Facts and Honest Opinions
Needing Clothes, Food and Shelter The UN projects that the world population will reach eight billion by November 15 this year and ten Billion by 2060! Of course, projections are based on assumptions that may be wrong. Replacement level fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. At this rate, population is at stasis from generation to generation. The exact rate varies from region to region and is affected by mortality rates and longevity. The current US fertility rate is 1.7 . . .
Obviously the planet is choking! Unfortunately human behavior demonstrates that altruism and fairness are not always baked in. Too often we see the Tragedy of the Commons. Pollution is a great 21st century example: certain stock holders get rich while passing the cost on to the rest of us. CAFO’s (Concentrated animal feeding operations) as the name implies, are industrial livestock factories which cram as many animals together as economically possible. The animals are fed vitamins, antibiotics, various other supplements . . .
Obviously, we live with and depend on business corporations to provide us with what we need. Competitive markets encourage innovation and invention to our benefit. What motivates these corporations? According to Milton Friedman the only purpose of a corporation is to make a profit for the shareholders. There are some well-known companies that pursue a broader and socially responsible agenda: Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s are prominent examples. But corporations are run by a variety of people who sometimes make . . .
The outgoing administration has a self-served view of the world. Behind the obvious distractions and pandering to the benighted, are destructive tampering with relationships and regulations and short-sighted decisions. Purged Cuban Doctors The US along with Brazil’s Bolsonaro (“Trump of the Tropics”) expelled 10,000 Cuban medical workers from poor areas of Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador months before the Covad19 pandemic struck. This was done to curb Cuba’s most important export, medical experts. How the doctors and nurses get . . .
There are resources which belong to us all, for example, fresh water, clean air and healthy oceans. Unfortunately, human nature has a tendency to exploit these vital resources for selfish and short-term rewards. Although it would be nice and simple, it does no good to exhort individuals to be less selfish. So, what happens? Benefits accrue to the exploiter and the costs are borne by all of us. The resource is eventually depleted or ruined and lost to everyone. There . . .
The buffoonery is obvious. Let’s recognize it, move on, and waste no more energy reacting to each embarrassing example of this behavior. Let’s focus on the damage to: The Planet Wage Earners The Economy Our Place in the World The Planet: The EPA Administrator is a former energy lobbyist whose biggest clients included Murray Energy Corporation and vigorously fought the Obama administration’s attempts to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen environmental and public health laws. Shortly after the current administration took . . .
Name calling, Tariffs and Sanctions seem to come from the same lizard brain region: lazy, blunt and harsh. Tariffs and Sanctions indicate a lack of effort and a failure to grasp the risks and opportunities. Drop Outs: in the past two years we have reneged on the following without better ideas – no plan B proposed! “Iran Nuclear Deal” (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.) The agreement was announced July 14, 2015 and withdrawn from on May 8, 2018. Under . . .
I moved to Houston, Texas in my youth. I went to an Astros game about three weeks after arriving. The Astrodome was amazing and as I was watching the game in air cooled comfort, I understood: these people think big. Who else would build an indoor domed stadium? Sometimes big is required. The “Green New Deal” is an example of thinking BIG. With any big idea there will be arm-chair pundits sending out critical tweets. That’s what they do, rather than . . .
Political labels help us sort ourselves, but get in the way of progress. Labels encourage us to combine our positions on issues to satisfy our perception of order. This muddles efforts to fix or improve anything. It would be better to tackle each issue on its merits: gun control, climate change, health care, access to education, immigration policies, trickle down tax laws and global alliances. The measure for any law or regulation should be based on what it is supposed . . .
Intuitively survival requires us to protect the planet – clean air, clean water, not breathing a lot of Particulate Matter (PM). PM2.5 etc. Why are we hearing from a member of the EPA transition team (formerly a shill for tobacco and oil) that air pollution isn’t bad for your health? Along with the Kochish payola that pours into the political arena, there is something else: imputing divine guidance from a literal interpretation of bible sentences taken out of context . . .
