Nihilism

November 23, 2019

What do climate change and the erosion of our democratic values have in common? They are both happening at a dangerously slow pace, and they are both denied by Trump and his supporters. There is a saying that “no one ever got hit by a bus they saw coming.” I would add that, if the bus is coming slowly enough, it is easy to ignore until it is too late. And why do I say at a dangerously slow pace? Climate change and the erosion of our values are not one-time events like a football game that we can see, hear, touch, or sense. They are glaciers that move imperceptibly with tremendous force. Unlike glaciers, however, they are not disappearing.

The impeachment hearings are a classic case of not being able to see the forest for the trees, which will not be a problem as our trees go up in flames. There is nothing to see here Republicans will tell us. We do this all the time, they say. Storms of the century cannot be called as such if they are happening all the time. And we should not “get over” the attacks on our institutions if they are happening all the time. At the end of the day, who are you going to believe? The career diplomats and professional climatologists, who are dedicated to sounding the alarms of impending disasters, or Trump, who has his Ph.D in nihilism.