We need to listen to our youth.

Thus far with my blog entries I have deliberately stayed away from political issues. The reason for this is quite simple: my aim is to offer ideas and practical suggestions for everyone, regardless of age or political orientation. I'm a clinician, not a political pundit. However, events over the last month or so have brought me to the point where I feel compelled, at the very least, to put forward what I hope is not a radical idea at all, but one that I think can simply no longer be ignored. The issue is quite obvious; the solutions are obviously more complex. So what am I talking about? Our biosphere, specifically the risks we are running when it comes to the sustainability of life as we know it on the only inhabitable place in the known universe. It seems abundantly clear, at least for anyone who pays attention to science-based news, that we are on a near-irreversible trajectory when it comes to man-made changes to climate and the environment as a whole. I couldn’t possibly sum up the accumulating research on these matters in this blog, but suffice it to say there is an almost 100% agreement on these issues among scientists around the world who collect, analyze and share data related to climate change, ecology, sustainability, food supply, clean water supply and so on. 

You might wonder where I'm going with this blog at this point, so allow me to get right to the point: if nothing else, we need to listen to young people. The mobilization of (mostly) young people around this issue has been nothing less than inspirational, and their voices oblige us all to listen and take action. As I approach my mid-50s, it becomes clearer and clearer to me that the future is not mine nor for that matter my generation’s to squander. The future belongs to the younger generations, and it is those groups that have come out in the hundreds of thousands around the world in marches, protests and other forms of public expression, to voice one shared concern: the ecological sustainability of the planet. I must confess that I was embarrassed to not realize the events planned across the country and around the world two weeks ago, culminating in a ‘climate strike’ day on September 27. I'm not quite sure how or why I missed it, but in any case it's become very evident to me that we all need to listen and pay attention to what is going on, to take this issue seriously, and take action, not for ourselves but, as the expressions goes, for our children and our children's children. The fact that there are federal elections going on this fall in Canada and US gives anyone 18 and older the opportunity - if not the civic responsibility - to exercise our right to vote and  in so doing to express our genuine concern for these issues. 

What's troubling, however, has been the relative paucity of federal-level discourse on environmental issues in the lead up to voting day. The cynic in me can't help but think that these issues sadly remain too politically unsavoury for the three main parties in this country to meaningfully identify them as the most important issues facing our country and our planet. The fact that some provincial and federal leaders minimize or go so far as to deny the reality of what is playing out all around us is staggeringly unintelligible and morally abject. 

So please get out and vote for whomsoever you feel is taking these issues seriously, even if your candidate of choice does not appear to be in contention to win his or her riding. Every vote of support is a vote of confidence and encouragement for that candidate and their team to keep advocating for meaningful change. I truly hope that younger voters are not so thoroughly discouraged by what they have heard in the news or during the recent candidates’ debate as to not see any point in voting. Until we come up with a better system, in which a newer generation of inspired, visionary candidates with true integrity can come forth and be willing to bring about long-term, progressive change, our civic responsibility requires us to get out and vote this month. And if you are a parent or grandparent, think about your children or grandchildren when you head to the poll, and vote in such a manner that you can, in good conscience, tell them that you voted with their futures, and the future of the planet, in mind. 

Happy Thanksgiving. Oh, and get out and experience the natural world. It will help. Trust me.