The Last Progressive

The air is dry and it's an unseasonably cool evening in July. I am walking alone on the Silver Comet Trail in Powder Springs, GA. The boredom and drudgery of life continually crushes me, but on the trail, where there is nothing but me and nature, I am reminded of why I want to live. I want to live so that I can be in the only place where I'm happy — in the forest.

I've always wanted to save the natural world and in 1996 I began doing research and determined that human overpopulation is the number one threat to our environment. So, when the Internet was still young, I created a website that educated the world on the topic of the population explosion. I put the website address on business cards and placed them over urinals in public restrooms. Other than turning a few shoes yellow, I don't think I accomplished much, but at least I was doing SOMETHING.

More Epiphanies

Twenty-three years later it's a Sunday evening and I'm still trying to figure it all out. To tell my story, I was a driven environmentalist from 1997 to 2003 but continually hitting "the wall" wore me out. "The wall" was the powerful resistance from business people, religionists, and political conservatives against anything GREEN. To explore this problem, I started a blog in 2004 and have written over 400 posts on the topics of environmental and social sustainability. And 15 years later I'm still completely dumbfounded.

All I can say is that people are more hardwired into their daily habits and beliefs than I could have ever imagined. A cat anywhere in the world will pretty much behave the same way, and most people are like cats. At an early stage in my life I challenged my hard wiring and became sentient, and now I feel alone and isolated in a world where most people are marching over a cliff.

So, my first epiphany is that American political parties are all about race. First there was the Whig Party that fell apart over the slavery debate. Then the Republican Party organized in 1854 on a platform that opposed expanding slavery, and Abraham Lincoln was its first president. A flip occurred in later years as Democrats pushed for civil rights and ending segregation, and the Southern states turned Republican in response. Now, here we are with Donald Trump, who is pushing our country toward ultranationalism.

My second epiphany is that a person's political and religious views are typically tied to where they live. In Kentucky and Alabama there are the "old time gospel" Christians who push the "family values" and "traditional values" of, well, I guess the 1960s. Then there's those Starbucks-addicted liberals in the Pacific Northwest who are into wind turbines and cycling to work. I don't know if a region changes a person's thinking or if people self select.

The point being is that when I'm screaming about electric cars and climate change I'm pushing against people who've had centuries of pre-conditioning. Changing the nationalistic and religious thinking of these individuals will require decades of time, and with our warming atmosphere time isn't something we have.

Ending My Experiment

After six weeks I've decided to end my study of conservatives. I have listened to right-wing talk shows, read their social media, and talked with them in person. All I can say is that they stubbornly hold on to the narrative that capitalists created for them. They do not realize how they are controlled by their own religions or how they are easily manipulated by fear.

In a typical conversation someone will tell me how Trump is a "godly man." If I counter that Trump had an affair with a porn star while his wife was pregnant, the person will respond with comments about how terrible the media is or lament about Hillary's emails. There is zero hope for a rational discussion.

More on Socialism

One of the common rantings of conservatives, which I just heard from someone yesterday, is about all the "freebies" and benefits that poor people and illegal immigrants receive. Right now I'm looking at an article in The Washington Post that says farmers are getting $867 billion in subsidies. Isn't this welfare too?

Strangely, conservatives are ALWAYS quiet about corporate welfare and the tax breaks and subsidies that companies receive on the federal, state, and local levels. For instance, even though the fossil fuel industry is already wealthy they are still allowed to deduct expenses for drilling wells, depletion of oil and gas deposits, and other crazy crap. In addition to the agriculture and energy sectors, defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies get tax breaks as well. On the state level, governments give huge tax breaks to corporations in the interest of creating jobs, but this strategy is often a failure and jobs are only moved around the country. So how does Big Business get these handouts? Through lobbying and campaign contributions, of course.

So, don't ramble to me how we are becoming a socialist state just become little Johnny gets a free bowl of oatmeal before school. Stop repeating what the right-wing news media says and learn to take a critical view of everything you hear.

The Danger of Ultranationalism

Democracy is beautiful and fragile and can be manipulated in a hundred different ways. One of the most terrifying ways that democracy is degraded is the worldwide trend toward ultranationalism. Hungary, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and other nations are going down this path, often in reaction to immigration. I am heartbroken to see the United States becoming an ultranationalist state as well, mainly in response to the fears of immigration. In addition to being racist and supremacist, an ultranationalist state is obsessed with restoring order and protecting "the old way of life." If you are gay, nonreligious, or a person of color, sorry but there is no room for you in this imaginary Polyanna and Camelot world. And, to me, ultranationalism is all about embracing the religious and corporate mythologies that only delude people and make them ill-equipped to deal with the problems of the modern world. The ultranationalist lives in their own cesspool of delusion and will make little effort to help the environment since that runs counter to the religious and corporate narrative that is driven into their heads.

As mentioned in my last post, Donald Trump has only made two real accomplishments since his election, and one of his "accomplishments" is dangerous. He is packing the federal courts with right-wingers and these individuals are hard to remove once instated.

During the end of Obama's presidency, the sinister Mitch McConnell refused to bring court nominees to a vote in the Senate. This move was anti-democratic and a huge step toward ultranationalism. It's no secret that Senator McConnell wants to turn America into a giant Kentucky, complete with dirty coal mining and old time tent revivals. In effect, the conservatives are trying to seize the judicial branch of our government, which is a vital step in moving our democracy into ultranationalistic fascism.

While there is rarely an opening on the Supreme Court it's possible to make a tremendous difference in public policy by packing the district and circuit courts with reactionary, right-wing judges. And that's exactly what Trump is doing now.

For the record, what Mitch McConnell and the Republican controlled Senate did must never be forgiven or forgotten. McConnell abused our beautiful constitutional government in the worse way by suppressing Obama's court nominees and creating numerous openings for the next Republican president to fill.

The Solution

I gave the idea of reasoning with conservatives one last try and have now given up hope. The narrative of conservative Christianity and corporatism simply does not align with environmentalism. The Christians have their own story for how the world will end, and they'll keep believing it until the ocean has risen to their eyeballs. The business people have organized themselves into artificial entities called corporations, which are treated like humans by the courts, yet have no heart or soul. These corporations only exist to make money for the next quarter, and the natural world is only a commodity to be exploited, and the Christians go along with it because of the "have dominion" verse in their Bible (Genesis 1:28).

It's obvious that the human population explosion and the obsession with affluence is the primary cause of climate change. But even my environmental colleagues will argue with me and say that we just have to live "clean." Since the topic of human population and telling people how many babies they can have is completely taboo, okay, I'll go along with that. We can convert to clean energy using wind, solar, hydrogen, and other green technologies. If we are fighting against an ever-growing population, well, making a difference is going to be challenging, but, as always, DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to save our world is to put more progressives in power. Although mostly Democrat, a progressive can be a Republican too, like my hero Teddy Roosevelt. It is extremely important that we take the U.S. Senate and ensure that our democracy is protected and also ensure that we address real world problems, instead of trying to bring back the past. I know a lot of Americans want to put gays back in the closet, push the Mexicans behind the border, and ship the Muslims back to the Middle East. They want the "old America" back — an America that only existed in their imaginations. Actually, what many ultra-conservatives want is a lily-white America, but all they are really going to get is a really hot America with receding shore lines, massive wildfires, droughts, floods, and a generally screwed up climate. To the bitter end they will recite Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity sound bites, as the entire planet goes to hell.

After much thought I realize that the number one thing I can do to help the environment and the less fortunate among us is to put a progressive in Congress. Just one progressive in the U.S. Senate would have a powerful impact and would provide a counterbalance to Madman Mitch. I was thrilled to learn this week that Ted Terry, mayor of Clarkston, GA and director of the Georgia Sierra Club is running for the U.S. Senate. My instincts tell me that I should give my absolute all to get this man into the Senate. If everyone does the same in their respective states, and even in different countries, we can change the course of civilization and save the Earth from our pathetic excesses and ignorance. To me, putting a progressive into office is an act of repentance. It's our way of saying "we're sorry" to the indifference and harm done to the environment and underclasses.

If humanity reacts to its problems by retreating into suppressive religions and right-wing dictatorships then allow me to be the last standing progressive who screams that respect for each other and respect for the environment is a better way to live. Allow me, at least, the opportunity to get those words out before the Saudis chop me up or the Russians radiate me, or some sinister regime, perhaps even the U.S., makes me disappear.


Sources:
- How the Republican Party Went From Lincoln To Trump, by Vox
- How Trump Took Over America's Courts, by Vox
- Congress Passes $867 Billion Farm Bill, by Jeff Stein, The Washington Post 
- How Corporate Welfare Hurts You, by Robert Reich
- How Trump Took Over America's Courts, by Vox

Photo: Miguel Bruna