Aren’t babies cute? Sure enough, but our current crop had better enjoy babyhood and toddlerdom while they have it; because very soon they will be called upon to save the planet--from us! Those youngsters who are just now beginning to walk and talk and will soon be heading off to preschool are facing a time but a couple of decades from now when they are going to come to realize what a huge burden rests on their shoulders. The world is going to be leaning heavily on them to undo the pain and irreparable damage their parents and grandparents’ dumb decisions have inflicted on human civilization and the earth. Let’s be honest and face the facts. We older folks—those of us between about age 15 and about age 75—inherited society at precisely the same time we inherited a giant romper-room of new, dazzling (and addictive!) technological toys. And, since it all was new and exciting, we became so mesmerized that we obsessed with it, escaped into it and neglected everything else. We became lazy and got in the habit of only bothering with the parts of life of that we found fun, easy and dazzling.
We’ve had lots of help, of course. Along with that shiny new playground of bells and whistles came a whole new industry of techno-opportunism: TV networks, talk-show propagandists, and ruthless, unscrupulous, valueless techno-developers and marketing wizards (including those of the smart-phone, app, social media and gaming ilk) just lying in the weeds with quivers of deadly lies and dangerous temptations, waiting to pounce on the gullible and the stupid--ready to suck us into buying more and more of their glittery wares, and eager to get us so addicted that we would be perfectly okay with letting the world around us go to pot. We bought it hook line and sinker. And that’s why are at each other’s throats, quick to judge, and just as quick to throw stones. That’s why we elect inept leaders. That’s why we love to believe in fake news, conspiracy theories, and bogus advertising hyperbole. That’s why we are jittery, irritable, and attention-span challenged. That’s why we no longer care about religion, or old-fashioned ethics, or family values. That’s why we have lost the ability to control our own destinies. All of that stuff takes way too much work, focus, and serious contemplation. And it is boring.
We, the old folks, are a lost cause. I’m sorry, but it’s true; we are what we are. That’s why I am hoping our kids, grandkids and great grandkids, today’s babies and toddlers, will have what it takes to rescue human civilization. I hope they rise to the occasion and make it their calling to fix everything we have neglected or screwed up. They, after all, will almost certainly have a much different view of technology than we have. It won’t be new and dazzling to them. The technology of things, for them, will be silent, behind the scenes, unseen. They will take it for granted and, hopefully, will not be spending sleepless nights camped out on sidewalks salivating for the latest upgrade to their gizmos, or checking their phone every sixty seconds for an overlooked text or to make sure their list of friends and likes is keeping up with those of their peers. The low-hanging fruit we clamber after will by that time be gone, picked over, and the world of these kids will be one where they can, hopefully, devote their efforts to looking forward…and not down at a cellphone.
What are the challenges they need to work on? Well, they are many. But let me give you a couple of my thoughts. If I had children just about to enter school, I would want some assurance that the schools I choose will steer my child in the right direction, down a different path than the one we boomers, X-ers, Y-ers and millennials took. I would want old-fashioned values to be taught, of course--and enforced. And common decency. And manners. But there are a couple of areas that I consider of paramount importance and worth underscoring. These are the things I would sit down and discuss at length with the teachers and administrators before I allowed my child to be under their tutelage.
For starters, I would have to know the answer to this: (1) Is your school going to show my child lots of videos of what warming oceans are doing to the centuries old coral colonies of the Great Barrier Reef and why they are dying, permanently, along with the thousands of plant and animal species that depend on them? Will you be devoting whole classes to the demise of honey bees, monarch butterflies and lightning bugs? And tigers and lions? And giraffes? And gorillas? And rhinos? And turtles? And the world’s largest trees? If they can’t guarantee my child a serious indoctrination on these very real existential threats, then I would likely be looking into homeschooling.
And, then there’s the matter of war and peace. (2) Will you spend whole classes teaching my children what being the greatest country and strongest in the world really means? Will you teach them that it will be up to them to build a nation that leads by example? One that can be caring when care is needed and tough when injustice and evil threaten? And will you be teaching them that saber-rattling by tough-talking leaders is a very dangerous thing if we, the people, are not prepared to grab those sabers and use them? That, if they choose to have a country that acts and sounds tough, they’d better be prepared to put down the selfie stick and put on a pair of boots when some enemy calls our bluff, which they inevitably will; hit the battlefield running, and proudly sacrifice ample amounts of their own time, convenience and blood for the nation they believe in.
We, the older generations, have never been inclined to be bothered by such things. We are generally allergic to boots on the ground, or anything else that interrupts our look-at-me-I’m-so-awesome approach to life. Let us hope the next generation is wiser and more ambitious—does less tip-toeing through the tweets and tinder, and takes the future of humankind and the earth infinitely more seriously than we old-timers have.
