By Gillian Crist
Page Editor
“We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning.” Conflict has existed since the beginning of time, but every generation, every political party and every individual person has played hot potato with accountability, refusing to accept fault for any issue.
With such an unstable and constantly changing national and global political climate, the generational passing down of blame and diversion of opinions is one of the few things that we can count on to happen. That being said, the ability to unite to come up with solutions has become lost. Our own pride is so strong that we would rather let the earth crumble than get along with our foes.
A heavy topic when it comes to generational blame is climate change and pollution. Pollution has been traced back to ancient civilizations, but became an issue during the 18th-19th century. However, this issue peaked with the Baby Boomer generation, and to this day, it seems to be the most negatively impactful generation. While this problem has and should be addressed, pollution, every other generation has had a role to play in the ongoing climate crisis. Even though there has been a huge push to be more environmentally aware in recent generations, we’ve also fed into detrimental things, like fast fashion.
While the products offered are cheap and convenient, they create harmful waste and emissions. Generation Z is less likely to practice recycling, but is also the first to call out greenwashing. AI use has become habitual to many younger people, but it has harsh greenhouse gas emissions, and it also consumes a vast amount of energy to operate. The harsh reality is that even though it may be easier and more convenient to blame issues on those who came before us, current generations are actively fueling these issues, as well. Until we can manage to get over ourselves and work together, this divisiveness will only make the problem grow.
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