January 3, 2021

 

I can't think of a more critical person alive than Greta Thunberg. Ordinary she ain't, and special comes in spade when it concerns Greta. She turns 18-years old today, and when people say that there is magic in youth, I, of course, think of Thunberg. Her articulation is focused and to the point. She never uses language to beautify an image. Still, almost poetically, she can convey the world's horror in a minimal and direct manner. 

Quotes from Greta Thunberg:

"The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change."

"Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope, but I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is."

"Why should I be studying for a future that soon may be no more, when no one is doing anything to save the future? And what is the point of learning facts within the school system when the most important facts given by the finest science of that same school system clearly mean nothing to our politicians and our society?"

"I offend talk to people who say, 'No, we have to be hopeful and to inspire each other, and we can't tell (people) too many negative things'…But, no - we have to tell it like it is. Because if there are no positive things to tell, then what should we do, should we spread false hope? We can't do that, we have to tell the truth." 

"Today, we use 100 million barrels of oil every day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can't save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to change."

There is something so Bertolt Brecht or Fassbinder in how she approaches the power structure with an understanding of how it operates and why it's poison to culture and civilization. Thunberg made it through modern media because she knows how to use language to convey the bigger truth. 

This amazing young woman turns 18-years old Today. I can't think of another person who deserves a national holiday on her birthday. This is idiotic because that is not what Greta Thunberg is about. It's about action. Happy birthday Ms. Thunberg.