Greta Thunberg: And a little child shall lead them By Greg Strange “And a little child shall lead them.” What a lovely quote. It’s from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, but don’t misinterpret. It is in no way suggestive that children, who presumably are not yet jaded by the world, are somehow wiser than adults and should therefore be followed. (See Isaiah for the context and real meaning.) But try telling that to a congenitally discontented leftist who is out to fundamentally transform virtually everything. If cynically using children will help in that endeavor, then a leftist is all over that, like white on rice, all the while claiming that he’s doing it for the children. And so it is with the great existential threat of our time (according to leftists): apocalyptic, anthropogenic climate change. Enter Greta Thunberg. Sixteen years old and hailing from Sweden, the left has made her the “it girl” of climate change activism. (“And a little child shall lead them.”) Greta stormed onto the world stage in 2018 after spending many of what should have been her school days protesting outside the Swedish parliament, calling for stronger action to fight climate change. She began attracting public attention, things began to snowball and the next thing you know she’s making speeches at the UN and appearing on the cover of Time magazine. And speaking of Time magazine . . . Guess who it recently announced as its Person of the Year? That’s right, everyone’s favorite young truant and climate scold. Congratulations, Time! You just guaranteed yourself a prominent spot in the history of human foolishness, because make no mistake, future generations will look back on all of this with the derision that it so richly deserves. Let us be clear: today’s climate alarmists are among the biggest fools in history, and that’s saying a lot in a time when foolishness has never been more rampant. Unfortunately, foolishness is one of the negative consequences of modernity and affluence. With all their physical requirements basically met, too many people have too much time on their hands. They have also become largely unmoored from the traditional, transcendent beliefs and values (e.g. religion, patriotism) that used to give their lives meaning. Thinking they have been liberated from what they now consider the nonsense of the past, they nonetheless yearn for meaning. So, did Greta’s meteoric rise to fame in the kooky world of climate fanaticism happen because she knows anything or has some amazing insight that could help the world save itself? Of course not. It happened because leftists saw her as an exploitable commodity that could be used to push their authoritarian climate agenda. Incidentally, did you know that young Greta is afflicted with Asperger’s syndrome? Asperger’s is a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties with social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It is actually a milder form of autism. In Greta’s own words: “Before I started school striking I had no energy, no friends and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just sat alone at home, with an eating disorder. All of that is gone now, since I have found a meaning, in a world that sometimes seems meaningless to so many people.” Exactly! Before latching onto the delusion that climate change is going to destroy civilization, and the delusion that she could prevent that, her life was miserable and meaningless. And then . . . Voila! She was transformed! But why was she so miserable before? Most likely it was a combination of her Asperger’s and, perhaps more significantly, a lack of those aforementioned transcendent beliefs and values, which is now the norm in postmodern, post-Christian Europe. In any case, she is now a vaunted celebrity, acting out on the world stage, making grand speeches in high falootin’ venues and scolding the world’s leaders for not reining in a deadly climate that is quickly careening out of control, allegedly. Her life is now overflowing with “meaning.” But is “meaning” really worthwhile if it’s based on a delusion? Don’t misunderstand. This is not about climate change “denial.” It’s about prudent skepticism of the utterly preposterous claims that if we don’t do something, the planet is toast. Here’s a question for the climate fanatics: Even if climate change is really happening, do you honestly think human beings can’t adapt to that? What kind of secular humanists are you? Since most of you don’t have any particular belief in God, that means that humanity is the ultimate thing in the known universe. And humanity has come a long way since the Stone Age. In fact, humanity has created such a life of abundance and ease that millions of spoiled brats (of all ages) can spend all their time bitching about everything under the sun even though they’ve never had it so good. Why, then, do you have so little faith in man’s ability to a.) adapt to climate change if it occurs; and b.) develop new energy technologies that will prevent us from having to go back to the horse and buggy days? So far, all we hear from them is wind and solar. (And more bike paths!) But both of those types of energy are ridiculously diffuse and inadequate and can never be anything more than trendy supplements. There is, however, one energy alternative that is currently available that could actually power the modern world, but virtually all climate alarmists and environmentalists are adamantly opposed – and that, of course, is nuclear. The reason for their opposition is the possibility, however remote, of a nuclear accident. But if you believe that civilization is literally going to be destroyed by climate change, shouldn’t you be open to the one and only viable technological solution that we have available at this time? And isn’t the risk of a localized nuclear accident better than losing all of civilization, which they tell us will be the result if we don’t do something, and pronto? And yet, the unhinged climate fanatics who insist we’re all doomed won’t even discuss, won’t even consider, won’t even mull over the one and only viable solution to the imagined problem about which they never shut up. And now they offer up a pitiable 16-year-old girl with rather serious mental and emotional problems as their new climate savior. “And a little child shall lead them.” The only people who will be led by this sad, developmentally challenged girl are those who have some rather serious challenges themselves. Living in an easy time of the greatest abundance in human history, they are basically empty inside, seem incapable of gratitude and perceive the world as an endless series of potential man-caused environmental disasters waiting to happen. There’s no smelling the roses for this crowd. There’s no appreciation of the stunning advances made by humanity, especially in very recent times. There’s no comprehension that most of it was made possible by capitalism and fossil fuels. It’s just all apocalypse, all the time and tear down everything that came before they popped into the world. And now they are proudly exploiting this poor girl who has a form of autism. We should all pray for Greta’s mental health, especially now that she is firmly in the clutches of the climate kooks who, like all leftists, have little concern for the people they use to get what they want. The end always justifies the means and young Greta is nothing more than an exploitable commodity. Greg Strange can be reached at gpstrange30341@yahoo.com. (c) 2019 Greg Strange.
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