Gorbachev and Reagan signing the INF Treaty, 1987
There are so many changes in the world, so much conflict, so much suffering and death, I’m just overwhelmed. Just here in the US, the Trump administration is dismantling the federal government, indiscriminately arresting immigrants, and doing away with foreign aid. International conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are causing deaths by the thousands. Climate change threatens to destroy life on our planet.
I’ve always tried to make sense of the world, to come up with reasons and solutions for problems, but now our problems are so numerous and complex, maybe there are no solutions.
Take climate change for example. I’m no expert, but from what I have read, average temperatures around the world have already risen to the point of no return, while we continue to pump greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. As temperatures rise, the ice caps melt and sea levels rise, threatening to sink islands and flood coastal cities. Weather patterns have already changed across the continents, leading to more severe weather: more hurricanes, more tornadoes, more floods, and at the same time more droughts and fires. This in turn will soon lead to more disease, poverty, mass migrations and conflicts.
So why are we not doing more to reverse climate change? We just elected a president who believes that the threat of climate change is overblown. He has withdrawn from the international Paris Climate Accords, seriously undermining its goals to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The reasons he gave that taking the steps outlined by the accords would “undermine the US economy,” and “put the US at a permanent disadvantage.” His latest idea was to revive the coal industry!
What can I add to this conversation about the greatest problem ever to face humanity? At the risk of oversimplification, I would just repeat the point I made in my post of Nov 2, 2023 that “Life is precious.” Saving lives and relieving suffering should be the first priority in every government decision, perhaps in every personal decision as well. How does our ideology, the economy, our national interest rank next to the survival of mankind. That should take precedence over everything else.
It's been done before. In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the Nuclear Arms Treaty, ending the Cold War. After the years of arms buildup after WWII, expansion of the Soviet Union, and tough talk on both sides, those two leaders decided enough was enough. The risks of a nuclear war were too great, so they ended the cold war with one stroke of diplomacy.
Can we do it again?
