16 newyork| february17–march1, 2020
four more years
alisticclimatelogic:that leadersshould
emphasizethematerialbenefitstotheir
peoplefirst, withtheunderstandingthat, at
leastforthetimebeing,calculationsabout
climatepolicy madebynationsindividually
mayturnthemawayfromthepaththat
wouldbenefit theworldasa whole.If the
nextyearsare presidedoverbyTrump,they
willlikelyspellthefurtherbreakdownof the
internationalalliancesonwhichany truly
globalsolutionto thisglobalproblemwould,
theoretically,depend.Whichmeansthey
mayalsobreakthehope,sustainednow
throughdecadesoffrustration,that global
cooperationmust bethepathforward,and
initiateinsteada terrifyingnew go-it-alone
eraofclimate sufferinganddisaster.Policy-
makers the world over may start to
deemphasizetheprojectofreducingemis-
sionsandinsteadbeginpreparingnation-
by-nationassessmentsofhowtolivewith
climatechange andallitsterriblebrutality.
Andwemayfindourselves,ontheground,
askinglessandlessoftenwhat globalactors
areonthesideofangels,andmore often
simplywhois onourside.
DAVIDWALLACE-WELLS
More Hunger
T
rumpdoesn’tneedCongressin
ordertocutbenefits.As president,
hecontrolsfederalagencies.Three
proposedrulechangestotheSupplemen-
talNutritionAssistanceProgramthrough
theU.S.DepartmentofAgriculturemay
ultimatelytake foodstampsawayfrom3.
millionpeople.Andsnapisn’t theonlywel-
fare programontheline.ThroughtheCen-
tersforMedicaidandMedicare,theWhite
Househasalreadyapprovedchangesto
stateMedicaidprogramsthat cost thou-
sandsof peopletheirhealthcare.That’swhy
West VirginiateacherSam
Yurickisdisturbedbythe
prospectofTrump’sreelec-
tion.Many ofYurick’sstu-
dentslivein poverty and
oftenmissschoolbecauseof
their living conditions.
“Whenthey domake it in,
theyhaveheadachesfrom
noteatingoraren’tcom-
pletelyrecovered,”hesaid.
intelligencer
Trumpboastsofhissupport inWestVir-
ginia,butif hege ts fourmore yearstoslash
welfare,Yurick’sstudentsmightgetsicker.
“Theamountandquality of instructionwill
ge t eatenintomore andmore,”hesaid,“as
weputmoreandmore ofourenergiesinto
makingupforwaystheworldoutsideour
classroomshasfailedthekidsweserve.”
SARAHJONES
MAGA Budgets
W
henyoulookat thebudget cuts
he’s proposing for2021,they’re
goingtodisproportionatelyimpact
theblackcommunityandlow-incomepeo-
pleandthemostvulnerable.Hiswhite-
supremacyagendais reflectedinhisnew
budget proposal,hisbirtherattitudetoward
African-Americansespecially.So dohiscuts
inforeignaid,forexample,andonthedevel-
opmentfront.Thoseaccountsspecifically
arethere toprovidedevelopmentassistance
towhathecallsthe“s---holecountries.”
Thoseare countrieswhere youhavemajor-
ity peopleof color. It’s almost MakeAmerica
WhiteAgainintermsofhisbudget cuts.
I worrythat peopleofcolor, African-
Americans,themostvulnerable,will
unfortunatelybeforcedtopay theprice
forhisoutlandishpolicies.
REPRESENTATIVEBARBARALEE
Silly Television
N
oonewantstowatchexcruciat-
ing,seriousdramaswheneverything
seemsterrible.TheTVwetalkabout
themostin 2020 alreadyreflectsa shift
fromthebleakprestigeprojectsof the
Obamaeratowardtrashy,middlebrow
escapism like You, The
Witcher,and 90 DayFiancé,
or the middlebrow-in-
prestige-dragtentpoleThe
MorningShowonApple
TV+.Orthey’reshowslike
Evilor Dickinson,which
package nicheweirdness
insidefluffy-looking,silly
exteriors.Evena showlike
Succession—with pitch-
Trump’sproposed
freezeonmandatory
fuel-efficiency
improvementswill cost
consumersabout
$4 60 billioninincreased
fuelcosts,according
to‘ConsumerReports.’
m att h e wyglesias
black terrifying nihilism at its center—is
palatable because it’s so magnetically fun.
Already, only a few hyper serious shows a
year crest into mainstream awareness
(When They See Us, Chernobyl). In a sec-
ond term of Trump, there’ll be even less
cultural bandwidth for dire self-reflection.
We’ll see more social-experiment reality
shows in which people do ridiculous
things for love, more shows with bards
and elves, and somehow even more super-
heroes. As the world swings toward catas-
trophe, TV will be doing its best to be a
countervailing force, desperately swinging
the pendulum back toward light, unde-
manding delights.
KATHRYN VANARENDONK
A Democratic Party
in Revolt
A
nalyses suggest Trump could
lose the popular vote by as many as
5 million, or potentially even more,
and still win the Electoral College. (The
Electoral College doesn’t care that you
almost won Texas; it only cares that you
lost Wisconsin.) Just to think about this for
a second, if Trump wins the Electoral Col-
lege while losing the popular vote, that
would mean that, since Bush’s very con-
tested, strange Electoral College win in
2000, fully half of presidential elections
will have gone to the loser of the popular
vote and the winner of the Electoral Col-
lege, and, in each case, to a Republican. If
this happens, if a younger, more urban,
more diverse majority keeps growing but
finds itself locked out of political power,
there will be a backlash on the left against
the legitimacy of a system that it feels, cor-
rectly, does not represent it and does not
give it a fair shake. The scary thing is not
just that the electoral geography is not
reflecting the popular vote but that the
party that is winning despite losing the
popular vote realizes its only path to sus-
taining power is disenfranchisement. And
that party begins passing more rules—
from voter-ID laws to gerrymandering
efforts to things like Citizens United—that
build the power it fears it would lose and
make it harder for the emergent popular-
vote majority to express itself. EZRA KLEIN
