Too little and too late to succeed? (climate action)
Too big to fail and also too big to succeed wholistically. In the seventies they used to talk about rising to one’s level of incompetence, when referring to career trajectories. Today the mantra is more about too big to fail, but it’s related to the same phenomena. Too big to be controlled or regulated. Too big an elephant to be in the room. Too big a bully to be in the china closet. Out of scale the rules don’t apply to them. Four or more lobbyists per member of congress is more than democracy can bear. Evolve or die.
Dysfunctional elements of society need to be allowed to just fade away like McArthur or GM, GMOs or CAFOs. Mixing individuals humans and giant corporations having so called “human rights” was never a good idea and was never judicially or constitutionally approved. Just a cloak they like to usurp. In the human scaled world they can’t be governed, at least they behave like they can’t be, even when they should be. Being beyond the law, the rules don’t apply. Without adequate regulatory constrains and incentives the new Eco paradigm won’t be attainable or sustainable, even if we manage to survive the onrushing trends to the potentially fatal runaway greenhouse.
The CEOs are a product of that “Human Rights” fabrication. Alluring to them, unsustainable, and unwise. They should only be allowed to operate under a conditional charter. The CEO’s outrageous compensations must be for being able to think outside the box. The legal and regulatory box that society has tried to construct to pen in the giant monster-hood that corporation status bestows on them, and that has failed miserably for many societal components . Now they can alternately act like brutal criminals, schoolyard bullies or pillars of society. They are the only ones that can afford tickets to the musical comedies and the wrestling matches. Ordinary citizens need not apply.
Where did all this have its roots? In the Promethean realm of Greek Gods and Goddesses, or modern tyrants and dictators? How and why are they unleashed and tolerated in the realm of human interactions? Whatever happened to the Magna Carta? The king’s operating license. The king of England had a big fat Rhino trap clamped to his leg remember the constitution?
Remember also that we weren’t allowed to find out who killed the Kennedy brothers. Some people know. The Mafia-CIA alliance couldn’t have killed everybody in the know. The Kennedys tried to contain the Mafiosos. The lawless, the a-moral that became too strong for the State to control or contain. They were to too big to fail and too little too late. We are alive still in the realm of unleashed dark forces that we should all forswear. That includes: the world of murder for hire special-forces, offers that nobody can refuse, of the military industrial complex, and the prison industrial complex. We do our best to wholistically connect the dots.
The mafia integrated itself into mainstream business. They bought those businesses with the ill-begotten resources they skimmed off of society using sharp elbows. Does that explain the multi-trillion dollar a year Payola system operated by and for corporations, the ultra rich and our elected representatives? Representatives who turn out to be mostly lawyers professionally trained to be amoral beneficiaries of managing borderline unacceptable foibles of humanity.
This is the world Obama yesterday April 21st 2009 entered, tightly surrounded by body-guards, to explain why he decided to release several documents specifying what extraordinary techniques might be permissible to use in interrogation of detainees. Torture in other words, that could be used, but was never shown, let alone proven, to be helpful, all things considered, to prevent terror tactics.
The rationale is that the victims are “entitled” to defend themselves by taking on the morals of the perpetrators. Thereby becoming undistinguishable from the perpetrators, becoming perpetrators in their own right and so the vicious circle continues. Does it sound familiar? Does the Israeli role model come to mind?
So Obama waded into the Langley Virginia CIA headquarters where what seemed like a couple of thousand overwhelmingly adoring staffers were assembled. It sounded like a high school basketball cheerleader convention. The implications of this wildly enthusiastic reception were deep and thrilling. These very young-looking post 9/11 CIA members appeared enthralled. Of course we don’t know if it was real or concocted window-dressing. Obama looked rested, cool and fit. He heaped praise on the assembled for their willingness to take great risks to serve in the CIA as demonstrated by the 87 stars mounted on the wall behind Obama that indicated individuals who gave their All in service to our Nation. Leon Panetta, the new CIA Director, was at his side.
Obama spoke in short clipped cadenced sentences, explaining why he decided to release the previously secret documents. He shared how he depends on the daily briefings to keep him informed of the CIA’s assessments of potential or perceived threats on the ground. Obama opined that living within the law was going to be harder, more difficult, more professional, honorable and more effective than torture. Winning the hearts and minds of the world’s striving to thrive multitudes will be much easier, without despicable torture. The crowd “Aha”ed.
As he left Barack Hussein Obama shook hundreds of eager CIA well-wisher hands. Some jokingly feigned swooning, as others tried to get him to autograph pin-up photos of himself.
No wonder I still hope for similar moments when he may announce plans and processes of what together we must do to turn the ship of State around to address growing trends towards an irreversible runaway greenhouse that almost surely will result if we continue to delay radical reduction of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. The trends on the ground are too ominous to ignore the need for implementation of the Cautionary Principle.
That same Earth day Obama announced he signed into law a bill passed by congress to radically expand the US Service Corps from 1200 to 250,000 participants. He invited all citizens to participate in funneling good ideas to the white house for consideration. WIll it be possible to use this opportunity to push for consideration of the Mobilize Now! proposal at the Federal level? I tested that approach, but found that my four page summary of a proposal to Mobilize Now was politely referred to “an appropriate” department from whom I never heard.
Naomi Klein writing in the May 4, 2009 Nation magazine offered a Lexicon of worry and concern around whether Obama will adequately push for action on a response to the climate instability crisis. Reporting on a perceived change of mood among Obama supporters she offered and defined several words: Hope-over from hangover, Hoper coaster from roller coaster of emotions, Hopesick and others to ironically describe how worried the supporters are about the adequacy of response to the climate crisis, so far.
As good as he is, as hard as he is working, the window of opportunity for an adequate response is far too dangerous and rapidly closing. The information this operational timeframe is based on is not integrated into the recommendations. This is caused by only recently discovered feedback loops and tipping points that are acknowledged to be real and dangerous, but that are not fully known and the effects of which are not yet includable into the climate models on which predications and timeframes are based. The speed of transition towards the runaway greenhouse proven by data on the ground proves the radical inadequacy of the predictions. Idealized science must be supplemented by action.
The Cautionary Principle’s usefulness will soon expire. The 80% reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2050 still used by Obama on April 22, 2009 is far too optimistic. Even 2015 may prove to be too late. It doesn’t account for the water vapor, methane gas and the witches brew of myriad feedback loops. The Cautionary Principle has been relegated to the status being after the fact, hoping to make up for lost time, an inadequate effort at damage control. No matter how heroic the energy transition to sustainability appears, who will sound the general alarm to get real about implementation of a movement to Mobilize Now1 Lest it be too little too late.
The underlying flaw in naming faraway target dates is that they represent estimates of how soon humanity can be convinced to make an adequate response to climate instability. The real question needs to be what do we need to do to head off the ominous trends on a emergency crisis basis. With regional cooling, but global warming in fast forward there is no responsible alternative but a fast forward, full court press, Mobilize Now! Evolve or Die!
Written by Joris Rosse April 22, 2009 or 484 851 3045