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Too often today we shirk the dangers before us with either retreat into willful ignorance or grasps at magical solutions. Perhaps we should take instruction from an earlier time when there were many dangers before us, and the path to escape was unknown. The problems of the Great Depression were neither imaginary nor minor. Banks failed, the stock market crashed, farmers destroyed crops, and one out of six people was unemployed. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt admitted, “A host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.”
Of course, Roosevelt’s famous prescription was “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” We can rise to the challenges we face, but we cannot succumb to “unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts.”
Today we are less terrified, because the threats are remote. But that remoteness only makes it easier for our fears to produce paralysis; some deny the problems, others assume the solutions.
As in 1933, we face real dangers. The climate could reach a tipping point, oil could run out sooner than expected, mindless energy policies could wreck the economy, and terrorists could blow up the Saudis’ oil pumps. But, as in 1933, the real danger is in how we respond to these threats.
That’s why I will not focus on the dangers of climate change and a dwindling oil supply. Those threats exist, but we can improve our chances of a good outcome enormously, and at little cost. As always, no panacea exists. Instead, we need courage, a cool head, and a clever, low-risk plan of action.
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