Since at least the 1960s, environmentalists have manufactured scary stories about the planet being in peril. However, for me their narratives don’t seem very frightening, especially their latest version of climate catastrophism. If you are a reader who is familiar with some of my other writings, you may think I feel this way because I don’t believe that any of the stories are real. Correct, I do not believe in the leftist tale of climate catastrophism, but even if I did, I don’t find it scary. If the aim of climate change proponents is to depict Dante’s Inferno, they have failed.

On the other hand, there is the specter of nuclear Armageddon. When I watch a video of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion and realize that nuclear bombs could rain down on us at any moment, I am completely paralyzed with fear. I feel like the character Dr. Egon Spengler from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters when he said, “I’m sorry, Venkman. I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.” I must hand it to those that created such a weapon. They conjured up something that scares me to death. I guess we have Oppenheimer to thank for that. You know, “Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds” and all that crap.

Now here is something to ponder. Who do you know that even brings up the topic of nuclear annihilation in polite society anymore? You see people babbling incessantly about the existential threat that climate change poses, but you would think that everyone had amnesia about the very real threat of a world hurtling toward nuclear conflict.

Why is this the case? My contention all along has been that anyone going on about climate change is just a virtue signaling poser—but let me throw out another possibility. We all experience a certain amount of free-floating anxiety. We are never quite sure of its origin. My theory is that this anxiety floats around until it becomes anchored. It may not settle on your worst fear. Often, it may be a fear that allows you to immerse yourself in frenzied activity that provides you with some psychological relief. As a result, you have people nailing solar panels to their roof and driving EVs because it’s either that or spending hours on a psychiatrist’s couch pondering their inner psyche. There may be some truth in the idea that climate fearmongering offers people a manageable fear rather than one that would paralyze them and therefore serves a social purpose. However, for me it is too much to go around and indulge their neuroses. I just can’t help but roll my eyes when someone mentions climate change.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license.