The Dog Ate My Homework

When I was in sixth grade, we had to make a project for ancient civilization, and it was a Sumerian brick. I made it, and I left it on the radiator overnight. I came downstairs in the morning, and it had disappeared. And my dog – my Labrador was looking very guilty… So it must have been like, what she dreamed of because it was the size of a loaf of bread, and there was nothing left.

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I have been an indifferent correspondent this quarter. After my last post on “The Coming Crisis,” I had intended laying out a few possible futures, starting with one I call “Triumph of the Trads.” Three things intervened.

• October 7. A Minsky Moment of the first magnitude! And something that I believe may have a profound impact on the Coming Crisis’ outcome. The testimonies of the “three sisters” – I mean the Presidents of Penn, Harvard and MIT – were as appalling as the response to them was surprising. In fact, I’m still processing what the impact of 10/7 and beyond on those futures might be. I’ll come back to this next month.
• Medicare Open Enrollment. As some of you know, for the last decade I have helped hundreds of seniors optimize their choices, esp. for their drug plans. I’ve helped them save almost a half million dollars. As you might expect, it takes a lot of time.
• Over the last few weeks, Bill Hooke and I have had a running dialog over whether and how the First World should help the Third World deal with the “Climate Crisis.” My responses are in the comments to his posts here and here. Our views are, ahem, a bit divergent, but as he posted, “Readers are treated to another view, and then are better positioned to sort out their own thinking on the subject of the day.” His posts and my comments (well, his posts and maybe my comments) are worth reading.

I am one of Bill’s biggest fans. He is – as I try to be – an intellectual provocateur. He forces me to more clearly think through my own positions and to correct them as necessary. If I can characterize our starting points, his is that as a rich nation the US should help poorer countries when they have climatic damage because we have benefited so much from what has caused that damage. In that sense, he is a “gentle collectivist.”

My starting point is quite different. I’m not sure what harm has been done that can be attributed to a changing climate (Feel free to object in a comment). Further, while our forebears certainly left us much better off than many others, we should not forget how much they and we have done for the rest of the world, with our money, our time and even our blood. And I would much prefer donating my money, time and talents myself to those that I believe can truly benefit from them rather than have the government make the judgment of who is worthy. All of this makes me a sceptical individualist.

But please read the exchange – the issues we bring forth are important. Perhaps equally so, we can disagree while respecting each other.

In a sense “climate reparations” is [are?] a moot point, since John Kerry and company have already established such a fund at COP28. But in a sense it’s not: Congress still must authorize the release of funds for our contribution.

So these are the dogs that ate my homework. Seriously, I’ll try to do better! Maybe next year…

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Finally, we are rapidly approaching Christmas and a new year. It is a time for giving and sharing. Please remember those less fortunate. Help them not out of guilt for what you have, but out of the responsibility inherent in our common humanity. Above all, treat the less fortunate as human beings, as individuals, not faceless avatars of some group identity. And, maybe, we can do the same for those with whom we disagree.

I hope we all find that 2024 ends better than 2023 has. Peace!