So the amazons burning and brazils leader is perfectly fine with that. My sons future planet is basically fucked. What to even focus on now in life? All i can do is try to enjoy each present moment and teach my son to do the same while also protecting him as much as possible. The human race has outlived its resources and we are headed on a slippery slope downhill. It had to happen sooner or later. I just wish it had been much later.
Ever hear of crunchy babies? They are children whose parents teach them to be conservationist. Teaching them to recycle and eat healthy.
So stick with me on this one.
The President starts a trade war with China by enacting tariffs on lots of goods. Americans pay those tariffs because prices are hiked to cover them. You pay more at Walmart.
China retaliates by enacting tariffs on US agricultural goods. Like soybeans. So our soybeans become prohibitively expensive for Chinese companies to buy.
So Chinese soy bean seekers look to buy elsewhere. One country that has a lot of soybeans is Brazil. So China buys lots of Brazilian soybeans.
Meanwhile, back here in the US, our President is paying soybean farmers subsidies to make up for their lost sales to China.
He does that with deficit money, much of it financed by the purchase of our debt by China.
In the meantime, Brazilian soybean farmers see a chance to increase their markets but need more land to plant.
So they set fire to the Amazon rain forest to clear more land to plant.
Summary: By starting a trade war, this President has accomplished the following:
He has destroyed a vital market for family farms in this country.
To ameliorate that he is paying farmers with money financed by China. Instead of just letting them sell their crop to China.
Meanwhile, Brazilian farmers are destroying large parts of the most important ecological region on our planet so they can take the Chinese market in soybeans away from our farmers.
Once that happens, our farmers will never get that market back. So they will lose their farms or we are going to have to subsidize them forever.
Oh, and the planet is slowly choking to death as the rain forest is raped to provide a replacement for soybeans our farmers were already providing.
Our stable genius in the Oval Office did this and all on his own.
Winning.
I know you really mean loosing
To give up is to say I know everything about all possibilities and none can lead to a good result. There is really no logical justification for pessimism, because the truth is... humans don't know everything, and the difference between survival and extinction could easily come down to whether we keep trying or give up.
About a different issue, Chris Hedges said something I won't quote exactly, but I think it applies here also. It's something along the lines of... We don't fight because we are certain we can win. We fight because it's the only way to maintain our sanity. And I would add... and because we don't know everything, and giving up guarantees the very outcome we might be able to avoid with steady effort, and a lot of luck.
I agree. To worry is understandable, but it serves no one in anyway that's beneficial.
Optimism and gratitude are key to mental health and fitness. We need to do our best to be responsible and kind to the planet and then let the worry go. As you say, we don't know...
We'll have to cross these bridges if and when we get there. Until then, pessimism is no solution.
@Athena blind optimism is a waste of time and counterproductive. Of course ill still recycle and skip meat, speak out and vote. But i won't ignore the reality either.
Been thinking the same as of late … with our president ushering in ‘the end times’.. Been wondering if I should begin urging my daughters to just burn through it! ..avoid kids, and ride it down...
Like so many things, when good people set aside resources, limit their reproduction ..and acknowledge the fact planet resources are finite … the evil & ignorant move in to consume them..
We’ve a number of so-called ‘conservatives’ around here who, if squeezed nearly to death ..would admit having reached the same conclusion: burn it up, shoot it up, or blow it up - because if you leave anything behind, someone else is going to do just that..
Yes, sad times
The planet can still be saved just takes work
Im not sure it can anymore. The work should have been done long before now and obviously no one gives a shit
@Lauraleigh39 have a little faith I keep track of new developments and people are starting to wake up check out my bio I did research at johns Hopkins
@bobwjr Blind faith is a waste of mental energy. My eyes are open and the reality is there
@Lauraleigh39 planting trees elsewhere plankton reserves get that asshole out of white house and Amazon
@bobwjr All scientists are saying its irreversible. The time to act was 10 years ago. We are out of time
The planet doesn't need saving. It's suffered mass extinctions that have wiped out 70-90% of species several times in the past.