The tyranny of time, of the now, obscures the view of what it is really about: the great problems of the future. According to Roman Krznaric, we need visions to tackle the climate crisis. He believes that young people should be given an immediate voice in today's political decisions.

'How will the children of the future remember us?' With that question as his starting point, Australian-British philosopher and political scientist Roman Krznaric wrote his most recent book 'The Good Ancestor'. In the book he argues that future generations should be given a voice in today's political decisions. Something that, according to him, hardly ever happens at present, in a time characterized by pathological short-termism. But how do you become one, a good ancestor?

He already cautiously sees a fragmented movement emerging: the Time Rebels. People who are all fighting in their own way for a new economy that is focused on the long term. They give Krznaric hope, but it is not enough. As an expert on democratic governance, he envisions a "deeper" democracy that breaks free from pathological short-termism and makes generational thinking the standard.

Krznaric has a six-step plan by which we learn to think like people building cathedrals, in order to save our future generations. For example, he proposes "Aldermen of the Future" to transform our politics into long-term systems.

Original air date: February 22, 2021

Director: Tomas Kaan
Research: Soraya Pol
Production: Zoë de Wilde
Final editing: Geert Rozinga and Doke Romeijn

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