I just finished listening to this outstanding interview with Jared Diamond about how young people might think about climate change. I’ve talked about Jared Diamond in previous posts, including how his book Collapse relates to climate change. Given the title, here’s a major spoiler alert–it does not suggest all will end well for us here on Earth. In the interview, he mentions how kids are increasingly saying to their parents: “Mommy and Daddy: wake up!” I like this hypothetical exchange because my wife and I have an unofficial and more crass title for our Web site we use in private: www.wakethef$ckup.com .
If this bit of profanity is directed at anyone, it’s ourselves. What I liked most about Diamond’s interview (other than the blend of realism and optimism) was that it forced me to once again ask myself: how is this issue of climate change, which will define and potentially ruin our kids lives, so easy to ignore? He suggests it may be that the problem is too overwhelming. Another theory is that it feels too remote, either geographically or temporally. My theory is even simpler: it’s just way too easy to go about our lives on days when forest fire smoke isn’t suffusing our air, or that flood waters aren’t rushing over our streets. As a case in point, I had every intention of taking my kids to the school walkout to support the green new deal and climate action more generally. But, you know. Had a conference call for work. It was a long drive from their school to the rally site. Really vital stuff like that. Ultimately, it’s simply too easy to switch our lives back to autopilot, especially with all the challenges associated with raising kids.
If there’s one thing I’m convinced of, it’s that we all need to snap out of it. Diamond’s call for political action is clarion. He mentions that, when societies are confronted with potentially catastrophic environmental issues, some overcome and others collapse. Societies in the latter category tend to have political ruling classes who feel insulated from the problems at hand. Sounds a lot like the Washington bubble, doesn’t it? And, to have any hope, that bubble needs to burst. That’s why I’m so thankful for The Sunrise Movement and the temerity of our kids.
When I’m honest with myself, a primary motivation for this whole blog is that I feel huge resentment towards my parents’ generation for not fixing this problem, and yet, what am I really doing? As I’ve said often, I’ll do anything for my kids. But apparently there’s a caveat. I’ll do anything–unless it means canceling a call, driving a few miles, or something of real difficulty. Meanwhile, teenagers are in D.C., barnstorming Congressional offices. How is it that the fight has skipped our generation? These days, I often think of my mom. She was shy, and not very politically active. But she went to Kent State, and she was there when it all went down, shouting with the rest of the students. I want to feel that way. I need to feel that way. This blog is about feeling that way.
With all this nostalgia for a time and mindset I never knew, I think the only appropriate way to sign off is with this Brandi Carlile cover.
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