What unites Obama and Romney, the two political opponents,apart from the desire to win the presidential election? On the face of it, they can hardly have anything in common. However, there is one thing that they share…
These days, people are aware of the fact that politicians like to speculate on major social and economic problems, thereby promising a better future for the electorate. However, they often abstain from discussing some really serious and urgent problems.
Some Western journalists like writing about the problems that US politicians prefer not to talk about. What are these problems and how big are they? Let’s have a closer look at them…
Problem #1: Environmental Disaster
According to Justin Guillis, a journalist working for The New York Times, and Noam Chomsky, an American scientist, the entire world (and the USA in particular) should pay attention to 2 global problems until it is not too late. In particular, Noam Chomsky addresses these problems in his article called” Issues That Obama and Romney Avoid”.
A bad solution is not a solution. We have reached the point when it is time to solve 2 major problems: the threat of a nuclear war and a major environmental disaster.
Mr. Chomsky keeps telling us about new facts confirming the supposition that global warming may lead to disastrous consequences if humankind fails to do anything about it. The Arctic and Antarctic ice keeps melting at an unprecedented pace. Scientists are in panic. The world has already started feeling the consequences of climatic changes. Yet, the problem is getting more serious.
According to the recent sensational report published by the Climate Vulnerability Monitor, “climate change caused by global warming is slowing down world economic output by 1.6 percent a year and will lead to a doubling of costs in the next two decades." Previously, scientists used to predict that the Arctic ice will be vanishing for summer periods in 30-40 years (by 2050). However, the ice is melting faster than expected. So, the revised forecasts look alarming and shocking, there by naming the year of 2020!
Still, some countries do almost nothing to curtail greenhouse gas emissions to suspend or at least slowdown the greenhouse effect.
It seems like a major energy crisis is the worst-case scenario. Probably that is why, new ice-free territories are instantly drilled and monitored for oil deposits. Therefore, the anthropogenic destructive process is accelerating. The current generation seems to have forgotten about what environment their children and grandchildren will be living in.
In 2008, both the US parties used to discuss the environmental problems in their debates in the run-ups to elections. This time, there is no such issue on the agenda. It seems like US politicians are tired of being scared and think that no environmental disaster threatens the world any more. The major focus is the astronomic public debt.
Mr. Chomsky says that the Republicans want the US Congress “to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency, established by former Republican President Richard Nixon in saner days, from regulating greenhouse gases. And we must open Alaska's Arctic refuge to drilling to take "advantage of all our American God-given resources." We cannot disobey the Lord, after all… The Republican candidate Mitt Romney, seeking to escape from the stigma of what he understood a few years ago about climate change, has declared that there is no scientific consensus, so we should support more debate and investigation -- but not action, except to make the problems more serious…”
As for the Democrats, they “mention in their platform that there is a problem, and recommend that we should work "toward an agreement to set emissions limits in unison with other emerging powers." But that's about it… President Barack Obama has emphasized that we must gain 100 years of energy independence by exploiting fracking and other new technologies -- without asking what the world would look like after a century of such practices…”
Therefore, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are actually trying to do anything about the issue. Mr. Chomsky underlines that the only difference between them is “about how enthusiastically the lemmings should march toward the cliff”.
Problem #2. Nuclear War
Is there a real threat of a nuclear war? This question is a major point of concern these days. When Western experts start taking about the issue, they obviously mention the Middle East as this is the major hotspot in the contemporary world if to consider the confrontation between Iran and Israel.
Strange as it may seem but unlike Iran, Israel refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or to allow any inspections. It is still unclear whether Iran has created its own nuclear weapons. Neither the US intelligence, nor the inspections can find any proofs. It is not a secret that the USA openly supports Israel in its confrontation with Iran.
Iran is focused on its energy independence, which seems to bother the USA.
Therefore, Mr. Chomsky concludes:
“We could be moving toward a devastating war, possibly even nuclear. Straightforward ways exist to overcome this threat, but they will not be taken unless there is large-scale public activism demanding that the opportunity be pursued. This in turn is highly unlikely as long as these matters remain off the agenda, not just in the electoral circus, but in the media and larger national debate…”
In the meantime, the Middle East issue is pushing oil up prices. However, the US authorities will strive to lower gas prices until the forthcoming presidential election. They may even use strategic reserves of oil within the next 3 weeks in order to accomplish this task.
The chart below, courtesy of , reflects the current state of affairs in the market of WTI crude oil:
As for Iran, now it has to choose between 2 negative options: Either it abandons its nuclear program or it will have to defend it in an armed conflict.
However, common Israelis disagree with the Israeli authorities on the issue. They want a nuclear-free zone. But the authorities won’t ever make such a step voluntarily. Therefore, the only way to eliminate the threat of a nuclear war is to deprive Israel of its nuclear weapons…
Why aren’t the 2 issues discussed during the election debates?
According to Eugene Olkhovsky, ’s leading expert, it is all about political technology and PR. The promoters are interested in unthinking electorate. They need voters who would choose between two evils (as their no essential difference between Obama and Romney, they represent the interests of the ruling financial tycoons, not the American people).
Therefore, Mr. Guillis and Mr. Chomsky urge the Americas to be active. The US authorities are still capable of reacting to nationwide protests and will definitely make some concessions, which may slow down the negative process…
