Opinion: Withdrawing from the Paris Accord: Trump is behaving like a nihilist, not a nationalist

To the editor: President Trump cited nationalism as his primary reason for withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. (“The clearest evidence yet that Trump is turning the U.S. into a force for bad in the world,” editorial, June 1)

Nationalists are proud of their country and have a positive view of their future, although at some times badly skewed. I don’t see any pride or positive energy coming from the Trump camp.

Instead, I would describe his action as one of nihilism, based on the historical definition of it is as the “doctrine of an extreme Russian revolutionary party which found nothing to approve of in the established social order.” The current attitude of Trump supporters is nothing more than tribal solipsism tinged with incoherence and unabashed greed.

Trump can’t start to move the United States out of the Paris deal until 2019. A lot can happen between now and then, and given the pace of events since Trump was elected, it probably will.

Barbara Snider, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: Thirty years ago, the international community understood the grave danger of ozone depletion and came together to sign the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Through this multinational effort, nations showed the benefit of working together for the common good — and for the well-being of each nation in a globalized world.

As a result of this cooperation, the ozone layer over Antarctica has started to recover.

This spirit of cooperation was lost the moment Trump set our nation and the world on a backward course. Who would have imagined that 1987 would have been a more enlightened time than 2017?

Linda Shahinian, Culver City

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To the editor: Europe and China are taking the lead on climate change. Since when did either of those two deserve to be a standard of moral authority?

I love Europe and have been there at least 30 times. But over the last 100-plus years, that continent has given us two world wars and the toxic trilogy of fascism, communism, and socialism, causing governments around the world to kill millions of their own people and impoverish even more. China has a similar moral history.

To be fair, Africa and the Middle East have also produced horrific states, but I really don’t care if Uganda supports the Paris Accord.

David Goodwin, Los Angeles

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To the editor: In the early 1970s, when I was in college, a friend and I spent a summer traveling throughout Europe and Israel. Because the United States was viewed poorly in light of the Vietnam War, we were advised to downplay the fact that we were Americans and pretend that we were actually Canadian.

Now, because of Trump’s behavior (specifically his abysmal decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord), it is once again being suggested that while traveling abroad we would save ourselves a significant amount of ridicule if we laid low as Americans.

While most of us are unable to leave our current lives and become Canadians, it might be appropriate to, at least while abroad, pretend we are.

David Esquith, Northridge

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To the editor: A note to our friends and allies worldwide:

Please realize that the majority of Americans do not support abandoning the Paris agreement, reducing our support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, buddying up to Russia, verbally bullying our closest friends, canceling international trade agreements, building a border wall or banning people from certain Muslim-majority countries.

Only Trump and the most conservative people in his party are for this. Unfortunately, they are currently in control of our government.

We are as aghast as you are. In a few short years, Trump and his co-conspirators will be gone and this nightmare will be over. Please bear with us until we are able to return to normalcy and rejoin the international community in a spirit of universal cooperation.

Steven Levine, Mill Valley, Calif.

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