Column: California wildfires to Florida hurricanes, how the rich game climate change: The people who will see the most devastating consequences are very rich and very influential:
The U.S. is currently experiencing an extraordinary amount of change in every field imaginable. In the public world, this change is often in response to perceived problems; but in the personal world, it comes about as a result of decisions made without considering the long term consequences.
This is the world I know. Now my daughter is gone (6 months), and my son has gotten married. My wife is on maternity leave. They are both going to school. I am not. I have a lot of work to do.
This is not necessarily a new view; this is the view we have always had of ourselves. My daughter and son are no longer here to keep my eye on me. I don’t really have any friends now, and I have a bunch of people I used to know, but I’m not all that close to anymore. I don’t really have any money; I don’t really have any influence; I’m more of a liability than an asset.
It turns out that, as far as the general public is concerned, I may be worse than the worst person in the history of the species.
The rich – and the rich-that-matter – often get their way in times of change. There are a lot of wealthy people who love climate change and a lot of them think that the rich should pay more to offset the damage and suffering that climate change will cause.
For me, an example of this are the wildfires in California.
If your house burns down because you didn’t have a fire extinguisher, the insurance company will probably demand that you pay double, instead of just paying out of pocket.
If you don’t live in the USA, you may be able to live with the wildfires in California, but they will not affect all of the states in the USA equally. The fires are still going, but they aren’t all the same.