When my daughter was about six years old, I had a moment that stuck with me. During our evening ritual, I was on her bed, reading a book she loved, while she snuggled up against me, her head on my shoulder. I remember thinking that life couldn’t be more beautiful, that this moment couldn’t be more peaceful and happy. The present, but also the future seemed bright and as full of promise as possible.
More than a dozen years later, the joyful innocence of that moment has transformed into worry, not only for her, but for the entire next generation. The world is a much harsher place, as dilemmas that were just percolating back then have become full-blown crises. During the first five decades of my life, the movement for the advancement of human rights, women’s equality, and even animal rights seemed unstoppable. Just like the ever greater respect for diversity as well as greater awareness and commitment to environmental issues.
Over the past decade, however, much has changed, as populist governments and divisive politics have taken hold in parts of the world that once seemed unwaveringly democratic and firmly rooted in justice. With Russia’s war on Ukraine and countless other examples of conflict and insecurity, plus megalomaniac dictators with their fingers on the nuclear button, the doomsday clock is clocking an agonizing 90 seconds to midnight.
At the same time, the planet has continued to warm and, according to the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres: “climate collapse has begun”, which is reflected in heat records, forest fires, melting Arctic sea ice and ocean temperatures never before reached. Today, many young people wonder whether they should have children, given both the impact of one more human being on the planet and the chaos into which that child would be born.
Movements such as No Future, No Children are largely based on fears of climate change, but in the documentary The Climate Baby Dilemmathe DD Jade Sasser indicates that, for racialized communities, the decision not to have children is guided more by concerns related to peace: racism and discrimination, political divisions and social tensions.
Taking action
That said, whether the concerns and decisions of our young people are related to climate or peace, we must not let despair prevail over hope or discouragement over happiness and love. The key, in my personal experience and according to the scientists interviewed for this documentary, lies in taking action, with the feeling of empowerment and hope that it generates.
According to the DD Britt Wray, “One can be completely devoid of hope and still begin to act. Hope then is what you create when you work alongside other people.” Somewhere between the naive optimism that does not call for the need to act and the disempowering pessimism that leads to total inertia, there is this pragmatic perspective that there is no other choice but to ally to build a brighter and healthier future for the next generation, or even the next seven.
Change usually happens when we feel some discomfort. In Japanese, the word “crisis” is made up of two characters, one meaning “danger” and the other, “opportunity.” Observing the many examples of youth activism, from climate marches to school solidarity initiatives (in support of Indigenous, queer, black and other marginalized groups), I believe that the crises we face will lead to increasingly important action on their part.
Today’s young people know that they cannot be complacent; they have inherited a world whose dysfunctions require intervention in the name of a more promising future. People of my generation are also increasingly aware of the disturbing legacy they are leaving behind. Intergenerational collaboration is more than necessary.
I hope that many people, young and old, will begin to take action by participating in the fifty or so enriching and unifying activities that make up the Peace Days program. I also hope that the next generation, feeling confident and hopeful rather than anxious and defeated, will be able to enjoy intense moments of happiness and connection in a world, built with the generations before them, that announces a sustainable and peaceful future.