On Dec. 9 the Whitestone Republican Club held a Christmas party at a restaurant in Queens, New York. Attendees danced in a conga line, neither wearing masks nor following rules regarding social distancing.
The club’s statement, after this was reported in the New York Times, said that they are not the mask or social distancing police and that “adults have the absolute right to make their own decisions and clearly many chose to interact like normal humans and not paranoid zombies in hazmat suits.”
This is just a recent example of Americans privileging individual liberty over public health responsibility. It reveals a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of others founded in a profound ignorance of science and a total rejection of even the simplest steps to reduce the spread of a deadly virus.
If a substantial number of Americans are unwilling to do something as basic as wearing a face covering in the midst of a pandemic that has already taken over 352,000 lives in the U.S., what chance is there that serious policies to address the climate crisis will be accepted in this country?
Any meaningful attempt to avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming will require all countries to enact economic changes that will be far more demanding than donning a face mask. Shifting away from carbon-based energy sources will depend on the public acceptance of the overwhelming scientific consensus that failing to do so will produce — is already producing — extreme weather events, severe flooding along coastlines and devastating droughts around the world.
If sizeable parts of the American population are willing to deny the science that underpins some of the least intrusive public health measures, what chance is there that climate science will be embraced when it leads to fuel economy regulations, taxes to support public initiatives for green infrastructure or limitations on air travel?
What are the chances if Republicans, who are far more likely to trumpet individual freedom over shared responsibility and to deny basic science, either control the Senate or have a minority capable of blocking legislation?
I wish I could welcome the new year and the Biden administration with greater optimism. I can’t. The pathological commitment to extreme individualism is deeply rooted in American culture and our education system has not shown itself capable of promoting even the most basic scientific literacy.
I fear that Biden’s warning about the dark winter ahead due to COVID should be extending to an even darker future with inaction on climate change. I would love to be proven wrong.
Donald Joralemon is emeritus professor of anthropology at Smith College.