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Since the rise of the youth climate movement, we have been declared inspirations, role models and future politicians. This is not what we want or are meant to be. We are not here as inspirations or people to push the responsibility onto. We are not the future generation who will solve this problem.
Since the rise of the youth climate movement, we have been declared inspirations, role models and future politicians. This is not what we want or are meant to be. We are not here as inspirations or people to push the responsibility onto. We are not the future generation who will solve this problem.
Seeing the youth movement as inspirations is harming our ability to make progress and obstructing governmental action. These characterisations have extreme consequences by allowing us to be seen as people to look up to instead of the people doing this for survival. It has given governments a path to act as if they care by mentioning and interacting with us while making no substantial change. After around two years of youth striking gaining traction and publicity, we have learned and evolved our actions and ways of bringing attention to problems. Despite this, politicians are still not listening to us. We are not a piece in their political chessboard ... we are their warning.
Most youth activists would agree with not wanting to be seen in an inspirational light as that is not our purpose. We are not here to inspire people, nor is that our aim or why we all started doing this in the first place. We should not be the people you look up to. We should not even have to be here in this situation. We are not the people with the answers; we are the side effect before the consequences of not listening to science.
As for being the future politicians or the future generation to solve all the problems that now exist … well that should be obvious … we do not have until the future.