Hope Springs Eternal
“So you believe in human-generated climate change”, I asked - after all, the term “manmade” would be horribly offensive to the identity politics or gender-neutral crowd.
“Yes I do, and my church believes it too.” The reply was exclaimed with a high degree of moral virtue judging from the haughtiness of voice, pursing of lips and rolling of the eyes.
I respond with, “Yes I’ve read the supporting scriptural verses used by the United Methodist Church, but taken in context the translation is a very far stretch in their relation to any climate change occurrence being caused by humans.”
“Well, they are” arrived the rejoinder. Apparently, an unquestionable truth just because he says it is – much like the promotion of climate science. It should be noted that the Catholic Church and their progressive Pope use different scriptural verses than the Methodists and none of those are in the “Apocrypha”, the 7 extra books in the Catholic, but not Protestant, Old Testament. I guess they are right, just because they say they are.
“OK”, I queried, “Now, you are actually past retirement age, you have a lovely cottage in a temperate location, and since we are only 8 years short of “doomsville”", why are you still working? Should you not be savoring and enjoying life prior to your faith-based end and the earth’s demise?”
And suddenly Herman’s Hermits breaks in with the song, “There’s a Kind of Hush”.
In certain progressive circles, the bible is very much akin to the constitution – it is only used when it’s deemed advantageous to do so – otherwise, it is ignored, considered irrelevant, or needs to be replaced by some new-age, self-help, modernistic manual.
The reality of this little exchange is that people are not modifying their lifestyles based on their advocacy of ‘manmade’ climate change. The reasons could be, they feel exempt from its effects, they really don’t believe in it after all, or they are fighting for the same political and economical transformation as the eco-politicians and bureaucrats they adore.
People are still getting 30-year mortgages; In the United States citizens are putting their future retirement monies into 401(k)’s and other tax-deferred investments while Canadians delve into long-term RRSP’s or TFSA’s.
Banks continue to see the more conservative investors grow their saving accounts while offering longer-term certificates of deposit or share certificates through credit unions. The major stock markets have seen colossal growth in the last number of years and people continue to invest - several investors bamboozled into crypto.
Hopeful citizens continue to scrimp excited that someday they can assist their young children through college or university. To improve their own employment opportunities and income, many middle-aged adults are starting university, many through an online education process. New companies are starting up and people are putting long-term investments into businesses. Others look to advance and explore the improved potential and heftier paydays with alternative employers.
U-Haul and other equipment companies are investing large sums to keep up with an increasingly mobile society. Companies are devoting large sums of money to technology, upgrades, and advanced robotics. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association expresses optimism about the current fabrication and assembly of aircraft of all types and sizes.
Research and development are at the heart of many companies. Major among these are automotive, technology, and pharmaceutical businesses. This is the strategy for their long-term survival, so long-range R & D continues unabated. Housing investments are at an all-time high. Construction of houses, apartments, modular homes, and other types of dwellings continues at a torrid pace. Infrastructure construction and reconstruction carry on, improving the transportation of people and goods around the world.
Hope springs eternal for the ordinary man and woman. Hope for most lasts into perpetuity, without boundaries, without end. However, these continuing investments and long-term pursuits must be somewhat nutty for the alarmists of anthropogenic climate change. For the end of civilization or the “existential threat”, we hear a short range of 96 months from Charles, then a prince now a king and 12 years or 144 months from princess Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her company of leftwing socialists – and those predictions were both made some years ago.
But of course, they don't believe in their stated predictions. They are simply opportunists trying to gain politically and monetarily from a deception while sucking in millions. Creating societal derision is just another step in their malicious game. Evidenced by political concerns surveys, the West and European countries remain largely skeptical - the continued human investment is evidence of that.