Going forward, I’ll be trying to focus on the big issues more than Trump himself, even though I’m horrified personally to think that this spray-tanned huckster with nothing but a gilded mirror in the place normally occupied by a person’s moral compass is about to retake the Oval Office and nuclear codes.
Is there any comfort in the notion, based on plenty of evidence, that this wasn't an endorsement of Trumpist policy agendas as much as it was a hard and clear backlash against $7 cartons of eggs and being told "he's fine" long after Biden clearly wasn't fine? I'm not sure there isn't some comfort, and I'm not sure there is.
I love your Dot.earth earlier work. your music and your substack, but I think that so many of the climate activists and maybe you, yourself, just don't get it. Here is a post I just made to Roger Pielke's substack that explains the hurting place, especailly after the election, that I am coming from-
Roger, you write- 'There is no such thing as a 'climate voter' ". I agree. Climate was usually listed last or next to last when voters were polled about their concerns. Related, however, as I'll explain, is feeling insulted and demonized by others. Or. in my case feeling both insulted and hurt. Clinton's reference to deplorables and Biden's reference to garbage are the best examples. Why would anyone vote for someone who called them deplorable or garbage? That's obviously a losing strategy. I think Hariis mostly avoided that strain of moral superiority that has infected so many Democrats. Ironically, Trump also uses similar abusive language, but usually more strategically, toward specific political rivals and enemies, not toward the electorate who voted for his rivals.
Several studies have shown that so-called climate "skeptics", whatever that means, are as, or more, climate science knowledgeable than the liberal promoters of a climate science "consensus" whatever that means. I have thought and written for years that the Democrats in 2016 lost enough votes among the a well educated professional class to lose the election. That loss includes many engineers and scientists, by including them as deplorables and "enemies of humanity".
I think you could document that loss. Here's a study that probably no one will do, using the "wayback machine" to study the political changes on "Hey What's That" and other popular skeptical climate sites. I well remember that first year of WUWT when Anthony Watts wrote that he usually voted Democratic, and many on WUWT were not only enthusiastic about climate science, but interested in exploring the climate change concern and possible threat. Over the years, skepticism as innocent as quoting the IPCC, became grounds for being called a climate and science denier, The WUWT tone gradually changed. Today, almost everyone posting at WUWT, including those very well educated who might otherwise vote Democratic, express their disdain and worse for the Democratic party and its candidates.
Some 10 years ago when I was teaching climate science and posted to my national UU church climate discussion group. One day, I posted an actual NOAA temperature graph that contradicted what was being promoted by many group members. I was called a climate denier and banned from the discussion group. I know what it feels like to be included in "the deplorables".
I voted for Harris (and Clinton and Obama earlier), but I'm very upset and angry that Trump has ruined the GOP, and possibly American democracy itself, whereas Democrats are becoming politically impotent by catering to elitist rhetoric and policies, and a type moral absolutism,, declaring more and more of us as deplorables. That is not a formula for winning.
I absolutely get this. Indeed, I was poised to write a post creditng Watts and a co-author for calling out the purposeful mischaracterization of the Spanish deluge as a climate change event but have been sidetracked by all the election dyanmics. The divide-and-be-conquered dynamic sucks.
I love what you said on Facebook (only now seeing): "Now what?" I ask myself at dawn this morning.
First, feel your racing heart, your incomprehension, your sorrow and anxiety, your harsh and brittle judgments.
Second, walk outside and watch the sunrise. Hear the loon's mournful cry. Lift your head to the eagle flying above you.
Third, work harder. Work harder at understanding; at not allowing bitterness and anger to eclipse curiosity and love; at not succumbing to the use of the word "them," even in your most private thoughts.
There's so much to do, so many systems to change. Don't let these phrases – these calls to action that sound so arduous – deter you.
What other way is there to build a future where the dominant pronoun is we?
We the people. We the inhabitants of Earth. We the parts of ecosystems where all sentient life arose.
Remember: we don't know how this story ends. We do know we have a part to play in its unfolding. Strive to play a part worthy of your life.
Is there any comfort in the notion, based on plenty of evidence, that this wasn't an endorsement of Trumpist policy agendas as much as it was a hard and clear backlash against $7 cartons of eggs and being told "he's fine" long after Biden clearly wasn't fine? I'm not sure there isn't some comfort, and I'm not sure there is.
It all depends on what happens in January compared to the carnival barker promises.
Andy,
I love your Dot.earth earlier work. your music and your substack, but I think that so many of the climate activists and maybe you, yourself, just don't get it. Here is a post I just made to Roger Pielke's substack that explains the hurting place, especailly after the election, that I am coming from-
Roger, you write- 'There is no such thing as a 'climate voter' ". I agree. Climate was usually listed last or next to last when voters were polled about their concerns. Related, however, as I'll explain, is feeling insulted and demonized by others. Or. in my case feeling both insulted and hurt. Clinton's reference to deplorables and Biden's reference to garbage are the best examples. Why would anyone vote for someone who called them deplorable or garbage? That's obviously a losing strategy. I think Hariis mostly avoided that strain of moral superiority that has infected so many Democrats. Ironically, Trump also uses similar abusive language, but usually more strategically, toward specific political rivals and enemies, not toward the electorate who voted for his rivals.
Several studies have shown that so-called climate "skeptics", whatever that means, are as, or more, climate science knowledgeable than the liberal promoters of a climate science "consensus" whatever that means. I have thought and written for years that the Democrats in 2016 lost enough votes among the a well educated professional class to lose the election. That loss includes many engineers and scientists, by including them as deplorables and "enemies of humanity".
I think you could document that loss. Here's a study that probably no one will do, using the "wayback machine" to study the political changes on "Hey What's That" and other popular skeptical climate sites. I well remember that first year of WUWT when Anthony Watts wrote that he usually voted Democratic, and many on WUWT were not only enthusiastic about climate science, but interested in exploring the climate change concern and possible threat. Over the years, skepticism as innocent as quoting the IPCC, became grounds for being called a climate and science denier, The WUWT tone gradually changed. Today, almost everyone posting at WUWT, including those very well educated who might otherwise vote Democratic, express their disdain and worse for the Democratic party and its candidates.
Some 10 years ago when I was teaching climate science and posted to my national UU church climate discussion group. One day, I posted an actual NOAA temperature graph that contradicted what was being promoted by many group members. I was called a climate denier and banned from the discussion group. I know what it feels like to be included in "the deplorables".
I voted for Harris (and Clinton and Obama earlier), but I'm very upset and angry that Trump has ruined the GOP, and possibly American democracy itself, whereas Democrats are becoming politically impotent by catering to elitist rhetoric and policies, and a type moral absolutism,, declaring more and more of us as deplorables. That is not a formula for winning.
I absolutely get this. Indeed, I was poised to write a post creditng Watts and a co-author for calling out the purposeful mischaracterization of the Spanish deluge as a climate change event but have been sidetracked by all the election dyanmics. The divide-and-be-conquered dynamic sucks.
Thanks so much for this Andy. Really well said.
I love what you said on Facebook (only now seeing): "Now what?" I ask myself at dawn this morning.
First, feel your racing heart, your incomprehension, your sorrow and anxiety, your harsh and brittle judgments.
Second, walk outside and watch the sunrise. Hear the loon's mournful cry. Lift your head to the eagle flying above you.
Third, work harder. Work harder at understanding; at not allowing bitterness and anger to eclipse curiosity and love; at not succumbing to the use of the word "them," even in your most private thoughts.
There's so much to do, so many systems to change. Don't let these phrases – these calls to action that sound so arduous – deter you.
What other way is there to build a future where the dominant pronoun is we?
We the people. We the inhabitants of Earth. We the parts of ecosystems where all sentient life arose.
Remember: we don't know how this story ends. We do know we have a part to play in its unfolding. Strive to play a part worthy of your life.
Glen Farber sent this riff:
There once was a man named Trump,
Whose actions were wild, and quite chump,
He bungled a plague,
And caused quite the vague,
Yet his base stayed intact with a thump.
He said, "Shoot a man, none will care!"
And his loyal fans cheered from the chair.
Through fraud and through lies,
He won hearts with disguise,
And the truth? They just wouldn't dare!
With conspiracies swirling about,
He stoked fear and loathing, no doubt.
The price of some eggs,
And a few pesky pegs,
Made them scream, “It’s all falling out!”
So Trump thrives on delusion and hate,
His grip on the people is fate.
He may never be right,
But they'll back him in spite,
For the world they see’s just what they create.