As I approach 66, some thoughts as I try to process these bizarre times we live in

[NewHendoLib]

Man, oh man. What a mess. But of course not everything (the Webb telescope, the quality of Biden and Harris as people and amazing efforts to do great stuff with such a huge headwind impacting him).

The climate. This will overwhelm everything else. Recent news of the Thwaite ice mass that could soon be in the drink and raise sea levels significantly. Impacts on those in coastal areas. The more severe weather conditions. Changes to growing crops. Water shortages - or excesses. THIS will lead to wars, chaos, suffering. And I don't think that the powers that be (corporations, fossil fuel industries, etc) will get their shit together and do the right things (before it is too late - which it may will be).

What the Webb telescope finds - that will be breathtaking. How will so many people handle the fact that we really are not alone? We aren't special? We look up in the sky and see out countless years....the sky is not a canvas where little dots were painted 6000 years ago.

COVID. Holy shit. What a mess. What will get us first as a species - pandemics (and willfull ignorance in dealing with them), or climate change? I can't even wrap my head around what a total FUBAR this all is. Needlessly so.

Big Lie. Supreme Court. Right wing hate media/propaganda. Foreign influence in our political business. Negative impact on social tools.

As long as there is such a plethora of right wing propaganda, and such a lack of respect from nearly half of the country for our democracy, it is hard to see how we dig ourselves out of the multiple shitstorms hitting or about to hit us.

My birthday is January 20 - inauguration day. I am either elated, or depressed, every four fucking years. As depressed as I was in 2016, it wasn't enough - the destruction that the orange asshole did and still does, and the cult that breathes in every one of his farts and smell nirvana, simply is inconceivable. Except it is real.

So, I garden, I blog. work on books, teach people how to garden and the wonder of heirloom veggies, I hike with my wife, I pet my dogs and cats and love my daughters. I try to lead by example in my life, but I've drawn my circle very small and very tight...it is batshit crazy out there - I am staying where things make sense.

Good luck to us all.

The movie - Don't Look Up? For my wife and I it is "Don't Turn it On" - as in the TV!

[Demovictory9]

1. regarding "the big lie"... NY times had a good essay yesterday.

I was going to post it, didn't. there was a great paragraph in there

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/opinion/us-democracy-constitution.html

The Republican Party Is Succeeding Because We Are Not a True Democracy

------

At a more basic level, today’s Republican Party succeeds only because the Electoral College, the Senate and the Supreme Court all tilt in its favor. That system has handed conservatives a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court, despite the fact that only one Republican has won the presidential popular vote after 1988. A party doesn’t have to persuade majorities that it has the best vision for the country. It only has to persuade a selective minority that the other side is a mortal threat. Its grasp on power may be too tenuous for the party to govern effectively, but it has offered conservatives a fine perch to weaken economic and environmental regulation, appoint conservative judges and launch attacks on the democratic system itself.

[NewHendoLib]

2. yes, I read that and the section you highlighted did indeed stand out for me.

thanks.

[Hoyt]

3. Definitely agree we have big challenges, but think-- at least hope -- we'll muddle through.

[NewHendoLib]

4. I am typically an optimist. For the first time, I have my doubts that we will be able to

muddle through. I hope I am wrong.

[Hoyt]

5. Hey, I get -- and worry about -- it.

[Demovictory9]

7. Yeah..feels like everything is stacked against democracy.

[True Dough]

6. Your OP sort of reminds me of...

Except in the case of climate change, WE DID START THE FIRE!!!