It’s that familiar season, full of quaint old false beliefs. Like that crazy Santa Claus notion there’s such a thing as just desserts. Who’s been naughty and who’s been nice? It’s pretty clear in the world of global politics, but there’s no relation between behavior and the consequences. In fact, if there’s any relationship, it’s downside up.
Take climate change. Polluter nations wouldn’t be hard for Santa to spot. They’re the big ones, with long dirty industrial histories, gobbling up everybody’s ozone space. They’re not called "naughty" (just "developed") and in Copenhagen they did all they could to prevent ever having to pay any painful price.
At the climate talks, they drew up secret plans in advance to legalize as many emissions as they could, and threw a fit when less powerful nations said — wait a minute — you’re dooming us to drown or dry up.
In climate science, those nations who did least to cause the problem, are feeling the brunt of the effects. In Washington, there’s something similar taking place.
While bank bonuses go back up, so does poverty and unemployment. The bankers say they’re not breaking any rules, they’re paying the government back, and they’re back to work drafting new rules that will keep their profits on track.
Meanwhile, Main Street’s hurting and no one’s hurting worse than those who had the least in the first place. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) says that some parts of the nation – specifically the African American parts — suffered a "devastation" during what for others was merely a downturn.
"When you have disproportionate pain," said Waters recently, "You have to act accordingly. You have two sick patients. One has pneumonia and one has a cold. You don’t give aspirin to the one with pneumonia." said Waters. Except that’s exactly what we’re doing.
You better watch out…You better not pout… Just when is Santa coming to town?
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
