The Curious Case of Greta the Great
I’ve been observing, listening, and wondering something as I watch this young woman I’d like to call “Greta the Great” take the world stage. What has everyone so nuts? What has caused many of you to lose your humanity and rail against a 16-year-old who is speaking passionately about something that concerns her and all of us? Okay, maybe you’re not concerned about climate change, but I am. Just not in the way that she is. My views are the opposite of hers in that I know we are actually headed into the next grand solar minimum. However, HOWEVER, no matter what my views, my research or even my opinion, I will not under any circumstances dehumanize this young woman.
I am floored by the lack of decency that I have seen in social media as well as articles written against Greta. They are quick to talk about how she’s jetting off here or there, judging every small step she takes. Judging her facial expressions, judging her clothing, judge, judge, judge. Right. Got it.
Let’s talk about her stern-looking face. Would it surprise you to know that she’s on the autism spectrum? I’ve heard terms like “her dead Illuminati stare” or “she’s vacuous and brainwashed by the elites.”
Really? Did you ever consider that maybe many of her facial expressions are due to being on the spectrum? No? Well, the only thing I can conclude from the judgment against the faces she makes is that many are projecting their own feelings onto her. That’s what I see. If from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, boy…what does all this hatred say about your heart?
The number of conspiracy theories that come out of the mouths of people surprises me to no end. She has been called “Hitler’s Youth” because she wears a braid. Really? You went there?! I don’t get the 
connection. But then again I don’t spend my days as an armchair warrior/activist for truth, so what do I know, right? What’s an armchair warrior/activist? Well, that’s someone who is on every conspiracy website, listening to every youtube talking head they can find to confirm their paranoid suspicions that we are being controlled by the rich, that we are being farmed by the elite, that we are being poisoned and treated like animals by unknown sinister half-bred lizard people. And everyone must know this hidden truth right now before it’s too late! Like Henny Penny when the sky was falling (or chemtrails were forming) as they punch the sky and do absolutely nothing at all about it. Passionate about fisting the air and telling everyone to fuck off as they continue to not contribute to the wellbeing of others. That’s some of the greatest idiocracies I’ve seen in my lifetime. I don’t have time to entertain half-wits who sit at their computers all day putting down people doing what they can to heal the earth.
No doubt I’ll be next as someone raises their fist to me claiming me to be in secret cahoots with the elite. Nope. Guess again.
I find it curious that Greta finds the courage to speak up for something she believes is happening in our world, and she is being spoken about as a victim of child abuse. Really? Do you really care about child abuse? If you do, please lead the charge in your very own community against such things instead of dictating from your comfy seat at home that she’s being brainwashed and abused. If you really care, at least have the decency to be like Greta and speak up for those children lost in your own communities.
I also find it curious that many feel she is misinformed about the earth. You don’t have to be a scientist to see that our planet is in terrible trouble because of the actions of humans. I see it every day in the overconsumption of products, the amount of garbage that goes into our landfills, the oil, and gas that is extracted from the earth. Sure she believes something that is on the opposite spectrum of what I believe, but I credit her for passionate action taken on behalf of her generation and those who come after her. I credit her for caring enough to say something. I credit her for caring because honestly, most people I know don’t give a rat’s ass about the environment.
They care not about the plastics that are causing irreparable damage to all life forms on a cellular level, plastics that are everywhere littered on the planet, burning fuels that harm all living things, working to buy things to use things to throw things away. I get it. We all have to live right? But we can live differently. I don’t believe our planet is going to burn up from greenhouse gasses and CO2 emissions, but it is harming us in the here and now. That much is clear. We’re dying a slow and agonizing death keeping our comfy lifestyle status quo, and here’s this little girl made out to be the new boogie man because she sees what’s happening to our planet and us and wants all of us to become uncomfortable with our comfy life.
I get it. You get it too. I don’t think you like a little girl telling you that you’re doing life all wrong.
No one does.
Yet, there she is, larger than life. Greta the Great kicking ass and taking names.
I haven’t been brainwashed. I commend and encourage her to keep going. And as far as other young people following her? I say let them. There are worse things they could be doing like playing video games all day, not paying attention to how much energy they consume, not paying attention to where their food comes from, not being concerned about landfills, not being concerned about the air they breathe, or the unethical products they use. Or maybe they should just go back to taking selfies all day, binge-watching shows on Netflix and being ensconced in celebrity gossip like everyone else so they don’t make you feel uncomfortable about your own life and proclivities. Oh wait, when they do that, they’re called “entitled Millenials.”
No matter what Millenials do, it seems that they are still criticized and treated like dimwits.
Want to know where that comes from? My generation and many in my parent’s generation. My generation is filled with entitled disillusioned people. My father’s generation? Many of them are caught in a revisionist paradise where their parent’s “did the best they could with the little they had” and talk about how life was so much better in the 50’s and 60’s. Right. No, it wasn’t. They have a habit of revising the past to fit an era gone by fantasy world women were compliant and made a man “feel like a man,” where children were submissive and respectful to their parents, and where everyone was so much more kind to each other. I beg to differ. Back then if a child was abused they told NO ONE. They suffered for years in silence. If they spoke out they were branded a liar and the family would protect the abuser. Children WERE being raped back then. They were being abused. Fathers were absent, mothers often in a drug-induced stupor. I know, because it happened to me at the hands of my own parents. I wouldn’t change it for the world, nor will I ever revise my life story to make family members feel more comfortable or for a sense of self preservation and pride.
I grew up under my father’s hand, and I will NEVER revise what happened to me or what I was forced to endure as a child. Yet that generation’s pride is so overweening they must say that their lives as youths were so much better than this current generation. Oh, and then they talk about how they were drafted and forced to fight in a war. Right. So much better back then. I guess that only applies to white men because if you were a different gender, your skin shade or hue darker, it wasn’t so great in the 50’s and 60’s. Forget being a mixed couple back then too. It’s a crock of crap that the 50’s and 60’s were so great.
What I do know is that time is ticking away for that older generation and soon they will be in the grave where all their nonsense will be swallowed up by death.
Let no one in my generation or older ever let the youth of today feel dehumanized by what the older people say. Millennials, don’t lose your humanity. Don’t become embittered and angry because you think that is the only way to get things accomplished. Don’t be like those who lead the charge against you. You’re better than them in every way!
Keep going Greta the Great! I’ll continue to be inspired by your passion and love for this great planet of ours, even if we do disagree on key points.
For those who think I’m full of shit or pissed off at what I have to say…Rise up, take your power and do something amazing in this world…
Just like Greta the Great.
Now, in my opinion about this whole movement for a global strike, I think care must be taken about how it moves forward otherwise our beautiful young activists will be fighting for the status quo in disguise.
What I mean by that, is if the charge is against fossil fuels, let’s not sway in the opposite direction for green technology without first examining our habits in daily living. The thing that drives our use of oil, gas, and coal is our need to travel distances to work, work in places that consume energy, purchase products that use huge amounts of energy to produce, and also fuel us on a very basic level with food. We need to personally examine our own lives and judge our own actions before we make a decision on how we force others to live.
Because of my electrohypersensitivity, I don’t use electricity the way others do. But even before discovering my sensitivity to electricity we decided that we didn’t want to live using much electricity at all. It’s one of the reasons we’re called Firelight Farm.
Striking is not the only way we make change happen. We must also take action every day in our own lives. Plant trees, grow a garden, raise animals. If you’re busy in a consumption vs. production kind of life, begin to make small changes for your life and your community. It’s us who must not only strike in-inaction in front of world leaders but also lead the way in our own communities, in our land, right where we are. We don’t need permission to not litter, or to buy ethical products, or work in a way that values other humans and living things. A global strike until “the powers that be” make decisions for us moves us back into the status quo. We are powerful beings, and if you don’t feel powerful, become knowledgeable in something you’re passionate about and put it to work for you. Not everyone will go on strike, hold signs up for change, or go on a hunger strike. Not everyone will chain themselves to a gate to make a statement. Some of us are doing the work quietly and passionately every day. Some don’t care. This is true too.
The problem is also not as simple as switching to not eating meat either. Again, that becomes a black and white alternative that doesn’t take into consideration the needs of others. In the process of saving the planet and living things, let’s not lose our humanity, because it is one of our greatest strengths as people. People will eat meat. Let’s work to change the narrative about the overconsumption of animal products that are farmed in an unethical and cruel way. I don’t believe that “Meat=Heat” or that cow farts are causing CO2 to rise. This is where opponents to Greta’s work are losing their shit. They don’t believe that the earth is warming. They also don’t believe the earth is cooling, as I do. Interesting right?
In my way of thinking, we cannot rid the world of eating animal products for the sake of the planet. As total solar irradiance continues to fall and we see that cosmic galactic rays bringing more storms and massive floods, those crops we’re growing will need to be planted at later times, flooding will cause mold, and the low solar irradiance causing crops to not ripen when they should, animal products will be important. But just as important is what we choose. We can choose ethical and humanely sourced animal products or factory-farmed big ag products that harm the environment.
The choice is ours. It shouldn’t be taken from us because nothing is gained in doing so. The planet will not heal if we harm our own people by taking away their choices. What I love about Greta’s message is that she is challenging your decisions. Should it lead to our rights being taken from us? That’s a good question, right? It’s not one that I worry about since we will be raising our own animal products and living in a way that heals the earth…not harms it. How about if I lose my right to farm for animal products? Would that happen? It’s possible but I’m not concerned with that since it has nothing to do with the life I live at this very moment. I’ll address that problem if it ever truly arises. Currently, I have larger looming issues, like building a very earth-friendly place for us to live this winter. Taking care of the trees on our property, thinning and doing surgery on those trees that are sick, adding new trees this fall and winter, and getting our gardens finally finished. Yes, we are doing our part, even if I don’t agree with Miss Greta.
But how we live personally isn’t everyone. And I think that is where the squeeze comes in.
Instead of criticizing and judging this young vibrant generation for their ideals and dreams, let’s become a part of the conversation and offer up real solutions for our own lives that make a difference for generations to come.
There is so much fear-mongering going around and it’s hard to watch. Fear is an element that can consume us when we don’t have all the facts. It drives anger. It’s often associated with being marginalized or left powerless. This new beautiful generation is leading the charge partially in fear and anger because their future is truly unknown. We cannot force others to live a certain way, and as the youth see this push back, they become even more afraid of what life will be like in the future.
Will you solidify their suspicions that everyone hates them and therefore they fear the future, or will you come along side them and show them there is nothing to fear because our humanity is strengthened when we inspire and love one another, even if we disagree.
Note: This is my blog and I moderate all comments. I do not allow abusive talk or trolling. If you comment and I feel you’re just causing trouble like a hairy internet troll, it will never post. All comments must be approved by me first before posting or they will end up in spam or trash. I say this because the subject of Greta is a touchy one. If it’s not respectful, it won’t be seen…period. š
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