Speaking of the news cycle, did you read the "Guardian"'s article "Pop's need for speed: 'You have to drop new stuff constantly'"? bit.ly/2mk2Pkf Taylor Swift's new album is a stiff, already in the rearview mirror, the only thing that can save it is radio airplay, never underestimate the power of Republic's promotion team, but everybody gives up at some point, the opportunity cost is just too high, your team could be working on something else. But Taylor Swift is positively rearguard, everything she does is behind the times. She tried to burnish her image with social media after that venue had already gone on backlash and kept her work from streaming services and now has dropped an album in an era of singles. Albums are only for the niche. Or else you release multiple albums a year, otherwise you're no longer top of mind.
Like the climate strike.
But the school strike for climate is not a new thing. It's been a constant presence this year. Go to Wikipedia: bit.ly/2Tb19Ft Remind you of anything? Probably not, because you weren't alive at the turn of the decade, from the sixties to the seventies, when antiwar protests ramped up and Johnson declined to run for re-election and the whole country turned against the war in Vietnam. It was the youth who did that. Because the war was unwinnable and unjust, and because men were afraid of dying in Southeast Asia.
Now people are afraid of dying as a result of climate change.
That's right, as the bigwigs debate it, as governments pooh-pooh it, as those who lived through the aforementioned peace protests fifty years ago forget the lessons of history, a whole new generation, of both males and females, is freaking out, they're afraid climate change is gonna negatively impact their future, if they get one at all, these lobsters have finally realized the temperature of the water is going up and they don't want to boil.
Come on, just look around, another hurricane in Houston? Well, technically Imelda is a tropical depression, but who knew that living in Houston was so dangerous?
As for hurricanes... They had 'em when I was growing up. But not with devastating results seemingly every year.
My personal litmus test is the heat in Santa Monica. When I moved there at the beginning of the eighties, you didn't need air conditioning, only one week a year was sweltering. But not now, now you can't function without air conditioning, you're shvitzing, you can't run off to a meeting without a shower.
And then there's the ski season. Which is shorter than ever. And those who venture to Colorado are aware of the bark beetle, killing trees all over the forest, it no longer gets cold enough to kill them. Yup, drive through the Centennial State, you can't avoid it, those swaths of dead, brown trees.
But I'm not here to debate climate change with you, doesn't matter if you disbelieve, THE YOUTH DO! The climate is the number one issue of one-quarter of Gen-Z. That means when they vote...
Yup, the polluting corporations and the Republicans are on the wrong side of this. Which is one reason California is a blue state. Oh, don't buy the hogwash how bad life in the Golden State is. Sure, we've got an affordable housing crisis, but if you look at the economy at large...it's booming, much better than the vaunted Texas.
And it's not only Governor Newsom standing up for climate change, Trump wants to lower fuel economy ratings, but an additional twenty two other states disagree.
Once again, I'm not here to argue climate facts. I'm just putting you on notice that the youth are energized, just like they were during the Vietnam era, it's their future they're worried about, and they're going to vote accordingly.
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