11 observations about how the world, as I know it, works, and some opinions too

1) Most of our economy is propped up by consumerism (over 70%), and Americans like to buy stuff; stuff that costs next to nothing. We borrow instead of save. We live in the "I must have it now" era, not the "I must consider the future" era.

2) We don't currently pay for the environmental or social/labor damages. We internalize those costs elsewhere in the form of pollution. As for goods we purchase, we pass those costs to those developing nations. Their water is polluted. Their air is polluted. Their factories fall and catch on fire, and some people die. They can't unionize. They pay bribes. They risk their lives for talking about the things we as Americans take for granted. Americans are not entirely to blame, consumerism is everywhere, but we are not to be excused fully either. We order and demand these products at an exponential scale.

3) Unions are why you have the weekend. Trump has already announced his intention to break the Federal Union protecting Government workers. It's politically popular and is being positioned as term-limits on government workers. Not the worst idea to get fresh-blood in; but unions play a vital role in places where rights are limited... and up until recently, America didn't quite have to worry about this right being protected.

4) The movement to bring American jobs "back" should be an investment in new industries NOT old ones. But, it seems like people are advocating for old ones that have been off-shored. We've gotten used to paying less or very little for many products as a result of the very trade deals that many are currently attacking, i.e. clothes, shoes, electronics, cars, fruit, etc. The price for these products will go up. In some ways, I can totally can get on board with this idea; I love the concept of paying real wages for hard work, and acknowledging the full lifecycle costs associated with developing those products. Having worked on social justice issues, and sustainability for a long time, I think that I may be prepared mentally to pay more for these things, wherever they come as long as they are helping people live better lives. But, what will happen is we'll start paying more because we start a trade war that discriminates against us, and bonus, Trump's team isn't interested in labor rights, as far as anyone can tell, so we'll be footing a higher bill, but it won't help resolve the issues overseas or at home, pushing resentment higher.

5) Moving product manufacturing back to the US can be a great idea. It also means paying more for these products, and livable, American wages. It also means a lot of people won't be able to afford these products. We will slip into a recession for a while. If we can diversify our economy again, eventually, we may be able to stabilize, but we won't be out of it for a LONG time. Again, maybe this is what we need and deserve. We need something to prod us in the butt to learn new skills; but is this what the people who voted for Trump really wanted? If so, then I genuinely applaud them for being willing to take it on the chin like this. It's going to hurt for many; but there will be immense opportunity for others under the new market conditions.

6) The world is and has changed. 7 out of 10 people (Rs and Ds) support action on climate. No better opportunity exists to get people back to work than the renewable energy economy. Trump's current anti-environmental rhetoric would assume he and his team would try to tank this economy, when we've subsidized the oil and gas industry for well over 80 years beyond when they have required subsidies, to pollute our water and our air. By the way, the price of solar and wind has dropped exponentially due to investments by the Obama administration (smart use of our tax dollars) and natural gas is the real reason that jobs won't be coming back to coal country; the market for coal is on the decline. Trump can't stop that. But coal miners can do many other things.

7) The US produces services and ideas now. Innovations are mostly driven through software and the connection of devices. These products are currently subsidized through resources that we can only get at scale through relationships with China and Asia. A trade war with China is not going to be good for producing new ideas.

8) People come to the US to pursue their best lives and to start new businesses and contribute to the economy. Trump's current and only rhetoric of retreating from the world under a mess of nasty misogynistic, racist, hate speech will not allow creativity to thrive. It is the greatest signal to business that innovation is no longer wanted in America. Demographics are shifting, and building products that only serve the old way of doing things will NOT get us out of where we are today.

9) the US is a counterweight in many societies. We may be negotiating trade deals with other nations, but in those trade deals are small nods to environmental agreements, and human rights agreements that products will be made more responsibly and humanly. It's doubtful that under a Trump administration the US would advocate for these measures at all, since he seems to have no interest in taking care of the planet or the non-white people on it.

10) The TPP does not include China. It was a defensive attempt to acknowledge the shift in trade patterns between the rest of Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and Japan, to get those countries on "our side" from a trade perspective before China has a chance to impose its trade deals on others. It's been in negotiation for years. If the US decides to bow out, it may survive without us, or it may crumble and force a turn to China. Another reason it would be poor timing to attack it.

11) Trump is right about one thing, we must invest in infrastructure. At this point I don't care if it's privatized, which is Trump's plan. I care about whether or not he finds a way to get contracts awarded to his companies or to his lackeys. Current indications show that he's not interested in anything but making money for himself. He hasn't released his tax returns. His ethics are incredibly questionable. I wouldn't be surprised if those jobs that are supposed to go to hard working Americans end up not materializing for anyone but Trump himself, he asks the workers to build him roads and bridges, and when the time comes to pay, he claims the work is shoddy and refuses, like he has done countless times before.

This all goes to say that we elected an untrustworthy and unstable person with a tendency towards bigotry, racism, misogyny, narcissism, and cronyism. He sells snake oil for a living. He will not fix our problems. He is however becoming quite the champion for the "left out" voices of the white supremacy movement, and will be lining his pockets deeply before he leaves office. Now, where is my handbasket?

tl;dr: Our consumer based economy won't survive Trump's economic plans. He ran on a platform of bringing jobs back to America, but his only solution was to espouse hate and fear of non-white people. This is a critical business mistake.

 

Baseline - My Introduction to Blogging (in 2009)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Baseline 1: An Introduction

I've been thinking a lot about walking the walk. I do my best to make better decisions about my daily lifestyle but if I'm finding it difficult, and at times I do, and I have been studying and working in environmental policy, design, energy use, sustainability and development for almost 8 years, and if I can't walk the walk, how can I expect anyone else in society to do the same?

This blog came about after much debate with myself about what could provide actual assistance and insight into the daily questions most consumers are facing: what is happening to our planet? (if anything) and what can I do about it? What does it mean to be green? Who should I trust? How do I make better decisions? So with that, I figured maybe it might be useful to share the knowledge that I've gained in the hope that perhaps it might help someone else, or at the very least provide me with a slightly cathardic way to gather and organize my thoughts on the highly philosophical and the everyday.

So, first a bit about me. What do I know anyway? Well, I have 2 Environmental Policy degrees, essentially. Climate change and the geopolitics of energy have been my primary focus. As an undergraduate (in Ann Arbor) I studied political science, organizational theory and environmental studies, including energy systems and natural resource history. So my first degree was actually a BA in Political Science with a minor in what we called the PITE program, program in the environment. Since graduate school was always on my radar, I decided to forgo law school to attend a new MPA program offered at Columbia University, specializing in Environmental Science and Policy. The goal of the program was to train environmental policy specialists who also understand the scientific challenges we're facing, since many times, politics forgets the practicality of science in favor of well - politics. 

As an undergrad, I attended a few leadership programs, one of which asked the all important and often overlooked question: what do you care about? (as a sidenote, if you've never asked yourself this question, it might be time; you could end up finding out what you really want out of life- ok enough sidenote) As it happens it was at this particular retreat that I identified my desire to help create a society that integrates sustainable thinking into its everyday, but more than that, I want to live in a world where people respect each other and the planet and automatically participate in pro-environmental behavior the same way they would brush their teeth in the morning or buy a cup of coffee. And I've always wondered why some people really seem not to care about what they do to the planet - or think about the impact that they have - ever. 

After I left grad school, I worked for the advertising council for a short consultancy, and then worked for a carbon offset organization. A non-profit that helped businesses and invididuals invest in carbon offset opportunities, like renewable energy, reforestation or energy efficiency. (We'll get to carbon offsets one day and the challenges of the market.) Then, there was a short stint working on a campaign and a current position working for a large non-profit's new environmental business. I've also had a few interesting internships where I have been priveledged to be in the room with some facinating people, experts, entrepreneurs, politicians. And lucky enough to talk with them about issues. 

Anyway - long story short. I've been really lucky, had fantastic educational opportunities, and had the chance to have incredible discussions about these issues. But I'm just an average girl, trying to live my life. (oh and not that it matters, but I've been working since I was 12 and I put myself through school) The point is, not about what's happened to me, but that I know everyone does not get the chances that I've gotten so why shouldn't I share what I know? It would make everyone better off. Why should you have to spend the money or take on the debt that I have, for the knowledge that I've gained? It's a better use of my investment to share, and works out better for you too. Win-Win. 

So with that, I'll start by systematically going through different aspects of my life, the necessary: food, shelter, basic clothes, transportation and the extras: stuff I want but don't need, like electronics, girly indulgences, books, etc. . . and see what I have done to take better steps toward this bigger vision, and where I'm still lacking. After all, I'm only human too. Also, one big thing to remember about this exercise and pretty much anything anyone tells you about making decisions when it comes to the environment. Everything is a tradeoff. As a species humans are inherently distructive, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is something to note. It's hard for us to wrap our heads around global issues. (One day I'll find a few articles to link to about heuristics.) And we destroy to create. Rarely do we restore. And only recently have we begun to ask ourselves how we could. So, although one environmental product or change might have a better impact on X issue, it still might not be perfect for every other issue too. Just something to keep in mind. 

Also - nothing is good or bad. An SUV is not a bad thing. But the way that we make them today doesn't necessarily provide for the best health impacts on the planet. There could be better designs integrated into it. Oil is not a bad thing. Oil brings us energy, and has supported the growth of many societies the world over. But just because it seemed to be the solution for some societies, who I might add did not know what we know today about the after impacts on the atmosphere of burning expansive quantities, does not mean it should be the only way to move forward. Again, a topic for another day. 

My final thought for today's post is that many things we make today have their issues. Our populations exponentially impact our decisions. And we need to start asking more questions about the things we buy. Like, where was this made? And what's it made out of? And how do they do that? And the reason you should care is because the planet that we're on is changing. And if you like the air to be clean, and the water you drink to be clean, and the trees you see to be green, or that you see trees at all, I ask that you start to consider it. I am.