Author Archives: Nicole Sanders

By now we have all heard about the climate crisis–from wildfires devastating wineries in the West; to buildings that can no longer be insured in Florida; to the inability of Chicago to deal with its waste because water levels in Lake Michigan have begun swinging wildly. It is clear that climate change is here and now, everywhere in the world. Rich nations will not be immune.
Climate change has affected me personally. The entire neighborhood of my childhood was demolished in the wake of the 2008 flood. It was about 20 homes, situated on an island where there had always been flooding. Still, it brought it home. Climate change is real here in Iowa. The rich productivity of the land here relied on a cycle of cold winters with heavy snows and hot humid summers. The harsh winters and hot summers made Iowa a difficult place to live in, but they also made the corn grow. Now, every winter, the snowfall is less. Every summer it floods more. Farmers here are increasingly dependent on GMO crops. The moral of the story: no one anywhere is unaffected by climate change.
And that leads to the real crisis behind climate change–a crisis far harder to deal with even than the droughts and floods that threaten entire industries. It is a crisis of confidence in science, a crisis of critical thinking. I can look out at my life–my childhood home, my community’s farmers, and see the threat of climate change. But there are people around me that can’t. How can people mistrust not only science, but evidence in their everyday lives?
One of the primary functions of government is to overcome the destructive human propensity to want to be told that a complex threat either isn’t real or that it won’t affect them personally. It is a universal human tendency, but one that must be addressed in order to maintain a democracy. Building a functional democratic society requies telling people what they don’t want to hear. It is hard, but no gain in climate science will mean anything until the eletment of human psychology is overcome. Government can and must ways to overcome this human tendency. This ethic has been largely forgotten in America.
The question that needs to be asked most right now is not how do we go about the mechanics of slowing and eventually stopping climate change–we know how to do that. The technology and the know-how largely exist. What absolutely has to happen for us to overcome it, is to address the propensity in all of us to believe someone when they are telling us what we want to hear. The enemy is not nature or even the carbon we are putting into the air–the enemy is something that exists in all of us.

As the tragic events in Jerusalem play out Biden’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has come into question.  It is understandable why Biden might reach the point of just not wanting to address the Israeli-Palestinian question.  A solution to this problem has evaded generations of American and world leaders.  But there is a moral imperative.  For one, the terrible loss of life; but it is also wrong for a place with so much significance to so many to not be a place of peace.  The seat of the three Abrahamic faiths should not be a place of violence and bloodshed, but a place where all can worship in peace.  

       There is room for condemnation on both sides.  It is never permissible, under any circumstance, to target innocent civilians in rocket attacks.  However, what is needed is clear heads and a willingness to do what is needed to end the conflict, rather than the constant back and forth blame laying.  The rightness or wrongness of Hamas is not what is at stake.  

Israel is allowing a powerful but exceedingly small minority to control the fate of the conflict.  Of course, Ultra-Orthodox Jews have a real and very deep connection to a sacred land.  But, the global community cannot automatically place their attachment to this land above that of their neighbors.  The issue at stake is how to remove from the conflict a group of people who are unwilling or incapable of reaching peace.  If the Ultra-Orthodox were to be forced to back down, the power of Hamas might be very much diminished, bringing a solution to a seemingly impossible conflict.

This is where the US and the world community could step in.  Biden faces a terrible problem, but he also has a tremendous opportunity.  It is an excellent moment to turn to the Haredi minority who are provocative and violating the human rights of Palestinians and make it clear that if they do not change the way they approach the conflict, they cannot remain part of the process.   This is the right moment to confront the Netanyahu administration.  The world community cannot afford to allow his administration to gain political advantage by empowering people who are too radical in their religious beliefs to accept a world where everyone has equal rights.

       Jews can maintain a connection to the land that does not disregard the shared humanity of their Palestinian neighbors.  The legal arguments being used to evict Palestinians from their homes are not only discriminatory, they are senseless.  There is an imperative in Judaism for respecting the right of people to remain in their homes.  There is no place in any faith for simply disregarding the faith of another.  There is no just cause to cater to one small minority who cannot put peace above a connection to a sacred land.

The red meat conspiracy theory shows us just how much the Biden administration is up against, and it portents a potential series of serious crises.  The idea took hold quickly and a new media environment amplified it in minutes.  The retractions from Fox are irrelevant and duplicitous.  By the time the retraction was in place, the misinformation had already spread.    

            Meanwhile, the world goes on.  There are so many problems that must be addressed and addressed quickly.   Take, for example, the crisis in India.   But, while hundreds of thousands die our attention must turn to combat people lying about red meat.  This is not to say that we should or can ignore.  It is to say that in the long term the damage done may very well be that every proposal, every step forward, every initiative we have needed for years, presents another battle with another conspiracy theory.  The constant cycle of good proposal, conspiracy theory, attempt at retraction, retraction being too late, leading to yet another conspiracy theory must be stopped.  It is going to be next to impossible to get anything done stopping with every new proposal or solution to focus on the latest conspiracy theory.  

This is a moment in world history for immediate action.  Waiting will have terrible consequences.  This is true not only of climate change but a whole host of other priorities.  We need jobs, a resilient power grid, to have infrastructure rebuilt, and voting rights restored.  Waiting is not an option.  We cannot slow down every time for yet another Republican who seeks only to obfuscate for their own political advantage–or who resistant any change no matter how much it is a bipartisan issue.  It comes down to this: how much will Biden have to slow down, and what will be the consequences be if he cannot maintain momentum in the face of lawmakers and constituents so consumed with destructive ideas that they cannot be part of the solution?

This is the most singular problem of the alt-right.  Time and attention must be spent on people for whom solving problems is not a priority.  Whether it is wearing masks or red meat, the problem remains the same, and so does the solution. America will have to build a citizenry resistant to misinformation.  This solution won’t be easy.  But it is needed more now than ever.

We should all breathe a sigh of relief at the guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial.  It seems, at last, there is some measure of accountability for the way that police in America conduct themselves when they interact with minority communities.  But let us hope that no one believes the fight is over.  Chauvin was one man, and even as his guilty verdict was handed down, yet another Black teenager was shot by police.   On the one hand, the Chauvin verdict makes it clear that there are limits to what American society is willing to allow its police to do.  It is, indeed, an indication that America may be ready to truly come to understand that the lives of all its citizens should matter, not only a privileged few.  But deterring police crimes against Black and brown Americans will be more complicated than one verdict. 

       The root causes of this kind of conflict are not easily addressed.  The psychology behind leaving your knee on the neck of a man for over 9 minutes is complicated.  It takes a lot for a human being to get to that point, and even more to reach people that far gone.  There will have to be a deeper reckoning; there will have to be genuine soul searching.  Laws are a beginning, something to build on, but the ultimate answer lies in changing attitudes and beliefs.  That will be harder, but it must be done.  In the long run, the only way to prevent crimes like the murder of George Floyd will be addressing the racist belief systems inherent in each American.  As the movement goes forward the critical question will not be one of law enforcement, but whether Americans can come together around at last ending the deep-seated racism which is a stain on the American identity. 

What happens next is absolutely crucial.  Will the movement gain momentum?  Will America see that trying and convicting one man when so many have died is not enough?  Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer, pointed out on Minnesota Public Radio. “…this moment didn’t happen because the system worked…”  If anything, the system initially acted against justice for George Floyd.  Had it not been for the cellphone footage of a teenage girl, the murder of George Floyd may have been just another statistic.  This is a moment of relief, but I do not know that it should be a moment of exaltation, not yet.  

As Biden unveils his infrastructure plan, I am struck by how much of it is business as usual.  I am grateful Biden won, but I am concerned about the direction his administration is taking, or not taking.  Yes, infrastructure is a very important priority, especially considering that part of Biden’s package will finally move the country forward on addressing climate change.  However, the way Biden is approaching this conflict has me worried.  He seems to be non-cognizant of just how much pushback he is going to receive from the alt-right.  There is nothing wrong with seeking bi-partisan support, Biden should be credited with doing that.  But there is a fine line between wanting bi-partisan support and being out of focus about the danger that Trumpism still poses.  

Instead of taking the alt-right head on Biden has sidestepped the most important issues in the name of finding common ground.  Biden is losing focus on what the country really needs and why it needs it.  There are things even more important than work on clean energy and climate change.  But how the country goes about doing them is even more important.  Biden can fix bridges and build bridges between parties, but can he stand up and condemn the ideas of the alt-right that are catapulting toward organized bigotry?  It’s not his policies, it is a matter of attitude.  Now is a moment in American history for forceful leadership.   Will Biden remain silent in the name of building consensus?    The most important thing to do now is to confront the people who are refusing to cooperate not just because of their views about the infrastructure bill but because there is something more fundamentally wrong with the way they think about the world.   I wish Biden would take this opportunity to really go after the underlying causes of people’s unwillingness to support a bill that is critical to the health of the nation.  Consensus cannot be reached with conspiracy theorists.  And trying to achieve consensus with conspiracy theorists borders on a policy of appeasement. 

Let us not forget that Trump nearly won the last election.  Had it not been for his bungling of the Covid epidemic there reasonably could have been a different outcome. Trumpism is not going to go away. Now the alt-right are poised to take the country back down a dark road.  

The case of Kristine Hostetter presents one of the most difficult and important tests of freedom of speech in our polarized American political environment.  Whether this woman should be allowed to keep her post is not a simple matter.  It is a question of reasonability.  And, questions of reasonability are hard to answer.  But the line must be drawn, and it must hold fast; or we legitimize the very ideas we seek to combat.  Democratic nations remain democratic only when they distinguish between the reasonable opinions of those engaging in the democratic process, and individuals who espouse beliefs which, although protected speech, represent a danger to the democratic process.  

It is important to ensure that the opinions of Trump supporters are respected.  If we fail to do that we lend credence to conspiracy theories, which though bizarre and absurd, are nonetheless becoming more widely believed.  If we fail to respect the rights of conspiracy theorists, we give them ammunition to spread their dangerous ideas.   Democracies need places where people who have dangerous anti-democratic ideas express themselves.   

However, that place is not in a school.  Education is the single most important thing that keeps American democracy healthy and resilient.  There is no more important function of government.  Can a conspiracy theorist educate children to become citizens who are actively a part of the business of government?  No.  This is not a hypothetical.  Hostetter’s school is being pushed (rightly so) to address racism.  Combating bigotry in a scholastic environment is the most important citizen activism anybody in any democracy needs to do.  A conspiracy theorist cannot be a part of that process.  Ultimately, there’s no place for conspiracy theories in the establishments that educate our young citizens. 

Often, it seems, the conspiracy theorists who are supporters of Trump avoid being labeled racist.  But, whether or not a conspiracy theorist is racist is moot.  Conspiracy theories themselves are dangerous and they will inevitably morph into dangerous forms of bigotry if left to fester.  This process has already begun in America.  Margorie Taylor Greene has espoused the idea that Jews have formed a cabal to emit lasers from outer space.  History has taught us what becomes of a society that fails to address people who abandon facts and immerse themselves in theories devoid of reality.   We would not tolerate a teacher who was openly Neo-Nazi.  Quanon may be different, but it is not less dangerous, and it may not remain different very long.

This time Biden hit the nail on the head–”Neanderthal.”  There could not be a better word for it.  The entire world is tired of coronavirus.  Everyone wants life to return to normal.  And it almost makes a little bit of sense that so many livelihoods have disappeared and there are incredible negative impacts on everyone’s mental health.  But to walk away from the simple act of wearing a mask shows a deep lack of critical thinking.  Wearing a mask is so simple. 

There is something deeper at work here, and more sinister.  After everything that has happened, all the people who have died, all the devastation of communities across the nation, there are still people in authority, high authority, who refuse to accept the scientific realities of Covid-19. One of the greatest threats to America is a group of people who cannot accept medical fact.  And, if anything, this group is growing.

There is a lot more at stake than just Codvid-19.  This crisis is one of many crises that America faces–everything from childhood obesity to gun violence to opioid addiction.  All of which require a commitment to science.  A belief in science, a willingness to accept science, is critical to American identity.  The lifting of this mask mandate is one instance of a broader assault on the value of science, its role in government, and its role in society at large.  Facts matter.  All societies need to integrate science into political decision-making.

The decisions of governor Abbot, and the popularity that he retains, say something about the importance of people stepping up and working to remove these politicians from office.  The only permanent solution is to get people like this out of power.  Without that, over the long term, these crises will become increasingly insurmountable.  As long as people like governor Abbot remain in positions of such power, America has no future. 

There has been progress, good progress.  There are many people within Texas and other states sounding the alarm, many of them from minority communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19.  The Biden administration is doing the right thing, bringing good people into the administration and listening to them. However, meanwhile, there are challenges that are going nowhere.  The chosen ignorance of a few, unwilling to do the most basic of things, makes the rest of us even less safe than we already were.  I can only imagine just how angry good people in Texas must really be.

The coronavirus will eventually ebb.  There will be vaccines and life will return to normal.  But, long after the pandemic finally ends, there will be laws on the books in Republcian controlled states that restrict voting.  They are designed to make it hard for the people who most need to vote to make their voices heard.  The Republicans have even dispensed with their false arguments of voter fraud, and as much as said that they want to change the rules because they feel that they have something to gain from people not voting.  Two things stand out to me.  One, we are dealing with people who just don’t want to play by the rules. Two, Trump’s supporters  in congress care nothing about the people they allegedly represent.  The reality is that everybody loses when people don’t vote. 

  The only thing that will come of these laws is people who would have otherwise participated in their government will become disillusioned.  There is nothing more important to a democracy than the participation of its citizens.  Without that, there is simply no way any democracy can remain healthy.   

Over the long term Republicans will pay a high price for voter suppression; it will eat away at their ability to turn out their own voters.  Eventually, many Republicans will distance themselves from this legislation.  But in the meantime ten of thousands of voters of all persuasions will be negatively affected.   The Republcan party must decide if it is a political party, or the political instrument of one man determined to undermine democratic governance.  A complete fracture of the Republican party may be the only way forward for conservatives in America.  True conservatives will have to find a way to distance themselves from people who at heart want to incite violence.  Will the Republican party be a democratic movement, or succumb to people with racist and anti-democratic agendas? 

 What America needs now is leaders committed to the democratic process.  Without that, elected officials represent only their own interests.  America will recover from the coronavirus.  The question is whether American democracy can withstand its own voting laws.

Now we know the real reason for the terrible power outages in Texas–massive deregulation of the energy industry.  What stands out most is how preventable this crisis was.  But for the attitudes of some of its citizens concerning “energy independence,” it never would have happened.  The problem is that all of America’s infrastructure is interconnected.  There is no way that Texas or any other state can shut itself off.  Cooperation instead of arrogance is crucial.  So is accepting the reality of climate change.  America must face this issue head on today, not wait until another tragic extreme weather event causes yet more unnecessary deaths.  

There is, of course, hope.  The Biden plan and America’s reentry into the Paris climate accords are reasons for optimism. However, I am only cautiously optimistic.  It is very clear that the people Governor Abbot represents are not going to back down when it comes to climate science.  Without the support of Republican governors, it is going to be difficult for Biden to implement his plan.  I sincerely hope that the president realizes what kind of opposition he will be facing, and that he has a plan in place for how he is going to counter it.  Otherwise, his plan will stall.  Implementation will be hard.  My fear is that the Biden administration will believe that their plan is so common sense that they won’t anticipate Republican pushback and will be caught off guard.  After all, Governor Abbot and his allies in the fossil fuel industry showed just how far they are willing to go in spreading disinformation when they blamed wind power for the energy crisis in Texas.

Being a peacemaker and deal maker in Washington isn’t going to be easy.  I am not convinced his approach will work.  So far, Biden has too often stayed silent.  It is good that the country will not face constant chaos and divisive remarks.  But, Trump being gone will not be enough.  Climate change will be the first and one of the most important tests of Biden’s ability to deal with disinformation from the alt-right.  I hope he will, but am not necessarily that hopeful.  I am concerned that the task before Biden is much more difficult than he is anticipating.  The most important question: will his team be able to cut through the denial and get enough of the country on board?  A one vote margin in the senate isn’t going to be enough.  Biden will have the very difficult task of making sure there is enough popular support for his agenda.  Ultimately, he faces the problem of too many Americans being taken in by climate deniers.  And that is a problem with no easy answers.

Mike Thompson, a state senator in Kansas, recently wrote, “This [the power outages in Texas] is why the expansion of renewables is dangerous.”  Apparently, we are supposed to be afraid of windmills.  We should not be surprised that once again so-called “conservatives” are spreading disinformation.  But, this is particularly hypocritical.  To say that wind power is to blame for a failure of the power grid that is a symptom of the greater disease of climate change is deplorable.   It says something about what people who care about the future of America are up against.  Until enough people come to grips with reality, the world community will not be able to do the things necessary to combat climate change.  So, for those of us that want something done, what is our next move?

It starts with the recognition that there are those who are so consumed with conspiracy theories that they will never be reached. However, there is a group of people that can be reached, a group that rejects conspiracy theories.  The task is to find those individuals and organize them.  Without this, all hope for real action on climate is gone.   Words can be dangerous.  But, that means they are powerful.  

My fear is that not enough progressives (and moderates not in denial about what the world faces) aren’t saying enough loud enough; that now that the Democrats are in power people will become lax.   Without Trump to unite everyone, there is a danger of complacency.  Think of how many people voted for Trump, and more importantly why they voted for Trump.  Just because progressives managed to get one man out of the white house, doesn’t mean we can let our guard down, because the problem is far greater than one man.  Never has America ever been headed in a more dangerous direction.   

Climate change is a perfect example.  The alt-right is once again mobilizing to keep people from mobilizing.  While they proclaim “All is well,” the nation faces serious problems that are going nowhere, and getting a little worse everyday they go unaddressed.  While the alt-right spreads disinformation, our forests burn and people die in the cold.  As we reflect back on the controversies this storm has generated, let us remember that we can and must combat disinformation.  It will take a lot of effort to get out of the hole America has dug for itself.  Change, real change, must come now, right now.