The Pandemic, the Economy, Politics, and the Ongoing Income Inequality in the USA

 The Rich Are Cheering Wall Street’s Latest Records. Americans of Modest Means Are Draining 401(k)s. - Inequality.org

The bottom 50% of income earners in the USA hold only 0.6% of the country's stock holdings.  The poorest 90% hold only 11.8% of the nation's stocks.  The richest one percent hold 52.4% of all stocks.  That's all according to the Fed Reserve.

Due to the pandemic, the Super-Rich are doubling and tripling their incomes.  Those people of modest means are draining their 401k accounts just to pay the bills.  Meanwhile, the politicians have stopped providing relief... or even talking about it with each other.

As I've pointed out in the past, the Great Depression of the 1930's was not so named until halfway through it.  For about five years, people believed it was just a short-term glitch that would disappear very soon.  It should be clear by now that currently we are in a full-blown economic Depression.  Politicians, in particular, need to wake up to that fact.  GDP (loved by the Powers-That-Be as a measure of national well-being) in the USA fell by just shy of 33% in the Second Quarter of this year.

I'm getting the impression that a majority of people believe the vaccine will correct the situation.  For a variety of reasons, don't count on it.  One of those reasons is this:  the covid virus mutates rather quickly.  Another reason:  no vaccine in history ever has been so RUSHED as this one.  Despite the reassurances of everyone involved, that means there's perhaps a 50-50 chance of a monumental problem.  Another reason:  it's highly likely that many small businesses have closed for good.  Vaccine or not, they won't be back.  That's mainly due to dithering or dogmatic politicians.  Another reason:  millions of our fellow Americans still believe covid is no big deal.  That's a serious hindrance to getting back to some sort of "normal".  

If ever again, "normal" is most likely 2-5 YEARS down a rough road ahead.  Why do I say that?  Because of my academic education and field experience in biology, human ecology, and environmental geography.  Is the "2-5 YEARS" prediction guaranteed?  Of course not, it's an educated guess.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Modern Circular Economy - a Practical Study, AND - The Extraterritorial Commons, Corporate Responsibility, & Governance

 Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Modern Circular Economy: Corporate Strategy, Supply Chain, and Industrial Symbiosis | HTML (mdpi.com)

Published this month in the journal, Sustainability.

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Sustainability | Free Full-Text | The Commons, the Common Good and Extraterritoriality: Seeking Sustainable Global Justice through Corporate Responsibility | HTML (mdpi.com)

Published this month in Sustainability.

This second journal article introduces the innovative concept of the "extraterritorial commons" in relation to corporate responsibility, justice, and extraterritorial governance.  It's a much-needed discussion.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

What is Not Recognized by Too Many People

Ecology, Crisis, linear "solutions", complexity, chaos, biophysical cascades, carbon sinks, interdependence, synergy, order -  the essay at the link below is concise, cogent, and a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the socio-eco-econ Crisis which, unfortunately, is accelerating.

[NOTE:  I left two comments at the end of the article below.  The longer one details what we are facing in regard to human perception of these "wicked problems".]

 Thresholds, cascades, and wicked problems | MAHB (stanford.edu)

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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well

Climate Damage, Ecosystems, Predators, Scavengers, & Laws of Ecology

 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/otters-show-how-predators-can-blunt-climate-damage/

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-should-embrace-scavengers-and-predators/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0421-2

The above articles demonstrate the veracity of:

1.  Barry Commoner's 1971 book, The Closing Circle, especially his First Law of Ecology - "Everything is connected to everything else."; and,

2.  the complexity and value to humanity of ecosystems are equal to or greater than any complexity/value of the technological world.

[NOTE:  In the mid-1970's, I used The Closing Circle as the textbook for an Advanced Ecology course I taught at South Kitsap High School (one of the top high schools in the State of Washington at that time).  I found it then, and still do today, to be one of the most informative books ever written on Human Ecology in particular, and Ecology in general.  It was written for lay people, and in my opinion, should be required reading for every student everywhere.]

Professor Commoner's Four Laws of Ecology---

1.  Everything is connected to everything else.

2.  Everything must go somewhere.

3.  Nature knows best.

4.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Currently we are in a socio-eco-econ Crisis which threatens the very existence of organized human society.  Many researchers are working hard to find and broadcast solutions to said crisis.  Too many politicians are not doing enough to implement those solutions.  They talk about it a lot, but do little or nothing.  The same might be said of lay people.  That must change, and soon.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Covid-19, Global Economy, Ecosystems, and Circular Economy Strategies

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344920304869

Title:  "A critical analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and ecosystems and opportunities for circular economy strategies".

From the journal, Resources, Conservation, & Recycling.

At least read the conclusion.  The whole piece is a good analysis of a crucial situation.

Again, I don't believe that the Circular Economy approach is the full answer to the socio-eco-econ Crisis we're in, but it is popular.  Perhaps it's a good First Step toward a version of Ecological Economics which will truly address the problems of unlimited growth and overconsumption.

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Not only my opinion.  Stay Well

All Politicians Should Pay Attention to This

 https://www.uvm.edu/gund/news/can-regenerative-agriculture-save-american-farms

I've watched the number of family farms in the USA shrink for over sixty years.  Their replacement, industrial agriculture, is harming soil, water, air, plants, animals, and the ecosphere in general.  This has to stop if we are to thrive as ethical, sensible, and practical beings.

We humans tend to take air, water, and food for granted.  Fortunately, over the last half century or so, we've started to realize that's a mistake.  We're finally beginning to edge toward some version of ecological economics and sustainability.  Let's hope that continues.

At the link above is a brief description of a policy which should be supported and promoted by politicians everywhere.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Watch the Moving Bar Graph (at the link below)

Here's an email I sent to family and friends.  We all need to get serious about this subject.  Tick-tock---

https://twitter.com/CarbonBrief/status/1120715988532629506?s=20

And that's not even considering methane emissions, which are increasing exponentially.  Methane is multiple times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

Time for an attitude & lifestyle change.

Climate Change is now locked in for decades.  All we can do is work toward making sure it doesn't get TWICE (or more) as bad as now.

In the mid-1970's when I lived next to Puget Sound, the highest temp in summer was about 85 degrees.  14 yrs ago, it reached 100 degrees more than a few times during summer.

15 yrs ago, when I lived on 38 acres near Red Bluff, CA, 114 degrees during summer was not uncommon.  All the above was prior to the current, fairly rapid thawing of permafrost tundra in Arctic regions... which is releasing tons of methane into the atmosphere.

Bottom line:  if we (& that means all of us, not just tree-huggers like me:) don't change our lifestyle, our overconsumption, our agriculture, & industrial production, Nature will.  That's guaranteed.  If you truly care about your kids, grandkids, & their future kids, do all you can to support a shift to some version of Ecological Economics.

Trump & Crew will be gone before long.  It's time to repair the damage they've done to our habitat, and to our future.  It's also time to watch Biden like a hawk.  He's so much better than Trump, but firmly in the back pocket of the Financial Sector, and not exactly Mr. Sustainability.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The USA Ongoing Election, Gaslighting, and Empire

 Trump & Crew are either brainless, or are being deceitful.  Some mail-in votes are allowed to be postmarked as late as election day.  It may take up to a week before they get counted.  That's not fraud.  Hello.  Different States have different rules (see links below), and different Counties have different procedures.  Our Oval Office [Mafia-like] DON knows all this.  A short while ago, his legal team could not produce one single instance of mail-in voter fraud during a Court Case.  Nevertheless, The Don continues to sell the Big Lie to his supporters; and apparently, many of them believe it... with no proof.  Incredible.

Here's an official in Clark County, NV explaining things---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcpMxX-SO6Q

He shows a lot of patience in the Q&A.

Here's when different States begin processing ballots---

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/politics/mail-in-voting/

Here's Bernie's take on it all well before the election---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DNGSQvvz8

More or less on the mark so far... thanks to Trump's idiotic claim of victory, & then filing lawsuits before all the votes have been counted.

Though he's nearly 4 million votes BEHIND in the popular vote, Trump has received a lot of votes mainly because of this:  his policies reflect a nationalistic neoimperialism that resonates with folks who believe the USA should rule the world.  Not conquer the world in the old sense of "rule", but control the globe by being its police force, by financial boycotts/sanctions, by controlling natural resources in other lands, by assassinations, by military threats & interventionism, by spying on allies, etc.  

Whether they admit it (or are even aware of it) or not, those folks seem to favor the idea of EMPIRE.  It makes them feel secure.  They think it will make their economic/financial situation secure as well.  People like that are drawn to the "strong-man", bullying, crass type of Big Daddy "leader".  That's especially true if he wraps himself in the American Flag and professes adherence to the belief in Big-Daddy-in-the-Sky-Who-Promises-Apple-Pie-By-&-By, which is an utter misinterpretation of the Holy Bible.  

Yes, obviously the above is an opinion.    I base it on History and a keen interest in USA politics.

Everyone Be Well

p.s.  No voter fraud has been shown in the election thus far.  Trump, as usual, is gaslighting; he's just blowing smoke.  The Mob lawyer, Roy M. Cohn, taught him long ago: if you repeat a lie over & over, people will come to believe it.  And that's Trump's primary modus operandi.  Surely everyone knows this by now, eh?