Tag: Politics

Some manmade problems will never go away

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Bad decisions can have long-lasting consequences.

One here in Maine was the application of industrial sludge containing PFAS to nearby farmlands. At the time, it was touted as form of recycling. Today, you don’t dare drink water drawn from the wells.

The problem’s not unique to Maine.

Here’s the take.

  1. These ” perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” more commonly known as “forever chemicals” or “forever pollutants,” have been around since the 1940s. As the nicknames suggest, they don’t break down naturally. They may take hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose.
  2. There are more than 9,000 known PFAS compounds, with 600 currently used in the U.S. in countless products to make them resistant to oil, heat, stain, or water.
  3. They’re found in everything from cosmetics and outdoor gear to firefighting foam and carpet treatments to non-stick pans and other cookware to dental floss and food wrappers and even fast food.
  4. They’re found in water, the ground, the air, the ocean floor, wildlife, and the human body.
  5. In humans, they’re seen leading to higher risk for kidney or testicular cancer, increased cholesterol levels, higher blood pressure, high cholesterol, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced preeclampsia, and damage to the liver and immune system.
  6. The Department of Defense has allocated $1.5 billion for cleanup at its sites around the country.
  7. PFAS have been reported in thousands of private wells near military facilities, while a recent report concludes that they’re likely found in the most of the public water Americans drink. Other studies report slightly lower rates.
  8. Researchers are searching for ways to filter them out of the water supplies, but that leads to another problem: What do you do with the stuff left behind in the filter? It won’t go away.
  9. Incinerating it has similar risks. Breaking up the longer strands can result in shorter strands, that would then pollute the air, soil, and water. And some, like Teflon, can withstand temperatures of 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
  10. The use of ultraviolet radiation and possibly microbes to break down the substances is emerging as an affordable glimmer of hope.

Two important conclusions

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

The first is, that the Convention must have enjoyed in a very singular degree, an exemption from the pestilential influence of party animosities, the diseases most incident to deliberative bodies, and most apt to contaminate their proceedings. The second conclusion is, that all of the deputations composing the Convention, were either satisfactorily accommodated by the final act; or were induced to accede to it, by a deep conviction of sacrificing private opinions and partial interests to the public good, and by a despair of seeing this necessity diminished by delays or by new experiments.

James Madison in Federalist No. 37

Being subjected to the laws they pass, too

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

The House of Representatives … can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interests and sympathy of sentiments of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny.

James Madison in Federalist No. 57

A multiparty political system is predicated on a loyal opposition

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Its origin, I’ve heard, arose in the Quaker peace testimony of 1662, with its refusal to swear oaths. Before that, political factions were supported by their own armies. The Quakers, or Society of Friends, promised to hold firm to their beliefs and yet not coerce others to their stand. Persuasion was another matter altogether. And William Penn, in the colony of Pennsylvania in the years we knew it as the Holy Experiment, insisted on having at least two candidates for every public office.

The Quakers not only refused to bear arms but also conducted their faith community business by consensus, without ever taking a vote. Minority opinions were respected, often leading to a third solution superior to the original options. This was not, do note, a compromise, seen as the lower common denominator, but rather something superior.

Theologically speaking, we sensed that Christ had a better answer for us, if we would only listen. “Mind the Light,” as we said.

Flash ahead to today’s death grip in the United States, where one party has steadfastly stood to obstruct anything proposed by an administration other than theirs. President Obama learned the hard way that they wouldn’t participate in crafting a third way. And he faced their open disrespect, which continued during President Biden’s term. Just look at the F— Biden flags for confirmation. Or their chants of “Lock her up,” regarding T-guy’s first opponent. Not that they would acknowledge the same for their guy, for far better documented reasons.

The Don Old, as we’ve seen, has significantly worsened the conflict and is threatening to imprison those who don’t agree with him.

The conundrum with a democracy could rapidly pivot on what to do with a disloyal opposition.

This could get very ugly, indeed. Before and after the national election.