Hello Reader,
Earlier this season I got real into vampires. What I’ve learned that I find interesting about them is that even though they are mythical creatures they are also more real than you may think. A vampire is an undead creature that survives off of blood. There may not be undead creatures walking around, but there are certain individuals in this vast world who enjoy themselves some blood in one context or another. It’s something to think about as the world prepares to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos this week. Everything and everyone may not be as they appear.
What I am Interested In this Week:
The Home Stretch
One of the main events of American politics is coming to its conclusion next week. November 5, 2024, Americans will elect a new president of the United States of America. The two candidates are criss-crossing the country and over the weekend they both had large campaign events. On Friday Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were both in Texas. Trump made a speech in Austin and visited the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. Harris on the other hand was in Houston doing a women's rights rally where Beyoncé showed up. These dual events seemed to go relatively well for each candidate, despite the fact that it appears Kamala can’t go anywhere without protesters showing up too, however there were some weird moments for me.
On the Joe Rogan podcast Joe asked Donald Trump like four or five times, what it’s like when someone becomes president. Trump said it’s surreal, but for whatever reason that wasn’t an adequate enough answer for Joe, and to the listener or viewer it could have been confusing like wtf do you mean joe he already said it’s a surreal experience, why do you keep asking the same question and what exactly do you want to know!? I don’t think Joe made his intentions clear with that one question. It got weird but they were able to move past it. They talked about a lot, it was a three hour conversation, so there is plenty to glean from. The one weird thing at the Harris rally for me, was when Beyoncé came out, Kelly Rowland came out as well.
There is nothing wrong with Kelly coming, I like Kelly. What threw me off was she was wearing an oversized suit at a women’s rights rally walking out and standing next to Beyoncé looking like Jay Z. It was off putting and potentially sent some mixed messages. On Saturday Trump was in PA while Harris was in Michigan with Michelle Obama. And on Sunday Trump did Madison Square Garden in NYC. What I will say about the MSG rally is that the organizers shouldn’t have let basically anyone get behind the podium because there were at least two speakers that were a little uncouth. These two candidates are doing whatever they can to sway voters and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next week.
Climate Change Concerns
The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or UNCCC is scheduled to take place in a couple of weeks and a narrative is starting to circulate that nations are not doing enough to contribute to the reduction of global emissions. Per this article, the world is nowhere near the 45% emissions cut that scientists suggest is necessary by 2030. For context 2030 is a little more than six years away, so it’s not some far off timeline. RIght now the world is at 2.6%. By reducing the global CO2 emissions by 45% humanity can play its part in reducing global warming and helping our species survive longer. At the UNCCC there will be discussions about how each nation can do its part to improve/increase its nationally determined contribution (NDC) and ways to incentivize more ambitious goals.
Realistically the people of earth regardless of nation need to cut their CO2 emission by more than 7% annually to reach the goals of the UNCCC. I don’t know if it is or isn’t possible and it’s a worthy pursuit however, we need to solve for waste and fire. Without fire there is no civilization and waste only goes away if/when humans go away. So while limiting climate change is a noble cause the issue that it keeps running into is feasibility. Are the various projects desired fundable and executable? Do we have the technology and willpower to advance beyond industrialization? Or do we tear everything down and go back to living in the woods (which I'm for to a certain degree)? For climate change initiatives to work functionally, they need to work practically.
Japan Snap election
Japan is currently slogging through one of their most devastating scandals in the modern era. On August 14, 2024 their then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resigned amid a scandal in the Liberal Democratic Party. Certain leaders in the party were taking kickback payments for event tickets sold for political party events. Some politicians, part of Japan's largest and most influential political party, were getting paid illegally by redirecting money raised for the party to their pockets. Kishida was not implicated as being part of this scandal, and he fired a few people to try to ameliorate the situation, but ultimately he was losing support and decided it was time for new leadership. On October 1, 2024, the current Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, was elected. Shortly after being elected, Ishiba called for a snap election to be held on October 27, 2024.
This election, similar to the one that happened in France earlier this year that we covered, was done in hopes to sure up party support especially with new leadership at the helm. Unfortunately however, The people of Japan were not buying it. In addition to the political party scandal, the Japanese people have also been struggling with a higher cost of living that has been dampening the mood of the people. So, as much as this election was about putting the scandal behind them, it also ended up being about how people felt about the economy, and the results indicate that sentiment is not good. The LDP lost its majority in the House Representatives making this snap election the worst for the party since 2009 when they lost the first time, for similar reasons. The House of Representatives is likely to elect a new Prime Minister in November and some analysts don’t think it will be Ishiba.
Word of Encouragement
This week I want to encourage you to stand your ground. Being adversarial is not a bad thing. It’s not how you may necessarily want to live your life all the time, but you can’t shy away from conflict or disagreement. Certainly pick and choose your battles. Identify what’s worth fighting for. Understand that winning is a good thing. Making room for caveats and needing to adjust doesn’t solve those problems in and of themselves. You’re better off fighting for and pursuing your north star and making changes along the way as necessary, instead of tepidly pursuing your goals and supporting your morals because you’re concerned something unforeseen may arise.