Grieving

“Climate grief” is the phrase environmentalists and climate scientists use to describe the feeling of despondency when we think about how life will be in the not-to-distant future.  By 2050, if current trends continue, almost all of Bangkok, Miami, and New Orleans, much of Mumbai, and most of the Mekong Delta will be under water.  The Everglades will have disappeared.  Thousands of animal species, including birds and fish and some of the largest mammals, will be extinct.  Millions of climate refugees will be on the move.  My grandson will be 44.  

That is just one kind of grief we are experiencing.  Those of us who live in the U.S. or Brazil, Turkey, India, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, and Israel are also experiencing “democracy grief.”  Lessons I once taught in my American government classes at San Jose State no longer apply.  The President moves funds around to build his wall without congressional approval.  We separate kids from their parents and put them in cages.  Scientists are dismissed from government agencies, replaced by religious fanatics or political hacks.  The Republican Party is a personality cult.

Just 20 years ago we had a functioning public school system.  Our national parks attracted tourists from around the world.  Our air and water quality was improving.  Our university graduates were among the world’s best.  Facebook, Twitter, and QAnon did not exist.  Russian bots did not interfere in our elections.

Reasonable and intelligent people now ask out loud, “Do you think he will use the coronavirus to cancel the election?”  My first reaction was, That’s crazy talk.  Now I take the question seriously.  

We are also experiencing “future grief.”  The 21st century was anticipated with a mixture of hope and optimism.  Of course we had problems, but we believed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  Really.  We believed that.

Do you know anyone who looks forward to the 22nd century with hope and optimism?  The very question seems silly.  No wonder Millennials often are depressed.  Many of them may still be alive to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2100.  That should be some fun celebration.

Maybe you think I’m pessimistic because I’m old and not far from shuffling off this mortal coil.  [That’s a euphemism for dying, you young pups.].  Maybe you noted the world’s response to the coronavirus.  Maybe you were impressed with how all of the nations came together to work on solutions.  And you were amazed how the U.S. exhibited that “can-do” attitude, rolling out ventilators and rushing test kits to less fortunate countries, and how the spirit of the American people rose to the occasion.  Sure you were.