As we turned the corner into the 21st century, things went south in a hurry. We let our guard down and experienced a vicious attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and thanks to the heroic bravery of the passengers of United Flight 93, another attack was averted.
Going back to the 1990’s and before, the cry went out that climate changes were going to challenge our very existence. There were many naysayers, for one reason or another, and our civilization was slow to heed the call. Around the world, we have been besieged by extreme droughts, snow blizzards, hurricanes, and tornados of ever increasing intensity, record breaking temperatures( both highs and lows), areas of the Arctic, the Antarctic, and Greenland losing larger areas of ice than ever before, huge fires spreading incredibly fast and species becoming extinct at an ever increasing rate. While there have been advances to slow the climate change there are offsetting developments that impede these advances.
From 2000 to 2008, the administration was responsible for some of the worst practices of good government. After failing to get the known perpetrator of the attacks on 9/11, the administration fabricated and prosecuted the Iraq War. Ambassador Joe Wilson brought forth evidence that undermined the Administration’s claim that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction. Joe’s wife, CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity was then deliberately leaked to the press. Atrocities that were anathema to western morals were committed in Abu Ghraib Prison.
The ban on assault weapons was allowed to sunset after a successful 10 years, opening the door to a proliferation of military style weapons on the streets of the United States.
In 2003 the EPA was told by 3M that contained in the sludge fertilizer it was producing, were PFAS or forever chemicals, that contaminated the soil. The EPA chose to do nothing about it.
The dismal response to the devastating destruction brought by Hurricane Katrina, caused horrific hardships for so many on the Delta.
Economic policies that were embraced during this period, led to the Bank Crash & depression of 2008.
George W. Bush appointed Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Alito was Maga before there was a Maga.
2010, The Supreme Court passed a ruling called Citizens’ United, which lifted restrictions on the amount of money a corporation, non-profit organization and most other associations, could donate to political campaigns.
In 2016, a comic book villain, became the 45th president of the U.S. and opened up the floodgates to a lot of bad behavior. This President appealed to marginalized groups that wanted a larger role in society. This appeal included sanctioning of violence to resolve disagreements, a racist attitude towards immigrants and minorities, and the legitimization of pathetic pathological lying. In combination with ever more violence in our video games, movies and music has been a proliferation of semi automatic weapons.There are more guns than people in the U.S..
In late 2019, the world experienced a pandemic that we were unprepared for and slow to respond to. At the start of the covid outbreak, the 45th. President downplayed the severity of the disease and went so far as to keep a cruise ship, with many covid struck people on board, from disembarking. He had the temerity to say that he liked the numbers where they are and that his poll numbers would go down. It is estimated that 100,000 lives were lost to this disease as a result of the slow response.
2022, the Supreme Court ruled against abortion rights. This after stating in their confirmations that Roe V Wade was established law, thereby giving belief that it would not be overturned.
Through the U.S. isolationist policies under the administration, China was allowed to gain influence in Africa, Asia and South America. Politicians around the world have adopted autocratic policies and an anti democratic attitude is spreading. Income inequality is expanding at an unparalleled rate.
Leaders and activists are working diligently to address many of these problems, but more needs to be done. Bob Bender