I disagree with Delta a little bit about the knowledge not being there back then. I was alive back then and I know the knowledge was there because I sought it out. But it was all hidden from a public that just didn’t give a damn about it. Everyone was utterly consumed with the bottomless pit of blind consumerism and insatiable corporate greed which seemed like such a good idea back then.

But I wasn’t. I was a radical since I was a small child. It never seemed like such a good idea to me because I could somehow sense that it was not sustainable and was fraught with grave perils — as we now know it to be. I’ve fought the ‘good idea’ my whole life.

I attended my very first environmental protest way back in the Seventies before most people even knew what the term, environment, even meant. Almost fifty years ago I was standing with others arm-in-arm in a human blockade standing up against giant bulldozers. I’ve been there.

I may not have been quite as young as her at the time but I can totally sympathize and empathize with Greta Thunberg. Right now she is a hero of mine. Right up there with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. I can feel her frustration in so many people, especially in the business world and old folks in general, not listening to her and coming up with excuses like, ‘we didn’t know’ or ‘unsustainable greed sounded like such a good idea.’

So many people dislike Greta because to them she comes off as assigning blame. And they just can’t accept any responsibility for the ‘unknowing’ part they played in creating an unsustainable catastrophic situation. But what she is trying to point out is that we all played a part in the situation — whether knowingly or not — and it’s not too late for us old folks to do our parts in trying to correct the situation. It’s not too late to accept responsibility — without excuses — and help the younger generations to deal with the ugly mess we left them. But so many of the older folk have their homes without mortgages, their stock portfolios, their 401ks, their retirement funds, and the money they have stashed aside that they are okay for the rest of their lives (they think) so they feel comfortable not accepting any responsibilities so they are okay with letting future generations deal with it.

All generations need to start working together!

That is what Greta is pointing out and that is what is pissing off so many old folks. No one wants to accept responsibility. It’s not about blame. It’s about accepting responsibility and taking action. NOW. Being of an older generation is not an excuse for not opening up to new ideas and new systems of thought. There no longer are any excuses. The old paradigms were unsustainable, they were very destructive, and they are now utterly falling apart. We’ve got to stop holding on to them for dear life. All of us, no matter our age.

We old boomers need to stop coming up with excuses and take action NOW and become an example of how anyone can change their thinking. Let that be the legacy we leave to future generations.

Why we did what we did no longer matters. It’s all about what we do NOW.