Count me among the repulsed and outraged over the Trump and Republican policy of "zero tolerance" at the border, causing more than 2,000 children to be incarcerated by the US government, many forcibly removed from their parents.
The appropriate context for the immigration crisis, roiling America, is not the tide rising on our southern border. It is the bright, inescapable fact that tens of millions of refugees are on the move around the world. According to AP: "The United Nations refugee agency reported this week that nearly 69 million people were forcibly displaced in 2017, a record for the fifth straight year.
Trump says, he has to be strong because he doesn't want those crises here. Hence, the cruelty.
What is behind the mass migration? Yes, war. Yes, civil strife. Yes, radicalization of religious majorities. But the root cause is economic instability, and the main reason for economic instability is climate change.
Right now, in one nation -- India -- the drinking water for 600 million people is at high risk because of a rapidly warming climate.
According to the NY Times: "A government report released on Thursday said that India was experiencing the worst water crisis in its history, threatening millions of lives and livelihoods. Some 600 million Indians, about half the population, face high to extreme water scarcity conditions, with about 200,000 dying every year from inadequate access to safe water, according to the report. By 2030, it said, the country’s demand for water is likely to be twice the available supply."
Donald Trump and the Republican Party may be in retreat today on family separation, but they haven't even acknowledged the reality of climate change and that is because their campaign funders -- the mostly hidden sources of big, unlimited campaign contributions from the fossil fuel supply chain -- have persuaded THEM that there is nothing we can do about it.
No one should be under the illusion that climate change will exempt the citizens of the United States. From Maine lobstermen, to farmers in the heartland, to owners of property in Miami, ask yourselves this question regarding immigration and refugees: do you trust autocrats like Trump and Rick Scott dictating terms of immigration, refugees, climate change (which they deny) and operating in darkness, insisting we should all just be grateful for how good the news is on Fox?
November 2018, VOTE, because that's the future you will be choosing.
The appropriate context for the immigration crisis, roiling America, is not the tide rising on our southern border. It is the bright, inescapable fact that tens of millions of refugees are on the move around the world. According to AP: "The United Nations refugee agency reported this week that nearly 69 million people were forcibly displaced in 2017, a record for the fifth straight year.
Trump says, he has to be strong because he doesn't want those crises here. Hence, the cruelty.
What is behind the mass migration? Yes, war. Yes, civil strife. Yes, radicalization of religious majorities. But the root cause is economic instability, and the main reason for economic instability is climate change.
Right now, in one nation -- India -- the drinking water for 600 million people is at high risk because of a rapidly warming climate.
According to the NY Times: "A government report released on Thursday said that India was experiencing the worst water crisis in its history, threatening millions of lives and livelihoods. Some 600 million Indians, about half the population, face high to extreme water scarcity conditions, with about 200,000 dying every year from inadequate access to safe water, according to the report. By 2030, it said, the country’s demand for water is likely to be twice the available supply."
Donald Trump and the Republican Party may be in retreat today on family separation, but they haven't even acknowledged the reality of climate change and that is because their campaign funders -- the mostly hidden sources of big, unlimited campaign contributions from the fossil fuel supply chain -- have persuaded THEM that there is nothing we can do about it.
No one should be under the illusion that climate change will exempt the citizens of the United States. From Maine lobstermen, to farmers in the heartland, to owners of property in Miami, ask yourselves this question regarding immigration and refugees: do you trust autocrats like Trump and Rick Scott dictating terms of immigration, refugees, climate change (which they deny) and operating in darkness, insisting we should all just be grateful for how good the news is on Fox?
November 2018, VOTE, because that's the future you will be choosing.
1 comment:
Vote in November like your very life depends on it! IT DOES!
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