"Get Ready!"
In his autobiography, My Life and Hard Times, James Thurber described a man that would pop up in different places in his home town of Columbus, Ohio. The man was called the Get-Ready Man because he would shout out, "Get reeeaady! The wooorrlld is coming to an end!"
If the Get-Ready Man were to fast forward a hundred years, he would take one look and scramble back in time, saying, "I told you!" If then there were ominous rumblings, now the rumblings are become growls that fill the air and the ears. It doesn't matter where you look and what you see, portents of doom surround us.
Economically, the world is poised to enter another recession. The Great Recession of 2008 was the welcome to a new century in which the middle class entered its final decline. Policies from twenty years ago helped the recession gain traction. New policies that continued the choices from then helped recovery only in the macro-economics sense. The micro-economies, those of most households, continued to suffer. The only thing that was addressed was the barriers to the recuperation of the larger fortunes, be they of corporations or wealthy people, under the false impression that if they did well, their well-being would buoy the economy at all levels. But the truth is that only the wheelhouse is above water, the rest of the boat is struggling to stay above the waves. When the next recession comes, those that are grabbing a breath of air now and then will find only water rushing into their lungs, and they will drown. Will the wheelhouse remain afloat?
Climatologically, the world is poised to change like no other we have seen. The conditions that erased some ancient civilizations will be minimal compared to what is coming. Cities like Miami and Venice will probably disappear, coastlines will retreat, and entire regions all over the world will become unlivable. Yet, we continue to do nothing about it because money is more important than making sure our planet remains hospitable. So, most of us recycle, what do they do with our separated trash? Mostly continue to bury it in landfills or burn it, or ship it off to third world countries, where old appliances are taken apart in precarious conditions or fixed and re-sold. A small part is truly recycled, but only a small part. Trees are still cut for paper pulp, petroleum is still used to make new plastics and new fabrics. How much do we buy that is truly recycled? Do many of us even care?
Politically, it seems we are on the brink of a new fascism invading both Europe and the United States. Soon, the First World will either be a place to avoid, or a place of battle once more. The U.S. Senate is beginning their hearings on the new candidate for the Supreme Court, a candidate that believes presidents are above the law. He was nominated by an incompetent president that is being investigated for federal crimes. The Senate has very little information on the candidate because his files have not been released. They are being asked to blindly confirm him. With his confirmation, there is an ugly future ahead in the United States. The country itself has gone from being a fair country for all its citizens (or attempting it) to being a model for a dystopian oligarchy.
The European Union has giant cracks, as well. One of its major partners, Great Britain, is leaving. Rightist, eurosceptic governments have arisen in Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Italy. The country holding it all together is, ironically, Germany. And even they, who know where it can lead, are experiencing rising numbers of fascist groups. France is no longer the social state which championed the working class, and Spain is bowing to the moneyed interests continuously. Our new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, promised to tax the banks on their multi-million euro profits, but after a warning shot from them, backtracked, and is now talking about increasing taxes on diesel, whose lower price drove many lower-income Spaniards to buy diesel cars.
So, on this pessimistic morning, I, too, am ready to shout, "The world is coming to an end!"
If the Get-Ready Man were to fast forward a hundred years, he would take one look and scramble back in time, saying, "I told you!" If then there were ominous rumblings, now the rumblings are become growls that fill the air and the ears. It doesn't matter where you look and what you see, portents of doom surround us.
Economically, the world is poised to enter another recession. The Great Recession of 2008 was the welcome to a new century in which the middle class entered its final decline. Policies from twenty years ago helped the recession gain traction. New policies that continued the choices from then helped recovery only in the macro-economics sense. The micro-economies, those of most households, continued to suffer. The only thing that was addressed was the barriers to the recuperation of the larger fortunes, be they of corporations or wealthy people, under the false impression that if they did well, their well-being would buoy the economy at all levels. But the truth is that only the wheelhouse is above water, the rest of the boat is struggling to stay above the waves. When the next recession comes, those that are grabbing a breath of air now and then will find only water rushing into their lungs, and they will drown. Will the wheelhouse remain afloat?
Climatologically, the world is poised to change like no other we have seen. The conditions that erased some ancient civilizations will be minimal compared to what is coming. Cities like Miami and Venice will probably disappear, coastlines will retreat, and entire regions all over the world will become unlivable. Yet, we continue to do nothing about it because money is more important than making sure our planet remains hospitable. So, most of us recycle, what do they do with our separated trash? Mostly continue to bury it in landfills or burn it, or ship it off to third world countries, where old appliances are taken apart in precarious conditions or fixed and re-sold. A small part is truly recycled, but only a small part. Trees are still cut for paper pulp, petroleum is still used to make new plastics and new fabrics. How much do we buy that is truly recycled? Do many of us even care?
Politically, it seems we are on the brink of a new fascism invading both Europe and the United States. Soon, the First World will either be a place to avoid, or a place of battle once more. The U.S. Senate is beginning their hearings on the new candidate for the Supreme Court, a candidate that believes presidents are above the law. He was nominated by an incompetent president that is being investigated for federal crimes. The Senate has very little information on the candidate because his files have not been released. They are being asked to blindly confirm him. With his confirmation, there is an ugly future ahead in the United States. The country itself has gone from being a fair country for all its citizens (or attempting it) to being a model for a dystopian oligarchy.
The European Union has giant cracks, as well. One of its major partners, Great Britain, is leaving. Rightist, eurosceptic governments have arisen in Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Italy. The country holding it all together is, ironically, Germany. And even they, who know where it can lead, are experiencing rising numbers of fascist groups. France is no longer the social state which championed the working class, and Spain is bowing to the moneyed interests continuously. Our new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, promised to tax the banks on their multi-million euro profits, but after a warning shot from them, backtracked, and is now talking about increasing taxes on diesel, whose lower price drove many lower-income Spaniards to buy diesel cars.
So, on this pessimistic morning, I, too, am ready to shout, "The world is coming to an end!"
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