Rainforest fire and Brazil's president

[Agent Washington]

The Amazon rainforest has been on fire for three weeks. Here's why you're only hearing about it now.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

shit

 

[ceecee]

Yep. It will become a lifeless savanna and start emitting carbon. There is no coming back or saving it or the creatures that live there. Great job capitalist fuckheads.

 

[cascadeco]

Yep. It will become a lifeless savanna and start emitting carbon. There is no coming back or saving it or the creatures that live there. Great job capitalist fuckheads.

+ 1 Billion Trillion Million Gazillion

When I heard of this news story yesterday I was initially like.. what... it caught on fire / is natural? In reading the articles the headlines were slightly misleading... since, of course, burning has been going on for decades. But what I DID learn was the new president/government essentially being what you cited -- and they are blatantly going all-out rampage and destruction at historically high levels - hence the news articles. Hit close to home, too, since we, well, have similar disregard here in the states. It's just shockingly sad --- and utterly 100% irreversible -- with the rainforests. (not that it isn't irreversible in many ecosystems, but it's like... good god. The amount of life being destroyed)

 

[Maou]

I was just thinking modern civilization was coming to an end soon, now I am sure.

 

[1487610420]

Big sad

 

[Population: 1]

Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ll be checking out sooner than later.

Further proof we need off this rock. If not for any reason other than escaping the stupidity of other humans. Stupid people don’t do well in space.

 

[cascadeco]

Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ll be checking out sooner than later.

Further proof we need off this rock. If not for any reason other than escaping the stupidity of other humans. Stupid people don’t do well in space.

You would enjoy Heinlein's books if you haven't read any yet - an old-school sci-fi writer. One of his many themes was stupid people getting weeded out in space.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Otherwise in a good mood today, but it's hard not to feel a continual, deep sense of existential depression whenever I see this sort of news. I feel utterly helpless to do anything about it.

 

[cascadeco]

Otherwise in a good mood today, but it's hard not to feel a continual, deep sense of existential depression whenever I see this sort of news. I feel utterly helpless to do anything about it.

This and similar is contributing to my overall mental state in recent years. I can't NOT think about it. It literally makes me almost want to vomit.

All I can think of is to donate to organizations who are down there (or here) who are trying to fight, who are more in the legal realm of protection and fighting back, etc, or those who work to empower communities to live and make a living WITH the land as it is, and so on.

Oh - and to put votes towards those whose policy does not further the destruction of all of this. This goes for any locality in the world.

(But yeah - that's all I've got, and honestly I feel we're inevitably screwed anyway. Humans don't inherently operate in a long-range what's-best-for-the-world-and-everything-way, and 'good' people don't usually acquire power, nor would the majority actually value or want to follow all of what would be best for everyone / everything outside of themselves).

 

[Population: 1]

You would enjoy Heinlein's books if you haven't read any yet - an old-school sci-fi writer. One of his many themes was stupid people getting weeded out in space.

I think I read a couple of his short stories a while back. I’ve been meaning to read Stranger in a Strange Land. My reading schedule, as least as far as novels are concerned, has been sporadic at best lately.

A comfortable society with a highly defined infrastructure tends to insulate the dimwits from the hazards of nature. Space is unforgiving on a whole other level. People had better be ready to lose a lot of life in the pursuit of normalizing space travel. It’s necessary though. Sitting here is certain death for our species.

 

[Norrsken]

Fellas, we're not going to see 2030's and beyond, are we?

 

[cascadeco]

I think I read a couple of his short stories a while back. I’ve been meaning to read Stranger in a Strange Land. My reading schedule, as least as far as novels are concerned, has been sporadic at best lately.

A comfortable society with a highly defined infrastructure tends to insulate the dimwits from the hazards of nature. Space is unforgiving on a whole other level. People had better be ready to lose a lot of life in the pursuit of normalizing space travel. It’s necessary though. Sitting here is certain death for our species.

Stranger in a Strange Land is very good, but The Moon is a Harsh Mistress more directly covers stupidity, survival in space and subsequent changes in social mores as a result, and so on.

Fellas, we're not going to see 2030's and beyond, are we?

Well, I don't know about the timeframe, but the lifestyle and culture/ civilization as we know it right now and the western world is accustomed to is certainly not going to last much longer, and even if much of the world dies off there will be fringe groups that survive. Or even if everyone keeps going on, things will drastically change.

 

[ceecee]

This and similar is contributing to my overall mental state in recent years. I can't NOT think about it. It literally makes me almost want to vomit.

All I can think of is to donate to organizations who are down there (or here) who are trying to fight, who are more in the legal realm of protection and fighting back, etc, or those who work to empower communities to live and make a living WITH the land as it is, and so on.

Oh - and to put votes towards those whose policy does not further the destruction of all of this. This goes for any locality in the world.

(But yeah - that's all I've got, and honestly I feel we're inevitably screwed anyway. Humans don't inherently operate in a long-range what's-best-for-the-world-and-everything-way, and 'good' people don't usually acquire power, nor would the majority actually value or want to follow all of what would be best for everyone / everything outside of themselves).

Here's some new reading.

The Green New Deal

 

[cascadeco]

Here's some new reading.

The Green New Deal

I like it. Oddly enough before even starting to read it I had been reflecting on the CCC, back in the 30's, which my grandfather had worked for for a bit. Social re-working isn't unprecedented.

There's nothing whatsoever that requires the need for rampant destruction and rape of natural resources, and pollution, for any economy to function. The wealth to be had keeping resources intact can far surpass any extremely short-term gain (ie 1-3 years of ranching or intensive farming on prior rainforest land before it's completely useless, etc) .

 

[Pionart]

Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ll be checking out sooner than later.

Further proof we need off this rock. If not for any reason other than escaping the stupidity of other humans. Stupid people don’t do well in space.

This is a question of good and evil, not intelligence.

(edit: I think I may have just majorly contradicted myself on a previous point, will need to fix that)

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

While a green new deal sounds nice, I’m afraid it may already be too late for it to make much of a difference. The time for it was 30-40 years ago. We’re already pretty much fucked

Ok so manbearpig is real. What can we really do about it now?

 

[rav3n]

This is why it's important to save as much rain forest around the world, as possible. They don't need to be tropical ones. There are rain forests in the U.S. and Canada. We should plant more and ensure that they're protected with Constitutional Amendments so our lives aren't in the hands of petty dictators.

 

[Nicodemus]

This is why it's important to save as much rain forest around the world, as possible. They don't need to be tropical ones. There are rain forests in the U.S. and Canada. We should plant more and ensure that they're protected with Constitutional Amendments so our lives aren't in the hands of petty dictators.

Petty dictators such as the one you currently have don't care about constitutions and, when in power long enough, no longer have to: the courts, the people's representative bodies, the media have been nullified or filled with cronies.

I bet you a thousand dollars that if Trump wins in 2020, he will not leave the White House after his second term, nor will there by any support for his removal from Republicans in Congress.

 

[rav3n]

Petty dictators such as the one you currently have don't care about constitutions and, when in power long enough, no longer have to: the courts, the people's representative bodies, the media have been nullified or filled with cronies.

I bet you a thousand dollars that if Trump wins in 2020, he will not leave the White House after his second term, nor will there by any support for his removal from Republicans in Congress.

Call me an optimist. My blind hope is that he'll be punted in 2020 since anyone with half a brain won't vote for him.