Love Wisconsin Cheese? Is that what stinks in Wisconsin?

So. The recall election is over in Wisconsin, and it is a Republican sweep, albeit a close one. To be sure, Republicans outspent Democrats by roughly 7 to 1. To “win” the Florida governors election Scott out spent Sink by more than 6 to 1.

These elections by themselves are troubling, but totally legal. You are allowed to buy your way into power in this country. More troubling is the portent for the future: the party with the most money to spend has the advantage. Which party is that? Why, the Republican Party of course. For the past several decades statistics show plainly that the rich are getting richer, very rich under Republican presidents (Bush tax cuts that gutted the economy but padded the rich with lots of extra income), and the poor keep getting poorer. The income gap continues to widen as the “One Percent” out paces the “Ninety-nine Percent”. Which means that one party will continue to have the “cash” capacity to buy elections.
So what happens is illustrated by Wisconsin and Florida: Out spend your opponent by huge factors and buy the election.  This bodes badly for future elections. Of course as a liberal I naturally think it will be bad. My conservative friends (yes, I do have a few) will think it good. Get rid of “Obamacare”, keep the “Bush tax cuts”, eliminate the EPA, the DOE, the ESA (endangered species act), the CAA (clean air act) etc. Get “Big Government” off our backs. Good idea. And while they are at it, they will kill what is left of the future for profits now. Then they will suffer with the rest of us. Oh well.
My solution? You know, don’t you? Good beer and wine, good friends and family and good travel. In other words, live for today because tomorrow probably won’t be worth living in.

Image: http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/walker.jpg?w=300&h=300

Rough Ride Ahead.

The world’s oceans cover 140 million square miles and have remained stable for most of human history. But in the last 30 years, man’s impact on the seas has taken a heavy toll: global fish supplies are declining thanks to new technologies and overfishing. Climate change has led to a rise in ocean temperatures and the loss of 75 percent of large sea animals. Plastics and agricultural fertilizers are polluting our oceans and killing marine life.

Thus started another program on the crisis of the Earth. Those of us in the conservation field are getting pretty tired of having to answer the same question over and over again: What is the cause of the multiple disasters we find occurring every day around the world? Low fish stocks, fires, floods, droughts etc. The answer is always the same: People. To be more specific: Too Damn Many People. Estimates are that currently we are using one and a half planets worth of resources to keep the current population sustained. Not growing, just sustained. But the population is growing, and the demand for goods and services is not just sustaining, but is also growing. The obvious conclusion it that too many people are competing for too few resources.  And it will get worse: the population is still growing.
A woman caller to a talk show commented that she thought the guest was implying that the earth would be better off without people. The conservationist sidestepped slightly. I don’t. The world would be far better off without people. It was before we got here. I know. Some of you will think in Biblical terms here and invoke “dominion over the earth” or “God made man” or some other rationalization for keeping us around. Face it folks: even if we were given the earth for our own domain, we have systematically been destroying it. Don’t believe it? Energy extraction is a good place to look. Mountain topping for coal removal resulting in the destruction of the mountain, the adjoining watershed and all the things in it, the atmosphere and our health. Mineral extraction. Fishing. Unsustainable farming using fossil water. Over intensive farming of animals such as shrimp, pigs, chickens, and over intensive farming of plants like corn and soybeans. The list is long and sad.
We are the problem, my friends, and the only way we can solve the problem is to stop reproducing and let the population go down. Way down. Won’t happen though. Too many people who just love their children and grandchildren instead of opting to adopt the surplus of orphans. Too many people period. Live through the next 100 years or so and things might just get better. But, that will take a disastrous century of thinning. The tipping point has been passed, so hang on to your hats and buckle your belt. It will be a rough ride.

Image: http://llco.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/slum.jpg