And that's the difference between problems that are additive, like CO2, which we go slowly up and then we tip, and problems that are depletive, in which we lose what we have, which oscillate, and they oscillate until we lose everything we've got.

Sometimes pendulums continue to oscillate wildly unless there is some friction to slow them down, and sometimes they get stuck.

Now, you might not be used to thinking of yourself as a metronome, but after all, we do walk like I mean, we oscillate back and forth as we walk.

Caught between their desperate need for finance and markets and their need to respond to their citizens sentiments, they oscillate between condemnation and reassurance of China, struggling to find a coherent path that defends the West s principles without damaging its economic interests.