How Dare We All?

Activist @GretaThunberg at #ClimateActionSummit: "People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?" #howdareyou pic.twitter.com/TERn3GncKW

— The UN Climate Action Summit (@UNClimateSummit) September 23, 2019

The impassioned speech by Greta Thunberg makes a strong point--telling adults to face reality should not be her job. Maturity should mean facing the reality of climate change, and being capable of making decisions that take the future into account. What she is saying is not pleasant to hear, and her youth is part of the message: if you are content with yourself and things as they are, and the path this planet is on if we do nothing to change, you should feel shame.

Shame is a terrible thing to feel. I think this is the source of the weirdly personal attacks that Ms. Thunberg receives from "critics" (quote marks very intentional)--who is a child to tell me what to do? She is not the boss of me! She's not my mom! In other words, it's a childish response. She is simply saying things that scientists have been saying for years with the urgency of someone who will be living in the dire future they predict.

And so it goes for other tired responses--like "But what about China?" What about them? In the words of mothers since history began, if all your little friends were jumping of a cliff, does that mean you should do the same?

It sounds like pathos when she says that her youth is being taken from her, as well as her dreams, but here she is, doing the work. And as for other young people, we know many are now electing not to have children themselves because of the impact more human bodies will have on the planet. We know that climate change can impact where people will be able to live, or to make a living, especially people who will deal with environment-centered professions like farming, or really, anything to do with food, because some places will become inarable due to drought and impoverished soil, whole areas of the sea will be insufficient to produce fish, and so on. Some areas will be lost to rising oceans, and populations will be on the move in search of jobs and escape from unlivable heat and devastating weather.

And this isn't a science fiction dystopia that I am talking about, but patterns we are already seeing. That is the sound of the dreams of people, already living, being destroyed.

We can at least listen, but if we listen, do we understand? If we understand, what are we supposed to do with the knowledge? It is ugly. I used to do weekly climate news round-ups right here on this blog, and realized that I was feeling a little climate despair. I couldn't stay with it. But it's part of the stages of grief, isn't it? That despair isn't a place to be stuck in. So I don't know what to do with the people still in denial (smack them out of their hysterical delusion?) but maybe some people need to feel the anger Thunberg feels. They need to know that there is only so much bargaining that can be done, but certainly, yes, some things must be let go of. It's okay to be depressed, but you have to accept the science.

And there's another thing--depression and acceptance. Depression is seen as a weakness, as is accepting less. But it is not--delaying or deferring gratification in favor of something better is maturity, and feeling pain is a part of living. The old prayer goes "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." We can't change the laws of physics, but humanity can change reckless policies. We can show maturity and wisdom. We can't have a fairytale of forever growth in our economy--we can show wise stewardship over what we do have.

That's another kind of growth--perhaps exactly what we need.