OMG It Happened

If you have read this blog with any consistency over the past decade you are pretty much aware of my opinions on politics and politicians. It is rare for me to approve of and support any of them. The one exception to that has always been Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. I have always tried not to be an “I love Bernie” gusher about it and a Democratic Socialist flag waver. No one is perfect, but it is true that Bernie speaks the language of the most disenfranchised of Americans who have few voices that speak for them with any consistency. It has taken a lot to bring me to the point where I must speak out with a different tune, but…today is the day. 

I saw Bernie make a speech today regarding “Solar Power for All”. I was with him for the first few minutes, and then he began talking about the cost of going solar, and my own Virgo jumped out from behind Leo and Pisces and had to abandon ship from the Bernie bandwagon. As much as it pains me to go here, it must be done. For the good of the struggling homeowners in America and the good of the average struggling citizen who couldn’t take on another debt if they had to, begging to differ with Bernie today is totally unavoidable.

Before I get into the specifics of my dissent here, let me tell you how I see the situation regarding climate change. I never have been and never will be a climate change denier. I realize that there is much to be done in this country to try to undo all the damage that humans have done that brought us to the dire situation that we are now in.  Virtually all of us are guilty in one way or another when it comes to not being responsible citizens in taking care of our world, but the biggest slackers in this country when it comes to chronic and repeat offenders of destroying the planet are corporations. These are the ones who pollute the water, squander resources, produce products that are not recyclable or biodegradable, manufacture gigantic gas guzzling automobiles, and feel completely unaccountable regarding a change in behavior that might turn many of our problems around. Climate change fault is always thrown back at the average citizen to be dealt with while corporate capitalists pay a bit of lip service to fixing the problems. With all that said, I will now get to the issue that I have with Bernie’s plan to achieve solar power for all.

As far as installing solar panels on our homes, that would be a good thing if it were possible, but it isn’t. Why it isn’t has to do with two things. The first is the cost of doing it. He said that it would cost between 10 and 20 thousand dollars. Most of us couldn’t cough up 10 percent of that now. We can barely keep a roof over our heads and pay for food and other necessities if at all. He said that there would be grants and loans to cover the cost. I think few of us would qualify for a grant, even a partial one. Getting a loan which would add another burden to our cash strapped existence would only make things worse for us, and the piece de resistance of the entire plan was to tell us that it would save us from $50 - $100 per month on our electric bills. HA!  My electric bill is around $300 per month! And I don’t even have electric heat! That isn’t a drop in the bucket when you consider that I would be saddled with another bill to pay for the loan that solar panel installation would cost. The payment would most likely be much more than the savings on my electric bill. It cannot be done, Bernie. No way in heaven or hell. I agree that we are darn near beyond being able to combat the effects of climate change, but this proposed solution is not a solution for the majority of Americans now. The skyrocketing cost of just basic living has made putting anything else on our financial plate a complete impossibility. Even if the government gave us another Covid relief check of $1,200 per person it would not cover it, even for a family of ten!

I, like most people, cannot proffer a blanket solution for the climate change crisis, but if I had to come up with something to help the situation, I would strongly suggest two things. First, stop manufacturing products with single use plastics. Second, stop manufacturing large vehicles and stop buying them. Many families where I live have three or more trucks and SUV’s. Yes, some people will throw tantrums about it but they will throw even bigger tantrums when they cannot buy gasoline for them and find that they cannot tolerate the unbearable summer heat and the desperately cold winters to come. The first step in changing a bad situation must be calling a halt to the behavior that put you there in the first place and these two issues are monumentally guilt-ridden activities. There are drawbacks to going solar in our homes that tend to be glossed over much of the time and one of the biggest is the availability of sunlight on a daily basis. This could be an extreme problem in some parts of the US during the winter months. Heaven help us, Bernie, dependency upon solar energy is very risky when you could find yourself without power during severe weather. Solar energy sounds like a god send on the face of it, but truly what would help right now is to require responsible behavior from those who have acted completely irresponsible for a very long time. When the citizens of this country find themselves in a position that affords them some financial breathing room you might find us deciding that we are able to convert to solar energy on our own, but right now, there is no way. Those who have been the worst offenders in creating climate change are always putting the guilt and burden for fixing the problem on the average citizens, and everyone who loves the corporate fascists is complicit in pointing the finger and passing the buck, although it isn’t a literal buck because they aren’t about to give us any more money to live on.

I still love you, Bernie, and appreciate and admire your efforts for the people, but the ability to just keep ourselves alive is the highest-level priority that exists now. Without that, we could have solar panels installed to high heaven, but it would not matter if we are homeless and starving or dead.

When The Dark Covers the Light

I live in one of the states in America where the solar eclipse was visible today. I decided against watching it by going outside. Many people would probably believe that decision to be ludicrous, but not participating in the event with eclipse glasses or a homemade viewer was not difficult. Following a spiritual path in life will many times put you at odds with how most people view the right or the wrong of a thing. I am used to this. It is easier to manage once you get over the habit of telling others the how and the why your life rolls the way it does and expecting them to give you affirmation.

The phenomenon itself was fascinating to witness as the light became obliterated here. I just stayed inside looking out the window.  At first it was much like a coming storm getting increasingly dark very quickly, but it actually didn’t last long. I can see why people in ancient times were terrified of events like this. I felt sad when the light began to come back. You don’t really have much time to reflect upon the uniqueness of it before it is lost. This could be said about many of life’s experiences that are now gone.

The days leading up to the eclipse found me thinking seriously about things that I have seen and heard which seemed to have a relevance and connection to what was coming. The first thing that came to my mind was a scene in the 1950s film, The Ten Commandments where the people in Egypt had to stay in their homes with their doors and windows shut as God sent a punishment onto the people as a result of their refusal to free the Hebrew slaves there. The firstborn child of every household was going to die unless the entire family stayed at home and painted lamb’s blood over their front door. It was called the Passover, and centuries later, people of the Jewish faith still honor the event as proof of God’s power and proof of his love for those who believe in a higher intelligence. The people who remained in their homes on that night, following God’s instruction, did not receive a letter in the mail or a phone call or a text message warning them to do this. It was something that they just had to know was necessary. When spirit talks, you’d better be listening. That is just how it works. You either heed it or you don’t. You ignore that subtle voice at your own risk. Families were huddled in their homes hearing the screams of the people outside as some were struck dead where they stood, and others had to endure the horror of seeing those that they loved die in front of them. It sounds very much like the stories that we hear coming from Palestine. The Hebrew slaves who didn’t pay attention and believe the message lost loved ones that night as did many Egyptian families. It was similar to the peril that you would be in if you tried to view the eclipse without eye protection. Only a fool would do it. But what would you call the people who knowingly produced and sold eclipse glasses that were substandard and would not protect your eyes? Call them frauds, call them criminals, and call them capitalists.

I also found myself thinking about the Klaus Nomi song, Total Eclipse, prior to today. Klaus paints a dreadful scenario for the people of Earth in that song. It sounds like the eclipse of the Sun is a punishment for us because of the “big shots” in the world who are too full of their own wonderfulness to care about anything other than themselves. Sounds like we all will turn into “French fries” even if we aren’t guilty of the offending behavior. It must be that we are complicit and guilty for not making the “big shots” stop. We are pretty fortunate that it is just a song and not a true prophesy because we don’t seem to have any intention of enforcing a cease-and-desist order on any of the people who are causing nine kinds of hell on this planet right now. The eclipse didn’t kill us today, but selfish, authoritarian, and elitist behavior is. It just isn’t doing it as fast.

It would have been extremely easy for me to ignore the subtle “feeling” that I had today regarding watching the eclipse. It is akin to other subtle feelings and intuitive information that I receive all of the time. It isn’t always as pointed and plain as being told not to leave the house today because a tree will fall on you or a tractor-trailer will run over you. You can ignore it. You want to do something and outwardly you see no reason not to. But spirit does not impress upon you for no reason. You cannot always see that reason immediately but 99% of the time you will come to understand that there was one. The ability to delay gratification and endure some deprivations has saved me from many troubles and catastrophes in life. Sometimes the saving graces were small but more than a few of them have saved my life. I didn’t see today’s eclipse firsthand because of a still, small voice that speaks to me every day of my life, but it was no sacrifice, really. If things had turned out like in Klaus’s song it would not have made a hill of beans difference. I would be dead regardless. But if it was like the Passover, well…I would still be here because I am not the firstborn child in my family but I sure as hell would have lost loved ones if I chose to ignore the warning. I cannot say for sure that I would have been specifically warned that the world was going to end during the eclipse if that was to be our fate. Anything that is finite like that normally comes months or even years prior to the event and is usually told metaphorically. You just have to retain and interpret the information as you go along. And as you go along, you develop the ability to make peace with it.

Someone reminded me recently about the 1962 film Day Of The Triffids where there were meteor showers all over the world and everyone wanted to watch them but those who did were struck blind and eaten by mutated plants if they happened upon one. I have seen all kinds of bizarre predictions online about how the eclipse was going to affect us. Some were pretty near as farfetched as this movie is, but situations that we are experiencing right now on this planet are so horrific that it seems too terrible to be believed. They aren’t easy to ignore and dismiss now. People are being affected by them in ways that we would never have imagined were possible 20 or 30 years ago. There were people panhandling in the parking lot of the grocery store where I shop yesterday. There was a man near the store standing in the middle of the street trying to stop drivers to ask them for money. Not long ago, there was a man playing a violin in the street wearing a sign that said he needed money to buy insulin for his child with diabetes. These are not things that I have ever seen in this town before. To say that the world is going to end now is not too difficult to believe. An eclipse may not be the catalyst for that but war, starvation, a lack of health care, and unemployment are catalysts for ending lives. Thousands of them every single day. Sometimes, you have to give up something to get something. All you really have to give up is greed, selfishness, and the belief that you are always right. It isn’t a subtle voice that incites hatred and violence. It is a dark and thunderous one. And it is fast making the light disappear.