I’ve attended a lot of meetings with environmental groups. What strikes me is the pessimism and victim mentality about climate change: “It’s too late, we don’t have enough money, we’re losing the p.r. battle.”
From the perspective of my life experience, I respond: “So what?”
From the perspective of my life experience, I respond: “So what?”
- When I was a kid, there were neighborhoods we couldn’t move into because we were Jewish. My father, who graduated at the top of his class, couldn’t get a job at most accounting firms for the same reason.
- People were scared to death of homosexuals, who they thought were perverts and child molesters.
§ My mother broke down in tears when a black family moved onto our block.
I went to the marches against the war in Vietnam.
§ When I entered the workforce, it was a natural assumption that women doing the same job as men would not earn the same.
You get the drift.
We were not supposed to change any of this. There were always forces with more money, better public relations and political leverage.
But we have either won or significantly advanced all of the fights against wars, prejudices and ignorance. And we won these battles because people were committed and would not give up.
There are reasons we haven’t done more against climate change, but they’re not because we can’t. And they’re not because we don’t have the money, p.r. or political pull. They’re only because we haven’t tried hard enough yet.
And because we need just a little more time to turn the tide.
Being an elder offers me the long-life perspective to know what can happen – even when it looks bleak. I’m hoping to share that wisdom with my juniors.
Neil Greenberg is a marketer who works mainly with the healthcare industry; and, a father and grandfather who is doing what he can to help others learn what change looks like and how to make it happen.
I went to the marches against the war in Vietnam.
§ When I entered the workforce, it was a natural assumption that women doing the same job as men would not earn the same.
You get the drift.
We were not supposed to change any of this. There were always forces with more money, better public relations and political leverage.
But we have either won or significantly advanced all of the fights against wars, prejudices and ignorance. And we won these battles because people were committed and would not give up.
There are reasons we haven’t done more against climate change, but they’re not because we can’t. And they’re not because we don’t have the money, p.r. or political pull. They’re only because we haven’t tried hard enough yet.
And because we need just a little more time to turn the tide.
Being an elder offers me the long-life perspective to know what can happen – even when it looks bleak. I’m hoping to share that wisdom with my juniors.
Neil Greenberg is a marketer who works mainly with the healthcare industry; and, a father and grandfather who is doing what he can to help others learn what change looks like and how to make it happen.
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