Discretion Is....

 337: Fixing The Problem Will Continue, Until Morale Improves

.........................

I was catching up with Kevin Drum's blog this evening, when something I had just read in a newsletter came to mind.  Kevin was reacting to a source of anxiety, among some Democrats, that deems Republican efforts to suppress future voting an urgent crisis.  His reaction: If Democrats would simply settle for half-a-loaf, they needn't worry.  In his view, the desire to remake our culture all at once, rather than appealing to centrist voters with 'half-a-loaf' solutions, is the problem.

The newsletter that came to mind in this context was Future Perfect (free, by the way), written by Sigal Samuel.  Today's issue concerned the role that meat production plays in generating CO2 (14.5% of the global problem), and how addressing Climate Change will be all but impossible while so much meat is produced--not to mention all that desired by those who often can't afford it.

Samuel thinks the government should be investing in R&D on meat substitutes (that is, plant-based substitutes that taste like the real thing).  They're made with less energy, water and resources than are animals raised for consumption, but their production process could be made even more efficient.

My imagination has Drum adding that thought to the list of things that are keeping Democrats from winning over more voters.  Not only is meat something that nearly 90% of Americans eat, it is something that Republicans claim (falsely) that Democrats want to deny the typical hamburger-eater.

Eventually, plant-based 'meat' will become much cheaper than the real thing, something I've written about previously.  This will be one of the biggest upheavals our culture has ever experienced.  Farmland will likely lose much of its value, especially in more remote, less picturesque areas.  Is it more important to hasten that future, and immediately write off at least a third of the national vote, or to focus on more popular concerns in order to have a 'big tent', large majority in Congress?

.................

Update: 5/14/21

According to Bloomberg News:

"A Boston Consulting Group report in March heralded the beginning of a “protein transformation” and forecast meat alternatives would make up 11-22% of the global protein market by 2035. A Kearney study projects global meat sales will begin to drop by 2025 and decline 33% by 2040 as alternatives take away market share."

Update: 5/16/21

Yesterday morning I was notified by Google that this post had been taken down, due to a compromised link (likely a complaint from the quoted author).  When I checked my email that evening I found that there had been a mistake and that this post had been re-instated.  But, the original publication date of 5/11 at 7:39 PM had been erased and all I had was a "draft" (this explains the first update's date).  Good to know that the moderators are keeping an eye out for bad links, but I can assure them that this blog is as quiet a backwater as they are likely to behold, and nobody need worry.