In Her Defense
 

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Message to the Choir

About Greta — Why she needs defending from anyone other than the culprits of the crimes she rails against is beyond me. Take her message to heart or leave her alone. Let her forge the path she’s chosen without strewing it with obstacles of skepticism. Guard her against being manipulated, but allow her to be guided. She deserves to be an important cog in the machinery of our global Change to Green.
Here are some reasons why:

Some Thoughts

• She’s attained the status of an instantly recognizable first name. Good for something in this age of virtual handles, levers and fulcrums.
• She is a rivetingly angry, poised public speaker
• Her speech writers are excellent. Fact-based. Scientific. (Though still must be evaluated) They (her speeches) also embed Greta’s signature “anger and urgency” in every talk she gives.
• She is relentless in her chastising of the grownups in power who do nothing but what lines their own pockets with cash and power control at the expense of the health of the earth and, by association, us: physically, morally and psychologically.
• She is not an adult. She is a prodigy. She is not an adult.
• She is singularly, doggedly, unnervingly focused on environmental change for the better.
• She has 4,000,000+ twitter followers
• Her message is consistent. Her activism is replicable. Her youthful determination inspires youth to act.
• She is not a panacea. She is a messenger speaking to a group (children, educators of children, parents who want role models for their children) that aches to make a difference but doesn’t know how.

It all reminds me of this anthem:
“You may say I’m a dreamer
but I’m not the only one.
I hope someday you’ll join us
and the world will live as one.” —J. Lennon

The combined audacity and vulnerability of that lyric are a tonic to “keep on keeping on” no matter how “tangled up in blue” we are… (reference to B. Dylan) and Greta Thonberg thrives in the spirit of that.

What say ye?
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I only have time for this, but:

Very Well Said, Jim!

Jayne

I totally agree with you, Jim.

Best,
Martin

Who said she needs defending? I haven't heard a single bad thing about her.

There is a certain sort of pathetic middle aged man who she sends into a real tizzy, though there isn't anyone left on the sphere who fits that mold, to my knowledge.

Speaking of environmental change, I just read this article.

https://www.livescience.com/doomsday...U7MRXhpUv6eeeA

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Roger: "Who said she needs defending? I haven't heard a single bad thing about her."

I only posted this thread because I had hit some resistance with someone recently about GT's impact on the efforts to keep our shoulder to the wheel. He had said to me that GT "is not taken seriously by serious-minded people" and it deflated me... I thought about it for a few days and became angry, thinking maybe this is what the growing consensus is among the general population. I wanted to at least signal my resolve to support her. My hunch was that I would be preaching to the choir here, but you never know. I welcome differing opinions, but so far none.
Aaron may be right about the Sphere being clear from draconian views on the environment (maybe not so much for the age-discrimination he includes in the profiling of those who belittle her.) But there is much ground in between for differences.

I know I live a somewhat upholstered life free from much direct negative impact from environmental, economic and yes, even political strife (though Trump is a serious ongoing threat to all three). I live modestly and hope for the best. x
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I can see where having a kid front and center would be off-putting for some. But what makes this different from a cynical political pitch is that it's her, and her children who will have to deal with a climate that's changing faster than the models predicted. I think by discipline scientists make conservative estimates. That might have been a mistake.