Are Republican voters worried about the environment?
Did you know that before the environment, scientists were telling us that an asteroid or meteor was going to strike the earth and kill us all? They even made a movie about it called Armageddon. The fear of some interstellar event causing the end of earth was a big thing growing up. People stressed over it because it could happen at any second with very little warning, it was real we were told and it was coming, any day now.
Before the interstellar event threat there was the threat of nuclear attack from Russia/USSR. As children we had drills in school, sirens were sounded and we were ushered into hallways and assumed the safe position (as if there really was one if we were hit with nuclear weapons).
Before the threat of nuclear attack there was the constant threat of pandemics and remember that at least two times in recorded history viruses actually did sweep across the world killing nearly 15% of the population.
There is a continued threat of a super volcano erupting, which would cause a nuclear winter, blocking the sun and ending all life on the planet.
There is the possibility that artificial intelligence will eventually outthink and out plan humanity (see also the movie series Terminator).
There is even a possibility that solar geoengineering, the scientifically engineered cure with the best chance to fix climate change, could cause the end of the earth.
If we are going to be honest we need to ask ourselves, how many times in our lives has the physical state of the environment hurt us? For me, other than being rained out from a few sporting events by inclement weather the environment has never hurt me. Not one single member of my family has ever been hurt or killed due to the environment.
The other question that begs to be asked is, how stressful is worrying about the environment? From what I have seen, worrying about the environment seems to wreak havoc and ruin the lives of environmentalists. Look at poor Greta Thornburg, she dropped out of school, she has given up on everything because she sees no hope for her future, her life has been forfeited to the terrible decimation that's coming, any day now.
Back to the original question "Am I worried about the environment?" I could sit around and brood and worry about what environmentalists have been saying is coming, any day now, for the last 53 years of my life or I can choose to live and have a positive attitude. I can accept that there is, now and there always will be, threats that could end everything in life I love and care about, I can let the stress from worrying about those threats, pervade every molecule of my existence to the point where I cannot function and I give up on life or I can choose to go on with my life. One of these things is productive, the other is not.
Sometimes little prayers help
God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
The courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
