I was referring primarily to the wanton exploitation of finite natural resources without regard for the consequences: they know that there will be no consequences because they will be dead.
Then there was the entrenchment of the cult of the market into every corner of human thought, the sacrifice of compassion on the altar of misread darwinism and thermonuclear psychosis which now dictates every aspect of existence as a matter of presumed necessity. The deliberate development and adoption of a pseudomathematical framework to justify and rationalise absolute contempt for one's fellow man. Nothing short of the death of enlightenment ideals.
I freely admit that I cannot rigorously justify every aspect of my views in the manner that HN usually demands, but IMO pretty much anything that happened in the world during the period of time that the boomers had/have geopolitical, financial and cultural power is fair game to blame them for to some extent.
TBH I'm just trying to express how I feel when I think about my future and that of my friends. This probably isn't the best place for it, and so I'll leave it here before I say anything even more ill-thought-out.
I was referring primarily to the wanton exploitation of finite natural resources without regard for the consequences
If that's what you're worried about, the boomers may have been less irresponsible than previous generations, given the technology available to them. A few millennia ago, people were eradicating mammal species with stone tools.
That's good food for thought; whaling is perhaps another good example. But previous generations had less capability to exhaust nonrenewable resources than more modern ones, and the side effects of killing all the Syrian Elephants might be less harmful than the side effects of blowing the tops off of mountains.
Similarly: most species extinctions seem either to have occurred BCE or after the industrial era. The older extinctions caused by people who knew less about the impact of their (for instance) hunting, which makes them less morally culpable.
You are right, and there are many ways in which the world has objectively shown uninterrupted progress throughout history. Murder/violence have apparently been steadily decreasing since biblical times[1]. The same probably goes for other things, like prejudice and freedom of expression.
Also there is the important point that problems like environmental harm seem more acute now only because we are more aware of them. During the industrial revolution, the extent of the harm caused by the use of fossil fuels wasn't a consideration to anyone because we couldn't even conceive what it would mean. Ignorance is bliss.
Unfortunately, all of this is cold comfort when you have dark thoughts of widespread conflict over fresh water in your future.
Then there was the entrenchment of the cult of the market into every corner of human thought, the sacrifice of compassion on the altar of misread darwinism and thermonuclear psychosis which now dictates every aspect of existence as a matter of presumed necessity. The deliberate development and adoption of a pseudomathematical framework to justify and rationalise absolute contempt for one's fellow man. Nothing short of the death of enlightenment ideals.
I freely admit that I cannot rigorously justify every aspect of my views in the manner that HN usually demands, but IMO pretty much anything that happened in the world during the period of time that the boomers had/have geopolitical, financial and cultural power is fair game to blame them for to some extent.
TBH I'm just trying to express how I feel when I think about my future and that of my friends. This probably isn't the best place for it, and so I'll leave it here before I say anything even more ill-thought-out.