Destabilized Saturday Edition #12
Networked geothermal, "demosclerosis," resurgent homophobia, and QAnon rebranding the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
This past Sunday night, April 3rd, 2022, a little after 9:00 p.m., a man dressed in dark colors walked into a five-month-old LBGTQ bar in Brooklyn, poured gasoline on the floor, lit it with a match, and ran out as the fire started to burn. A bartender was hospitalized with second-degree burns and a musician scheduled to play that night was also injured. The building was damaged but didn’t burn down. You can read the details here.
It may simply be a coincidence that this happened on the heels of Florida Republicans’ homophobic new “don’t say gay” law, which Governor Ron DeSantis’ press secretary advocated for like this:
Florida’s law isn’t an anomaly. As Human Rights Campaign explained in their 2021 State Equality Index report:
By only March, 2021 had seen more legislation filed that specifically targeted the transgender community than in modern history. HRC has been tracking anti-transgender legislation across state legislatures for decades, including since the surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation since 2015. 2020 had previously held the record of the most anti-transgender legislation introduced, with 79 pieces of legislation. 2021 had 147.
Importantly, as HRC noted, it’s not just the number of bills filed and passed:
The legislation that defined 2021 was particularly malignant, relying on a combination of fear-based messaging, counter-scientific argument, and exploitation of an exhausted public.
The Republican anti-gay legislative push has gone hand-in-hand with a broader uptick of open and ugly homophobia on the right, as this tweet thread details.
Demonizing and dehumanizing rhetoric creates permission structures for violence. It always has, whether in Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Serbia, the U.S. in the Jim Crow South, or elsewhere.
With hateful rhetoric surging, it wouldn’t be surprising if violence targeted at LGBTQ Americans increased in the years ahead – whether or not this particular arson attack was an instance of it. We need new and better systems to keep people safe.
Bigger picture, the spike of anti-Asian violence, rising antisemitism, and resurgent homophobia are evidence that something dark is gaining momentum in America. Despite this, not only is there no known plan to slow or stop it, there’s little public recognition it’s even happening.
My Work
The secret to buying a home that will hold its value
It’s hard to predict exactly what heavier rains in the future will mean for this house, but we know a few things:
Water risks (basement flooding, mold, etc.) are higher today than they were even just a few years ago.
Water risks will continue to increase into the future.
These increased water risks aren’t yet reflected in the prices of these homes.
Put it all together, and whoever buys this home is taking on climate repricing risk, which is the probability that a given house will be part of the future correction in asset values that occurs as the market comes to understand the magnitude, trajectory, and implications of climate change.
Interesting Reads
Mancur Olson at the end of history – The economic war on Russia is half-assed not because each national leader has independently decided to half-ass it, but because all of our societies are experiencing demosclerosis and simply can’t choose to act decisively on the Russia issue. We lack the capacity.
QAnon is a Nazi Cult, Rebranded – QAnon’s conspiracy theory is a rebranded version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Tweets of the Week
I would not have guessed this ↓
Extreme Weather Watch
Creeping Authoritarianism Watch
