Oh, Greta!!
“Greta! Hurry up or you’ll miss school!”
Mrs Thunberg entered her daughter’s bedroom to see if she was ready to leave. The first thing that met her was a huge sign saying “SKOLSTREJK FÖR KLIMATET.” Greta was closing up her backpack which she had filled with a rain jacket, warm clothes, sandwiches, a thermos of hot chocolate, a sleeping pad, and a couple of books.
From experience, Mrs Thunberg knew that she was up against a force of nature. Still, she made an attempt to stop the avalanche.
“Honey, please! Your father and I agree with you. We have become vegans, we have stopped flying and we bought an electric car. We are OK with all that. But listen: you have to go to school! Next year you’ll start senior high. We are concerned about your future!”
“Mother,” Greta interrupted, “Have you read the newspapers? Do you know that last summer was the hottest in Sweden in 262 years? Did you see the wildfires on TV? The Paris climate treaty still isn’t honored! Why aren’t you concerned about that?”
“But Greta, you’re just a little girl! You’re only 15! This isn’t your responsibility!”
“It’s everybody’s responsibility! That’s why I’ve chosen to go on strike. I’ll sit outside the Parliament every day until the politicians start doing something.”
“Greta, this is your Asperger’s showing up again. Don’t let it destroy your life!”
“My Asperger is my superpower! And I have to do something! Gandhi said, ‘You have to be the change you want to see.’ Nobody is too small to make a difference! Gandhi was about as tiny as I am and he liberated India!”
“Oh, Greta!”
***
A year later, when “The Greta Effect” had led to an international movement with demonstrations for the climate in more than 2,200 places in 140 countries, Greta was invited to give a speech at the United Nations. With the world’s leaders attentively listening, she said, “We are in the beginning of a mass-extinction and all you choose to talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?”
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The story of a contemporary heroine from a new point of view. A real life fairy-tale of courage.
Christer, Greta certainly is a very brave girl. She had done what very few adults would dare to do. This is a great reminder that we all need to do our part.
Thank you for your comment, Marianna. Yes, Greta certainly is brave and stands up for her opinions with a good deal of integrity and courage.
When I googled her name for information, I saw that she is even more wellknown than the old, classic Swedish Greta. Do you know Greta Garbo?
Hello Christer, This new climate-related theme on Voice.club would not be off to a good start without a story about Greta the Great. Glad you accepted the challenge and produced one. I hope she gets chosen for the Nobel peace prize.
Hello, Alan! Good to hear from you. I thought that as a Swede, I should put in a word for Greta. “Make the world Greta again” as they say.
I doubt that Sweden would give a Nobel prize to a Swedish person. But wait! The peace prize isn’t given in Stockholm. It’s in Oslo, Norway. So OK, she can have it!
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According to Nobel’s will (I’m quoting from infallible Wikipedia) the prizes were supposed to be awarded without distinction of nationality, and her appeal must be almost universal – she’s shot down every world leader with ‘her politician-skewering lethal glare’. Quote is from a story I wrote on my website https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com/2021/09/09/hottest-summer-ever-by-phil-yeats/
Yes, Alan, you are quite right. The prizes are open to anybody, no matter from where he or she comes.
Thanks for including the presentation of your writing activities. I am impressed by how much you have produced, knowing that you make a very thorough job with content and language.
Thanks for sharing your website, Alan. You are doing a great job, being very efficient and productive. Good luck with your new book!
Christer, thank you so much for this story. Strange to know that there are still people that haven’t heard of Greta. Stranger still to realize that those of us who have been hearing about her for years still think that one person cannot make a difference in this horrendous climate change challenge. She is living proof of what one person can do. Here is a link to the speech she gave to the UN – the quote in your story was part of this speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU
Thank you for sharing the video link, Fuji. I think all those who have been hit have swallowed their saliva out of shame. My hair stood on end at her powerful words. She is so brave and wonderful. I love Greta so much. She is great.
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Thanks for your comment, Fuji, and thanks for posting Greta’s UN speech. As you say, she is a proof of what one dedicated person can do, and yet, as she says herself, what she is saying is what scientists have been saying for many years without having had the impact she has. Maybe the world just needed a human face, a child’s face, connected with the facts. The open display of her emotions have had an important effect too, I think.
Hello Fuji, Carmelo and Christer, There seems little doubt hearing the unwelcome facts spoken so forcefully by a teenage girl has more impact on people than similar words spoken by scientists. We can only hope her inspirational words inspire our political leaders to actually do something positive. In North America, there is little evidence her words are having the hoped for effect. I’ll give you one example. In 2019 when she was in North America for that UN conference she visited Montreal and talked to our Prime Minister. He promised at their meeting to plant 2 billion trees before 2030. A year later, none had been planted. Not a good start. Aspirations and inspirations are great, but only if they generate concrete action.
In Dagens Nyheter, the biggest Swedish morning paper, I read about your election, the enormous cost for it, and the fact that nobody really seemed to like the result. Only because of your input here, I read the article carefully, feeling connected. Thanks to Voice.club, we are creating a network around the globe, aren’t we?
We do seem to be. This little thread has contributors from four different countries on three different continents.
I am glad to see contributors from different continents gathering here, having a civil discussion about a contentious topic such as climate change.
I really like the line Christer quotes above: “We are in the beginning of a mass-extinction and all you choose to talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth”
I wonder, when does the obsession with economic growth ever end?
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Hello Chris. You end with a very important question. But a better one may be how do we turn the obsession with unrestricted economic growth into a push for economic growth that doesn’t harm the environment. Convincing people and politicians that economic growth should end is probably impossible. Convincing them that economic growth must be environmentally benign and not contribute to climate deterioration may be possible.
Oh! I love this story. It’s amazing to see how the doggedness of a teenage girl awakened a mass movement when at that age most teenage girls priorities are their looks. It’s a great story. Please what’s the meaning of Asperger?
Thank you, Thompson! Yes, Greta certainly is different from most other young girls her age. Part of her power, as she says herself, comes from the fact that she is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, which is a condition on the autism spectrum.
This morning, I saw an article in a review called Teen Vogue, where Greta talks about her Asperger syndrome. It might interest you, Thompson. Search for “Greta Thunberg on her Autism and Climate Activism.”
Greta, a young girl wiser than her years. I hope she receives the Nobel peace prize, no one deserves it more. Really enjoyed your story Christer.
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Yes, Linda, it would be wonderful if Greta receives the Nobel peace prize! I am sure she would use the money for something that really could benefit the struggle for the environment. Thank you for reading and commenting!