I was on the train, homeward bound, when I last wrote. I made it the rest of the way without incident, i.e. something I can use as blogging material. When I got in an alien intelligence possessed my body and proceeded to unpack immediately. It even changed the cat litter before sitting down. This productive alien has since left me but not without consequences. I can’t stay awake. I have not changed my meds but it has the feel of what happens on occasion when I did. I will call my psychiatrist tomorrow. I meant to call today just to tell her that I need a refill on my prescription. I slept through that. Part of the problem is that I am in the land of the lotus eaters; free from care, anxiety, and depression. It feels good, I just can’t get anything done. My hope is that it has to do with the changes in my surroundings and that tomorrow I’ll be back to normal. I put cold water down my neck and I’m eating massive amounts of chocolate truffles. That’s having a salubrious effect.
I’m going to switch gears from the personal anecdotal material I’ve been writing to something that political/philosophical but ultimately personal. I’ve been wanting to write about it for ages but this news analysis in the New York Times gave me the way in; Trump Administration’s Strategy on Climate: Try to Bury Its Own Scientific Report.
The problem with arguing climate change the deniers is that they are playing by totally different rules. It does no good to use either facts or logic as they reject both as the basis of truth. They don’t deny climate change because they have studied the issue and weighed the evidence, at best what they do is sifted through the evidence for things that cast doubt and support their position. It’s like trying to use logic and facts to get a Met fan to root for the Yankees. It’s never going to get you anywhere. The administration has no problem issuing this in-depth report and then acting contrary to its findings.
When I write I often feel like the authors of that report. I know that even among my enlightened Gentle Readers are some that on some issues, will never be swayed by logic or facts. Those are the issues I most feel the need to write about; I want to people to learn, not be my echo chamber. Being a teacher is not just my profession but part of who I am. I might not be enlightened but I wish to bring enlightenment on one small corner of the universe at a time. Knowing that this is tilting at windmills is frustrating.
Climate change denial is a conspiracy theory. All the thousands of climatologists that write on it are doing it for ulterior motives. Some simply deny that it’s what the overwhelming number of climatologists believe. You can’t argue against conspiracy theories as all evidence to the contrary is evidence of the conspiracy.
I deliberately don’t unfriend people whose politics is the polar opposite of mine for many reasons. Most importantly no matter how terrible the politics they can still be good people. That’s tough for people to accept but to say otherwise is to say that the vast majority of people living in the South during the days of Jim Crow were evil. They believed in something evil, because it’s difficult to resist cultural norms, but they could be good in other ways. It’s important to remember that.
A second benefit of not unfriending them is that I see the irrationality of those I disagree with, not just my political compeers. I argue far more with those whose goals I agree with than those I don’t. I find it more difficult to accept their irrationality. I want my side to be free from sin. They aren’t but I see the sins of both sides. That is not bothsidesism. The difference is that the irrationals are the power behind the right. To not deny climate change is heresy.
Is the rain stopping? I am out of milk but I don’t want to go out in the rain to get it. I see on Dark Skies that I’m on the edge of the front. If I wait half an hour I might be able to go out without getting wet. I had to have my coffee black today, tomorrow I want milk in it and I hate going out before breakfast. I could do it. The weather will be nice. I won’t even need to get dressed. I could just sit here, close my eyes, and return to the lotus.
Wise Madness 