The further it goes, the more interest I gain in Greta Thunberg, that young and quite brave activist, who, as some believe, is completely brainwashed, and others take as a saint of the 21st century.
What happened in Edmonton last week? Thousands of protesters marched to fight climate change, dozens of protesters made it there as a part of a convoy, opposing what Greta does and says. And by the looks of the posts people wrote and shared, and actions they were taking preparing for a semi-truck convoy, some of them were terrified of the teen.
By the time convoy hit the road, it almost sounded like some Canadians were ready to deploy the military to greet a 16-year-old. It made me actually look deeper into what she says and does, as I started believing that she must have something really threatening to say.
There was a cult movie in Russia in the 90s named Brother-2 by Alexei Balabanov. One of the key monologues of the main character was as follows: “Now tell me, American, where does the strength come from? Is it really from money? Even my brother tells me it’s in money. You have a lot of money, and so what? I think on the other hand the strength comes from truth. Those who have the truth are stronger.”
These words were of an influence for me in childhood, so were they for probably millions of others. Not that much the part about money, but the part about truth. Growing up I believed that those with truth were the strong ones.
Now, watching the buzz around this kid’s visits all around the world and meetings with the power players, I started thinking about that quote again.
In different words and shapes, Greta keeps reminding us all what exactly is at stake with the crisis of climate change. Yes, I know, nowadays “climate change” is a political card, an ace in the hole manipulated and played to benefit the political agenda. But after all, isn’t it, at the baseline, about the lives of each one of us living on the planet? Don’t we all want to have clean air, green forests populated with a wide spectrum of all types of creatures, clean water and blue skies? I'd say yes, but while I believe we do want all of the above, we also want to have it all as a part of our economically stable and sustainable lives where we don’t need to go back to the lifestyle of a caveman. And that’s the truth I see. I simplified the discourse to a primitive limit, but that’s the bottom line that actually should be (or one day was) the starting point.
I believe there is truth to be discussed on both sides.
Greta’s supporters say she doesn’t want Fort McMurray’s oil sands to shut down and she doesn’t want to kill Canada’s energy. She herself steered clear of making any direct criticism of Alberta's oil sands during her visit to Edmonton (which, in my opinion, was a mature move).
So let's invite her over. Show her the Carbon Capture and Storage facility, invite experts to talk about what captured carbon can be used for and why this is, at this point, a better compromise for both our and future generations. I believe such a trip could actually help start a more constructive dialogue, but only if everybody is ready to discuss, but not to defend the options humanity has.
On the other hand, the recognition of the ongoing changes will sooner or later have to happen for most people. And while we are conscious Homo Sapiens with fertile minds, we should be able to find new ways of living in a better world and accommodating our ecological and economic needs at the same time. And it, again, may start happening with productive dialogue. But to gather all the biggest semis together to give the kid, who travels across the ocean on a sailboat and seems to truly believe in her mission, a heart attack? Is that really Canadian? And how is it constructive at all?
