Hillbilly Elegy

I feel old. As for many, the certainties of life seemed to start to ebb away in COVID, and - if anything - the tide is going out faster than ever. 

I was less surprised than I might be by the recent findings of the Gen Z poll  here the Press got so excited about. Sad too. Some things seem silly - the South London I remember in the late seventies/early eighties was... er... quite a lot more racist than it is now. I saw terrible misogyny then too. But no wonder Gen Z are frustrated and unhappy.

Nothing seems to change. Democracy can work incredibly slowly, and we've endured some pretty cr@p politicians over the last decade or so. Gen Z are stressed, threatened by developments like AI, and poorer than we were.

As a generation we've failed politically. We've failed to tackle the big issues that matter. We've also failed to fix the small issues that don't, which too often have paralysed action and public debate. The "European model" looks financially knackered, and our situation, still dealing with post imperialism, feels worst than most.

In old fashioned coinage, I feel further to the left than most of our friends, but the kids still think I'm a political dinosaur. I just don't understand some of the issues so important to them. Twas ever thus, I suppose. The problem now is that this dislocation between generations is so acute it threatens societal cohesion. Old people are conservative (small c), increasingly expensive, and they vote. Guess what, governments pander to them.

Anyone But Hilary

I've heard that the new U.S. administration is to be welcomed. After all, the Dems should be avoided at all costs, not least because they're mostly women (at least the UK smashed this misogynistic nonsense half a century ago). The moderate GOP politicians and the tech bros now seem to think Trump isn't such a bad thing - power is a seductive drug. There's a Wall Street Trumpy fan club which welcomed the impending bonfire of red tape*. Don't worry, they said - his worst excesses will be kept under control by the grown ups in the room. 

How's that all going, chaps? 

One Planet

I'm no fan of the current incarnation of the Democratic Party. Sure, we're getting things wrong here too. We've got huge problems, as Gen Zers know. But living in the weird parallel universe that Musk, Vance et al inhabit can't be anything other than disastrous. I'm more worried about Russians blowing people's heads off than what J.D. Vance calls "the threat within".  Call me old fashioned, Jim, but I'd be more concerned about Vladimir Putin than Greta Thunberg if I were you. It's a huge regret that our collective back-sliding on defence has meant that we have to put up with your offensive nonsense.

Why am I writing about this in a blog about the environment? Because the only chance we have to sort out climate change and biodiversity loss is by acting together. Across generations and across social, political and national boundaries. The forest fires in California didn't distinguish between them, and nor will the problems ahead. Forget America or anyone else First; nature doesn't discriminate. The only chance we have to win this very real battle is if we fight it together.

*Copyright Liz Truss etc etc