What I’d like to know is how to live in this time and place in our country. What to do or not do? How to be? What’s of value or not? What needs to change? Like uninvited guests these are the questions I wake up to each and every day, as I imagine do many others.
I know that the world I live in, this planet, is in the beginning throes of climate and weather changes that happen very infrequently as far as humans have been able to ascertain. Geologically, those changes have been marked, significant to the degree there are regions of our planet that have recorded them to be read by science. Biological/organic life dates back to a 3.5 to 4.5 billion years range. The results of previous massive climate changes, extinctions of plant and animal species, gross changes in regional environments are there for science to read and analyze; writings on the wall so to speak.
We are now at the dawn of another of these monumental, all encompassing changes in the climate of this planet. Our environment, and what that will mean for all life on Earth, is not fully known. Environmental regions – rain forests, deserts, polar caps, tropics and coastal areas – will change as warming progresses and increases in these cycles. We know the oceans are getting warmer and are expanding and we can only speculate what the effects of all this will have on plant and animal life. What there is simply no question about is that this is happening apace, and the changes will be profound.
Not only is our own environment turning on us, as it seems, threatening us with nothing less than extinction, our 249-year-old form of government, our political system, is being challenged on its central basis: the rule of law, to which all must equally be held accountable. We have now all been introduced to what a society would look like if all its rules were arbitrary, and the rules don’t apply to everyone equally – in particular to its President. In fact, the political game that is now being played out is one of constant change – principles, rules, mores – and the result of this is that in such a morass truth dies.
When the truth dies it takes everything with it: justice, knowledge, the social contract, and the endeavor to improve the human condition. When truth dies, chaos reigns and destruction flourishes. A society that abandons truth welcomes insanity. It’s happened in human history. It should come as no surprise.
This is the time we are living in. We’ve f***ed with nature and nature is letting us have it back one thousand-fold. We stand on the brink of losing the foundation of our Constitutional system in trade for … what? The whims of a half-insane mega narcissist who would run this country as a dictatorship.
We are in the time of two existential crises that will set the course for human history. This is about as crunch-time as it gets.
It’s glaringly and perfectly clear that Trump wants a war against Democrats, and to eliminate the Democratic Party and the democratic form of government. Full stop. This was all laid out in the 2025 doctrine drafted by the Heritage Foundation for all to see. What started as a right-wing extremist cadre has captured the Republican Party in toto and they are all – the House and the Senate – under its sway. And they are all as guilty as Trump and his chosen lackeys for the slow but steady downfall of the democratic form of government we have lived under for the past 250 years. This betrayal of the rule of law in the quest for retribution will bring us to dissolution of all that is recognized that defines the word … justice.
Lastly, by way of preparation in the event of confrontation with federal forces assisting ICE and/or CBP (Customs & Border Patrol) personnel, during rallies and/or demonstrations here in Sonoma, in support of immigrant rights and our Constitutional civil rights, we all need to be at the ready with our cameras to take photos and video for publication or broadcast. It is your absolute right to do so as long as you don’t interfere with their actions.
Si se puede.
Regarding your article: The Times We’re Living In- you have eloquently and passionately captured the angst, concern, and uncertainty that I and so many of us are feeling. I applaud how you married the climate crisis with the precarious state of our democratic republic.
The deteriorating environment is not simply turning of its own accord rather it is advancing at unprecedented speed due to the same forces/ folks that are tearing apart the fabric of our democracy. “ Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth- these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health and food security. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all. “ Ban Ki Moon
Sowing distrust of our institutions and journalistic integrity is leading this country on a path towards self destruction- as it did with the Roman Republic and then Roman Empire. To think that it won’t happen to these”UNITED” States is the height of ignorance. It seems the safeguards of co- equal branches of government are being hammered away right before our eyes … and that government of the people, by the people, for the people is in serious danger of perishing from this earth.
Stay mindful and motivated. Keep fighting the good fight.