Stephen Gottlieb

We can protect our environment and stop global warming in three ways:

Joe Biden’s legislative successes, as The Atlantic summarized, include “funds to fight climate change, a major infrastructure bill, action to lower prescription-drug prices [and even] modest gun reform,” policies that the public approves by wide margins. He’s put people back to work and is clearly trying to do the right things. Despite all the misleading discussion, inflation has been tamed, and we’re headed for the much talked about soft landing. Beyond those legislative victories, Biden has been doing what the constitutional system in Washington allows regarding the environment, equal rights and women’s rights. In other words, Biden has been hard at work taking care of the public’s business – things are under control – while Trump visits the make-up man.

I think there are few if any human beings who are 100% good or bad. The best of us sometimes do wrong things and the worst of us sometimes behave well.

Netanyahu’s government is trying to replace the Palestinian population with Jewish settlers. That’s not some fictional replacement theory. They’ve been expanding the territory that Jewish Israelis are allowed to seize, squat on, and defend, against the prior Palestinian owners, settlers and communities. Nothing subtle about it.

The US Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action at the end of June. What difference will it make?

There’s a lot going on but nothing’s more important than the damage climate change is and will be doing. It’s already extremely painful, deadly and will keep getting worse.

The US quickly recognized Israel, over State Department objections, with much American, including Jewish support. I was in elementary school at the time but I believe that a future friend of mine ran guns here in New York for the State of Israel in 1948. I would have cheered. Later he ran an office in Mississippi in what was known as Freedom Summer – two actions that obviously took lots of guts. My friend, who has now passed away, also took a major part in the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

We know a young woman who got a prize from her high school for a story poem. Valuing her, we asked to see it. Her story began happily, but turned into a nightmare or horror story, putting her home in America into a war zone and destroying her family. I read it in tears. Tears because they’re such painful thoughts for a girl of her age. Tears for what such a discouraging view of reality might do to her. Tears because so many are experiencing just such tragedies around the world.

My wife and I met years ago when we both served in the United States Peace Corps in Iran. There have been no American Peace Corps Volunteers in Iran since 1976. Peace Corps Volunteers got to know a wide segment of the Iranian population, as we do everywhere, realized trouble was brewing and Peace Corps officials pulled them out. Here in Albany we’ve been part of a group of former Peace Corps Volunteers who’ve served in all parts of the world. We meet monthly, share a pot luck dinner, provide a forum for newly returned Volunteers, and listen intently to news about goings on in the many countries where we used to serve and the many organizations who work with people there and with immigrants from those countries here.

People ask me what I think about Clarence Thomas’ misbehavior. I think it’s important if it gets our eyes back on the prize, on the major threats to American democracy and our civilized way of life.