Bread & Circuses

The last American election cycle has barely finished and already the
pundocrats of print and screen are screaming, ranting and raving about who
shall lead the pack, which imperfect unannounced candidate has the best
chances of surviving the pummeling the press intends to inflict.
But none of the much touted male heirs-apparent, nor the would-be
'mother-in-chief,'  are willing to act in any manner remotely resembling
real leadership.

Forget for a moment the numerous mad acts of the venial criminals stinking
up our White House, there truly is a more nightmarish situation that
requires our instant undivided attention. Global warming is even now at this
very moment creating the perfect atmospheric Petri dish for the most
horrific human scenarios imaginable, Frank Herbert notwithstanding.

I had the lovely opportunity to attend a two-hour lecture at the University
of California, Berkeley, on Jan. 20. Six Nobel Laureates spoke on the
problems and opportunities Global Warming will offer us. While the nice
scientists were quick to speak of the ways in which the University, the Lab,
and our corporate masters could profitably study the problem and profit from
some of the solutions, they had to admit that Global Warming was far more
urgent and horrific than most folks were letting on.

Every day we continue to produce excess carbon-based greenhouse gases will
dramatically and negatively affect the accelerating problem of global
warming.

The excess carbon sequestered in the atmosphere today, as in right this
minute, will take at the very least 150 years to be reabsorbed and quite
possibly more than a 1,000 years.
That assumes that absolutely no additional carbon is released into the
atmosphere. Unfortunately, the lecture I attended was on January 20th, but I
haven't seen our masterful modern civilization make any dramatic changes in
the last week.

While the average village idiot nursing on the idiot box assumes that the
great and magnificent American scientist will come forth with a
high-technology, planet-saving solution (just in the nick of time like
Superman does in the movies) the sad truth is we, each and every one of us,
is immediately and personally responsible for producing the excessive and
unnecessary wastes that will end us, simply because we like our 'MTV', SUV
etc. The great irony is that we, each of us, could make an enormous
difference and possibly save our children's lives simply by really
conserving energy right now, claimed Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel
McFadden.

If not, in a future too quickly to come, hurricanes will sweep our coastal
cities away and flood the devastated remnants in a fashion which promises to
make New Orleans in the wake of Katrina look civilized and modern.

Vast and intense firestorms will devour entire regions, filling the air with
globe-encircling smoke. Those with pulmonary problems, the old or infirm
will literally suffocate in plain air. The very young, with their still
developing lungs will also be victimized.


Inland, water will become so scarce as to cause crops to fail on a massive
scale and hunger will immediately follow. (Already we're getting official
warnings that this year's snowpack in California is at drought levels.)

The ability of our sacrosanct capitalist system to deliver food to the many
thousands of cities and millions of citizens across the country will utterly
fail. Our governmental authorities will not be able to reliably deliver
water or energy. Using the typical military measures for which America is
known around the world, the same government that won't be able to deliver
water or food will be able to deliver fully armored and armed gun-men to
ensure any potential domestic unrest is immediately suppressed.

But back to the beauty contest we call a Presidential election.
None of our statesmen running for the highest office in the land has the
stomach to loudly and stridently demand the necessary, no, the imperative
and immediate act of rationing carbon-based fuels, to demand we
appropriately tax the polluters for the damage they're doing to our shared
environment, to insist we create a massive public transportation system,
none of them are working with Congress to stop the billion dollar subsidizes
given to automobile manufacturers, airlines and oil companies and use that
money to start conservation programs.

Hell, our parents and grandparents endured rationed gasoline, planted
Victory Gardens, taxed war profits, and diverted entire industries to fight
Hitler's Nazi killing machine. All Hitler wanted to do was kill a couple
dozen million people. Global Warming will kill billions.
So tell me which of our so-called leaders is willing to declare all out WAR
on global warming?

It was no different for the war on the poor and innocent citizens of Iraq.
Too soon it will be no different for the similarly impoverished and
guiltless citizens of Iran.

No leader has stepped forward nor will any step forward to demand
accountability for anything this country is doing.
Nor will there be press watch dogs to hold those leaders accountable.

And the great majority of us, the silent and powerless majority? We won't
insist this madness be halted. We've more important issues at hand ... like
who's going to be our national American Idol in 2008? What clueless,
gutless, spineless greed monkey will befoul the people's house, the White
House in 2009. I just hope there's a year 2009 and an America in that year
that I am still able to recognize.

 Fred Dodsworth

Tourettesdujour.blogspot.com