Talk by

I stand here in a world of strangers with foreign thoughts,
who have nothing better to do than to constantly bicker,
instead of sticking together,
but this society is so divided.
And the elders say: “These young people today have no dreams anymore,”
and maybe they’re right, because don’t we all feel somewhat empty?
And I know it’s hard, but come here,
maybe we can do something together to have dreams again.
Because dreams need a future, and that’s at stake here.
And yes, it’s a lot,
but we are undeservedly privileged, our whole lives pre-programmed,
just copying what our parents did.

But with our privileges comes responsibility.
The responsibility to help people by all means,
who have nothing left in their worlds because of our “wealth.”
For those who live in a place that soon won’t exist,
because it’s being bombed or destroyed by natural disasters.
Because these people have more worries than the neighbor who mows
his lawn on Sunday morning at 8.
We bear the responsibility for nature and for animals,
because we destroy land, air, and water, where their lives take place, just for colorful
papers.
We presume to intervene there and destroy the habitat of these wonderful beings,
by taking what we don’t need, in places where we don’t belong.

And the people before us only took with all their wars,
but to secure our future, we now need peace.
But why must we young people raise the white flag?
Why us, with the least experience, the least knowledge?
We don’t even know enough to miss much.
Maybe because we not only have little experience and little knowledge,
but also hardly any perspective and hardly a chance.
A chance to assert ourselves against the rich,
because they set the course in this country and in the whole damn world.

But what we have is will and hope.
A will to save humanity from itself,
because we destroy so much,
and just don’t listen to science.
Hope for a future and a livable world,
that finally holds together,
and cares about something other than just money.

Because your money won’t help you anymore,
when our foundations of life are gone, and there’s nothing left to protect.
Then all the cash you got from your wealth will be worthless,
but you complain about the person who glues themselves to the street in front of you,
while the world is collapsing behind you?
You’re appalled when young people take to the streets or climb onto your coal digger,
instead of flipping through outdated textbooks?

We can build a future where we all trust each other,
where we live together in treehouses, instead of sweeping our fenced-in paved
front yard.
Where we make politics together for everyone and laugh at the old Bundestag from back then,
where we become colorful people and don’t care about what we might inherit.
Because everyone has what humanity needs, and even if it’s rough,
we sit together by the campfire, and nothing in the world will be too expensive.
Because we don’t need money when everyone does what they like best,
and creates a place without greed and without weapons.
Without war and without envy, without suppressed emotions, where we can just laugh
and also cry, no matter what age or gender we have.

A future where we can be and love who and what we want,
where all children play joyfully together on the meadow,
instead of being forced to be educated for a world
that won’t exist in a few decades anyway. And all undeterred,
being judged in some competitions by some standards,
instead of for what they really are: an unhappy child.
And we learn from a young age to drink against sorrow,
to cover up sleepless dark circles,
that it’s more important what everyone else thinks,
than to simply give ourselves some love.
We learn to feel nothing,
to only strive for our careers,
to fit into the exploitative system,
to have money to squander.
For useless things we don’t need to be happy,
but no one teaches us what “happy” really means.

But now we want pleasure instead of frustration,
want to change the system,
strolling by the river instead of along the road.
Finally give us the beautiful life for all,
because we are frustrated with the world,
it’s not a place we like right now,
and we sit here in a trap.

But what can I do?

Instead of flying on a plane, lie in the park next door,
instead of putting a dead animal on my roll, spend an extra euro for tofu,
instead of buying a plastic bag, rather
This does not prevent the extinction of species,
does not replace the lack of political action.
It’s a start, but not the end,
what we need for our future is a systemic change.

And for that, we must ask the opinions of all people,
and we must tell them:
Go to the streets and be loud,
be disobedient if you dare.
Tell the people who hold power in their hands:
“Stop managing our future!”
Because it will be much better if we shape it ourselves.

And the elders say: “These young people today have no dreams anymore,”
but if we come together, maybe we won’t feel so empty anymore.
And from somewhere,
we hear in the distance the calls of people,
who are fighting our broken system together.
Because together we can achieve so much more,
we can keep getting back up,
and all of this without weapons.
And so we create wonderful spaces,
and all these ideas will be our reality, not just our dreams.