On Greta Thunberg: Or Why Everyone Should Stop Writing On Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg is an extraordinary 16-year-old girl from Sweden who has managed to gain the attention of world leaders mostly through the simple expedient of knowing what she wants to say and refusing to stop saying it. Her exhortations for the world to act on climate change, and her excoriations of politicians who refuse to, have made her a global celebrity, courted and listened to by the rich and powerful and lauded by millions.
Obviously, the flip side of that is that she is also a target of vicious, furious hatred from those who wish above all for climate action to not occur. The right has come together to rain abuse down on the teenage girl’s head. She’s dumb. She’s ignorant. She’s a silly little girl. She’s been brainwashed. She’s speaking out of turn. She’s a privileged white girl whose mum was in Eurovision which is significant for some reason. Brendan O’Neill went in particularly hard, denouncing her “chilling” demeanour, saying she looked like a cult member and slamming her “monotone voice”.
The right-wing attacks have been utterly revolting, so it’s only natural that many left-leaning commentators have taken up rhetorical cudgels on Thunberg’s behalf. She has been praised for her courage, celebrated for her principles, and held up as an example not just to kids everywhere, but to adults who haven’t a tenth her energy and determination. Defences of Thunberg against her rightist abusers have been passionate, heartfelt and pretty reasonable.
The problem is that, while on the subject of Thunberg her critics are wrong and her defenders are right, on the subject which Thunberg is urging us to engage, her critics are smart and her defenders are dumb. And isn’t that always the way?
Take this piece in The Guardian by Aditya Chakrabortty, titled “The hounding of Greta Thunberg proves that the right has run out of ideas”. Well, that’s a comforting thought.
Except it’s not true. The right hasn’t run out of ideas — or at least, if it has, the hounding of Greta Thunberg doesn’t prove anything of the sort. What it proves is that the right doesn’t need many ideas, because it keeps using the same few ones, and they are still very much fit for purpose.
Because what has happened, as Greta Thunberg tries to spread her message, tries to get the world to listen to reason, is that she has triggered a great rush of commentary, thinkpieces, analysis, and passionate opinionating. Some of this is anti-Greta. Some of it is pro-Greta. But it all has one thing in common: it’s about Greta.
And make no mistake: this is EXACTLY what the Right wants.
The Right doesn’t really disapprove of Greta Thunberg. It doesn’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with a sixteen-year-old meeting with world leaders to promote a message: if she were going around the world preaching strong defence and free markets they’d be applauding till their hands bled. The Right doesn’t object to kids having strong beliefs, anymore than it actually objects to kids marching against climate change, or for refugees: anymore than it actually objects to dole recipients asking questions on Q&A, or sportspeople taking sides in politics.
The Right doesn’t object to the medium, it objects to the message, and it’s smart enough to know that the best way to drown the message out is to ensure that the medium is all that gets talked about.
Sadly, the Left is not smart enough to know this, and so it plays along. While Greta implores us to get serious about climate change, the Right implores us to devote all our time and energy to talking about Greta, and the Left nods and says yes, that seems reasonable.
To put it bluntly: you are being played.
Contrary to well-meaning Guardian writers, the Right isn’t desperate and flailing for arguments: they’re positively gleeful that their opponents’ complicity with the agenda they set continues to make forming arguments unnecessary.
Of course it’s hard to see a brave, intelligent child being torn apart by odious right-wing media creeps. It’s a natural and laudable impulse to hit back hard against those creeps. But it’s also exactly what those creeps want. To keep us debating the rights and wrongs of kids getting involved in politics, and prevent us debating what’s to be done about the global catastrophe bearing down on us all.
So I would ask all on the sane, science-believing side of the climate war: if you want to truly support Greta Thunberg, stop talking so much about Greta Thunberg. Our response to her should be simply to say: She’s Right. And then to add our voices to hers in demanding urgent action to address climate change. When the right denounce Greta as a brainwashed cultist or arrogant elitist, we should respond by simply saying: She’s Right. And then elaborating on what needs to be done to address climate change.
What Greta Thunberg is saying is that we need to do something, and do it fast. The people who want us to do nothing are saying our biggest concern is whether or not we like Greta Thunberg. Don’t let them get away with it.
It’s not about Greta. It’s about the whole world. Keep reminding yourself, and everyone else, of that fact. And stop giving the bastards who would defend wealth and power by smearing a teenage girl the satisfaction of playing them on their home turf.
