There are more than one type of Republican

A few weeks ago I posted on Facebook that Republicans who support Trump are worshiping Satan. I got a lot of blowback for that. I've done some thinking, reading, and analyzing and I'm ready to change my view.

There are more than one type of Republican. There are those few (who are not running for reelection) who don't support Trump. And I imagine there are some who always vote Republican and don't even realize they're supporting Trump.

Then there are those white supremacists who want the country rid of Blacks and Jews, along with Muslims, Asians, Hispanics, and all the rest of the non-white population. They support Trump because he's fulfilling their agenda.

Now we come to the Christian nationalists. They support Trump because they want almost the same thing as the white supremacists: ie, get rid of anyone who doesn't worship God the Father of Jesus Christ. Of these there are two varieties. Those who hate everyone who doesn't believe the Bible (as interpreted by the rich leaders of the Christian church). And those who believe Trump is chosen by God to Make America Christian Again.

This last group is sincere and upright, but they've been deceived (Matthew 24.24). America was founded specifically NOT to be a Christian nation. That's why the Founding Fathers, who were mostly deists who didn't believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, crafted the First Amendment. You can worship any God (even Satan) and be protected under the Religious Freedom clause.

Now, political power in this world only comes through an alliance with Satan (Matthew 4.8-9). Satan rules this world (Ephesians 6:12). The Kingdom of God is not of this world (John 18.36). Jesus proved this when he walked the Earth. He was crucified by the religious leaders of his day. If he were to return today, he'd be crucified again by the religious leaders of this time.

The first and greatest commandment is to love God (Matthew 22.36-38) The second is to love everybody else (Matthew 22.39-40). Not only that, Jesus goes on to say that we should love our enemies those that curse us and hate us and persecute us (Matthew 5.44). Republican policy discriminates against everyone who isn't white, male, heterosexual and rich. Trump rewards his friends and prosecutes his enemies.

Jesus said it's harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19.24). Republican policy gives tax breaks to the rich and claims, falsely, that that wealth will percolate down to the less wealthy. Trump uses his office to enrich himself with insider trading to the tune of up to $750 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

Jesus said to feed the hungry. Republican policy cuts funding for food stamps. Jesus said to provide clean water for the thirsty. Republican policy deregulates polluters of waterways. Jesus said to welcome the immigrant. Republican policy has immigrants detained indefinitely without due process and/or deports them. Jesus said to clothe the ill-clad. Republican policy imposes tariffs that force up the cost of clothing. Jesus said to take care of the sick. Republican policy cuts funding for health care. Jesus said to have mercy on prisoners. Republican policy pays giant corporations, by the head, to run prisons.

Then he said because you don't do these things for the least of his brothers and sisters, you don't do them for him. And therefore your destiny is everlasting fire. (See Matthew 25.31-46.)

There is nothing in Republican policy that is Christ-like.

What is this handbasket and where are we going?

 "The world is going to Hell in a handbasket," is what a lot of people are saying. And when you hear someone say that, you can't tell if they're a MAGAt or a libtard or something in between.

The MAGAts and the White supremacists and the Christian nationalists think the handbasket that's carrying us to Hell is gay marriage, abortion, non-Christians and socialists.

The libtards think it's the MAGAts, the gun nuts, the America-First bullies, the Evangelicals and the fascists.

The trouble is, the current state of affairs on this planet is not unusual. What's unusual is the long stretch of comfort and prosperity that White people have enjoyed for so long. Black people, queer people and poor people don't notice any change. It's always been this way for them. Every time they go out, they worry about being stopped, arrested, beaten up or killed.

Now we White people have to worry about that when we go out.

Let's face it. This is who we are. We are animals and Mother Earth is going to let us wipe ourselves out so she can start over.

The Secret Police Are Here

Rage churned in my gut, burned in my belly, burst into flame on my tongue. ICE is abducting 5-year-olds and using them as bait to get people to open their doors. It used to be you had to open your door to ICE before they could enter and they had to show a judicial warrant (as opposed to the administrative ones they have), but not any more. An internal memo instructs ICE officers they may break down doors and enter homes without a judicial warrant.

This comes after Stephen Miller announces that ICE officers have absolute immunity for anything they want to do. Jonathan Ross has total immunity for murdering Renée Good.

More and more people are being killed, abducted, kidnapped, rammed, beaten… often for no known offense. Just because a big strong, lily-livered coward with an assault rifle, combat gear and a face mask wants to assert his manhood and beat up a person of color. Or a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, if they get in his way or try to film him.

I'm seething with anger, and I know that all this anger, on the left and on the right, comes from fear. I'm afraid my country is leaving me. The country I went to Vietnam to fight for. The MAGAts are afraid they won't be able to maintain their white supremacy.

As for so-called Christian evangelicals. They are not following Jesus. The only time Jesus got mad was when he saw fraudsters ripping off poor people in the courtyard of the Temple. All the White Christian Nationalists know of the Bible are sound bites from Franklin Graham. Political power in this world comes only from Satan. The Kingdom of God is not of this world. See Matthew 4.8,9 and John 18.36.

But if I'm going to follow Jesus, I have to say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesus has set a place for them at his table. All they have to do is choose to join him.

Christian Nationalism

Adolph Hitler was a Christian nationalist.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Adolf_Hitler

Charlie Kirk was a Christian nationalist.

https://americanreformer.org/2025/09/charlie-kirk-christian-nationalist/ 

Many in the Trump Administration are Christian nationalists.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/16/christian-nationalists-trump-administration

The Founding Fathers were NOT Christian nationalists.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Founding-Fathers-Deism-and-Christianity-1272214

Repost from September 2012 - The US is not a Christian nation. Sorry.

The Tripoli Treaty, unanimously approved by the Senate and signed into law by President John Adams on June 10, 1797, between the US and the Barbary States, specifically states that the US is NOT a Christian nation. At that time, the US government was still dominated by those who are today referred to as the “Founding Fathers”.  Article 11 of the treaty has been interpreted as an official denial of a Christian basis for the U.S. government.  Article 11 reads:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

John F. Kennedy, on September 12, 1960, addressed the Greater Houston Ministerial Association.  In that address he stated:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

Separation of church and state was enshrined in the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

What the religious radicals don’t tell people, and what, tragically, many Americans apparently don’t know, is that when it comes to determining what the laws of the United States mean, the only document that matters is the Constitution, a completely secular document, that contains no references to God, Jesus or Christianity.

Now we have Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan committed to overturning the Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decisions through a constitutional amendment that defines life as beginning at conception. 

They are allowed to believe that.  YOU are allowed to believe that.  I am allowed to believe that.  But no one is allowed to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of America.

Hope is a sewer rat

I have often described myself as a skeptical optimist. I hope for the best, but expect the worst. Yesterday in church, the worship associate (lay person that gives a reflection) recited a poem by Caitlin Seida called "Hope Is Not a Bird, Emily, It's a Sewer Rat". I've attached it. The sermon from the minister was about "Hope On Trial". She said, "To hope or not to hope? That is the question we wrestle with as we consider divergent perspectives on hope in light of our times. Is hope a thing with feathers, or is it a sewer rat? Does it inspire acquiescence, or action? What role does hope play in our own lives and how does it shape our orientation to the future?"

I have hope for this country, the American people, and the world, but I can't just say "Oh, well" when things charge into oppression and injustice. My hope calls me to action. I demonstrate. I write articles for the climate newsletter. I post shit on Facebook. I write in my blog. Even the fiction I write aims to keep us looking up. I can see the best in people. Even people like Donald Fucking Trump. He'd be a lot better person if he'd had a better dad. Talk about grooming our children!

Giving up hope means turning to drugs or violence or suicide. People with hope don't commit suicide.

Anyway. Life goes on until it doesn't. And I intend to do whatever I can to keep it going on. It may get a lot worse before it gets better, but I'll never give up. And I'll never give up hope.

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving. We have company coming. I did weeding and deadheading in front and back and moving furniture. My wife did a bunch of baking and cooking... and directing. I love the way we work together, always by consensus.

That's the number one thing I'm thankful for: my wife.

I'm thankful that we have a roof over our heads that doesn't leak, and that we have enough income to keep it there. Enough income to keep food in the larder. Enough income to pay for good health insurance. Enough income to keep the cars fed. Enough income to share with those in need.

I am also thankful for the community at church that we're a part of. I'm thankful for friends and for my ease at being friendly. I'm thankful for fellow writers, who read my stories and whose stories I get to read.

I'm thankful for the Sonoma County Public Library and the rich selection of books they have to lend for free.

I'm thankful that we're able to live in California, a deep blue state that, to a much greater extent than a lot of states, makes a safe place for people of other than the white, Christian, cisgender male persuasion.

I'm thankful for this Bellevue Ranch neighborhood, for its diversity, its (relative) peacefulness and its safety.

I'm thankful for my health, physical and mental, emotional and spiritual. For eyesight and hearing, for smelling and tasting, for touching and balance.

I'm thankful for my level of intelligence and for the upbringing I had that taught me to use it. For the upbringing I had that taught me not to hate.

It's a good life I have. Much better than most other folks have. I hope the next one is a little more equitable for all the souls in the Universe.

 

I just wrote an email to Donald Trump

 I just sent an email to Donald Trump. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Mr President--

I am very uneasy with your promise to "go after" your political enemies. Of course, your political enemies will never vote for you. But look at all the people, Republicans, Democrats and Independents who voted for you in 2024. You can get votes when you listen to and help the people. Please stop hurting the people: citizens, immigrants, poor people, sick people, people who aren't Christians. The only people you're not hurting are the obscenely rich people. Stop acting like a thin-skinned, insecure teenager and act like a man. I'm the same age you are. I know you can act like a grownup because I do.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Let me know if you agree, disagree, or have no opinion. Send your own email to him. Be polite, civil, reasonable and factual. You can go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ to send your comments.

H. R. 22 - Silencing Americans Act

House Republicans are calling it the SAVE Act. SAVE stands for "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility". It will require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Sounds like a good idea. We can't have non-citizens voting.

But in reality it is a Project 2025-inspired voter suppression act. Here are a few facts about it.

·         Overnight, it would essentially end online and mail-in voter registration. 

·        Proof of citizenship doesn’t mean a simple driver’s license. It means a birth certificate or a passport – documents that tens of millions of citizens simply don’t have access to. 

·        Married people who’ve changed their names wouldn’t be able to register using their original birth certificates -- effectively disenfranchising millions of women. 

·        Trans and nonbinary people who’ve changed their names to reflect their gender identity would also face massive challenges to voting -- and the State Department’s ban on updating sex designations on passports (if upheld in court) would add to the difficulty of satisfying the bill’s proof of citizenship requirements.

·        The burdensome requirements would disproportionately impact voters of color, low-income voters, elder voters and younger voters. How many college students do you know who have a birth certificate stashed in their dorm room?

·        Arizona and Kansas tried similar legislation and tens of thousands of eligible voters were disenfranchised. 

The Republicans in Congress do not represent their constituents fully. They only represent white Christians. This is a attempt to Make America Christian Finally. "Finally" because this country was never a Christian theocracy. But if the Project 2025ers have their way, it will become one. 

Climate Coup

The Musk presidency is not just an attack on democracy. It's a death sentence for everyone on the planet. We are right next door to a runaway greenhouse condition and with this new administration stomping on the gas pedal (literally) we'll hit it before there's any chance to change course, or even slow the change in climate.

We sit back and wonder how anyone could be so stupid as to destroy our planet's habitability. But they're not stupid. The billionaires will be the last to go down. They can afford air conditioning and sky-high energy prices and gated communities and prob'ly private militias, so what do they care? Their intention all along has been to, Scrooge-like, reduce the surplus population.

No one can sit still and merely hope they go away. We all need to fight, march, demonstrate, gather in townhalls, write letters, speak out. We speak now or forever our peace will be held for us.

Dear Republican friend

 I'm not against banning abortion. But I would like the laws to hold the father responsible for the baby as well as the mother. Our DNA technology today can precisely identify the father.

I'm not against ending birthright citizenship. That's only in the Constitution because our country was brand new and nobody was a natural-born citizen.

And I'm not against cutting the wasteful spending by the government. But I don't think putting a man who makes billions on government contracts in charge of cutting is wise. How come none of his contracts is being looked at? And how come he's gutting the services that oversee his operations?

When Trump won the election I congratulated you. I said, "Your person won."

You replied, "Thanks! I feel the country won as well."

Are you still of the opinion that our country has won?

My New Year's Resolution

I told my brother in an email that my New Year's Resolution was to do all that I can and a little bit more to listen and learn, to speak and teach, to love and be loved, to share the wealth and the load (this is the most important one), and to promote laughter (or maybe this is the most important)!

And then a few hours later I wrote about the mass mowing down of revelers in the French Quarter of N'awlins by an enraged pickup driver, and concluded that it was a harbinger of what the year will be like.

We're going to be anxious but hopeful until January 20th when Trump takes office and then we're going to know that we are fucked.

How can I keep believing in the inherent worth and dignity of every person?

Like I said in my memoir ("The Winter Of My Discontent")... There's more to being a man than just slugging somebody, but there's more to being a Christian than just turning the other cheek. I think... I hope! I do more slugging than turning these next 4 years. I have to resist, persist, and insist. And keep looking up.

This is the beginning of four years of tribulation for liberals. We must resist the forces of evil. We must persist in hope that we can make a difference. And we must insist that our freedoms remain. The freedom to be white or not. The freedom to be male or not. The freedom to be Christian or not. The freedom to be native born, or NOT!

I pledge allegiance to the flag, not some fat ageing draft-dodger who has been privileged all his life and thinks he's "God's chosen one." A pox and a virus on him!

Trump Abortion Laws

 

The Democratic National Convention opened last night. Sally and I watched it until Biden's speech ended. We may pick it up again, but I doubt it since we'll have another 4 or 5 hours of DVR recording again tonight.

But I wanted to talk about the testimonials on the Trump abortion laws. The first couple was from Texas. They really wanted another child, but their doctors told them there was 100% certainty that the fetus would not survive. Even so, the mother was not allowed an abortion. When she started bleeding they went to 2 emergency rooms who turned them away. She finally expelled the fetus and then could be treated.

The second woman, a woman of color, had a similar story in Louisiana, who also barely survived.

The third woman told of how she was varsity soccer captain, cheerleading captain, home coming queen. an all-American girl. But when she was 12, after being raped by her sexually abusive step-father, she became pregnant. But in Kentucky then, there were no Trump abortion laws, and she was able to have an abortion. That would not be true today. Today a raped 12-year-old would have to carry her rapist's baby to term. So forget soccer, forget cheerleading, forget home-coming, forget that All-American Girl description.

Donald Trump MUST be denied a second term! And men who rape children should have their spinal chord severed just below the base of the skull.

Project 2025 Takes Us Back to the Middle Ages

 An excerpt from the Project 2025 document, pages 4 and 5:

"The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists."

While claiming these actions will guarantee Americans their First Amendment rights, it denies the First Amendment Rights of everyone who isn't a cisgender white evangelical Christian. That includes only 14% of Americans. The other 6/7ths are left out.

Download your own copy of the Project 2025 document at: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

Christian political power

A poem this morning brought back to me the thoughts that have been shaking my mind like a 4.0 earthquake lately. Wailing fathers holding bloody kids amid the rubble of the house where they once found love and rest. I walk into my living room after a good night's sleep. The light on the timer has come on. The coffee pot is gurgling away according to its programming. My coffee is hot and ready. How do I deserve this and they deserve that?

The worst part of this... the war in the "Holy" Land... is that Christians seem to think it's a good thing. It portends the "End Times" to their deceived minds. "Senator" Tommy Tuberville thinks he's doing God's will, trying to force the military to make its members obey Alabama's abortion laws. He has the political power to hold up 400 top brass promotions, crippling our military's ability to respond to international crises.

But where did his political power come from? From God? After Jesus was baptized, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, he was led into the wilderness where Satan came to him and tempted him.

"You must be hungry. Why don't you turn these stones into bread so you can eat?" said Satan.

"No," said Jesus. "Man doesn't live by just bread, but by the Word of God." Strike one.

So Satan flew him up to the highest pinnacle of the Temple and said, "Jump! God has said the angels will catch you."

"No," said Jesus. "You must not tempt the Lord your God." Strike two.

Finally Satan took Jesus to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. "I can give you political power over all the world if you but bow down and worship me," said Satan.

"Get away from me, Satan!" said Jesus. "It is written in the Scriptures, You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve!" Strike three, bub. You're outa there!

So when Satan offered Jesus political power, he turned him down. Apparently Sen Tuberville and the white Christian nationalist Republicans didn't. It's not God they're serving. It's Satan.

Gaza, Ukraine, Maine, Acapulco and Formula 1

Alan Alda once said, as his character Hawkeye in M*A*S*H:

Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.

Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?

Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?

Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.

Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.

So I watch the videos of the destruction in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Maine, in Acapulco. ALL of those catastrophes, including the so-called "acts of God" like hurricanes, can be prevented by humans taking positive action. But we don't. We say, "They are killing us, so we have to kill them." We say, "Everyone, including psychopaths, has a right to own a gun designed to kill scores of people in a handful of seconds." We say, "Climate change is a hoax. Just more woke nonsense."

Maybe this is all God's will. If it is, then human beings have no right to continue.

Have you seen the videos of the destruction in Gaza? Bleeding kids? Dead kids? Have you heard the "Brass" in the Israeli military, the Minister of Defense? "We are fighting human animals." Even President Biden is refusing to urge Israel to obey the so-called "Laws of War". Specifically, to avoid causing civilian casualties. Yes, Hamas is evil, but Palestinian children, cripples, and old ladies are not. The UN passed a resolution to pause the bombing, but the US voted against it.

There's a Formula 1 race today. In Mexico City, a few hundred miles from where Hurricane Otis killed 27 people (maybe more now). It was a tropical storm and then 24 hours later it was a Category 5 hurricane hitting Acapulco. It could only become that strong that quickly because humans are heating the oceans with their carbon emissions. How can I sit and watch 20 rich guys burn fuel and dump carbon into the atmosphere while they race at 200 mph around in circles and go nowhere?

 

The Problem Is With The Human Heart

I tuned in the other day (has it been 2 or 3 days ago now?) to watch some political news and all I got on any channel was the mass shooting in the safest state in the country, Maine. For three days (or two? -- seems like weeks!) there's been nothing but rehashing of the same reporters at the same scenes, and interviews with survivors and loved ones. But the right wing is right: gun laws won't stop this shit. But the right wing is still responsible for it because they are the ones who've been mongering the hatred.

The new House Speaker is a radical evangelical christianist and his take on the problem is that it is in the human heart. But he's so loving and kind he would never condemn anyone. Unless of course they were gay, married to someone of their own sex, had an abortion, changed their sexual identity, or were an atheist or a Muslim or a Hindu or a pagan or a Black or a Jew. Those people, in his estimation, are equivalent to folks who have sex with their dogs.

It's a problem with the human heart, all right. It's the "I'm right, and you're wrong" syndrome and their answer is: believe my way or go to Hell.

We can vote those guys out, though. And if nobody gets out their guns to enforce a change in the electoral count, we'll have a Democratic House, Senate, and President next year. You think that problem with the human heart will accept a loss? They haven't yet accepted their last 3 losses: 2018, 2020, and 2022.

I'm reading Rachel Maddow's new book, Prequel. I'm learning a lot about the mood in this country during the run-up to World War II. The Germans had people here in the USA who were on Hitler's side and wanted us to stay out of Europe's war. "Europe for Europeans; America for Americans." There has been no change in the bigotry, racism, misogyny, antisemitism, homophobia, islamophobia, and xenophobia in the last 100 years. Hell, in the last million years. We, as humans, have always hated our neighbors. It's that "human heart" thing.

So, I will turn off the teevy and work on my "semi-autobiographical historical novel". My human heart will enjoy that a lot more.

No Control Of Guns

There is only one reason why Republicans refuse to support any kind of gun control. It's not because they are such supporters of the Constitution. They were willing, and attempted, to overthrow the Constitution on January 6, 2021. No, they want no restrictions on guns because they can't win a majority of the hearts and minds of the American people, and they will need those military-style guns to take control by force.

Thoughts on Guns

 It was Sam Colt, inventor of the first handheld gun that could be fired rapidly without needing to be reloaded after every shot, who may have first called a gun an equalizer. He did this in the early 1800s.

Ronald Reagan, writing for the September 1975 issue of Guns and Ammo, said: "The gun has been called the great equalizer, meaning that a small person with a gun is equal to a large person, but it is a great equalizer in another way, too. It ensures that the people are the equal of their government whenever that government forgets that it is servant and not master of the governed. ... I believe that the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms must not be infringed if liberty in America is to survive."

This is why the Republican minority in this country wants to keep their assault rifles. Because if they lose an election, even though they've gone to extraordinary lengths to keep Democrats from voting or from seeing their votes count as much as Republicans do, they can equalize their power with their guns. The Second Amendment guarantees minority rule and must stand if liberty is to survive.

But for liberty to survive that way, democracy must die. Unless, of course, Democrats acquire as many guns as Republicans.

Climate Change Is A Children's Issue

The older generations, having lived through the Great Depression, World War II,  the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, look down from their great heights of wisdom gained from the School of Hard Knocks and see climate change as just another thing to live through.  Dennis Miller, a former Exxon employee and supporter of Donald Trump lives in North Carolina.  "The climate has always changed and what's the bad part of it getting a bit warmer?  I like warm days," he says. 

The younger generations, however, consider any existential threat alarming, but Miller believes they have been misled, especially in thinking that humans can do anything about it, up or down.  Miller's granddaughter, Gemma Gutierrez has a sense of despair and outrage over global heating being met with indifference and dismissal by her elders. 

Kids not yet able to vote feel powerless, but they demonstrate in the streets and on social media to make their voices heard.  Some, like Greta Thunberg, find they can make their voices heard all the way to the United Nations.  And then they turn 18 and vote!  Youth voter turnout was 10% higher in this election.  And 61% voted for Biden.

Now Biden has to deliver on his climate promise.  The Sunrise Movement, a progressive climate group led by young people, want to see if Biden will hold to his word that climate change is his number one issue.  Biden's popularity among 18-29 year-olds 6 months ago was abysmal, but his stance on climate changed all that. 

Climate change is not something happening in the future.  It's happening now and is well underway.  Children are already being harmed.  As wildfires sweep across the land in ever greater size, intensity, number and duration, children's lungs are filling with smoke.  It matters where a child lives.  California's Central Valley, with some of the state's most polluted air, was particularly hard hit by record-breaking wildfire smoke.

It also matters what color and how rich a child is.  Can a family afford an air purifier?  Can they afford air conditioning?  With windows open, smoke comes into the house, and kids breath it all day and all night.  Smoke, particulate matter pollution, damages children's lungs.  It causes asthma and compromised immune systems.  The effects of air pollution caused by wildfires, which are in turn exacerbated by changes in climate, give kids an impending sense of doom.  They wonder if they will live to see the future.

But even kids that can avoid air pollution by staying indoors with air purifiers and air conditioning are affected adversely.  Mental health is affected too.  As we all know after this year of covid-inspired "sheltering" in place, a normal human, child or adult, goes stir crazy. 

It is no wonder that people of child-bearing age are becoming more and more likely to forego having children.  600 people aged 27 to 45, in a recent study, were considering the direction of the climate in their reproductive choices.  They fear any child brought into this world will have to survive what could be apocalyptic conditions.

The older generations are walking on.  The younger generations are waking up.  Under new management, climate change can be slowed, stopped, reversed, before there's no place on Earth left where humans can live.

References:
The Guardian, "Climate crisis breaks open generational rifts in US families" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/02/climate-crisis-differences-old-and-young-families
The Guardian, "A youth group helped Biden win. Now they want him to fix climate crisis"  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/16/joe-biden-climate-crisis-ennvironment-energy
New York Times, "Wildfire smoke harming children" https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/26/climate/california-smoke-children-health.html
The Guardian, "Climate ‘apocalypse’ fears stopping people having children" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/27/climate-apocalypse-fears-stopping-people-having-children-study