Longtermism[arguments for longtermism] are based on simple ideas that, impartially considered, future people should count for no less, morally, than the present generation; that there may be a huge number of future people; that life, for them, could be extraordinarily good or inordinately bad; and that we really can make a difference to the world they inhabit. ... Whether the future is wonderful or terrible is, in part, up to us. Thinking long term, there could be many more generations of people living an even better quality of life than us. What we do may determine their very existence because we are at a precipice. A nuclear war, bioweapons, or climate destruction from profligate burning of fossil fuel could render the planet uninhabitable or even lead to humanity’s extinction. Democratic backsliding around the world makes that more likely. Democracy is better, and much less dangerous than dictatorship. Mass migration from climate warming is inevitable and reliably drives politics to the right. Typical right wing country has a wealthy, powerful leader surrounded by oligarchs, no free press, criminalized dissent, a minority group to blame, criminalized political opponents, wins elections by acclaim, high security, bloated military ready for war to expand. All those heroic empire builders in history were the heads of authoritarian, right wing government. Right wing strong men are often sociopaths. Putin, Victor Orban, Jair Bolsonaro, Narenda Modi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or Donald Trump all blame an ethnic or other minority as a threat and promise to stand up to them. The GOP is one of the farthest right of the developed world. Since a nuclear war could be devastating for everyone, cyber warfare is faster and cheaper, with little destruction, far less expense, is much more effective. Massive migration from wars and climate change drive far-right parties potential to break up the EU, weaken NATO. Russians have tried to undermine 25 democracies since 2004: Baltic States, EU countries, Georgia, Ukraine, Brexit, and of course the US. Russians supported Syrian President Assad who made war on his own people resulting in masses of refugees to the EU. The surge of migrants from both war and climate deterioration caused a right-wing backlash in the EU. Masses of immigrants wore out their welcome in the EU and far right parties surged. “The KGB began cultivating [Trump] in the early 1980s. He was an easy mark: vain, stupid, amoral, sex-crazed, and desperate for cash. By the middle of that decade he was using condos in the tower that bore his family’s name to launder money for Russian organized crime figures. He liked doing business with crooks. They paid in cash, and if things went sideways, they would never sue.” Portrait of an American Strongman (2/1/2022) Greg Olear Trump’s son said “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” Putin knew that Trump could cause chaos in the US and it appears he groomed Trump for a long time. Russian oligarchs, some with mob connections, owned and sometimes lived in Trump Tower, also lavishly bought Trump properties in Florida. The NRA was useful for influencing the GOP and Russian money laundering. Russian propaganda flowed through Social media. Putin mounted an unprovoked invasion on neighboring Ukraine resulting in millions of refugees, unnecessary deaths, threatened nuclear disaster, demonstrated how bad right wing government can be. Helping to elect Trump was probably Putin’s greatest success. He got chaos in the US, weakened NATO, slowed arms assistance to Ukraine, and his propaganda echoed by the GOP. Trump called him a genius, met with him without notes or witnesses. As Rachel Maddow’s book ‘Prequel’ shows, the Republican party has always had a fascist fringe, which has become mainstream. Their candidate is a demagogue who yearns to be dictator for life. “...a handful of men each have the power to end the world in a few minutes, without having to consult anyone... including the likes of Putin and Kim Jong-un. In Washington it is a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They all bring a lot of human frailty, anger, fear and paranoia to a potential decision that could end the planet.” From a review of Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen The next election will be a choice between democracy or authoritarianism. Choose wisely. |