Denial is the Only Topic Less Popular than Overshoot

I observe most people close their minds when I discuss overshoot but they don’t get upset.

It’s easy and natural for us to deny unpleasant things, as Varki’s theory predicts.

When I discuss denial I find people not only close their minds but also become agitated.

Talking about denial seems to get too close to a nerve.

I’ve yet to find a single person that shares my fascination with denial, despite denial being the most powerful and destructive force at play in our society.

We are causing the 6th great extinction. About 200 species a day are going extinct. We don’t talk about it.

The resource that created advanced civilization and 6 of our 7 billion people will be depleted within 20 years. We don’t talk about it.

Climate change is accelerating faster than most predictions and the problems are already obvious if you care to look. We don’t talk about it.

Fisheries are collapsing and the coral reefs are dying. We don’t talk about it.

Trees are in decline worldwide. We don’t talk about it.

We’ve had 8 years of zero interest rates. We don’t ask why.

Debt is so high now that we avoid talking about its implications.

40,000 climate change experts and concerned citizens met in Paris and did not even discuss the only thing that might make the future less bad.

Weaker countries are starting to fail. We avoid connecting the dots.

Leaders pretend everything is OK. Citizens seek someone to blame. No one seeks a science based understanding of what is happening.

The state of the union speech by the most powerful person in the world did not even mention any of the most important issues we face.

Denial is amazing!