On the notion that idealistic young people should save the planet, Natasha Chart on MyDD writes:
It's deeply frustrating to me to to hear someone with 20-30 years worth of professional experience, social networking, capital accumulation, and political influence say that what they're really waiting on is for a bunch of people with none of those advantages to come do what they couldn't manage. In the same vein, I know that leading figures in many activist issue camps, whether elected officials or NGO staff, hope that young people, or bloggers, or 'local' activists, really, anyone else, will get out and start rocking the boat so it doesn't have to be them. I've heard some version of this conversation too many times.
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Biodiversivist Posted 3:21 am
07 Apr 2008
That's not a terrible thing, but there come times where innovations beyond cost-cutting, streamlining existing structures and fiddling with existing programs need to happen. At those moments, it stands to reason that the people who pleased their way to the top of the power pyramid will be so bound to the relationships and deals they formed in order to get there that a fundamental reevaluation of the way they do business creates an almost existential crisis for them.
He looks at politicians, people who've become masters at popularity contests, and clearly understands that they're unsuited to the task of upsetting all the people whose approval they've spent their whole adult lives seeking. He looks at younger people and sees, not really an attitude, but that they've got nothing to lose by bucking a system that hasn't rewarded them yet.
It would truly be a feat rarely accomplished and more difficult than almost any other organizational problem to force existing power structures and political figures to change course and purpose without needing to be ousted.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Backcut Posted 4:00 am
07 Apr 2008
Greenpeace sponsored a direct action against Oregon loggers several years back and got slapped with big court costs and lost time repayments when they lost the court case. Those bigwigs don't want to fall into that trap anymore so they goad extremists into doing the dirty work and taking the risks.
In today's world, with all the eco-terrorism hoopla, those young forest-loving (and good-hearted) people are being manipulated and sacrificed on the altar of faith-based, dogma-drama psuedo-science.
Scenic pics at http://Lhfotoware.blogspot.com
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nsehgal Posted 5:15 am
07 Apr 2008
Students who take classes on environmental issues and sustainability learn about what is happening. We read, hear, and do activities that help us understand that the world is bigger than our campus. We are empowered to make a difference in our community, which has a rippling effect on surrounding communities. If anything, I believe that the older generations should provide our generation with more education about what is happening globally. The media only depicts one side of problems facing the world. We become overwhelmed by all the decay and hopelessness that it is easier for us to either forget or not care about the problems. It is the guest lecturers (who have tried to create sustainable businesses) and the research professors (who study the effect of globalization in emerging markets) that provide students, like myself, a glimpse of hope. Yes, global warming exists and unfair labor practices continue, but that does not mean that people should not try to do anything about it. Small businesses have made decisions to be sustainable and take care of their workforce. These businesses need to also educate the youth about their initiatives. Otherwise, our generation only hears about the depressing stories and not the ones that are slowly changing society through creative means. Knowledge is the first step toward empowerment and action. Our generation can step up and make the necessary change. We are capable of being passionate about creating a better world. What we need is the support and wisdom from past generations to fuel our cause.
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stevenearlsalmony Posted 12:07 am
08 Apr 2008
Perhaps the time we are using now to do nothing more than make "chin music" will soon run out.
At some point, economic powerbrokers and their bought-and-paid-for politicians are going to be confronted, both locally and globally. How that occurs and when is anybody's guess. But, until that happens, the family of humanity is going to keep getting what it is getting now. The environment is going to be recklessly polluted; biodiversity relentlessly extirpated; the limited natural resources of Earth righteously dissipated; global ecosystems resolutely degraded; and Earth ruined as a fit place for human habitation and life as we know it.
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socialscientist Posted 12:42 am
09 Apr 2008
http://frepubtra.blogspot.com
(see Take Action)
.
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BradyDale Posted 12:47 am
09 Apr 2008
This Too Will Pass.
For the guts in your cerebrum, since 2001.
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amazingdrx Posted 1:19 am
09 Apr 2008
So some of us decided to fight a seemingly hopeless battle to save the planet from corporate greed. Young, old, or inbetween, we are vastly outnumbeed and underfunded.
We need each other, from that two year old with her crayons, protesting the river run hydro project in BC. To the enviro blogger typing from a hospital bed, fighting for decades and about to pass the torch. And pass on into the great unknowable.
The hopeless battles are the only ones worth fighting!! Onward.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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