11/19/2022

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            It is 7:30 on a beautiful autumn day. The maple leaves flashing every shade of yellow/brown outside my window, as a crow caws about multitude of pecans strewn all over the lawn. Would that everyone in the world could enjoy this serenity.

            Alas, young folks around the world are perturbed & are making noise. In Thailand, they are decrying the APEC  summit as a ‘festival of lies,’ being frustrated by a tyrannical regime where dissenters can be sentenced for up to 15 years for insulting or defaming the royal family.  Monks are clashing with police on the streets, similar to the situation in Burma, but not yet, as violent.

            The protests that started when Mahsa Amini, 22, died in the custody of morality police after being detained for not wearing her headdress properly, have escalated. At least 50 minors have been killed since the uprising began in mid-Sept.

Yesterday, people set ablaze the childhood home of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

            Of course you know about our strike here in CA where 92 percent of unionized workers are rent-burdened, & 52 percent paymore than half of their income on housing. Some speculate that this is due to Prop 13 which disrupted CA’s investment in education.

            Civilizations have always struggled with change, but now we have climate change which makes young folks’ angst more intense than ever. Combine that with social media, where that anger grows exponentially with a click, & we have the turmoil that we see today.

            That turmoil worked in your favor this midterm, but things could amp up quickly. I implore you to do more about climate change to prevent greater upheaval here. I’d like to protect this precious serenity I am enjoying this AM.

            BYBS,