If you are worried about the effects of lockdown on our children's future

[nellodee]

...I thought this meme was very pertinent. All those people saying "but what about our children when the economic downturns affects their future?" need to start thinking about when we start not having grandchildren, because our children decide they cannot start life on a planet with no future.

You know when we all saw China in lockdown and it felt so far away and we were sure it was all going to sort itself out before it got to us, like SARS and MERS? That was just a trial run.

If we wait until climate change gets here, we're fucked as in, small groups of people living in medieval style colonies around the poles, fucked. Because just like with coronavirus, there is a time lag. We waited until we had deaths, and by the time we responded, there were tonnes of cases in the community and it was too late to sort it out painlessly.

Yep. That x100000000.

Really, economic downturn is a chance to stop and reassess how we plan to move forwards. If we carry on as we are, we will reach a dark ages type time (at best) or extinction (at worst? Depends on if you are human) within a century.

If you are really worried about your children, use this opportunity to rebuild into a green future, not this old world of mass consumption.

Look at how few people working it takes to feed us all. The rest of us are all working for "the economy". But the economy is a man made thing. It doesn't feed us, clothe us, sustain us. That is labour. And it doesn't take much labour to do those things. Most of us are in bollocks jobs, making bollocks things that no-one needs to feed "the economy".

We have hit a pause button. Less wars. Less cars. Less planes. Less fast fashion making shirts for 50p that cost the planet.

Can we not choose a different path here? Because we cannot survive like this. We are ripping up rainforests, we are burning, forest fire after forest fire. Our grandchildren will never see tigers, or rhinos, or pandas, or coral reefs. They will see tornados, hurricanes that need new definitions to describe, causing destruction on untold scales. They will see wars fought over resources and fascism as we close our borders to refugees we cannot afford to accommodate.

Can we not choose a different path? And if we are going to choose that fork in the road, isn't now the time to do it?

I think people will just say - but the economy, but my job, but my car, but my holiday...

And I feel very, very sad. I feel like this is out last chance, like an extra life we got given when we really didn't deserve it. And I feel like it still won't make any difference.

What steps do you suggest people take and what evidence are you basing your timeline on?

I agree massive action is needed but you need to be more specific about what people can do.

Also if China doesn’t take measures we can’t make the changes we need as a planet, so there needs to be a strategy for that.

I am not a guru. I don't have those solutions. I just hope people are listening and ready to take a chance on the people who do, because it's not really taking a chance at all, it's grabbing at a rope ladder, to maybe, maybe, get us out of this vast mess we've got ourselves into.

If you can accept we have a big problem, and we need a big solution, that's all I can do here. Business as usual is not a solution.

I so agree with you OP. In fact I typed out a very similar post the other day but didn't post it because I didn't want to read the depressing responses.

There are too many vested interests. Too many stupid short sighted people. Too many western consumers.

But perhaps this will be a wake up call. After all there's shed loads of money to be made in solar and renewable technologies.

But I do think when people who say, work in tourism, are saying "We all need to get back to work because otherwise we are screwing over our children's futures"... well, those people are just plain wrong. We need tourism to fail and die (sorry to those people, I really am, and local tourism is fine and lovely and the way forwards). We need the oil industry to fail and die. We need fashion to fail and die. We need lots of things to fail and die because otherwise we, as a species, will fail and die.

I agree

I’d hate to see concerted effort to restore the planet-destroying version of the economy that existed before

I just think there are a whole load of people right now, consuming so much less, and thinking, actually, I didn't need half that shit I bought. This is the time, the best time, to capitalise on that thinking.

I did think the other day that this is the best chance we will ever get to change things, everything has more or less stopped to some degree so if change is to be implement now is e time before things go back to ‘normal’

Thankyou, @madroid and @iVampire it's so nice to see other people thinking the same, hopeful thoughts.

I agree... But I don't hold out much hope that things will change massively. The end of the world is too big a problem for the human brain to contemplate, let alone react accordingly. This is a pause for most people and I think there will be a rebound when restrictions are lifted. Learned helplessness and cognitive dissonance at play.

Sorry not to be so hopeful! It could be a reflection of the shitty week I'm having...

I agree. And if this pandemic could please spell the end of the Instagram influencer as a species that would be just marvellous too.

I think so too, Misty9. I just feel like I have to shout about it right now. Look at the world! Look at how it coped without you selling ski equipment in Cornwall. Because people living in Cornwall don't need to go skiing in Italy. They need to go surfing. We don't have to all be miserable, we just all have to be sustainable.

So you don't have any suggestions. Who do you think does? There's not some genius somewhere sat on a big book of answers.

Can you point to any of these gurus? Just posting you are worried that people will do nothing with no suggestions as to what they can do doesn’t help change anything. What is the intention of your post?

I don't have a book of what to do. But I sure as hell have a book of what not to do.

Go on the dole. It's better than doing some meaningless job that bought you a big house that you didn't need and a big car that you cost the planet to run and a holiday that took a big plane to get to.

If that is saving the economy, let it fucking burn.

I don't mean that. Productivity is good, but not if it serves consumption. We need to start thinking about what is a need, rather than a want. What adds, rather than takes away, from our future.

Productivity is good, but not if it serves consumption.

I do agree with that.

To save the planet there needs to be a proper strategy though. What are the highest impact actions? Etc

Thank you for posting. I thought I was quite well informed about climate change then I read the Economist climate change edition last year and realised I had no idea how bad things were. Two paragraphs changed everything for me. It is a climate crisis. Change has to come from governments too, telling people to buy less or travel less is not enough.
We can only hope this moment could change the world so we have a hope after the next 20 or 30 years.

I’m not hopeful. This will make people want ‘normality’ even more. People I know are desperate to get back on holiday, to bars, pubs, celebrations, shopping .. if anything, once there is a vaccine and infection rates are minor, I think people will be so overjoyed with freedom that everyone will go bonkers and consume more, travel more etc etc!

I think before that people thought climate change etc was too big a thing to do anything about but look at how things like the Venice canals becoming crystal clear, pollution over major cities decreasing rapidly, animals coming closer to civilisation etc and how quickly that has happened. I hope it makes people think about how if we work together we can create real change and reverse some of the damage we have done.

You did lose me at go on the dole though

I saw on the news how towns and cities are being encouraged to improve routes and roads specifically for cyclists. It's to support with social distancing and reduce the pressure on public transport but can only be a good thing for public and environmental health in the longer term too. A positive side effect of this pandemic.

@nellodee have you read sapiens ?

I think the go on the dole comment is right in its sentiment, but universal basic income is one part of the solution and the connotations are far better than the dole. Nearly all scientists agree that we are approaching the tipping point of the climate crisis (and some think that has passed) but unfortunately it's a boiling frog scenario so most people can easily ignore this. Until they've been boiled to death that is.

I totally agree with you OP.