Greta Thunberg is more concerned with blame than solutions

In her speech at the UN Climate Summit, her rhetoric was scattered with the accusative ‘you’ and ‘we’ pronouns. “You are failing us,” she told world leaders, “but the young people are starting to understand your betrayal”. ^[2] This blame game feels counterproductive. Our parents and grandparents were not responsible for the industrial revolution. They, in most cases, had no input in the decision to build societies on the burning of fossil fuels. Instead of using her vast platform to cast blame, she should be using it to promote solutions to the climate crisis.^[3] Previous generations did not have the luxury of worrying about the climate. They were dealing with fascism in Europe that threatened the lives of millions. They were dealing with conscription, poverty, the existential threat of the Cold War and the effects of globalisation. Greta's generation has been the most fortunate generation in history. Instead of forced child labour, they were able to sit on Instagram and Facebook. Instead of going hungry, they enjoyed a level of oppulance that previous generations could only dream of. Instead of blaming previous generations for not being concerned with global warming, she should thank them. It is the generations that went before her, that afforded her the luxury to care about the environment. Without them, she may have been too malnourished, overworked and under-educated to have any notion of environmentalism. Instead of squabbling about who caused the catastrophe, wouldn’t we achieve more if we came together in search of a solution?

[P1] Greta uses her speeches to admonish and blame. [P2] This is a distraction from finding solutions and is often misplaced. [P3] Therefore, Greta is a distraction.