While that happened, I consider Trump not the cause but a symptom of a far graver malaise. I was first told the truth long before, back in the 1990s, by an exceptional environmental scientist from New Hampshire. In the first couple of stages, societies innovate, conquer and become prosperous. Meadows was the lead author of “Limits to Growth,” a pathbreaking book that sold more than 30 million copies. Similarly, as a nation, we are being dragged down by the all-consuming nature of our denial, aided and abetted by charlatans like Trump.