A recent letter-to-the-editor that NYT did not print. Oh, well. It still has a home here on In and Out.
Editor, The New York Times
A recent article (“That Feeling of Doom? It’s Called Eco-Anxiety,” NYT, Sept. 17) advanced a theory of “eco-anxiety,” a new concern for mental health professionals, and a new area of investigation for journalists and pollsters. Widespread fear that more severe environmental changes are coming makes sense.
And while treatment for individuals suffering from any form of anxiety and, even, despair, also makes sense, the only cure ultimately is collective action. Human activity is the root cause of climate change and cascading environmental catastrophes. And environmental scientists tell us that this has been happening for millennia. But the acceleration of these changes over the last two centuries is largely the result of a process that has created global corporations with nearly absolute authority over how resources will be distributed and consumed. A direct effect of this process has been the conversion of the vast majority of people into either disempowered consumers or dehumanized objects.
This phenomenon is the cause of eco-anxiety. Can we fix this? Develop and deploy strategies and innovations that can mitigate the climate harm coming our way? Perhaps. Success is not guaranteed.
But the individual experiences of anxiety that people are suffering from now would certainly be reduced by participation in a mass movement that aimed to eliminate racial and economic inequity. History tells us that such movements never achieve all their goals. But when they come close, they make a lasting difference and are often described as revolutionary.
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