Guns, Global Warming, And Growth

Speaking, as I was just a post ago, about rage ...

I feel that I can do little more than cry and be angry when I read a story like this one (note:  you may need a Washington Post subscription to read it).  We don't seem to care at all about gun violence, a problem that can and should be addressed by better public policy at all levels of government, even when a child is accidentally shot (or, in this case, accidentally shoots themselves) thanks to the careless, utter stupidity of the gun's adult owner.

We worship guns in the same mindless way that we worship the flag and money.  We worship things because, fundamentally, we don't have enough self-respect to see these things as little more than inferior means to a hopefully better end.  We view ourselves not as a people capable of self-governance, but as a pack of animals who values being stronger than all the other animals, which is why we are drawn to worship tools of power than than wisely contemplate their use.  Power, not reason, is the "living" G-d of 21st century America.

It's bad enough that, when Hurricane Irma approached Florida, some lunatic took to the Internet and encouraged people to "shoot the storm" out of "stress and boredom," which ultimately created a social media craze encouraging people to do just that, as a way of repelling the invading storm.  No, I am not kidding; I wish with all my heart that I were, believe me.  But here it is.

Hurricane Irma, and the ones that have followed it (like Jose, Katia, and Maria, and, of course, Harvey before it), like gun violence, are topics that are important to me, but also topics about which I almost feel "written out."  The solutions seem so blindingly obvious.  And yet, so many of us go out of our way to blind ourselves to them.

Climate change, to paraphrase Carl Sagan on the subject of evolution, is not a theory, but a fact. You don't have to be in a coastal state to experience it.  Anywhere there are forests in North America, you can see it happening.  Take a look.  Take still another.  And, all the while, our focus on consumption is costing us our most basic resources, even sand.

I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that they only way to turn this around is to make the case for linking the environment to economic growth.  You can't have an economy without an environment, as I have said many times before.  It's just that simple.  The key for Democrats and other progressives to get everyone else on board with this line of thinking is to stress the possibilities (including job-related possibilities) of building sustainable, renewable economies.  Use rhetorical carrots, instead of sticks.

As for gun violence, I've run out of ideas for turning things around.  But I'm open to suggestions. Send me some, if you think of any.  It's too late for the Florida girl and her family.  Hopefully, it many not be too late for others.