The 1975 [Notes on a Conditional Form]

We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis
And we need to call it what it is, an emergency
We must acknowledge that we do not have the situation under control
And that we don't have all the solutions yet
Unless those solutions mean that we simply stop doing certain things
We must admit that we are losing this battle
We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed
All political movements in their present form have failed
But Homo-sapiens have not yet failed

Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around
We can still fix this
We still have everything in our own hands
But unless we recognize the overall failures of our current systems
We most probably don't stand a chance

We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings
For enormous amounts of people
And now is not the time for speaking politely
Or focusing on what we can or cannot say
Now is the time to speak clearly

Solving the climate crisis
Is the greatest and most complex challenge
That Homo-sapiens have ever faced
The main solution, however
Is so simple that even a small child can understand it
We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases
And either we do that, or we don't

You say that nothing in life is black or white
But that is a lie, a very dangerous lie
Either we prevent a 1.5 degree of warming, or we don't
Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction
Beyond human control, or we don't
Either we choose to go on as a civilization, or we don't
That is as black or white as it gets
Because there are no grey areas when it comes to survival

Now we all have a choice
We can create transformational action
That will safeguard the living conditions
For future generations
Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail
That is up to you and me
And yes, we need a system change rather than individual change
But you cannot have one without the other
If you look through history
All the big changes in society have been started
By people at the grassroots level
People like you and me
So, I ask you to please wake up and make the changes required possible
To do your best is no longer good enough
We must all do the seemingly impossible
Today, we use about 100 million barrels of oil every single day
There are no politics to change that
There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground
So, we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules
Because the rules have to be changed
Everything needs to change, and it has to start today
So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience
It is time to rebel