US 2024 Presidential Election

[gorfias]

In 2020 during Trump's election campaign Trump pledged to start planting 1 trillion trees to reduce global warming.

A Trillion Trees: How One Idea Triumphed Over Trump’s Climate Denialism (Published 2020)

A tech billionaire’s PowerPoint brought the Trillion Trees climate plan to the president, a textbook case of ad hoc policymaking in the Trump era.

www.nytimes.com

From that article:



Even if we planted a trillion trees, and even if all 1 trillion trees survived (unlikely) it would take 100 years before we would see the full benefits, which would only be about 5-10% reduction in greenhouse gases. In the meantime the only way to reduce global warming would be reducing fossil fuel emissions, which is something that Donald Trump is not only staunchly against, he actively wants more emissions.

Anyway, according to experts the planting of 1 trillion trees is not a serious solution to the climate crisis.

https://ig.ft.com/one-trillion-trees/

The Magical Thinking of McCarthy’s Trillion-Tree Plan to Solve Climate Change

Planting 1 trillion trees, a plan recently proposed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is not a serious solution to the climate crisis. In fact, it is magical thinking....Continue Reading The Magical Thinking of McCarthy’s Trillion-Tree Plan to Solve Climate Change

web.sas.upenn.edu

And Trump's administration didn't actually end up planting any trees, though they talked about it a lot.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/518994-is-trump-really-planting-a-billion-trees/

Saying "just plant some trees bro" is the boomer way of deflecting responsibility. "I planted a tree, I did my part, now I should be allowed to drive my 8 mile per gallon truck all I want while I complain about gas prices."

You don't actually want to do anything, you want other people to solve the problem for you, but you also don't want to be inconvenienced in any way, and you don't want to pay for the problem to be solved. You want to do nothing but have a magical silver bullet that solves the problem in the future with technology that doesn't exist.

I don't want the climate hysterics to be able to use what appears to be a hoax as an excuse to create poverty and totalitarian control over people. Even taking all you write at face value, and I do not (ie where would reclaiming deserts with grassy fields fit into this? Really gonna take more than a month to start realizing gains? I highly doubt it) more people today die from cold than heat. What is the perfect planetary temperature? Do we need to be warmer? Weren't whole nations supposed to be under water
already?

If you take Trump literally, he's insane or incompetent or both. If you need to take Trump figuratively, then he's dishonest and you don't know what he's actually going to do.

Cut through the bullshit, that's the bottom line.

Would you acknowledge you deeply need to do that with Harris at least as much?

 

[BrawlMan]

No

There are millions of former Trump voters who now hate him because he betrayed them

Oh I know there's millions of them. I just find it funny and responding to them: "What the hell did you expect/took you all so long to realize this?".

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I don't want the climate hysterics to be able to use what appears to be a hoax as an excuse to create poverty and totalitarian control over people. Even taking all you write at face value, and I do not (ie where would reclaiming deserts with grassy fields fit into this? Really gonna take more than a month to start realizing gains? I highly doubt it) more people today die from cold than heat. What is the perfect planetary temperature? Do we need to be warmer? Weren't whole nations supposed to be under water
already?

We can't even get countries to stop deforesting the rain forests that already exist, and you think that we're going to turn deserts into rain forest.

You're so terrified that democrats are going to make you eat bugs in a dystopian future you've made up in your head that you're failing to see how extreme right wingers are actively creating more poverty and trying to take more control from people right now.

 

[gorfias]

We can't even get countries to stop deforesting the rain forests that already exist, and you think that we're going to turn deserts into rain forest.

You're so terrified that democrats are going to make you eat bugs in a dystopian future you've made up in your head that you're failing to see how extreme right wingers are actively creating more poverty and trying to take more control from people right now.

Earlier I noted: we could end hunger. We have the tech. We don't have the economics or politics to make it happen. I write, same for turning the carbon thing around.
I think in the US we are undergoing a realignment. Tulsi Gabbard is with Trump. Darth Vader, I mean, Liz Cheney, with Kamala. Whose really on the side of the people?

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Trump’s ties to far-right activist alarm GOP: From the Politics Desk

Plus, the questions Harris and Trump didn't answer at the debate.

www.nbcnews.com

The time for the Republican party to be alarmed about Trump was the minute he first declared his candidacy. You all belong to him now.

I highly doubt that. The Sahara dessert alone is nearly the size of the entire CONUS. Imagine if we can turn that into lush forest.
It'll be fine.

And we could solve both world hunger and plastic pollution if we just made it so humans could eat plastic.

 

[Piscian]

No

There are millions of former Trump voters who now hate him because he betrayed them

mmm. I don't remember when exactly Trump came out as a Russian puppet. I think the edges started being colored in during his 2016 campaign, but I don't think it was until he started inviting Putin to the white house that things got weird.

I don't think this latest guy is alone. The right has been anti-russia since the start of the cold war. Having Trump not only cozy up to putin, but to actively hurt the Baltic states has been a bit headspinning. While I think the fundamentalist right doesn't care, trump could reveal he owns the spear tip that killed jesus, I think there's a vrey large faction on the right. Soldiers and veterans especially that are like "Dude wtf". For whatever policies they agreed with him on being pro-communism is a serious betrayal.

 

[BrawlMan]

I don't think this latest guy is alone. The right has been anti-russia since the start of the cold war. Having Trump not only cozy up to putin, but to actively hurt the Baltic states has been a bit headspinning. While I think the fundamentalist right doesn't care, trump could reveal he owns the spear tip that killed jesus, I think there's a vrey large faction on the right. Soldiers and veterans especially that are like "Dude wtf". For whatever policies they agreed with him on being pro-communism is a serious betrayal.

Yet many of these fools kept lying to themselves and each other for the sake of comfort and conformity. Many of them only started changing their minds when they lost something cared about or not getting what they (thought they) wanted. All of us who were against Trump from the get go told these fucker so, but chose to ignore, downplay, or make excuses for their "messiah". Claiming he's a "good Christian and only joking".

 

[Piscian]

Yet many of these fools kept lying to themselves and each other for the sake of comfort and conformity. Many of them only started changing their minds when they lost something cared about or not getting what they (thought they) wanted. All of us who were against Trump from the get go told these fucker so, but chose to ignore, downplay, or make excuses for their "messiah". Claiming he's a "good Christian and only joking".

I think the part in the debate where he was literally asked yes or no, if he would support Ukraine and he refused to commit. Shit if Mccarthyism were still around he'd be in Gitmo right now. It looked bad. Really bad.

I'm not saying I support all the anti-communism stuff, but for a lot of veterans. Especially those that were affected by the Cold War craze in the 80s in pop-culture, having a republican cozy up to China, Russia, and NK practically makes him a traitor to the US.

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm not saying I support all the anti-communism stuff, but for a lot of veterans. Especially those that were affected by the Cold War craze in the 80s in pop-culture, having a republican cozy up to China, Russia, and NK practically makes him a traitor to the US.

Yet Trump riling up his cult followers and attempting to take over the Capitol, because they didn't like results of the election, and these fools didn't consider him a traitor. They only call him traitor on shallow yes or no question. I don't care if these civilians or veterans were affected by the CW craze in the 80s, y'all still chose to ignore, enable, and support evil right your fucking door step and only took a step because of some foolish hypocritical "standard". Where the fuck were those standards with all of those sexist and racist rhetoric he's been spouting for decades on end? Did you all forget about the Central Park 5, or they only would have mattered to you, if they were all white boys?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Earlier I noted: we could end hunger. We have the tech. We don't have the economics or politics to make it happen. I write, same for turning the carbon thing around.

And why don't we have the politics to make it happen? Because the Republican wing of the country don't view those things as a problem. So what makes you think that Republicans and especially Trump are going to do anything to fix the issues of world hunger, or global warming? Trump isn't even willing to say that global warming exists or is an issue, and his energy policy is just "drill baby drill."

Trump doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for Trump, and there's nothing in it for Trump to fix either of these issues.

Again, you're worried about silly future dystopias while building one directly under your nose and you don't even see it.

 

[Trunkage]

mmm. I don't remember when exactly Trump came out as a Russian puppet. I think the edges started being colored in during his 2016 campaign, but I don't think it was until he started inviting Putin to the white house that things got weird.

I don't think this latest guy is alone. The right has been anti-russia since the start of the cold war. Having Trump not only cozy up to putin, but to actively hurt the Baltic states has been a bit headspinning. While I think the fundamentalist right doesn't care, trump could reveal he owns the spear tip that killed jesus, I think there's a vrey large faction on the right. Soldiers and veterans especially that are like "Dude wtf". For whatever policies they agreed with him on being pro-communism is a serious betrayal.

I wouldn't say that inviting foreign dignatories is a negative thing. Doing something because that leader asked is also fine. It when that foreign leader does something for you, not for the country, that it becomes a problem

Trump being paid $10m personally to get rid of Egyptian sactions is bad

Trump favoring Putin to get dirt on political opponents is also bad

Russia is now a good place because Capitalism. Pro-Capitalists are going to back it no matter if there are crimes against humanity. (The reverse happened for Tankies before the 90s). It's identity politics

Fundamentalists are doing a different identity politics. They want to rid the world of gays etc and that's why they back Putin

Most soliders were sold on fighting for democracy. They have never been fighting for democracy. They have been fighting for replacing one dictator with another. Most soliders want to help people and now they are disillusioned with all of the US foreign policy. Both Dem and GOP

Being anti-Russian is not my stance. Being Anti- War Crimes is mine. If that's Russia, the US, Israel, Nigeria, Sudan or Iran, so be it.

 

[Kwak]

I don't want the climate hysterics to be able to use what appears to be a hoax as an excuse to create poverty and totalitarian control over people. Even taking all you write at face value, and I do not (ie where would reclaiming deserts with grassy fields fit into this? Really gonna take more than a month to start realizing gains? I highly doubt it) more people today die from cold than heat. What is the perfect planetary temperature? Do we need to be warmer? Weren't whole nations supposed to be under water
already?



Would you acknowledge you deeply need to do that with Harris at least as much?

Appears to be a hoax fucking how exactly?
Just a vague feeling you have?
You don't trust them hoity toity know it all's with their book learning and data records and physics knowledge?

 

[Trunkage]

Appears to be a hoax fucking how exactly?
Just a vague feeling you have?
You don't trust them hoity toity know it all's with their book learning and data records and physics knowledge?

Further questions:
How have you not understood that the current system of cars and roads punishing poor people who can't get to work? Guess who's making poverty happen? Oil companies. Guess who's broken the suburbs? Oil companies. They can only sell oil if they turn owning a car into an identity. The car owners then push for greater roads further away from others. This leads to less land tax, breaking most cities and towns' budgets. My land tax is paying for the oil companies' greed. I don't know why you are worried about potential poverty. Poverty is already here

How have you not understood that the main reason why are fucking around in the Middle East is due to oil? A lot of money has been spent there, instead of poor people in America. We are fighting wars so oil companies can make profits. Perhaps we could try something else

How have you not understood that the problem is that the world is warming, that it's warming TOO FAST? Have you just not bothered to read any articles? (Maybe I should say real articles as Fox would probably write something but it's not going to be based on reality.). We are already going to go up a further degree in this century. There is nothing we can do to stop that. We are trying to reduce it to one, but we pretty much have already failed. We will probably hit two degrees.
The Ice Age was 5 degrees colder than what it was in the 1900s. The temperature has already gone up a degree since then. That's a potential total of 3 degrees in less than 200 years. At this rate, we are questioning if anything will survive in 200 years.

Could you tell me when coal fire power plants become popular in the US/World?

 

[Satinavian]

I don't want the climate hysterics to be able to use what appears to be a hoax as an excuse to create poverty and totalitarian control over people

You can call it hoax as often as you want, but that doesn't make it true.

It has been worldwide scientific consensus over two decades. While specific models and numbers continually get investigated, refined and scrutinized, there has not been any real shift in the predictions since then. Instead it only gets confirmed time and time again and the error margings shrink.

And no, there is no global conspiracy that somehow controls thousands of universities and millions of scientists all over the world, often from countries that hate each other and have conflicting political goals and which has still managed to somehow been secret enough that we don't have any high profile cases of mass pressure and bribery related to it.

Sure, not everyone talking about the dangers of climate chance is actually a professional knowing what they are talking about. But that is not enough to discredit the findings.

 

[Agema]

Would you acknowledge you deeply need to do that with Harris at least as much?

I see no particular reason to call Harris insane and incompetent. Dishonest? Well, not obviously more than most politicians, and few politicians are anywhere near the level of Trump.

Unless someone has been president, you'll never really know whether they can do it well. However, judging by her previous career, there's no particular reason to think Harris isn't up to the job: she's ticked a lot of the right boxes for people who become president.

Trump has in effect already demonstrated he's a poor president. You just need to look at all the major policy he promised and failed to deliver 2017-2020. Wall not built (and other major immigration policies failed or incomplete). The ACA not repealed. His economic record fell woefully short of promises. His economic war against China was ineffectual. His foreign policy achieved little (like that transient North Korea love-in). He seems to have been genuinely terrible at negotiating with Congress: one of the major accomplishments (tax cuts) was passed in large part just because the party would do that anyway.

The US national covid-19 response was scandalously poor. No matter where you stood on policy (restrictions or otherwise), Trump's administration was chaotic, disorganised, incoherent, inconsistent; at war with its own government agencies and many states. Trump himself appears to have been more bothered about his TV ratings than his countrymen dying, awarding himself long and rambling appearances which he often spent raging at the media and other injustices he felt.

 

[Agema]

I don't want the climate hysterics to be able to use what appears to be a hoax as an excuse to create poverty and totalitarian control over people.

Yes, but the other side of the equation is that if climate change is real (and science is pretty clear on that score), the likely end results are poverty and totalitarianism.

After all, climate change means massive disruption to lots of parts of the worlds and substantial loss of productivity. Loss of productivity means more scarcity, and via supply and demand, increased prices so we all get poorer. Plus, people will migrate out of areas where they can no longer survive or make a living and arrive on everyone else's borders, so the world need to cope with that too. That's poverty.

Once people worldwide start stagnating or going backwards rather than forwards, this will cause discontent, social disorder, which countries will end up dealing with through repression. And then we'll have totalitarianism. To give you an idea of this, remember when there were all those protests in US cities a few years back? Trump wanted to send in the army and brutalise them into submission... with substantial public support.

 

[tstorm823]

Wall not built (and other major immigration policies failed or incomplete).

Some wall got built, not dissimilarly to presidents before him, and the rate of border crossings reflected that. The alternative was the party that wanted to and now has stopped trying to manage migration, resulting in an enormous influx of border jumpers. He managed little more than the status quo, but you can see the difference between maintaining stability and opening the floodgates.

The ACA not repealed.

The individual mandate was though.

His economic record fell woefully short of promises. His economic war against China was ineffectual.

Prior to the pandemic, the US had the best real wage growth in decades. His "economic war" against China is still in place.

His foreign policy achieved little (like that transient North Korea love-in).

He started no new wars, he got new peace treaties signed in the Middle East, and he's the only president in my lifetime to not have Russia invade someone during his presidency.

He seems to have been genuinely terrible at negotiating with Congress: one of the major accomplishments (tax cuts) was passed in large part just because the party would do that anyway.

The president isn't actually supposed to be controlling Congress.

The US national covid-19 response was scandalously poor.

Either every nation's response was "scandalously poor", or the US was fine. Pick a lane.

 

[gorfias]

And we could solve both world hunger and plastic pollution if we just made it so humans could eat plastic.

Already can do so... https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/the-incredible-edible-plastic-

And why don't we have the politics to make it happen? Because the Republican wing of the country don't view those things as a problem. So what makes you think that Republicans and especially Trump are going to do anything to fix the issues of world hunger, or global warming? Trump isn't even willing to say that global warming exists or is an issue, and his energy policy is just "drill baby drill."

Trump doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for Trump, and there's nothing in it for Trump to fix either of these issues.

Again, you're worried about silly future dystopias while building one directly under your nose and you don't even see it.

MAGA (not necessarily Republicans) have the better ideas for improving things. Capitalism has been shown to create growth and plenty. It is the political left that is attacking farmers in preparation to use food as a weapon against their peoples. Example story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_European_farmers'_protests
Until scarcity is no longer a thing (ie, Star Trek and you can ask the wall for some food) I do think shortages will always exist.

 

[gorfias]

Trump has in effect already demonstrated he's a poor president.

Our disagreement on this is central to the only real chance Trump has to be re-elected (again). People remember what it was actually like when he was President. His policies actually seemed to help actual Americans. We were (short of Covid to which I though he over-reacted and still does) better off. It is the Biden/Harris regime that seems to spout empty platitudes to the point that "Build Back Better" has turned into "Fix it on day one".

I don't think she is the change candidate. She will be an empty suit for the same people that handled Biden. If you like Biden governance more than Trump's, your choice is clear.

 

[Satinavian]

Our disagreement on this is central to the only real chance Trump has to be re-elected (again).

I think that is the one thing we can all agree on.

I also think Trump was a horrible president.