The most damaging lies are those we tell ourselves. We are kidding ourselves if we believe that it does not matter on which side of the climate scales we place our weight. We matter at least as much now as we did in humanity’s finely balanced great struggles a century ago.
The side of the scales on which we leaned mattered a century ago, at Villers-Bretoneux in 1918, and then at the Paris peace conference. Paris in 1919 was the United States’ first national effort to lead the world to a better place. President Woodrow Wilson wanted a League of Nations to ensure that 1914-18 was the world’s last great war. He promised allies Japan and China that the league charter would include a commitment to racial equality. Australian prime minister Billy Hughes tipped the balance against the racial equality clause.
