Greta Thunberg

This article first appeared in New English Review.

                                      


I should not be paying attention to Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish girl who is now a world-known climate activist after she came to America and appeared before the UN and the US House of Representatives with her angry "How dare you" speech. Since she has been put on the world stage by her parents and other adult activists, she should be discussed, however.

My initial reaction to watching her ugly speeches was to compare her to the fictional Swedish children's book character, Pippi Långstrump-or Pippi  Longstocking in English. Pippi, a  creation of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, is an impish and rebellious teenage girl, who ignores adult conventions and shows scant respect for her elders-a bit more cheerful than Greta, perhaps, but outrageous nonetheless. At least Pippi can smile and have fun.

Maybe it was a bad comparison. Greta is a sad figure. She reportedly has some psychological issues (according to her mother), and they appear to be on full display in her angry public appearances. One should dread the future of this girl. She and her parents have been photographed wearing black Antifa t-shirts. That should give you a clue.

It is easy to not like Greta or make fun of her, but the tragedy and the crime, if you will, is that adults have thrust her on this stage-a stage she is not equipped to handle. And she is not the only one. In the US this past week, she shared the spotlight with other teenagers who have been prepped and indoctrinated into believing that certain adults have stolen their future from them, and only they can save the world from Climate Change.

In truth, in Greta's case, that is partly true. In her native Sweden, everyone's future is being stolen by its national leaders who have imported hundreds of thousands of so-called asylum-seekers, almost all Islamic, who are turning the country into a dangerous hellhole. It is already the rape capital of Europe, and I hope Greta will not soon become just another statistic.

But I guess we won't see Greta complain about that problem anytime soon because she is obviously surrounded  both in and out of her home by leftist activists. But more to the point, it is dangerous to put adolescent children in the public spotlight. Hollywood's history is littered with examples of child actors who couldn't handle the fame and became wrecks in their adulthood. Now some are talking about giving this girl a Nobel prize. I hope it doesn't happen, not only because it would make a joke out of the Nobel prize itself (Oh wait! It already is), but it would be one more weight that Greta would have to carry on her shoulders the rest of her life. The best thing that can happen for Greta Thunberg is to go back to school, get treatment for whatever ails her, and be forgotten-if the leftist adults and Climate Change crazies will let her.