How will the next generation see us?
I've been reading a book called 'The Reader' which is about a second-generation German boy and it asks the question of what is his generation's responsibility to the sins of their parents. Meaning, how should they act with the knowledge of what their parents did during the Nazi era? It is an excellent book, but it doesn't answer this question - and I don't think it was ever intended to.
I bring this up because I have been listening to the BBC World radio station, and today there was the question of climate change and how the coming generations will view us.
Am I comparing the Holocaust to the potential devastation of climate change? Yes, I guess I am. And I don't think I'm wrong in doing so. The potential for loss of life is even greater with global warming - though I hate that term, because climate change doesn't just make things hotter, it makes weather more erratic. But aside from that, there's something that I think is very important to look at.
Every person during the Nazi regime had a chance to speak out. Yes, there would have been consequences, but do you really think that the government could have overwhelmed the majority if they all stood up? I don't think so, and I would like to think that I would have been among those with the courage. I'd rather die in a camp than live with the knowledge that I could have saved even one life.
And now we have people saying 'what's the point? I can't do anything because there's countries like China and India who keep spewing out pollution! Anything I do is tiny in comparison."
And that's true. But again, I would rather try than know that I did nothing. Whether you inspire no one or a hundred people to follow your example, it's worth it. Even if only so you can look our second-generation in the eye and feel no shame.
I really wish I could go forward a few hundred years and see what they think of us. Sadly, I don't think it will be flattering. If they're even alive. I don't see the human race coming out of this one.
I bring this up because I have been listening to the BBC World radio station, and today there was the question of climate change and how the coming generations will view us.
Am I comparing the Holocaust to the potential devastation of climate change? Yes, I guess I am. And I don't think I'm wrong in doing so. The potential for loss of life is even greater with global warming - though I hate that term, because climate change doesn't just make things hotter, it makes weather more erratic. But aside from that, there's something that I think is very important to look at.
Every person during the Nazi regime had a chance to speak out. Yes, there would have been consequences, but do you really think that the government could have overwhelmed the majority if they all stood up? I don't think so, and I would like to think that I would have been among those with the courage. I'd rather die in a camp than live with the knowledge that I could have saved even one life.
And now we have people saying 'what's the point? I can't do anything because there's countries like China and India who keep spewing out pollution! Anything I do is tiny in comparison."
And that's true. But again, I would rather try than know that I did nothing. Whether you inspire no one or a hundred people to follow your example, it's worth it. Even if only so you can look our second-generation in the eye and feel no shame.
I really wish I could go forward a few hundred years and see what they think of us. Sadly, I don't think it will be flattering. If they're even alive. I don't see the human race coming out of this one.