The Need for Immigrants

The Need for Immigrants

                        Robert A. Levine   12-19-23

The population of virtually every advanced nation in the world is either stable or declining. The United States would be in the same situation aside from an influx of immigrants. To replace a country’s population, there has to be an average of 2.1 children per woman. According to the UN’s listing of fertility rates, the U.S. has 1.66 children per woman as of 2023. A number of nations in a similar range in terms of fertility rates are not replacing their populations. These include France at 1.83, Mexico 1.82, Ireland, Denmark and Columbia at 1.72, Australia 1.70, Sweden 1.67, Netherland 1.62, Germany 1.58, UK and Norway 1.56, Russia 1.49, Canada 1.43, Greece 1.39, Poland 1.33, Japan 1.30, Italy 1.25, Spain 1.19, China 1.16, South Korea 0.81. Virtually every nation with high birth rates, from 4-6.8 children per woman is in Africa. And almost every country whose birth rate is enough to replace their population is in the developing world.

There are a number of reasons the birth rates of various nations are what they are. Those nations with the highest birth rates do not have contraceptives readily available, abortion is prohibited, women are mostly uneducated and stay at home, and there may be religious reasons. Low birth rates in developed nations are because women are educated, have jobs outside their homes and like to have feelings of independence. Also, good, inexpensive child care may not be available and the women don’t want to surrender their careers. Many women are remaining single until later in life or throughout their lives, and if they marry may not have children or have fewer children. Women are also generally more educated than men and may not be able to find proper mates.

In addition, because of pollution and plastic infestation of our bodies, men and women are not as fertile as previously and may have difficulty getting pregnant. Sperm counts in men and in different species are down from previous levels and the quality of the sperm is not as good, also believed due to various pollutants. Women’s reproductive apparatus has also been affected. So the drop in population in developed countries is both voluntary and involuntary.

Migration is being driven by lack of opportunity in some nations, crime, lack of freedom, and climate change which may make living conditions intolerable. Migrants to the United States come mainly from Latin America- Mexico, Central and South America, but also from other nations around the world.

The United States as other developed nations needs to maintain its population if we are to keep our position of power and keep a capitalist system functioning. Capitalism needs people to produce various goods and needs consumers to buy them. If our population continues to decline, we will not have enough producers or consumers. In addition, America has an aging population and we need enough young people to take care of our elderly. We need blue collar workers- caregivers, agricultural workers, factory workers- H2B immigrants to fill jobs that are going begging. Some of these jobs may eventually be automated with robots performing the work. But right now we need people.

If we are going to maintain our technological advantage in the world, we also require H1B, or educated immigrants. These fill high tech jobs and are also responsible for many of the patents in our nation and the start-up companies that are formed. They also fill positions in the community and in hospitals as physicians, nurses and pharmacists, all of which are needed. These immigrants go to our universities and graduate schools, often remaining as professors, teachers and researchers in biological and physical sciences if we allow them to stay. Though H1B immigrants come from many nations, most of them are from India and China.

Our immigration system must also be fixed so immigrants and asylum seekers do not enter illegally through our southern border. But the delays and back-ups in our legal immigration system must be corrected so that people can be vetted and accepted or rejected within a period of days to weeks rather than waiting sometimes for years. We must also make it easier for migrants to get green cards and to become citizens if we see that they are the hard working people we want.

Many right-wingers and Christian nationalists do not want immigrants in our country, believing in white superiority and that immigrants will somehow dilute our blood line, an egregious bit of misinformation. However, the opponents of immigration have to decide whether they want an America that is a great power and on top technologically, with a capitalist economic system. Or if they would prefer a smaller, second rate nation that is scientifically backward and no longer powerful.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

The Need for Immigrants

The Need for Immigrants

                        Robert A. Levine   12-19-23

The population of virtually every advanced nation in the world is either stable or declining. The United States would be in the same situation aside from an influx of immigrants. To replace a country’s population, there has to be an average of 2.1 children per woman. According to the UN’s listing of fertility rates, the U.S. has 1.66 children per woman as of 2023. A number of nations in a similar range in terms of fertility rates are not replacing their populations. These include France at 1.83, Mexico 1.82, Ireland, Denmark and Columbia at 1.72, Australia 1.70, Sweden 1.67, Netherland 1.62, Germany 1.58, UK and Norway 1.56, Russia 1.49, Canada 1.43, Greece 1.39, Poland 1.33, Japan 1.30, Italy 1.25, Spain 1.19, China 1.16, South Korea 0.81. Virtually every nation with high birth rates, from 4-6.8 children per woman is in Africa. And almost every country whose birth rate is enough to replace their population is in the developing world.

There are a number of reasons the birth rates of various nations are what they are. Those nations with the highest birth rates do not have contraceptives readily available, abortion is prohibited, women are mostly uneducated and stay at home, and there may be religious reasons. Low birth rates in developed nations are because women are educated, have jobs outside their homes and like to have feelings of independence. Also, good, inexpensive child care may not be available and the women don’t want to surrender their careers. Many women are remaining single until later in life or throughout their lives, and if they marry may not have children or have fewer children. Women are also generally more educated than men and may not be able to find proper mates.

In addition, because of pollution and plastic infestation of our bodies, men and women are not as fertile as previously and may have difficulty getting pregnant. Sperm counts in men and in different species are down from previous levels and the quality of the sperm is not as good, also believed due to various pollutants. Women’s reproductive apparatus has also been affected. So the drop in population in developed countries is both voluntary and involuntary.

Migration is being driven by lack of opportunity in some nations, crime, lack of freedom, and climate change which may make living conditions intolerable. Migrants to the United States come mainly from Latin America- Mexico, Central and South America, but also from other nations around the world.

The United States as other developed nations needs to maintain its population if we are to keep our position of power and keep a capitalist system functioning. Capitalism needs people to produce various goods and needs consumers to buy them. If our population continues to decline, we will not have enough producers or consumers. In addition, America has an aging population and we need enough young people to take care of our elderly. We need blue collar workers- caregivers, agricultural workers, factory workers- H2B immigrants to fill jobs that are going begging. Some of these jobs may eventually be automated with robots performing the work. But right now we need people.

If we are going to maintain our technological advantage in the world, we also require H1B, or educated immigrants. These fill high tech jobs and are also responsible for many of the patents in our nation and the start-up companies that are formed. They also fill positions in the community and in hospitals as physicians, nurses and pharmacists, all of which are needed. These immigrants go to our universities and graduate schools, often remaining as professors, teachers and researchers in biological and physical sciences if we allow them to stay. Though H1B immigrants come from many nations, most of them are from India and China.

Our immigration system must also be fixed so immigrants and asylum seekers do not enter illegally through our southern border. But the delays and back-ups in our legal immigration system must be corrected so that people can be vetted and accepted or rejected within a period of days to weeks rather than waiting sometimes for years. We must also make it easier for migrants to get green cards and to become citizens if we see that they are the hard working people we want.

Many right-wingers and Christian nationalists do not want immigrants in our country, believing in white superiority and that immigrants will somehow dilute our blood line, an egregious bit of misinformation. However, the opponents of immigration have to decide whether they want an America that is a great power and on top technologically, with a capitalist economic system. Or if they would prefer a smaller, second rate nation that is scientifically backward and no longer powerful.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

The Need for Immigrants

The Need for Immigrants

                        Robert A. Levine   12-19-23

The population of virtually every advanced nation in the world is either stable or declining. The United States would be in the same situation aside from an influx of immigrants. To replace a country’s population, there has to be an average of 2.1 children per woman. According to the UN’s listing of fertility rates, the U.S. has 1.66 children per woman as of 2023. A number of nations in a similar range in terms of fertility rates are not replacing their populations. These include France at 1.83, Mexico 1.82, Ireland, Denmark and Columbia at 1.72, Australia 1.70, Sweden 1.67, Netherland 1.62, Germany 1.58, UK and Norway 1.56, Russia 1.49, Canada 1.43, Greece 1.39, Poland 1.33, Japan 1.30, Italy 1.25, Spain 1.19, China 1.16, South Korea 0.81. Virtually every nation with high birth rates, from 4-6.8 children per woman is in Africa. And almost every country whose birth rate is enough to replace their population is in the developing world.

There are a number of reasons the birth rates of various nations are what they are. Those nations with the highest birth rates do not have contraceptives readily available, abortion is prohibited, women are mostly uneducated and stay at home, and there may be religious reasons. Low birth rates in developed nations are because women are educated, have jobs outside their homes and like to have feelings of independence. Also, good, inexpensive child care may not be available and the women don’t want to surrender their careers. Many women are remaining single until later in life or throughout their lives, and if they marry may not have children or have fewer children. Women are also generally more educated than men and may not be able to find proper mates.

In addition, because of pollution and plastic infestation of our bodies, men and women are not as fertile as previously and may have difficulty getting pregnant. Sperm counts in men and in different species are down from previous levels and the quality of the sperm is not as good, also believed due to various pollutants. Women’s reproductive apparatus has also been affected. So the drop in population in developed countries is both voluntary and involuntary.

Migration is being driven by lack of opportunity in some nations, crime, lack of freedom, and climate change which may make living conditions intolerable. Migrants to the United States come mainly from Latin America- Mexico, Central and South America, but also from other nations around the world.

The United States as other developed nations needs to maintain its population if we are to keep our position of power and keep a capitalist system functioning. Capitalism needs people to produce various goods and needs consumers to buy them. If our population continues to decline, we will not have enough producers or consumers. In addition, America has an aging population and we need enough young people to take care of our elderly. We need blue collar workers- caregivers, agricultural workers, factory workers- H2B immigrants to fill jobs that are going begging. Some of these jobs may eventually be automated with robots performing the work. But right now we need people.

If we are going to maintain our technological advantage in the world, we also require H1B, or educated immigrants. These fill high tech jobs and are also responsible for many of the patents in our nation and the start-up companies that are formed. They also fill positions in the community and in hospitals as physicians, nurses and pharmacists, all of which are needed. These immigrants go to our universities and graduate schools, often remaining as professors, teachers and researchers in biological and physical sciences if we allow them to stay. Though H1B immigrants come from many nations, most of them are from India and China.

Our immigration system must also be fixed so immigrants and asylum seekers do not enter illegally through our southern border. But the delays and back-ups in our legal immigration system must be corrected so that people can be vetted and accepted or rejected within a period of days to weeks rather than waiting sometimes for years. We must also make it easier for migrants to get green cards and to become citizens if we see that they are the hard working people we want.

Many right-wingers and Christian nationalists do not want immigrants in our country, believing in white superiority and that immigrants will somehow dilute our blood line, an egregious bit of misinformation. However, the opponents of immigration have to decide whether they want an America that is a great power and on top technologically, with a capitalist economic system. Or if they would prefer a smaller, second rate nation that is scientifically backward and no longer powerful.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

The West Virginia Hypocrite

The West Virginia Hypocrite                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Robert A. Levine

Americans have always known not to trust politicians because they often go back on the words and most of them can be bought. But Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is in a different class. With the Senate split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, every Democrat vote is needed to pass legislation. When the infrastructure bill was passed by the Democrats with both moderate and progressive support, a bill that Manchin favored, he promised that he would support President Biden’s Build Back Better Bill. There were hours and hours of negotiations, phone calls and meetings between Biden and Manchin and their staffs and with Senate Majority Leader Schumer and his staff to shape the Build Back Better bill in a form agreeable to Manchin. He was literally treated like royalty by the Democrats because his vote to pass the bill was essential and he had promised that he would vote for it. This was a bill that would provide great benefits to his constituents in West Virginia and that should have influenced him to pass it without question.

However, Sunday morning on Fox News, he suddenly told America that he would not vote for the bill. He claimed that he didn’t want to increase the national debt and was afraid it would increase inflation. That is all B.S. To appease him, tax increases on the wealthy, which would have made the bill debt neutral, were dropped from the bill. And since the bill covers ten years, it should have no effect on inflation according to economists. The price of the BBB had also been pared down significantly to $2.2 trillion at Manchin’s insistence.

So why did he withdraw his vote in favor of the bill? Probably the biggest reason was the effect that the BBB would have on reducing coal as a fuel because of climate change. The bill cuts down the use of coal, oil and gas with incentives in favor of renewable energy like solar, wind, and perhaps hydropower. It also penalizes power plants that do not switch. In a major conflict of interest, Manchin and his family benefit significantly from a coal brokerage firm that he founded, making hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars annually by selling coal. Now West Virginia has a substantial coal industry, but it has been losing thousands of miners annually with coal mines shutting down because utilities are already starting to switch to clean energy without Biden’s bill. The BBB would have allotted billions of dollars to train laid off miners and the unemployed in clean energy technology, making homes energy efficient and so forth. Without BBB, they lose this benefit. There is an excise tax on coal that pays for miners who develop black lung disease that is coming to an end and would have been renewed in BBB.

A healthy child tax credit in BBB which would have lifted many children in West Virginia and the nation out of poverty was also lost because of Manchin’s refusal to vote for BBB. Coverage for hearing aids would have been covered by Medicare. Does Manchin care about any of these benefits for his constituents? The money he makes from coal is more important. And after signaling his lack of support for BBB, Manchin had the nerve to say that he was against giving poor people money because they would not know how to spend it. Of course, his wealthy friends know how to spend money much better than those impoverished because they have more of it.

Global warming is an existential threat to mankind and carbon dioxide from burning coal and other hydrocarbons are the major cause and Manchin is a major supplier, like a dope dealer. Another important factor in climate change is methane gas which leaks from oil and gas wells. The BBB would have imposed a fee on methane emissions which Manchin also didn’t like.

There is still time for Manchin to change his mind and negotiate some form of BBB. But if he were a decent human being, he would have rid himself and his family of the investments in coal companies and coal brokering which are a blatant conflict of interest. Global warming and climate change is the most vital issue of our time and Manchin just doesn’t give a damn.

www.robertlevinebooks.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

The Democrats Keep Self-Destructing

The Democrats Keep Self-Destructing                                                                                                                                                                                                           Robert A. Levine

Anyone who joins the Democratic non-party and runs under its banner must have a secret death wish or a masochistic psyche. It seems that whenever the party is in a position to control the federal government and enact critical legislation, elected officials cannot get their s—t together to pass the necessary laws. It seems that often times the moderate wing of the Party will not back down on their stances and compromise on what they want, and the progressive wing is even worse in terms of compromising and allowing necessary legislation to get passed. With both wings, it’s my way or the highway, endangering their slim margins in the House and the Senate. The American electorate wants to see things getting done in Washington and rightfully blames the party in power for the stalemate.

Of course, Republicans are not helpful in the least. They act almost as a solid bloc with very few members willing to buck the leadership and do what they might feel is best for the nation. With the GOP it always seems to be party over country when essential votes are taken. But their near unity makes them appear to the nation at large as a party that can get things done, even though the things they do may have a malign effect on the non-affluent majority segment of the electorate.

Because of the Democrats lack of progress on passage of the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better bill endorsed by President Joe Biden, Democratic candidates running for office had a difficult time this year. The situation may even be worse in 2022 when the stakes are much higher. Will the political ramifications of the intransigence of the two wings of the Democratic Party make them see the urgency of the need to act, because the social and financial needs of the populace so far have not made them budge one bit. And the GOP whose fealty to Trump and all his lies are disgusting, are certainly not going to come to the rescue of the Democrats and Americans in need.

What is the answer to the Democrats inexorable drive for self-destruction? A more aggressive Joe Biden would surely help. If he would act more like LBJ and tell the Democrats in the House and the Senate what must be done, perhaps we would see more accomplished. But Biden is laid back and prone to negotiate rather make demands even though he is the supposed leader of the Party. The likelihood is that he is a lame duck president, either by the choice of not running again or by losing the next election. Other strong Democrats need to step forward and tell the Progressive wing and the hesitant moderates what is necessary if the Party is to have any chance of holding on to the House and the Senate in 2022 and the presidency in 2024. The word to remember is compromise, to get things done for the good of the party and the good of the country. Self-destruction for the progressives or the moderates to get their way should not be an option. But both segments of the party see their objectives as paramount and and are unwilling to give an inch. Their stances will only result in losses.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Why Can't the Democrats Get Anything Done?

Why Can’t The Democrats Get Anything Done?

                                    Robert A. Levine

America is in trouble in the aftermath of the Trump administration and the devastating effects of the Covid 19 epidemic. It is imperative that politicians in Washington recognize this and work to produce the required solutions.

The Democrats control both Houses of Congress, admittedly by small margins, as well as the presidency. Yet on the President’s most important policy issues, the Democrats in Congress cannot seem reach a consensus and pass the bills that Biden wants. The reason is simple. Unlike the monolithic Republicans who virtually all are in fealty to ex-President Trump’s whims, the Democratic Party is really two separate parties: the moderates and progressives. And so far, the progressives have been unwilling to compromise on their wants for the good of the party and the good of the nation.

The progressive’s unwillingness to compromise makes it even more likely that control of the House and probably the Senate will be taken over by the GOP in the 2022 elections. The party out of power is generally favored in mid-term elections and the Democrat’s lack of success in passing Biden’s infrastructure bill and human infrastructure bill gives the Republicans another issue to pile on the do-nothing-Democrats.

One would think that both the moderate and progressive wing would see the necessity of passing both infrastructure bills merely from a political standpoint. But they are even more important for the country itself in this era when our physical infrastructure is old and decrepit. Our physical infrastructure must be fixed if we are truly to remain a first world country and a leader of the West. However, the level of inequality in the United States is also higher than in any other advanced nation. This means that our social infrastructure, health care, education, child care, and so forth must also be fixed to make the nation fairer and to maximize the use of our man and woman power. In a complex world, with continuous competition with China and other autocratic nations, we must use our human resources wisely. And there is also the issue of climate change that is imperative to manage aggressively.

This brings up another problem that the nation has to address. America is not replacing its population base, as women are not having the 2.1 children on average that is necessary. Adequate child care and perhaps increased benefits for children might be an answer to that problem. However, currently, we are in the midst of a blue collar manpower shortage, with not enough truck drivers, mechanics, agricultural workers and so forth. Increased immigration with specific training programs might be able to help with this. However, we also need educated immigrants in the high-tech and biologic fields. The nation needs to open up the H-1B visa program to have more educated, high skilled immigrants come to America to work in these sectors. They tend to produce start-up companies and innovative ideas and are necessary for America to keep its edge. We also require more primary care physicians, especially in rural underserved areas and in the inner cities. Nurses and medical aides are also vitally needed with many having recently retired under the pressure of the Covid 19 epidemic.

As noted, there are lots of problems which the Democrats must solve while they control both Houses of Congress and the presidency. For the good of the nation and the good of the Party, it is time they got their act together with both sections of the Party working together. It would be even better if the Republicans faced reality and worked with the Democrats to solve the pressing problems. But that is a dream unlikely to occur in this era of abject partisanship.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

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Partisanship vs. Centrism

Partisanship vs Centrism

                        Robert A. Levine

Gallop polls in the first quarter of 2021 showed that more Americans were Democrats than Republicans, but the largest bloc of voters identified as independents or centrists. 30 percent of people in the survey called themselves Democrats, 25 percent Republicans, 19 percent were independents who leaned Democratic and 15 percent were independents who leaned Republican. Thus, independents overall were 34 percent vs 30 percent Democratic and 25 percent Republican.

According to various polls during the last decade, pluralities to small majorities of Americans identify themselves as centrists, moderates, or independents. The variability in statistics are probably related to how the surveys were conducted and questions asked, what year  data was collected, and whether bias was present in the polling organizations. Notwithstanding, moderates and centrists were usually the largest bloc. This means extremists in both political parties, generally the most vocal, do not represent most of the citizenry, though avid partisanship among politicians makes government dysfunctional.

In October 2013, an NBC News/Esquire poll had 51 percent of Americans labeling themselves as centrists, 44 percent of whom did not believe their views were represented by either party. A poll by The Third Way published in May 2014, had 37 percent moderate, 42 percent conservative and 21 percent liberal. 42 percent of millennials identified as moderates in this survey. These were the youngest group, seeming to indicate America will be growing more moderate in the future. Similarly, non-white and Hispanic participants described themselves as moderate by a plurality of 44 percent.

A poll by the Pew Center in April 2015 revealed 39 percent of Americans considered themselves independents, 32 percent Democrats, and 23 percent Republicans. The data came from interviews with more than 25,000 citizens. In more than seventy-five years of Pew polling, this was the highest percentage of independents ever reported. Those with post-graduate or college degrees leaned Democratic as did racial minorities and those religiously unaffiliated. Millennials also favored Democrats 51 to 35 percent. Mormons and white evangelical Protestants were overwhelmingly Republican. White Southerners and white men without college degrees tended to be Republican, and there was a GOP bias of four percentage points among citizens over sixty.

Though centrists may represent the largest political group in America, animosity and partisanship between parties is the strongest it has been in decades according to a Pew Study in 2016 and Washington Post poll in 2017. Party members associate negative qualities with members of the opposing party, a rising tide of mutual antipathy making it challenging for the two parties to govern together. Negative feelings between party members have increased over the years, more so since 2000, the process labeled ‘affective partisan polarization’ or negative polarization by political scientists. Antipathy towards the opposition party is a major motivating factor for partisans, and it is difficult for democracy to function as each side demonizes the other and compromise is a struggle.

Though various surveys show a plurality or majority of Americans are not extremists or partisans, the partisans are more politically active than their moderate brethren. Their agendas are the ones debated in the halls of government, determining the laws that are or are not enacted. A CBS poll in 2011 had 85 percent of Americans favoring compromise by politicians to get things done, including 75 percent of Republicans. However, their message was apparently not transmitted to politicians in Washington and state capitals. Another factor driving partisanship is that the wealthy top one percent is politically zealous and contributes large sums to officeholders and candidates with views similar to theirs.

Partisanship is also more evident now because the percentage of Americans labeling themselves ‘consistently conservative’ or ‘consistently liberal’ has doubled in the last twenty years from 10 to 21 percent. In addition, Democrats and Republicans are more likely to socialize with people having similar political positions. There are also media voices that amplify differences between the parties and benefit from the ‘climate of bitterness.’ Polarization in both Houses of Congress is at its highest level in nearly a hundred and fifty years.

In many democracies, ‘identity’ is the critical determinant of how individuals cast their ballots. People vote for politicians because they share the same religion, race, or ethnicity. These factors may be more important than whether candidates are honest or competent or have the same positions on issues, though often voters are in the dark about these aspects because they have not investigated them. Identity politics reinforces partisanship, particularly in nations riven by tribal, religious, or ethnic hatreds and fears.

American politics has become more tribal in the last quarter century, dominated by partisans in both parties. With their own values, each tribe has its own facts regarding history, economics, and science. Beliefs about climate change and global warming is an example. Members of each tribe tend to think similarly and have similar interpretations of events and views about political figures, as well as comparable personality traits. Interestingly, CT scans of brains in each group show similar structural changes. Conservatives tend to have larger amygdalas, part of the limbic system involved in processing emotions, such as fear, anger, disgust and pleasure. Liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, an area of the brain that deals with uncertainty, handling conflicting information, impulse control, morality and ethics. In both tribes beliefs can be changed, but it is difficult when brains may process information differently.

‘Tribalism’ has been critical in the growth of partisanship. In the past, citizens’ identities were through families, communities, churches, employment, unions, clubs, lodges, and so forth. People were part of something greater than themselves. But these bonds have been sundered by modern society. Divorce and single parent families are common. Small towns and rural communities are in decline, with young people moving away. The lack of connection and of belonging to something has impacted Americans negatively. Alcohol and drugs have been an escape for some and others have chosen to be active members of political parties, adopting the characteristics of their ‘tribes.’ Social media may also augment the stances partisans take. This makes it harder to compromise or see the humanity and understand the positions of opponents.

Americans need to learn to treat political opponents with respect and dignity which may be difficult when opponents support bold-faced political lies. Particularly harmful is the lie that the presidential election of 2020 was stolen and actually won by Donald Trump, when there is no evidence to support this claim. If American democracy is to thrive, the flame of partisanship must be lowered to allow both Republicans and Democrats to work for the good of the country rather than constantly battling each other. And we need more independents to speak up.

www.robertlevinebooks.com

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The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer                                                                                                                          

Robert A. Levine

Has the GOP reached a point yet where they accept that climate change is real and that America and all nations must do something about it before we are all baked in place. Temperatures above 100 degrees have become the norm intermittently in much of the nation, especially the Southwest, California and parts of the Midwest. In fact, in some of these areas, the daily temperature is over 110 degrees on a regular basis. Even high in the Rocky Mountains in Denver, the temperature has been above 100 degrees.

To make matters worse, many of the above regions are facing severe droughts, with minimal rainfall to replenish the usual sources. Lakes, reservoirs, ground water and places dependent on the Colorado River are all lacking water, to the point where some areas are considering rationing water supplies. Snowfall last winter was also sparse, so snowmelt is not replacing the water lost, as normally happens during the spring. In addition to making it tough for residents of these areas, it is making it impossible for farmers to grow crops and feed livestock. Some meteorologists believe that these dry spells are not a one year occurrence but have been part of a decades’ long drought that shows no sign of abating.

Because of the arid conditions and the heat, wildfires have been spreading at an alarming rate in a number of states. Residences, forests, businesses and farms have all been under threat with a great deal of destruction last year. We are still awaiting the start of the wildfire season this year.

Yes, climate change is real. Parts of Africa and the Middle East have also been hit by drought. In fact, the lack of water has been responsible for migration as much as war and conflict. Many African farmers cannot grow grain or raise livestock and severe famine is present in some regions because of the lack of rainfall. Parts of Southern Asia are also suffering from draught and accompanying famine.

Dealing with climate change is imperative for the world as we know it to survive. If the average temperature on earth continues to rise, we can expect more droughts, more famines, more migration and more wars. Fertility rates are also going down in the Western world, China, Japan and Korea. Many nations including the United States are not producing enough children to replace those who die. Whether or not this is related in some way to the weather is uncertain, but sperm are not as active when exposed to heat and this could possibly contribute to infertility.

Like the Covid 19 pandemic, climate change is an emergency and must be addressed by the world’s population before it is too late. In addition to taking immediate measures to reduce global warming, like reducing fossil fuel use, governments should be spending money on desalination plants to make sure that adequate drinking water supplies are available for everyone. If the process becomes cheap enough, perhaps the water produced from the oceans can also be used for watering crops and other necessary processes. But building these plants should be started at once, perhaps powered by sunlight or wind. Are any state of federal governments thinking about desalination?

www.robertlevinebooks.com                                                                                                                      

Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon or Barnes and Noble