Why are Democrats ‘Left’ and Republicans ‘Right’? The Surprising History of Political Affiliations
Ancient Origins – October 31, 2016 – Theodoros Karasavvas
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/why-are-democrats-left-and-republicans-right-surprising-history-political-affiliations-021049
The terms right and left refer to political affiliations that originated late in the eighteenth century (1789–1799) in relation to the seating arrangements in the various legislative bodies of France. During the French Revolution of 1789, the members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king and supporters of the revolution. The aristocracy sat on the right side of the Speaker, which was traditionally the seat of honor, and the commoners sat on the left. This gave birth to the terms “right-wing” and “left-wing” politics. The Left had been called “the party of movement” and the Right “the party of order.”
How to avoid socialism
Undernews – September 26, 2019
https://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2019/09/how-to-avoid-socialism.html
Socialism is about the state running things on behalf of the public; fascism is about the state running things on behalf of corporations. This is the way we have been heading for some time. Still, all the talk got me thinking about what avoiding socialism in America would truly be about. What if we set out to rid ourselves of all intrusions of this purported political curse? Here are a few things we might do:
The 3.5% Rule: The next stage of the Global Climate Movement is Nonviolent Civil Disobedience
Informed Comment – September 21, 2019 – Juan Cole
https://www.juancole.com/2019/09/movement-nonviolent-disobedience.html
It is by now clear that governments are not going to step up in the way that is necessary to change large-scale energy, transportation and agricultural systems in time for us to avoid severe disruption of the earth’s environment via global heating and consequent extreme weather.
Money Is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns
The New Yorker – September 23, 2019 – Bill McKibben
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/money-is-the-oxygen-on-which-the-fire-of-global-warming-burns
I’m skilled at eluding the fetal crouch of despair—because I’ve been working on climate change for thirty years, I’ve learned to parcel out my angst, to keep my distress under control. But, in the past few months, I’ve more often found myself awake at night with true fear-for-your-kids anguish… We’ll essentially need to cut our use of fossil fuels in half by 2030 and eliminate them altogether by mid-century. In a world of Trumps and Putins and Bolsonaros and the fossil-fuel companies that back them, that seems nearly impossible. It’s not technologically impossible… I suspect that the key to disrupting the flow of carbon into the atmosphere may lie in disrupting the flow of money to coal and oil and gas.
Climate change: UN panel signals red alert on ‘Blue Planet’
BBC News – September 25, 2019 – Matt McGrath
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49817804
A top panel of scientists says the oceans and frozen regions are feeling the heat from rising temperatures as never before… The blue planet is in serious danger right now, suffering many insults from many different directions and it’s our fault,” said Dr Jean-Pierre Gattuso, a co-ordinating lead author of the report. The scientists are “virtually certain” that the global ocean has now warmed without pause since 1970. The waters have soaked up more than 90% of the extra heat generated by humans over the past decades, and the rate at which it has taken up this heat has doubled since 1993.
When It Comes to Acknowledging Humans’ Role in Climate Change, Oil and Gas Industry Lawyer Says ‘That Ship Has Sailed’
The Washington Post – September 26, 2019 – Juliet Eilperin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/when-it-comes-to-acknowledging-humans-role-in-climate-change-oil-and-gas-industry-lawyer-says-that-ship-has-sailed/2019/09/26/63c0d250-c9c2-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html
In a closed-door meeting of oil and gas executives this summer in Colorado Springs, industry lawyer Mark Barron offered a bold proposal: Energy companies must accept that fossil fuels are helping to drive climate change. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s real, or not real, or what the issues are,” said Barron, who heads the energy litigation arm of Baker Hostetler. “That ship has sailed from a political perspective.” Barron added that any American younger than 40 had grown up learning that climate change is “an existential crisis that we need to address.”
Alaska Residents Are Watching Climate Change Warm the Arctic Before Their Very Eyes
NBC News – September 26, 2019 – Joel Clement
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/alaska-residents-are-watching-climate-change-warm-arctic-their-very-ncna1058416
Like all of the indigenous people of the circumpolar Arctic, the Gwich’in rely on their collective wisdom, known in academic and indigenous circles as traditional or indigenous knowledge, which is based upon millennia of learning. Not surprisingly, they are among the first to notice the changes happening to our planet. And they are disturbed by what they see. The Arctic is transforming into something else before their eyes, something completely unfamiliar. Due to a phenomenon called “Arctic amplification,” climate scientists predicted that the region around the North Pole would experience the most rapid warming due to climate change. As it turns out, the Arctic is already warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet, and the rate of warming is accelerating quickly… Dramatic changes are coming to the rest of the world, sooner than most people think.
Climate Change: Still Time to Staunch the Blood-Dimmed Tide
Portside – The New Republic – September 28, 2019 – Emily Atkin
https://www.portside.org/2019-09-28/climate-change-still-time-staunch-blood-dimmed-tide
The fight over doing something about climate change has been about money and power—assets that the fossil fuel industry, the chief beneficiary of a laissez-faire-mal approach to global warming, has always possessed in great abundance… If we really consider how seriously disruptive and catastrophic climate change could be in the future, shouldn’t we be creating institutions and devoting resources to reflect the assessment of this threat to our security??
Why Trump gets away with everything
The Washington Post – September 22, 2019 – E.J. Dionne Jr.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-trump-gets-away-with-everything/2019/09/22/3b883b6a-dbe3-11e9-ac63-3016711543fe_story.html
It is a sweeping and astonishing assertion that a president is above the law as long as he sits in the White House, no matter which level of government might be investigating him… The lesson to Trump so far: If lying and stonewalling work, and your own party is too afraid to challenge you, stick with the program.
Republicans Only Pretend to Be Patriots
The New York Times – September 23, 2019 – Paul Krugman
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/opinion/democrats-republicans.html
It’s time to call Republican superpatriotism what it was long before Trump appeared on the scene: a fraud. After all, a true patriot is willing to make some sacrifice, to give up some personal or policy goal, in the national interest. Can anyone point to any prominent figure in the modern Republican Party who has done that? In fact, the periods in which Republicans worked hardest to wrap themselves in the flag and question Democrats’ loyalty were also periods in which the G.O.P. doubled down on its usual domestic agenda of making the rich richer.
Symbols
NPR- WHYY – September 27, 2019 – Bobby Allyn
https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/the-ok-hand-gesture-is-now-listed-as-a-symbol-of-hate/
According to the website Know Your Meme, as a prank, 4chan users in 2017 launched a campaign to flood social media with posts linking the “OK” hand gesture to the white power movement. Commenters on the message board appropriated images of people posing in the White House and other locations making the hand symbol as proof that it was catching on. Segal said that while many of those images were misconstrued by users on the online message boards, the number of people espousing hate while using the gesture has grown so widespread that it can no longer be considered a prank.
Beyond Coping: How to Find the Strength to Take on Climate Change
Yes! Magazine – September 16, 2019 – Stephanie Van Hook
https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/climate-action-cope-emotions-grief-anger-anxiety-20190916
It’s hard to ignore not just the scientific reports, but also the on-the-ground reality of climate disruption. It’s getting hotter and drier, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates we have about 12 years to reverse this direct trend. It’s a challenge requiring us to come together as a mature and functional human family. It’s a tall order because at its root, the climate crisis is also the crisis of human relationship—how we relate to our own emotional states, those of others, and, ultimately, conflict. To solve problems with—not for— human beings, which is what this crisis requires, we need to be conflict-literate.
Ocasio-Cortez Unveils ‘Just Society’ Program
Portside – Common Dreams – September 27, 2019 – Jessica Corbett
https://www.portside.org/2019-09-27/ocasio-cortez-unveils-just-society-program
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a national figure who has used her platform to promote bold policies on the climate crisis and healthcare, unveiled Wednesday a package of six economic justice bills to tackle American poverty and inequality… With our “Just Society” package, we’re not simply addressing poverty or wages. We’re addressing some of the basic structural reasons that are resulting in those outcomes… From the New Deal to the Great Society, we have shown time and again that our nation is capable of implementing big ideas and bold solutions that match the scale of the challenges we face… If we can acknowledge how many Americans are actually in poverty, I think that we can start to address some of the more systemic issues in our economy.