The miserableness in America, the lack of accountability, empathy and critical thinking, Energy Char

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Episode description

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Episode description

The miserableness in America, the lack of accountability, empathy and critical thinking, Energy Charter Treaty, the climate apocalypse, China buying American farmland, and American scraping.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."—Aristotle

The miserableness in America, the lack of accountability, empathy and critical thinking. U.S. is always reactionary rather than proactive. The general populous here in America just seems downright miserable. EVERYBODY seems to be suffering from a physical ailment, a mental health struggle, or both and everyone has a fuse about an inch long. People are bitter, angry, and antagonistic to each other. I'm seeing people ready to chop each other's heads off over the most minor inconveniences, burdens and opinions.

Energy Charter Treaty - source
It allows corporations to sue governments for billions if they pass climate laws that hinder the exploitation of fossil fuels, like the Netherlands got sued for 1.4B Euros for trying to pass a law phasing out coal. The treaty applies till 20 years after you leave it.

Welcome to the Climate Apocalypse. (It will get worse.) - source
A record-hot June; the rain-soaked July; the smoke-tinged skies and eerily orange sun — that made you wonder if this might be more than a random, rotten run of very bad news. “We are absolutely seeing the face of climate change in these extremes,” said Jennifer Francis, senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. “As awful as these events are, they are helping people to realize that they’re being affected by climate change today. This is not a global warming story of the gradual warming of the planet on average. This is the much more personal impact of climate change.”

CHINA WILL OWN EVERYTHING
China buying American farmland - source
China is buying up American farms. Washington wants to crack down. Bipartisan pressure is building to stop foreign nationals from purchasing American farm operations and receiving taxpayer subsidies. By the start of 2020, Chinese owners controlled about 192,000 agricultural acres in the U.S., worth $1.9 billion, including land used for farming, ranching and forestry, according to the Agriculture Department.

VICE: Season Two Episode 3 (2014) - source
Cities like Detroit and Cleveland are at the forefront of a new phenomenon: scrapping. People left behind are literally ripping apart old schools, houses, hospitals and factories for raw materials to hawk to local scrap yards for cash. Scrap metal is one of the United States’ biggest exports, with billions of dollars’ worth traveling to China every year, where it’s invested in their infrastructure. The price for a pound of copper, for example, is about five times more than it was in 2002. Correspondent David Choe looks at the life cycle of scrap metal, from the people who risk their lives to find it, to the yards that buy it, all the way to the Chinese traders who take it back home to build their economy and to sell back to the U.S. at a higher profit.