Perhaps nuclear weapons are a good place to start, when looking at the causes of the present feelings of imminent doom. During the Cold War we understood that much of life on earth could be wiped out by the pressing of a few buttons. Man’s ability to destroy the planet was inescapable.
This feeling of our awful potential for destruction was echoed in the idea of environmental sustainability – as a society we could destroy ourselves (and much else besides) unless we looked closely at how our current actions might have long-term consequences for our environment.
The current obsession with global warming is just one symptom of this wider idea, which has been brewing for a long time:
“What we need from scientists are estimates, presented with sufficient conservatism and plausibility but at the same time as free as possible from internal disagreements that can be exploited by political interests, that will allow us to start building a system of artificial but effective warnings, warnings which will parallel the instincts of animals who flee before the hurricane, pile up a larger store of nuts before a severe winter, or of caterpillars who respond to impending climatic changes by growing thicker coats.”
Margaret Mead, 1975.
As a species, we have been becoming more and more prosperous. But no amount of prosperity will change the fact that the future is uncertain, and that’s a scarey thought. (Particularly if you don’t belive in a god who will make everything all right for you.)
My own belief is that we humans change what we do, and how we do it, at such an incredibly fast rate that peering into the future to check for sustainability is an activity that requires a great deal of caution (and humility.) What will our needs be in a hundred years? What will we be doing? What will we be producing?