Yes, I’m with you, partofme.

I think the “humanity is doomed” mentality has the elements of the self-fulfilling prophecy syndrome. Positive thinking might not save the day, but negative thinking will inevitably limit our ability to overcome the problems that confront us.

I disagree with Conservationist’s take on the agenda of the Right and the Left as outlined in his/her OP. And I agree with Jason’s point here that there is not a clear Right or Left delineation on this subject.

While many of the points made in the OP are true, I think it is easy to have a romantic view of the past. Yes, the quality of art, music, architecture, manufacture, literature and other creative expressions of humanity is lacking in our age of mass production and throw away society. But past generations could only dream of flying, going to the Moon, curing diseases that today we can cure with over the counter medicine and the many other examples of progress that human ingenuity has made possible, and that we too often take for granted.

And yes, I admire the great thinkers and leaders of the past, and I lament the paucity of reason and leadership in our world today. Yet, how much of the past was free from devastating wars, plagues of diseases, injustices, inequality and other terrible phenomena attributable to human actions?

The survival of humanity is very much in our hands and in our grasp. But, the way I see it, it has little to do with Right versus Left ideology, good versus evil, Christianity versus Islam, the West versus the Middle East, or the other contentions that dominate the current political discourse.

To me, it’s about humanity striving to find the way to co-exist peacefully on this planet, and to cooperatively tackle the various natural and social challenges that affect us and our future. It’s possible, if we pull our collective imagination, skills and resources together, and, above all, if we have faith in humanity’s spirit of survival. I do.

Tethys

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-- Harry S. Truman