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Success stories also needed

A reply to Tom Crowley’s letter, ‘Future outlook not comforting.’

A reply to Tom Crowley’s letter, ‘Future outlook not comforting.’

Dear Mr. Crowley, thank you for your response and kind remarks.

Just to clarify however, I wrote that letter to Mr. Dyer as a concerned parent  and citizen (rather than a columnist) because I can’t help but feel that this steady stream of distressing, deadline news – especially in cases where it’s delivered without discussion to young high school kids rather than a lively discussion with more mature university students - can have a profound impact on their psyche if they feel their future is all unraveling before their eyes.  

Teen suicides are steadily increasing, and this may be playing a role in it.

I certainly do not disagree with Mr. Dyer’s statements (nor yours) about the state of things, nor do I wish to soft-pedal the issues. But grim news to me should be balanced or countered with at least some positive news, so that kids and adults alike realize that it’s not necessarily over yet.  

There are cases of species recovery through the efforts of many, new technologies that are creating clean energy and tackling pollution problems, the reversing of desertification through permaculture techniques, water purification via plant filtration processes, food issues being resolved, etc.

Knowledge and awareness is vitally important, but in order to avoid despair and the futility of even trying to fix what’s broke, I believe we need to also hear those success stories of putting this planet back together again in order to avoid that dangerous emotional ‘tipping point’, which would be the worst problem we’d ever have to face.

Margo Westaway