It’s sort of astonishing, the amount of denial one is willing to exhibit in order to hold onto one’s ideology. I suppose in the 21st century, with its atomization, isolation and alienation, iden y and belonging are wrapped up in ideology now.
I’ve lived through the change in climate. It’s hotter than it was when I was a young adult. Back then, it could get really hot, even 105+ hot, but that would last maybe for a few days. When there was a long-lasting high-pressure system, “long-lasting” meant a couple of weeks, not the entire summer, and the heat from the ridge meant it was 98 outside with maybe the aforementioned peak of 105 for a few days.
Even the cold snaps are warmer. Their impacts are greater in Texas because corruption and malfeasance are greater, but 10 is greater than 0.
I’ve gone back and checked the data to ensure I remembered it right. I did.
Since everyone else in the state I know has had the same experience I had of having the climate warm noticeably over a period of a few decades, that means they’re just denying their own experiences in order to maintain that grasp on their belief system. The more reality intervenes, whether on climate or anything else, the more they give up their grasp on reality in order to protect their own egos. The more outlandish the conspiracy theories become. The more they embrace tyranny. The more they embrace violence. Anything to beat back that inevitable loss of self.
I’d probably still be in the evangelical cult had they not kicked me out for marrying a nonwhite.