Climate Change? Nahhh ...

I appreciate and more or less agree with your argument that to truly lower emissions/slow global warming, there will have to be a lower level of consumption.

But that’s an American way of looking at things — even the lower class here, and certainly the U.S. middle class, however you may define it — are very well off compared to most of the world.

People in many nations are already seeing climate change affect their access to drinking water, food, and arable land. The impact of global warming will hurt the poor much worse than it hits us — they will be forced into a lower level of consumption. So if those of us in wealthy nations are asked to sacrifice a bit, we certainly will have company.

 

I’m sorry but San Diego’s homeless problem is much worse compared to LA’s… both are terrible, mind you, but SD doesn’t try to keep it under control. I was there for an extended period a month ago and it’s awful.

 

I like the idea that because we perceive the temperature changes occurring in what seems to us like a narrow band, they must be insignificant. A half-degree or degree doesn’t effect a human much, so surely it can’t matter to the planet.

Normal range for sodium in the human bloodstream is 135-145 mmol. So if you end up at 125 or 155 instead, that’s not such a big deal, right? It roughly translates to just under a quarter of a teaspoon of salt either way outside of the control range. That little bit of salt doesn’t affect the planet much, so surely it can’t matter to a human …

 

Regarding homelessness and the unhoused and the conduct of government -

Poverty is not a failure of character. It is a fixture, an inevitability, of an economic system producing "winners" and "losers."

Lots of folks on the streets are untreated psych cases. Lots of untreated psych cases are veterans.

The answer to homelessness? Housing.

Study Finds Permanent Supportive Housing is Effective for Highest Risk Chronically Homeless People

New Study Finds that Providing People Experiencing Homelessness with Housing has Positive Impacts on Health, Crime, and Employment

The Obvious Answer to Homelessness

 

And people bitched about the rationing and tried to cheat when/if they could.

State of Oregon: World War II - Rationing: A Necessary But Hated Sacrifice

I was at 126 sodium. Because I'm so addicted to diet soda, it was diluting the sodium in my body. Doctor said to alternate sports drinks with diet soda. Problem solved. But I was feeling no ill-effects at 126. My wife's hemoglobin is a shocking low 6.8 (normal is 12-16). Primary care physician said, "Get to the ER for a transfusion ASAP!" Hematologist said, "Eh, take these Folivane tablets and come see me in two months." One expert's crisis is another's minor problem. She never went to the ER.

Then again, the human body has a chemistry all its own.

A planet doesn't. It doesn't care what the climate is. Humans set up things so that the planet's 57-degree average temperature worked in the most advantageous way. And they set up a fragile system that didn't leave much room for variation --- by building homes 40 feet from the ocean, or entire cities hundreds of miles from its principal water supply.

If, 10,000 years from now, humans were just getting started, and the average temperature of the planet was 68 degrees, we would figure out how best to make that work.

 

A lot of the homeless problem is related to mental health. Thirty years ago most of these folks would’ve been in a state hospital and secure.

So state hospital and secure, or homeless and at great risk for addiction. We’ve made the decision and claimed it was for the public good. Instead it slashed state budgets and these hospital campuses (a lot of them in urban areas) were sold off for tens of millions to developers.

 

Have you ever been to either?

If your response is negative, my response is to serve you some of this:

 

My only trip to California was for my oldest brother's funeral. He lived in one of the nicer parts of Oakland, which is nearly universally reviled as the armpit of Cali.

I walked a bit in his neighborhood. It was fucking gorgeous. I can only imagine what Malibu or Big Sur is like.

 

The homelessness issue, as I mentioned on another thread, is partly about our unwillingness to deal with the mentally ill. And there's no good answer to it. Lock 'em up in a hospital, and folks would be raising hell. Let them roam the streets, and addiction is a big issue — and they may need to buy those drugs to survive on the streets, regardless of their level of addiction.

 

Some of that is the choice of the buyer. I know it's Alabama, with all that entails, but some of y'all would be astounded at how much house $200-250k will buy you here. I watch some of the house flipping shows based in California where the host buys a rundown 3BR 2 bath 1960's ranch house that needs a full remodel for an insane sum of money, and I just shake my head in disbelief

 

I went to Los Angeles two years ago. I had my car and drove around a lot (as you must in Los Angeles). I saw one homeless encampment from afar. Maybe that was an insufficient sample but I did not find that the homeless in Los Angeles made my stay significantly less unpleasant. I find it very difficult describe Los Ans Angeles as a "failed" city. I actually very much liked it and if I could afford to live there I would. Which leads to the question: If California is a hellhole why is the demand for housing so high?

So let me ask the same question Gavin Newsom asked Sean Hannity. What are you arguing for? What is your ideal state? What state does not have problems?