The Sinking Island, or, the USA in miniature

 


Atlantis did it better...



Interesting article over on The Age’s website, “The Trump-loving, climate-sceptic island sinking into the sea,” by Matthew Knott.* It seems that the small island of Tangier, which is just off the coast of Virginia, is rapidly going underwater due to climate change. In a few years, it will be gone entirely.


The kicker? Many of the island’s 400 or so remaining inhabitants, and particularly the mayor, don’t believe in climate change. They think it is hoax. They also think that Trump won the last election, but that’s for another day.


It is a sad story, really. And you can fault the inhabitants for ignoring obvious realities. But, come, let’s confess. The islanders are only doing what the rest of the nation is also doing, albeit on a grander scale. Americans, and particularly Republicans, are doing their best to ignore clear and present dangers—global warming, Covid, foreign foes, economic imbalances, threats to our democracy, and on and on.


And, alas, it may be that we won’t wake up until, at last, we find ourselves submerged, and wondering how long we can do the dead man float…


Before it ceases to be just as act.


~mjt



*Source: “ “The Trump-loving, climate-sceptic island sinking into the sea: Two thirds of the Virginian island of Tangier has disappeared since 1850. But the mayor doesn’t believe in climate change - or the last election result ” by Matthew Knott, The Age, October 29, 2021, https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/the-trump-loving-climate-sceptic-island-sinking-into-the-sea-20211028-p593v2.html?btis



Copyright©2021 Michael Jay Tucker

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