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Today's Youth, Tomorrow's Leaders
By Larissa Shasko
No doubt about it, today's youth are different. Unlike older generations, we do not wear blinders to the reality of climate change. We were born with our eyes wide open, and the world we have inherited is not always easy to look at. Many of us have realized that we have an important job to do in this lifetime. Although today's youth are not responsible for the vast majority of damage that has been done to this planet, we are the ones who must take responsibility to fix the damage. We are generation XYZ, and we do not need a dictionary or a government document to tell you what the definition of sustainability is. We are writing our own definition based on experience on our experience! After meeting a number of like-minded young Canadians over the past few years of green activism, the following are similarities in the priorities of environmentally progressive youth I have noticed:
We care about communities. We want to experience the caring relationships and sense of sharing that comes out of these sorts of arrangements where we take care of each other. Not only are communities sustainable, they are an essential part of human nature that has been misplaced for generation XYZ by the computer age and widely dispersed families of the modern day. We are coming together to form communities, and we are already benefiting remarkably by doing this.
We recognize the responsibility of technology. We know that computers are a tool and must not replace people, or control our lives. We are beginning to see cell phones as a mistake for our health, the environment, and our pocket books. We know that natural is better than artificial, and that profit often overrides human rights. We may feel this way about technology as a whole because we are the generation that would have the hardest time going back to a computerless world. Technology has brought so much good to us that we recognize the importance of using and developing it responsibly.
We are willing to change our materialistic upbringing, often drastically. It is easier to change our ways when we are still young, and since we have many years ahead of us, we feel the urgency perhaps even more than older generations do. For example, many of us have given up driving, even more of us have given up meat or are eating less of it to lower our ecological footprint. We demand organic because it is healthier for our young bodies and our young minds. We are willing to live with less "things" and to replace material goods with good times and friendship.
We know the power of freedom of speech, and we are not afraid to use it. Never has youth been so passionate about the causes we tackle. The world is finally turning green out of necessity, and today's young environmental activists will potentially see the hard work of activists from the past 30 years come to fruition in our own lifetimes. It is exciting! We are on the verge of a revolution. Generation XYZ recognizes this, and we are ready to fight that much harder.
We reject nuclear power. Now is the time to go renewable. Now is the time to plan for the energy needs of the future. We reject nuclear for its cost, its risks, and its radioactive waste that remains toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.
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Larissa Shasko,
Leader of the Green party of Saskatchewan
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