Not All Worry Is 'Catastrophizing'

3.10.23

To the editor:

David Brooks paints a picture of progressives as overly sad, anxiously catastrophizing and problematically lashing out to cancel those with whom they disagree (3.10.23 The self-destructive effects of progressive sadness).  For most progressives, racial injustice, gun violence, the loss of abortion rights, the criminalization of gender confirming treatment, climate change (among others) are catastrophes and not reflections of a too anxious mind.  While Brooks is critical of the admittedly problematic tendency to cancel those with conservative views, he does not sufficiently consider the lived experiences of those individuals who have effectively been 'cancelled' - literally and figuratively - by virtue of legislative efforts (and, at times, lack of effort) to impose a conservative agenda on the  majority. This does not excuse the excesses of 'wokeness' - but these excesses cannot be adequately understood without acknowledging the reality of the dangers we face by those in power.

Respectfully,

Larry S. Sandberg