My Message

Dear human,

My name is Hope, and, quite ironically, hope is something that we are severely lacking nowadays. We are constantly bombarded by news of war, inequality, natural disasters, corruption, and other catastrophes across the globe - and skyrocketing electricity costs, unreliable medical treatment, a lack of public safety, and more in our everyday lives. It is clear that these are not all isolated events, but symptoms that the system, our system, is broken. This is a crisis on an unprecedented scale; this is a sustainability crisis.

Climate change is just one symptom, but I believe that it is the one that has the most potential to fix our broken system - and, conversely, the one that has the most potential to break it for good. Not because it is the "worst," but because it is universal. The climate crisis effects everyone everywhere, and solving it truly does require everyone, everywhere. If we do not address the climate crisis in a meaningful way, we will have undeniably failed as a species: we will have failed ourselves, each other, and the world that we have come to dominate.

At best, this failure means burdening future generations with the responsibility of cleaning up a mess they had no part in making. At worst, it means sentencing every child from now onward to a bleak, postapocalyptic world where they do not know what it's like to be happy.

Thankfully, there are numerous individuals and groups fighting against this: by educating, by protesting, by creating, by organizing, by leading. These people are strong, admirable, and inspirational, but they are not enough. It is generally accepted that for a social movement to be successful, 25% of the population must be involved in some capacity, and we are nowhere near this point. This means that the more who join the climate fight, the closer we are to success. 

"Joining" does not have to mean being on the frontlines - you can fight in whatever way works for you, but please fight. Please don't give up.

I‘m not saying this is a proponent of any particular ideology, or an advocate for a specific organization, or an employee working on behalf of my paycheck – I’m saying this as a 15 year old with family and friends, and with a future that I’m terrified for. I want to preserve the security and natural beauty that I grew up with, so that everyone has the privilege of experiencing it. Actually, scratch that: I want to preserve it so that it is no longer a privilege, but a right.

I am fighting for you, for me, for the planet, for the people before me and the generations to come. I am fighting to win, and I hope you are too.

- Hope