Many progressives reading this post are, like me, privileged members of highly unequal societies. Although precarious employment with limited benefits afflicts many others, we are in secure jobs with secure futures. We can look forward to retirement. We do not need to worry that one bad illness will drive us into bankruptcy. The economies from which we benefit and our daily activities and pleasures also spew out prodigious volumes of carbon dioxide. Yet we are fairly well insulated from global warming, whereas the poorest and most carbon-frugal people, at home and abroad, are not. Most of us would welcome a drastic leap to a more egalitarian, secure, just and sustainable world, but that leap isn’t likely to happen soon. Continue reading →