Sunday, March 3, 2013
Sunday Question for Liberals
Same one as the question for conservatives: What is the most important story that the press (that is, the neutral or "mainstream" press) is ignoring or drastically underplaying right now?
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Climate change. You see it from time to time, esp. after a big storm or in the science section, but "underplaying" is relative to a normative baseline, and the press should be making it a front-page story.
ReplyDeleteIn 100 years, no one will care what we did with the various cliffs and ceilings and whatnot that are occupying our attention. They'll be wondering why it wasn't the great issue of the day.
Absolutely agree. Except "100 years" could be "50 years" or sooner.
DeleteAbsolutely agree. Except 50 years could be 20 years or ten years.
DeleteThe big one is of course man-made global warming. Second would be high unemployment made worse by governments practicing austerity in contradiction of decades of economic theory and history and central banks unnecessarily targeting inflation rates much lower than we had during the strong expansions of the '60s, '80s, and '90s.
ReplyDeleteClimate change, definitely. The fact that we're all supposed to be worried about the budget deficit and climate change is considered a fringe issue is insane.
ReplyDeleteenvironment, the Keystone Pipeline and fracking. I don't think we know nearly enough about the possible repercussions of all that is being done to our environment and that does play into climate change.
ReplyDeletejobs, infrastructure investment, and research
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with infrastructure, because I believe it gets even less coverage than that other worthy, climate change.
ReplyDeleteThis is a smidge of a stretch, but I'll also give a nod to the idea that deterrence is a viable approach to Iranian nukes.
right you are, sir, by my humble estimation.
DeleteI like the infrastructure responses. The #1 for me here in Canada is our north/south divide; #2 would be infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Ron E. and others. Climate change and the need for growth-oriented rather than deficit-oriented fiscal policy.
ReplyDelete1. The gutting of the Bill of Rights in 21st Century America.
ReplyDelete2. The unsustainable Empire.
3. and as several others have rightly noted, the unsustainable fossil fuel economy.
No one for Michelle Obama's bangs? I just can't get enough coverage of that!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the problem is that global warming is not covered enough. The problem is how it is covered: as a controversy (Who knows who's right?) rather than a scientific fact.
But I think the biggest issue facing us is income inequality. Does anyone doubt that in a more equal nation we would have a reasonable discussion of what to do about the fact of climate change? The issue is that there are people who are making billions off destroying the planet. But don't worry: once there is large scale dislocation, increased famine, and ever worsening environment related death, the rich will be nice and comfy in air conditioned houses in gated communities with 24 hour guards.
But if I were a conservative: Benghazi! Or perhaps Bo's birth certificate: Portuguese Water Dog? Right!
ReplyDelete(Actually, I haven't looked, but I'm with the serious conservatives on the targeted killing and all that.)
The overcrowding and abusive conditions of our prison system.
ReplyDeleteThe overcrowding and abusive conditions of our prison system.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of explicitly political US news, I think the Republican party's systematic attempts to make it harder for many Americans to vote (especially Americans of color) remains underreported.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of broader stories I'd go with what's happening in the oceans, including the coming changes in fishing, and the availability of fish to eat .
The impact of shrinking government spending on GDP growth and employment.
ReplyDeleteThe underplayed story is the deeply bankrupt and contradictory philosophy of conservatives. They have the anti-government Tea Party, a significant portion of who receive checks in the mail for Medicare or Social Security, and all of whom depend on government services for nearly every aspect of their life. But they don't realize this, or are able to deny it, because so many government services work so well, that they are completely transparent or hidden to the beneficiary. Things like the enforcement of contracts or a non-corrupt judiciary. Conservatives denigrate government and actually work to destroy it with little to no understanding of how completely dependent on it they are, and the media continually fails to call them on this great big lie.
ReplyDelete...and of course you have the theocrat/plutocrat merger, I don't know how we let them get away with that.
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