The New Yorker - 09.03.2020

ways a great politician. Lincoln chose

Andrew Johnson as his Vice-President

because he believed that a pro-Union

Southern running mate would help him

win reëlection. Perhaps he was right.

But, after the North won the war, John-

son did his best to guarantee that it lost

the peace. Gopnik marvels at the com-

pleteness of the Union victory, which

insured that secession is rarely consid-

ered anymore. But I marvel at, and

grieve, the extent to which racism and

an authoritarian desire to maintain white

supremacy still threaten our democracy.

Rachel Kreier

Port Jefferson, N.Y.

1

A FATAL ERROR

Adam Entous and Evan Osnos, in their

piece about targeted killings, meticu-

lously describe the historical background

to the assassination of Qassem Sulei-

mani (“Last Man Standing,” February

10th). Although the article concludes

by highlighting some of the unintended

consequences of the assassination, in-

cluding a stampede in Suleimani’s home

town which killed fifty-six people, I

was surprised that it failed to mention

the tragic fate of Ukraine International

Airlines Flight 752. It appears that the

Iranian government mistakenly shot

down this plane as it left Tehran, kill-

ing all one hundred and seventy-six

people on board. Even if this was truly

a horrific accident, it is clear that the

chaotic aftermath of the drone strike

on Suleimani was a contributing fac-

tor. Flight 752 is a reminder that both

the short-term and long-term conse-

quences of targeted killings are more

likely to be borne by innocent civilians

and foreign nationals than by people

in power.

Peter Gill

Toronto, Canada

THIS GREEN EARTH

John Cassidy’s critique of continual eco-
nomic growth brings welcome atten-
tion to a grave concern of many envi-
ronmental scientists (“Steady State,”
February 10th). He nicely describes the
alternative economic approach referred
to as “green growth,” which some peo-
ple believe will allow us to “enjoy per-
petual growth and prosperity while also
reducing carbon emissions and our con-
sumption of natural resources.” Unfor-
tunately, it seems that green-growth
enthusiasts have drunk a more diluted
batch of the same Kool-Aid as people
who think that conventional growth
can go on indefinitely. Perhaps economic
growth can be decoupled from carbon
emissions, but we still need to deal with
invasive species, desertification, and
other insults to natural ecosystems.
Clever new technologies can help, but
efficiency gains are finite and can be
overwhelmed when these technologies
are scaled up. A longer-term solution
may require the slowing, and the even-
tual reversal, of population growth, com-
bined with a decrease in average indi-
vidual consumption in richer countries.
The latter change will require resisting
common marketing tactics. But, once
many of us do so, we will suffer less
financial stress and will have more time
for relationships, leisure, and other de-
lights. After forty years as an ecologist,
I believe that the transition to a less ma-
terialistic world would be a cakewalk
compared with living on a planet with
too little photosynthesis.
Peter C. Schulze
Professor of Biology and
Environmental Science
Austin College
Sherman, Texas
1
WAR AND PEACE

I enjoyed Adam Gopnik’s review of
Fergus M. Bordewich’s “Congress at
War” (Books, February 10th). Like Gop-
nik, I believe that Abraham Lincoln
was central to the outcome of the Civil
War, but I question whether he was al-

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