared humanity and collective action, countering divisive narratives that dehumanize or isolate.
#5.Spectacle & Entertainment
There are parallels between the spectators in Squid Game and those who benefit from America’s socioeconomic systems, the 1% who sit at the very top of the social pyramid. The wealthy in Squid Game treat suffering as entertainment, much like some aspects of consumer culture profit from and sensationalize hardship in most modern day democracies today.
Deeper Dive into the Spectacle of Entertainment
The spectators in Squid Game represent the detached elite, watching life-or-death struggles as entertainment. Their indifference underscores how spectacle dehumanizes suffering, reducing players to pawns in a game for profit and pleasure.
In America, this dynamic plays out in various ways such as:
Media and Distraction: Reality TV, social media, and partisan news serve as modern-day bread and circuses. They keep people entertained and distracted, preventing deeper engagement with systemic problems.
Profiting from Struggle: From coverage of protests to depictions of poverty and crime, the suffering of marginalized communities is often commodified for ratings, clicks, and profit.
Normalization of Inequality: The glamorization of extreme wealth—juxtaposed with shows like Undercover Boss or Shark Tank—frames inequality as both aspirational and inevitable, distracting from systemic critiques.
Exploitation of Hope: Much like the players in Squid Game, the masses are lured by narratives of success against the odds. These stories maintain the myth that anyone can “win,” even as the system ensures that most cannot.
This spectacle not only distracts but also desensitizes. Just as Squid Game viewers (and even the players themselves) cheer for their favorite players while ignoring the brutality, we become complicit in a system that thrives on inequality, so long as it entertains.
#6.Voting as a Weapon of Division
Voting in both systems has been corrupted to the point of enslavement rather than liberation. In Squid Game, votes divide players, trapping the minority in a deadly system. In America, voting can similarly lead to polarized outcomes where a significant portion of the population feels trapped by decisions made by others whose conscious caculations and choices defy reality, reason, and facts, suggesting stupidity, insanity or criminality at play in their choices. This invites fear and widens scarcity of money and resources for all caught inside the system, and this perpetuates the disfunctional cycle.
Deeper Dive into Voting as a Weapon of Division
In Squid Game Season 2, voting is a deceptive tool. It gives players the illusion of control while dividing them into factions. After each game, just enough players vote to stay, forcing the rest to continue against their will. This creates tension, mistrust, and resentment, ensuring the group never unites against the true oppressors: the game’s creators.
In America, voting often functions in a similar way. While it’s framed as the cornerstone of democracy, systemic inequities undermine its fairness and effectiveness:
Gerrymandering and Suppression: Redistricting, voter ID laws, and reduced access to polling stations skew outcomes, ensuring minority voices often don’t carry equal weight.
Two-Party Entrapment: The binary nature of the system leaves many feeling forced to choose “the lesser of two evils,” which perpetuates disillusionment and apathy.
Polarization: Political and media systems capitalize on division, pitting groups against one another rather than addressing systemic issues. As in Squid Game, these divisions prevent collective action.
This creates a system where voting, rather than empowering, becomes a tool to trap citizens in a cycle of frustration, disillusionment, and inaction.
#7.Narrative of Hope
Investigate the way both systems dangle hope as a motivator. Squid Game players believe they can achieve a better life despite overwhelming odds. In America, the “American Dream” plays a similar role, motivating people to persevere despite systemic obstacles.
Deeper Dive Into the Narrative of Hope
Both Squid Game and modern democracies masterfully dangle hope as a motivator to keep people engaged in systems that exploit them, despite the overwhelming odds against meaningful success. This manipulation of hope creates a powerful psychological hook, ensuring participation while obscuring the deeper systemic issues at play. Let’s explore this in depth:
A. The Nature of Hope as a Motivator
1a. In Squid Game
The Promise of Escape: The cash prize, displayed tantalizingly above the players, represents the ultimate escape from debt, poverty, and desperation.
The Illusion of Agency: Players believe that if they “play smart” or “try harder,” they can achieve victory, even though the game’s design is rigged to ensure most fail.
Impact: Hope becomes a trap, as players cling to the dream of success while ignoring the moral compromises and physical dangers they endure.
2b. In Democracies
The Dream of Upward Mobility: Citizens are sold the idea of the “American Dream” (or similar narratives globally)—that hard work and determination can lead to success, regardless of starting circumstances.
The Illusion of Political Power: Elections and voting are presented as tools for change, yet systemic barriers (e.g., gerrymandering, voter suppression, lobbying) dilute the impact of individual voices.
Impact: Hope keeps people invested in systems that perpetuate inequality, with many blaming themselves rather than the system when success eludes them.
B. How Hope Is Dangled in Each System
1a. In Squid Game
Visualizing the Prize:
The giant glass piggy bank fills with money after every death, making the reward tangible and ever-present.
Psychological Impact: The constant reminder of the prize reinforces hope, even as the number of competitors—and odds of winning—dwindles.
False Choice to Leave:
Players are given the option to leave after the first game, which creates the illusion of freedom. However, the crushing realities of their external lives (debts, poverty) compel most to return.
Psychological Impact: This reinforces the belief that staying is their “best choice,” even though the system is inherently exploitative.
Individual Stories of Success:
The backstories of participants highlight personal struggles, making the prize seem like the only viable path to redemption.
Psychological Impact: Hope becomes deeply personal, tied to notions of worth and survival, which keeps players invested.
2b. In Democracies
Upward Mobility Narratives:
Success stories of individuals who “made it” despite humble beginnings are frequently highlighted in media and political discourse.
Psychological Impact: These stories perpetuate the belief that success is attainable for anyone, masking the systemic barriers that make such stories the exception, not the rule.
Electoral Promises:
Politicians campaign on lofty ideals and promises of systemic reform, often failing to deliver due to institutional constraints or lack of political will.
Psychological Impact: Citizens invest in hope every election cycle, believing “this time will be different,” only to face repeated disappointment.
Small Victories:
Incremental progress, such as raising the minimum wage or expanding healthcare, is celebrated as evidence of systemic change.
Psychological Impact: These victories, while meaningful, often obscure the broader structural inequalities that remain unaddressed.
C. The Double-Edged Sword of Hope
1a. Positive Motivator
Hope can inspire people to persevere and strive for change, even in the face of overwhelming odds.
In Squid Game: Some players exhibit extraordinary ingenuity and resilience, fueled by hope for a better future.
In Democracies: Grassroots movements and social justice campaigns often emerge from hope for systemic change.
2b. Tool of Control
However, hope can also be weaponized to maintain control and prevent rebellion.
In Squid Game: The dangling prize keeps players focused on survival rather than questioning the fairness of the system.
In Democracies: The belief that “change is possible” keeps citizens engaged in electoral systems, even when those systems fail to address root causes of inequality or injustice.
D. The Psychological Manipulation of Hope
1a. Hope as a Distraction
In Squid Game: Players focus on winning the prize, diverting attention from the inhumanity of the games themselves.
In Democracies: Citizens are encouraged to focus on individual success or incremental reforms, distracting from the need for systemic change.
2b. Fear of Losing Hope
In Squid Game: Players fear returning to their desperate lives without even trying for the prize, making them cling to hope despite the risks.
In Democracies: Citizens fear the loss of democratic institutions, even flawed ones, keeping them invested in systems that may not serve their best interests.
E. Breaking the Cycle: Reclaiming Authentic Hope
Recognizing the Illusions:
Both systems rely on manufactured hope to maintain control. Awareness of this manipulation is the first step toward reclaiming agency.
Building Solidarity:
Hope becomes transformative when shared collectively. Movements that emphasize community empowerment, such as mutual aid networks, create authentic hope rooted in collective action rather than individual competition.
Demanding Systemic Change:
Rather than clinging to the crumbs offered by these systems, pushing for systemic reforms—such as universal basic income, proportional representation, or campaign finance reform—can turn hope into a tool for genuine liberation.
HOPE Is Also the Most Powerful Four Letter Word
Here are stories and movements where hope became a force for systemic change, showing how collective action and a shared vision can break cycles of despair and lead to meaningful transformation. These examples illuminate the power of authentic hope rooted in solidarity, persistence, and community action.
1. The Civil Rights Movement (United States)
What Happened: During the mid-20th century, African Americans and allies fought against systemic racism, segregation, and voter suppression.
Why It’s Hopeful: Despite violent resistance, the movement achieved landmark victories like the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. inspired hope by emphasizing justice and equality as attainable goals.
Key Lesson: Hope is sustained through collective struggle and the belief that systemic change is possible when people unite for a shared cause.
2. The Fall of Apartheid (South Africa)
What Happened: After decades of brutal racial segregation, the anti-apartheid movement, led by figures like Nelson Mandela, dismantled the apartheid regime through activism, international solidarity, and negotiations.
Why It’s Hopeful: Mandela’s vision of reconciliation over revenge turned what could have been a destructive transition into a hopeful one. His message that “It always seems impossible until it is done” galvanized millions.
Key Lesson: Hope can bridge divides, and even entrenched systems of oppression can fall when people refuse to accept the status quo.
3. The Women’s Suffrage Movement (Global)
What Happened: Across the globe, women fought for the right to vote, facing ridicule, imprisonment, and violence. In the U.S., this culminated in the 19th Amendment (1920), granting women the right to vote.
Why It’s Hopeful: This decades-long struggle, led by figures like Susan B. Anthony and Emmeline Pankhurst, showed how persistence and organizing could achieve systemic change.
Key Lesson: Hope fuels long-term battles for justice, proving that systemic barriers can be overcome through intergenerational activism.
4. The Indian Independence Movement
What Happened: India’s nonviolent struggle, led by Mahatma Gandhi, freed the nation from British colonial rule in 1947.
Why It’s Hopeful: The movement showed the power of peaceful resistance, with hope as a central theme in Gandhi’s philosophy of satyagraha (truth-force).
Key Lesson: Hope doesn’t require violence; it thrives on truth, resilience, and collective moral courage.
5. LGBTQ+ Rights & Marriage Equality
What Happened: Over decades, activists worked to decriminalize homosexuality, fight discrimination, and achieve marriage equality in many countries. Landmark victories include the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision (2015).
Why It’s Hopeful: These achievements, driven by grassroots efforts and brave individuals, transformed societal attitudes and legal frameworks.
Key Lesson: Hope empowers marginalized communities to push for systemic change, even against entrenched prejudice.
6. Climate Action Movements (Global)
What Happened: Movements like Fridays for Future, led by Greta Thunberg, and Indigenous environmental activism have raised global awareness about the climate crisis and driven policy changes.
Why It’s Hopeful: Grassroots activism has forced governments and corporations to confront their environmental impact. The recent surge in renewable energy and sustainability efforts shows progress is possible.
Key Lesson: Hope motivates action, especially when urgency and community commitment converge.
7. Labor Movements & the Rise of Workers’ Rights
What Happened: The labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries won rights like the 8-hour workday, workplace safety laws, and union protections.
Why It’s Hopeful: These victories arose from ordinary people organizing strikes, protests, and boycotts, demonstrating the power of collective action.
Key Lesson: Hope grows when individuals realize their collective strength can challenge even the most powerful systems.
8. Universal Healthcare Movements (Global)
What Happened: Countries like Canada, the UK, and many in Europe adopted universal healthcare systems after years of advocacy.
Why It’s Hopeful: These systems reduce inequality by ensuring that health is a right, not a privilege. Activists in the U.S. and other nations continue to push for similar reforms.
Key Lesson: Hope is sustained by the belief that essential human needs can be met through equitable systems.
9. Mutual Aid Networks
What Happened: In times of crisis—such as the COVID-19 pandemic or natural disasters—communities have organized mutual aid efforts, providing food, shelter, and care to those in need.
Why It’s Hopeful: These grassroots initiatives bypass broken systems to meet immediate needs, showing the power of solidarity and shared humanity.
Key Lesson: Hope thrives in local action, proving that communities can build resilience even when larger systems fail.
10. The Fight Against Authoritarianism
What Happened: Movements like those in Poland (Solidarity), Chile (against Pinochet), and more recently in Ukraine and Iran demonstrate resistance to authoritarian regimes.
Why It’s Hopeful: These struggles often succeed despite overwhelming odds, fueled by hope for freedom and self-determination.
Key Lesson: Hope becomes unstoppable when people unite to resist oppression, even in the darkest times.
Common Threads of Hope
Shared Vision: Hope grows when people unite around a common purpose.
Persistence: Transformative change often takes years or decades, but hope sustains the fight.
Collective Action: Movements grounded in solidarity harness the power of the many to overcome systemic challenges.
Leadership and Inspiration: Charismatic leaders and powerful stories galvanize hope and action.
These stories remind us that even the most oppressive systems can be challenged and changed when hope is transformed into action.
Speaking about stories…. have you read my book?
Stories are essential for how our minds work and how we use our precious gift of consciousness. If you read my book, you will understand why.
If you absolutely refuse to read my book, then read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series. He is talking about the exact same thing as the Sapience Series. I did not realize this when I began my series back in 2012, but having just started Asimov’s Foundation Series about one year ago and just finished his series just before the New Year, I know what he wrote about and what I write about are the same. Most of Asimov’s books are about this… I, Robot; Naked Sun; The Stars, Like Dust (I’m reading this one now), Pebble in the Sky, The Caves of Steel, or The Robots of Dawn.
Or pick up H.G. Wells, The Time Machine; Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End; Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game; Dan Simmons, Hyperion; Frank Herbert, Dune; Larry Niven, Ringworld; Arthur C. Clarke, A Space Odyssey or Childhood’s End; James S. A. Corey, Leviathan Wakes; Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers; Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Iain Banks, Consider Phlebas.
The only way to get out of this Fucking Game that we are all being forced to play is to open our minds. This can only be done one person at a time…. and the very best way to do this is to learn… and the best way to learn is to read, travel, and talk to real people in real places and in real time, which is here and now!
Read… Read… Read!!
Also, please stop at Sapience’s shop: The Quip Collection. I am introducing compelling and chic Year of the Snake wearables as well as Zodiac and Valentines merch with much more to come. Without your time and attention, I will disappear.
Why America… why did you choose the Orange Ignorant Again?
On November 5, 2024, by the slimmest of margins, Americans made a fatal decision. Donald tRump and his reality star-studded cast of clowns were given back the reigns of power of the most powerful country in the world.
November 5 marks a drastic decline for the USA. The choice Americans made that day shows the world that a slim majority of Americans are perfectly fine with:
Consuming mountain loads of misinformation and calling it reality;
Putting their needs, their beliefs, their biases above everyone’s else; and
Gladly giving power to rapists, pedophiles and sex offenders, misogynists, racists, fascists, cheaters, deceivers, liars, and basically the Basket of Deplorables (or another word for them is Fools) that Hillary Clinton aptly classified Trump voters as being back in 2016.
If we can even recover from this tragic state of affairs, to regain even a small amount of normalcy in this country again, Americans by the bucket loads need to feed their minds with potent, powerful archetypal food. Archetypes are what make it possible to be conscious. Without awareness of them and how they impact us, we are doomed to our bad karma and collective fate, which at this point is really not looking good at all (except if you’re living in the Upside Down… then, you are having a hay day, until… BOOM… consequences hit!
Rise of Creepy Sycophantsin Corporate Media
And corporate America, left leaning or right leaning, has a lot of accounting for this fatal choice, a choice fueled by the love of money.
Corporate Media treats Trump and his campaign of if it were a legitimate player in American politics. It is not legitimate. It is insane. But rather than reporting on the insanity, they gave precious air-time to Trump’s sycophants, brown-nosers, teacher’s pets, suck-ups, flunkeys, bootlickers, toadies, minions, and parasites.
One is featured below.
Entertaining Ourselves to Death
Really CNN?! You think Americans need more performance reality in the wake of the defeat of intelligence, sanity, along with measured and judicious action!
Trump and MAGA know moment like these get CLICKS and VIEWS
I read this book in 1985, but Americans haven’t learned a damned thing since then. Indeed, ignorance has only deepened and grown worse than what Neil Postman warned us about.
And, oh wait, you did read it. You give an endorsement of it:
“It’s unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” – CNN
But you didn’t understand a thing Postman said. Because now, you, CNN is one of the worst offenders of what Postman warned us about in his book. Fox of course is so full of amusing itself and its viewers, it can’t even be called a News Show anymore. Rather, Fox is a gateway to the long rabbit hole into ignorance, hate, deceit, criminality, and fascist radicalization into the MAGA Cult.
Here are some of the reasons you, CNN, contributed to Trump’s sweeping victory:
Token Republican My Ass — Scott has gone full out, mad man MAGA
CNN keep Scott on because moments like this GET CLICKS and VIEWS!!!!
And This Scene leads to More CLICKS, CLICKS, CLICKS and VIEWS … because there is nothing that a MAGA Maniac likes better than to watch a helpless mommy trying to put a wayward, bad boy in his place… and better yes, watching this mommy give up and self-destruct with plastic surgery and lots of boozes–like tRump’s first wife Ivana Marie Trump
ALL THAT GLITTERS Ivana Trump in 1986 at Mar-a-Lago, which she restored. By Norman Parkinson / Iconic Images.
Ivana Marie Zelníčková escaped from behind the Iron Curtain to storm New York City and help create the twisted miracle of Donald Trump. From her “greed is good” heyday to her post-divorce denouement cavorting with a series of “freaky” Italian lovers, it was Ivana, all along, who gilded the Trump name.
Until she didn’t. Some said she began to aspire to things he despised: society, charity boards, fashion shows, grand balls, and grand people. “The phonies,” Trump called them. “He didn’t want a copilot,” one longtime Trump observer will later say. “He wanted a cheerleader.”
Soon, the cameras shone more on her and less on him, “and he was not going to have it,” said Adams.
The divorce sweeps the world. A tawdry romance novel sprung to life, it opens with Trump and his mistress Marla Maples creasing the sheets in Trump-owned hotels. Everyone seems to know except Ivana.
“I always stand by the man,” she says.
Now she is standing in the three-bedroom suite in the Little Nell Hotel in Aspen. It is the Christmas holiday of 1989, and Ivana, at 40, has been reborn via a makeover by the renowned cosmetic surgeon Steve Hoefflin. She’s had “a face-lift, a bosom inflation, and heaven only knows what else,” wrote Liz Smith, who didn’t recognize the new Ivana—until she spoke.
Inside the suite, she picks up a landline and hears her husband on the extension speaking to a local real estate agent about someone whose name she hasn’t heard before.
“Who is Moolah?” she demands.
“Well, that’s a girl who has been going after me for the last two years,” Trump replies.
Somehow, Trump has juggled Ivana and the 26-year-old Maples at holiday parties, keeping them separate and seemingly satisfied. But his luck runs out at Bonnie’s, the rustic lunch spot at the top of Aspen Mountain. He’s sitting with Marla and some friends when Ivana walks in, trailed by Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric.
Marla, in a black ski suit, approaches Ivana, in red and pink, and delivers a line that, as an aspiring actor, she has surely rehearsed: “I’m Marla and I love your husband. Do you?”
In an instant, Ivana replies: “Get lost. I love my husband.”
Then, as she has done all her life, Ivana charges. Not at Moolah—at The Donald. “We were halfway through lunch, and she’s coming toward us, screaming, ‘You no good son of a bitch!’ ” says someone who was at Trump’s table. Trump intercepts her halfway across the crowded room. “And she’s just flailing on him.” (Asked for comment, Marla Maples did not respond.)
They exit and the lunch crowd rises as one to watch from the deck. “He clicks into his skis and you could tell that she’s looking at him, like, ‘Really? You’re going to try to ski away from me?’ ” He tries, but she is fast on his tail. Back at the Little Nell, Ivana hurls her husband’s clothes and Rolex watch out of the windows of their suite and into the snow.
Next comes the unthinkable, at least for Trump. Everyone seems to side with her.
Don’t let me stop the story, go to Vanity Fair. Read the whole article.
Ivana’s rise is indeed much more impressive than The Donald’s. But the MAGA-verse, which we have all ended up living inside since Nov. 5, 2024, is absolutely horrible to older, formerly glamorous and fabulous women.
Ivana’s Fall… literally… is devastating. And now, she lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in an unkempt part of tRump’s golf course.
And Another Fabulous Side Trip of What Happened to Another Beautiful, Smart Woman Who Became Entangled with a Megalomaniac Man
It Should Be Titled: The Black Snake’s Rise to Power and Ultimate Control of the World!!!!!
Now…Back to the Boring Scott Jennings…
Really Scott Jennings… is that so?
An yet, here he is, the Brown nosing Scott Jennings who is the epitome of fake, hallow, inauthentic news
However, even the bootlicker Jennings admits comedy in America is getting a tremendous boost post 2024 election. However, if Americans are just tuning in for a laugh, and then going back to minimizing the disaster that has befallen America… it’s not helping us.
And so, Our Consolation Prize is theRise of Comedy
Comedy is the Only Sector Growing by Leaps and Bounds post November 5, 2024
Weekend Update: Trump Wins 2024 Election, Becomes First Felon Elected President – SNL
SNL for Trump Cold Open – SNL
Elon Musk Slams Dana Carvey’s ‘SNL’ Impression of Him — Anything that Pisses Elon off is Totally Funny and We Need More of That
Trump and Biden Meeting Cold Open – SNL
But, it is not enough!
Enter from Stage Left, the MeidasTouchNetwork
This new News Network is helping fix what corporate media broke.
LIVE: Trump Handed MAJOR LEGAL DEFEATS in Transition | Legal AF || STAY INFORMED & INSPIRED BY THIS NETWORK
Robert Reich SPEAKS OUT After Election | PoliticsGirl || This is REALLY GOOD — If you want to do something, listen, especially minute 46
Trump mental health conference explained with Dr Bandy Lee. || MUST WATCH
But We Still Need More…
…because the main battlefield is not happening on the outside in our shared world. The main battlefield is being fought on the inside, inside our minds.
If we are going to win this fight, then we (the sane and intelligent Americans still standing) need to get a lot more serious about how images and archetypes workd… because Lord knows the MAGAs certainly have!
The MAGAs are winning because they have tapped into ancient, magnetic, and powerful forms of thought and primitive thinking. They probably don’t even know exactly what they have tapped into. They only know that it is working.
Republican Party strategist and political pollster Patrick Ruffin discussed trends from the 2024 election at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity’s annual “Freedom and Progress” conference in Washington, D.C. Topics included strengths and weaknesses of the Trump and Harris campaigns, the economy as a key election issue, the pivot in diversity within the GOP, and how the electorate interpreted the character of each candidate.
And of course, Trump himself is a lightening rod. Trump certainly cannot talk the language of the mind, but he has an instinct for how to tap into the ancient, primitive parts of the human mind and how to manipulate the masses.
Sapience: The Moment Is Now
My book, Sapience: The Moment Is Now, goes into great detail about these ancient, primitive, powerful parts of the human mind.
unfortunately, my book seems beyond the mental capabilities of most causal readers. It is too long, too complicated, goes over too much human history.
2024
Well, dear humans of Earth, if we don’t understand our shared collective history… we are doomed to repeat it over and over and over again. And that is exactly what we are doing right now in 2024.
In fact, I have a Chapter titled 2024. If nothing else, buy my book (or contact me and I’ll send you a free copy) and start at Chapter 2024.
If we don’t understand our own minds, we are doomed on this planet.
The Trump Contagion that Dr. Bandy talks about is called The Corruption in my book. It is the same thing and humanity has been dealing with it for an awfully long time, except now, we can create a species ending situation with men such as Trump, Putin, and Musk.
Attempting to make my book a bit more digestible for the modern Western mind, I am creating less than one minute animations. This one is from the Chapter: The Myth of the Strong Man.
This one is from Yong Xing-li’s dream at the very end of Chapter 2024.
This one is the very beginning of Sapience.
We need to feed our minds with powerful stories that feed the parts of ourselves that make us conscious. My book is not the only powerful story out there, but my book certainly connects the dots between Primitive Man’s Mind and Modern Man’s Mind is a way I have only seen Issac Asimov do with his books in the Foundation Series and psychohistory.
Well, that is probably more than enough to ponder for another boring day in America…
The feature graphic is created from an e-mail exchange I had with friends about Biden’s comment concerning MAGA supporters being the only garbage swirling around America. Biden was responding to Trump’s Madison Square Garden’s keynote comedian calling Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.
One of my friend’s thought Biden made a grave mistake akin to Hillary calling Trump’s supporters in 2016 A Basket of Deplorables. But it turns out that Hillary Clinton was right.
My other friend said the following, which I turned into the graphic for this blog, just hours away from Nov. 5, 2024 Presidential election.
When I lived in Germany, I felt I could see why Hitler was able to gain his power. It was my (probably naïve) view that people in Germany tend to let things happen because they don’t feel they have a lot of power to direct change in their society, just shrug small things off as long as those things don’t step on their toes. The problem is those small things add up.
Before it is too late to say it, my desire is to have leadership in this country that is based on character rather than caricature, be deliberative rather than authoritative, and have a foreign policy based on facts and diplomacy rather than on blackmail and appeasement. It is obvious who I’ll vote for. I am very worried though that it might be for naught,
Basket of Deplorables
I would like to circle back to Hillary’s comment about Trump supporters being a Basket of Deplorables. Had it not been for the Corporate Media planting the idea that this was a huge mistake for Hillary to say in 2016, we might be living in a sane political landscape today.
The double standard applied to Trump and MAGA is galling. They have been getting a free pass on saying the most fascist, misogynist, racist, and dangerous things (things that incited bad things such as Jan. 6).
Indeed, the Corporate Media‘s sane washing of everything they cover concerning Trump is design to make us think that Trump and MAGA are normal. Meanwhile, real politicians such as Hillary, Biden, and Harris are held to civilized, normal, and rational standards. And when they call out the WEIRD, ABNORMAL, and DESPICABLE behavior displayed by Trump & MAGA… they are called out on it by the Corporate Media!
And while We the People are distracted by all this sane washed reality being fed to us by the Corporate Media and Manosphere, Trump and MAGA whine, shout, threaten violence, then whine some more.
Because of this, back in 2016 we (the non-MAGA voting electorate) failed to see Trump for what he really is: Sweet Potato Hitler.
Sweet Potato
Sweet Potato Hitler — Interview with Don Lemon
And NOW in 2024, Trump IS MORE vile and repelling than ever. Indeed, Trump and MAGA are downright rancid, rotten, dirty and nasty. They are violence and hate impersonating as people.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL!!!!
Trump in 2024
Here is what Trump is doing RIGHT NOW in the final days of the 2024 election. And guess what? Trump is even more vile, disgusting, and dangerous than he was in 2016… it should be said Trump and his MAGA maniacs.
Trump Voters Finally TURN AGAINST HIM and GO PUBLIC
Trump Does the UNTHINKABLE at his FINAL SPEECH
🚨 Fascism Expert Gives FINAL WARNING on Trump Before Election | Mea Culpa
Dr Bandy Lee is back to analyze the danger of Donald Trump.
LIVE: Trump Epstein BOMBSHELL DROPS in Final Days | Lights On with Jessica Denson
Trump mental health conference explained with Dr Bandy Lee.
Watch Trump REACT to being FACT CHECKED TO HIS FACE
After near faceplant, Trump delivers TERRIFYING speech
Trump Does UNTHINKABLE ACT **AGAIN** at Closing Speech
Elon Musk gets BAD NEWS in Philadelphia court — for his million dollar a day bullshit effort to try to buy votes for Trump
Trump Notices EVERYONE IS LEAVING His Disaster Rally
Enemy Within | Harris-Walz 2024
Drudge Report, Rolling Stone, Ohio Capital Journal, and MeidasTouch
Recent History Refresher
In an age where opinions matter more than facts, where beliefs and biases trump human rights, dignity, and freedom for all people… these videos highlight some of the things that we have endured as Americans in the past 9 years due to MAGA and Trump.
Fight Like Hell — FULL MOVIE
FOR OUR DAUGHTERS – FULL MOVIE
Against All Enemies – FULL MOVIE
The Supporters – Full Movie
Sustain the Flame – Full (Best Version) Women’s March on Washington 2017
Kamala in 2024
And here is what Kamala is doing as Trump whines, has sex with his microphones, and shits in his pants.
Kamala Harris ad takes over Vegas Sphere
FULL SPEECH: Kamala Harris at the Ellipse in Washington, DC
Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit, MI
Kamala Harris responds to hecklers during Harrisburg, Pa. rally
Barack Obama LIVE: Obama Rally For Kamala Harris In Milwaukee Before Elections
Brighter Future | Kamala Harris’ Closing Ad
Pete Buttigieg reacts to SHOCKING Iowa poll showing Harris ahead: ‘I could see it’
Kamala Harris takes on SNL in US campaign countdown
Kamala Medley (Harris Walz Campaign Bop) – by Chris Mann
A Place For Trump
VOTE
The 2024 Election Is One Day Away. There are only two choices available to Americans that will end up in the White House in January 2025. To not vote or to vote 3rd party is to give way to fascism… that is what they want to you to do–give up or get so confused you can’t make a meaningful decision
On Tuesday, will you choose Option #1 or Option #2?
Option #1
Trump
OR
Option #2
Kamala
I’ve voted. I voted blue all the way through because Harris and Walz need sane people in the House and the Senate to take America far, far into the future instead far, far into the past.
The future of America rests in your hands. Choose wisely.
Image a country like a creature made up of all of us….
It’s just 7 days until Halloween… and 12 days until the Presidential elections.
Have you stocked up on Halloween candy?
More importantly—have you voted?
If you haven’t bought your Trick or Treating candy yet, consider yourself lucky. But when it comes to voting, sitting back and letting others decide your future is a gamble you can’t afford. The country needs your voice now more than ever, or we all risk waking up in a nightmare of our own making.
Nightmare of Our Own Making
Don’t Do These Things for the Next 12 Days
Couch Surfing
Doom Scrolling
Remaining an Undecided Voter
Diving into “Deep state” conspiracies holes… Anti-vaccine misinformation holes… QAnon holes… Trump won the 2020 hole…
Fixating on Conspiracies Theories Niches
Zombie Dancing with an Online “Cult” Community
Going to MAGA rallies… or maybe you really need to go to one NOW!
Engaging in Misinformation Manic Madness
Grim Reality
It’s not Breaking News but more like a grim reality that for many Trump supporters, they will not wake up and see the truth of who they are voting for until it’s too late. History has shown us that when power-hungry factions run unchecked, it’s often the very supporters who fall victim to their own foolish belief in “their guy” that leads to a tragic fall into a very deep pit of complacency. Just look at the aftermath of the Russian Revolution or the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. In both cases, extremist elements seized power, leaving a trail of chaos, death, and destruction in their wake.
This is what happens when Sinister Sycophants stir up a mob mentality that prevails in wiping out a functional democracy. Sycophants don’t care. And they don’t discriminate who to blame next for all the terrible things they bring into being once all the previous scapegoats are gone. The people supporting Trump & Dark MAGA today can easily become tomorrow’s victims.
If we don’t stand up now for human rights and dignity, even for Trump cult followers blinded by blind faith in their Sick Sycophantic Fanatic leaders and talking heads, then we all might just find ourselves living in a dark chapter that we never saw coming. So, as you prepare for Halloween, remember: the treats can wait, but your vote is crucial. Don’t let the spirit of apathy haunt you this season.
He set up a secret police force that was loyal to the Bolsheviks.
He decreed that the government could seize private and church property.
He began to negotiate Russia’s withdrawal from the war.
The secret police loyal to the Bolsheviks hunted down and killed or imprisoned leaders and members of the other forms of communism in Russia in 1917 such as Menshevism, which was a more moderate socialist ideology within the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, advocating for gradual change rather than the Bolsheviks’ revolutionary approach; other factions included the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs), with some factions leaning towards more radical forms of socialism and even anarchism.
This resulted in The Red Terror beginning on September 2, 1918 that resulted in the deaths of 50,000 to 600,000 people who held differing opinions and ideas about communism… all were label Anti-Bolsheviks. Other groups targeted included the clergy, rival socialists, counter-revolutionaries, peasant, and dissidents. The Red Terror is followed by the Great Purge where another 220,000 members are purged from Stalin’s ideas of communism. And Stalin is just getting started with these purges.
Or if you prefer to consider Germany in 1920, which is when the Nazi party emerges. It begins as a fringe party until personalities like Hitler rise within its ranks. Hitler was an early adopter of Nazism, joining the party in 1919 when it was still known as the German Worker’s Party.
In 1933, Hindenburg appoints Hitler as chancellor, hoping that the powerful Nazi leader could be brought to heel as a member of the president’s cabinet. Hindenburg sorely underestimated Hitler’s thirst for power and willingness to do anything to get it, including setting the Reichstag building on fire [this would be like Trump setting the Capitol on fire or calling an angry mob to swarm the capitol building on Jan. 6].
Just as Trump called into question the legitimacy of the 2020 election, which he used to sig his crazed crowd on the Capitol, Hitler used the burning of the Reichstag to call for a general election.
However, Hindenburg underestimated Hitler’s political audacity, and one of the new chancellor’s first acts was to use the burning of the Reichstag building as a pretext for calling general elections. The police, under Nazi Hermann Goering, suppressed much of the party’s opposition before the election. The Nazi Party joined forces with the German National People's Party (DNVP), to gain a bare working majority in the Reichstag. Shortly after, Hitler took on absolute power through the Enabling Acts. In 1934, Hindenburg died, and the last remnants of Germany’s democratic government were dismantled, leaving Hitler the sole master of a nation intent on war and genocide. - History: Hitler purges member of his own Nazi part in Night of Long Knives
Before the Holocaust and Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland, Hitler purged his own part in the Night of Long Knives.
At least 85 people died during the purge, although the final death toll may have been in the hundreds, with high estimates running from 700 to 1,000. More than 1,000 perceived opponents were arrested. The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the military for Hitler. It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazis, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extrajudicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime. The Night of the Long Knives was a turning point for the German government.[3] It established Hitler as the supreme administrator of justice of the German people, as he put it in his 13 July speech to the Reichstag. - Wiki
VOTE… Because Democracies Have Fallen Many Times Before… & Trump Has A Plan
It seems impossible that America sits tittering on the edge of fascism in 2024. Yet, here we are, sitting on the titter totter of doom waiting for a few undecided voters to make up their minds.
The Titter Totter of Doom
And… Then, There’s No Place to Run
If “We the People” fail to understand that this is not an election for who has the best policies and which party is going to take America in a better direction. If we fail to grasp that the clear and present danger to America isTrump and MAGA. If we fail to comprehend that we could lose the very democracy we claim to be voting for on Nov. 5, 2024. And if we fail to vote Kamala Harris and Tim Walz into the White House with an overwhelming majority of votes, then Trump & MAGA have a plan.
This isn’t a new plan or twist of fate. Throughout history, sadistic figures like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Putin, and even Trump—though he stands out as the least intellectually formidable—have emerged from the shadows of civilization.
This unsettling theme is at the heart of my book, Sapience: The Moment Is Now. Many friends have told me they find it too depressing to continue reading, often stopping around pages 35 or 50. And by doing so, they miss the chance to truly grasp where the story is heading and why it’s an important story for our present moment in time.
Yes, discussing sadists and psychopaths is uncomfortable. But so is the reality of suffering at their hands. We can’t effectively protect ourselves from looming threats if we bury our heads in comforting illusions and ignore the existence of these dangerous creatures living among us disguised as human beings.
Sapience is a cautionary tale about dangerous figures who have disrupted and destroyed one civilization after another for thousands of years. If we want to survive as a species on our beautiful planet, we need to learn the lessons of our forebears or prepare to perish.
Ben from the MeidasTouch Network articulates a similar sentiment in a recent video, emphasizing that now is not the time to shy away from confronting those who act like monsters.
Trump AWFUL PAST Resurfaces after BURIAL SCAM Exposed — Reporting Only Found at the MeidasTouch
While you are at it, watch this segment about the final two weeks before the biggest election of America’s
Trump Gets DECIMATED by Most SAVAGE ATTACK AD of Election == WATCH to the END It’s Too Important to Make Excuses
Dysfunctional Decals
Now, let’s delve into these stickers that evoke ancient names for the type of creature that Trump embodies and the contagion he has unleashed among ordinary Americans, driving a wedge between us to undermine democracy and pave the way for his hellish victory!
Don’t be fooled by Trump’s worn out, tired, overused ploy tyrants have been using against peace-loving societies for over 5,000 years!
Meet The Eccentric Menagerie
Here are 9 Kiss-Cut Vinyl Decals that encapsulate the Divisive & Dangerous Case of Donald J. Trump. This essential collection features the Betrayer-in-Chief, Airhead Narc, Sinister Sycophant, Half-Witted Hedonist, Obtuse Weirdo, Dim-Witted Psycho, Licentious Sycophant, and the Sore Loser decals.
Betrayer-in-Chief is a striking and thought-provoking design featuring a green-faced depiction of Trump, emblazoned with the bold title “Betrayer-in-Chief.” This decal captures the essence of betrayal in leadership, highlighting the disillusionment many feel toward those in power who prioritize personal gain over the welfare of their constituents.
Airhead Narc is a bold and provocative piece featuring a green-faced depiction of Trump, complete with the striking labels “Airhead” on top and “NARC” at the bottom. This decal humorously captures the essence of narcissism, illustrating how those with narcissistic tendencies often divide the world into simplistic categories of good and bad.
Sinister Sycophant unleashes your inner critic with this striking decal featuring a green-faced depiction of Trump, exuding an aura of malevolence. The bold lettering at the top reads “Sinister,” while the bottom proclaims “Sycophant,” capturing the essence of self-serving flattery and manipulation.
Half-Witted Hedonist features a striking red theme capturing the essence of indulgence and folly. This decal humorously portrays the age-old tendency to prioritize pleasure over wisdom, reflecting how deception can often masquerade as enjoyment. The term “Half-Witted Hedonist” highlights the folly of those who chase fleeting pleasures without consideration for consequences or deeper understanding. It serves as a playful reminder that the pursuit of hedonism, when devoid of wisdom, can lead to misguided choices and a superficial existence.
Obtuse Weirdo is a vibrant, orange-themed design capturing the eccentricity of those who boldly embrace their uniqueness. The term “obtuse” hints at a lack of understanding or sharpness, while “weirdo” affectionately embraces the quirks that make people truly interesting. While being different is something to celebrate, not hide away, this is not the case when the obtuse weirdo is malignant narcissist who will say or do anything to grab power or hang onto power. Then, such a fool becomes dangerous.
Dim-Witted Psycho boldly captures the essence of eccentricity and madness. It playfully explores the juxtaposition of folly and chaos, inviting viewers to ponder the thin line between humor and absurdity. This decal serves as a tongue-in-cheek reminder of the quirks and eccentricities that make life interesting, even when they verge on the outrageous. However, when such an oddity gets a hold of power and can entertain their hypnotized followers into a berserker frenzy, then there is a dangerous problem going on that deserves your time and attention.
The Sore Loser decal boldly showcases the colors of red, white, and blue while playfully confronting the theme of defeat. Featuring the phrase “Sore Loser,” it humorously critiques the reluctance to accept loss, embodying the frustration and stubbornness that can accompany disappointment.The term “sore loser” evokes the image of someone who struggles to gracefully concede, capturing a sentiment that resonates in both personal and political arenas. This decal serves as a lighthearted reminder that losing is a part of the game and embracing it with dignity is far more admirable than clinging to resentment.
Overall, these decals serve as visual critiques of the manipulative tactics employed by wannabe dictators like Trump who exploit their positions for self-serving agendas. Once they get into power, they betray the very people they fooled to gain power.
You can find them at The Quip Collection on this site.
Every Voice, Every Vote
Ending with an upbeat message, this is a short, happy video to the uplifting beat of Sandra Dee Collier called: Every Voice, Every Vote!
On October 7, 2023, a significant and tragic escalation occurred in the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. Early in the morning, Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israeli territory. The attack involved rocket fire and incursions by armed militants into various communities. This assault marked a particularly deadly day in the conflict’s history. It caused many casualties among both Israelis and Palestinians.
In response, Israel declared a state of war and commenced extensive military operations in Gaza. The violence quickly escalated, leading to airstrikes on Gaza and widespread destruction. The international community reacted with alarm, calling for de-escalation and urging both sides to pursue dialogue. The events of that day worsened the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They also reignited discussions about the long-standing issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As the anniversary approaches, reflections on the events and their aftermath emerge. They highlight the ongoing tensions. These tensions have a profound impact on civilians in the region.
In my book, Sapience: The Moment Is Now, I trace the roots of antisemitism back centuries. These hateful sentiments stretch back to the First Crusades and even further back in time. The night (or rather early morning) of the attack, I had a dream about the Human Cake. It was the second time I had dreamed this dream. It is not a pleasant dream. Rather, it is a shocking, revolting, scary dream, and I could not image why I was dreaming about it again.
In this dream, I see a team of doctors all wearing white coats. They enter a sterile white space where I and others wait. They enter this room through shiny white double doors. Behind these doors is the operating theater where they have been creating their new thing. It is this Thing that they are giving a press conference about. It is clear they are very pleased with their work. I can see their pride on their sly smiles. I can feel their arrogance in the way they push the Thing in a wheelchair for everyone to see.
They spare no gory details on how they created the atrocity sitting in the wheelchair. This Thing used to be a man. Now, it sits as a helpless creature in its wheelchair for it has no legs. Nor can it express any emotions because it no longer has a face. The doctors are proud of these aspects of the creature. They say it is a break through and discuss each step they took to get to this featureless creature.
Everyone in the room sits in stunned silence. There is nothing left of the man except a mound of gory goo. The doctors take turns describing with excitement how they systematically cut off every recognizable feature of the man. They describe with joy how they took these pieces and reattached them to utterly unsuitable places of the body. Places never intended for a severed limb or an eye.
The result is disgusting, stomach-churning, repulsive, beastly, vulgar, and heinous. The doctors did it, but the man volunteered. I couldn’t understand why?! Then, I woke up to the horrible news of what was happening in Israel. I was overwhelmed by the news coming out of Israel. And overhanging this was the shock and horror of my dream that lingered in my mind like an evil specter.
Carl Jung calls such moments as these Moments of Synchronicity. When any human encounters a moment of synchronicity, attention must be paid. This is because often, there is something very important for the individual to know or understand. I knew this was important.
I was working on the final stretch of my book feeling an intense need to get it published by 4/24/24. After October 7, 2023, I stopped writing and editing my book. I could not do a thing in it for the rest of the month. I felt compelled to witness the harrowing stories of survival. And I listened to the tragic stories of death of innocence people at the hands of men filled with hate.
I made a playlist on YouTube called Remember. I saved every story I heard to this list. I was shocked again and again at the savagery described by survivors. The brutality inflicted on babies, children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers shook me to my core.
After this month of bearing witness, I knew what I had to do with my book. I needed to write about the Human Cake. And I also needed to include the history of the Middle East. This new research and writing sidelined me for at least another month, but I did it.
If you get my book, you will encounter the Human Cake first. He makes his appearance in the book at about page 101. Brothers of the Levant… Before the Fall begins on page 173. Histories of genocides begins around page 320 with the chapter titled: Rise of the Machine.
You need to read all of these sections to gain a full history of current crisis in the Middle East. You also need to read other sections to understand how hate has risen inside of man. He has learned to harness it with machine-like precision. I cover many, many hate groups who have emerged and are growing like a cancer all over the world. In addition, I carefully show how no human being is immune to the infection of hate. These sections are cited for I have researched them intensely. I cite historians, psychologists, and philosophers. Additionally, I reference people who have specialized and written about all this stuff for a very long time.
In this section, I talk about the Human Cake. My character Rain recalls her grandmother’s words about fear and other strong emotions. Her grandmother was a wise woman, and Rain knows she needs wisdom now to survive.
A man who clings to his instinct to kill becomes a person aroused by murder and death. It fascinates him like a candle flame, but to keep the kill candle burning… such a man must kill… constantly. But doing so in a civilized society risks punishment and possibly his own death. And so, such a man fantasizes about murder, mayhem, and massacres inside the confines of his mind. Such a man feeds his fantasies with pictures and images of dead or dying people; kill porn. Such a man glorifies death and idolizes martyrdom. Such a man celebrates the wholesale slaughter of other human beings who he considers to be less than he considers himself to be. It is a false and insincere division made by his foul and increasingly warp light of consciousness that must be constantly fed. He becomes like a drug addict who needs a hit of heroin to feel normal again.
Grandmother said that anything done constantly in the mind soon grows boring to man’s fickle, flickering light of conscious attention, so a man clinging to his kill instinct must up the ante to feed his fading fervor and desire to butcher and decimate other living beings. Such a man may pacify his erotic passion by killing what he considers lesser forms of life. He can also fuel the instinct to kill with anger, regret, and rage. He can work himself up into a berserker frenzy by consuming a steady diet of fury and indignation.
Grandmother said that a man who fantasizes about death and celebrates killing is the devil he fears in others. Such a man cultivates his inner instinct to kill to a fever-pitch, he becomes a tube of intensity, a cannula of desperate excitement, a pipeline of frantic, frenzied, futile fear and rage. His magma tube of hate drops him below the animal realm of living beings, it plunges him below the daemon realm of human beings. He falls into a monster pit, a place where he embodies the wretched vermin that he accuses others of being. His invisible world where all his thinking is done is transformed into Hell’s Kitchen populated by unrecognizable things baked in the heat of hate and scorn.
Such a man uses his laser beam of hate to mutilate his inner man. He disfigures and desecrates his inner self by cutting off his inner man’s fingers and toes, hands and feet, legs, and arms. He pulls out his inner man’s hair and gouges out his eyes. He removes his nose and mouth and face and slops them onto the growing heap of hate he is becoming. Then he turns up the heat of his fear and loathing, baking himself into a human cake made of hostility, disgust, resentment, bitterness, antipathy, and apathy.
Such a dismembered and disfigured inner man can no longer recognize the humanity in himself, and certainly not in others. He becomes a thing of contempt and repugnance, a thing no longer recognizable as human or animal, except for one thing: his thinking and his words. Such a man uses these lingering abilities with deft callousness to beguile and enthrall, to rivet and fascinate, to transfix, super charge, and magnetize the ordinary man and woman… pulling them farther and farther out of the mainstream, tempting them to leave their reservoirs of wisdom with promises of everything but love. Then he destroys their inner equanimity and binds them to him with chains of fear that are firmly fastened to his crumpled wheelchair of cruelty. He must do this for such a man is crippled by his own fear and hate. And so, he needs others to do the terrible things he dreams up, but which he is too cowardly to do himself.
Commanding his army of human zombies from his wheelchair of hate, he must constantly recruit new people to his wretched world of scorn and loathing because he throws his foot soldiers to their deaths again and again. And they must die because they have been commanded to kill the women, kill the children, kill the babies, kill the goats and chickens and dogs and wheat and barley and water… to kill anything resembling life. So, anything resembling life must fight back or be killed and die by the killer human zombies who have been robbed of their souls by the human cakes baked by their own hate.
Just before the Fall, some of the biggest, most hideous, gut-churning, ghastly acts of hate are immortalized as mere numbers: 9/11, 2/24, 10/7. Days of infamy that plunged the highly interconnected world of the dawning 21st Century not only into bloody, gruesome, localized conflicts and war, but mind grenades carefully calibrated to inspire fear and fill the ordinary man and woman with hate for the other around the entire world. It doesn’t matter what side a person is blown to in the blast of gruesome cruelty. These mind grenades are simply meant to shock and to shake the fragile foundations upon which modern people must trust will protect them and keep them safe.
With the ordinary man’s and woman’s trust in humanity shook, it doesn’t take much more for the most hateful human cakes to shatter any common bonds still holding a civilized society together into a million, billion bits. Once shattered, the hate filled human cakes rearrange the shiny, reflective shards of human consciousness like tiny mirrors on a disco ball. The human cakes shine their light of hate on the remnants of the ordinary man’s and woman’s sense of safety and security. -- Excerpt from Sapience: The Moment Is Now
What else can I say about hate of Human Cakes?
I can only show you the drawing I made of this creature… the one I dreamt about on the morning of October 7, 2023 for the second time. The dream I knew I needed to pay attention to… and so I did.
