21st century Robber Baron capitalism is going to mark our premature deaths under the ledger heading-Shit Happens.

There are only a few swigs of June remaining but the dregs of it- taste brackish. Things feel like they are ending rather than a new season about to begin. Summer once promised respite and renewal with the chance to enjoy spare idle moments. Not anymore because too many, too often and too terrible are all the crises we've met since the before times stopped in 2019. Personal, political or existential they overwhelmed us bit by bit.

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

It's summer solstice today and like most of Canada, and the USA, a heat dome has enveloped the continent.

Below my living room window, the asphalt parking lot shimmers from a scorching sun that creates record temperatures.

At least, so far, my region has been spared from the toxic smoke created by forest fires burning in the far north. But the asphyxiating fug from giant conflagrations will come in July, August or September because this is the way things are now.

Weather reports on my phone say- today, like yesterday, will feel- as if it was 40 degrees. I am one of the lucky ones; I have at least a 5000 BTU portable AC, which keeps me from becoming dangerously ill from the relentless heat.

Others aren't that fortunate. I often think about those who will perish this summer for want of a liveable temperature. It's their turn now, but when will it be mine or yours?

India is in the throes of a terrible heat dome- as is Mexico- many have died, and many more will die.

Deaths from extreme weather events, just like the deaths from Covid or genocide and famine are marked under the ledger heading Shit Happens, by 21st century Robber Baron capitalism.

It's easy for it to be done because the whole system works to deny our value in the scheme of existence- if we aren't from the most exclusive areas of our communities.

Obey, don't make waves and certainly don't make noise about the cost of living crisis, the crimes against humanity Israel commits in Gaza, or the climate emergency. To protest the brutality of our existence at the hands of the 1% beyond a petition or a letter to the editor is considered by governments, the corporate news media and the affluent as "hurting your cause."

Predictably, television news during this extreme heat event has lots of B roll of people in public pools and splash pads as if this was a heatwave in the 1970s rather than a catastrophic weather event brought upon by unregulated industrialisation that only profited the few. Too many boomers, despite all facts to the contrary, still say "It was ever thus, hot summers and cold winters."

Well-compensated, high-end six-figure journalists and reporters who covet the wages of there more seasoned peers tell viewers on cable news networks. "Stay hydrated" Drink Plenty of fluids rather than get angry is neoliberalism's response to the climate emergency.

My boomer generation has two speeds when it comes to self-reflection. We either forget or reinvent the past to make the present environmental horrors seem normal. I'm not sure if that is human nature or groupthink produced by the billionaires and oligarchs who control our democracies.

My money is on the entitled manipulating us to be complacent about this existential threat. The only way they can maintain power and prevent revolution is to desensitise us from our collective experiences of 21st-century environmental traumas.

Just look at how aghast centrists and much of the news media were over Just Stop Oil dousing a portion of the Stonehenge monolith with orange corn starch powder yesterday. Some compared it to ISIS's actual destruction in 2016 of the ancient 2000-year-old Syrian archaeological site of Palmyra.

The path is beaten for us to our collective destruction by a status quo that always benefits the few at the expense of the many. It is as if we are standing on an airport moving walkway and about to approach our departure gate. 

Your subscriptions are so important to my personal survival because like so many others who struggle to keep afloat, my survival is a precarious daily undertaking. The fight to keep going was made worse- thanks to getting cancer along with lung disease and other co- morbidities which makes life more difficult to combat in these cost of living crisis times. So if you can join with a paid subscription which is just 3.50 a month or a yearly subscription or a gift subscription. I promise the content is good, relevant and thoughtful. But if you can’t it all good too because I appreciate we are in the same boat. Take Care, John