The Daily Shaarli

All links of one day in a single page.

June 24, 2021

A couple of concerning reports out the previous week: Intelligence report and climate impact draft UN report

Crushing climate impacts to hit sooner than feared: draft UN report
https://phys.org/news/2021-06-climate-impacts-sooner.html

Global Trends from the US intelligence community:
https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/GlobalTrends_2040.pdf

Cities are outlined as vitally important in the intelligence report, but the UN report says that current cities will all be underwater and need relocating. Urban-level investment is going to have to be a focus for maintaining some semblance of democracy and where the large-scale adaptation-type investments are needed. However, most cities are dependent on their nation states for leverage, taxes (or money) to do
this investment.

We also talk about investment in energy generation close to use and grid upgrades to reduce wasted electrons. All of this requires investment levels in excess of current municipal maintenance budgets.

You can write some pretty believable dystopias out of these two reports, unfortunately the policy response seems to be completely lacking. The intelligence community -- even though they are sophisticated arms of the state -- think that the state will not be able to respond to the needs of the people never mind avoid some of the problems. The government's of the G7 continue to talk like they are only "catalysts" of private sector markets for investment.

Transformation of the way things are currently working is not easily imaginable right now. Society barely admitted that the pandemic should have been a wake-up call for investment in workplace safety and indoor air quality -- never mind that it is a result of the current modes of production and trade.

Anyway, happy Thursday reading.

1% own 45% of the world’s personal wealth while nearly 3bn people have little or no wealth at all – Michael Roberts Blog
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Just 56m or 1% of adults out of 5.3bn globally are millionaires in net wealth terms. And they own 45% of all global personal wealth. The other 99% own the rest and there are nearly 3bn people in the world that have little or no wealth at all (after debts are deducted).

Amazon Is a Symbol of Capitalism’s Wastefulness
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Paris Marx | A new report has revealed that just one Amazon warehouse in Scotland destroys 130,000 unsold goods per week – a reminder of the waste involved in production for profit rather than public need.

OPERATION BARBAROSSA: MYTHS AND REALITY – The Greanville Post

Eighty years ago, June 22, 1941: Hitler launches Operation Barbarossa, the attack against the Soviet Union…

Monthly Review | The Guaidó Era: A Sixth, Very Long Coup Attempt
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U.S. sanctions killed tens of thousands of Venezuelans before the recognition of Juan Guaidó as interim president in 2019 led to even more murderous sanctions.