Youth-led
More than ever, the world needs a deus ex machina, a word derived from Latin and used to describe the point in an ancient Greek tragedy where a God was dropped onto the stage by a machine, sent down to fix an otherwise unfixable problem and provide the audience with a happy ending. The machine that did the dropping was called the deus ex machina, but it also came to represent divine intervention in solving the unsolvable problems that lowly mortals were unable to fix on their own.
Most days it feels as though we in the 21st century are in the middle of Greek tragedy with an untenable future and no real consensus on how to make it all work out. How will it end? Will the heroes be reduced to dust while the bad guys win the day? Will mankind be able to pass this tale of How We Saved the Planet down to our grandchildren’s children? And for Godsakes, where is our deus ex machina?
I believe that it’s not divine intervention, or aliens, or a prophet, but our children that are going to save us. Children like Greta Thunberg, a 16-year old climate change activist who knows that we have been dragging our feet on dealing with the worst of our issues — carbon that is heating up the planet — and is not afraid to tell us what she knows:
Or the Parkland high school kids who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida to become gun safety activists, and in the process, inspired a slate of gun safety legislation across the county — 67 new gun laws in 26 states passed in 2018, an unprecedented amount of legislation all thanks to a few kids who simply wouldn’t give up.
Or what about my favorite candidate for president, the former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, who, at least for me, stands out in the crowded democratic field because of his clear-eyed look into the future with the realization that the present will need retooling if we are going to make it there in one piece. Okay, he’s not a teen, but he’s young, still learning, and willing to evolve. If elected, he’ll be the youngest president ever at 37.
I’m not saying you have to be young to know how to fix things — we all know that kids can totally screw things up just as easily as adults — but we need to think young, and look at problems in a new way if we’re ever going to fix the mess we’ve created.
To youth-led activism and the deus ex machina kind of changes their energy and enthusiasm will provide.
Today is Day 25 of the #AtoZ blog challenge. I can see the finish line!
pamlazos 4.29.19
Green Life Blue Water 
The stubbornness to change will be our undoing. Here’s hoping these young voices don’t stop crying out as they get older!
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For all our sakes, eh?🤓
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Indeed! 🙂
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I’m with you Pam. Sometimes I think the bad guys are winning, and then I see how many young people are involved in changing things and that gives me hope. I really like Mayor Pete too, but I don’t think he has a chance. I would love to be wrong on this.
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That’s what a lot of people are saying but I guess we’ll see how it goes, Michele. 🤞
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Great post, but the situation is bad and I believe it is like this because we were not taught about the importance of protecting the environment when we were growing up and change will only come when we educate children in a different way. That is why I started a project but there are not a lot of persons who are paying attention
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You are so right, Denise. Keep on educating!🙏
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Excellent! Sometimes children see through the nonsense to the heart of a matter.
Ronel visiting with the A-Z Challenge music and writing: So Much Fun to Listen to
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🤗 Yes they do, Ronel.
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I agree totally about the young who are coming through – hope is the gift they give us for sure. I hadn’t heard of your man with the odd name – but am pleased there is someone there you have trust in. Fingers crossed he goes further 🙂
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Perhaps we can all them make our way into the 21st century, Pauline. 😂🤣
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The Parkland kids gave us more than some gun control legislation. They gave us hope in the face of yet another dark chapter of our recent history.
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They really did, didn’t they, Ken. Real life heroes!
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Thank G.d for our youth who see with clearer hearts and minds than we whose vision is clouded. Yours are excellent examples Pam, thank you but we must not forget the elders who also have clear vision and especially do not want to leave the legacy that will be left behind if action is not implemented.
Ze end is in sight (not of the world, but of the A-Z!!!)
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Thank you for your profundity as always, Susan, and Haha! 😂 Yes, Z end is almost here!!
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