Consider it no happenstance that Donald and dystopia both begin with a “d.” Sadly enough, they have all too much in common. Right now, the big D is clearly intent on creating a little d globally. After all, before he was even sworn in as president again he had already launched a dystopian imperial version of foreign policy that seemed to tie the Panama Canal, Canada, and Greenland (“MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”) in a knot. And count on this: that’s only the beginning of what he’s planning to try to do that could, in the end, leave this planet heading for an almost literal hell on Earth.
In fact, if you’re in a dystopian mood, think of those record-breaking burning lands around Los Angeles of recent weeks as an introduction to the future Donaldtopian world of the president who doesn’t believe climate change is anything but a “hoax” and “one of the greatest scams of all time.” He’s already eager on his first day in office, in fact, to reverse Joe Biden’s latest climate gesture of banning offshore oil drilling along much of the U.S. coastline. It’s going to be, he insists, another of his many promised “day one” acts, while he dreams of launching the most massive oil and gas drilling program imaginable. Honestly, if this were fiction, I don’t think you’d believe it.
Given our world, were this indeed a novel and not the life we’re all now leading, you would undoubtedly consider it the wildest sci-fi imaginable. Only 40 years after George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, no such luck, of course. So, let TomDispatch regular Juan Cole, who runs the must-read Informed Comment website, take you on a little journey into what indeed might be “our” future in — no, not 2084 but 2048, thanks to — yes! — The Donald. Tom
A Time Capsule from 2048
What Turbocharged Carbon Will Do to Our Children
My name isn’t important, only what I have to say. I’m writing with a pencil because I need to conserve my batteries tonight. It’s Year 24 of Our Trump (though he himself, of course, is no longer with us, just his kids who are running things). I feel like I should try to explain our era to whoever opens this time capsule a century from now, though you may need scuba gear to get at it. A lot of records could be lost by then. The Chinese climate hoax was less of a hoax than we thought at the time. Forgive me, Donald, but despite what the New Evangelical Church says, you were anything but infallible -- even if I still can’t say so publicly.
I’d like to move away from the coast, maybe even go north. But real estate in the interior is too pricey, especially at higher elevations away from the flood plains. Looking on the bright side, though, my bunker has held up alright so far, even during the usual Cat 7 hurricanes, and I’ve stocked plenty of canned soup. I do worry, though, about being submerged by a storm surge. No one wants to end up like those poor people in Galveston.
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