Generations, you know, are kind of clumped together by a sort of vaguely shared world view. We’re shaped by the conditions into which we’re born, reared, and attempt to acquire a mortgage loan. There can be stark contrasts from generation to generation, and we frequently look back at once banal behavior and think “good god what were we even doing?”
Like, how did humanity survive the 60s? Martini and cigarette lunches counted as a prenatal lunch. We clear cut and strip mined pretty much the whole damn place, because, you know, fuck it, right? Asbestos just went in everything. We had a bunch of idiots push us to the brink of nuclear war to save face (can you imagine?).
When we look back at foolishness in the past, it’s easy shrug it off as folks then not having known better. But then if we look at the way we live now – what do we take for granted today that won’t make any sense tomorrow?
Here’s an idea:
Sledding – If you grew up anywhere north of, say, Omaha, then you saw some pretty real shit on the sledding hill and this needs no explanation. If you grew up in the south, then you might have to do a quick Google search for “sledding accidents” to get a feel for what we’re talking about. You’ll find the “News” results heartbreaking and the “Video” results hilarious.
Fireworks – We have to take our shoes off in the airport, but you can just go to the store and buy a goddamn bomb. For like $5. This is the kind of incongruity that can only stand for so long, and I’m not holding my breath for the shoes issue. Also Tannerite is still for sale over the counter but the grocery store hides the Vanilla Extract behind the customer service desk. Really?
The Whole “Car” Thing – Our dependency on/infatuation with cars doesn’t make any sense. Photographs of rush hour traffic, one hundred years from now, will look as ridiculous and short sighted as clearcutting the redwoods:
Disposables – Packaging, clothes, toys, bikes, diapers, car seats, cars, phones, plastic silverware, paper plates, food containers, cups, water bottles, computers, etc. etc. We’re in a culture that’s paired a globalized economy with marketing platforms driven by planned obsolescence. Everything is disposable and that doesn’t really make any sense.
The Apathy – The big thing, though, is that previous generations have gotten away with things like the Berkeley Pit, Jim Crow Laws, and industrial deforestation on folksy charm. On this idea that they didn’t know any better, that they were fundamentally well meaning people, doing the best they could with the information they had. That doesn’t fly anymore. Ours is the first generation that’s on the record as knowing better. Some people in the past saw changes coming, and some folks now legitimately don’t get it. But collectively, as a whole, we’re the first generation with a working understanding of how our actions shape the global landscape. Our legacy will be whether or not we do anything about it.
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