I am working with 350.org on shutting down the coal and unconventional gas industries in our country because I cannot think of a more direct way to protect you, the food, water and biodiversity we all love and rely on.

Sent on
June 9, 2016
by
Nette Schneider
Send Your Own Message

To my children,

I very much doubt that unless we manage to stop burning fossil fuel within the next 5 years you will still be alive in 2050. I am so glad that you are both now over 21, in your own relationships and pursuing your dreams. I am working with 350.org on shutting down the coal and unconventional gas industries in our country because I cannot think of a more direct way to protect you, the food, water and biodiversity we all love and rely on.

We brought you up working with horses and living in a tough natural environment. You are strong, balanced and resourceful and that may give you more of a chance than some others to survive as our civilization and climate fall apart, but it won’t help if our industrial civilization goes too far. Our climate is at tipping point and whether our species completes the process of mass murder/suicide we have set in motion is anyone’s guess.

Good luck. I love you. But then, I love all of you out there, whatever your age, nationality, race, culture, gender, sexuality or species. I suppose I just love life. Swamping that love for life is a deep sense of guilt and anger for having been part of the industrial culture which seems to be taking all complex life on Earth with us into the Anthropogenic Armageddon. Expect a future of unbearable temperatures, rising sterile oceans, ferocious fires, unprecedented floods, protracted droughts and melting icecaps and glaciers which are already taking us out of all our expectations and comfort zones.

Expect that future and forgive me as well as yourselves. I don’t believe that all life on Earth will be extinguished, but the life we have known is already gone. Maybe the survivors of this planetary meltdown we are creating will be the insects and reptiles, but I’m at least rooting for the rats. I know you agree with me that we have no right to take out all complex life on Earth and I can see the warrior in you both. Do your best and be happy with that. You have given your parents so much unexpected joy and I can see that you are also given it to others. I have no regrets and will love you till my last breath.

Love, Nette

Share on:
 
Send Your Own Message

More Messages to the Future

 

Dear Owen and Vivian,

Here’s the biggest secret: I KNOW it will have. We may not realize how, but we have changed the world.
 

Dear Tomorrow,

I promise to only use metal straws and reusable cups.
 

Dear future generations,

It’s never too late to make a difference. Our actions have very real consequences. We can educate ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and take action. We can hold companies like big oil and big plastic accountable for their negative impacts on the environment. We can educate ourselves and others about what causes climate change and what actions we as individuals can take to lower our carbon footprints.
 

dear future people (:

I am writing this message to you guys. When I look outside my window today, I see a beautiful world that others and myself call “home sweet home.” The trees glimmering in warm sunlight, the air stirring a cool breeze, and the water flowing down rivers are parts of our home Mother Earth.
 

Dear Future,

I hope that things have cooled down. I hope that people and governments have come together to save our earth. I hope that everyone is able to breath clean air, drink clean water and see the beauty in nature that I do. I promise to do my best to take part in repairing the damage we’ve done so that my hopes may come true.
 

To anyone who has heard my music,

I promise to care about the planet.
 

Dear Tomorrow,

I will encourage composting at work.
 

I want to tell you a story. Yes, another one.

Mankind has always been able to deal with the greatest challenges it’s faced and this will not be the exception. My message to you is: find that passion and give it your all. ‘Till your legs give out.
 

Vitória,

Antes de realizar qualquer ação pense no meio ambiente para que suas atitudes sejam pautadas na sustentabilidade. Assim o seu pensar e agir localmente poderão resvalar na escala global.
 

Dear future me,

My hopes have always been to live in a brighter and better generation, where women are respected around the world, human rights are respected and last but not least where animals and mother nature is cared for by us individuals.
 

Dear Sadie,

You are young and have a rich future ahead of you. I am retired and aiming for a high quality of cultural life and comfort with whatever time remains to me. I do not want to see a world whose elders sacrifice your future for their short-term needs and personal gain. So it’s up to you and me to speak out.
 

To my beloved granddaughters, Margaret and Caroline,

Growing up in Germany, I often wondered what my parents had done to oppose the Nazi regime in the 1930’s that led to WWII.  I was so disappointed when I found out how passive they had been. For me, this was formative.
View All Messages

Send Your Own Message