„I want you to panic“ said Greta Thunberg in Davos early this year. Fear and panic are useful biological mechanisms to help you escape from immediate threat. When it comes to rational decision making and long term strategies – the kind you need to tackle a complex problem like climate change – fear and panic is arguably the last thing you need. Panic is not a strategy and it will not help us save the planet.
It is easy to see where Greta is coming from and at first glance it may seem like a great way to get people‘s attention – and it was at first. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make the planet a better place and to take climate change seriously. In fact we would be ill-advised if we ignored it and there should be little dispute on that. We need to do something about it and we need to do it globally. There is no consensus about whether or not we actually can do anything about it, but for the sake of argument, let‘s say we can.
So far so good.
How a hysterical mob will be able to unite the world to focus on this problem is rather questionable. Why would anyone really think that pressuring politics into immediate „action“ will result in anything but knee-jerk, populistic actionism that will do more damage than good? That is wishful thinking – the kind of thinking you would expect from a child. Thats why you educate your children and don‘t have them run for political office with little to no education. Would you have a 16 year old as CEO of a company? Would you trust a 16 year old to make informed and rational decisions as, say governor of a state?
We don‘t do that, and for good reason! So why is it that so many believe a 16 year old can save the world? Let me emphasize what i am not saying: I am not saying that Greta is stupid or evil or anything like that. She does have a point and pushing this topic more into focus is not a bad thing. There is a point where it goes to far though.
It is not reasonable to expect anyone to solve what is an incredibly complex problem across multiple dimensions in a heartbeat. There is no conceivable way to stop the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses over night. No one is going to stop heating their homes, using their cars, buying affordable products, etc. No one is willingly sacrificing their job to „save“ the climate. What we are being asked for is to stop living in 2019 and to instantly fling ourselves back 200+ years and be happy about it.
You HAVE to be a child to believe that there is even a remote chance for this to happen.
I guess the most disturbing facet of this movement is the fanaticism that goes along with it. In accordance with todays zeitgeist anyone who does not completely agree with the supposed keepers of the moral high ground is publicly shamed and denounced. There is no middle ground. There is no reasonable argument – nothing to talk about from an objective standpoint. If you don‘t like this cult of personality and fear mongering you are automatically the worst type of person. You are a climate denier. How dare you?
I wonder how the activists expect to unite the world behind a common goal while at the same time actively creating a huge divide by hysterically badmouthing everyone who isn‘ t completely in line with their ideas. It seems counterproductive and not too well thought out. You‘ d need a global totalitarianism.
There are so many problems you have to take care of before you can even think about doing something as one united world. One of them being, that we, who live in what used to be called the „first world“ have had (for the most part) good and comparably care-free lives for the past 50 years or so. We have the time and capacity to worry about things like pollution. At the same time we fail to see that in other parts of the world the climate is the least of peoples concerns. If you have to struggle for the survival of you and your family i guarantee you the climate is not on your list of immediate priorities. How do you pull people out of poverty and raise the standard of living to a point where they actually can begin to care about the planet? By buying less products from China and India? That sure is going to help them keep their jobs and make them care more bout the climate.
Why are we not allowed to talk about this? Do the activists even really care as they claim? A 16 year old girl growing up in safety proclaiming that her „childhood has been stolen“ must seem like a bad joke to the children in developing countries. The activists don‘t seem to concern themselves with that – if climate chance is not on the top of your priority list you are the enemy. Sorry everyone who works for next to no money in a sweatshop in Asia to try and feed your family, but you are assholes too. Maybe they would ask greta „How dare you?“.
All that does not matter. We have no time. We have to act now. No questions asked. Don‘ t even dare to ask „how“? Just do!
And that is how to not save the planet.
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