The wife and are driving and traing around Spain. Couple of nights ago, had a glorious Basque meal that had been processed through a gress fed bovine and presented in T-bone. Muy bueno
Ever since 1968 or thereabouts the spoiled infants of the secular West have faced a major problem: they have been given everything even though they didn't earn it and don't deserve it (and others aren't as lucky).
All the battles were already fought and won before they were out of diapers: the battle against scarcity, famine, warlords, against Nature, against most of the terrible diseases that plagued our ancestors, down to the battle against VD and unwanted pregnancy (even the battle against boredom!)
So what do you get for the kid who has everything? Bespoke delusions of grandeur, from the eternal crusades of White Saviorism (whether the Weather Underground or BLM), to the quixotic battles against ghosts of the past (Christianity and its big bad Patriarchy), to of course the 1001 ways of "saving the planet", which is a long-running TV show with more villains than an old episode of "Batman": from global cooling to overpopulation to acid rain and now to "climate change".
As Brad already stated: the need for the ritual precedes the reason, and the need to play the role of compassionate savior precedes the thought that would be required to craft a wise solution (to any of these problems).
Maybe the real crusade here didn't start w the 60s but instead w Rousseau: he created the fictional character called the Noble Savage, who lived in caves or off the land and who was a pure-hearted natural communist, a cross bw Tarzan and a bonobo. And now his descendants demand we go back to the future and be transformed into Noble Savages—or else they'll start crying again!
Erudite and witty, appropriately scathing, and full of solid information, Brad. I've come to expect no less. I especially appreciate that you "stipulate that climate change is a real thing, and that there are consequences." And then go on to distinguish between the real and the hot air balloons. I see these same full-of-themselves youth celebrated by my local paper for their 'climate courage.' Anyone who thinks young people will save us, doesn't live between a middle & HS, surrounded by oblivious college students, as I do.
If being a social justice warrior (of any kind) were ever to become painful and/or costly to the SJWs personally (instead of everyone else) then the whole virtue-signalling business would soon be gone with the wind that it truly is. How to bring this about in a civilised way?; that is the question
Revolutions always spark counter-revolutions. The 2020 coup has nearly destroyed the USA and the backlash has begun. If the DOJ and the FBI plan to make war against the American people, I'm betting that some of the 466 million guns in the USA will be used to fight back against the totalitarians.
There was a dude who suicided himself by fire in a public park a few years back to raise awareness or something or climate change. AFAIK, changed nothing
Well, the activists "sacrificing" their glued bodies aren't changing anything either, especially public opinion, but I meant that if a glued body actually *did* come to harm, there would instantly be fewer glued bodies.
Note: I am *not* advocating violence, and likewise I believe M. Charles is only expressing sentiment, with which I am in complete agreement.
I get a "error 1011 access denied" and "The owner of this website (www.powerlineblog.com) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/ed-assets/2023/09/download-4-1.jpg)."
I can get to powerline.com, if you could direct me from there.
1. That we should stop calling it "climate change" because it is stupid because climate always changes.
2. That there is an average global warming trend over the last 50 years, but the last 8 years has shown a slight cooling trend. But we can agree that there was been a slight warming trend.
3. That we don't know how much human activity is contributing to the warming trend. There is only theories and circumstantial evidence at best.
4. That we absolutely don't know what impact the warming trend is having on climate... and that given the true scientific history of climate events global warming could be responsible a reduction in the size, scope and frequency of them. Climate models are wrong every year and have to be recalibrated.
5. That we absolutely do not know what the future impacts of global warming will be. We don't know if we cycle back to a cooling trend. We don't know if warming or cooling will harm humanity more than will the policies to "fight" either. However, it looks more likely, given the natural advance of technology, that doing nothing or little in the way of policy, will result in far less human harm than the evidence of harm being caused today by the policies already attempted.
6. That we should focus on technology advancement to reduce all pollution including nuclear, and that adaption to better accommodate any climate change and all climate events, is a good thing.
7. That the WEF Globalist in coordination with Wall Street and the billionaire boys club are engaged in a massive global conspiracy to force changes in the energy markets that they would leverage in advanced betting to increase their wealth and power.
8. That forced scarcity of fossil fuels and natural foods in the name of the environment does little to harm the wealthiest, but is devastating to the poor and working class.
9. That the Biden Administration war on fossil fuels has been one of the biggest contributors to inflation.
10. That the political left is Godless and aimless and in need of life-meaning and has adopted the cult of climate crisis as an inappropriate gap filler for their lack of real spirituality.
11. That we better elect Republicans in charge or this crap is going to end up a global crisis far beyond any mythology of climate crisis that Democrats can dream up.
Amen particularly to points 5 through 9. Even the well meaning and simply misinformed
(By the MSM) environmentalists completely ignore the unintended consequences of their policies such as energy price inflation and dead whales (incredibly ironic) and use the methodology of “just do something” and ready - fire - and don’t worry about whether the target you are aiming at makes any sense.
“ To the stunningly brave tomato soup-wielding emotional hemophiliacs, Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers is a meaningless and distracting bourgeois affectation, the value of which can only be understood by a price-tag in dollars rather than art’s actual worth as determined by its power to educate people, promote cultural appreciation, break social and cultural and economic barriers, and inspire a higher order of thinking.”
oh, this a brilliant 🤩
thanks for another cogent, informative, and enjoyable essay.
Is there anybody working to formulate a non-woke environmental vision? It would be nice if, as a society, we could safegaurd clean air and water, protect vulnerable species and their habitats, and preserve the beauty and grandeur of the natural world for future generations. Surely this can be done without destroying priceless artwork, without doubling down on despair and anxiety.
I'm left with two firm convictions, convictions that twist me in contrary directions: the sense that we aren't doing a good job as stewards of the natural world, coupled with a feeling that our current crop of "environmentalists," the people I'd naturally look to for guidance, are bonkers.
There was. There was a strong movement in the 1970's that combined conservation and more thought about the future with a revulsion for the excesses of industrial society. (This revulsion occurred after the successes of industrial society had been achieved and we focused on the externalities that industrialization had created. this is not anti-capitalism. )
It was very effective. I was born into a country with polluted rivers and great lakes. by the time I was 20 there had been exponential progress.
but the simple answer on this is to weigh where the costs lie and who benefits. Specifically the costs if we follow their lead will be born by the poorest in society. what is interesting is that the hypocrisy is so blatant, the leaders of this movement will never give up their private jets (and rub shoulders with masses? are you crazy?) and multiple residences. By isolating the masses into urban hellscapes, the elite can enjoy the benefits of the planet without the hordes of bourgeois stinking up the joint.
Its the kids who are deluded. They have been sold a bill of goods. But coming from the generation that did not a have central AC, i have an easy solution that always shuts them up. "OK lets do our part, open up the windows and turn the AC off. we will save the planet and my money." Never had a taker. And beleive me I would do it as its what i do when Im the only one home for the weekend.
I recently saw one of those climate strike Fridays for Future marches, it looks to me like it's now been fully infiltrated by communists and anti-capitalists and hasn't a lot to do with climate change - which has displaced environmentalism almost entirely. One thing they are proposing is that people should only be allowed 40 sqm per person, if you live in a larger flat or house you have to pay a tax and eventually should be forced out through more aggressive means. Can't imagine this stuff being particularly popular. Also can't imagine that communism and clean energy fit together if you look at current and historic communist countries - of course they usually claim "that wasn't real communism".
The DOD is the single largest consumer of energy in the US, and in fact, the world's single largest institutional consumer of petroleum. Since 2001, the DOD has consistently consumed between 77 and 80 percent of all US government energy consumption. Nov 13, 2022
I think I found the problem.
also, I wonder what the carbon footprint is of an endless war and eventual recovery?
these people aren't really serious. their solutions are meaningless platitudes. poor people paying more for energy. endless oil for the War Machine...
The part about the fanatical climate extremism providing a substitute religion for those who feel a spiritual emptiness is a very astute observation. The climate movement fills a very real emptiness caused by belief in the theory of evolution, and a world without God For these protesters it provides purpose in a very purposeless existence. Climate change and the theory of evolution was invented by the Freemasons to fuel their depopulation agenda. Irolically, the same Temple Legend the Masons believe in says humanity was created to fight evil. I wrote a post about that.
The whole thing just makes me sad because I’m friends with a couple, one of whom actually believes the world is going to end from this, and she thinks that it’s all big business and greed that will destroy the Earth.
Pointing out that humans survived when where I type was under a Kilometer of ice as just hunter gatherers doesn’t get through at all. Humans lived through the ice age and the Lake Toba eruption with stone tools, the concept our species will be wiped out from a 3 degree temperature rise being ludicrous also doesn’t get through.
The only thing in the near term that could, even hypothetically, actually kill us all is AI (nuclear war would be bad, and I’d die, but would leave a few continents relatively untouched) but as an optimist, just as we don’t deliberately kill all the squirrels, there’s no reason AI will do any different.
In the end I really wish I could get through to these people that the world is not going to end. If you want to actually do something about climate change, advocate for making the grid nuclear, researching fusion energy, or making better carbon capture and storage.
Eh I dunno, I’ve turned people away from antisemitism before, got an Annunaki worshipper to agree Nibiru didn’t exist, pulled someone out of a cult, I’ll say it’s possible. Usually takes at least 3 months of constant contact with a person who really respects you combined with their outside environment completely contradicting their belief system.
I’m no Marxist but I do respect the concept of “Expose the Contradictions”. If you ever listen to Megan Phelps-Roper, it was the Biblical contradictions that pulled her out of the Westboro Baptist Church. Back 10 years ago I obsessively studied how the hell reasonable people joined, then left, Scientology. It was mostly via contradictions.
Therefore, the tactic I’m trying to use, and have had mild success with among climate lefties who claim that the rich are against green energy is going “wait a second, aren’t literally all the top 10 richest people in the world obsessed with fighting climate change, and isn’t Apple worth 1.5 times more than even Saudi Aramco?”
Expose the contradictions. Even in cultists, it’s the best way to change minds.
I am fully on-board with a plant-based diet; however, I prefer a little pre-processing by cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, etc., before I consume it.
The wife and are driving and traing around Spain. Couple of nights ago, had a glorious Basque meal that had been processed through a gress fed bovine and presented in T-bone. Muy bueno
Ever since 1968 or thereabouts the spoiled infants of the secular West have faced a major problem: they have been given everything even though they didn't earn it and don't deserve it (and others aren't as lucky).
All the battles were already fought and won before they were out of diapers: the battle against scarcity, famine, warlords, against Nature, against most of the terrible diseases that plagued our ancestors, down to the battle against VD and unwanted pregnancy (even the battle against boredom!)
So what do you get for the kid who has everything? Bespoke delusions of grandeur, from the eternal crusades of White Saviorism (whether the Weather Underground or BLM), to the quixotic battles against ghosts of the past (Christianity and its big bad Patriarchy), to of course the 1001 ways of "saving the planet", which is a long-running TV show with more villains than an old episode of "Batman": from global cooling to overpopulation to acid rain and now to "climate change".
As Brad already stated: the need for the ritual precedes the reason, and the need to play the role of compassionate savior precedes the thought that would be required to craft a wise solution (to any of these problems).
Maybe the real crusade here didn't start w the 60s but instead w Rousseau: he created the fictional character called the Noble Savage, who lived in caves or off the land and who was a pure-hearted natural communist, a cross bw Tarzan and a bonobo. And now his descendants demand we go back to the future and be transformed into Noble Savages—or else they'll start crying again!
I would not have suggested that you get between rosseau and anything he wanted. I guess he was a Noble. He certainly was savage.
the man was a malignant narcissist avant la lettre...i don't think we've seen anyone since so consumed by constant envy...
Erudite and witty, appropriately scathing, and full of solid information, Brad. I've come to expect no less. I especially appreciate that you "stipulate that climate change is a real thing, and that there are consequences." And then go on to distinguish between the real and the hot air balloons. I see these same full-of-themselves youth celebrated by my local paper for their 'climate courage.' Anyone who thinks young people will save us, doesn't live between a middle & HS, surrounded by oblivious college students, as I do.
Anyone who thinks young people will save us never raised children.
You mean Greta Thunberg is not shining a woke flashlight on our path to salvation? Uh-oh. We could be in trouble.
The climate jihadists who glue themselves to things in protest should be left to die and rot. It may be a lesson for others.
You could set up a selfie line and charge for pictures as they slowly starve to death glued to the pavement.
i love your entrepreneurial spirit!
Jeez, Commander!
I guess I should be alright with being accused of wanting mere bloody revenge!
If being a social justice warrior (of any kind) were ever to become painful and/or costly to the SJWs personally (instead of everyone else) then the whole virtue-signalling business would soon be gone with the wind that it truly is. How to bring this about in a civilised way?; that is the question
Revolutions always spark counter-revolutions. The 2020 coup has nearly destroyed the USA and the backlash has begun. If the DOJ and the FBI plan to make war against the American people, I'm betting that some of the 466 million guns in the USA will be used to fight back against the totalitarians.
Like so many other things, it would only take 1 (one) casualty!
There was a dude who suicided himself by fire in a public park a few years back to raise awareness or something or climate change. AFAIK, changed nothing
Well, the activists "sacrificing" their glued bodies aren't changing anything either, especially public opinion, but I meant that if a glued body actually *did* come to harm, there would instantly be fewer glued bodies.
Note: I am *not* advocating violence, and likewise I believe M. Charles is only expressing sentiment, with which I am in complete agreement.
I don't disagree with him, either.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2023/09/download-4-1.jpg
I get a "error 1011 access denied" and "The owner of this website (www.powerlineblog.com) does not allow hotlinking to that resource (/ed-assets/2023/09/download-4-1.jpg)."
I can get to powerline.com, if you could direct me from there.
Hmmm. It's just a picture meme from their Sep 23 "week in pictures"
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/09/the-week-in-pictures-take-a-flyer-edition.php
Is half way down. You'll know which one if you scroll through them
Any 'climate alarmist' who isn't fully on board the nuclear train isn't serious.
I used to think AOC was just playing all of us with her act, but I’ve since come to realize that she is a total idiot.
Those destroying milk really infuriate me. That kind of Waste is never a virtue.
A waste of perfectly good soup, too.
We should all agree:
1. That we should stop calling it "climate change" because it is stupid because climate always changes.
2. That there is an average global warming trend over the last 50 years, but the last 8 years has shown a slight cooling trend. But we can agree that there was been a slight warming trend.
3. That we don't know how much human activity is contributing to the warming trend. There is only theories and circumstantial evidence at best.
4. That we absolutely don't know what impact the warming trend is having on climate... and that given the true scientific history of climate events global warming could be responsible a reduction in the size, scope and frequency of them. Climate models are wrong every year and have to be recalibrated.
5. That we absolutely do not know what the future impacts of global warming will be. We don't know if we cycle back to a cooling trend. We don't know if warming or cooling will harm humanity more than will the policies to "fight" either. However, it looks more likely, given the natural advance of technology, that doing nothing or little in the way of policy, will result in far less human harm than the evidence of harm being caused today by the policies already attempted.
6. That we should focus on technology advancement to reduce all pollution including nuclear, and that adaption to better accommodate any climate change and all climate events, is a good thing.
7. That the WEF Globalist in coordination with Wall Street and the billionaire boys club are engaged in a massive global conspiracy to force changes in the energy markets that they would leverage in advanced betting to increase their wealth and power.
8. That forced scarcity of fossil fuels and natural foods in the name of the environment does little to harm the wealthiest, but is devastating to the poor and working class.
9. That the Biden Administration war on fossil fuels has been one of the biggest contributors to inflation.
10. That the political left is Godless and aimless and in need of life-meaning and has adopted the cult of climate crisis as an inappropriate gap filler for their lack of real spirituality.
11. That we better elect Republicans in charge or this crap is going to end up a global crisis far beyond any mythology of climate crisis that Democrats can dream up.
Amen particularly to points 5 through 9. Even the well meaning and simply misinformed
(By the MSM) environmentalists completely ignore the unintended consequences of their policies such as energy price inflation and dead whales (incredibly ironic) and use the methodology of “just do something” and ready - fire - and don’t worry about whether the target you are aiming at makes any sense.
“ To the stunningly brave tomato soup-wielding emotional hemophiliacs, Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers is a meaningless and distracting bourgeois affectation, the value of which can only be understood by a price-tag in dollars rather than art’s actual worth as determined by its power to educate people, promote cultural appreciation, break social and cultural and economic barriers, and inspire a higher order of thinking.”
oh, this a brilliant 🤩
thanks for another cogent, informative, and enjoyable essay.
First comment, made on-the-fly after reading the sub-head:
Oh, I *so* hope we're getting to Peak Climate Alarmism.
Is there anybody working to formulate a non-woke environmental vision? It would be nice if, as a society, we could safegaurd clean air and water, protect vulnerable species and their habitats, and preserve the beauty and grandeur of the natural world for future generations. Surely this can be done without destroying priceless artwork, without doubling down on despair and anxiety.
I'm left with two firm convictions, convictions that twist me in contrary directions: the sense that we aren't doing a good job as stewards of the natural world, coupled with a feeling that our current crop of "environmentalists," the people I'd naturally look to for guidance, are bonkers.
There was. There was a strong movement in the 1970's that combined conservation and more thought about the future with a revulsion for the excesses of industrial society. (This revulsion occurred after the successes of industrial society had been achieved and we focused on the externalities that industrialization had created. this is not anti-capitalism. )
It was very effective. I was born into a country with polluted rivers and great lakes. by the time I was 20 there had been exponential progress.
that is what liberalism was and could be. Crazy thinkg is who was the President who created the EPA?
Re: "Is there anybody working to formulate a non-woke environmental vision?"
Yes. They call themselves conservationists.
but the simple answer on this is to weigh where the costs lie and who benefits. Specifically the costs if we follow their lead will be born by the poorest in society. what is interesting is that the hypocrisy is so blatant, the leaders of this movement will never give up their private jets (and rub shoulders with masses? are you crazy?) and multiple residences. By isolating the masses into urban hellscapes, the elite can enjoy the benefits of the planet without the hordes of bourgeois stinking up the joint.
Its the kids who are deluded. They have been sold a bill of goods. But coming from the generation that did not a have central AC, i have an easy solution that always shuts them up. "OK lets do our part, open up the windows and turn the AC off. we will save the planet and my money." Never had a taker. And beleive me I would do it as its what i do when Im the only one home for the weekend.
I recently saw one of those climate strike Fridays for Future marches, it looks to me like it's now been fully infiltrated by communists and anti-capitalists and hasn't a lot to do with climate change - which has displaced environmentalism almost entirely. One thing they are proposing is that people should only be allowed 40 sqm per person, if you live in a larger flat or house you have to pay a tax and eventually should be forced out through more aggressive means. Can't imagine this stuff being particularly popular. Also can't imagine that communism and clean energy fit together if you look at current and historic communist countries - of course they usually claim "that wasn't real communism".
The rise of the Green moment is inverse to the decline of communism in the 1980's.
the Greens flowers have Red roots.
according to the Watson Institute:
The DOD is the single largest consumer of energy in the US, and in fact, the world's single largest institutional consumer of petroleum. Since 2001, the DOD has consistently consumed between 77 and 80 percent of all US government energy consumption. Nov 13, 2022
I think I found the problem.
also, I wonder what the carbon footprint is of an endless war and eventual recovery?
these people aren't really serious. their solutions are meaningless platitudes. poor people paying more for energy. endless oil for the War Machine...
That's a lot of energy. Got source?
The part about the fanatical climate extremism providing a substitute religion for those who feel a spiritual emptiness is a very astute observation. The climate movement fills a very real emptiness caused by belief in the theory of evolution, and a world without God For these protesters it provides purpose in a very purposeless existence. Climate change and the theory of evolution was invented by the Freemasons to fuel their depopulation agenda. Irolically, the same Temple Legend the Masons believe in says humanity was created to fight evil. I wrote a post about that.
speaking of evolution though ...its like religion is somehow hard wired into us. It pops up where you least expect it....among atheists.
The whole thing just makes me sad because I’m friends with a couple, one of whom actually believes the world is going to end from this, and she thinks that it’s all big business and greed that will destroy the Earth.
Pointing out that humans survived when where I type was under a Kilometer of ice as just hunter gatherers doesn’t get through at all. Humans lived through the ice age and the Lake Toba eruption with stone tools, the concept our species will be wiped out from a 3 degree temperature rise being ludicrous also doesn’t get through.
The only thing in the near term that could, even hypothetically, actually kill us all is AI (nuclear war would be bad, and I’d die, but would leave a few continents relatively untouched) but as an optimist, just as we don’t deliberately kill all the squirrels, there’s no reason AI will do any different.
In the end I really wish I could get through to these people that the world is not going to end. If you want to actually do something about climate change, advocate for making the grid nuclear, researching fusion energy, or making better carbon capture and storage.
You cannot "get through to these people". Like trying to teach a cat to dance. Wastes your time, and just pisses off the cat.
Eh I dunno, I’ve turned people away from antisemitism before, got an Annunaki worshipper to agree Nibiru didn’t exist, pulled someone out of a cult, I’ll say it’s possible. Usually takes at least 3 months of constant contact with a person who really respects you combined with their outside environment completely contradicting their belief system.
I’m no Marxist but I do respect the concept of “Expose the Contradictions”. If you ever listen to Megan Phelps-Roper, it was the Biblical contradictions that pulled her out of the Westboro Baptist Church. Back 10 years ago I obsessively studied how the hell reasonable people joined, then left, Scientology. It was mostly via contradictions.
Therefore, the tactic I’m trying to use, and have had mild success with among climate lefties who claim that the rich are against green energy is going “wait a second, aren’t literally all the top 10 richest people in the world obsessed with fighting climate change, and isn’t Apple worth 1.5 times more than even Saudi Aramco?”
Expose the contradictions. Even in cultists, it’s the best way to change minds.
You are a better person than me, Jester. I don't have that kind of patience.