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Yesterday, I understood something about Greta Thunberg that I hadn't quite grokked before now. She didn't start this because she, personally, wanted to lead a climate revolution. She spoke out hoping to get the attention of people in power. 1/7
She was calling attention to a global problem so that we, the adults, the people with actual power to do something about it, would take up the task. That is not what happened. 2/7
She's a girl calling 911 to report that a house is on fire, and instead of coming to put out the fire, the fire department is telling her how inspiring she is for calling 911, then watching it burn. 3/7
She's WAITING for someone, anyone, with the ability to directly affect change - i.e. not a Swedish teenager - to say "We hear you, and we'll take it from here." Except nobody is doing that, and she's very, very mad about it. 4/7
She's watching adults congratulate themselves for inviting her to speak, for publicizing her crusade, for deigning to listen to her words, and then DO NOTHING. She doesn't want your head-pats and your admiration, she wants your action. So far, the head-pats is all she's got. 5/7
Greta has probably done more to mainstream climate crisis discussions than anyone else on earth, and that isn't nothing. But it's meaningless unless it results in action, and she's painfully aware of this. 6/7
We are all failing her - and ourselves - and us regular folks understand her frustration, and her helplessness, because we feel it, too. 7/7
