We Must Act NOW!!!

 I am watching reports from around Vermont, and the rest of New England and Upstate New York, concerning all the flooding and washouts etc. 8 inches of rain in about 36 hours has done some major damage in many places.

I suppose that the video of Montpelier VT, the State Capital, flooded out on it's Main Street was really amazing to me. It is not a place that you would normally think of as flood prone.

And I started thinking about all of the "Once in a Hundred Years" weather events that have happened in the last decade or so. And I do not believe that the "Once in a Hundred Years" label applies anymore. I think that these are now just the weather. They are going to keep happening and with greater frequency.

And all this is because we, as a society, have allowed ourselves to be brain washed by the rich and powerful into believing 3 STUPID things:

1) Climate Change is not real and even if it is it is not created by Humans therefore there is nothing that we can do.

2) Corporations and Market Forces will do a better job of handling things, that Government cannot be trusted to Govern.

3) That Republicans give a SHIT about anything other than their Super Rich Donors.

So let us take a look at each of these.

Science, which is vastly maligned by the rich and powerful along with republicans and other right wing hosebags, has proven beyond a doubt that Climate Change is caused by Human Activity. To be specific, it is caused by the continuous use and burning of Fossil Fuels, Specifically, Oil, Gas, Coal, and all of the derivative products of those fuels over the last 300+ years of the Industrial Revolution.

Because when we burn any Fossil Fuels we are releasing Greenhouse Gasses that have been sequestered from our Environment for Millions, or even Billions, of years. We are overloading the Earth's Atmosphere and then cutting out the Earth's Lungs with our constant Deforestation. That is the DIRECT cause of Climate Change.

And yet, the apologists will claim that it is not settled science. That there is widespread disagreement within the scientific community about that conclusion.

So here is the reality. 97% of all reputable scientists agree that Climate Change is REAL and caused by Human Activity. the 3% that do not agree you will often, not always, but often, find on the payroll of the Fossil Fuel Industries through various cut outs. And, even if this were not so, I would believe the 97% over the 3%.

And where has the News Industry, what used to be known as the 4th Estate, been in this matter? They have continually tried to be "even handed". What that means is that they have not been honest brokers in their reporting. They have continuously treated both sides as if they had equal arguments. They have abrogated their duty to be honest brokers of the Truth over and over again. And I believe, for two reasons:

1) Their Corporate Masters make sure that they do

2) They are so afraid of being called Liberal that they will do anything, even treating total crocks with respect, to avoid it.

We need to break up the giant media companies. Their are, in truth, only a few places to get news these days. It has become a giant Monopoly that is controlled in the name of Profit.

Except Fox "News", That is a straight up Propaganda organization.

And we need to make news independent of Profit. As long as news has to profit it will always be beholden to the money.

We need a Strong and Fearless 4th Estate again to report news honestly without agenda. We need that now.

Ronald Reagan sold the idea that Market Forces would solve all problems and that by letting the rich get filthy rich some of that wealth would "Trickle Down" to us. Well, after 42 years, I can unequivocally say that those ideas are failed ideas. They do not work.

We have tried electing people who believe that Government does not work and they went right ahead and broke Government to prove themselves correct. We have tried electing business people who showed that Business and Government are two VERY different things. Even the best business people suck at governing.

And the "Trickle Down" theory of economics has proven to be a Fraud. Because the rich got richer and the poor and middle class got poorer. What we have discovered is that the rich can always find ways to squirrel money away. They can always Hoard more.

Our society is broken because in many ways the money that we have keeps getting hoarded away and it is not in circulation where it needs to be. Our economy works best when we all have enough and a little more money to live. It gets spent thus fueling the economic engine. It cannot work properly when vast amounts are in hidden and/or overseas bank accounts and bundled into stocks and other instruments that lock money away.

The most dasterdly thing these people and their minions have done however is made us afraid of each other. They have pitted us against each other using Race, Religion, Sexual Orientation, and many other "Wedge Issues", because it distracts us from how badly we are getting screwed by them. It is, for them, a winning strategy.

So we must see each other beyond the wedge issues and past the ways we have been told to hate each other and unite. Unite to save us all. Because if we do not save us all we shall, in the end, be unable to save anyone.

Now my last assertion about Republicans you might bristle at. You might even be a Republican. And to that I say, listen not to what Republican Politicians and there various mouth pieces say, watch what they do. Watch what they fight for. Watch where they expend their energy. If you ignore the noise and watch the actions you will soon be unable to come to any conclusion other than they do not give a shit about anything other than their corporate rich Masters. Just stop listening and watch. You will see.

And finally I will say this. The Uber Wealthy have to know that Climate Change is real. The only conclusion that I can draw is that they somehow believe that their Wealth will protect them from the calamity that is coming. They somehow believe that Money will protect them in the collapse of our society. That is delusional thinking. It is the only conclusion that I can come to that explains their actions over the last 40+ years to make sure that no solution is ever found.

So in conclusion, we, all of us, must act NOW!!! We must stop voting for politicians that deny Science. We must all stop voting for politicians that preach things that are calculated to divide and make us afraid. We must stop hating each other and come together in our common areas to find common solutions. We MUST, and I do mean MUST, start seeing each other as members of the Human Family and Love Each Other. Or Die.

Love Each other. It is the ONLY rational act.