I was asked yesterday. (This was after someone had read my blog post.)
"Why?" I asked.
"Well don't you think she is amazing? She's mobilising a whole generation of young people."
There was more in this vein. I won't bore you with it. My response was,
"She isn't a patch on Malala Yousafzai."
And I meant it.
Greta Thunberg may well feel passionate about climate change and the environment but she is also acting a part - and not doing it particularly well. (She is a child actor in Sweden.) She is being manipulated and used by adults in the background. Her speeches are not written by her. At least one person is making a great deal of money out of using her as a puppet to get across a message they know is popular.
Yes it may well be doing some good if it is alerting people to the need to care for the planet but that is all. She isn't the answer to the problems that need to be addressed.
The difference between her and Malala Yousafzai could not be more stark. Reportedly Malala was called out of class by the deputy head of her high school in Birmingham to be told she had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her response was apparently along the lines of, "Thank you very much. It's a bit hard to take in. That's very kind of them but I don't really deserve it." She then went back to her disrupted lesson.
She went on working - working hard enough to win a place on merit at Oxford University. (And yes, I am told by someone else there that it was on merit.) She is working there now. Later she may well use the acknowledgement in order to go on helping others. That is her intention. She knows the value of education, has spoken passionately about it, and - most importantly - encourages others to pursue it.
And, for me, that makes her likely end contribution far greater than that of someone like Greta Thunberg. If Thunberg had used her UN speech to tell other young people, "Don't strike. Go back to school and learn all you can. Give up some of your spare time to the environment. Try to live in ways that will help the environment" then it could have done much more.
I know what I have just said will upset some people. They will think I am wrong, that Thunberg is amazing and that I should admire her "courage". But - I want young people to be well informed and able to deal with future problems. They can still do things now - although it won't cause the short term adrenaline rush felt by missing school to protest.
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8 comments:
Perhaps instead of allowing ourselves to get distracted by the oratory of one young person, we should be reflecting on our own habits and take our own individual actions to save the planet, even those actions that are uncomfortable and difficult.
Some of those actions need to include pressuring those in leadership positions to actually lead with some responsibility in government, business, education, every sector and finding the courage to show some leadership ourselves. "Be the change you wish to see" Ghandi is quoted.
It is so easy to waste energy and hot air arguing over whether children should be in school and speculating about whether a young person is truly articulating their own mind. Let's harness that energy for a more focussed effort on solving the environmental and climate problems.
But before we can even do that, we need to respect each other as human beings.
Thank you so much for this post.I cancelled my decade-long membership with amnesty international after they gave "Saint Greta" their Human Rights Award.It is easy to say "stop everything you are doing now" but what the planet needs are suggestions what to do instead.
Hilde in Germany(excuse my bad English)
Malala has worked hard to improve herself, and the world, and is a model for all to follow. Greta is being used in such a way she will have little chance of any normal future.
Thank you Cat.
I felt more than anything that her speech to the UN did not ring true, when she was suddenly so full of righteous anger and spitting the words with no evidence of anything to lead her into that attitude. She was seated calmly and then suddenly speaking angrily as though someone had trodden on her toe deliberately. The exercise was unhelpful.
I worry that this child is being used...and when her usefulness is exhausted, what becomes of her?
Thanks for all the comments. (Hilde your English is much better than my German!)
There is a lot to do here.
I’m curious about your reference to her as a child actor. As far as I can find out she comes from a thespian family certainly, and appears to have done a voiceover for a short film, but I wouldn’t really call her an actress. Did you find out something more?
Not really Judy - just a comment from a friend about her being involved in theatre
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