Greta Thunberg is the greatest of heroes to me, yet I'm sure that she wouldn't see herself that way.
I have followed her ever since early publicity brought her to my attention. The documentary was superb and if anyone watched it without being moved, I cannot understand why not.
Greta is a smart, caring, courageous young woman whose ability to articulate why and what we need to do if we are to save this planet - and indeed humanity - from destruction, puts many of our supposed leaders to shame.
It is noticeable to me that those who most retort to denigration and abuse not only of her activism and views but of her person, are self exposed bigots whose claim to fame arises only from the mass-media exposure of their infamy and the support of ignorant, uneducated, simplistic or ill-advised others who are also bigots. These people all expose themselves for what they are because they rarely suggest any rational alternative to what they oppose, instead choosing simply to denigrate it & mostly, those who support it.
I am also abused but for a different reason and I have no claim to fame or brilliance as has Greta. I am simply a 75 year old male born in the first good English summer following the end of World War II. As such I am regularly derided by many as someone described as a 'boomer' or 'old, white, misogynist' or similar derogatory generalisation.
Yes, I may be past my use-by date but I can't accept such designations as appropriate for I have never intentionally derogated any woman for being a woman nor seen their sex as limiting their physical or mental abilities.
On the contrary, my heroes have almost always been and are women. I say heroes, meaning individuals that have displayed insight, kindness, compassion, creativity, courage and the willingness and ability to stand against the powerful - in whatever guise- and against common norms, accepted through conditioning of governments, institutions and religion, and expose their failure. These heroes also do so not by simply slanging or abusing those who disagree with them but by showing the failings that they oppose and modelling and outlining the actions and steps towards solving the issues about which they are active.
Caroline Chisholm, Harriet Tubman, Jane Goodall, Naomi Wolf, Grace Tame, Jacinda Ardern, Ellyse Perry, Joan Baez and so many more have taught me so much and drawn awe and appreciation for their varying but outstanding qualities.
Greta Thunberg stands, without a doubt in my mind, as worthy of standing with these other brilliant models of what women are, what they represent, and why we need to hear from see and respect them to a much greater and more common degree than we do.
I applaud you, too, Yael, for having the presence of mind, insight and willingness to publicly admit that you've had to reassess a previous view and to do it in such a worthwhile and articulate way.
