What are you willing to give up?

The world is different now. What was normal not so long ago, may not be normal anymore in the near future. Going on holiday by plane every year. Taking your car to work every day. Eating meat. Drinking milk.

In the past century we have gotten used to getting more and more. More food. More energy. More devices and apps. More movies and TV shows. More cheap clothes. More cheap furniture. More cars. More trips abroad. More luxuries.

But now we are finding out that there are limits to growth. Only more is not sustainable. We also need less. We know in our heart we cannot sustain our current way of living, but we get very uncomfortable at the thought of having to give up things. Things many of us have had their whole lives.

In the case of Dutch farmers, ‘uncomfortable’ is putting it mildly, as thousands of farmers are protesting the government’s policies, which may lead to many farmers having to shut down their business. They are not willing to give up their job.

Yet all of us will have to give up something. The question is: what are you willing to give up, in order to give future generations a better world to live in?