An unnecessary division between the environmental movement on the one hand, and the health activism movement on the other, limits the effectiveness of both.
This particular hypocrisy makes no sense to me, and it is a reminder that the current political tribalism has seemingly nothing to do with logic or a coherent divergence of policy positions.
There are plenty of examples of this. RFK was perhaps never beloved on the left, but Tulsi Gabbard was, and Elon Musk. Musk was going to usher in the green energy future that the blue team wanted and the red team hated, and then he switched sides leaving Tesla customers confused.
Just a few years ago the other side was all about body autonomy when it came to reproductive rights and all about the-government-knows-best-for-your-body when it came to injecting experimental vaccines.
I give up on politics. I am not sure "MAHA" actually did itself a service by aligning with the current administration, though time will tell. For myself, I am just hoping for the arbitrary polarity to collapse as more and more of us drop away from the drama.
Yes, which is why it made absolutely no sense for RFK to support a man who has demonstrated a lifetimes worth of disregard for anything but money. Trump has never cared about humanity, the planet, health (even his own), or our affect on future humans. Perhaps RFK felt it was better to have a seat at the table than to have no seat at all, but he has grossly underestimated the determination of Trump to increase his wealth and power at any and all costs. As I’ve mentioned in previous comments, I am not religious or a “believer” but if anything represents making a deal with the devil, it would be RFK joining forces with Trump.
"Perhaps RFK felt it was better to have a seat at the table than to have no seat at all." Uhh, yeah?? He has made incredible progress in this capacity over the last 100 days, and he will do much more. He can't make Trump into a different person but he is transforming HHS and we should thank our stars. Stop hating.
"RFK has targeted federal agencies oversee how the nation pays for health care for older Americans and the poor. They also research infectious diseases and public health threats. The overhaul also will bring changes to the agency that scrutinizes the safety of prescription drugs, food and medical devices." https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/03/27/rfk-jr-hhs-cuts-food-safety-cdc-fda/82688365007/
Much of that is propaganda. Especially around health / Kennedy / HHS , the media is out to frame him as terribly as possible. It may be true that there are some good programs being cut. Some of what's being cut is not good. But some likely is.
Those decisions may not have been fully under Kennedy's control, and he may have had to make some difficult choices, and cut things that do good work.
But please be skeptical of how the media frames these things. They only say the bad, while twisting it, perhaps getting some things correct. They refuse to honestly cover the good, distorting it all.
This is a trustworthy source that confirms what you say, some good programs have been cut. Perhaps that's a step towards rebuilding something better, but that sounds cold to those being harmed in the process, and I don't mean to do that.
But the horrors the "public health" agencies were creating before were beyond the pale. Kennedy will not make them worse.
This is what public health was like in the darkest period in America's shameful modern history, where those in charge of our health callously pushed products they Knew were harmful. Meeting by zoom with the vaccine injured, being told of thousands of similar lives ruined, gaslighting them, and then later the same day, going on TV or making Youtube videos where they assured the people there were no significant signals of harm they were seeing.
Too many to list, but here's a few: getting cancer-causing food dyes banned, toxins out of baby formula, and ultra-processed food out of school lunches in many states with more to come; requiring placebo-controlled studies on vaccines, teaming with Tulsi to work on bringing Fauci to justice (I assume you're septuple boosted and this upsets you); banning SNAP benefits for soda and candy and providing actual education about nutrition, overhauling FDA's "safe foods" guidelines; leading charge to uncover environmental factors behind autism epidemic; minimizing animal testing in drug development... Want more? Get off Pfizer-sponsored outlets like CBS and educate yourself.
Um... Pfizer and other pharmaceutical ads are non-stop on MSNBC, not just on mainstream networks, like CBS.
Nothing you listed has come to pass—just talk.
Do you understand the difference between what RFK has actually accomplished—that I posted links to— and is causing real harm to people and his blowing smoke up the public's ass?
Doubtful most of these will pass, anyway, since Trump is in cahoots with Big Pharma and Big Food.
But keep dreaming and attacking those who cite reality rather than fantasy.
Look, if RFK had any decency he'd quit this corrupt administration that is proving on a daily basis it doesn't give a hoot about the welfare of others. The cruelty is the real point.
One day, he'll look back and regret that he did not.
Everything I mentioned is in the works and will happen. He just got there for F's sake. Most of us are grateful and relieved he's with this administration. He will never regret it, despite everything he's had to endure. I'm sorry you're not happy and hope one day you'll find less to complain about! Take care.
All talk so far. But what he HAS accomplished is the dismantling of the Department of Health and Human Services, which he is being sued for, and gutting vital life-saving social services for the disabled, seniors, veterans and others.
For more of his accomplishments that are enabling this fascist administration that he chooses to work for, see links in earlier post.
I'm a lefty who voted for Trump to get RFK in there. People who hate Trump and don't understand medical freedom and the nature of health cannot fathom how over the moon MAHA people are about the progress RFK has made already in such a short period of time. They think we all regret our votes when the opposite is true. Do I want deep seabed mining absolutely not! Am I absolutely thrilled with the disclosure and shifting under RFK 100%
Kennedy worked for years to get where he is. If this administration is as corrupt as you say (and I don't doubt its corrupt), Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard are essential balances, lights of integrity and honesty who need to be there - most corrupt administrations would never ever let people like that near places of power.
The problem, which Charles was writing about, is when people judge everything connected to Trump based on their feelings about him, and refuse to see good in, or collaborate with, an unprecedented opportunity where there are good people mixed in with a corrupt administration, but urgent necessary changes have a chance of happening.
Ok, so I see your list is exclusively the things he will do, not has done. Food dyes are not banned, voluntary on part of companies. Toxins not out of formula, rather requiring increased testing for heavy metals but this requires staffing which unfortunately he has drastically cut. And the rest of examples are what he wants but has not accomplished. I get that it’s only been 100 days. I’m just correcting your bias.
As far as Fauci being “brought to justice”….all I can say is wow:/
There was no other way in. He tried. He did not seek to work in the Trump administration - he sought to become President, a job he is surely capable of, and then he could have appointed his choice of heads of HHS, EPA, etc.
The Democrats blocked him every step of the way. They sued him into oblivion with every detail they could find. They planted people in his campaign to make errors in petition gathering. They refused to let him debate.
Now, there is a head of HHS who has deep integrity. The heads of the FDA and NIH are also decent human beings, not far enough along in understanding how deep the corruption and poisoning go, but far better than what was. Gain of Function research is being halted, not fully, yet, but in many ways. The Covid vaccine disasters will hopefully be no longer on the childhood schedule, or mandated, and may be pulled altogether (that has to be done carefully and strategically).
Vaccines will have placebo trials. Autism will be investigated. The psychopathic practice of the NIH torturing puppies is coming to an end. The worst food dyes are being phased out.
And this is just the beginning, he has to move slowly and carefully, this is the tiniest bit of what's possible.
And, one of the reasons people voted for Trump, even if not really liking or trusting him, was the sad fact that HHS had been not just allowing child trafficking, but actively participating in it. Redacted News has info on this, on youtube. There's a Forbes clip of HHS whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas testifying, this is not the imaginings of Q-Anon, it's real. Now that will end and hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children will be looked for.
Some things Trump is doing I think are terrible, like throwing human beings in an El Salvadorian hellhole without judicial review. And doing the bidding of Isreal while being hugely hypocritical on speech / censorship, and deporting legal immigrants for criticizing Israel. And, as Charles says, callousness around the natural world, which, while energy needs to come from somewhere, Trump seems to see as a resource to be used rather than something sacred to at least try to walk gently on.
One set of tragedies does not excuse another. But the crimes against humanity of the "Biden" administrations (whatever puppets "Biden" also puppets Harris), are by far worse.
Covid vaccine mandates caused human carnage on an unprecedented scale. Trump encouraged the vaccines and even wrapped his ego around them. But he did not Force people to choose between work / school / military service / sometimes medical care, and those horrific shots. That alone, to me, outweighs almost anything else.
Trump cares about more than money. To meet you where you are in thinking he is basically the most uniquely evil man on earth, perhaps we can both agree that he cares about, besides money, his ego, his reputation, his legacy. Adulation, fans, followers, applause.
Even if he cares about nothing more than that, those are incentives to reverse course on the massive corruption of a health system that entirely does pharma's bidding - something that Trump's supporters don't like, yet Democrats love.
I don't like Trump, I don't trust him. But I think the more evil devil here is what the left has become, literally worshipping pharma products that cause so much damage, and demonizing anyone brining accurate, uncomfortable information ...
Short, 4-min read time article I just came across. This is what the left has become ... "Guardians of Decay" .. when systems fail, they seek to prohibit curiosity, to keep what is obviously broken.
"Their message is clear: do not think, defer. This tactic thrives on the cultural habit of outsourcing judgment to "experts," even when they cannot explain or defend their positions in plain terms, with even the most elementary logic.
Another core pattern is the suppression of inquiry. Serious, good-faith questions are recast as negativity, division, or even violence.
Guardians of Decay shift the frame from "What's true?" to "Why are you asking that?" They imply that the very act of noticing failure is an act of betrayal.
Then there is guilt shaming. Guardians of Decay target those who have energy, actual skin in the game, and clarity and try to drag them into surrender. They suggest that asking for change is selfish or unkind and that raising hard truths is inconsiderate to those who want stability. They reframe discomfort as harm and insist that your insistence on truth is hurting the group."
That's what Kennedy was up against. He did what he had to do. He really tried. He didn't go from realizing there would never be a fair Dem primary to joining with Trump - he tried to run as an Independent. And it was the Dems, not the Republicans, who voraciously sabotaged him.
I noticed that Donald trump just signed a coal mining agreement on Navajo land. The Navajo people are not happy about it and if you read the comments on the related Instagram posts it’s all about how much their health has suffered from previous coal mining on their land (not to mention MMIW). And then Bobby Kennedy came in next with the intention of helping them become healthy. I was thinking, how is he going to do that when they’ve got this coal mining plant going in?
Yes, healing has to occur holistically across the entire spectrum for "MAHA" to be effective.
But it seems the REAL problem with the seabed is your head is buried in it.
As usual, your constant focus on RFK, vaccines and now seabed mining are not the "holistic" solutions you claim. Why? Because you're leaving out what's happening in the here and now with human beings. You still haven't said even one word about the increasing cruelty and human rights atrocities happening on a daily basis by the wannabe dictator in the White House, which is very disappointing and hypocritical, to say the least.
Ignoring the suffering of human beings by this corrupt administration and focusing on everything but that is not the path toward healing.
If human beings aren't treated decently and with love and compassion, and their legal rights continue to be disrespected, it's laughable to believe MAHA or any other deeper healing can occur.
There are human rights atrocities happening now .. like men with no criminal records, at least not evidenced so far, being thrown in a torturous dungeon in El Salvador ...
This can't be excused by human rights atrocities that happened before ...
Yet it's fair to say that no one angry at the human rights abuses happening now seemed to care about the atrocities before .. that were much much bigger .. from HHS being active participants in child trafficking, to mandating the most dangerous injection ever given on a wide scale, and ignoring the pain of the injured, and mocking the doctors treating covid and trying to take their licenses ...
Charles is probably one of the most aware of the negative / cruel things this administration is doing, among those who have Neither Trump Derangement Syndrome *nor* Trump Devotion Syndrome ...
"Under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this movement was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected." Indeed. Congratulations, Charles: This is your legacy. Kennedy is now making plugs for fast food chains and enabling the imprisonment of international students who disagree with the slaughter in Palestine. Will RFK also be sitting at Trump's side for the planned military parade on June 14? Meanwhile, I've never seen an administration surrounded by so many non-natural looking humans as this one: botox, fillers, plastic surgery, breast implants. Is this what "natural health" looks like? Seems like MAHA has traded "Big Pharma" for Big Supplements, Big Plastic Surgery, Big Cosmetics, Big Botox and Fillers...
"Under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this movement was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected." It's disgraceful Charles seems so proud of this as though electing a corrupt administration that tramples on human rights and is even kidnapping people off the streets without due process is a badge of honor.
When asked by a reporter on "Meet the Press" the other day: "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States?"
You're judging RFK's work by the amount of botox in use by other members of the Cabinet? Those of us who voted for Trump in order to get RFK are thrilled with RFK's progress on a range of MAHA issues, so far has surpassed expectations.
"I know a lot of the leading voices in he MAHA movement, and I can tell you that every single one of them is also a proponent of (or sympathetic to) organic and regenerative agriculture, forest and wetlands conservation, marine preserves, whale conservation, sea turtle conservation, and honoring and protecting the indigenous stewards of earth’s wild places." And I wonder, how many of those same people voted for Trump simply because they thought RFK would be some kind of savior. And now they have Trump who stands for the polar opposite of all of the things you mention above.
the racism is so deep it is nearly unfathomable, because each of these leading voices swapped out their disjointed belief in RFKJr for the rights and lives of women and immigrants to name just a few of the casualties. cultists all.
The needed vast re-engineering of how things are done is mind boggling. I teach an environmental science class to high schoolers. In America we are surrounded by a miasma of anti-life built piece by piece since the 1800’s, in the water, air, soil, food, “medicines”, electromagnetic radiations, what we sit in, live in drive in, walk in, what we wear- plastics and forever chemicals, herbicides, pesticides. The asphalt roads exude chemicals. Human sperm counts have declined by 50% - a canary in the coal mine indicator that something is very wrong! Add to that that a culture and social arrangements that do not promote positive human connections and relationships Yet this death is an intrinsic by product of the present system we use to provide stuff and services! Neither side in the power structure squarely faces and understands the decades long deep restructuring that must happen.
So much truth, unfortunate that through RFK, Jr. you helped elect someone is perhaps the most separatist and extractavist minded president of our lifetime.
Amen to this. Nobody has the right to claim "naivete" on Trump's environmental stances or authoritarian designs. He made those abundantly clear through his actions in his first term and only a fool would have expected anything different this time around just because Trump made a deal with RFK Jr. so that he could siphon off his supporters and neutralize him as a third party candidate that threatened to swing the race to Harris. It should have been obvious enough this time, but here's hoping that Charles (and more importantly, those who follow his work) won't fall for such an obvious con in the future.
Agreed, that’s why I wrote most not only. btw, JFK had just been elected weeks before I was born; not sure if that qualifies me as young, but I’ll take it 😉
Thank you for pointing this out with such clarity. I've often thought the disconnect between MAHA on the one hand and the slashing of environmental protections and unleashing of extractive industries on the other must be very painful for Kennedy. And I've often wondered if he is biding his time and quietly plotting how to forge the connection.
As a Spaniard that suffered the omnipresent fear and oppression in my culture under the late Franco authoritarian regime (it lasted 40 years and we are still recovering from that), I still really hope that you wake up in time and not have to go through a brutally tough awakening, experiencing what is to live under a full authoritarian regime. There is nothing subtle or nuanced about it.
María Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize (Democracy Now, April 24 2025):
I just came from Perugia, from the International Journalism Festival, where V-Dem, which does kind of a rating of all democracies globally — right? — their latest report now says that 72% of the world is under autocratic rule. Like, we have elected illiberal leaders in 72% — in these democracies around the world, right? But —
AMY GOODMAN: How do they classify the U.S.?
MARIA RESSA: The U.S. is — so, here’s what he said. The head of V-Dem publicly said that if the trends in America continue, that he expects democracy to die by the summer. Like, not just to wake you up, right? Like, literally.
So, this last Sunday, when they asked directly if it’s his duty as president to uphold the Constitution, Trump said, “I don’t know", and that he would not rule out using military force to take Greenland. Deporting immigrants and US citizens without due process. Playing the autocratic playbook, one step at a time, according to historians of fascism. Speaking of building a resort in Gaza, over the corpses of the Palestinian genocide.
So, what about MADA (Make America Democracy Again)?
This regime is running fast into the third line of the "First they came...":
Just ask yourself honestly this question: Can your (health/enviro-movement) liver be healthy if the rest of your (democracy) body is deteriorating?
I don't know if this is you, Charles, or a fake account. In any case: I'm not looking for attracting attention for money with my comments. I'm saddened and alarmed that the man I once admired, a brilliant mind and big heart, is falling in line with the force of christofascist, white-supremacy, psychopathic billionaires.
I think Kennedy's been sold down the river by Trump. The agencies that control food and the environment are working for a standard republican scorch the Earth and maximize profits agenda. Meanwhile, Kennedy is being forced to use his agency to clamp down on free speech at universities.
Maybe these are written mostly for people who are getting a first introduction to you work, Charles, but for those of us who've been around for a while and are generally in the left-wing media ecosystem (echo-system?), it would be more helpful if you could mention and provide some links to RFK's actual positive accomplishments so far. I also make an effort to get input from right-wing sources, but haven't seen anything on this yet. OTOH, I have heard (including first-hand), of massive layoffs, chaos, and peeling back of regulation, including oversight of additives.
The point you're making is obvious to anyone who's been reading your work, especially Climate. But without any documentation or knowledge of positive measures RFK has put in place, it rings pretty hollow.
Thank you Charles. Your courage to share your perspectives in this place and space of separation and deep polarization touches me deeply.
So much of the time, I catch myself wallowing in the hypnotism of modernity and complicit to its deceits. Each essay you write allows me to become more curious about my own biases and beliefs. It helps me open my mind to new or forgotten understandings. It helps me connect with my intuition and heart more than my mind and I feel into your words.
As humans we have such an amazing capacity to co-create and to co-actively align as a part of an entangled, alive metabolic ecosystem of incredible potential and mystery. In those moments when our minds can suspend judgement and hold the humility of “not knowing”, possibilities of hope and pathways and a different way forward begin emerge.
I am choosing to live in this liminal space more and more and in doing so, may I feel into a way of being where the question holds more potential than an answer.
Here is a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer that is worth a ponder,
“ Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one way street to a sacred bond.”
Americans really need to figure out how to effectively mine their courage, stand up to an authoritarian, corrupt regime led by a pathological liar (you cannot do any meaningful holism, that is based on truth, under a regime of lies), and protect their vulnerable brothers and sisters (the deep reality of interbeing) from the perpetrators of cruelty.
Like the great spiritual leader Abraham Joshua Heschel said: "For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.”
That would be the appropriate, response-able, loving action to do.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail
Like Thich Nhat Hanh:
"When we are armed with compassion and understanding, we fight not against other people, but against the tendency to invade, to dominate, and to exploit. We don't want to kill others, but we will not let them dominate and exploit us or other people."
No need even to invoke the Golden Rule: just showing some mammalian empathy for others being assaulted. Not protesters: protectors.
Thank you for your spiritual and moral clarity. And for cutting through the noise and pointing the way forward by centering love, compassion and truth. Deep appreciation and gratitude!
At a certain point, Charles, one has to make a decision whether whatever gains you expect in the holistic health sphere are worth the decimation of everything else you've ever stood for.
In the interest of moving you in that direction, I share the important quote from above:
'Eisenstein recently tweeted (above) that he does not understand
“how those who listen to moms instead of corporate-funded science are deemed fascists.”
This particular hypocrisy makes no sense to me, and it is a reminder that the current political tribalism has seemingly nothing to do with logic or a coherent divergence of policy positions.
There are plenty of examples of this. RFK was perhaps never beloved on the left, but Tulsi Gabbard was, and Elon Musk. Musk was going to usher in the green energy future that the blue team wanted and the red team hated, and then he switched sides leaving Tesla customers confused.
Just a few years ago the other side was all about body autonomy when it came to reproductive rights and all about the-government-knows-best-for-your-body when it came to injecting experimental vaccines.
I give up on politics. I am not sure "MAHA" actually did itself a service by aligning with the current administration, though time will tell. For myself, I am just hoping for the arbitrary polarity to collapse as more and more of us drop away from the drama.
I agree. Charles is a brilliant writer and he has Rfk jr way wrong.
Yes, which is why it made absolutely no sense for RFK to support a man who has demonstrated a lifetimes worth of disregard for anything but money. Trump has never cared about humanity, the planet, health (even his own), or our affect on future humans. Perhaps RFK felt it was better to have a seat at the table than to have no seat at all, but he has grossly underestimated the determination of Trump to increase his wealth and power at any and all costs. As I’ve mentioned in previous comments, I am not religious or a “believer” but if anything represents making a deal with the devil, it would be RFK joining forces with Trump.
"Perhaps RFK felt it was better to have a seat at the table than to have no seat at all." Uhh, yeah?? He has made incredible progress in this capacity over the last 100 days, and he will do much more. He can't make Trump into a different person but he is transforming HHS and we should thank our stars. Stop hating.
"Hating"? It's not hating, it's just that some people are able to see hypocrisy more than others and aren't afraid to call it out.
What sort of "progress" are you referring to?
So far, "The National Institutes of Health’s sweeping cuts of grants that fund scientific research are inflicting pain almost universally across the U.S., including in most states that backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election." https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/health/nih-science-funding-states-kff-health-news
RFK is Gutting Minority Health Offices Across HHS That are Key To Reducing Health Disparities: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/rfk-jr-hhs-job-cuts-minority-health-offices.html
HHS Plans to Cut Funds Used to Investigate Abuse at Group Homes: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/hhs-budget-proposal-cut-protection-advocacy/
"RFK has targeted federal agencies oversee how the nation pays for health care for older Americans and the poor. They also research infectious diseases and public health threats. The overhaul also will bring changes to the agency that scrutinizes the safety of prescription drugs, food and medical devices." https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/03/27/rfk-jr-hhs-cuts-food-safety-cdc-fda/82688365007/
"HHS Restructuring Harms People With Disabilities" https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/03/hhs-restructuring-harms-people-with-disabilities/
Progress!
Much of that is propaganda. Especially around health / Kennedy / HHS , the media is out to frame him as terribly as possible. It may be true that there are some good programs being cut. Some of what's being cut is not good. But some likely is.
Those decisions may not have been fully under Kennedy's control, and he may have had to make some difficult choices, and cut things that do good work.
But please be skeptical of how the media frames these things. They only say the bad, while twisting it, perhaps getting some things correct. They refuse to honestly cover the good, distorting it all.
This is a trustworthy source that confirms what you say, some good programs have been cut. Perhaps that's a step towards rebuilding something better, but that sounds cold to those being harmed in the process, and I don't mean to do that.
https://tdefender.substack.com/p/usda-cuts-school-lunch-farms-kids-health-maha?utm_source=publication-search
But the horrors the "public health" agencies were creating before were beyond the pale. Kennedy will not make them worse.
This is what public health was like in the darkest period in America's shameful modern history, where those in charge of our health callously pushed products they Knew were harmful. Meeting by zoom with the vaccine injured, being told of thousands of similar lives ruined, gaslighting them, and then later the same day, going on TV or making Youtube videos where they assured the people there were no significant signals of harm they were seeing.
https://therealpetermarks.com/
This is not a real post from Charles—notice the two i's in the last name.
Would you care to list your examples of the incredible progress he’s made? And the examples of the “much more” he will do?
“Hating” is a childish word to describe my critique. I can objectively give credit where credit is due. Try me….
For Beth & Theresa-
Too many to list, but here's a few: getting cancer-causing food dyes banned, toxins out of baby formula, and ultra-processed food out of school lunches in many states with more to come; requiring placebo-controlled studies on vaccines, teaming with Tulsi to work on bringing Fauci to justice (I assume you're septuple boosted and this upsets you); banning SNAP benefits for soda and candy and providing actual education about nutrition, overhauling FDA's "safe foods" guidelines; leading charge to uncover environmental factors behind autism epidemic; minimizing animal testing in drug development... Want more? Get off Pfizer-sponsored outlets like CBS and educate yourself.
Um... Pfizer and other pharmaceutical ads are non-stop on MSNBC, not just on mainstream networks, like CBS.
Nothing you listed has come to pass—just talk.
Do you understand the difference between what RFK has actually accomplished—that I posted links to— and is causing real harm to people and his blowing smoke up the public's ass?
Doubtful most of these will pass, anyway, since Trump is in cahoots with Big Pharma and Big Food.
But keep dreaming and attacking those who cite reality rather than fantasy.
Look, if RFK had any decency he'd quit this corrupt administration that is proving on a daily basis it doesn't give a hoot about the welfare of others. The cruelty is the real point.
One day, he'll look back and regret that he did not.
Since you like to quote USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/22/rfk-jr-food-artificial-dye-food-supply/83211595007/
Everything I mentioned is in the works and will happen. He just got there for F's sake. Most of us are grateful and relieved he's with this administration. He will never regret it, despite everything he's had to endure. I'm sorry you're not happy and hope one day you'll find less to complain about! Take care.
All talk so far. But what he HAS accomplished is the dismantling of the Department of Health and Human Services, which he is being sued for, and gutting vital life-saving social services for the disabled, seniors, veterans and others.
For more of his accomplishments that are enabling this fascist administration that he chooses to work for, see links in earlier post.
I'm a lefty who voted for Trump to get RFK in there. People who hate Trump and don't understand medical freedom and the nature of health cannot fathom how over the moon MAHA people are about the progress RFK has made already in such a short period of time. They think we all regret our votes when the opposite is true. Do I want deep seabed mining absolutely not! Am I absolutely thrilled with the disclosure and shifting under RFK 100%
Strange way to talk to people given the spirit of this forum 🤷🏻♀️
Kennedy worked for years to get where he is. If this administration is as corrupt as you say (and I don't doubt its corrupt), Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard are essential balances, lights of integrity and honesty who need to be there - most corrupt administrations would never ever let people like that near places of power.
The problem, which Charles was writing about, is when people judge everything connected to Trump based on their feelings about him, and refuse to see good in, or collaborate with, an unprecedented opportunity where there are good people mixed in with a corrupt administration, but urgent necessary changes have a chance of happening.
It’s not solely guilty by association to me. I do not share your character analysis of Gabbard and RFK Jr.
Ok, so I see your list is exclusively the things he will do, not has done. Food dyes are not banned, voluntary on part of companies. Toxins not out of formula, rather requiring increased testing for heavy metals but this requires staffing which unfortunately he has drastically cut. And the rest of examples are what he wants but has not accomplished. I get that it’s only been 100 days. I’m just correcting your bias.
As far as Fauci being “brought to justice”….all I can say is wow:/
Why the hate Katharina..is not possible to state your case without making it into something it does not have to be.
I wholeheartedly agree! Rfkjr put politics aside when he saw this opening, knowing it was not possible to get elected.
There was no other way in. He tried. He did not seek to work in the Trump administration - he sought to become President, a job he is surely capable of, and then he could have appointed his choice of heads of HHS, EPA, etc.
The Democrats blocked him every step of the way. They sued him into oblivion with every detail they could find. They planted people in his campaign to make errors in petition gathering. They refused to let him debate.
Now, there is a head of HHS who has deep integrity. The heads of the FDA and NIH are also decent human beings, not far enough along in understanding how deep the corruption and poisoning go, but far better than what was. Gain of Function research is being halted, not fully, yet, but in many ways. The Covid vaccine disasters will hopefully be no longer on the childhood schedule, or mandated, and may be pulled altogether (that has to be done carefully and strategically).
Vaccines will have placebo trials. Autism will be investigated. The psychopathic practice of the NIH torturing puppies is coming to an end. The worst food dyes are being phased out.
And this is just the beginning, he has to move slowly and carefully, this is the tiniest bit of what's possible.
And, one of the reasons people voted for Trump, even if not really liking or trusting him, was the sad fact that HHS had been not just allowing child trafficking, but actively participating in it. Redacted News has info on this, on youtube. There's a Forbes clip of HHS whistleblower Tara Lee Rodas testifying, this is not the imaginings of Q-Anon, it's real. Now that will end and hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children will be looked for.
Some things Trump is doing I think are terrible, like throwing human beings in an El Salvadorian hellhole without judicial review. And doing the bidding of Isreal while being hugely hypocritical on speech / censorship, and deporting legal immigrants for criticizing Israel. And, as Charles says, callousness around the natural world, which, while energy needs to come from somewhere, Trump seems to see as a resource to be used rather than something sacred to at least try to walk gently on.
One set of tragedies does not excuse another. But the crimes against humanity of the "Biden" administrations (whatever puppets "Biden" also puppets Harris), are by far worse.
Covid vaccine mandates caused human carnage on an unprecedented scale. Trump encouraged the vaccines and even wrapped his ego around them. But he did not Force people to choose between work / school / military service / sometimes medical care, and those horrific shots. That alone, to me, outweighs almost anything else.
Trump cares about more than money. To meet you where you are in thinking he is basically the most uniquely evil man on earth, perhaps we can both agree that he cares about, besides money, his ego, his reputation, his legacy. Adulation, fans, followers, applause.
Even if he cares about nothing more than that, those are incentives to reverse course on the massive corruption of a health system that entirely does pharma's bidding - something that Trump's supporters don't like, yet Democrats love.
I don't like Trump, I don't trust him. But I think the more evil devil here is what the left has become, literally worshipping pharma products that cause so much damage, and demonizing anyone brining accurate, uncomfortable information ...
Short, 4-min read time article I just came across. This is what the left has become ... "Guardians of Decay" .. when systems fail, they seek to prohibit curiosity, to keep what is obviously broken.
https://thewhirl.substack.com/p/youre-not-crazy-the-system-is
"Their message is clear: do not think, defer. This tactic thrives on the cultural habit of outsourcing judgment to "experts," even when they cannot explain or defend their positions in plain terms, with even the most elementary logic.
Another core pattern is the suppression of inquiry. Serious, good-faith questions are recast as negativity, division, or even violence.
Guardians of Decay shift the frame from "What's true?" to "Why are you asking that?" They imply that the very act of noticing failure is an act of betrayal.
Then there is guilt shaming. Guardians of Decay target those who have energy, actual skin in the game, and clarity and try to drag them into surrender. They suggest that asking for change is selfish or unkind and that raising hard truths is inconsiderate to those who want stability. They reframe discomfort as harm and insist that your insistence on truth is hurting the group."
That's what Kennedy was up against. He did what he had to do. He really tried. He didn't go from realizing there would never be a fair Dem primary to joining with Trump - he tried to run as an Independent. And it was the Dems, not the Republicans, who voraciously sabotaged him.
Yes, because I and others don’t share your same opinion of his character.
I noticed that Donald trump just signed a coal mining agreement on Navajo land. The Navajo people are not happy about it and if you read the comments on the related Instagram posts it’s all about how much their health has suffered from previous coal mining on their land (not to mention MMIW). And then Bobby Kennedy came in next with the intention of helping them become healthy. I was thinking, how is he going to do that when they’ve got this coal mining plant going in?
Yes, healing has to occur holistically across the entire spectrum for "MAHA" to be effective.
But it seems the REAL problem with the seabed is your head is buried in it.
As usual, your constant focus on RFK, vaccines and now seabed mining are not the "holistic" solutions you claim. Why? Because you're leaving out what's happening in the here and now with human beings. You still haven't said even one word about the increasing cruelty and human rights atrocities happening on a daily basis by the wannabe dictator in the White House, which is very disappointing and hypocritical, to say the least.
Ignoring the suffering of human beings by this corrupt administration and focusing on everything but that is not the path toward healing.
If human beings aren't treated decently and with love and compassion, and their legal rights continue to be disrespected, it's laughable to believe MAHA or any other deeper healing can occur.
How naive can you be?
There are human rights atrocities happening now .. like men with no criminal records, at least not evidenced so far, being thrown in a torturous dungeon in El Salvador ...
This can't be excused by human rights atrocities that happened before ...
Yet it's fair to say that no one angry at the human rights abuses happening now seemed to care about the atrocities before .. that were much much bigger .. from HHS being active participants in child trafficking, to mandating the most dangerous injection ever given on a wide scale, and ignoring the pain of the injured, and mocking the doctors treating covid and trying to take their licenses ...
Selective empathy all the way down ...
I wrote about this, and some of the tragic cases of immigrants, here .. https://anotherbetrayedliberal.substack.com/p/context-catastrophes-and-selective
Charles is probably one of the most aware of the negative / cruel things this administration is doing, among those who have Neither Trump Derangement Syndrome *nor* Trump Devotion Syndrome ...
"Under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this movement was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected." Indeed. Congratulations, Charles: This is your legacy. Kennedy is now making plugs for fast food chains and enabling the imprisonment of international students who disagree with the slaughter in Palestine. Will RFK also be sitting at Trump's side for the planned military parade on June 14? Meanwhile, I've never seen an administration surrounded by so many non-natural looking humans as this one: botox, fillers, plastic surgery, breast implants. Is this what "natural health" looks like? Seems like MAHA has traded "Big Pharma" for Big Supplements, Big Plastic Surgery, Big Cosmetics, Big Botox and Fillers...
"Under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this movement was instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected." It's disgraceful Charles seems so proud of this as though electing a corrupt administration that tramples on human rights and is even kidnapping people off the streets without due process is a badge of honor.
When asked by a reporter on "Meet the Press" the other day: "Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States?"
Trump answered "I don't know."
You're judging RFK's work by the amount of botox in use by other members of the Cabinet? Those of us who voted for Trump in order to get RFK are thrilled with RFK's progress on a range of MAHA issues, so far has surpassed expectations.
"I know a lot of the leading voices in he MAHA movement, and I can tell you that every single one of them is also a proponent of (or sympathetic to) organic and regenerative agriculture, forest and wetlands conservation, marine preserves, whale conservation, sea turtle conservation, and honoring and protecting the indigenous stewards of earth’s wild places." And I wonder, how many of those same people voted for Trump simply because they thought RFK would be some kind of savior. And now they have Trump who stands for the polar opposite of all of the things you mention above.
the racism is so deep it is nearly unfathomable, because each of these leading voices swapped out their disjointed belief in RFKJr for the rights and lives of women and immigrants to name just a few of the casualties. cultists all.
The needed vast re-engineering of how things are done is mind boggling. I teach an environmental science class to high schoolers. In America we are surrounded by a miasma of anti-life built piece by piece since the 1800’s, in the water, air, soil, food, “medicines”, electromagnetic radiations, what we sit in, live in drive in, walk in, what we wear- plastics and forever chemicals, herbicides, pesticides. The asphalt roads exude chemicals. Human sperm counts have declined by 50% - a canary in the coal mine indicator that something is very wrong! Add to that that a culture and social arrangements that do not promote positive human connections and relationships Yet this death is an intrinsic by product of the present system we use to provide stuff and services! Neither side in the power structure squarely faces and understands the decades long deep restructuring that must happen.
So much truth, unfortunate that through RFK, Jr. you helped elect someone is perhaps the most separatist and extractavist minded president of our lifetime.
Amen to this. Nobody has the right to claim "naivete" on Trump's environmental stances or authoritarian designs. He made those abundantly clear through his actions in his first term and only a fool would have expected anything different this time around just because Trump made a deal with RFK Jr. so that he could siphon off his supporters and neutralize him as a third party candidate that threatened to swing the race to Harris. It should have been obvious enough this time, but here's hoping that Charles (and more importantly, those who follow his work) won't fall for such an obvious con in the future.
You must be very young. Extractavist presidents ruled for the majority of my lifetime -- even those called "democrats."
Agreed, that’s why I wrote most not only. btw, JFK had just been elected weeks before I was born; not sure if that qualifies me as young, but I’ll take it 😉
Thank you for pointing this out with such clarity. I've often thought the disconnect between MAHA on the one hand and the slashing of environmental protections and unleashing of extractive industries on the other must be very painful for Kennedy. And I've often wondered if he is biding his time and quietly plotting how to forge the connection.
The only thing painful for a narcissist is not being the center of attention. Bobby will be fine.
Strange to find RFK trolls here.
Strange that someone who has a different opinion to yours is labelled a troll..
Trolling is defined not by content but by style
THIS LOOKS LIKE SPAM
Case in point
THIS LOOKS LIKE SPAM
As a Spaniard that suffered the omnipresent fear and oppression in my culture under the late Franco authoritarian regime (it lasted 40 years and we are still recovering from that), I still really hope that you wake up in time and not have to go through a brutally tough awakening, experiencing what is to live under a full authoritarian regime. There is nothing subtle or nuanced about it.
María Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize (Democracy Now, April 24 2025):
I just came from Perugia, from the International Journalism Festival, where V-Dem, which does kind of a rating of all democracies globally — right? — their latest report now says that 72% of the world is under autocratic rule. Like, we have elected illiberal leaders in 72% — in these democracies around the world, right? But —
AMY GOODMAN: How do they classify the U.S.?
MARIA RESSA: The U.S. is — so, here’s what he said. The head of V-Dem publicly said that if the trends in America continue, that he expects democracy to die by the summer. Like, not just to wake you up, right? Like, literally.
Fraud posing as Charles—notice the two i's in the last name.
So, this last Sunday, when they asked directly if it’s his duty as president to uphold the Constitution, Trump said, “I don’t know", and that he would not rule out using military force to take Greenland. Deporting immigrants and US citizens without due process. Playing the autocratic playbook, one step at a time, according to historians of fascism. Speaking of building a resort in Gaza, over the corpses of the Palestinian genocide.
So, what about MADA (Make America Democracy Again)?
This regime is running fast into the third line of the "First they came...":
Just ask yourself honestly this question: Can your (health/enviro-movement) liver be healthy if the rest of your (democracy) body is deteriorating?
I don't know if this is you, Charles, or a fake account. In any case: I'm not looking for attracting attention for money with my comments. I'm saddened and alarmed that the man I once admired, a brilliant mind and big heart, is falling in line with the force of christofascist, white-supremacy, psychopathic billionaires.
Heart-breaking. Unbelievable.
I think Kennedy's been sold down the river by Trump. The agencies that control food and the environment are working for a standard republican scorch the Earth and maximize profits agenda. Meanwhile, Kennedy is being forced to use his agency to clamp down on free speech at universities.
"Forced?" He could resign.
Maybe these are written mostly for people who are getting a first introduction to you work, Charles, but for those of us who've been around for a while and are generally in the left-wing media ecosystem (echo-system?), it would be more helpful if you could mention and provide some links to RFK's actual positive accomplishments so far. I also make an effort to get input from right-wing sources, but haven't seen anything on this yet. OTOH, I have heard (including first-hand), of massive layoffs, chaos, and peeling back of regulation, including oversight of additives.
The point you're making is obvious to anyone who's been reading your work, especially Climate. But without any documentation or knowledge of positive measures RFK has put in place, it rings pretty hollow.
Fraudster posing as Charles -- notice the two i's in the last name.
Thank you Charles. Your courage to share your perspectives in this place and space of separation and deep polarization touches me deeply.
So much of the time, I catch myself wallowing in the hypnotism of modernity and complicit to its deceits. Each essay you write allows me to become more curious about my own biases and beliefs. It helps me open my mind to new or forgotten understandings. It helps me connect with my intuition and heart more than my mind and I feel into your words.
As humans we have such an amazing capacity to co-create and to co-actively align as a part of an entangled, alive metabolic ecosystem of incredible potential and mystery. In those moments when our minds can suspend judgement and hold the humility of “not knowing”, possibilities of hope and pathways and a different way forward begin emerge.
I am choosing to live in this liminal space more and more and in doing so, may I feel into a way of being where the question holds more potential than an answer.
Here is a quote from Robin Wall Kimmerer that is worth a ponder,
“ Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one way street to a sacred bond.”
Americans really need to figure out how to effectively mine their courage, stand up to an authoritarian, corrupt regime led by a pathological liar (you cannot do any meaningful holism, that is based on truth, under a regime of lies), and protect their vulnerable brothers and sisters (the deep reality of interbeing) from the perpetrators of cruelty.
Like the great spiritual leader Abraham Joshua Heschel said: "For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.”
That would be the appropriate, response-able, loving action to do.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail
Like Thich Nhat Hanh:
"When we are armed with compassion and understanding, we fight not against other people, but against the tendency to invade, to dominate, and to exploit. We don't want to kill others, but we will not let them dominate and exploit us or other people."
No need even to invoke the Golden Rule: just showing some mammalian empathy for others being assaulted. Not protesters: protectors.
That is the foundation of a revolution of Love.
Thank you for your spiritual and moral clarity. And for cutting through the noise and pointing the way forward by centering love, compassion and truth. Deep appreciation and gratitude!
𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐑𝐅𝐊 𝐉𝐫. 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎% 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 (𝐢.𝐞., 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚)𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤? 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠? https://drewdellinger.substack.com/p/yes-rfk-jr-and-charles-eisenstein
At a certain point, Charles, one has to make a decision whether whatever gains you expect in the holistic health sphere are worth the decimation of everything else you've ever stood for.
In the interest of moving you in that direction, I share the important quote from above:
'Eisenstein recently tweeted (above) that he does not understand
“how those who listen to moms instead of corporate-funded science are deemed fascists.”
I think I can break this down for you, Charles:
BY ALIGNING WITH FASCISTS.
That’s how.'
Fraud posing as Charles - notice the two i's in the last name.