This is an interesting perspective, because in previous generations most of the long term fears were settled by simply doing nothing. They held their breath and it worked out.

The key difference is that the current generations are acutely aware that if we do nothing and just "stay calm and carry on", we're totally fucked. Inaction isn't going to save us this time. We can't put our heads in the sand and just sing ourselves to sleep then expect a good outcome when we resurface.

I think that's a key differentiator. Previous generations were fearful of something happening. Current generations are fearful of nothing happening, because if nothing happens then the world will become uninhabitable by humans.

Yet, the majority of the decision-makers in our society are silent generation/boomers that drove to success by inaction and they're largely doing nothing. We see this and understandably know how fucked we are.