The Future is Going to Be Better than it Used to Be
January 15, 2009
Thoughts for the New Year
Some say the future isn’t what it used to be. Here’s a different view. The future is going to be better than it used to be.
Sure, the news looks challenging. One recent story is particularly grim: A decision by the publisher of the Oxford Junior Dictionary to replace dozens of nature-related words like “beaver” and “dandelion” with “blog” and “MP3 player.” As noted wildlife artist and conservationist Robert Bateman observed, “If you can’t name things, how can you love them? And if you don’t love them, then you’re not going to care a hoot about protecting them or voting for issues that would protect them.”
In a few words, literally, this story illustrates the urgency of our mutual work to connect children directly to the natural world, and the importance of our ultimate goal – deep cultural change. But just look how far we’ve come in such a short time – and consider the potential for the children and nature movement in 2009.
The real miracle is the rapidly growing network of thousands of individuals, families and organizations that have made this movement their own. Folks like you.
We have a long way to go, but the grassroots are growing; and so are the netroots.
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Richard Louv is the author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” and chairman of the Children and Nature Network.