The Harry Potter Generation

Thursday night, I joined the hoards of young(ish) people in the momentous midnight showing of the Harry Potter finale. We all grew up with Harry Potter, and now Daniel Radcliffe is older, as are we. Many people are calling us the "Harry Potter Generation." There were more than a couple of people shedding tears as the final movie came to a close the other night. Facebook statuses about "ended childhoods" filled up my newsfeed.

So what? Why am I posting this on this blog? What does this have to do with the Lime Revolution?
Well, because I think Harry Potter makes an excellent hero. An entire generation of people look up to him. Now we, the Harry Potter generation,  have to start acting like him.

Harry knew, deep down, what was right, and what he had to do. And he did it. There was never a question- should I try to find the last horcrux? Should I meet Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest? He knew, in the most solid, concrete form of knowing.

We are the Harry Potter Generation, and we are also the generation with the world on our shoulders. I know, deep down, that I will have to fight for the rest of my life for what I know is the right thing - preserving the earth for all its life. Clean energy. Wilderness preservation. Sustainable farming and fishing. Efficiency. Smart transportation. Responsible water use. Endangered species conservation. These things are the right direction. I think we all know they are right.

Sometimes we don't know exactly how to get there or how it's going to turn out. But did Harry always know exactly where he was going, or what he was going to have to face? No, but he went anyway. He got it done, because he knew it had to be done.

In a political climate where there's a lot of doubt, and splits, and biases, and compromises, and corruption, and maybe even some dirty interests, let's try and stay true to what we know is right. Let's never lose sight of the Harry Potter moral compass that JK Rowling entrusted with our generation. We might be hunting horcruxes for a little longer than Harry did, but if we stay true and fight to the end, I'm sure we'll get there.