Deceiving Ourselves

A GREAT NINETEENTH CENTURY Northern European philosopher whose first name was "Soren" once said that there are two ways for us to be deceived: by believing a lie, and by failing to accept the truth. People who refuse to accept the reality of man made climate change for personal ideological reasons, or any other reason, including failing to understand basic science, are deceiving themselves in both ways. They refuse to accept reality, and are accordingly accepting a lie, and they deny the truth. Another great northern European philosopher whose last name was "Goethe" said that we are never deceived, we only deceive ourselves. Suppose that the United States were being invaded by a foreign army, say, the Russians. Their tanks and troops landing on the east coast and making their way inland, because the commander in chief refused to give orders to the military to resist and drive the invading enemy off our soil. (For this mental exercise, the Russians are the perfect motif, amid today's controversies).The invaders are advancing, capturing territory, inflicting billions of dollars of damage to property, private and public, and taking many lives. And yet, the president of the United States not only refuses to take action, she repeatedly assures us that the invasion is a hoax, fake news, and is in fact not happening. She continues this strange behavior no matter how many competent military officers frantically try to persuade her of the reality of the situation. Finally, she simply dismisses everyone under her authority who disagrees with her "no Russian invasion" viewpoint, and installs as her assistants and advisers only those willing to agree with her position, and to present it to the public. So effective is the commander in chief's ability to convince millions of people that there is no Russian invasion, that millions of people, a minority but a significant one, believes it, and joins the president in denying the reality of the invasion. Many of the people who deny it continue to do so even as Russian tanks and troops roll across their land and down their streets, leaving tread marks and foot prints, as well as ruined lawns, dead dogs and cats, and trampled gardens. We Americans are confronted with this exact situation, only, its worse than in this purely hypothetical fantasy. We are indeed ignoring an enemy which even as we ignore it is ravaging our country, costing us billions of dollars in damage and countless shortened lives. The enemy, of course, is climate change, an enemy far more inexorable and deadly than any invading Russian army, although its invasion is much slower. Even though a large majority of Americans now accepts the reality of climate change, those who refuse to have enough political power, currently, that our efforts to fight the enemy are falling short. The necessary effort involves changing our behavior, since ultimately we are the enemy, we are the manufacturers of climate change. But the deniers tragically, currently have the power to thwart our efforts to fight and win. Fossil fuel corporate money inundates the political system, purchasing climate change denial among America's political leaders, and the fossil fuel industry keeps belching pollution into the atmosphere, slowly, but increasing rapidly, killing us all. In southern Florida millions of people agree that every summer is hotter than the last. Every high tide, Miami floods. The Department of Defense tells us that human made climate change is the greatest threat to America's national security. Science tells us that with current trends all insects will be extinct within one hundred years, and that by the year 2050 most major cities in Asia and elsewhere will be uninhabitable in the summer. Fossil fuel pollution fills the atmosphere with many types of polluting particles, which enter our lungs, damage our hearts and brains, and shorten our lives, the lives of everyone on the planet, by years. The proof is overwhelming. Ask a scientist, any scientist. And yet, we refuse to accept the truth, we prefer to believes lies, and we have elected a president and political leaders who assist an enemy invasion by ignoring it. When we are all dead, our descendants will suffer far more than we do now. We deserve our fate, but they do not, and we are responsible for it.