American politics are so fraught these days because the people of this country are facing down problems that cannot be debated away. We are asked to choose between maintaining a comfortable status quo, sacrificing our planet in the process, or making radical changes in our lives to improve the quality of our future.
This is why there can be no true debate between Republicans and Democrats in the year 2023. I imagine the tension is similar to abolition in the 19th century. When all the talking is through, the oblique reality of the debate remains plain for all to see. Words cannot hide the choice that must be made. In the 19th century, Americans had to decide if the horror of enslaving people was worth the convenience and riches of maintaining the institution of slavery. In the 21st century, Americans are deciding whether the industrial lives we cherish are worth the very destruction of the environment that birthed us and our culture.
Personally, I think stripping ourselves of the waste of our times, the electronic cages and mechanisms, would have many benefits. Living and working outside, planting things, raising animals–that is a life worth living, and it is that exact lifestyle that holds the key to loosening our dependence on the consumption of energy.
Will the ensuing conflict be as bloody as the civil war?