Sakari Ellonen: I have a dream 2.0

Sakari Ellonen on tehnyt hienon, tämän vuosituhannen, ”I have a dream” -videon.

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I am happy to join with you in what will go down in history as my personal demonstration for justice.

Climate change is not about penguins and polar bears, it’s about people. Every aspect of the life of my grandchildren depends on how the climate change unfolds. However, they take no role in shaping that destiny. It is a withering injustice that their destiny is being written by our actions. Actions that are likely to leave their lives sadly crippled by the manacles of drought and the chains of flood. And so I’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

Because it is a shameful lie that the bank of justice be bankrupt. It is a shameful excuse of a lie that there be insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this world. All we need is to start living a less materialistic life. We need to come together to make a promise to the those who come after us. A promise to leave them the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

And so I turn now to this commercial site to remind the world of the fierce urgency of Now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of hedonism and short-sightedness to the sunlit path of generational justice.

Because make no mistake. This is the fight of our generation. But let us not wallow in any swamps of despair, my friends.

Because even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the dream of equal opportunity.

I have a dream that in the great plains of Kenya, there will always be water to drink and land to plough.

I have a dream that the people of Bangladesh will always be able to live where they have lived for thousands of years.

I have a dream that in the vast Pampas of Argentina, corn and wheat will always grow.

I have a dream that grapevines will always be cultivated by the ancient wine estates in Spain and Italy.

And I have a dream that one day, even here in the West, we will live a life of moderation in pursuit of happiness, without depleting the resources of our finite planet.

I have a dream that one day, I will be able to sit down at the table together with my grandchildren, and they will say: ”thank you for not doing what you almost did”.

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