3 Social Transformations That Will Truly Help Future Generations
And why living ecologically sustainable is good, but not enough
We live in a world where the threat of global warming, along with ongoing environmental degradation, are rightly described as the greatest challenges of our time. What kind of planet are we leaving to our children and grandchildren? Will they do better than us? How do we manage to live greener NOW?
The question catalogue goes on and on.
Don’t get me wrong, these are burning issues that demand solutions. However, let’s not forget about further challenges faced by future generations. Social inequalities in areas such as education, wealth distribution and personal freedom are things we already encounter in our everyday lives. They happen everywhere, all the time.
Luckily, there are countless guides on how to live a more ecologically sustainable life. But how to integrate more social sustainability in it? In my opinion, social and personal transformation are key indicators of environmental and crisis awareness and, all in all, a better tomorrow.
So, does a focus on social issues automatically lead to a certain capacity to reflect on the world around us? And could this in turn contribute to better environmental protection? I do think so.
Transforming our social interaction is the key. Thus, the question arises to what extend our behavior, our attitudes and values affect people around us as well as future generations.
In what follows, I will suggest three simple ways how we can all do better in the blink of an eye.
#1: Share your wealth
Let me start with my definition of wealth. For me, there are two sides: the financial and the general one (I call the latter ‘the life-rich side’).
Financially speaking, wealth for me means having enough money to live a comfortable and carefree life. Expenses are in a healthy relation to what you earn, which does not have to be 100k a year. It depends on you and your standard of living. All in all, money is not a big deal for you. You have enough of it.
Wonderful, that’s how it should be, isn’t it? But at the same time, it should also hold you socially responsible.
Personally, I think that donating a certain portion of one’s salary is not only a great idea, but absolutely necessary. There are thousands of ways to find out about socially sustainable organizations that make the welfare of future generations their priority. Inform yourself. You will not lose money; you rather invest into the future. You step up for your children, your grandchildren. Isn’t that a more sensible thing to do than to show off what the hell of a wealthy person you are?
At the same time, I am very well aware that by far not everyone is able to live such a financially rich life. Nevertheless, you can still share your wealth. How? Take a look at ‘the life-rich side’.
Maybe you are struggling to pay your bills, especially now that inflation is skyrocketing. Or your car broke down and all your savings are going into repairs. Giving money to those in need is not an option for you right now, and that’s absolutely fine. You need it for yourself, for your family.
But maybe you can give something else. Your physical health in order to help the old lady next door with her groceries? Or your time to watch your friends’ daughter for an hour or two so they can spend a much-need evening together? It’s the little things in life, those simple situations, that we are increasingly losing due to the fast pace of society.
Whatever it is you own, you almost certainly possess some kind of wealth others long for. And I strongly believe that this alternative definition of wealth is capable of breaking down walls. Let us teach our children, and ourselves, what it really means to be rich.
What it means to be rich in terms of social devotion to those around us.
#2: Empathy is king (or queen)
My comments on financial and social wealth lead to suggestion number two: Be more empathetic!
Surely, your life runs marathons now and then, and there are times you cannot see where you are heading because of all the deadlines you have to meet. C’est la vie! Simply put, some days you get up on the wrong side of bed. And just like that, you forgot to smile at the cashier at the pet shop because you have had such a bloody bad day.
Afterwards, you wonder whether he or she might have had such a bloody bad day as well. You could have just smiled, despite everything. See, this is how empathy works.
Instead of drowning in the unpleasantness some days hold for you, try to embrace it. Look around you. How many people do you think are not doing so well at the moment? Who could use your smile, a few warm words? Pretty much everyone.
If I set out to teach my son one thing, it’s probably this: make an effort to understand people, try to crack their hard shells. Whatever you do, always ask yourself: What would I think? How would I feel?
Protesting for gender or women’s rights is not a sign of boredom, not a trend. Refusing to accept a certain status quo “because that is just the way it is” is not a trend. To participate in a social movement is about expressing empathy towards those who have been denied empathy for far too long.
When will the last part of our society stop judging people for who they are? Sadly, I do not know. What I can do is stop doing it. And ask my son to do the same.
Without empathy, we will never achieve sustainability. Because if we are not even able to develop compassion for other human beings, how are we supposed to feel that way about animals, plants, our planet earth?
How are we supposed to feel something like empathy if we are constantly closest to ourselves in the most mundane situations?
So, let’s work on our empathy skills. Whenever we can.
#3: Never stop learning
Last but not least, I would like to make a plea for education. No, I don’t mean sinfully expensive training certificates or a Harvard degree (although you are more than welcome to get both if possible!).
Rather, educate yourself a little bit every day, even if that just means reading one book chapter a day helping you with a particular topic.
Here’s an example:
Have you been wanting to finally take control of your finances, for yourself and the next generation? Great, today is the perfect day to do so. Get this plan out of your head, act! You will be much happier. And you will automatically have more mental capacities to focus on new things (your ecological footprint, for example).
Speaking of transformation, did you know how and why, for instance, inflation happens? Come on, dig a little deeper into your personal finance education. Combine what you need for yourself with general education. It will get you miles ahead. And it will greatly strengthen your social and professional skills, which you can in turn use to help others.
But my day has only 24 hours, you may think. How am I supposed to bury my head in boring guidebooks on top of my full-time job, family and other commitments?
My simple answer: Take advantage of our fast-moving world. There are so many great websites, blogs and social media accounts out there. Education is not limited to dusty books from the last corner of your shelf. Education is fun! Your chance to acquire knowledge is literally waiting around the corner, just keep your eyes open.
Never stop learning. Once you do, you are doomed, and so is your will to grow socially and sustainably.
Transform your thinking, rethink your actions
Our world is complex, it demands a lot from us. Day after day, an enormous flood of information rushes at us, from which we have to filter out the most important parts.
However, we should not make news coverage our only incentive for action. Just like climate change, social sustainability is not a luxury issue that can be addressed only if one has the mental capacity to do so.
Let’s try to act in a socially sustainable way every minute, every day. Future generations will thank us for the smallest change we take upon ourselves.
And what if all this is of no use, what if our world is going down the drain not only ecologically but also socially? Will my individual efforts still help? They will. A transformation in thinking is going to shape our children’s education, their behavior, their view of life.
And our children will shape theirs. Let’s all do better, so that future inhabitants of the earth even get a chance to turn the wheel. We cannot just leave them to their fate and ignore all the footprints we leave behind, socially as well as ecologically.
We must face change hand in hand, across generations. Or one day, there will be nothing left to change.
