Dave Gardner For President!

 



Dave Gardner is going to run for President of the USA in 2024! 

I've never been much into politics simply due to the fact that there are no political (or any other types) solutions to the predicaments we face. This is extremely difficult for most people to fathom, as denial of reality and optimism bias seem to rule the day with so many people who think technology or some other form of idolatry will save us. I also realize that reducing overshoot in the US might not have much effect around the rest of the world. As I've seen some people put it, so-called "solutions" are 4 or 5 decades too late. Still, I do see benefit in attempting to reduce the harm by reducing overshoot. Whether or not such attempts are successful are not as important as simply making the effort, in my mind. Of course, I've been made fun of for quite some time for this very stance, and yet it doesn't really bother me anymore. More often than not, the reasons folks laugh are because they don't have a comprehensive understanding of overshoot and how the world really works, something that Gardner has been bringing attention to for well over a decade. Gardner came out with GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth - the Movie back in 2011 and continues his efforts despite the continuing worsening of conditions since his movie was released.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I don't think Gardner stands a chance politically of making it into any office; my hopes are that he brings more attention to ecological overshoot, which is a huge blind spot in America. If that doesn't happen, I won't be surprised or disappointed, as overshoot isn't really very interesting to most Americans. It can't really compete with football games, car racing, baseball and basketball, the latest movies, and all the other minutiae of today's modern world.  

Whether or not his plan to "get America out of ecological overshoot" is realistic is also more or less irrelevant to me, as simply having a platform and using it to bring attention to these issues and pointing out their importance is what I think the main push is for. How can people move towards any particular goal if they don't even know what the real issues are? For more info on ecological overshoot, go here.

Obviously, his plan cannot truly be realistic anyway because this would be a project that would take generations to actually accomplish and we're still going in the wrong direction today. A simple four-year or even an 8 year (elected twice) Presidential term isn't going to cut the mustard. But keep in mind what I said earlier about there being no political solution - these are just ideas to get the ball rolling, so to speak. He's obviously spent a considerable amount of time thinking about this and even if nothing comes of it, certainly he will have gotten the attention of a few people. 

The official launch of his campaign will take place next Tuesday, September 19, at 1 PM EDT. 



Comments

  1. StepehnSeptember 20, 2023 at 2:38 PM

    I really enjoyed this cheery post. Sure he probably won't win but having a reasonable human with sensible ideas on the ballot paper means there is someone to root for.

    ReplyDelete

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