AIBU - to be worried about the future for my grand children

We cannot protect them, but the earth has faced threats before and it is still here - it might change - perhaps catastrophically - but it will continue. I think the best we can hope for our children is that they will do something positive for change.They cannot all be Greta Thunbergs, hopefully one of her is enough, but we can all do something, beginning with understanding what is happening and why. One of the root cause of what is wrong, is selfish materialism - wanting the same as our friends etc and not caring what the cost is to the earth and its inhabitants around the world, another big problem is inequality of wealth. . Becoming someone who knows and cares, who can stand apart from the crowd, and find happiness without relying on man made objects to distract them, will give the young ( and old) the tools to survive mentally and cope with what is to come. It is already too late to prevent some of the consequences of our actions, but we can help ourselves and others to assist in putting the world back onto a positive path. Knowledge, will and action. Understanding that all the countries and people on earth are interdependent, that earth’s resources are finite and should be shared equitably, and sustainably - doing what we can to adjust our own lives so as not to impinge on others, joining with groups and other people who care, to lobby (non violently) and work for change. There are many positive signs out there. supermarkets and manufacturers are getting the message, now we need to find (or become) the politicians that will make the right changes in the face of opposition from those who have a vested interest in leaving things the way they are. We will all die sooner or later, but our legacy will live on.

This is nkt they same as evety generation’ and it is this kind of thinking that has resulted in the Climate Emergency. FFS.

???

Chestnut I’m in a better position than most to see what lies ahead. It is the refusal of people like you to see, understand and act on the evidence that has brought us to this.

And of course I keep my views to myself unlike you who feels free to resort to name calling.

I am minded of a newspaper article the Headmaster read out at my son's primary school talking about the state of education. We all nodded sagely, agreeing with everything he read and were really surprised when he told us that the article had been written nearly 100 years before. He pointed out the the achievements of the current cohorts and reassured us that was ever coming through with the new Tory Government, they would continue to work hard to educate our children properly.
I'm not dismissing anybody's concerns about climate, etc but I think it was always the case that the older generation worried about the state of the world for the younger generations. I think you have to live your life the best way you can, looking at the positives and working towards making the world a better place as much as you can.

I think every generation has felt the same - we do need to look after our home (the planet) but we will get there

All these comparisons to wars and pandemics of the past are totally irrelevant to the present situation.

Quite frankly, it's laughable to suggest that recycling and a change to electric cars will make much of a dent in the problems.

Yes, every single thing helps yet still we make token gestures and governments simply won't introduce the much needed changes, for fear of making themselves unpopular.

No point in worrying.
I agree with others.
Just be thankful that in many ways life is far far better than it was years ago.

Our grandparents and parents came through two world wars. Look back and every generation has had its problems. They came through them though. Future generations will do the same....

No not unreasonable at all, I think we just have to find a balance between enjoying life and being responsible to the planet and kind to others x

Looking at the positives of twenty first century life and then compare with what our forebears had to contend might help?

Remember the positives for the future for your grandchildren. Excellent health care and diseases that are now treatable and new drugs being tried all the time. A welfare state, better standard of living. Opportunities available to them that our generation never had. Who ever heard of a gap year when we were young?
I often think of my Grandparents who lived through two world wars, how unsettling and depressing. They must have felt they didn't have a future at times.

Only bad news sells - you are hearing a totally skewed message. When my Mother married she HAD to leave her job (ever heard of 'the marriage bar') - and lower pay for women doing the same work as men was absolutely the norm. My Dad nearly died of diptheria. When I had my first period I was so shocked I didn't dare even say anything - thought I had a dreadful disease but couldn't mention it because you don't talk about 'there'. There are always changes and difficulties but life was not better in the past. It was better for the 'fortunate'.

I worry about my grandsons, they each have health problems and I worry about their future.

But I would not turn back time.

My great great grandmother died in the work house.
Several babies were lost to cholera and typhoid.

My great grandmother died as a result of an asthma attack.

My grandparents lost their house in the Blitz .
My great aunt and my uncle (5 yes old were both killed again in the Blitz.
My grandfather lost his father in the trenches WW1

My great uncle died from TB
I could like many others on GN go on.

My Dughter at 5 months old was very ill with whooping cough.

All my grandsons have had the whooping vaccine.
As well as the many a vaccination they have either had or will have in the future.

My grandsons have the best chance medically than all the previous generations gone before them.

Yes Monica ^ progress in dealing with Global Warming will be driven fastest by enthusiasm and hope not doom-mongering and despair^ but being a realist is also important.

Why aren’t we building only to carbon neutral standards for example? We are just not taking the issues seriously enough!

Look a bit further back, it's always been scary, perhaps it's just our age group that has had it easy. My parents both served during a world war, my grandparents were farmers through two world wars. These wars were fuelled by right wing facism and race hate. Later there was the serious threat of a nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was only narrowly averted. My parents feared for our survival. There have been plagues, and Spanish Flu, the latter killed more than both world wars combined. We are still here. During most of my lifetime, born just at the end of food rationing, we have probably experienced one of the most stable and affluent periods in history, but we can and do adapt to change. Encourage your grandchildren to be thoughtful, read the science, and the sense that they have some personal power in protecting the environment and perhaps we can overcome climate disintigration as well.

We need all types, the optimists, the pessimists, the worriers, those with no fear, those who do things for glory and those who don't.

We'd never have landed on the moon if it wasn't for all these types and we'll never survive without them all.

The Cold War was as planet threatening as Global Warming. Had a nuclear war started it would not have kept the harm to just the countries involved. It would have contaminated and killed people world wide, just as effectively as climate change. Look at the damage the Chernobyl incident caused and that didn't even involve an explosion or the use of a weapon aimed at damaging life.

I think the situation is not good, but not as bad as people think.

I have two members of my family actually involved in improving things. DH, in his late 70s, is currently working almost full time getting wind turbines out to sea and operational, while DD works for a reearch centre getting grant money for research for projects of all kinds to make things like batteries and engines more efficient and/or able to operate on different fuels. All the technologies needed to reduce emissions.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in this country working to reduce emissions from builders retrofitting insulation in exiting houses to scientists and engineers researching new technologies. Just look at the developments that have happened with electric cars. 10 years ago, electric cars were city only, doing 50 miles to a charge now there are batteries that only need charging every 100 miles.

I think to progress in dealing with Global Warming will be driven fastest by enthusiasm and hope not doom-mongering and despair.

I’m loving your post, Monica. Yes, we can and should acknowledge the problems the world has and all do our bit towards ameliorating them. In my experience, many people are already doing that, and change is being forced onto the likes of supermarkets by people-power. There’s always more to do but small steps are better than standing there hand-wringing.

The issue of population is a sticky one. We need young people to be born so that mankind’s existence is guaranteed (unless one thinks the loss of mankind would be no bad thing). I read last week that the UK’s population hasn’t renewed itself by the number of births to British citizens since 1974! All of its increase in population since then has been down to migration. Now there’s a thought. However, the best way to reduce, or at least not increase, the world’s population is by educating girls. That has the most effect on reducing birth rates as women realise there’s more to life than having babies.

Quite honestly, though, if I felt as gloomy about the world as some people do, I think I’d take myself out of it by my own hand.

GrandmaWednesday is right - this is of a totally different order. Wars and famines are not global - even World War, however awful and devastating to families, countries, peoples, hasn’t led to the total destruction of the planet.

And whilst you are right M0nica about our significant reductions, these were (and are) the “easy wins”. Unfortunately it’s uphill for us now.

It would help!

I love your positive post, MOnica!
We have to be as proactive as possible and do whatever we are able to help the planet.
We recycle everything and take our own bags to the supermarket.
I don’t pay any road tax on my car because the emissions are so low. Why aren’t all cars made like this?
Birth control should be actively encouraged world wide with large financial incentives and people should be made to realise that their lives could be so much better without large numbers of children.
I hope the work on plastic digesters is progressing and that all shops will try to eliminate plastic packaging ASAP.
We can all do our bit by a little litter-picking as well. I would help if the council litter bins were checked every day as they are so often overflowing.
We can all do our bit! A lot of drops in the ocean soon add up!

I'm all for doing everything we can to protect our planet, and because we have the knowledge and tools, we are very aware of what the future might be. Having said that, I sometimes wonder if there's a bigger picture. There may be life cycles in the universe, and we are a minuscule part of this. Maybe the planet wasn't meant to 'live ' forever. Of course it's normal that we see it from our own personal viewpoint, and from our own place in time. Our generation will never know the outcome, and of course we should, and will, strive for preservation. Just a thought.

Life has always been difficult
You are just worrying because you love them
Try and focus on the wonderful things life can bring

....less doom-mongers is what this country needs....and a good ‘kick- up the - arse’ ...for people who think poverty is anything less than a 50” t v