Not me. I’m not hating on Greta Thunberg, I’m a massive fan. And I cannot understand why anyone would disagree with what she’s doing, or the influence she is having on our children and teenagers. I’m wondering if we’re in an Internet moment of time – is this peak Twitter-age debate? This is just what we do now, hurl insults at teenagers who want change? Will we look back and say, “remember when people were attacking that sixteen year old environmentalist”? Or is this just normal now, that everyone’s fair game? This post will be short because I’ve visitors in town and I’ve to show them the whole of Chicago in three days and they’re not fast walkers.
One thing is for sure; in years to come, we’ll all be mortified for those who looked climate change square in the eye and said “but what about that hour and a half or that day they missed in school?” Any teacher will tell you that Friday evening isn’t exactly peak concentration time. Any teacher will also tell you that classrooms aren’t the only places learning happens. Students go to school to learn to take their place in the world. Every day I’ve spent teaching children I’ve urged them to open their eyes to what’s going on in the world to the point of bribery; in my last job, every Tuesday and Thursday any child who could share a story from national or international news got a reward. I’d have brought them to the climate strikes myself if I could have. I certainly would have no problem picking up my own nieces and nephews, handing them signs and landing them up to the Dail with my mobile number written on their arms in case they got lost. You wouldn’t teach a kid to learn to drive and then baulk when they sat in a car, why would anyone baulk at them getting out on the streets demanding better governance?
But on the subject of people actually abusing or insulting Greta Thunberg, what the hell is going on? Is this how it is now, that everyone fair game for name calling, regardless of their cause? She’s sixteen and agitating for international cooperation on saving the planet – isn’t that a, wouldn’t you think…. isn’t that a good thing? Now, whilst I don’t go around insulting teenagers on Twitter and scientific research supports everything Greta Thunberg says, it did occur to me lately that what her more mild-mannered opponents say about her – that she has been brainwashed and is brainwashing others – sounds like something I would think about MAGA-hat-wearing teenagers or the Grant sisters who were advocating for Ireland to follow the UK out of the EU. Instead of thinking they’re brainwashed or ‘wrong’, I need to get thinking of them as ‘not sufficiently persuaded’ (I heard that phrase one time on a podcast and I love it). Instead of seeing the other side as ‘wrong’ and ourselves as ‘right’, I need to view each other as ‘persuadable’ – whether we are or not. If we could manage that, we wouldn’t be at oppposite ends of the spectrum shouting ‘no you’re wrong’ at each other. As we’ve seen, that just descends into insult. Either way, not insulting teenagers online is a good step forward.
But coming back to the title of this week’s post, why go hating on her in the first place? Why does Greta Thunberg make people so angry? Is it because she’s a girl? Is it because she’s calling out those who know they’re in dereliction of their duties by kicking the climate change can down the road? Do people not like being told they’ve fucked up? (Not mad about it myself; difference is I don’t slag off sixteen-year olds). Is it defensiveness? Is it the sinking realisation amongst the middle aged or older that their day is done, that they’ve had their go and now it’s the turn of those who marched in New York, Kabul, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro? Is the hatred shown Greta Thunberg actually admission that previous generations have messed this up and don’t like being held to account by a direct and no-bullshit sixteen year old? I don’t know the answers but I do know that hating on a sixteen-year-old who is literally trying to save the world says far more about those doing the hating than it does about Greta Thunberg. And she knows that too.
To sum up, for the love of God, agree with her or disagree with her but do not call a sixteen year old girl names. She is an inspiration to all our daughters, nieces and sisters. She shows them that they too can make a difference. Just like she showed millions of school children that they are not merely passive observers but active agents for change. I hope she gets the Nobel prize. I hope she gets all the prizes. She can have my U12 county medal if she wants.
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