This kind of thinking is a fatal flaw.

Of late there have been several documentaries about saving energy. One such programme puts well off families in situations where they have to face the reality of having to do without.

What is quickly apparent is the general apathy and reluctance of the youth to participate with any degree of enthusiasm towards a new way of living. They have no real desire to reduce waste and move to a more sustainable lifestyle. This may be largely a result of previous apathy by their wealthy parents towards energy conservation.

The youth seem to have a strong desire to return to their old wasteful and lazy habits as soon as possible after the film crew have disappeared. There seems to be no attempt to take any issues around conservation seriously and a barely disguised wish that their parents’ recent attempts at changing their wasteful ways will become little more than a fleeting thought.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh on the youth generalisation, but I doubt it. The dreaded facts are the youth of today are at a serious disadvantage to the youth of the past. They have become accustomed to an easy life where many things about the facts of living are taken for granted. Life to them is all sugar coated and largely revolves around causal sex, friends and getting intoxicated. For everything else; you turn on the tap and water flows. After all, anything and everything that a person wants and desires is only a shop away. Of course as a youth you need money to shop successfully without undue hassles. This is where parents come in. indeed some youth would suggest that this is parent’s main purpose in life. Thankfully this rather selfish phase in youth does not normally last more than a few years unless reinforced. The rather unsettling issues surrounding working for a living or serious study soon brings the majority of youth to their senses. For the rest they soon learn that it is not always possible to get your own way and money is definitely something to be taken more seriously.

The problem is that by and large, things have been good in most developed countries for several generations. Sure there are exceptions, but on the whole this is all the youth know. This is what they have come to expect. When faced with looming problems associated with the waste of ‘good times’ there is a tendency to turn a blind eye or only make a token effort. Sacrifices may be involved and needed, but any serious sort of sacrifice will have to be made by someone else. Lifestyle is king, and any lifestyle choices that involve giving up gains such as long hot showers, plastic bags, and the convenience of supermarket shopping. (I dare not mention fast and large motor vehicles) This scenario is unlikely unless it is proven without reasonable doubt that such changes are necessary.

This kind of thinking is a fatal flaw. By the time any such doubt is removed, any hope of actually solving looming problems will be too little and far too late.