Only optimism can save us. But plenty of reasons for optimism!
Only optimism can save us. But plenty of reasons for optimism!Far too many of us seem addicted to downer, ‘we’re all doomed’ gloom-trips.
Only
dig it, that foul habit doesn't make you
sadly-wise. Rather, it
debilitates your ability to fight for a better world. Worse, it is self-indulgent Hollywood+QAnon crap infesting both the right and the left.
In fact, we’d be
very well-equipped to solve all problems – including climate ructions – if it weren’t for a deliberate (!) world campaign against can-do confidence. Stephen Pinker and
Peter Diamandis show in books how very much is going right in the world! But if those books seem tl;dr, then try
here and
here and
here.
In particular, I hope Jimmy Carter lives to see the declared end of the horribly parasitic Guinea worm! He deserves much of the credit. Oh, and polio too, maybe soon? The new malaria vaccine is rolling out and may soon save 100,000 children per year.
(Side note: Back in the 50s, the era
when conservatives claim every single was peachy, the most beloved person in America was named
Jonas Salk.)
More samples from that fascinating list:
“Humanity will install an astonishing 413 GW of solar this year, 58% more than in 2022, which itself marked an almost 42% increase from 2021. That means the world's solar capacity has doubled in the last 18 months, and that solar is now the fastest-growing energy technology in history. In September, the IEA announced that solar photovoltaic installations are now ahead of the trajectory required to reach net zero by 2050, and that if solar maintains this kind of growth, it will become the world's dominant source of energy before the end of this decade. … and… global fossil fuel use may peak this year, two years earlier than predicted just 12 months ago. More than 120 countries, including the world's two largest carbon emitters…”(BTW solar also vastly improves resilience, since it allows localities and even homes to function even if grids collapse: so much for a major “Event” that doomer-preppers drool-over.
Nevertheless, I expect that
geothermal power will take off shortly and surpass solar, by 2030, rendering fossil fuels extinct for electricity generation.)
== Why frantically ignore good news? ==It's not just the gone-mad entire American (confederate) Right that's fatally allergic to noticing good news. That sanctimony-driven fetishism is also rife on the far- (
not entire) left.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is the single largest commitment any government has yet made to vie for leadership in the next energy economy, and has resulted in the largest manufacturing drive in the United States since WW2. The legislation has already yielded commitments of more than $300 billion in new battery, solar and hydrogen electrolyzer plants…” And yet, dem-politicians seem to dumb to emphasize this manufacturing boom resulted directly from their 2021 miracle bills, and NOT from voodoo “supply side” nonsense.
Oh, did you know that:
“Crime plummeted in the United States. Initial data suggests that murder rates for 2023 are down by almost 13%, one of the largest ever annual declines, and every major category of crime except auto theft has declined too, with violent crime falling to one of the lowest rates in more than 50 years and property crime falling to its lowest level since the 1960s. Also, the country's prison population is now 25% lower than its peak in 2009, and a majority of states have reduced their prison populations by more than that, including New Jersey and New York who have reduced prison populations by more than half in the last decade.” Of course you didn’t know! Neither the far-left nor the entire-right benefit from you learning that. (Though there ARE notable differences between US states. Excluding Utah and Illinois, red states average far more violent than blue ones, along with every other turpitude. And the Turpitude Index ought to be THE top metric for voting a party out of office. Wager on that, please?)
Likewise: “The United States pulled off an economic miracle In 2022 economists predicted with 100% certainty that the US was going to enter a recession within a year. It didn't happen. GDP growth is now the fastest of all advanced economies, 14 million jobs have been created under the current administration, unemployment is at its lowest since WW2, and new business formation rates are at record highs. Inflation is almost back down to pre-pandemic levels, wages are above pre-pandemic levels (accounting for inflation), and more than a third of the rise in economic inequality between 1979 and 2019 has been reversed. Average wealth has climbed by over $50,000 per household since 2020, and doubled for Americans aged 18-34, home ownership for GenZ is higher than it was for Millennials and GenX at this point in their lives, and the annual deficit is trillions of dollars lower than it was in 2020.” (Now, if only we manage to get rentier inheritance brats to let go of millions of homes they cash-grabbed with their parents’ supply side lucre.)
And…
“In March this year, 193 countries reached a landmark deal to protect the world's oceans, in what Greenpeace called "the greatest conservation victory of all time."And…
"In August, Dutch researchers released a report that looked at over 20,000 measurements worldwide, and found the extent of plastic soup in the world's oceans is closer to 3.2 million tons, far smaller than the commonly accepted estimates of 50-300 million tons.” And all that is just a sampling of many reasons to snap out of the voluptuous but ultimately lethal self-indulgence called GLOOM. Wake up. There’s a lot of hope.
Alas, that means – as my pal Kim Stanley Robinson says –
“We can do this! But only if its ‘all hands on deck!’== Finally, something for THIS tribe... ==Whatever his side-ructions... and I deem all the x-stuff and political fulminations to be side twinges... what matters above all are palpable
outcomes. And the big, big rocket is absolutely wonderful. It will help reify so many bold dreams, including many held by those who express miff at him.
Anyway, he employs nerds. Nerds... nerdsnerdsnerds... NERDS! ;-)
Want proof? Look in the lower right corner. Is that a bowl of petunias, next to the Starship whale? ooog - nerds.
. . ...a collaborative contrarian product of David Brin, Enlightenment Civilization, obstinate human nature... and
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