Green is the new rebellion
I've been thinking about what it means to be part of the movement deliberately structured to offend your parents or the people in that age bracket who seem to have power over you and I almost think this generation has going Green as a valid choice. If you accompany it with some rejection of rampant materialism and taking what is useful (social media for example) you're getting all the advantages many people in our parents' generation still struggle with while also living life in a way they can't comprehend which often brings you into direct conflict with the ideals they've grown up with.
Most generations have had some form of rebellion and as Transmetropolitan has recently shown me, we're rapidly developing into a culture which can eat up any new movement in about three years, much less time than previous generations. We're also taught to value what we can get for ourselves, be the best and be individualistic, Green philosophies undermine some or all of these depending on which way you take them.
If Punk was about sticking two fingers up to "The Man" for putting so many people into poverty with the introduction of free market economies around the world, green philosophies have often been about sticking up for good quality of living (which unsustainable capitalist growth can't maintain), making the most of limited resources (which are starting to or have already peaked) and generating new technologies and markets to replace old ones. Maybe it's just encounters with Right-wing adults I've been having, but nothing seems to make them deflate more than telling them about how things would be economically better once we agreed to do something about Climate Change. Maybe it's just because they've spent 20-30 more years than me paying for stuff and don't want to be the generation whose taxes pay for it.
I need to think some more about this, because it doesn't have the obvious fashion to go along with it. These days that seems to belong to some movements like Steampunk and Gaslight, which I approve of as fashions, but not as philosophies if we're going to be dragged back into the framework of unlimited future potential and colonialism those fashions are derived from.
More thoughts required, will have to keep writing.
Most generations have had some form of rebellion and as Transmetropolitan has recently shown me, we're rapidly developing into a culture which can eat up any new movement in about three years, much less time than previous generations. We're also taught to value what we can get for ourselves, be the best and be individualistic, Green philosophies undermine some or all of these depending on which way you take them.
If Punk was about sticking two fingers up to "The Man" for putting so many people into poverty with the introduction of free market economies around the world, green philosophies have often been about sticking up for good quality of living (which unsustainable capitalist growth can't maintain), making the most of limited resources (which are starting to or have already peaked) and generating new technologies and markets to replace old ones. Maybe it's just encounters with Right-wing adults I've been having, but nothing seems to make them deflate more than telling them about how things would be economically better once we agreed to do something about Climate Change. Maybe it's just because they've spent 20-30 more years than me paying for stuff and don't want to be the generation whose taxes pay for it.
I need to think some more about this, because it doesn't have the obvious fashion to go along with it. These days that seems to belong to some movements like Steampunk and Gaslight, which I approve of as fashions, but not as philosophies if we're going to be dragged back into the framework of unlimited future potential and colonialism those fashions are derived from.
More thoughts required, will have to keep writing.