Environmental ethics : towards an intergenerational perspective

Abstract

It is paradoxical that the majority of today's youth, who by nature dream of a better future, believe that the future (their future) is going to be worse than their present. Hope, idealism and great expectations are prerequisites if the young generation is to fashion a better world. Ironically, our current model of 'progress' has managed to deprive young people even of these fittingly youthful attributes. Survey after survey, in many countries, has shown that the young are fearful about the future, especially because of environmental decline. Too often, the result is either that young people do not believe there will be a future, or they feel disempowered and helpless to save the future.