Australia is hardly surprising, since it draws most of those ideas from us in UK. And frankly every country in Western Europe has the same broad approach.
Which is precisely why the people of Greenland have reacted in such horror to the idea of becoming part of USA. If they did, their standard of living would drop through the floor, something which your White House Luminaries simply cannot comprehend. And their beloved wild landscape would be mined to oblivion by Trump's avaricious backers. The standard of living in Scandinavia - for ordinary people, not the billionaires - is far far higher than that in USA.
One last point, please. You mentioned guns. In 2024 I believe USA had 16000 or so firearm homicides. (I'm sure I've seen 11,600 somewhere, so forgive any inaccuracy)
The UK has an admirable police force—trained for de-escalation rather than brute force. Armed units are separate and only called in when there’s an actual threat. So when a uniform officer knocks on your door, you don’t instinctively fear for your life. Violence just isn’t something a suspect feels the need to prepare for.
If a Brit showed the same obsession with guns that some Americans do, their family would probably take them to a psychiatrist to figure out what’s wrong with them.
Australia is in many ways similar to the UK. However, if I chose the UK, many people would dismiss it as a socialist Europe example, and Canada is overused. There are also many Americans who believe the country’s current issues stem from fundamentalist Christianity and the mix of politics with religion, because it didn’t learn its lesson the way Europe did through hard experience. That’s why I saw Australia as the best example to show the US didn’t have to follow the path it chose.
you can check me out, I agree with you 99% of time and share your articles a lot with others , but this is the 1 % time , :-) , 2 of your things disagree with , others YES. fyi, climate does change if we hadn't had climate warming , and cold we wouldn't be here. Planet does it on it's own with or without humans, it's a fact. Also China and India will never do climate changes no matter what others do. Comment about rich and white, better check the "real facts", will surprise you immensely , seriously you will surprised on the true documented facts on crime.
Other wise great article and always enjoy your articles :-)
I’m glad most of my pieces resonate with you and I hear what you're saying.
You're absolutely right that climate change has always happened throughout Earth’s history. But what’s often poorly explained is that the current crisis isn’t just about climate change—it’s about the speed of it. Normally, climate shifts occur over thousands or even millions of years, giving life on Earth time to adapt. Climate change isn’t supposed to be something you notice in a single lifetime. When it happens too fast, species don’t get the chance to adjust—and that’s when mass extinction happens.
Take 63 million years ago, for example: about 75% of all species went extinct, not just from the initial meteor strike, but by far most of them from the rapid climate change that followed. Life didn’t have time to adapt.
The same applies to us. If sea levels rise gradually over centuries, we’ll adapt with advancing technology. But if they rise too fast, millions of people won’t have time to relocate or recover. That’s why the goal right now isn’t to stop climate change or reverse it—it’s to slow it down enough to prevent ecological collapse.
As for India and China—look, America isn’t exactly known for sitting back and helplessly observing what other countries do. If the U.S. really wanted to take bold action on the climate crisis (which is a far more accurate term than natural-sounding “climate change”), it would find ways to lead, pressure, or enforce its will—just like it does in so many other areas of global politics. So when America shrugs and says, “Well, look at what others are doing, we can’t help it,” what it really means is: it doesn’t want to.
Well said.
Australia is hardly surprising, since it draws most of those ideas from us in UK. And frankly every country in Western Europe has the same broad approach.
Which is precisely why the people of Greenland have reacted in such horror to the idea of becoming part of USA. If they did, their standard of living would drop through the floor, something which your White House Luminaries simply cannot comprehend. And their beloved wild landscape would be mined to oblivion by Trump's avaricious backers. The standard of living in Scandinavia - for ordinary people, not the billionaires - is far far higher than that in USA.
One last point, please. You mentioned guns. In 2024 I believe USA had 16000 or so firearm homicides. (I'm sure I've seen 11,600 somewhere, so forgive any inaccuracy)
In UK we had 22.
That's 22, not 22,000......
Hi Peter,
The UK has an admirable police force—trained for de-escalation rather than brute force. Armed units are separate and only called in when there’s an actual threat. So when a uniform officer knocks on your door, you don’t instinctively fear for your life. Violence just isn’t something a suspect feels the need to prepare for.
If a Brit showed the same obsession with guns that some Americans do, their family would probably take them to a psychiatrist to figure out what’s wrong with them.
Australia is in many ways similar to the UK. However, if I chose the UK, many people would dismiss it as a socialist Europe example, and Canada is overused. There are also many Americans who believe the country’s current issues stem from fundamentalist Christianity and the mix of politics with religion, because it didn’t learn its lesson the way Europe did through hard experience. That’s why I saw Australia as the best example to show the US didn’t have to follow the path it chose.
Tanner;
you can check me out, I agree with you 99% of time and share your articles a lot with others , but this is the 1 % time , :-) , 2 of your things disagree with , others YES. fyi, climate does change if we hadn't had climate warming , and cold we wouldn't be here. Planet does it on it's own with or without humans, it's a fact. Also China and India will never do climate changes no matter what others do. Comment about rich and white, better check the "real facts", will surprise you immensely , seriously you will surprised on the true documented facts on crime.
Other wise great article and always enjoy your articles :-)
Hi Shib,
I’m glad most of my pieces resonate with you and I hear what you're saying.
You're absolutely right that climate change has always happened throughout Earth’s history. But what’s often poorly explained is that the current crisis isn’t just about climate change—it’s about the speed of it. Normally, climate shifts occur over thousands or even millions of years, giving life on Earth time to adapt. Climate change isn’t supposed to be something you notice in a single lifetime. When it happens too fast, species don’t get the chance to adjust—and that’s when mass extinction happens.
Take 63 million years ago, for example: about 75% of all species went extinct, not just from the initial meteor strike, but by far most of them from the rapid climate change that followed. Life didn’t have time to adapt.
The same applies to us. If sea levels rise gradually over centuries, we’ll adapt with advancing technology. But if they rise too fast, millions of people won’t have time to relocate or recover. That’s why the goal right now isn’t to stop climate change or reverse it—it’s to slow it down enough to prevent ecological collapse.
As for India and China—look, America isn’t exactly known for sitting back and helplessly observing what other countries do. If the U.S. really wanted to take bold action on the climate crisis (which is a far more accurate term than natural-sounding “climate change”), it would find ways to lead, pressure, or enforce its will—just like it does in so many other areas of global politics. So when America shrugs and says, “Well, look at what others are doing, we can’t help it,” what it really means is: it doesn’t want to.
What do you think?