Blog

My identity is a ‘luxury belief’, and other reasons Trump won
NYT columnist David Brooks says Trump voters just wanted ‘respect’ - and that’s somehow at odds with me being gay. He asked us to shut up so that Republicans voters wouldn’t go on to elect Trump to forcibly shut us up. He’s got some ‘paradox of tolerance’ going on here.

The US has an election result. What will we do now?
The way forward is muddy. A few words I’ve collected from others. Words of wisdom from people who’ve spent a lot of time raging, grieving, hoping, organizing. Let’s reflect on how we’re affected and how we can make change.

I can’t write the anti-gay argument for him
No one wants to be called a ‘bigot’ or a ‘fascist’. But it’s not my job to give him alternate explanations for his reasons or feelings. If I say something is bigoted, I may not be judging someone’s character, at least not primarily; instead I may be asserting why I’m not jumping on board.

Earthpocalypse isn’t a ‘marginal’ cost (despite what economists say)
A couple observations from ‘El Planeta, Nuestro Cuerpo’. There aren’t ‘better’ ways to buy and sell nature, and GDP can measure poverty as much as profit. The absurdity reveals itself. Let’s choose more wisely.

One billion crabs have had it
Alaska’s snow crabs said: ‘You can’t fire me because I quit’. What happens to animals involves plants, bacteria, landscapes, water, air. Everything is connected. How do the snow crabs feel? When can we ask them?

‘Atlas of a Changing Climate’ shows warming in images
Fundamentals and details explained in Brian Buma’s 2021 book. ‘The Atlas of a Changing Climate’ explains the science in a “relatable and understandable” way, admitting that readers may react with “wonder” or “despair.”

War may change how we rely on big oil
Energy companies’ reactions to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Often, a catastrophe forces a business to change by hitting it in its wallet. This is an ethical crisis too. Businesses have to change. Today.

What we can’t conquer, we destroy and deny
A mindset that rejects wilderness will also reject people. Wilderness is the unknown. Much in the human is unknown too. A mindset that rejects wilderness will also reject humans who don’t fit social norms.

Talking to climate skeptics
Reflecting on ‘How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate’ (2015). Most USAmericans are scientifically illiterate. It’s not that they don’t memorize scientific facts; they don’t even know how scientific reasoning works.