To my friends of Generations Y and Z,
If, in humans, the fear of death is greatest, then we can afford to be less fearful (on average) than our older friends. But if there are other things to be scared of, then let this letter serve as a call to action to undo each other's fears.
The time of baby boomers and Generation X, in political, economic and social power positions will come to end soon, and we will be called to take their place. For such a time, we need to be prepared. As someone who is constantly thinking of such a time, I believe I have a few headways for how to fix, sustain and improve our collective healths. Here is a short list:
1. Before we proceed to save our civilization, we must save planet Earth.
With the Paris climate talks last year, we are left with some optimism, yet, if we are to improve conditions and ensure that millions don't lose their lives and homes from rising sea levels, erratic weather patterns, natural disasters, etc, we must start by universal acceptance that human activities do affect climate change. Then we must realize that our generations are the only ones that have time enough to stop and reverse effects of climate change.
2. Directly after climate change is the issue of extremism - religious, political or otherwise.
Pacifism is the way for sustainability, till then, when needed we might have to follow Si vis pacem, para bellum (Those who seek peace must prepare for war).
3. Political Partisanship, especially those recommended by 2-party systems like that in the US, must go.
The baby boomer generation is said to have produced the least productive and most resistant Congress the US has ever had. In my country (Bhutan), democracy is new but I have already seen terrible partisanship and what that can lead to. We have to radically redefine the Social Contract and get rid of ideas such as Pure Libertarianism and Pure Authoritarianism.
4. Inequality must go. Kuznets, the father of GDP in his paper on his namesake curve, predicted that as Capitalism matures, wealth will be distributed to maximize income to the middle class.
But Capitalism has been in practice for centuries, it has vanquished it's biggest critic in Communism and still managed to fool us into believing it is in infancy. Even if we don't end capitalism or find a substitute for it, the least our generation can do is to make it fairer and more equal. A way to do this is to join Cooperative Movements.
5. Marx in his defense of Communism in The Manifesto predicted the downfall of Patriarchy stating that Women will be seen less as the "Fairer Sex" and more as just Labor.
Sadly, the marriage of Capitalism and Patriarchy has brought about an even more diverse patriarchy - one in the workplace with Gender Pay Gap, Unequal representation in high level positions, Political Office (In my country's upper house, we have 2 female MPs - both appointed as eminent members of the King), etc. If we are to consider ourselves a Civilization, we must get rid of ideas that divide us, like sexism.
6. We then turn to racism.
You would be forgiven, with content in media these days, to think that the world is obsessed with race. As a general rule, we must start by agreeing that Affirmative Action, no matter how brutally unequal, is a reaction and not reverse racism. This means that, Racism is only discrimination that would lead to the harm or loss of the person in question. As we get rid of these negative prejudices, we will gradually find that there is no need for affirmation, either.
7. When I first came to learn about American News Culture and how partisan it has become, I realized the importance of media literacy, all over again.
We must understand as great men of antiquity understood that at the base of all things are Truths that are fundamental and objective. There are no two correct ways of looking at them. If we understand methods to locate Truths, we leave fewer rooms for Media to brainwash and mislead us. As members of the educated and compassionate generation, we must always remember to only be guided by Truths. By this realization, we will be moral.
8. Understanding that good humans are more parts compassionate than intellectual (the average of intellect still remaining high), we must all strive to be initiators of community vitality, after all, we belong to a highly social species of existence.
9. But for all of these to come true, we must take back and re-discover, the importance of a good education system.
So for all that is said of the subtle revolution of our generations, the start to it must come here. Change the Education System.
10. At the end of our revolution, we can expect good social systems that give best and most freedom to all who seek it at no one else's expense.
At this point, we will be old and most of our friends and families will have perished; this is the time to pass on our achievements to newer generations. We must have achieved also, to teach our kids the value of sustainability - what good is a revolution that benefits no one but ourselves and ends as soon as our interests end?
People often make an argument for why middle ages in Europe were the "dark ages." In the Harvard Classics, a professor wrote, the only thing that made those years 'dark' was "Obscurantism", which is the practice of making obscure and hard to understand, easy facts. If that is the feature that made the old ages 'dark' then what difference is there now, where we disagree constantly on even the most basic facts?
Climate Change is real and humans have affected it greatly. Racism, Sexism, Extremism and Identity Politics is real, they exist and their victims too are real. Education is sacred and must be guided as such, by the State. These Truths, we must first hold supreme and then work to realize them. We can! Generations Y and Z, it is our time now.
