Signs are all around us

The latest screed by George F. Will is a model of arrogant indifference if not outright ignorance [“Apocalypse not: We’re still here,” Opinion, Aug. 19]. Perhaps the alarming prognostications of the Club of Rome and the respected scientist Paul Ehrlich have not yet unfolded completely, but in this time of extreme drought, heat and fire, can Will be serious that all is well with the planet, or that human misery has been averted?

Writing from his privileged position of air-conditioned comfort, he has the luxury of ignoring calamities that are engulfing both the Earth’s ecology and large portions of the human family. Despite technological advances and innovations, half the world’s people are indeed steeped in utter destitution. And Will chooses to turn a blind eye to the spreading economic desperation and homelessness that afflict growing numbers of his fellow Americans. Only a few decades ago, widespread homelessness in the United States would have been inconceivable, but now it is a staple of every city and town in the country.

Yes, thankfully, humanity is not extinct and so far the Apocalypse has not transpired, but for vast expanses of this battered world vitiated by war, penury and environmental degradation, an Apocalypse is already in play.

Avoiding a broader and irreversible catastrophe will require a far more enlightened mindset than the benighted one exhibited by the likes of Will and his ilk.

— Joe Martin, Seattle