Call me
old fashioned if you will, but skipping school to protest does not exactly go
down well with me. Neither do I like being yelled at and chastised if I do not agree
with you. The pleasure of exchanging opinions, exploring them and in the
process better understanding or modifying our own is one of the hallmarks of a
free society. And I expect a young lady of 16 years age to know this.
The Greta Thunberg circus has become a complete farce.
Travelling across oceans in emissions-free boats (excluding the making thereof)
and doing one's ablutions into a bucket lined with a biodegradable bag that
then gets ditched into the ocean is first-world fake melodrama at its best. If
she wished to address the U.N. meeting without spewing carbon emissions from
either jet or ocean liner travel she could easily do so via Skype.
Since when was berating people with
“how dare you” bring them on board. Usually it has the opposite effect. You end
up antagonizing the lot. By reducing a serious and complex political issue to
“I’m right and you're an idiot” the young lady has taken the limelight away
from the problem as it is now focoused only on her. Such toxic democratic
debate ends up shutting out the other stakeholders and pollutes the town
square.
The
whole Greta trip, the hype and the expense was one big media circus. One can’t
help but think it’s more to promote the person than the issue. Out of all the
16-year-olds in the world, why is it that just one features in the media
worldwide? There are other kids who care as much, are just as articulate, just
as concerned and much more at risk. A 16 year old in Maldives or Sunderbans or
in other fast disappearing atolls is far more at risk of his or her existence,
so why is the world media projecting Greta? If you think this was just some
happy accident you are plugged into a faulty socket.
I’ve seen the photo of her outside her
school on her first climate strike. Posed to draw on the haunting concept of
the lonely outsider who (surprise, surprise) becomes the involuntary hero. Who
took that photo and, more importantly, why? Now we have kids all over the
world skipping school for the day to show how much they care. I’d be more
impressed if they gave up their free time to make their statement. Instead of
sitting alone with a placard if she had collected her friends and planted trees
that would have made an impressive statement. And for that no one needs to skip
school I guess.
Climate change is a serious issue and
unlike President Trump I am not denying it. This issue needs to be addressed
globally and everyone should contribute – both individually and as independent
nations. The plain fact is that China and the US produce more than 40 per cent
of world emissions. India and Russia follow them. The top 15 countries produce
more than 70 per cent of emissions. Unless these countries change their ways there
is little to be achieved by protesting school children. Do school protesters think that Trump, or Xi
Jinping, or Modi or Putin gave a damn about their protest? They will, only if
there is a civilized discussion, not a farcical show for the television.
What can the concerned kids do instead
of skipping schools? They could all decide to not go to school in cars and to
use public transport instead. At home they could not use air conditioning: my
generation grew up without it and summers were never benign. Individually they
could give up all devices, maybe bar a simple phone and use a shared family
tablet or computer. While they’re at it they might ditch the idea of trendy
clothes that are discarded long before they're worn out. Are the 16 year olds
of the world ready for all this? Gandhi ji said “be the change which you want
to see in others”. The Greta Thunbergs of this world should be the change.
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