The I Didn't Do It Society

One of the main questions raised in Bjorn Lomborg's 'The Skeptical Environmentalist' is why the "Litany", as he terms the environmental movements assertion that the state of the world is getting worse, is such a widely accepted and held belief despite sketchy scientific support for it. I think one of the answers is found in section of the book covering cancers and the threat from pesticides. Lomborg sites a survey that shows that 44% of Americans believed the greatest risk to their health came from environmental sources while only 34% believed that their own personal actions were the biggest factor in their overall health. But studies show that when in comes to cancers the truth is quite different with between 75-80% of the cancers resulting from personal choices while a mere 7-8% occurred because of environmental factors. Why is there such a disconnect with reality for so many?

The culture of victimhood which permeates our society has definitely made it easier for Americans to accept the scare tactics employed by environmental activists. Today, if an American or one of their loved ones contracts cancer the first thing many do is look for someone to blame. What/who caused this terrible disease and, especially in light of the litigious environment we live in, who is going to pay for it?

Instead of accepting personal responsibility for their actions in the case of smoking, unhealthy diet, alcoholism, etc. the person with cancer is now a victim of big tobacco, big liquor, or big fast food. Sometimes cancer strikes people for no apparent reason. This is the chance of fate and most accepted it as such until the last thirty years or so. Now its the chemical company down the street who is to blame or the maker of the contraceptive whether or not there is any real scientific prove of such claims. Movies such as Erin Brochovich reinforce these ideas in people and lead them to believe that big business in poisoning the globe and killing the "little people" in a mad drive for profits at any cost. It doesn't matter that the claims are often based on junk science since companies often settle such cases to avoid bad publicity and juries are often sympathetic to the "victims" whether there is any actual proof that the company was responsible.

So when the latest press release from one of the leading environmental groups claims that breast cancer rates are skyrocketing because of the use of pesticides or some other alarming scare used as a call to action it seems that many are more than willing to swallow it up. In today's everyone is a victim America it has become much easier to point the finger at someone else(especially if that someone is a faceless corporation) rather than take a hard look in the mirror when it comes to accepting responsibility for our health.