Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Carrying about 20% of the world’s traded oil and gas, the Strait of Hormuz is a critical global chokepoint. Even if it remains open, restoring full energy and material flows will take time, with ongoing consequences to global supply systems.
Would you rather have abundant and affordable energy or a clean, healthy planet where wildlife can flourish? It sounds like an either/or choice, but it doesn’t have to be.
Why do people cling to falsehoods, even in the face of evidence? Both truth and lies serve social purposes, but holding onto reason becomes essential as we face climate change and rising Trumpism.
Two presidents in a row now have stories swirling about regarding dementia. Not a good prospect for the US dealing with climate issues.
Is there a contradiction between the Trump administration’s America First policy and its actions? Maybe not.
Either the Trump administration doesn’t understand that making personnel cuts across the U. S. government in this manner will not increase efficiency OR it intends to make government agencies ineffective.
Giving Elon Musk and his callow team of computer coders access to the U.S. Treasury payments system is very, very dangerous.
The same factors that led to Donald Trump’s election in 2016 are still with us. The French philosopher Bruno Latour made the case that Trump’s perplexing popularity could be traced to his ability to give voice to the anger and fear generated by the effects of Globalism.
Those of us who understand the systemic crises we face have a special responsibility to build our own emotional resilience and to be open-minded so that we can help others in our communities, who don’t have that same clarity, to navigate the craziness to come. It’s a crazy world out there, and it’s getting crazier. Don’t add to the insanity.
Adaptation will require leadership and social cohesion. Instead, America may be lurching toward further political division and violence.
Although Turchin’s piece is full of comparisons between the UK and the US, which he sees as fellow travellers, certainly when compared to France, there are significant differences between Trumpism and Brexit.
Empires are short-lived structures created and kept together by the availability of mineral resources, fossil fuels in our times. They tend to decline and fall with the decline of the resources that created them, and that’s the destiny of the current World Empire: the American one.
