The first is a period
of formation: the development
of a small clan into a large society
of people; the unification
of disparate tribes into a
nation;
migration in and
out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the land
of promise.
Edward Lendner, who was director
of climate issues in a previous White House administration, wrote last week: «In what would be the single most important contingency that could impact civil society in the United States and other
nations around the world, there is no agreed upon plan for how to deal with a collapsing world in the distant future if climate change and global warming get
out of control and mass
migrations northward create chaos in both wealthy and poor countries.»