So, I am feeling pretty hopeless about it all

[scarletlib]

Nothing but bad news everyday. I think our country-USA-is being destroyed by the bush regime and the power structure in D.C.

But what really gets me down is the future of the earth. No one is doing anything substantial about global climate change. I am old enough now that I will not be here (or feel a need to be here) when things start to really 'heat up'. I do have children and grandchildren. What is there future going to be?
All of you under 40 years of age are going to be affected by this. I hate to think we are destroying ourselves and the planet as we now know it.

So if there is a God is this His Final Solution? To destroy us (or allow us to do the job) and all of the innocent life on this planet? Or are we to be the finality of a failed evolutionary cycle?

[porphyrian]

1. You're right about how dire our situation is.

Yes, things really are that bad. However, you have to realize that there are over 90,000 people here that realize the same thing, and we aren't just rolling over and letting it happen without a fight. There is hope. Don't give up now.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. The fight is perpetual. The end of Incovenient Truth outlined very simple,

personal and grassroots methods for addressing this issue.

Please don't give up when so many good, dedicated people are fighting to save our planet.

MKJ

[Warpy]

3. Take the long view

Imagine how hopeless the sane felt in Germany in the 30s and during the war. Imagine how the sane Italians felt during the rise of Mussolini. Remember how the Romanians felt during their dismal years of dictatorship. Remember how the sane people in Chile felt about Pinochet. Remember how the sane people in Argentina felt about the dirty war against the public there.

Now remember what happened to each one of those dictators. It may have taken a long time, but it has happened consistently.

It will happen here, too. We are better than these people, and there are many more of us. Some of us have to be reminded who we once were. Others already know and have rejected the whole right wing scam.

Just remember that in most of those cases, people only saw things getting steadily worse. The overturn of vicious corruption came out of the blue and practically overnight. Likely it will happen here, too.

We just have to hope it doesn't take a world war to topple the Bush family.

[NotGivingUp]

9. The Bush family has been destroying lives and destroying our

country for far too many years. I say it's time they stand in front of a firing squad. They most definitely are traitors and worse...much, much worse.

[blue cat]

4. My guess would be...

the finality of failed evolutionary cycle. I know that I have evolved over the Bush "Presidency". Now, I'm fighting less with my family members who are conservative, and trying to focus my anger and disappointment into action by getting the dems elected which is an uphill battle with our media. I'm sad to say I think the future of our world looks dark, but we must learn to be a light to help ourselves and those around us.

Editing to state that we must never give up. There is always hope. I find it here at the DU!

[Breeze54]

5. Cheer Up!! All is not lost --

:hi: and have a :donut: :)
Not all is lost in the world and there are many caring people!
And there are a lot more coming up behind them!
Here are some good stories and one or two that are sad...
...read a few good ones and then go outside!
The sun is out, it's a beautiful day! ;)

:dilemma:

ENN FULL STORY
September 4th - 8th

September 08, 2006 — By ENN

Top Ten Articles of the Week
http://www.enn.com/review.html?id=444

In the news September 4th - 8th: A fond farewell to "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin,
a new oil pool found, "green" power for colleges, contamination-cleaning microbes,
and much more.

1. "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin Took Risks to Conserve Wildlife
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11187
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin cheated death many times as he stalked and played with some of the world's deadliest animals. But in the end the animal kingdom proved too dangerous. Irwin, who was killed on Monday by a stingray while diving on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, communicated a wide-eyed, almost child-like enthusiasm for the animal kingdom and the importance of conservation to television audiences around the world.
Related story: Stingray Deaths Rare, Irwin Extremely Unlucky
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11188

2. Tsunami Spurs Interest in Asian Coasts
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11206
"The tsunami brought an understanding that the ecosystem is a lot more fragile than people thought," said Austin Arensberg, a World Conservation Union official who is part of a team working on a $240,000 Spanish-funded project to restore mangrove forests in Thailand and Sri Lanka.

3. Oil Pool Tapped in Gulf of Mexico Could Boost U.S. Reserves by 50 Percent
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11200
A trio of oil companies led by Chevron Corp. has tapped a petroleum pool deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico that could boost the nation's reserves by more than 50 percent. A test well indicates it could be the biggest new domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay a generation ago.

4. Global Warming Taking Earth Back to Dinosaur Era
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11213
Global warming over the coming century could mean a return of temperatures last seen in the age of the dinosaur and lead to the extinction of up to half of all species, a scientist said on Thursday.

5. Soaring Natural Gas Prices Spur Widespread Drilling
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11194
Companies have been drilling natural gas wells at historic rates across much of the Appalachian Basin, an area that includes swathes of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. The proliferation of drilling is not confined to the region, the birthplace of the commercial oil industry. Oil and gas firms have stepped up exploration and production in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and other states in recent years.

6. U.S. Colleges to Buy Green Power in MTV Competition
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11211
An environmental group is teaming with MTV to encourage U.S. university students to demand their schools get more energy from renewable energy sources. tudents at several colleges have already pushed through fees of about $30 per student that allow schools to buy power from clean energy sources such as solar and wind farms.

7. Brazil Sees Amazon Land Clearing Easing This Year
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11201
Huge tracts of Brazil's Amazon rainforest were cleared legally and illegally in the past year, but the rate of deforestation slowed, the country's environment minister said Tuesday. It was the second year in a row that the pace of the destruction of the world's largest tropical rainforest declined. Booming demand for farm exports caused land-clearing to peak in 2004.

8. Microbes Can Clean Up Toxic Waste Dumps, Scientist Says
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11217
Microbes with a taste for toxic waste may hold the solution to cleaning up contaminated industrial sites and poisoned waterways across the globe, saving billions of dollars in cleanup bills, an Australian scientist said.

9. "Chameleon" Schwarzenegger Shows Green in Campaign
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11193
Last week, the Republican Schwarzenegger was decidedly "green," like the color of his campaign bus, as he struck a deal with the state legislature's Democratic majority to enact a law making California the first U.S. state to cap greenhouse-gas emissions.

10. Don't Ditch Dams, World Bank Water Boss Says
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11181
Rich countries should not keep less developed ones poor by fashionable trends that oppose dams and water management infrastructure, a top World Bank water resources chief said on Monday.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Sort of had the same feeling today.

I'm old enough that I probably won't be around for the really bad stuff, if it happens, but I was imagining the ultimate unharmonic convergence of global warming, peak oil, international terrorism and a plutocratic/theocratic/fascist government that refuses to do anyhting about any of these problems as long as the rich and powerful 5% are making money now. So the worst case scenario is droughts and floods causing destruction and disease, increasingly scarce and expensive energy so nobody can go anywhere or heat or cool their homes, food becomeing more and more expensive because of climate change and energy scarcity, the occasional epidemic of bird flu or whatever with most people too poor to get medical treatment, while a fascist government more or less enslaves the non-rich 95% who live in or near poverty, subject to rampant crime, disease, and exploitation by employers if they can get jobs at all. Schools and workplaces will be oppressively "Christian" and other religions marginalized; women and minorities will be second-class citizens with no recourse. Imagine Mad Max combined with The Handmaid's Tale.

It may be that the human race will simply exterminate itself. Species do come and go, after all. But the earth will gradually clean itself up and maybe a new species will evolve that isn't so damn stupid.

A gloomy picture, indeed. Let's not give up, though...

[Breeze54]

7. wow...

aren't you cheery! :sarcasm:


:rofl:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Well, I did say that was a worst-case scenario.

And if you think too much about all the crap that's been going wrong, your imagination just might take you there. Maybe it won't get that bad, but we damn well better start doing something, or it will certainly get at least kind of bad.

I think I'll go recycle some glass bottles.

[StraightDope]

10. Well, you're a regular ray of sunshine, aren't ya?

:eyes:

[INdemo]

11. You are correct

Your first sentence says it all...This power structure goes back over 40 years. But it is so much more powerful now than at any time in history..
The problem is how do we defeat it? With the MSM being a part of that power structure how can we get our message out there?
Lets face it the f&%kin' Repukes are damn good at spreading those lies and just take a look at thee number of outlets they have as their mouthpiece ..I fear if we dont win back the majority in November we are doomed..Our democracy is over...