The Political Issues of 2015

[Modernistfan]

Katrina has made it clear that the political debate going forward will soon be dominated by a whole new range of issues that have been given very little attention up to this point. What these issues have in common is that they all involve science and technology and all cut across party lines and generally-accepted positions. Examples of these issues include the effects and consequences of global warming, reducing our dependence on petroleum, particularly imported petroleum, and preventing a new global influenza pandemic.

In fact, neither major party has shown much ability to deal with these issues or with science and technology generally. The problems that the Republicans have in dealing with science and technology are well documented. For many Republicans, science is merely a way of attacking religion. The comments made by Republicans in the "intelligent design" debate are evidence of this.

Unfortunately, the Democrats are little better positioned. Too many Democrats have let adherence to entrenched positions held by their voting blocs prevent a more reasoned approach to these issues. Typical is the opposition of Congressman Dingell of Michigan, and other Michigan Democrats, to any legislation that would mandate any meaningful increase in fuel efficiency. They are so fearful that this would cause loss of American autoworkers' jobs that they oppose such legislation. Additionally, for many Democrats, environmentalism is a religion and any scientific evidence that runs counter to their mystical beliefs in an unspoiled environment is disregarded in much the same way the Republicans disregard evidence of global warming. For example, it is clear that we are going to have to greatly increase our use of nuclear power to deal with global warming. Yes, we can conserve, but even with conservation, energy use will continue to increase. The only possible source, beside renewable energy, is nuclear power. This is unthinkable for most Democrats. Additionally, the environmentalist positions of many Democrats are tinged with NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard), which can sometimes shade into outright racism. I still remember a political campaign in which I was involved in Los Angeles in the late 1970's, which involved passage of a bond measure to fund rail rapid transit. Incredibly, the Sierra Club opposed the bond measure. Similar opposition has kept rail rapid transit out of Marin County in the San Francisco Bay area (expansion of BART) and out of West Los Angeles in the Los Angeles area. The unspoken motive behind these positions is keeping poor people of color out of these communities. Yet both Marin and West Los Angeles vote 70-75% Democratic. We are not going back to the forest primeval; we are a dense, largely urban society, and the sooner that environmentalists realize that, the better.

If that were not enough, one of the major sources of funding for Democratic candidates is the entertainment industry. How can an industry built on the model of keeping as many people as possible as dumb, passive consumers for their junk possibly support a platform which calls for a greater degree of critical thinking and scientific literacy? Frankly, it can't.

We may need a third party to deal effectively with these issues. It is far easier for politicians to dabble in foreign affairs than to deal with these scientific issues. It's time to start rebuilding America.

[jbuck919]

It's time to start rebuilding America.

With a message like that, it sounds like you're just the one to lead us into that bright new future.

[Modernistfan]

I have no political ambitions whatsoever. I would be glad to get behind anyone who starts addressing these issues, regardless of party affiliation. Maybe it would be someone from the business community, who has to deal with the economic consequences of these issues.

My wife and I were in New Orleans BEFORE the hurricane, and large parts of that city and, indeed, of rural Louisiana already looked like it was part of the Third World. How can they possibly rebuild?

[jbuck919]

I have no political ambitions whatsoever. I would be glad to get behind anyone who starts addressing these issues, regardless of party affiliation. Maybe it would be someone from the business community, who has to deal with the economic consequences of these issues.

My wife and I were in New Orleans BEFORE the hurricane, and large parts of that city and, indeed, of rural Louisiana already looked like it was part of the Third World. How can they possibly rebuild?

You did manage to shift the subject, but since you did, yes, I am similarly struck. No one wants to talk about this, apparently, and I suppose because it's non-PC, but large parts of New Orleans, including most of the "charming" shotgun-house areas, have been something of a slum. It's just another aspect of what happens when a natural disaster takes out a major city head on. We're not prepared for that to happen, i.e., for a natural disaster to cause such destruction where both population and poverty are so dense, and who knows how the recovery will work itself out?

[Ralph]

I have no political ambitions whatsoever. I would be glad to get behind anyone who starts addressing these issues, regardless of party affiliation. Maybe it would be someone from the business community, who has to deal with the economic consequences of these issues.

My wife and I were in New Orleans BEFORE the hurricane, and large parts of that city and, indeed, of rural Louisiana already looked like it was part of the Third World. How can they possibly rebuild?

America will REBUILD the devastated areas! That's guaranteed no matter what party is in power!

[Ted]

America will REBUILD the devastated areas!

Right, the only problem is, we’ll be re-building a “city in a bowl” on the shores of the gulf of Mexico in what looks like to be a decade or more of above normal tropical activity.
The levee system will have to be rethought and redesigned as will the water and sewage systems
I have to say, the images from the area are mind boggling

[Werner]

Yes, Ralph and Ted. It always happens - but at what price?

The closest example is 9/11 - co sider the rebuilding of Ground Zero, still under way, but could you imagine seeing it as it looks today, say, on 9/12/01?

One difference: 9/11 was the result of human aggression, against which one can try to prepare a defense - whether successful or not. Against Nature, Katrina demonstrates again, there is no defense. And we see the pictures of the devastation, the human suffering without power, water, food or fuel.

Which of us can see themselves in this situation - as victims, or even as rescuers? And how can we keep up the good life in the face of such horrors?

And the answer seems to assert itself: as in the Galveston flood, the San Francisco fire, 12/7/41 or 9/11, there is nothing new under the sun. All we can do is do our best to try for the best possible result and roll with the punches where we must. And if these or other tragedies represent a painful end of the road for too many, it is not the end of the world - the pace is resumed, the ruins rise again ....and life goes on.....

[jbuck919]

I have no political ambitions whatsoever. I would be glad to get behind anyone who starts addressing these issues, regardless of party affiliation. Maybe it would be someone from the business community, who has to deal with the economic consequences of these issues.

My wife and I were in New Orleans BEFORE the hurricane, and large parts of that city and, indeed, of rural Louisiana already looked like it was part of the Third World. How can they possibly rebuild?

America will REBUILD the devastated areas! That's guaranteed no matter what party is in power!

We can make them better! Stronger, faster, better!

(I hope it doesnt take as long as it took Washington, D.C. to restore destroyed parts of the city after the Martin Luther King riots, which was longer than it took Germany to rebuild after WW II.)

[operafan]

As a college student I went Eurailing through post WWII Europe. What struck me then was that wars (disregard the horrendious personal losses for a moment) are good for urban renewal. People in France were living in places that had been slums in the time of Louis XIV, and were worse than much worse when I saw them. Then West Germany - ditto. By the early 70s very nice buildings were in place of the bombed shells, where their still standing neighbors were the worst of exemplars of any ghetto anywhere.

In San Francisco people have few disagreements on what should be torn down, but IMO always after the building/tenements/orfel have been removed, few can agree on what should be rebuildt (and of course, when something does get rebuildt, the buget is never revamped as well, so bad karma all around).

Back to New Orleans - some traveler in the 1750s said that only the possiblity of money flowing from the Mississippi could make people build on the river. Greed. Over sensabilities about a very old river that meanders through the flood plain of America with disappearing barrrier islands.

Of course Ralph is correct, NWO will be rebuildt. Will they change the building codes to demand stilts, bullet proof pumps and leviathon levees? Wise people are waiting (but probably not holding their breaths).

[Ralph]

While the Katrina-ravaged region is the first priority our land use laws and policies nationwide need radical revision. Coastal areas everywhere are either overbuilt or created without recognition of the inevitability of natural disaster.

Much erosion of natural barriers is caused by the demand for luxury waterfront housing.

[Lilith]

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While the Katrina-ravaged region is the first priority our land use laws and policies nationwide need radical revision. Coastal areas everywhere are either overbuilt or created without recognition of the inevitability of natural disaster.

Much erosion of natural barriers is caused by the demand for luxury waterfront housing. ... Ralph
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Couldn't agree more. In fact, everything everywhere in this country is overbuilt, but the issues are especially pointed in the coastal regions. There have been several news spotlights (60 Minutes did one, I think PBS another) on misquided programs in the coastal areas, especially the federal insurance system.