krowe hates capitalism

One time we were reading about Hitler’s nazi regime in English class, and the teacher began class by telling us that the school was going forward with some changes to the class structures. He told us “problem children” were going to be picked out of certain classes and put in their own separate classes as not to disrupt the flow of the more “well-behaved” students’ learning experience. Being middle-schoolers, we were all like Uh Oh! Let’s hope it’s not me! I don’t want to get a call sent to my parents!

My teacher then proceeded to name the student in our class who was going to be separated, a kid named Grant. Mind you, Grant had astounding marks, to the point he graduated middle school with some of the highest in our grade. Grant was a little loud, a little chatty, sure, but he respected authority and knew when it was appropriate to shut up, and when it was appropriate to speak. Well-mannered, but popular, and had a decently sized friend group in every class we shared.

Everyone kinda went quiet and held their breath when they heard my teacher say this. Everyone really liked Grant. Even me, who barely spoke to him. He was chill, he was nice, and some kids shared some puzzled looks wondering, ‘really? Grant? Of all students?’ There were certainly worse attitudes in class, certainly worse influences, and they were much easier to pick out, with worse marks and whatnot. Hell, I had some internal complaints. What about Kevin! Kevin’s an asshole! Kick HIM out!

Silence all around the class. Not a word. Some aghast looks, but NOTHING out of anyone’s mouth. A few minutes into my teacher’s explanation about where Grant was headed after class, Grant starts to tear up and nearly starts bawling his eyes out in front of everyone. And for good reason! He’s a good kid! He doesn’t deserve this, and everyone knew it!

The teacher has a defeated look in his eyes, and shakes his head, telling Grant not to worry, and hands him some tissues. He apologizes, saying this is the first time a student has cried during this specific lesson. Everyone is confused. Lesson? The hell were we meant to learn from that? “Yeah that was weird.” “I didn’t believe you at first.” “Why would you pick Grant?” Questions and concerns rung out from my peers. My teacher explained.

“You were all complacent in his punishment. Not a single one of you spoke up when given the chance, even thought you all knew he was one of the least likely to be singled out.”

“I mean, I THOUGHT of saying something-“ began one student.

“But you didn’t.” Replied the teacher. “You listened blindly to what you were being told because it came from an authority figure. It came from someone you respected, and in the end had the majority of you turned against someone who was previously a friend, just because I said so. Just because I had you convinced they were a ‘problem’. Let this be a lesson to you all. Hitler’s rise to power was not so obvious to those being affected by it. His rise to power was slow and gradual, was executive order after order, was built to have everyone turn against who he said was the enemy, and a good amount of the public didn’t even realize it.”

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day, or that teacher. I hope he’s doing well, and he continues to teach lessons like this. It was very eye-opening to young me. And i think it’s still very relevant today, and will always be.

I said something during the interview that the interviewer seemed really shocked by, so in case it's important for anyone else to hear: When asked about the rock snake and some scavenger hunts that I've hosted for adults, I said -

"We don't stop enjoying the things we liked as kids; they just stop being offered to us. And when you're a kid, fun things like art projects and scavenger hunts are always brought to you, so you're not taught to make a habit of seeking them out as and adult."

She said "Wow yeah... life is so stressful... and you don't think to... wow."

VIA Palestinian Youth Movement

Are you giving us the same grace? Showing us the same love? Creating space for us in your communities? Do you tell racists that their behavior is unacceptable? Do you listen when we point out microaggressions? Do you care about anti-racism?

heres a comic i drew about my anxiety w/ socializing as an autistic/adhd/neurodivergent person

plus an edit i added when i felt better

No paywall version here.

"Two and a half years ago, when I was asked to help write the most authoritative report on climate change in the United States, I hesitated...

In the end, I said yes, but reluctantly. Frankly, I was sick of admonishing people about how bad things could get. Scientists have raised the alarm over and over again, and still the temperature rises. Extreme events like heat waves, floods and droughts are becoming more severe and frequent, exactly as we predicted they would. We were proved right. It didn’t seem to matter.

Our report, which was released on Tuesday, contains more dire warnings. There are plenty of new reasons for despair. Thanks to recent scientific advances, we can now link climate change to specific extreme weather disasters, and we have a better understanding of how the feedback loops in the climate system can make warming even worse. We can also now more confidently forecast catastrophic outcomes if global emissions continue on their current trajectory.

But to me, the most surprising new finding in the Fifth National Climate Assessment is this: There has been genuine progress, too.

I’m used to mind-boggling numbers, and there are many of them in this report. Human beings have put about 1.6 trillion tons of carbon in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution — more than the weight of every living thing on Earth combined. But as we wrote the report, I learned other, even more mind-boggling numbers. In the last decade, the cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar has declined 90 percent. Renewables now make up 80 percent of new electricity generation capacity. Our country’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, even as our G.D.P. and population grow.

In the report, we were tasked with projecting future climate change. We showed what the United States would look like if the world warms by 2 degrees Celsius. It wasn’t a pretty picture: more heat waves, more uncomfortably hot nights, more downpours, more droughts. If greenhouse emissions continue to rise, we could reach that point in the next couple of decades. If they fall a little, maybe we can stave it off until the middle of the century. But our findings also offered a glimmer of hope: If emissions fall dramatically, as the report suggested they could, we may never reach 2 degrees Celsius at all.

For the first time in my career, I felt something strange: optimism.

And that simple realization was enough to convince me that releasing yet another climate report was worthwhile.

Something has changed in the United States, and not just the climate. State, local and tribal governments all around the country have begun to take action. Some politicians now actually campaign on climate change, instead of ignoring or lying about it. Congress passed federal climate legislation — something I’d long regarded as impossible — in 2022 as we turned in the first draft.

[Note: She's talking about the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act, which despite the names were the two biggest climate packages passed in US history. And their passage in mid 2022 was a big turning point: that's when, for the first time in decades, a lot of scientists started looking at the numbers - esp the ones that would come from the IRA's funding - and said "Wait, holy shit, we have an actual chance."]

And while the report stresses the urgency of limiting warming to prevent terrible risks, it has a new message, too: We can do this. We now know how to make the dramatic emissions cuts we’d need to limit warming, and it’s very possible to do this in a way that’s sustainable, healthy and fair.

The conversation has moved on, and the role of scientists has changed. We’re not just warning of danger anymore. We’re showing the way to safety.

I was wrong about those previous reports: They did matter, after all. While climate scientists were warning the world of disaster, a small army of scientists, engineers, policymakers and others were getting to work. These first responders have helped move us toward our climate goals. Our warnings did their job.

To limit global warming, we need many more people to get on board... We need to reach those who haven’t yet been moved by our warnings. I’m not talking about the fossil fuel industry here; nor do I particularly care about winning over the small but noisy group of committed climate deniers. But I believe we can reach the many people whose eyes glaze over when they hear yet another dire warning or see another report like the one we just published.

The reason is that now, we have a better story to tell. The evidence is clear: Responding to climate change will not only create a better world for our children and grandchildren, but it will also make the world better for us right now.

Eliminating the sources of greenhouse gas emissions will make our air and water cleaner, our economy stronger and our quality of life better. It could save hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives across the country through air quality benefits alone. Using land more wisely can both limit climate change and protect biodiversity. Climate change most strongly affects communities that get a raw deal in our society: people with low incomes, people of color, children and the elderly. And climate action can be an opportunity to redress legacies of racism, neglect and injustice.

I could still tell you scary stories about a future ravaged by climate change, and they’d be true, at least on the trajectory we’re currently on. But it’s also true that we have a once-in-human-history chance not only to prevent the worst effects but also to make the world better right now. It would be a shame to squander this opportunity. So I don’t just want to talk about the problems anymore. I want to talk about the solutions. Consider this your last warning from me."