The Sunshine State

It’s summer time in Florida, and it is quite warm and humid. Most of us go about our daily lives, whatever they may consist of, desperately trying to avoid heat exhaustion or uncomfortable dampness (not to be confused with comfortable dampness) and energy consumption is massive as we strive to both cool and dehumidify the environments in our homes and places of work. In all probability, very few of us dwell upon the sequence of events that delivers the heavenly cool air to our sweaty faces and any thought of possible human or environmental costs are lost amidst the satisfied sighs of those delivered, if only momentarily, from the oppressive 24-hour tropical steam bath.

Ironically, here in June of 2010, many of us in Florida are keeping an eye on the beaches, not unlike Commander Towers, waiting for the end of the world to arrive. There has been a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico since the 20th of April, and the efforts to address it have been nothing short of a Keystone Cops meets Aqua Man theater of the absurd. The geniuses at BP have finally fashioned a deep-water oil condom that appears to be 27 percent effective, roughly equivalent to the rhythm method, and meanwhile somewhere between 10,000 and 10 billion gallons of oil a day continue to pour into the Gulf, with largely unknown consequences. Here on the West coast of Florida, we have yet to see much of it, but just the idea of its lurking presence has been enough to frighten away tourists and raise the general level of anxiety in a State which has already seen the most extensive collapse of the real estate market and some of the most significant recession related job loss in the nation.

On April 3rd, I posted a blog lamenting President Obama’s decision to support new offshore oil exploration (http://toomuchfuzzylogic.blogspot.com/2010/04/driller-killer.html) Quite prescient timing, one might observe, but it just goes to show that you don’t have to be psychic, or even very clever, to predict bad outcomes from intellectually questionable actions. I don’t really have a point here, other than that being hot and worried is a bad combination and that Florida may be the Sunshine State, but most Floridians have anything but a sunny disposition these days. Decades of poorly regulated development have significantly impacted Florida’s natural charm and inefficient design of infrastructure and massive duplication of services has resulted in high taxation rates relative to the quality of services provided. A lot of retired people live in Florida, I guess because old people can stand withering heat better than they can bitter cold, but it just so happens retired people are often most affected by drops in the Stock Market and uncertainty in the investment environment. Game, set and match.

In addition, based upon the best scientific data, average global temperatures are also gradually rising, so not only will the air-conditioner be running more often, but sea level will rise and some of the most expensive real estate in the world will eventually be underwater. I know global warming is an issue of some controversy among laymen and politicians, but there is a consensus of around 95 percent of the world’s climatologists that warming is occurring, although there is slightly less consensus as to the actual cause, but if you are drowning, your first thought is generally not to inquire about the source of the water. Anyway, Florida has a questionable future ahead of it; I can foresee a time when destitute retirees without Medicare squat in the upper floors of abandoned seaside mansions where oily water laps at the front doors and mailboxes appear and disappear with the tide.

In fact, the whole world faces a questionable future. Our juvenile inability to connect actions with consequences and the widespread ignorance of basic scientific fact, compounded by our desire to put off unpleasant decisions and ignore things that make us feel helpless, will eventually result in quite a bit of unhappiness. Of course, few people care what I think. I’m just a pessimist who doesn’t believe in the God-ordained power of Capitalism to solve all the world’s ills. I lack faith in the wisdom of corporations to understand or promote the best interests of humanity. I don’t believe in faeries. Sarah Palin is way smarter than me, I hope.