Pirate's Cove

Right, right, because people who pretty much don’t live on their own, mostly depend on their parents for an allowance and to get to rallies and such, don’t pay rent, food, clothing, and aren’t even close to living in the Adult World should be listened to

How Youth Have Changed the Climate Movement

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children,” affirms the Oglala-Sioux version of a belief common to several indigenous cultures. To David Brower, the “archdruid” founder of Friends of the Earth, and other environmentalists, “stealing it from our children” better characterizes modern humans’ degradation of the earth. The only hope, Brower declared nearly 50 years ago, is “what young people can do before older people tell them it’s impossible.”

Yeah, well, they have almost no Adult responsibilities, so, they can focus on this silliness. Once they enter the Real World, well, let’s see how much they care when their proposed policies reduce their paychecks, movement, liberty, choice, etc.

The youth-led climate strikes in September that drew some 4 million marchers worldwide demand a far broader concept of democracy if the environmental goals they advocate are to be won. The climate-strike revolution represents a huge new step for human rights that expands hierarchical oppressions to include the dimension of future time. The young are a distinct class because they, not the old, will face climate change’s worst devastations

By broader, they mean democracy like Saddam Hussein offered, where you voted the way you were told to vote, or be thrown in prison or  executed.

Climate-change activism is not new, but the role of youth in it today is. Today’s youth reject the idea that they are junior auxiliaries to adult movements. They challenge the traditional rule of older people over the young, and, most radically of all, uphold the interests of future generations as equal to those of present ones. They find true elder wisdom manifest in hard science and lambaste the old as immature and selfish for rejecting that science. “Why do we have to clean up the mess that past generations, and your generation, has left us?” Nazar interrogated Congress members in February.

Again, wait till they are adults with adult responsibilities. Suddenly, this whole super important issue will be relegated to a minor issue to discuss in bull sessions in coffee shops, but, otherwise, they’ll mostly be in the same world of care as those who are polled who say they refuse to spend $10 a month more to Solve Hotcoldwetdry.

The rest is yap yap yap

Young people see future-facing issues such as climate change, gun violence, human rights, proactive government, and globalism more clearly than older leaders but are denied pathways to power on account of their age. Extending voting and office-holding ages to 16 or even younger is crucial to bringing future-focused issues to the forefront. In an America whose leaders increasingly reject even short-term investments to fix bridges and fund schools, winning tough action on long-term threats like climate change demands a revolutionary reimagining of innovative solutions.

They usually forget to show up to vote. Think of yourself when you were 16: you knew it all, right? Until you became 17, and realized your 16 year old self was a fool. Followed by 18, 19, 20, etc. Let them get out in the Real World and see how it works.