Change
the World
“When we
are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us
free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the
future is the day we leave our childhood behind.”
Patrick
Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind)
I listened to Greta
Thunberg's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
this week, and thought about how we've let her generation down. We've
enjoyed the luxury of the gas and oil industries at the expense of
the environment, and they will inherit that awful problem. There are
other ways we impact our children that are unhelpful. Conversations
with my sons have confirmed that things we told them, innocently
enough, have made their lives more difficult. For instance, that the
world is their oyster, that they can be/do anything they want with a
proper education, that a college degree will guarantee a stellar
job, and so forth. What was true for my generation is no longer true,
which can be said for any two generations. It was meant to motivate,
but it had clay feet.
We're taught by
psychologists that motivation by encouragement, works better than
motivation by threat—which is what I got. When my grades were not
up to par, which is to say, often, my mother informed me, “It's
okay, Jane. You can always go work down at the factory,” which was
her idea of a perfectly terrible job. I know many people who now wish
there were still jobs “down at the factory.” When I messed around
and made crummy grades, I was punished by being “grounded” for
the next six weeks. One wonders whether either approach actually
motivates. Of course, if we value our relationship with our children,
punishment wounds both parent and child. There's that.
Greta Thunberg is
spending her high school years trooping around the world begging
people who have power to do something with it—for the sake of their
children if not for themselves. She's fearless in the way only young
people can be—as the kids of Parkland, Florida, who saw their
classmates gunned down, have been. They are far more powerful than
they realize and have managed to slap us old folks awake with their
flood of condemnations—all of which are true. They aim to change
the world, and I believe they will do just that. At the same time,
they shouldn't have to. They should be shooting hoops, and learning
the latest dance moves, and flirting with that cutie in sixth period
English class—not worrying about their future.
My generation's childhood
ended when draft notices were received because Vietnam was a hot
war—the terrible mistake of our parents' generation. Today's young
people will have to remedy the equally terrible mistakes of our
generation. I regret that, but I think they're up to it. I celebrate
their fearlessness and their intelligence. May they succeed where we
have failed. They, too, will pass along dreadful mistakes to their
children, but hopefully, only after creating a better world for all
of us.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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