The Average American is hooked on bad news, worst case situations, and government malfeasance. Shellenberger puts the lie to all of it by a little basic research. And he's a Biden/Clinton Democrat. Think of how much better things might be if the Mainstream media actually did THEIR job instead of trying to attack and polarize their collective audience.
Great talk. I'll disagree about "wasted" ranch land, and I absolutely do not ever again want to live in an urban environment. I live in a rural ag county (and largely state) and there is no "wasted" ranch or farmland except that bought by Hollywood or tech millionaires who have it just because and don't steward it.
This is so great. I am long time Californian, lived here my entire adult life. Michael is one of the few people here in this State that talks about the problems with our out of control homelessness. Thanks!
Is there some way I can get access to the entire video? It seems like it was shortened and stuff was removed. I know you probably shortened it and gave us mainly the "meat" of the talk, but I would like to see the whole talk.
Well Michael, i do believe you are an incredibly smart individual that can weave your way through very complex topics. And I am a student of your ideas. HOWEVER, the fact that you voted for Biden tells me that you were unable to look ahead and see how bad things would get for the future of the country and its people. You had limited exposure to this version of governance in Nicaragua when you were younger. As a young man, I too leaned left having been raised in Cuba. But after my blindfolds were removed at the age of 15, I saw the light of freedom and never turned back. Although we disagree politically, we are in tune otherwise. Thank you amd keep it up.
Thanks Michael. I'm going to send this to all my liberal friends--I mean the 30%-40% with open minds. As far as the energy sector goes, however, I think the debacle with Germany's absurd dependence on natural gas from Russia has begun to open eyes previously shut. Plus the less consequential debacle of California's all-in-on-renewables policy, for Californians anyway. At least the Arizona public had the wisdom to defend their Palo Verde nuclear power station by a 70-30 margin in a ballot initiative in 2018 (despite the foolish promise of all that "free" solar energy available in a desert state.)
But I'm not so sure after hearing Stewart Rhodes's talk about his readiness to attack the Capitol with guns & ammo he & followers had stashed across the Potomac, ready for a word from Trump, that our Republic is not in danger. Sometimes I think Rhodes is just a blowhard; sometimes I think he's a serious threat. I believe regardless of how effective or ineffective he himself may be, that if the insurrectionists had brought firearms to the Capitol there would have been a lot of bloodshed, including among lawmakers, and the rule of law in Washington made a shambles (shambles doesn't necessarily equal coup, but it does mean an horrific, deadly mess).
The problem for the insurrectionists is they were depending on the leadership of Trump, who lacks the discipline and understanding of strategy required to follow through on a successful coup. Nevertheless, you pointed out that successful coups are usually mounted by the lower levels of the military--majors and colonels--and there are certainly ongoing attempts to infiltrate the officer corps in the U.S. military with those who to desire to overthrow the government. The ones we don't hear about are the really dangerous ones--the ones disciplined enough to keep their plans under wraps. They might have been waiting for a deep wedge driven by insurrectionists into the Capitol to make their move. There's enough anti-government feeling being whipped up on the hard right to keep insurrectionist hopes high.
Since I'm talking about Trump and the military, as a Vietnam veteran I have to say just how thoroughly outraged I am by this draft-dodger proclaiming his patriotism and how much he loves America. At Arlington Cemetery, he looked around at the graves of the fallen--casualties not only of Vietnam but also other foreign wars--and wondered aloud what was in it for them. He thinks nothing of the sacrifices others have made for this country. (Even if Vietnam was a mistake--jury still out on that--that's no reason to dismiss the sacrifices of those who BELIEVED they were serving a just cause--patriots, that is.) He would like to have the POWER of the United States to magnify his own, but that's not the same as patriotism.
Sorry for this long interjection, but I would just like to set the record straight for those on this forum, as there seem to be, who have any trust in Donald Trump's love of country.
And your "insurrection" is in ACTUAL FACT a Fedsurrection just like the Michigan Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot, contrived in its entirety by the FBI/Stasi.
Thank you Michael, for articulating a path forward for civilization. It seems that for a couple of decades now our young people have been “educated” to believe that Malthus was correct and so their future is not their own to control. I hope your perspective can become widely adopted.
Thanks for Truth about the Renewable, SCAM. Planet of the Humans - 2019 American environmental documentary film written, directed, and produced by Jeff Gibbs. The film was executively produced by Michael Moore. https://planetofthehumans.com/. Moore and Shellenberger have both been censored by social media for opposing RE. The IRA proves that censorship works, and that the ESG powers have won the $$$ Billions to further destabilize the grid with unreliable electricity, more emissions, and increasing electrical rates sure to lead to further deindustrialization. But, isn't that the malthusian goals fulfilled?
Michael, I've been following you for awhile, I found you through Bret Weinstein. Your recent piece on Common Sense was also great. I live in Portland OR and I want you to come here and do your thing. For real. It's a long shot but let me convince you:
-There's a chance the structure of the city government will change this fall to what I understand would be a much more functional form similar to what other cities use. I'm no expert in politics but nothing can be worse than what we have now, which is almost completely non-functional. This may be a political "ground floor opportunity" as things reorganize here. I wish you were here right now campaigning for the change.
-I've also lived in the Bay and like L.A. the problems are sprawling and big and unwieldy. Portland has the same problems but on a smaller scale, as much of the drug and homeless issues are primarily centered within one city. It seems to me this could be a much more accessible testing ground for your ideas particularly around homelessness, addiction and mental health care. I can't tell you the last time I saw a homeless person here that wasn't clearly suffering from mental health issues.
-People here are completely fed up with the situation, even the liberals. I've lived in SF and in the city they are pretty good at containing the problem to a few neighborhoods (even if the thefts spread out), but here in Portland you have camps right next to schools, overtaking our flagship parks, on side streets, next to a random fence in the middle of a residential neighborhood, even on the edges of wealthier neighborhoods (and with that also comes the violence too). So in my experience it's actually more widespread than in SF, perhaps making more fertile ground for change. Maybe I'm just being too hopeful, but I think the "excessive empathy" liberal is getting their fantasy ideals worn down enough to be ready for real change.
-Without the homeless/drug crisis, Portland is a great city, the "bones" are still pretty good. Sure, housing is an issue here too, and prices are a little too high, but it's still a lot closer to livability for the middle class than almost anywhere in coastal CA. So I think getting reforms done now could potentially keep it where it is, in other words it's not YET too late. Beyond the homeless crisis, basic reforms to housing policy, respect for and refunding for the police (which dismantled their gang task force in 2020 and the murder rate is now 4x higher), continued improvement of transport, etc, would be low-hanging fruit for further improvements. We just need at least ONE competent person up here to get the ball rolling..
-Portland could be a demonstration city for all these reasons.. And city/mayoral races are cheaper to fund than running for governor of CA.. Shellenberger for Portland mayor!
I dig the jump-cutting for the sake of pace. The points are so easily absorbed and it makes clear that there is more detail to be gathered if one wanted to access the full talk (make it avail?). As MS rises in profile, there will undoubtedly be "debunking" of his own debunkings. We'll need to swiftly debunk those in return. Reminds me of what Matt Ridley and Bjorn Lomborg live through day-to-day. MS has now joined that august and very exclusive club: great minds who changed their tune when the evidence suggested it was time. Thinkers beyond tribalism. Boy do we need more of those.
When you walk outside is this what you see? Because when I walk outside I just see a bunch of people that are living their lives. Who say hello how are you? I see a bunch of children playing with each other. I mean right now that is what I see. I don't see the dystopia that you see. I suggest you take a break from the news that is feeding you this propaganda. You seem to be way too caught up in it. This will not be a good thing for you if you don't get away from it. Go meet some people and say hi. Go to a mall or to a zoo or somewhere people are at. Tell me you see any dystopia. Tell me if you see the media lying to you. If indeed that is what you see when you go outside, then you to move buddy.
Really?!? Why are you even here? This blog is about energy & environmental issues, serious and deadly issues facing humanity, while you are off in La-La land, somewhere in the enchanted forest living your dream. Does anything Shellenberger talk about register in your brain? "Oh, none of it matters, relax, take a nice walk in the forest, problem solved, everything is fine, don't worry, be happy, we don't really energy or food to survive, we can survive on happy feelings".
How people feel in their daily lives, what they do for fun, how to live a better life, interact better with people, cooperate more, enjoy nature, yes they are all also important things, and undoubtedly there are thousands of sites you can go to discuss that sort of thing, but that isn't here. We are discussing energy & the environment and the political policies that affect those things. This is not a personal self-help blog. And you know ZERO about how any of us live our lives or what we enjoy or how we interact with people so keep your wild guesses, and two-bit pronouncements to yourself. For all I know you are a deranged Psychopath, that is just not relevant for this discussion.
I agree there are some pretty important things Michael discusses. But this doesn't mean we go off the rails and claim we all face some kind of deadly future. that was the point of the article all along. You are falling into the trap of pessimism. don't do it. Stay positive. that was the point of the article. Yes, work to solve the problems but don't go berserk about it. Your response seems over the edge to me. To claim that "you know ZERO about how any of us live our lives or what we enjoy or how we interact with people so keep your wild guesses, and two-bit pronouncements to yourself" seems unhinged to me. You can't be helpful and unhinged at the same time. cool your jets there torpedo.
How about you don't "go off the rails" and you sound unhinged to me, let's face the facts, you are the only one here who is avoiding the issues and instead launching personal attacks. That is totally unhelpful. So "cool your own jets" and stick to the issues.
And you don't seem to have learned anything from listening to Michael's posts, continuing with our current energy path, the push to wind/solar/agrofuels/hydrogen and away from the effective traditional energy supplies hydro/fossil/nuclear is going to be a disaster for all but the very wealthy. I will suggest that you have no idea how critical energy is for our survival. Do you realize the per capita primary energy supply in the USA is 213kwh/day or 550kwh/day per household. Where do you think that 550kwh will come from? Warm sunshine & cool breezes? You know that if you take that away our civilization crumbles? So it will indeed be a deadly future, just look what happened already in Sri Lanka. That is just a warmup to what will befall all of us if we can't turn this ship around. So my advice to you, and believe me, you need it, is smarten the f*ck up and get serious.
The Average American is hooked on bad news, worst case situations, and government malfeasance. Shellenberger puts the lie to all of it by a little basic research. And he's a Biden/Clinton Democrat. Think of how much better things might be if the Mainstream media actually did THEIR job instead of trying to attack and polarize their collective audience.
AMEN.
Amazingly brave human - people like MS are our way out of this insanity.
I couldn’t respect MS more! Great video.
Great talk. I'll disagree about "wasted" ranch land, and I absolutely do not ever again want to live in an urban environment. I live in a rural ag county (and largely state) and there is no "wasted" ranch or farmland except that bought by Hollywood or tech millionaires who have it just because and don't steward it.
This is so great. I am long time Californian, lived here my entire adult life. Michael is one of the few people here in this State that talks about the problems with our out of control homelessness. Thanks!
Is there some way I can get access to the entire video? It seems like it was shortened and stuff was removed. I know you probably shortened it and gave us mainly the "meat" of the talk, but I would like to see the whole talk.
Nice video format. Currently catching up on your video with Reason.
RE "More people moving into flood zones explains rising cost."
The same trend occurs with areas prone to fires.
P.S. myth spreading abound in the op-ed section of a major CA newspaper today:
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2022-10-06/opinion-dont-blame-californias-homeless-crisis-on-the-democrats
Well Michael, i do believe you are an incredibly smart individual that can weave your way through very complex topics. And I am a student of your ideas. HOWEVER, the fact that you voted for Biden tells me that you were unable to look ahead and see how bad things would get for the future of the country and its people. You had limited exposure to this version of governance in Nicaragua when you were younger. As a young man, I too leaned left having been raised in Cuba. But after my blindfolds were removed at the age of 15, I saw the light of freedom and never turned back. Although we disagree politically, we are in tune otherwise. Thank you amd keep it up.
Thanks Michael. I'm going to send this to all my liberal friends--I mean the 30%-40% with open minds. As far as the energy sector goes, however, I think the debacle with Germany's absurd dependence on natural gas from Russia has begun to open eyes previously shut. Plus the less consequential debacle of California's all-in-on-renewables policy, for Californians anyway. At least the Arizona public had the wisdom to defend their Palo Verde nuclear power station by a 70-30 margin in a ballot initiative in 2018 (despite the foolish promise of all that "free" solar energy available in a desert state.)
But I'm not so sure after hearing Stewart Rhodes's talk about his readiness to attack the Capitol with guns & ammo he & followers had stashed across the Potomac, ready for a word from Trump, that our Republic is not in danger. Sometimes I think Rhodes is just a blowhard; sometimes I think he's a serious threat. I believe regardless of how effective or ineffective he himself may be, that if the insurrectionists had brought firearms to the Capitol there would have been a lot of bloodshed, including among lawmakers, and the rule of law in Washington made a shambles (shambles doesn't necessarily equal coup, but it does mean an horrific, deadly mess).
The problem for the insurrectionists is they were depending on the leadership of Trump, who lacks the discipline and understanding of strategy required to follow through on a successful coup. Nevertheless, you pointed out that successful coups are usually mounted by the lower levels of the military--majors and colonels--and there are certainly ongoing attempts to infiltrate the officer corps in the U.S. military with those who to desire to overthrow the government. The ones we don't hear about are the really dangerous ones--the ones disciplined enough to keep their plans under wraps. They might have been waiting for a deep wedge driven by insurrectionists into the Capitol to make their move. There's enough anti-government feeling being whipped up on the hard right to keep insurrectionist hopes high.
Since I'm talking about Trump and the military, as a Vietnam veteran I have to say just how thoroughly outraged I am by this draft-dodger proclaiming his patriotism and how much he loves America. At Arlington Cemetery, he looked around at the graves of the fallen--casualties not only of Vietnam but also other foreign wars--and wondered aloud what was in it for them. He thinks nothing of the sacrifices others have made for this country. (Even if Vietnam was a mistake--jury still out on that--that's no reason to dismiss the sacrifices of those who BELIEVED they were serving a just cause--patriots, that is.) He would like to have the POWER of the United States to magnify his own, but that's not the same as patriotism.
Sorry for this long interjection, but I would just like to set the record straight for those on this forum, as there seem to be, who have any trust in Donald Trump's love of country.
Nice fantasy, but your Stewart Rhodes is an FBI asset:
https://www.revolver.news/2021/09/january-6th-commission-oath-keeper-stewart-rhodes-bennie-thompson/
And your "insurrection" is in ACTUAL FACT a Fedsurrection just like the Michigan Governor Whitmer kidnapping plot, contrived in its entirety by the FBI/Stasi.
https://www.revolver.news/2021/10/meet-ray-epps-the-fed-protected-provocateur-who-appears-to-have-led-the-very-first-1-6-attack-on-the-u-s-capitol/
Even those on the left, not Trump supporters know the absolute insanity of the Jan 6 fable:
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-histrionics-and-melodrama-around
Did FBI INSTIGATE The January 6 Riots? Jimmy Dore with Convo Couch’s Craig “Pasta” Jardula:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--fTF7zhk4g
Thank you Michael, for articulating a path forward for civilization. It seems that for a couple of decades now our young people have been “educated” to believe that Malthus was correct and so their future is not their own to control. I hope your perspective can become widely adopted.
Interesting data and sober presentation. Well done. We need more centrist, data-driven analysis in this world.
Thanks for Truth about the Renewable, SCAM. Planet of the Humans - 2019 American environmental documentary film written, directed, and produced by Jeff Gibbs. The film was executively produced by Michael Moore. https://planetofthehumans.com/. Moore and Shellenberger have both been censored by social media for opposing RE. The IRA proves that censorship works, and that the ESG powers have won the $$$ Billions to further destabilize the grid with unreliable electricity, more emissions, and increasing electrical rates sure to lead to further deindustrialization. But, isn't that the malthusian goals fulfilled?
Michael, I've been following you for awhile, I found you through Bret Weinstein. Your recent piece on Common Sense was also great. I live in Portland OR and I want you to come here and do your thing. For real. It's a long shot but let me convince you:
-There's a chance the structure of the city government will change this fall to what I understand would be a much more functional form similar to what other cities use. I'm no expert in politics but nothing can be worse than what we have now, which is almost completely non-functional. This may be a political "ground floor opportunity" as things reorganize here. I wish you were here right now campaigning for the change.
-I've also lived in the Bay and like L.A. the problems are sprawling and big and unwieldy. Portland has the same problems but on a smaller scale, as much of the drug and homeless issues are primarily centered within one city. It seems to me this could be a much more accessible testing ground for your ideas particularly around homelessness, addiction and mental health care. I can't tell you the last time I saw a homeless person here that wasn't clearly suffering from mental health issues.
-People here are completely fed up with the situation, even the liberals. I've lived in SF and in the city they are pretty good at containing the problem to a few neighborhoods (even if the thefts spread out), but here in Portland you have camps right next to schools, overtaking our flagship parks, on side streets, next to a random fence in the middle of a residential neighborhood, even on the edges of wealthier neighborhoods (and with that also comes the violence too). So in my experience it's actually more widespread than in SF, perhaps making more fertile ground for change. Maybe I'm just being too hopeful, but I think the "excessive empathy" liberal is getting their fantasy ideals worn down enough to be ready for real change.
-Without the homeless/drug crisis, Portland is a great city, the "bones" are still pretty good. Sure, housing is an issue here too, and prices are a little too high, but it's still a lot closer to livability for the middle class than almost anywhere in coastal CA. So I think getting reforms done now could potentially keep it where it is, in other words it's not YET too late. Beyond the homeless crisis, basic reforms to housing policy, respect for and refunding for the police (which dismantled their gang task force in 2020 and the murder rate is now 4x higher), continued improvement of transport, etc, would be low-hanging fruit for further improvements. We just need at least ONE competent person up here to get the ball rolling..
-Portland could be a demonstration city for all these reasons.. And city/mayoral races are cheaper to fund than running for governor of CA.. Shellenberger for Portland mayor!
Awesome talk - it should have millions and millions of views, record setting views.
I dig the jump-cutting for the sake of pace. The points are so easily absorbed and it makes clear that there is more detail to be gathered if one wanted to access the full talk (make it avail?). As MS rises in profile, there will undoubtedly be "debunking" of his own debunkings. We'll need to swiftly debunk those in return. Reminds me of what Matt Ridley and Bjorn Lomborg live through day-to-day. MS has now joined that august and very exclusive club: great minds who changed their tune when the evidence suggested it was time. Thinkers beyond tribalism. Boy do we need more of those.
When you walk outside is this what you see? Because when I walk outside I just see a bunch of people that are living their lives. Who say hello how are you? I see a bunch of children playing with each other. I mean right now that is what I see. I don't see the dystopia that you see. I suggest you take a break from the news that is feeding you this propaganda. You seem to be way too caught up in it. This will not be a good thing for you if you don't get away from it. Go meet some people and say hi. Go to a mall or to a zoo or somewhere people are at. Tell me you see any dystopia. Tell me if you see the media lying to you. If indeed that is what you see when you go outside, then you to move buddy.
Really?!? Why are you even here? This blog is about energy & environmental issues, serious and deadly issues facing humanity, while you are off in La-La land, somewhere in the enchanted forest living your dream. Does anything Shellenberger talk about register in your brain? "Oh, none of it matters, relax, take a nice walk in the forest, problem solved, everything is fine, don't worry, be happy, we don't really energy or food to survive, we can survive on happy feelings".
How people feel in their daily lives, what they do for fun, how to live a better life, interact better with people, cooperate more, enjoy nature, yes they are all also important things, and undoubtedly there are thousands of sites you can go to discuss that sort of thing, but that isn't here. We are discussing energy & the environment and the political policies that affect those things. This is not a personal self-help blog. And you know ZERO about how any of us live our lives or what we enjoy or how we interact with people so keep your wild guesses, and two-bit pronouncements to yourself. For all I know you are a deranged Psychopath, that is just not relevant for this discussion.
I agree there are some pretty important things Michael discusses. But this doesn't mean we go off the rails and claim we all face some kind of deadly future. that was the point of the article all along. You are falling into the trap of pessimism. don't do it. Stay positive. that was the point of the article. Yes, work to solve the problems but don't go berserk about it. Your response seems over the edge to me. To claim that "you know ZERO about how any of us live our lives or what we enjoy or how we interact with people so keep your wild guesses, and two-bit pronouncements to yourself" seems unhinged to me. You can't be helpful and unhinged at the same time. cool your jets there torpedo.
How about you don't "go off the rails" and you sound unhinged to me, let's face the facts, you are the only one here who is avoiding the issues and instead launching personal attacks. That is totally unhelpful. So "cool your own jets" and stick to the issues.
And you don't seem to have learned anything from listening to Michael's posts, continuing with our current energy path, the push to wind/solar/agrofuels/hydrogen and away from the effective traditional energy supplies hydro/fossil/nuclear is going to be a disaster for all but the very wealthy. I will suggest that you have no idea how critical energy is for our survival. Do you realize the per capita primary energy supply in the USA is 213kwh/day or 550kwh/day per household. Where do you think that 550kwh will come from? Warm sunshine & cool breezes? You know that if you take that away our civilization crumbles? So it will indeed be a deadly future, just look what happened already in Sri Lanka. That is just a warmup to what will befall all of us if we can't turn this ship around. So my advice to you, and believe me, you need it, is smarten the f*ck up and get serious.