The Earth is in the midst of its sixth mass extinction, so forget about saving in a 401k. That appears to be the takeaway from a silly and sophomoric opinion piece published by the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday.
After running through the gamut of supposed environmental ills, the author references Greta Thunberg to wax on about the point of it all, something that should instead be directed at the piece itself.
“Just a couple weeks ago, a heavily covered and very depressing study found one-third of North America’s bird population has disappeared in a matter of five decades,” he writes by way of journalistic justification.
Noting that he’s “one of the lucky ones,” in that he has no student debt and lives in an area not prone to wildfires, “still, saving for the future—even if working as a journalist in San Francisco and saving for the future were an easy thing to do—often feels pointless.”
If working as a journalist in San Francisco is his definition of difficult, it’s tough to take him seriously from there.
He does note the hysteria over nuclear annihilation of decades past and the cynicism, self-destruction, and lack of concern for the future it instilled, without any self-awareness about his contribution to the scheme.
He also mentions perpetual end-time charlatan Harold Camping, former president of California-based Family Radio, who’s dire doomsday predictions routinely failed to materialize. But a greater point is missed, which is this:
Camping was widely (and rightly) ridiculed for his ridiculous predictions, but why should it only apply to religious exaggeration? Every climate change model thus far has also proven wrong.
In 2005, for example, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) predicted 50 million climate change refugees by 2011, which supposedly would lead to a massive humanitarian crisis unlike any ever seen. 2011 came and went with no refugees, UNEP deleted the web page and everyone quietly moved on—no repercussions, no reexamination.
This is not to argue the science of climate change, but maybe— just maybe—we should hold those supposedly in the know (scientists, policy experts, politicians, etc.) to at least the same standards as evangelical preachers.
Anyway, keep contributing to your 401k.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
