It is increasingly obvious to almost everyone that our world is running a fever. China and India are worried (which is a really good thing, seeing how large, disrupting, and culpable they are), South America is worried, Africa is worried... Democrats are worried. In short, those who are suffering the effects the most are worried. Which makes sense. It's the same reason the middle east is worried about ISIS and Iran. (PEW Research)
Sadly, though, much of the "developed world" -- Japan, US, Europe -- the primary drivers of the problem, are not so worried. They don't see what their children see: the devastating effects of our anthropocentric (anthropocentric?) extremism.
The knowledge is out there, though. It might not be as clear as a nuclear bomb, but it's not opaque, either. Scientists and rational thinkers everywhere (as well as a host of irrational thinkers, but don't let them distract you) warn us of the cataclysmic possibilities. While they are undoubtedly wrong in their predictions, because no one can see the future, it is anyone's guess how they will be wrong. Because you can't predict the future either.
There is a problem, though. We might have been able to wait and hope for the best as the older generations slowly die out, leaving us with a world that cares more about our dwindling environment. Except those older generations actually do more. Millennials like me are almost worthless as human beings.
I'm sorry. That sounds mean. But it is hard to escape the fact that millennials, the people we must rely on to solve this problem, are probably the worst people around to solve this problem. Millennials want things done for them. They want governmental solutions. They want corporations to exhibit stellar behavior, because they don't want to have to do anything. We want our cake to hang on the wall, but we can't avoid eating it, either. How many of my peers actually modify their shopping for green/organic choices? How many of us recycle consistently? How many of us conserve water and energy? Buy used?
Not too many.
How many get a new super-phone every year or so?
A whole lot.
"Let's solve this so that we don't have to change our behavior." this is the attitude Lee Ann Head sees in Millennials, and I see the same thing. But being green, trying to preserve the ecosystem, saving the world from humans, will require a little behavior change. It's being spoiled brats that got us into this mess, it is not being a more spoiled brat that will get us out.
We must Be the change we want in the world. Like this guy: Mike Beitiks (By the way, vote for this guy).
Really, sometimes complicated problems have a philosophically simple solution:
Live right, vote right, buy right.
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