Weathered: Earth's Extremes
American's 21st century political parties: Reality or Religion
PBS does a lot of quality work but I really like this six episode series Weathered: Earth’s Extremes.
The Republican party is bleeding out, much as the Whigs did in the 1850s. The Democratic party is also the demographic party - doesn’t matter who you are, the increasingly crowded big tent has a place for you to sit. This configuration won’t last; the United States has depended on a balanced two party system, we’ll either reorganize back to that, or we’ll have some messy imperial implosion. My money is on a partial implosion, then the formation of religious para-states, followed by Mother Nature beating us into a state of reasonableness, but I guess we shall see.
If you’re watching the corporate gerontocratic media, those cable news channels where the average viewer is in their late sixties, you’ll have noticed the use of the phrase “post-truth” in describing the crazypants magical thinking coming out of the areas affected by Helene and Milton. The definitive example of this is Marjorie Taylor-Green’s hurricane related declaration:
"Yes they can control the weather. It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done,"
There’s a famous quote by Voltiare that’s mutated a bit in translation, but it still rings true.
“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”
Somewhere between one in six and one in three Americans are captured by the cluster of conspiracy theories that defined Qanon cult membership. This is our future, ugly though it may be, and the right’s response to the climate crisis will involve the blood sacrifice of the “other” until God stops punishing us with drought, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and winter bomb cyclones.