As documented numerous times, a growing number of Americans today believe that freedom is the ability of individuals and organizations to do what they want, when they want, no matter how it affects other people, communities, or the natural environment.[i] This concept is arguably an underlying driver of the climate-ecosystem-biodiversity (C-E-B) crisis.[ii] This crisis, in turn, is contributing to a global mental health crisis.[iii] Thus, an essential step in reversing both crises would be to shift from the harmful view of freedom to a regenerative perspective.
I experienced harmful freedom firsthand during the COVID-19 pandemic when visiting a rural town in Oregon where most residents refused to distance themselves or wear masks to reduce the chances of spreading the deadly virus. When asked why, most said they were not responsible for the health of others, and they would not abide by any government health recommendation that limited their freedom to do as they want.
Source: Lukas/Pexels
Another example of the notion of harmful freedom occurred not long ago in my hometown, where a private logging corporation found ways to gerrymander local land use regulations and clearcut hundreds of acres of forest near a community college. When challenged, they proclaimed that the government was the problem, not them, and they did it not for profit but because the land was needed for housing.
I was recently reminded of these incidents after watching a politician’s TV ad that claimed their opponent was an “environmentalist” who “threatened our personal freedom.”
These examples illustrate how the concept of freedom has been twisted by many individuals, corporations, and politicians today into a creed that claims that any limits on their actions infringe upon their freedom.[iv] This ideology of extreme individualist freedom rebuffs responsibility for the harm their actions cause to other people or communities, and to the health of the earth’s climate, ecological systems, and biodiversity that all life depends on.[v]
Unrestrained Freedom and the Environment
It is no surprise that people who claim this type of freedom demand independence from any limits imposed by the government. It is also not surprising that they claim the right to take from, alter, and in other ways impact nature in any way they desire.[vi] Under the rubric of freedom, this doctrine is grounded in the fantasy that their actions have no significant consequences, nature will heal itself, and any permanent impacts that might occur are the cost of progress.
This dogma is one of the underlying drivers of the continued expansive use of fossil fuels, relentless degradation of ecological systems, and extermination of biodiversity that are putting civilization as we know it at risk.[vii]
Of course, those who cling to this harmful view of freedom deny that the unconstrained burning of fossil fuels and incessant damage to ecological systems and biodiversity are dangerously heating up the planet and activating more frequent, prolonged, and destructive weather disasters worldwide. These events are natural, they claim, and we are being victimized by people who say otherwise.
This is a fairy tale. Scientists have declared that a key factor in Hurricane Helene’s intensity was the record-high temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.[viii] The warming increased the storm’s wind speeds and rainfall and resulted in injuries, deaths, and extensive physical damage to infrastructure and communities in western North Carolina a few weeks ago. The physical harm alone is projected to cost at least $53 billion.
The Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change
The impacts go far beyond financial costs. The disasters are also psychologically and emotionally traumatizing to 20 to 40 percent of the people who are directly impacted, as well as 10 to 20 percent of those who know someone who was impacted, and many first responders.
The harsh stresses resulting from these disasters will impact thousands of people for months or years as they struggle to cope with the injury or loss of loved ones, damaged or destroyed housing, loss of valuables, impaired farms and businesses, job and income losses, and other impacts.
We can expect severe anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, complicated grief, and other mental health problems to emerge from these stresses. Instances of interpersonal aggression, violence, and other psychosocial problems are also likely to occur.
These types of individual and collective mental health and psychosocial problems are certain to rise throughout the U.S. and globally as the C-E-B crisis accelerates. They will undermine the health, safety, and well-being of individuals, families, and communities everywhere.
Despite the real-world impacts seen on the ground, those who cling to the harmful view of freedom continue to deny scientific facts, promote misinformation, and try to convince people that the climate-ecosystem-biodiversity crisis is a hoax designed to take away their freedom.
The reality, however, is that their actions are making all of us, and our children and all future generations, much less free. The options available to us in the future are becoming increasingly limited, and those that remain are more problematic to pursue. The freedom they claim is quite the opposite. It is undermining everyone’s liberty and constraining human possibilities.[ix]
Many people increasingly feel this, especially youth. In an international survey of 1,000 young people ages 16 to 25 from 10 countries, ranging from the U.S. to Nigeria and the Philippines, more than half said they are experiencing ongoing despair and anxiety due to the climate crisis. Fifty-six percent said “humanity is doomed” and three-quarters said the “future is frightening.”[ii]
Redefining Freedom
To solve both of these crises, we must reclaim what freedom truly means and involves.
Freedom is not the right to do as one wants, without constraint, no matter how it affects other people or nature. Freedom today requires an affirmative act of regeneration. It involves the mental and emotional freedom to care for the health, safety, and well-being of other people and our communities. It also involves caring for and regenerating the earth’s natural systems. Engaging in these activities allows people to find constructive new sources of meaning, purpose, and hope in their lives, which is what true freedom is about.[x]
To shift from harmful to regenerative freedom requires a choice. We can continue to allow the ideology of harmful freedom to dominate. Or, we can demand that those who promote it come to grips with reality and make the systemic changes needed to minimize both climate-ecosystem-biodiversity and the mental health crises their dogma and resulting actions have spawned.
Throughout history, humans have made profound changes in thinking, practices, and policies. As free people, we can make this happen again now.
