I suggest we retire Uncle Sam to the annals of the 19th and 20th centuries, and adopt a new, 21st century-attuned, unofficial national symbol.
Call it the Americon.
You’ll note there’s a pistol pointed at the little guy’s head. (If I was any kind of artist, I could draw in an arm and hand and finish the thing, but . . . )
At any rate, the gun is part of the idea. We’re Americans, we love our guns, and truth be told, Uncle Sam (bless his skinny soul) just doesn’t pack enough heat. So it’s time for a remedy. Remember, American citizens possess more weapons per capita than the combined armies of China, Russia, India, France, Antartica and the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Ahem . . .
Okay, fine.
If you’re going to dig your heels in and insist I support all my statements and statistics with facts, (or other forms of pseudo-concrete evidence), then maybe one day I’ll amend my “weapons per capita” assertion.
But until then, let’s get back to my point.
Our country has, for all its semi-sacred, founding documents, best intentions and history of doing good (and not so good) deeds around the world, developed a very bad habit. It’s as if we constantly and consistently put a gun to our collective head — for lack of a better term — and then shout, “Don’t nobody move or I’ll shoot!”
In other words, we are not learning from our mistakes, which means we’re continually doing ourselves — The Village — great harm, over and over again. When an individual refuses to learn from his or her mistakes, we call them an idiot or a fool or a moron or a member of Congress.
Sorry . . . I couldn’t help myself.
Let me provide a few salient examples to make my point.
This article in The New Times, citing a just-released report from CNA Analysis & Solutions, illustrates the impending national security peril we face from climate change. The report, National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change, is a follow on to CNA’s 2007 report that described climate change as a “threat multiplier” to our nation’s foreign policies and military, and upgrades the nature of the threat to “a catalyst for conflict”.
The White House recently released the 2014 National Climate Assessment, which underscores the monumental changes already beginning around the world.
Look folks, aside from the dramatic changes in weather patterns, rainfall/drought and heat, we’re talking about rising sea levels here. Granted, a couple of inches of sea rise doesn’t bring about much damage to American shores, but that’s not what the research is describing. In spite of what the GOP says, (and its congressional members — the imbecilic au courant heart and soul of that political party — has expressed much gas and piffle on the subject), scientific evidence of human-caused climate change is everywhere, and the facts are not comforting. The world is changing far faster than what had been predicted, and there won’t be many outside the cockroach family who will like what’s coming.
A sea level rise within the next 35 years of 2 to 3 feet is now considered a probable outcome, and, more than likely, entirely unstoppable. An increase twice that high is considered very possible. Before we consider what that means, lets visit something Senator James M. Inhofe just said:
And you can buy “Professor” Inhofe’s book on the subject right here.
That is a quote from a United States Senator; the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, and in spite of all evidence to the contrary, an educated American adult.
Jeez.
Mr. Inhofe’s ideological intransigence reminds me of a story by C.S. Lewis entitled, The Last Battle, which is the final book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. A small part of this story involves a band of dwarfs who are unhappy about things that have transpired, and they have agreed among themselves to disagree with everyone else and cooperate with no one. Their motto is simply, “The dwarfs are for the dwarfs”, even when the whole world begins to crash down upon their heads.
The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not implying the good senator’s contumacious attitude toward climate change is intellectually dwarfish.
Okay . . . you got me.
Of course that’s precisely what I’m implying. The fact that Senator Inhofe, a ranking member of the Republican party — which has in recent times demonstrated its utter and execrable confustication with all things scientific — promotes and practices such contemptible contempt of scientific evidence truly matters. That mind numbing, ideologically corrupt, intellectually depleted political party’s system of belief and governance currently inspires and characterizes five of nine Supreme Court justices, and controls one half of our nation’s legislative branch. (And considering the pending mid-term elections, there is reason to be concerned that it may actually increase its holding in, and possibly gain control of, the other half.)
In matters concerning climate change and rising sea levels, I can fairly promise you that no GOP member of Congress (in the coming years) will own any waterfront property in southern Florida. Why is that? Because the GOP is the “Go (expletive deleted) Yourself” political party. That crude phrase was uttered on the Senate floor by (then) Vice President Dick Cheney, and directed at Senator Patrick Leahy, because Leahy was criticizing Cheney for war profiteering. My point here is simple: Republicans are die-hard believers in the economic theory of “Trickle Down”, (visualize as you will), and I can assure you that when they talk about trickling stuff down the ol’ economic pipe, they are thinking they and their wealthy cohorts in business are the tricklers, not the tricklees. I mention this because rising sea levels will soon become a very serious problem in geographically low-lying areas, (think Miami and its environs), and people with money, (the tricklers), will quickly grow tired of building berms and dikes and whatever in their exhaustive, very expensive but futile attempts to slow the encroaching tide. That’s when they will begin unloading their soggy assets to the less-monied tricklees, and will move to higher ground.
Seriously folks, a Category Six hurricane, (mark my words, it will occur), will one day threaten the southern coast of Florida. When that happens, the hurricane’s surge will arrive atop an already elevated sea level, and no amount of sea walls will stop that turgid onslaught of water. Trust me, Hurricane Katrina is going to look like Cinderella compared to the wicked step-sister that is destined to come knocking. And she’s destined to knock because we — The Village — continue to elect morally (yea, intellectually?) corrupt politicians to Congress who have no intention of interrupting the flow of stupefying largesse to the wealthiest among us. And that means, naturally, that money derived from fossil-fueled investments will continue to flow because fossil fuels will continue to flow, which means the water is going to rise.
And that outcome is connected to the probable rise of 2 to 3 feet. Try to imagine what will occur if the sober and restrained scientific estimates fall short, and the water rises 4 to 6 feet. If you can, disregard the worldwide, human toll for a moment. The U.S., financial impact of that kind of increase would/will be incalculable. New Orleans will disappear in the maelstrom-ish midst of even a moderate hurricane surge. Washington, D.C. will return to its soggy, swampy origins. Manhattan? Glub.
I won’t go through the national security list, but spend a few moments picturing the changes our military will need to make in order to adapt and safeguard our naval shipyards. The largest navy base in the galaxy is located in the Hampton Roads, Virginia metropolitan area. It’s one of the world’s largest natural harbors, and the entire region sits just a few feet above sea level. Take that fact, add a few feet of sea level rise and toss in a major hurricane.
If you can’t do the math, you must be Jethro Bodine.
Is there nothing we can do?
Glad you asked. The bottom line is simple to state but nigh on impossible to implement: Congressional districts must be redrawn from their current distorted and gerrymandered condition, and elections must be publicly funded. Without doubt, our Village cannot afford to continue sending the same caliber of representatives to establish and enact Village policies. We must recognize our mistakes, learn from those mistakes and change our status quo.
Otherwise?
Well, there’s always the Americon.
