We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Why Scientists Marched

Click here to access article by Jill Richardson from Other Words

Because capitalism serves only a tiny class of people, this organization of the economy is increasingly at odds with the vast majority of people. Among the many other problems it is causing for the latter, it is currently threatening to destabilize the climate to the point where conditions on our Earth no longer will sustain human life. Trump has played the capitalist game and is one of this tiny class that owns most everything of value and together with his fellow capitalists essentially "owns" the government. 

Because they depend upon the vast majority to keep capitalism afloat, his actions (like theirs) very often are in conflict with his words. The management of thought is now the highest priority among this ruling class to keep their system functioning. However because of his personal history exclusively as a real estate tycoon, he is not sophisticated in the arts of lying and deception like Obama and former presidents were. Along with Trump's mental health, this is something that is a major worry for his fellow capitalists. And, scientists especially are concerned because they know that Trump, while maximizing profits for his class, is also destroying the future for humans. As Richardson explains:
He put Myron Ebell — described by Business Insider as “a man who denies basic science” — in charge of his Environmental Protection Agency transition team. Ebell’s qualifications? He worked at an ideological libertarian think tank. He has no science background.
This administration also rejected the recommendations of government scientists and chose to allow farmers to continue using a toxic pesticide known to harm children.

Meanwhile Trump is trying to cut scores of science programs, many of them related to Earth science and climate science.

These cuts won’t just harm conservation, regulation, and other goals Trump doesn’t like but are necessary if we want to continue living on a hospitable planet.