The recent international climate change summit was a disappointing experience for me as an American citizen. For many years, the United States has been a strong resistor of the Kyoto Protocol, and generally any actions that might limit our economic power for the sake of protecting the planet. My disappointment grew from the “business as usual” attitude that the US delegation brought to the recent climate change meetings in Indonesia.
Granted, there is a limit to what we can do as individuals in this particular situation. We can vote for representatives who support a more progressive agenda, but that does not help us today. Our government is what it is right now, and although there is some hope on the horizon with regard to the upcoming election, we cannot do much to change who our elected officials are today.
The question, then, is how this might be relevant to us, right now. As stated, we cannot simply get rid of those who support resistant policies. But we can chose not to follow the example of our current government. We can deal honestly with conditions that are not ideal and that may lead to some adversity in our lives. We can certainly avoid making excuses for past behaviors that are clearly no longer working for us.
Let us consider a comparison. International frustration with current US policies on climate change stems from our stubborn refusal to deal with reality. This is not a foreign notion with regard to our individual lives. I have certainly had moments when my refusal to acknowledge what was really going on led me to excess suffering that was totally unnecessary. At the risk of exposing personal information, I will share a brief example.
When I was in college, I was moderately obsessed with a certain young woman. We were friends, and she was quite aware of my affections. However, she also made it very clear that she was not interested in dating me and wanted only to be platonic friends. I stubbornly refused to accept this, which led to repeated futile attempts to win her heart. Over time, my friends became very frustrated by my unwillingness to accept the truth. This girl just didn’t like me in a romantic way.
Whether you are a national leader who is resisting a progressive climate change response strategy, or a young man clinging to an unrequited love, the lesson is the same. Deal with reality. It may be tough, you may not like it, but it is the only way to move forward into something better than what you are currently experiencing. Our nation, I believe, will be best served by accepting the reality of climate change and making the necessary adjustments in how we operate. In much the same way, my pain and frustration over the girl who wouldn’t love me finally began to subside once I simply accepted the truth and acted accordingly.
Is this a moral issue? Not really, at least not in the individual case of young love unfulfilled. In the case of climate change, obviously there are moral issues that are relevant. But in general, it doesn’t make much sense to argue that we are morally required to accept difficult and undesirable realities simply because they are true. We can do what we like, but if what we really want is to feel better and address problems effectively, step one is to simply accept what is really going on.
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