Bandy, I confess to being pre-occupied since the 10/7 criminal atrocities committed by the terrorist group, Hamas, and since the criminal, heinous killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government.
I appreciate your telling us that "...the UN has allowed the 28th Climate Conference, COP28, to take place in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world’s most profligate producers and exploiters of climate-destroying oil and gas...and unbelievably, the UAE anointed the CEO of its own mega oil company to be the president of COP28!"
Personally, I can understand President Biden's distraction with two regions in terrifying conflict, each of which could escalate in lethality or spread further geographically. But will no one be there to represent the people of the United States? I share your alarm regarding the seemingly callous disregard for the global threat to ALL humanity by the very people engaged in the business of perpetuating this threat. America has been drilling for oil intensively also, I believe.
So, because we can't rely on men who are trapped in their own paradigm, and can't deviate from the party-line without putting their own lives in danger, WE have to do something, no matter how small and insignificant it might feel. For example, you've written an important newsletter...the rest of us can share it, amplify the message on social media, quote from it in letters to the editor in local newspapers, etc. I have an electric car and solar panels...everyone can do something even though it isn't nearly enough.
I would love to see more of a serious BOYCOTT of gas stations. The Montgomery Bus Boycott for 13 months in 1956-57 created the tipping point for the Civil Rights Movement in the South. African-Americans walked, carpooled, and did whatever they could to avoid using the buses until the bus company relented and de-segregated them. Not everyone can do the same thing but everyone can do something to bring attention to the use of oil as a major threat to safety on this dangerously warming planet.
As for mental health evaluations, I think we need to continue educating the voting public regarding observable signs of sociopathy. The more people care about themselves the less they tolerate bad treatment from others. As you know, there are books like The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout, Disordered Minds, by Ian Hughes, Conservatives Without Conscience, by John Dean, etc. We need to keep teaching courses using these books, and especially YOUR books, to illustrate to wider and wider circles of readers how to spot the symptoms that make a political or business figure a dangerous person. I wish you and people like Ruth Ben Ghiat could teach these courses at journalism schools, educating journalists about the observable symptoms of people who have no capacity to care about others, so they can see characterological traits that belie their dangerousness and not just whether someone's a Democrat or Republican. We could use updated versions of Dangerous Case every two years or so!
We have no idea where or when a tipping point will occur and sufficient numbers of people will awaken and act on something in their own best interest. But the other side KNOWS that telling big lies over and over again is what influences public opinion. We need to tell the truth over and over again, just as you're doing in these postings, if we want to move the needle. Thank you so much for your efforts on our collective behalf.
Right now, it's extremely hard to see how societies are going to welcome or otherwise help the soon-to-be-displaced two billion climate refugees. I worry that the global lurch toward authoritarianism is a pre-emptive response to make it easier for countries to shut the door on them. It's gutting to watch this continue to play out with no resolutions in sight.
Dr Lee, what good an evaluation will do for the world? We don't just need a diagnosis, we also need a plan for recovery & rehabilitation - for collective mental health of world as well as physical well being of planet. We need a governance structure that can implement such plan. While i write this comment, AQI of my city is in hazardous category. Air pollution alone reduces 11.9 years of our life in this part of the world according to scientific study.
What we need is a new chamber/Parliamentary house/Senate in governance structure that will have its members duly elected from institutions of fields of Science, humanities, engineering etc - the best scholars, scientists & philosophers from various fields needed to run the world. The electorate will be qualified graduates & above who are presently attached to the institutions. We need to integrate our academic & scientific institutions directly into our governance structure.
Of course, academic institutions are imperfect & decayed, and needs to reformed as well. But overall the academic & scientific community is much healthier than present political community which is accumulation of the sickest segments of our society. The most corrupted, incompetent & unfit people are accumulated & gravitated to political field. The common electorate have no intellect & understanding of the world - Democracy in its present form is manipulating ignorant electorate into getting their votes. The government formed in such system is purely a capitalization on demagogy, mass psychosis and emotional appeal of vulnerable population. It has very little actual substance & capacity that can better this world.
What we need is political reforms that can give us a system to appoint/elect competent leaders to the top. The present system, at its best, can only give you average/mediocre politician like Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Pelosi, Kamala Harris etc. This is the best our political system can do. And at worst, this political system will give you Trump & his ilk of DeSantis, Santos, Ted Cruz, MTG, Ramaswamy - i call them the Plebians. We no longer can afford this world to be run by mediocrity. And we definitely cannot afford to have this world taken over by Pathocracy (of Trump & his Plebians).
Dr Lee, we need a new system to save this world. We need the world to be run by Scientists & Philosophers. What do i see? Scientists & Philosophers are getting wasted writing books, blogs & articles. I see humans with tremendous potential & all they can do is put their ideas in books & journals where they will matter least. The fact that our political system cannot employ these people into governance structure is itself a sign of bankruptcy of our political structure.
Dr Lee, you have ten times the competence of a mediocre Congressperson or a Senator. Yet, your potential is getting wasted. I see many people of great caliber but all they can do is disseminate their ideas through limited channels to spread awareness & public overall can absorb only a drop of it.
A sign that political system has reached the end of its life cycle is that the most incompetent people rise to the top while the most competent people just can't get appointed in the system. That's where we stand today. And don't be surprised by the results - Massive destruction of environment, mass poverty & starvation, gargantuan inequality, violence & war - at local, national & international scale, rise of Pathocracy, collapse of mental health of society on individual as well as collective level - putting in your own words - world with a death wish & on a path to collective suicide.
The answer to your question "does humanity need a mental health evaluation": our collective insanity is currently at full-boil, overflowing in catastrophic calamity & death.
One only has to examine the streaming media entertainments, the homicidal compulsive gaming addiction, the drug crisis & toxic corruption killing entire generations & now unprecedented war crimes, slaughter, mass-murder weapons being sold & deployed, to conclude we have all been driven completely insane, purposefully as the characters in a sci-fi story.
What is we told the story of monstrously powerful energy vampires, perhaps named vlad & donald, who've been elevated to sucking the intelligence, compassion, hope & possibility out of our reality, enabled by cults of corruption busily sucking the money-monopoly economic system dry, forcing their toxic chemical products on the impoverished masses... Well climate collapse is just part of their program, so all resistance must be crushed beneath fear, insanity, despair & ultimately, enslavement to the cult of dominance.
Much of the world already trying to survive where every chance of change or resistance has been crushed, imprisoned or outlawed, from Afghanistan to Russia, North Korea to China, Saudi Arabia to Palestine... insanity & despair are survival mechanisms. USA under daily terrorist threats of a dehumanized future of violence, enabled & normalized by the establishment, the ugly, hateful face of Big Brother shouting at us from his tower of corruption & madness.
We are all suffering pretty severe CPTSD (chronic post-traumatic stress disorder) & depression, that also is part of the putin program.
To those who take the Bible seriously, but not excessively literally, this is exactly what we have been expecting.
Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘how will we know you are about to begin to reign as king?’ (At the time they didn’t know he had to die first and it would be a long, long time.) He gave a longish answer, which can be summed up as ‘things will eventually get really bad, but before it’s too late, I will step in.’ Luke’s account climaxes with this description, which is precisely what we are now seeing (remember this was not meant literally, as explained below.): “there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation. People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Luke 21:25, 26.
“Signs” in the sun, moon, stars simply means that the outlook will be fearfully dark, with ‘stars’ (men and institutions) that were once reliable guides no longer working. The ‘sea’ is the masses of mankind in a very unsettled state.
But those who know God, know that he has not abandoned mankind to let them destroy it all with their foolish selfish short-sightedness. So verse 28 exhorts, “But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”
Obviously, those who are stubbornly causing the problem will not benefit from the solution. Jesus said “the *meek* will inherit the earth,” but He will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Matt 5:5, Rev 11:18)
If we are the product of mindless evolution, you are correct; if we are children of a Creator who still cares, you are wrong. It all hinges on that one question. What realistic hope does your position offer?
Those are not the only 2 choices. Seems you only know one pov on such - perhaps the one you were conditioned to believe as a child? Study of all religions/spirituality, especially other than the Abrahamic ones, can help open up other approaches. And what makes you think evolution is mindless? What is “mind”?
In the languages of the Bible, hope is more expectation than wishing. Hebrew root ’qawah’ meaning ’wait for’ with expectation, Greek ‘elpis,’ expectation of good.
I of course "hearted." Money for a small number of people still rules over all, in a tragic, shortsightedness that involves terrible suffering for so many people. It's an old story that now has global consequences, as reported by Dr. Lee. As I cave in to that priority of money, I'm just hoping for something that makes a lot of money for some people and also saves all life on the planet.
Bandy, I confess to being pre-occupied since the 10/7 criminal atrocities committed by the terrorist group, Hamas, and since the criminal, heinous killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government.
I appreciate your telling us that "...the UN has allowed the 28th Climate Conference, COP28, to take place in Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world’s most profligate producers and exploiters of climate-destroying oil and gas...and unbelievably, the UAE anointed the CEO of its own mega oil company to be the president of COP28!"
Personally, I can understand President Biden's distraction with two regions in terrifying conflict, each of which could escalate in lethality or spread further geographically. But will no one be there to represent the people of the United States? I share your alarm regarding the seemingly callous disregard for the global threat to ALL humanity by the very people engaged in the business of perpetuating this threat. America has been drilling for oil intensively also, I believe.
So, because we can't rely on men who are trapped in their own paradigm, and can't deviate from the party-line without putting their own lives in danger, WE have to do something, no matter how small and insignificant it might feel. For example, you've written an important newsletter...the rest of us can share it, amplify the message on social media, quote from it in letters to the editor in local newspapers, etc. I have an electric car and solar panels...everyone can do something even though it isn't nearly enough.
I would love to see more of a serious BOYCOTT of gas stations. The Montgomery Bus Boycott for 13 months in 1956-57 created the tipping point for the Civil Rights Movement in the South. African-Americans walked, carpooled, and did whatever they could to avoid using the buses until the bus company relented and de-segregated them. Not everyone can do the same thing but everyone can do something to bring attention to the use of oil as a major threat to safety on this dangerously warming planet.
As for mental health evaluations, I think we need to continue educating the voting public regarding observable signs of sociopathy. The more people care about themselves the less they tolerate bad treatment from others. As you know, there are books like The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout, Disordered Minds, by Ian Hughes, Conservatives Without Conscience, by John Dean, etc. We need to keep teaching courses using these books, and especially YOUR books, to illustrate to wider and wider circles of readers how to spot the symptoms that make a political or business figure a dangerous person. I wish you and people like Ruth Ben Ghiat could teach these courses at journalism schools, educating journalists about the observable symptoms of people who have no capacity to care about others, so they can see characterological traits that belie their dangerousness and not just whether someone's a Democrat or Republican. We could use updated versions of Dangerous Case every two years or so!
We have no idea where or when a tipping point will occur and sufficient numbers of people will awaken and act on something in their own best interest. But the other side KNOWS that telling big lies over and over again is what influences public opinion. We need to tell the truth over and over again, just as you're doing in these postings, if we want to move the needle. Thank you so much for your efforts on our collective behalf.
Right now, it's extremely hard to see how societies are going to welcome or otherwise help the soon-to-be-displaced two billion climate refugees. I worry that the global lurch toward authoritarianism is a pre-emptive response to make it easier for countries to shut the door on them. It's gutting to watch this continue to play out with no resolutions in sight.
Dr Lee, what good an evaluation will do for the world? We don't just need a diagnosis, we also need a plan for recovery & rehabilitation - for collective mental health of world as well as physical well being of planet. We need a governance structure that can implement such plan. While i write this comment, AQI of my city is in hazardous category. Air pollution alone reduces 11.9 years of our life in this part of the world according to scientific study.
https://aqicn.org/city/delhi
What we need is a new chamber/Parliamentary house/Senate in governance structure that will have its members duly elected from institutions of fields of Science, humanities, engineering etc - the best scholars, scientists & philosophers from various fields needed to run the world. The electorate will be qualified graduates & above who are presently attached to the institutions. We need to integrate our academic & scientific institutions directly into our governance structure.
Of course, academic institutions are imperfect & decayed, and needs to reformed as well. But overall the academic & scientific community is much healthier than present political community which is accumulation of the sickest segments of our society. The most corrupted, incompetent & unfit people are accumulated & gravitated to political field. The common electorate have no intellect & understanding of the world - Democracy in its present form is manipulating ignorant electorate into getting their votes. The government formed in such system is purely a capitalization on demagogy, mass psychosis and emotional appeal of vulnerable population. It has very little actual substance & capacity that can better this world.
What we need is political reforms that can give us a system to appoint/elect competent leaders to the top. The present system, at its best, can only give you average/mediocre politician like Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Pelosi, Kamala Harris etc. This is the best our political system can do. And at worst, this political system will give you Trump & his ilk of DeSantis, Santos, Ted Cruz, MTG, Ramaswamy - i call them the Plebians. We no longer can afford this world to be run by mediocrity. And we definitely cannot afford to have this world taken over by Pathocracy (of Trump & his Plebians).
Dr Lee, we need a new system to save this world. We need the world to be run by Scientists & Philosophers. What do i see? Scientists & Philosophers are getting wasted writing books, blogs & articles. I see humans with tremendous potential & all they can do is put their ideas in books & journals where they will matter least. The fact that our political system cannot employ these people into governance structure is itself a sign of bankruptcy of our political structure.
Dr Lee, you have ten times the competence of a mediocre Congressperson or a Senator. Yet, your potential is getting wasted. I see many people of great caliber but all they can do is disseminate their ideas through limited channels to spread awareness & public overall can absorb only a drop of it.
A sign that political system has reached the end of its life cycle is that the most incompetent people rise to the top while the most competent people just can't get appointed in the system. That's where we stand today. And don't be surprised by the results - Massive destruction of environment, mass poverty & starvation, gargantuan inequality, violence & war - at local, national & international scale, rise of Pathocracy, collapse of mental health of society on individual as well as collective level - putting in your own words - world with a death wish & on a path to collective suicide.
The answer to your question "does humanity need a mental health evaluation": our collective insanity is currently at full-boil, overflowing in catastrophic calamity & death.
One only has to examine the streaming media entertainments, the homicidal compulsive gaming addiction, the drug crisis & toxic corruption killing entire generations & now unprecedented war crimes, slaughter, mass-murder weapons being sold & deployed, to conclude we have all been driven completely insane, purposefully as the characters in a sci-fi story.
What is we told the story of monstrously powerful energy vampires, perhaps named vlad & donald, who've been elevated to sucking the intelligence, compassion, hope & possibility out of our reality, enabled by cults of corruption busily sucking the money-monopoly economic system dry, forcing their toxic chemical products on the impoverished masses... Well climate collapse is just part of their program, so all resistance must be crushed beneath fear, insanity, despair & ultimately, enslavement to the cult of dominance.
Much of the world already trying to survive where every chance of change or resistance has been crushed, imprisoned or outlawed, from Afghanistan to Russia, North Korea to China, Saudi Arabia to Palestine... insanity & despair are survival mechanisms. USA under daily terrorist threats of a dehumanized future of violence, enabled & normalized by the establishment, the ugly, hateful face of Big Brother shouting at us from his tower of corruption & madness.
We are all suffering pretty severe CPTSD (chronic post-traumatic stress disorder) & depression, that also is part of the putin program.
To those who take the Bible seriously, but not excessively literally, this is exactly what we have been expecting.
Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘how will we know you are about to begin to reign as king?’ (At the time they didn’t know he had to die first and it would be a long, long time.) He gave a longish answer, which can be summed up as ‘things will eventually get really bad, but before it’s too late, I will step in.’ Luke’s account climaxes with this description, which is precisely what we are now seeing (remember this was not meant literally, as explained below.): “there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation. People will become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Luke 21:25, 26.
“Signs” in the sun, moon, stars simply means that the outlook will be fearfully dark, with ‘stars’ (men and institutions) that were once reliable guides no longer working. The ‘sea’ is the masses of mankind in a very unsettled state.
But those who know God, know that he has not abandoned mankind to let them destroy it all with their foolish selfish short-sightedness. So verse 28 exhorts, “But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.”
Obviously, those who are stubbornly causing the problem will not benefit from the solution. Jesus said “the *meek* will inherit the earth,” but He will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Matt 5:5, Rev 11:18)
Which one are you?
One of the most dangerous self-fulfilling prophecies humans ever made up.
If we are the product of mindless evolution, you are correct; if we are children of a Creator who still cares, you are wrong. It all hinges on that one question. What realistic hope does your position offer?
Those are not the only 2 choices. Seems you only know one pov on such - perhaps the one you were conditioned to believe as a child? Study of all religions/spirituality, especially other than the Abrahamic ones, can help open up other approaches. And what makes you think evolution is mindless? What is “mind”?
Thank you for response. Be well. Over & out. 🙏🏼
What is the distinction between "hope" and "optimism"
In the languages of the Bible, hope is more expectation than wishing. Hebrew root ’qawah’ meaning ’wait for’ with expectation, Greek ‘elpis,’ expectation of good.
English can have less confident nuance.
I of course "hearted." Money for a small number of people still rules over all, in a tragic, shortsightedness that involves terrible suffering for so many people. It's an old story that now has global consequences, as reported by Dr. Lee. As I cave in to that priority of money, I'm just hoping for something that makes a lot of money for some people and also saves all life on the planet.