Virtue signaling

Virtue signaling is not limited to individuals but applicable to countries and even continents. Europe is in an economic decline that started 30 years ago. They decided to join the zero-carbon fad. The results can best be seen by looking at Germany and more specifically at BASF the largest chemical company in the world. Germany set upon a path of going green by closing down the coal plants, closing down the nuclear plants and refusing to frack. They believed they could survive on wind and solar using natural gas as a go between while they changed. The Ukraine War disrupted these plans and the cost of energy quadrupled. Now BASF is shifting production to China where energy costs are lower because China gets 60% of their energy from coal. This is a kind of bait and switch which allows Germany to say they are going green by shifting their air pollution to China. This is an example of corporate, country and continent virtue signaling. In order to save face Germany is secretly planning on reopening its coal plants. Interestingly enough Canada is now following the same path as they increase their wind and solar while exporting 4.5 million barrels per day of oil to the US.

Differences

Looking back over the last hundred years or so many cultural norms have changed. Not too long ago marrying outside the faith was traumatic for some families. The same was true for ethnicity. Remember the movie about the Greek Wedding. In time things progressed to interracial marriage and gay marriage. As these changes take place some people are more willing to accept the new ways than others. This is understandable as humans are that way. One area of concern is how people judge one another based on how far along they are in adjusting to the new ways. Often times people who view themselves as the more tolerant begin to feel morally superior. Sometimes a White couple can accept their daughter marrying a Black man without any reservation. Sometimes a straight couple can accept their son marrying another man without much concern. Other couples will have great difficulty in adjusting to these new circumstances. In many cases there are people willing to adjust without a full commitment but their love for their children allows them to except the change. In their hearts there is a small voice saying, I wish things were different. It is probably wise not to pass judgement too quickly. One way that some use to allay the stress with these types of circumstances is to follow the rule, hate the sin but love the sinner.

Thorium power

The most efficient path to carbon free transportation comes by way of small thorium reactors. These are built in factories, assembly style and shipped to the use point. At scale they produce almost endless quantities of electric power and at low cost. This power is used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and use the hydrogen for fuel, the only by product being water. Hydrogen can then be combined with carbon dioxide taken from the air to synthesize diesel and aviation fuel. When this is burned the CO2 returns to the air in a neutral cycle. Cars and trucks can still be driverless as technology allows. Thorium is four times more abundant than uranium, produces less dangerous by products and offers walk away safety which prevents melt downs. China has been operating a thorium reactor for the past two years.

EV's and weight

Most articles about EV’s, recognize that the power source must be green, or the whole purpose of the car is lost and they lead off with how the cost of solar panels have come down over the past 20 years and this is a fact. What they don’t write about is the materials needed to produce EV’s which include lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite and copper along with rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. These are left out because of the environmental harm caused by the mining, processing and disposal of these elements. The second area left out is how airplanes and heavy equipment will operate on batteries. Both military and commercial planes are jets and ocean liners, tanks, bull dozers and large farm equipment need more power than batteries can supply. A Tesla long range semi-truck weighs 23,000 pounds including the 11,000-pound battery. An Abrams tank weighs 128,000 pounds and would require a 61,000-pound battery. When out on the battle field where would the charging station be. A diesel locomotive weighs 450,000 pounds and would need a 215,000-pound battery. When it comes to ocean liners and oil tankers the numbers are out of sight. Overwhelmed by the excitement of EV’s many of these problems are ignored. The problem of building EV’s before charging stations are installed and these cannot be supported without updating the grid is just putting the cart before the horse.

Pollution in China

China mines 70% of the world’s rare earths and processes 90% which is where most of the contamination comes from. Mining and processing rare earth elements (REEs) in China have significantly contaminated the Yellow River and surrounding environments. Chinese people, particularly those living along the Yellow River basin, have been and continue to be adversely affected by the river's condition, with issues ranging from historical catastrophic floods to modern-day severe pollution and ecological degradation. Cancer rates—particularly digestive tract cancers—are elevated and, in some cases, rising in rural areas near the polluted middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Environmental contamination, specifically polluted drinking water, is considered a key factor, with high-incidence "cancer villages" identified in these regions. In spite of this China continues to manufacture solar panels and parts for wind mills and selling them to the US. In addition, the West is the biggest manufacture of high-tech products that need these rare earths. Not only do they have to contend with bad water but as of April 2026 air quality in China remains poor, with some major cities experiencing air in the unhealthy range posing serious risk to residence especially children and elderly. These problems are rarely reported in the West.

Investment income

The two main tax advantages for rich people are capital gains and maxed out social security contributions. Compare a person working for wages earning $180,000 per year vs a rich investor earning $2 million per year from investments. The person earning $180,000 will pay $34,000 in federal income tax and $9,000 in state income tax plus $13,775 in social security and Medicare tax leaving him with $133,000 or 73% of his gross. The capital gain tax on $2 million is $369,000 leaving him with 82% of his gross. This is because there is no social security tax on investment income. A single person earning $180,000 per year from investments only would pay $20,317 in total taxes netting him $160,000 or 88.7% of gross. This is why Warren Buffet once said that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does.

Grades

What happened to higher education. Back in the 1950’s universities like the Ivy league, Stanford and MIT accepted students based on academic performance. This meant that students from elite high schools and student who took advanced placement (AP) courses would have an advantage. Thus, when they were in college they competed against other students with rigorous training. After affirmative action started in the 1970’s, students with less vigorous training were admitted. This made it difficult for students who came in, having taken less strenuous course work, to compete. Studies are mixed on this, some showing it had little effect and other showing higher drop out rates. Professors were uncomfortable with the new admissions because they witnessed students having a difficult time. One result was grade inflation. In the early 1990’s Harvard students received an A grade about 25% of the time and today that is 60%. Teachers responded to struggling students by lessening the work loan and offering higher grades. Companies hiring Harvard grads are coming to understand that they no longer have the same academic abilities they had thirty years ago.