My take on the Sunrise Movement

     If the future lies in the hands of our youth, can we determine whether or not we are in good hands?

Disclaimer:

    When discussing policy changes and systematic political changes, I do not feel extremely well versed on what true government policy reform and implementation looks like behind the scenes. So I consider my points around that to be taken with a grain of salt. 

The Good (You get an "A" for Activism) 

    It is my opinion that an educated youth is an empowered youth. While the digital information age can certainly bring upon unhealthy article, page, or headline diets, the fact of the matter is that the (maybe fringe) minority of accurate and important information is more accessible now than it ever has been to our nations youth. Though I have not been around long enough to know how many 15 and under environmental activist have been as prominent as someone like Greta, my intuitions tell me that the growing accessibility to information about the present and future state of the planet is bringing upon a rapidly growing movement of young people with passion for making their world a better place. 

    The obvious bright side to this is that, if the trend continues in the right direction, the way in which future policy makers, those who will ultimately have the fate of the worlds future in their hands, will prioritize how resources are distributed and how systematic interventions regarding climate change are made, will also trend in the direction of preventing further damage to planet and trying to repair what damage has already been done. By the looks of the Sunrise website, it's certainly inspiring to see how much the organization has already accomplished and aspires to moving forward. Considering how things have gone thus far in regards to regulating the environmental impact that the functionality of our society has created, it seems that the passion held by the Sunrise Movement will be necessary for any real changes to be made moving forward. At some point, those who will be calling shots are the same one's who are currently in braces and on Accutane, and we mustn't take lightly that the current state of our youth may be an apt predictor of what our future holds. 

The Dicey (Pushing might be needed, but so might handshakes) 

    "Fight F*cking Fascism" reads one of the ambitions of the movement on their website. "We are up against the GOP, a grand old party of violence." 

Since about 2020, the left's methodology for the changes it claims to aspire for has felt a bit unsatisfactory. While I'm not expert in politics, the recipe for change still seems relatively simple to me. 

The issue: we can't get enough people on the right to agree with us, so the changes we want never come into fruition. The response thus far: we need to call the orange man "orange" on live tv, surely that will make people change their minds, right?

If on paper this reads idiotic, perhaps that's because it may be so. 

I certainly don't blame the Sunrise Movement for considering everyone with a MAGA hat to be a threat to society, In fact, I fully see where they are coming from. That said, if one is truly passionate about making a change, then I propose there will need to be a period of adjustment. A moment of looking in the mirror and understanding that holding up a sign saying "red guy bad" whilst marching in the streets may actually be sabotaging any chances of fixing that which you claim to care deeply about. 

By no means am I proposing that the concept of activism is inherently fallible, however, I think that much the left's execution of this activism has been egregiously mismanaged. 

The simple truth is that getting the most amount of people on board with what we claim to care about is the only option for implementing true change. 

I do hope that the Sunrise Movement can do better than we have thus far moving forward. 

Overall Thoughts

    While I will remain to critique the techniques that I deem ineffective, I ultimately believe that Sunrise Movement is a form of our only hope for a brighter future. Change is typically only generated by way of passion or failure to function. Since some will try to keep things the way they are until they get their ticket to the MARS 37, the passion of our youth is what we'll have to count on to get us to a better place. Currently, I'd like to say I believe in them.