Share this page!

David Roberts Profile picture
Twitter logo
Jan 27 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
"There’s a part of me that feels like the only way we get to major structural reform is for the Rs to win unified gov't in 2025 & then just overreach incredibly. ... I mean, that’s my optimistic case at this point: that the ’20s will be a decade of decline and then renewal." 😞
That's @leedrutman, echoing my own chipper thoughts. vox.com/policy-and-pol…
All right all right everyone, chill out. I don't want to speak for Lee, but I think this is more morbid humor than real accelerationism. Less "this is something to want or expect" & more "this is literally the only positive outcome I can even dream up at this point."
Point being, all forces seem to be pushing inexorably toward dissolution. It's genuinely difficult to imagine a scenario in which the country reverses the trends, pulls back together, without violence & disruption. Thus the morbid (& only half-serious) "just get it over with."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with David Roberts

David Roberts Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @drvolts

David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 28
Missed this a few days ago, but @adamjohnsonNYC pretty much captures my current Covid thoughts. thecolumn.substack.com/p/covid-isnt-a…
The thought I keep coming back to is that Covid put the US under stress & basically exposed what a sad-sack crumbling empire we are. Failing institutions, weak leaders, selfishness, ignorance, denial, scapegoating, and whining, whining, whining, whining, whining.
Over & over again, the usual suspects try to do what they do -- blame everything on vague soft distant meddling "elites" & their immigrant armies -- only to find that the virus is just a virus & doesn't give a shit who owned who on cable & just keeps killing people.
Read 12 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 28
Today on Volts: to reach net-zero carbon emissions, the US must decarbonize tens of millions of buildings. Sounds tricky! I talk to @panamaredhat, head of the @buildingdecarb Coalition, about the biggest challenges, including your stupid gas stove. volts.wtf/p/volts-podcas…
To be clear, it's me, not Panama, calling your gas stove stupid. It is stupid, though.
Ah, the very first line of today's post contains a stupid error! So fun. To clarify: the *direct + indirect* emissions of buildings are about 30% of the US total. Direct emissions -- the subject of the post -- are only around 10%. Correction in post: volts.wtf/p/volts-podcas…
Read 4 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 26
There's something infuriating but also deeply sad about how many people contemplate the standard American life -- roads, pavement, parking, SUVs, strip malls, suburbs, fast food -- and conclude, "well, that's just what consumers want! It's just how Americans are!"
"Americans just intrinsically want to drive through suburbs in giant, hostile, aggressive, unsafe, quasi-military vehicles that kill tens of thousands of people a year. It's our National Character™️!"
It just seems like lots of people would rather say, "actually, I like this shit" than admit that American life has been shaped at every level, right down to hearth & home, by the profit motives of corporations & the manipulations of the public relations industry.
Read 5 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 25
Thinking about it, it seems like Biden was almost perfectly set up to have a disappointing presidency. If he hadn't had a majority in the Senate, expectations would've been lower & he could have just scrapped his way through w/ executive action + bully pulpit, a la Obama. If ...
... he'd had a *bigger* majority in the Senate -- even just a little bit bigger -- he could have accomplished the historic stuff he planned/promised. But the 50-50 Senate is the worst of both worlds. It's "control," so it jacks up expectations, but in practice ...
... it's practically custom-designed to produce months of fruitless pleading & negotiations, with all the terrible press coverage that entails. If we're being fair/objective, Biden's presidency has been surprisingly successful *given the circumstances*. But ...
Read 5 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 22
One thing that has bugged me about the debate over the filibuster is the tendency of the discourse to get mired in abstractions about majorities vs. minorities, and what the right level of protection is for minorities. This has marked US procedural arguments for decades, but ...
... it's worth noting that, for all those decades, the only minority whose rule is being defended is conservative patriarchal white Christian men & their wives -- ahem, "real Americans." That's always the minority with the "right" to influence beyond its numbers.
You better believe every RW reply guy who burps up "republic not a democracy" in response to procedural arguments would change his tune in a heartbeat if it were any other minority dominating national politics. If Dems could run the Senate with 45% of the nat'l population? Shit.
Read 6 tweets
David Roberts Profile picture
Jan 21
Again & again, I think about the profound trauma this current era is inscribing on all of us -- and the fucked-up ways that trauma will express itself in coming years. npr.org/2022/01/20/107…
What I wish -- & maybe even briefly hoped was true, early on -- is that this extremely explicit demonstration of the need for solidarity would prompt compassion & a push for supportive social & economic policy. But now ...
... I've pretty much lost that hope & resigned myself to the fact that people generally respond to trauma in unhealthy ways. I expect we'll see *more* division, resentment, isolation, & social darwinism in coming years. Stress & anxiety make people more small-c conservative.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @drvolts has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @drvolts!

Read all threads by @drvolts

:(