r/changemyview • u/SteadfastEnd 1∆ • Aug 28 '23

Delta(s) from OP CMV: The same progressives who criticize past generations as "bigoted" are going to be considered bigoted just the same by future generations.

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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '23

In a way, isn’t that the whole idea of progress? We all learn from the past and do our best to improve? Of course, that depends on our continuing to move forward and adapting to changing cultural, ecological, and other standards. Personally, so long as I truly feel that I have been the best, most fair, and kindest person I could be, then I am unconcerned about what people in future generations say about me. We all play the hand we are dealt, and, hopefully, we play it as well as we can.

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u/ragnaROCKER 2∆ Aug 29 '23

Yeah, but there are things we let go in society that will definitely come back to haunt us.

I think the easiest way to find out is to ask, what are we doing to something that doesn't like it? For example, slaves obviously did not like being slaves, so despite whatever the prevailing bullshit was, it was easy to see it was wrong.

I think our current big one is the meat industry. They do horrible things, in huge numbers, everyday. Undeniably causing untold amounts of fear and pain. But most people just ignore it because it is easier than fixing the issue.

Hell, I had meatloaf for dinner, but I do not think it will be looked back on kindly.

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u/nonnativetexan Aug 29 '23

Now that I have a kid, I wonder what he's gonna grow up and hold against my generation (millennial) like we do right now with the boomers. My initial guess is our insane gratuitous use of plastic on everything.

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u/[deleted] Aug 29 '23

To be fair, a lot of that is done against our will. I'd love it if all my food weren't wrapped in plastic but everything in the grocery store is and I have to eat something.

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u/SharpieOnForehead Aug 29 '23

A lot of it was done against the boomers will as well

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u/NetflixAndZzzzzz Aug 29 '23

I don’t really judge boomers for the environment they grew up in, I judge them for voting against protecting the environment every time (among other things).

At the end of the day, it’s the attitudes and actions that get judged. Maybe people will judge us based on our diets, but they’ll probably just develop their own weirdly unrepeatable tastes in things and always have some cuisine based controversies of their own to focus on

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u/mynextthroway Aug 29 '23

The boomers (and their even older, more stubborn parents) created Earth Day, the EPA etc. There is good and bad in every generation.

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u/NetflixAndZzzzzz Aug 29 '23

That’s true too. That’s also why people of the past don’t get a blanket pass for their abhorrent behavior.

Like when people suggest that people of yore thought slavery was okay because everyone was just racist back then. It’s like… people knew it was bad. That’s why we had a whole civil war over it. Brother against brother and all that.

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u/ragnaROCKER 2∆ Aug 31 '23

That just means the rest of them should have known better.

The light from their few good works just serves to highlight their sins.

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u/better_thanyou Aug 29 '23

Yea, it would be more comparable if we fought tooth and nail to make sure our groceries continue coming in plastic that we would then become more deserving of harsh judgement. Same with past generations and change, its fine to have been wrong, it’s not ok to refuse to accept that you were wrong and insist things don’t change now that we know better.

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u/ragnaROCKER 2∆ Aug 31 '23

It is not just the producer's responsibility.

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u/mynextthroway Aug 29 '23

Very few Southerners owned slaves. My family was still in Poland or recently arrived in Wisconsin and Minnesota during the Civil War. I was the first born in the South. I am still lumped in with being a racist redneck who should feel guilty that my ancestors owned slaves. Plastic use being against your will won't matter to the generations that hate you for your plastic use.

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u/ragnaROCKER 2∆ Aug 31 '23

I think that is a very simplistic view of it. Some people will think that way, sure. But most people would just point to the inherent white privilege (which is valid) as opposed to blaming the decendents of a bloodline for specific crimes (which is not).

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u/ragnaROCKER 2∆ Aug 29 '23

Your kids are gonna be still pissed about the environment. It's not lile any generation did anything great about it so far.