State of the World 2024

[Lilith7]

Here's a good posting:

inkwell.vue.540 : Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky: State of the World 2024
permalink #251 of 260: Why so glum, chum? (jonl) Sat 13 Jan 24 08:29

   
"In the USA, far-right autocrats apparently supported by external
oligarchs have taken more power than we imagined they could, led by
a charismatic demagogue and working from a cultivated set of
cultural grievances, using sophisticated psyops especially
well-enabled by unregulated social media platforms that were ripe
for manipulation. They've managed to take control of a political
party and elect enough obstructionists to throw the legislative
branch of government into chaos. They've taken advantage of years of
groundwork by conservatives who previously controlled the Republican
party, and they've also leveraged the popularity of right-wing
tabloid news organizations that have gained popularity over the last
couple of decades as cable news channels have become effective
sources of political propaganda. They're related to a global
autocratic movement that has recently lit the fuse on a couple of
major wars as part of a more general global chaos movement to topple
democratic governments wherever they still stand. It's a dark time.
The USA will have an election on 2024 that could be the end of its
long commitment to a democratic intention. This could mean the rise
of global autocracy, a radical change in the way we live and do
business. Democracy, per Churchill "the worst form of government,
except for all the others," will fall to those more-worst forms.
Many who support this potential transition are simply ignorant of
the implications. One of those implications is that we will see an
increase in the carbon burn that will ultimately make this planet
uninhabitable by humans. Extinction will be the likely outcome.

Having said all that, I think I'll wander into the other room and
watch television for a while."

I wish they were wrong....