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Green Ideas #1
No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young activist who has become the voice of a generation
'Everything needs to change. And it has to start today'
In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day. Her actions ended up sparking a global movement for action against the climate crisis, inspiring millions of pupils to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
This book brings you Greta in her own words, for the first time. Collecting her speeches that have made history across Europe, from the UN to mass street protests, No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.
71 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2019
About the author
Greta Thunberg
17 books831 followersGreta Thunberg is a Swedish climate activist who, as a schoolgirl at age 15, began protesting outside the Swedish parliament about the need for immediate action to combat climate change. She has since become an outspoken and world famous climate activist.
She is known for having initiated the school strike for climate movement that formed in November 2018 and surged globally after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in December the same year. Her personal activism began in August 2018, when her recurring and solitary Skolstrejk för klimatet ("School strike for the climate") protesting outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm began attracting media coverage, even though Sweden has already enacted "the most ambitious climate law in the world" – to be carbon neutral by 2045.
On 15 March 2019, an estimated 1.4 million students in 112 countries around the world joined her call in striking and protesting. A similar event involving students from 125 countries took place on 24 May 2019.
Thunberg has received various prizes and awards for her activism. In March 2019, three members of the Norwegian parliament nominated Thunberg for the Nobel Peace Prize. In May 2019, at the age of 16, she featured on the cover of Time magazine. Some media have described her impact on the world stage as the Greta Thunberg effect.
Source: Wikipedia
She is known for having initiated the school strike for climate movement that formed in November 2018 and surged globally after the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in December the same year. Her personal activism began in August 2018, when her recurring and solitary Skolstrejk för klimatet ("School strike for the climate") protesting outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm began attracting media coverage, even though Sweden has already enacted "the most ambitious climate law in the world" – to be carbon neutral by 2045.
On 15 March 2019, an estimated 1.4 million students in 112 countries around the world joined her call in striking and protesting. A similar event involving students from 125 countries took place on 24 May 2019.
Thunberg has received various prizes and awards for her activism. In March 2019, three members of the Norwegian parliament nominated Thunberg for the Nobel Peace Prize. In May 2019, at the age of 16, she featured on the cover of Time magazine. Some media have described her impact on the world stage as the Greta Thunberg effect.
Source: Wikipedia
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August 15, 2020get em, greta
January 1, 2020
‘some people say that i should study to become a climate scientist so that i can “solve the climate crisis.” but the climate crisis has already been solved. we already have all the facts and solutions. all we have to do is to wake up and change.’
continuing my tradition of starting off the new year with some words of action and much needed inspiration (see last year).
i heard about greta thunberg so much towards the end of last year, but i never watched or read any of her speeches. i shouldnt be so surprised that someone so young can radiate such passion for an important cause.
what i really like is the consistent message across all of her speeches, which is that she understands the importance of not waiting for political action to fight against the climate crisis. yes, changing policy is important on a global level, but we can also make a difference locally and in our personal lives. this article lists many small ways we can alter our lifestyle in order to live in a more eco-friendly manner. i definitely will be implementing these suggestions to my own living this year.
so heres to 2020, a new year, a new decade, where we can choose to make a difference, protect our planet, and ensure our home is around/habitable for future generations to come.
PS - for those interested, here are links to the text and video of her speech at the UN climate change conference.
↠ 4.5 stars
continuing my tradition of starting off the new year with some words of action and much needed inspiration (see last year).
i heard about greta thunberg so much towards the end of last year, but i never watched or read any of her speeches. i shouldnt be so surprised that someone so young can radiate such passion for an important cause.
what i really like is the consistent message across all of her speeches, which is that she understands the importance of not waiting for political action to fight against the climate crisis. yes, changing policy is important on a global level, but we can also make a difference locally and in our personal lives. this article lists many small ways we can alter our lifestyle in order to live in a more eco-friendly manner. i definitely will be implementing these suggestions to my own living this year.
so heres to 2020, a new year, a new decade, where we can choose to make a difference, protect our planet, and ensure our home is around/habitable for future generations to come.
PS - for those interested, here are links to the text and video of her speech at the UN climate change conference.
↠ 4.5 stars
April 13, 2021
My review got posted on Plant Based News - the world's leading website for vegan news, exciting times!
“Homo Sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.”
It’s been a long time since I felt any hope. Year in year out we seem to only get worse as a species. More and more incompetent leaders are elected into positions of power and we push the planet further and further to collapse and nothing seems to give; yet, these words give me hope. Greta Thunberg gives me hope.
And that’s important. The future has not yet been written and there is time enough to prevent the chaos that is coming our way. Greta Thunberg is an inspiring activist, a leader and a voice the world so desperately needs. This book collects her speeches to date, and they are all very powerful and convincing. She wants us to panic more than she wants us to feel hope; she wants us to recognise what is happening so we can act and prevent anymore destruction. We need to wise up and take greater responsibility for our actions. We need to become vegans and minimise our environmental impact. We need to start caring.
Language is so important, calling what we face by its true name is the key. This is the strongest element of her rhetoric; her simple and mature ability to rationalise and address the problem at hand: the environmental crisis. Because that’s exactly what we face. She has called adults out on their irresponsibility and complete lack of foresight at the European Economic Social Committee earlier on this year, calling those in attendance irresponsible children. Her words work towards shaming our so-called leaders and governments that are tasked with protecting the welfare of their nations. But what’s the point if none of these nations have a future?
It takes the words of a child (the words of the future generation) to get people to listen and they certainly have had a rippling effect on an international level. She’s been nominated for the noble peace prize this year and if she won, she’d be the first vegan to do so which would be a tremendous victory for the movement. I think she really deserves it for the interest and attention her words have given the environmental crisis we face. She has a striking ability to get to the heart of the matter and is without a doubt one of the most influential people of the 21st century. I also love how she embraces her Asperger’s and celebrates the strengths it has granted her, calling it a gift rather than a hindrance. In my experience, autistics are always remarkable people.
So, this is a great little book full of encouraging words and hope, hope that this planet will one day have a future if the world listens and starts caring. Greta Thunberg does, indeed, prove the sentiment her book title evokes: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.
___________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree
__________________________________
“Homo Sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.”
It’s been a long time since I felt any hope. Year in year out we seem to only get worse as a species. More and more incompetent leaders are elected into positions of power and we push the planet further and further to collapse and nothing seems to give; yet, these words give me hope. Greta Thunberg gives me hope.
And that’s important. The future has not yet been written and there is time enough to prevent the chaos that is coming our way. Greta Thunberg is an inspiring activist, a leader and a voice the world so desperately needs. This book collects her speeches to date, and they are all very powerful and convincing. She wants us to panic more than she wants us to feel hope; she wants us to recognise what is happening so we can act and prevent anymore destruction. We need to wise up and take greater responsibility for our actions. We need to become vegans and minimise our environmental impact. We need to start caring.
Language is so important, calling what we face by its true name is the key. This is the strongest element of her rhetoric; her simple and mature ability to rationalise and address the problem at hand: the environmental crisis. Because that’s exactly what we face. She has called adults out on their irresponsibility and complete lack of foresight at the European Economic Social Committee earlier on this year, calling those in attendance irresponsible children. Her words work towards shaming our so-called leaders and governments that are tasked with protecting the welfare of their nations. But what’s the point if none of these nations have a future?
It takes the words of a child (the words of the future generation) to get people to listen and they certainly have had a rippling effect on an international level. She’s been nominated for the noble peace prize this year and if she won, she’d be the first vegan to do so which would be a tremendous victory for the movement. I think she really deserves it for the interest and attention her words have given the environmental crisis we face. She has a striking ability to get to the heart of the matter and is without a doubt one of the most influential people of the 21st century. I also love how she embraces her Asperger’s and celebrates the strengths it has granted her, calling it a gift rather than a hindrance. In my experience, autistics are always remarkable people.
So, this is a great little book full of encouraging words and hope, hope that this planet will one day have a future if the world listens and starts caring. Greta Thunberg does, indeed, prove the sentiment her book title evokes: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference.
___________________________________
You can connect with me on social media via My Linktree
__________________________________
December 24, 2019
Not impressed.
Rating. We start at 5 stars:
+6 stars: I give it an extra star for the author's devotion to nature (+1 star), young age (+1 star), determination (+1 star), mental illness (+1 star), another +1 star so that she wouldn't cry (or sulk or whatever she does to terrorize her parents) and for everything else that I couldn't give a damn to care to remember or list (+1 star).
-1 star for repetitiveness
-1 star for no solutions suggested
-1 star for boring writing, as she isn't 8 to write so simply.
-1 star for further polluting the world with creating more trash during her protests, using that ludicrous boat to travel (with 2 sailor teams that fly to and fro) and trains and everything.
-1 star for lies: Q: This is not a political text. (c) Of-freaking-course it is.
-1 star for this alleged book not being a book but a pamphlet with some rants.
-1 star for preaching to the choir. We know that all of this is going to hell in a handbasket. We just don't know how to stop it.
-1 star for wrongly stating that we have all solutions today. And at another point rambling about 'thinking cathedrally'. We don't have all the necessary solutions in place and we are already quite 'cathedral-thinking', thank you so much.
-1 star for wrongly choosing the auditory. The influencers and politicians and random public are not the people that actually can do something. It's not about Trump being difficult or Merkel being lazy or some influencer evangelist Nico or Mary or whoever from I don't care where influencing people about lipstick and shoes instead of climate change. It's the scientists who should catch the ball, not about being alarmist but rather about having solutions. We don't have all the necessary tech (clean energy, wasteless processes, zero footprint food, etc) invented and implemented. Almost nothing today is zero carbon footprint no matter what the scientists might claim.
-1 star for being illiterate and subjecting public to her illiterate rants about stuff way above Greta's very limited skills. Going to school and getting some education to be able to actually do something useful might be a way to remedy this: how about inventing some new energy sources (clean and applicable everywhere!), Greta?
The end result is 1 star. Which, frankly, is very generous for this original-ish but pointless rant collection.
Q:
Last summer, climate scientist Johan Rockström and some other people wrote that we have at most three years to reverse growth in greenhouse-gas emissions if we’re going to reach the goals set in the Paris Agreement.
Over a year and two months have now passed, and in that time many other scientists have said the same thing and a lot of things have got worse and greenhouse-gas emissions continue to increase. So maybe we have even less time than the one year and ten months Johan Rockström said we have left.
If people knew this they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m so ‘passionate about climate change’.
If people knew that the scientists say that we have a 5 per cent chance of meeting the Paris target, and if people knew what a nightmare scenario we will face if we don’t keep global warming below 2°C, they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m on school strike outside parliament. (c) People know that, Greta. They aren't illiterate dolts, unlike what you think.
Q:
Because if everyone knew how serious the situation is and how little is actually being done, everyone would come and sit down beside us. (c) Right. Because so many things are solved by sitting down in the middle of the street. I'm kidding. Spoiler: they never are. You have to get your ass up and do things: invent cleaner energy and implement it afterwards, everywhere. Have fun (not!)
Q:
When I was about eight years old, I first heard about something called climate change, or global warming. (c) You shouldn't have stopped developing your skills at that point. Today you would've been able to make sense and maybe some impact. In 2 years you'll be 18, adult and no one will think you cutesy anymore. They'll just relabel you to, well, problematic and will be done with you.
Q:
I think in many ways that we autistic are the normal ones and the rest of the people are pretty strange. (c) There are no normal people. Whatever spectrum or neuromake-up.
Q:
If the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. (c) No shit Sherlock! How? How would you effing live without the computer you printed this BS on, without shoes you wear, without sandwitches you eat, without trains and boats and planes and cars and everything you use to move from point A to point B, without the meds that help you (or not)... Try growing some grain to make it into bread and you'll see what's wrong with this idea and why it's so stupid.
Q:
Either we go on as a civilization or we don’t. ...
Either we choose to go on as a civilization or we don’t. (c) We aren't much of a civilization, frankly. If an illiterate teen is made into some saint maybe we should just stop existing and pave the way to some more intellectually developed civilisation? I say either Greta goes to school, finally, or we don't. How about that? Civilization strike, anyone?
Q:
Are we evil?
No, of course not. (c) Of course we are. Don't kid yourself.
Q:
No one is acting as if we were in a crisis. ...
I don’t want you to be hopeful.
I want you to panic.
I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. (c) So, we are supposed to act like we are in some crisis? Like, scream and run randomly about doing nothing? Is that the illustrious course of action we are supposed to undertake?
Q:
Even most green politicians and climate scientists go on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy. (c) Even your sailors do.
Q:
Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can ‘solve the climate crisis’. But the climate crisis has already been solved.
We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change. (c)Optimistic much. You're misinformed, Greta. Go learn some Georgaphy and Economics and Physics. There are no viable generally applicable solutions.
Q:
But I think that if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school for a few weeks, imagine what we all could do together if we wanted to. (c) Get a billion of headlines or what?
Q:
The real power belongs to the people. (c) Too bad it's not brainpower.
Q:
We know that most politicians don’t want to talk to us. Good, we don’t want to talk to them either. We want them to talk to the scientists instead. (c) Finally. Some practioners needed not theoreticians. You basically need to change everything in our economies. And you don't need to talk about climate. You need to talk about how our billions of people can live without changing it. There's the rub.
Q:
I write my own speeches... I often ask for input. I also have a few scientists that I frequently ask for help on how to express certain complicated matters. (c) Uh-huh. So large chunks of this stuff are what adults tell her.
Q:
During the last six months I have travelled around Europe for hundreds of hours in trains, electric cars and buses, repeating these life-changing words over and over again. But no one seems to be talking about it... (c) Actually, people are. It would have been more nature-oriented not to do that.
Q:
We children are not sacrificing our education and our childhood for you to tell us what you consider is politically possible in the society that you have created. (c) Go and create a better one. Be my guest.
Q:
Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling. (c)
That's a very bad analogy.
York Minster Cathedral? 252 years to build?
Sagrada Famiglia? Work in progress since 1882?
If so, we are doing just fine with the climate, relax? We are thinking quite cathedrally already, stumbling about at random.
Rating. We start at 5 stars:
+6 stars: I give it an extra star for the author's devotion to nature (+1 star), young age (+1 star), determination (+1 star), mental illness (+1 star), another +1 star so that she wouldn't cry (or sulk or whatever she does to terrorize her parents) and for everything else that I couldn't give a damn to care to remember or list (+1 star).
-1 star for repetitiveness
-1 star for no solutions suggested
-1 star for boring writing, as she isn't 8 to write so simply.
-1 star for further polluting the world with creating more trash during her protests, using that ludicrous boat to travel (with 2 sailor teams that fly to and fro) and trains and everything.
-1 star for lies: Q: This is not a political text. (c) Of-freaking-course it is.
-1 star for this alleged book not being a book but a pamphlet with some rants.
-1 star for preaching to the choir. We know that all of this is going to hell in a handbasket. We just don't know how to stop it.
-1 star for wrongly stating that we have all solutions today. And at another point rambling about 'thinking cathedrally'. We don't have all the necessary solutions in place and we are already quite 'cathedral-thinking', thank you so much.
-1 star for wrongly choosing the auditory. The influencers and politicians and random public are not the people that actually can do something. It's not about Trump being difficult or Merkel being lazy or some influencer evangelist Nico or Mary or whoever from I don't care where influencing people about lipstick and shoes instead of climate change. It's the scientists who should catch the ball, not about being alarmist but rather about having solutions. We don't have all the necessary tech (clean energy, wasteless processes, zero footprint food, etc) invented and implemented. Almost nothing today is zero carbon footprint no matter what the scientists might claim.
-1 star for being illiterate and subjecting public to her illiterate rants about stuff way above Greta's very limited skills. Going to school and getting some education to be able to actually do something useful might be a way to remedy this: how about inventing some new energy sources (clean and applicable everywhere!), Greta?
The end result is 1 star. Which, frankly, is very generous for this original-ish but pointless rant collection.
Q:
Last summer, climate scientist Johan Rockström and some other people wrote that we have at most three years to reverse growth in greenhouse-gas emissions if we’re going to reach the goals set in the Paris Agreement.
Over a year and two months have now passed, and in that time many other scientists have said the same thing and a lot of things have got worse and greenhouse-gas emissions continue to increase. So maybe we have even less time than the one year and ten months Johan Rockström said we have left.
If people knew this they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m so ‘passionate about climate change’.
If people knew that the scientists say that we have a 5 per cent chance of meeting the Paris target, and if people knew what a nightmare scenario we will face if we don’t keep global warming below 2°C, they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m on school strike outside parliament. (c) People know that, Greta. They aren't illiterate dolts, unlike what you think.
Q:
Because if everyone knew how serious the situation is and how little is actually being done, everyone would come and sit down beside us. (c) Right. Because so many things are solved by sitting down in the middle of the street. I'm kidding. Spoiler: they never are. You have to get your ass up and do things: invent cleaner energy and implement it afterwards, everywhere. Have fun (not!)
Q:
When I was about eight years old, I first heard about something called climate change, or global warming. (c) You shouldn't have stopped developing your skills at that point. Today you would've been able to make sense and maybe some impact. In 2 years you'll be 18, adult and no one will think you cutesy anymore. They'll just relabel you to, well, problematic and will be done with you.
Q:
I think in many ways that we autistic are the normal ones and the rest of the people are pretty strange. (c) There are no normal people. Whatever spectrum or neuromake-up.
Q:
If the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. (c) No shit Sherlock! How? How would you effing live without the computer you printed this BS on, without shoes you wear, without sandwitches you eat, without trains and boats and planes and cars and everything you use to move from point A to point B, without the meds that help you (or not)... Try growing some grain to make it into bread and you'll see what's wrong with this idea and why it's so stupid.
Q:
Either we go on as a civilization or we don’t. ...
Either we choose to go on as a civilization or we don’t. (c) We aren't much of a civilization, frankly. If an illiterate teen is made into some saint maybe we should just stop existing and pave the way to some more intellectually developed civilisation? I say either Greta goes to school, finally, or we don't. How about that? Civilization strike, anyone?
Q:
Are we evil?
No, of course not. (c) Of course we are. Don't kid yourself.
Q:
No one is acting as if we were in a crisis. ...
I don’t want you to be hopeful.
I want you to panic.
I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. (c) So, we are supposed to act like we are in some crisis? Like, scream and run randomly about doing nothing? Is that the illustrious course of action we are supposed to undertake?
Q:
Even most green politicians and climate scientists go on flying around the world, eating meat and dairy. (c) Even your sailors do.
Q:
Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can ‘solve the climate crisis’. But the climate crisis has already been solved.
We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change. (c)Optimistic much. You're misinformed, Greta. Go learn some Georgaphy and Economics and Physics. There are no viable generally applicable solutions.
Q:
But I think that if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school for a few weeks, imagine what we all could do together if we wanted to. (c) Get a billion of headlines or what?
Q:
The real power belongs to the people. (c) Too bad it's not brainpower.
Q:
We know that most politicians don’t want to talk to us. Good, we don’t want to talk to them either. We want them to talk to the scientists instead. (c) Finally. Some practioners needed not theoreticians. You basically need to change everything in our economies. And you don't need to talk about climate. You need to talk about how our billions of people can live without changing it. There's the rub.
Q:
I write my own speeches... I often ask for input. I also have a few scientists that I frequently ask for help on how to express certain complicated matters. (c) Uh-huh. So large chunks of this stuff are what adults tell her.
Q:
During the last six months I have travelled around Europe for hundreds of hours in trains, electric cars and buses, repeating these life-changing words over and over again. But no one seems to be talking about it... (c) Actually, people are. It would have been more nature-oriented not to do that.
Q:
We children are not sacrificing our education and our childhood for you to tell us what you consider is politically possible in the society that you have created. (c) Go and create a better one. Be my guest.
Q:
Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling. (c)
That's a very bad analogy.
York Minster Cathedral? 252 years to build?
Sagrada Famiglia? Work in progress since 1882?
If so, we are doing just fine with the climate, relax? We are thinking quite cathedrally already, stumbling about at random.
December 26, 2022
Greta Thunberg is a young climate activist from Sweden. Her protest against climate change by not going to school gathered global attention in 2018. She was even nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
This book contains her collection of speeches. She is the perfect example for everyone that a single person can make a huge impact to change the world in the best possible way.
October 9, 2019
*Unpopular opinion alert* I absolutely hated this little book.
It is a collection of Greta’s speeches, but they are all extremely dull to read, and various paragraphs are repeated over and over in different speeches. This does not mean I find her uninspiring or that I don’t believe in climate change, I 1000% do! But this book is absolutely not the way to go if you want to convince people of your cause. There is background info missing, which I guess you wouldn’t have time to explain during a speech, but since this is a book it would have made it much more interesting if we got more background info on the claims she is making, and the locations/background info on the speeches themselves, e.g. telling the readers a little about the situation and why she was going to speech at a certain location and why that day etc.
I don’t recommend this book at all. Don’t give this to climate skeptics and don’t give this to people that are on the fence, this will not convince them of the realness or the urgency of the problem unfortunately.
It is a collection of Greta’s speeches, but they are all extremely dull to read, and various paragraphs are repeated over and over in different speeches. This does not mean I find her uninspiring or that I don’t believe in climate change, I 1000% do! But this book is absolutely not the way to go if you want to convince people of your cause. There is background info missing, which I guess you wouldn’t have time to explain during a speech, but since this is a book it would have made it much more interesting if we got more background info on the claims she is making, and the locations/background info on the speeches themselves, e.g. telling the readers a little about the situation and why she was going to speech at a certain location and why that day etc.
I don’t recommend this book at all. Don’t give this to climate skeptics and don’t give this to people that are on the fence, this will not convince them of the realness or the urgency of the problem unfortunately.
December 29, 2019
To have achieved more in this age than others in one's life speaks for itself. And an ode to "haters gonna hate".
It can not be put into words how great this movement is. Nobody has so far been able to positively mobilize the youth of the 21st century to such an extent. Spotlighting the topics of climate change, environmental degradation and the stupidity of the economy, as trivialized by the leading media. To describe the positive could fill volumes.
But now to the haters, who unfortunately still have not learned or understood anything crucial.
The cheap methodology used by civil trolls or trolls who elected trolls against Fridays for future is ridiculous and abject. Similar tendencies come from the camps of resigned, frustrated, dissatisfied conservatives. They do not like activism, enthusiasm or the smallest amount change. Ugh, that's terrible for them. So they say things like:
()= inner view
She is too young and politicians have acquired their offices through competence.
She would enrich herself and be a puppet of her parents.
She would be too cheeky and presumptuous toward authorities.
She does not write the speeches alone.
She is so dedicated and full of life. (I, on the other hand, am bitter, internally dead and therefore jealous, but I do not want to admit that, so I hate it.)
She uses mass transit.
She is a woman. (And I'm a misogynist, but I'm not allowed to live it out anymore like in the good old times, just like my homophobia, Islamophobia, ... stupid liberal, progressive, '*+#)
She talks about complex things that I do not understand. (I would have to make an effort, learn and read, to understand, to revise my worldview.)
Etc.
What differentiated and substantiated criticism.
Funny that these are the same people who refuse bitter truths as conspiracy theories. They are so castrated in their thinking that they barely notice anything happening around them, let alone in the world. But when it comes to ranting against a dedicated icon of teenagers, spraying hatred against a young woman, they are great and big and strong. They crawl in front of their political icons and ideologies, but against Greta, they suddenly dare to open their mouth.
And look at their change of heart. First, they rant about the indifferent, just consuming, dumb youth, those smombies with their devices. Their own voting behavior is to copy what mommy, daddy and the coworkers choose, but ok. As soon as the youth begins to put their finger into the sore, stinking sepsis of a wound inflicted on the planet with the help of their ignorance, the joviality mode is activated. "Pat, Pat. Don´t rack your hollow brains full of fake news, do not fill them with the lies of Nobel laureates (except economics), scientists and leading luminaries, fill them with mass media as we do. What does the FOX say?"
As always, revolutions begin when youth begins to be interested in politics. Fortunately, the classic indoctrination mantra, "Give them to us when they are still young and we have them forever." gets a positive connotation in the present ago. Not one of the moronic ideologies of the past, but a movement focused on science, humanism and sustainability. Instead of blind obedience, absurd statutes and pseudo-sciences such as economics, participation in lived democracy, freedom to participate and a foundation of genuine, hard science.
It is invaluable how many people is given hope and confidence for a better future by Greta and Fridays for future. That civil society has finally begun to rise up against the boundless ignorance, incompetence, stupidity, greed, corruption, etc. of politics. It would exceed the possible length for reviews several times to complete that list.
I would go so far as to say that her leitmotif goes beyond the ones of other worthy activists, human rights activists, environmentalists... Because the planet, the climate, the survivability in the future affects us all land not just a fragment of the whole. An important fragment for sure, but just a part. Because a young person managed to wake up an entire generation. It´s literally high time, but not too late to continue her consistent optimism.
And it's just the start, the beginning of something big, unprecedented. Thanks to the digital possibilities, everyone around the world can be part of it. So that all the strengths, competencies, interests and abilities of young cosmopolitans flow together. And that gives me optimism about the future, the only possible option unless one wants to sicken one's mind with the plumes of the dark side.
PS: Please economists, predicts the next crisis. An exact science can certainly extrapolate with a transparent, understandable, logical formula. Otherwise, Alfred Nobel would surely have opposed that you have a Nobel Prize at all ... Oh, he has and never wanted to have one. Did not think that was a real science and just dangerous charlatanry, did you know? The Nobel Prize for Economics came later, why oh why, funded by the Swedish Central Bank. Pleasant, likable guys like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman got it for their great, still perfect working concepts. Do you see it today everywhere? Neoliberalism, jay, sunshine and lollypops! Fully objective and impartial criteria for the awards too. As if actors awarded themselves for the Oscars. Or politicians medals to themselves. Or clergymen canonize themselves.
Dear children of economics, please become reasonable at last. Stop playing with the gross national product and throwing inflation and deflation at each other, that could hurt an eye! And then, when you are afraid and don´t know what to do, you run to the central bank. Behave like adults instead, it´s never too late to learn something substantial. Everyone is special, even you. And how sweet that you keep saying, "The market, deregulation.", all the time, it´s lovely. Please stand between the backlashers and political extremists, next to the religious fanatics, for the group photo. Well, smile now and say "Trickle-down theory". Thank you, and now inside the history books with you, swift, swift to the anachronisms.
The paradigm shift will sweep you away as an unfortunate footnote.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_...
It can not be put into words how great this movement is. Nobody has so far been able to positively mobilize the youth of the 21st century to such an extent. Spotlighting the topics of climate change, environmental degradation and the stupidity of the economy, as trivialized by the leading media. To describe the positive could fill volumes.
But now to the haters, who unfortunately still have not learned or understood anything crucial.
The cheap methodology used by civil trolls or trolls who elected trolls against Fridays for future is ridiculous and abject. Similar tendencies come from the camps of resigned, frustrated, dissatisfied conservatives. They do not like activism, enthusiasm or the smallest amount change. Ugh, that's terrible for them. So they say things like:
()= inner view
She is too young and politicians have acquired their offices through competence.
She would enrich herself and be a puppet of her parents.
She would be too cheeky and presumptuous toward authorities.
She does not write the speeches alone.
She is so dedicated and full of life. (I, on the other hand, am bitter, internally dead and therefore jealous, but I do not want to admit that, so I hate it.)
She uses mass transit.
She is a woman. (And I'm a misogynist, but I'm not allowed to live it out anymore like in the good old times, just like my homophobia, Islamophobia, ... stupid liberal, progressive, '*+#)
She talks about complex things that I do not understand. (I would have to make an effort, learn and read, to understand, to revise my worldview.)
Etc.
What differentiated and substantiated criticism.
Funny that these are the same people who refuse bitter truths as conspiracy theories. They are so castrated in their thinking that they barely notice anything happening around them, let alone in the world. But when it comes to ranting against a dedicated icon of teenagers, spraying hatred against a young woman, they are great and big and strong. They crawl in front of their political icons and ideologies, but against Greta, they suddenly dare to open their mouth.
And look at their change of heart. First, they rant about the indifferent, just consuming, dumb youth, those smombies with their devices. Their own voting behavior is to copy what mommy, daddy and the coworkers choose, but ok. As soon as the youth begins to put their finger into the sore, stinking sepsis of a wound inflicted on the planet with the help of their ignorance, the joviality mode is activated. "Pat, Pat. Don´t rack your hollow brains full of fake news, do not fill them with the lies of Nobel laureates (except economics), scientists and leading luminaries, fill them with mass media as we do. What does the FOX say?"
As always, revolutions begin when youth begins to be interested in politics. Fortunately, the classic indoctrination mantra, "Give them to us when they are still young and we have them forever." gets a positive connotation in the present ago. Not one of the moronic ideologies of the past, but a movement focused on science, humanism and sustainability. Instead of blind obedience, absurd statutes and pseudo-sciences such as economics, participation in lived democracy, freedom to participate and a foundation of genuine, hard science.
It is invaluable how many people is given hope and confidence for a better future by Greta and Fridays for future. That civil society has finally begun to rise up against the boundless ignorance, incompetence, stupidity, greed, corruption, etc. of politics. It would exceed the possible length for reviews several times to complete that list.
I would go so far as to say that her leitmotif goes beyond the ones of other worthy activists, human rights activists, environmentalists... Because the planet, the climate, the survivability in the future affects us all land not just a fragment of the whole. An important fragment for sure, but just a part. Because a young person managed to wake up an entire generation. It´s literally high time, but not too late to continue her consistent optimism.
And it's just the start, the beginning of something big, unprecedented. Thanks to the digital possibilities, everyone around the world can be part of it. So that all the strengths, competencies, interests and abilities of young cosmopolitans flow together. And that gives me optimism about the future, the only possible option unless one wants to sicken one's mind with the plumes of the dark side.
PS: Please economists, predicts the next crisis. An exact science can certainly extrapolate with a transparent, understandable, logical formula. Otherwise, Alfred Nobel would surely have opposed that you have a Nobel Prize at all ... Oh, he has and never wanted to have one. Did not think that was a real science and just dangerous charlatanry, did you know? The Nobel Prize for Economics came later, why oh why, funded by the Swedish Central Bank. Pleasant, likable guys like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman got it for their great, still perfect working concepts. Do you see it today everywhere? Neoliberalism, jay, sunshine and lollypops! Fully objective and impartial criteria for the awards too. As if actors awarded themselves for the Oscars. Or politicians medals to themselves. Or clergymen canonize themselves.
Dear children of economics, please become reasonable at last. Stop playing with the gross national product and throwing inflation and deflation at each other, that could hurt an eye! And then, when you are afraid and don´t know what to do, you run to the central bank. Behave like adults instead, it´s never too late to learn something substantial. Everyone is special, even you. And how sweet that you keep saying, "The market, deregulation.", all the time, it´s lovely. Please stand between the backlashers and political extremists, next to the religious fanatics, for the group photo. Well, smile now and say "Trickle-down theory". Thank you, and now inside the history books with you, swift, swift to the anachronisms.
The paradigm shift will sweep you away as an unfortunate footnote.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_...
August 22, 2019
I don't understand how people find it acceptable to publish a book with 10 identical speeches.
November 18, 2019
This book of speeches by Greta thundberg 16 year old climate actitivest is very thought provoking. It just goes to show that one voice does matter. No matter what side of the debate your on for climate change it is our children and their children who will suffer if somethings not done. They can say all they want about this young generation ,but one thing I admire about them is Their not afraid to stand up and make changes and though social media and YouTube they have a voice!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 6, 2019
Basically, in a world in which a great number of policy makers are loosing their marbles 16-year-old Greta Thunberg is demanding of those “world leaders” to finally listen to the crushing majority of scientists and start doing something reasonable before we loose the one blue marble our all lives depend on.
What the Fuck is wrong with that?
________
[Update 05 November 2019]
11,000+ scientists (and Greta) warn of ‘untold suffering’: World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
What the Fuck is wrong with that?
________
[Update 05 November 2019]
11,000+ scientists (and Greta) warn of ‘untold suffering’: World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency
An immense increase of scale in endeavors to conserve our biosphere is needed to avoid untold suffering due to the climate crisis.
[...]
The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity. Especially worrisome are potential irreversible climate tipping points and nature's reinforcing feedbacks (atmospheric, marine, and terrestrial) that could lead to a catastrophic “hothouse Earth,” well beyond the control of humans. These climate chain reactions could cause significant disruptions to ecosystems, society, and economies, potentially making large areas of Earth uninhabitable.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
August 30, 2022
This book is not a memoir, but a collection of Greta’s speeches throughout 2018-2019.
They are repetitive, slightly tailored to each audience. This was irritating at first, but the repetitiveness eventually added to the impact of her unwavering conviction to do something, to be active.
Yes, Greta Thunberg is a determined teenage activist. Good on her.
She faces down her critics, the climate-deniers, name-callers and bullies. Good on her.
Good on her for appearing to remain strong under the pressure of such nit-picking about her motives, or modes of transport. Yet, all this must come at some cost. I hope she remains strong.
‘She should be in school, not protesting.’ Yeah, right.
She’s telling us not to listen to her, but to the scientists, many times! She questions why the science is being ignored. She does this in a passionate way, and maybe that’s what scares her critics?
Following a year of severe weather events and disasters, I wonder what some of these hecklers would feel now? Certainly, governments are beginning to scramble.
A pocket-size book with a huge ‘ongoing’ message.
They are repetitive, slightly tailored to each audience. This was irritating at first, but the repetitiveness eventually added to the impact of her unwavering conviction to do something, to be active.
Yes, Greta Thunberg is a determined teenage activist. Good on her.
She faces down her critics, the climate-deniers, name-callers and bullies. Good on her.
Good on her for appearing to remain strong under the pressure of such nit-picking about her motives, or modes of transport. Yet, all this must come at some cost. I hope she remains strong.
‘She should be in school, not protesting.’ Yeah, right.
She’s telling us not to listen to her, but to the scientists, many times! She questions why the science is being ignored. She does this in a passionate way, and maybe that’s what scares her critics?
Following a year of severe weather events and disasters, I wonder what some of these hecklers would feel now? Certainly, governments are beginning to scramble.
A pocket-size book with a huge ‘ongoing’ message.
October 8, 2019
"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis.
To all of you who choose to look the other way every day because you seem more frightened of the changes that can prevent catastrophic climate change than the catastrophic climate change itself.
Your silence is almost worst of all.
The future of all the coming generations rests on your shoulders.
Those of us who are still children can’t change what you do now once we’re old enough to do something about it.
So please, treat the climate crisis like the acute crisis it is and give us a future.
Our lives are in your hands."
To all of you who choose to look the other way every day because you seem more frightened of the changes that can prevent catastrophic climate change than the catastrophic climate change itself.
Your silence is almost worst of all.
The future of all the coming generations rests on your shoulders.
Those of us who are still children can’t change what you do now once we’re old enough to do something about it.
So please, treat the climate crisis like the acute crisis it is and give us a future.
Our lives are in your hands."
May 29, 2019
What a feat. Bit repetitive but then so is governments' continuation of ignorance and dismissal.
September 25, 2019
Hej Greta,
Jag gillade din bok - sträckläste den på ca en halvtimme. Fantastiskt att du redan fått så mycket uppmärksamhet. Men som du säger, så räcker det inte med uppmärksamhet och snälla ord. Du vill att beslutsfattarna ska göra nåt konkret. Det gör de inte.
Det är tyvärr mycket enkelt. De här människorna är för det mesta gamla och rika. De räknar utifrån att det inte är deras problem. Innan klimatet kollapsar helt, så hinner de lugnt avslutar sina dagar i den trygga omgivningen som deras pengar fortfarande kan köpa. Du säger att din generation aldrig kommer att förlåta dem. De rycker på axlarna. De kommer att vara borta, det spelar ingen roll om ni förlåter dem eller ej.
Ni har som sagt gjort en bra början, men jag tror det behövs en aningen mera omedelbar insats. Har du läst J.G. Ballards lilla roman Running Wild? Vem vet, den kanske ger dig några idéer.
mvh,
Manny
Jag gillade din bok - sträckläste den på ca en halvtimme. Fantastiskt att du redan fått så mycket uppmärksamhet. Men som du säger, så räcker det inte med uppmärksamhet och snälla ord. Du vill att beslutsfattarna ska göra nåt konkret. Det gör de inte.
Det är tyvärr mycket enkelt. De här människorna är för det mesta gamla och rika. De räknar utifrån att det inte är deras problem. Innan klimatet kollapsar helt, så hinner de lugnt avslutar sina dagar i den trygga omgivningen som deras pengar fortfarande kan köpa. Du säger att din generation aldrig kommer att förlåta dem. De rycker på axlarna. De kommer att vara borta, det spelar ingen roll om ni förlåter dem eller ej.
Ni har som sagt gjort en bra början, men jag tror det behövs en aningen mera omedelbar insats. Har du läst J.G. Ballards lilla roman Running Wild? Vem vet, den kanske ger dig några idéer.
mvh,
Manny
January 2, 2020
How you feel about this book is entirely going to depend on what you're expecting to get out of it. This is not a scientific text, nor is it an in-depth exploration of possible solutions to climate change. This is a rallying cry; a wake-up call to anyone who isn't paying attention to the catastrophic state our planet is in. If you're familiar with Greta Thunberg from the news or social media, you'll pretty much know what to expect from this, and it does deliver.
That said, my god did the repetition in this short book start to grate. It actually rather irritates me how poorly curated this essay collection is; the impact of Thunberg's words starts to neuter itself the further you read, by no fault of her own but because the editor saw fit to include near-identical speeches back-to-back on several occasions.
That said, my god did the repetition in this short book start to grate. It actually rather irritates me how poorly curated this essay collection is; the impact of Thunberg's words starts to neuter itself the further you read, by no fault of her own but because the editor saw fit to include near-identical speeches back-to-back on several occasions.
June 18, 2020
Financial success has come with an unthinkable price tag.
There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.
This is quite a hard book to rate, especially as it's a collection of speeches and not something with a flowing consistent plot. There was a lot of repetition which makes sense in speeches but it really started to annoy me in book from making me think this was probably not the best way to put the message of the climate crisis across. The amount of times I heard 'our house is on fire' for example, did my head in a little.
My main issue with the book however is that it gave no solutions and just repeated the same message: 'stop releasing greenhouse gases.' There was nothing about what the average person can do to reduce their carbon emissions, something that would have been highly useful to read about instead of hearing over and over that it's the fault of large global companies and now future generations have to struggle with the damage they have left. The companies are not going to read this, so to me the speeches in book form seemed kind of pointless and boring at times if I'm honest, to get through. 'We must change almost everything in our current societies', and then she doesn't explain how. The why certainly comes across but she annoyingly explains no further. Instead of publishing speeches, an informative and practical book teaching people how to be more environmentally friendly would have been so much better. Do I see this book as a cash grab? Kind of, and it sucks.
At the beginning Greta states that her speeches are not political statements which they absolutely are. At around 30% she mentions the politics we need are currently non-existent and politicians don't care. Maybe don’t include politics if you said you wouldn’t..?
Don't you think that a 16 year old can speak for herself?
I think Greta is wonderful person including everyone who supports her. There were phrases like 'Aspergers is not a disease, it is a gift', that must be amazing for young people with disabilities to hear as it can inspire them to lead actual change with the many current issues we have in the world. The book triggers an emotional response as you read which I think is what Greta was aiming for, clearly shown with the action that has come from her public appearances and protests. Being only 16 she's got more guts than most figures in positions of power having a sincere want to do things for good. The format and pointlessness of this book just wasn't it.
Although this book isn't stating anything new about the issue of climate change, it is nonetheless a powerful and inspiring collection of speeches from someone with a big heart who aims to change the world. Big love for this girl. 2.5/5 stars.
There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.
This is quite a hard book to rate, especially as it's a collection of speeches and not something with a flowing consistent plot. There was a lot of repetition which makes sense in speeches but it really started to annoy me in book from making me think this was probably not the best way to put the message of the climate crisis across. The amount of times I heard 'our house is on fire' for example, did my head in a little.
My main issue with the book however is that it gave no solutions and just repeated the same message: 'stop releasing greenhouse gases.' There was nothing about what the average person can do to reduce their carbon emissions, something that would have been highly useful to read about instead of hearing over and over that it's the fault of large global companies and now future generations have to struggle with the damage they have left. The companies are not going to read this, so to me the speeches in book form seemed kind of pointless and boring at times if I'm honest, to get through. 'We must change almost everything in our current societies', and then she doesn't explain how. The why certainly comes across but she annoyingly explains no further. Instead of publishing speeches, an informative and practical book teaching people how to be more environmentally friendly would have been so much better. Do I see this book as a cash grab? Kind of, and it sucks.
At the beginning Greta states that her speeches are not political statements which they absolutely are. At around 30% she mentions the politics we need are currently non-existent and politicians don't care. Maybe don’t include politics if you said you wouldn’t..?
Don't you think that a 16 year old can speak for herself?
I think Greta is wonderful person including everyone who supports her. There were phrases like 'Aspergers is not a disease, it is a gift', that must be amazing for young people with disabilities to hear as it can inspire them to lead actual change with the many current issues we have in the world. The book triggers an emotional response as you read which I think is what Greta was aiming for, clearly shown with the action that has come from her public appearances and protests. Being only 16 she's got more guts than most figures in positions of power having a sincere want to do things for good. The format and pointlessness of this book just wasn't it.
Although this book isn't stating anything new about the issue of climate change, it is nonetheless a powerful and inspiring collection of speeches from someone with a big heart who aims to change the world. Big love for this girl. 2.5/5 stars.
January 19, 2020
Apologies for the French, but it's so fucking hard to understand why we can't just get with the program.
What's happening is this. The answers to our problems lie in extremely cheap, low tech solutions. All my reading on this at the moment leads me to the conclusion that peasants in China, India, Africa, South America can do the right thing we can't. Because it's too easy for us. We seem to be so propagandised with the notion that if things aren't high tech, they are primitive.
People. We have to ignore big business, and unfortunately also our governments. Luckily we don't need them. We just need to want to survive and make nature everything instead of nothing.
Written and authorised by an Australian whose country is dying because we are all such total dicks.
The same thing said politely by Greta and her friend:
https://youtu.be/aUCD_24cygQ
What's happening is this. The answers to our problems lie in extremely cheap, low tech solutions. All my reading on this at the moment leads me to the conclusion that peasants in China, India, Africa, South America can do the right thing we can't. Because it's too easy for us. We seem to be so propagandised with the notion that if things aren't high tech, they are primitive.
People. We have to ignore big business, and unfortunately also our governments. Luckily we don't need them. We just need to want to survive and make nature everything instead of nothing.
Written and authorised by an Australian whose country is dying because we are all such total dicks.
The same thing said politely by Greta and her friend:
https://youtu.be/aUCD_24cygQ
June 24, 2019
The only complaint is: some speeches seemed repetitive.
January 25, 2020
15-year-old Swedish Greta Thunberg began a climate awareness strike outside the Swedish Parliament in August 2018. Her efforts have become an impetus for millions of other children to go on strike from their schools and the arousal of a worldwide movement to recognize our climate crisis. This is a collection of her speeches before the British Parliament, the United Nations, the U.S. Congress, the French National Assembly, and other organizations and governments. Greta addresses her critics by limiting the global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, treating this as a crisis, broadcasting the climate breakdown to the world, making unprecedented changes now, reducing the carbon dioxide emissions, and uniting behind the science. A worthy read of how one child can make a difference.
August 22, 2022
The various speeches in this short little book were all pretty much a variation of each other. However they are all powerful and extremely important.
August 17, 2020
Actual rating 4.5/5 stars.
This slim volume collects together a handful of climate activist, Greta Thunberg's, speeches. I had probably heard all of these before, through live recordings and Youtube videos, and yet the passion and the power of her words was not lost on me, in their written format.
These speeches often overlap and some phrases are replicated throughout, but I found these repeated statements only to confirm rather than detract from her plea for radical climate initiatives to be put in place. I mean, we have had lifetimes to alter our thoughts and our actions and still many praise Greta one day whilst living a life detrimental to the longevity of our planet on every other, so I think we can forgive her for a few repetitious statements many seem willing to ignore anyway!
Her speeches promote a radical execution of the lethal way society functions, but we are too far gone for any other alternative to be a viable option for saving our planet. Every single word is a heartfelt plea for action and change, and who are we not to listen?
This slim volume collects together a handful of climate activist, Greta Thunberg's, speeches. I had probably heard all of these before, through live recordings and Youtube videos, and yet the passion and the power of her words was not lost on me, in their written format.
These speeches often overlap and some phrases are replicated throughout, but I found these repeated statements only to confirm rather than detract from her plea for radical climate initiatives to be put in place. I mean, we have had lifetimes to alter our thoughts and our actions and still many praise Greta one day whilst living a life detrimental to the longevity of our planet on every other, so I think we can forgive her for a few repetitious statements many seem willing to ignore anyway!
Her speeches promote a radical execution of the lethal way society functions, but we are too far gone for any other alternative to be a viable option for saving our planet. Every single word is a heartfelt plea for action and change, and who are we not to listen?
October 10, 2019
I could have written defenses for her but I think she defends herself well enough against all the arguments raised against her. If people are unwilling to listen to her before judging her, I don't think they will care to read about her side here. And several reviewers here have already done that.
And I do not wish to talk about climate change problem here either which seems obvious enough. And again a job people like Greta are doing well enough.
There is though one thing I agree on with critics - she should be in school. But then it is because of inaction of grownups like me and you that all those students are out on strikes. It is us probably who should have been fighting for the planet. And, it seems to be only our own unwillingness to look at the darkness in future directly that seems to show in our unwillingness to listen to what she has to say.
I try avoiding use of polythenes rather carrying groceries in hands something getting ridiculed for it and avoid buying hard copies of books and newspapers - the paper of which would be wasted after once I have read them and I, both out of preferances and of lack of options, am entirely dependent upon public transportation. But I also don't at all think that it is enough. The very electricity I used (made out of combustion of coal) and mobile data I am dependent upon for my access to Internet (radatjons harmful to birds) ensure that my personal contribution to nature is a very negative one. A friend of mine, resourceless financially, ran a NGO charity that failed within a year of its operations. But within that one year it had planted 300 trees. Now he was no Greta Thunberg, but he was capable of that. What I do is dwarfed even by that. And I don't think people like me have any right of objecting to the actions of generation who is about to be forced to pick up the trash we continue to leave behind.
The argument of critics that she has no solution to offer is answered by her - listen to scientists, then. After all, ain't it is these very critics who keep claiming she is only a 15 year old. As for supposed destruction of economic system, I don't think present economic system has managed much - even in USA, the pole star of capitalism; there are people starving and not managing enough to meet the basic needs. And this is besides destruction of planet. Neither most of humans nor the environment has survived damanged done by capitalism. What then is so fabulous about our economic system? Humanity is the only nonh-zero waste species of the world - that is how intelligent we and our systems are.
Anyway, it all seems repeating same things that have already talked about several times before. The real reason for writing this piece is my admiration for author. It is admirable, her clarity of expressions - something not easily visible in our political-so-called-'leaders'. She is seeing things so clearly that if she be abnormal (another criticism she has been getting a lot, I mean seriously?); it is abnormal in admirable way. She kind of gets more of my followship than most popular leaders would get out of me (very few speeches ever move me and hers do). If she stubbornly refuses to entertain arguments defending present system and status quo; it is of clarity of vision - of seeing things clearly, she knows that present system is indefensible - an albatross around necks of older generations. I agree that we should seeeverything in terms of how it might help the planet, that we must panic - it is of clarity of vision she asks us to do so. And this clarity of vision is something that people like me won't be able to, being distracted by thousand minor trifals such as the next book. I truly admire such clarity of vision. People like me need people like her to tell what is most important. And if you really think that despite her good intentions, there are some points at which she is wrong (such as littering done by her folowers at her campaign) - than remind yourself she and her followers are still young and doing older people's job.
I do think she deserves a Nobel Prize but I hope they don't give it to her this time as I get the feeling that she has only started and is going to do far much more - things that, once again, really are responsiblity of mine and preceeding generations. And once we have given her Nobel Prize, we won't have much else to thank her with.
But again, may be they should. That should keep her in attention of media much longer. Because I am scared that the powerful are already treating her the way they treat such admirable idealists - as a sort of entertainment. They invite her, listen to her speeches, express their concern about issues raised by her, applause her efforts in patronising ways and then move on to next entertainment in charts. Their merely having listened to her and applauded her efforts is supposed to be seen as their having done their bit (and why should it not be so? How much more do most of us who truly believe in her cause are doing?).
Evil is full of devilish charms but none of those that dark characters in novels show. The people we are talking about are not dragons but Prince Charmings! they are clean shaved, often handsome and well built men wearing suits, looking clean or equally charming empowered women- no blood stains visible anywhere in those tall office buildings - not even under the mattreses, no smoke coming out of factories anywhere in surroundings (the factories are tucked away herr in third world countries). These people commiting highest amount of evil (not giving enough wages to their customers, creating products harmful for environment) are capable of convincing themselves that they are really good people - because so often the sufferings they cause are so far away (both geographically and chronologically) from what they see in their daily lives. And even others might not see the evil in them, after all how many of us hold billionaire businessmen and most disgusting politicians in admiration?
Yes such evil people are really few; but than so are people who can really be called good (Martin Luther King Junior, Greta Thunberg etc). Most of us here (including yours truly) is just dummy, dull, banal people - who easily give into evil in power, look after their own ass by taking jobs that will help powerful keep thier kingdoms; while the dreams of good people rarely move us to only for a few moments of intense emotions. People who are capable of very little good action.
The very idea of 200 species dying every day would haunt a really good person - that is about one specie for time you might take to read this review. A life form that was there on planet for millions of years won't any longer be and might not ever be here again. It should make us loss sleep, haunt us all the time but it doesn't. I think it does haunt Greta though, I think it is kind of thing she can't get out of her mind (so feels compelled to repeat it) and that is kind of reasons why she (or really other activists like her) are better humans than we are or at least I am.
Greta says powerful are counting on technology not built yet. True that (unless conspiracy theory they are hiding those Technologies for personal profits) but also ... I have read and seen some examples of tricks and techniques that provide commendably better resource utilization and waste management (mostly in Japan, though a few are from others parts including India too) with very little effort, cost and not any inconveniences on part of users after they have been put to use but most people for whom such techniques are; won't be moved to make even those slight changes. Most people just resist change.
Unlike Greta, I really don't have hopes for humanity making it through this crisis. However, if my assessment of her is true, I don't think anything will stop her and some of her friends from trying.
And I do not wish to talk about climate change problem here either which seems obvious enough. And again a job people like Greta are doing well enough.
There is though one thing I agree on with critics - she should be in school. But then it is because of inaction of grownups like me and you that all those students are out on strikes. It is us probably who should have been fighting for the planet. And, it seems to be only our own unwillingness to look at the darkness in future directly that seems to show in our unwillingness to listen to what she has to say.
I try avoiding use of polythenes rather carrying groceries in hands something getting ridiculed for it and avoid buying hard copies of books and newspapers - the paper of which would be wasted after once I have read them and I, both out of preferances and of lack of options, am entirely dependent upon public transportation. But I also don't at all think that it is enough. The very electricity I used (made out of combustion of coal) and mobile data I am dependent upon for my access to Internet (radatjons harmful to birds) ensure that my personal contribution to nature is a very negative one. A friend of mine, resourceless financially, ran a NGO charity that failed within a year of its operations. But within that one year it had planted 300 trees. Now he was no Greta Thunberg, but he was capable of that. What I do is dwarfed even by that. And I don't think people like me have any right of objecting to the actions of generation who is about to be forced to pick up the trash we continue to leave behind.
The argument of critics that she has no solution to offer is answered by her - listen to scientists, then. After all, ain't it is these very critics who keep claiming she is only a 15 year old. As for supposed destruction of economic system, I don't think present economic system has managed much - even in USA, the pole star of capitalism; there are people starving and not managing enough to meet the basic needs. And this is besides destruction of planet. Neither most of humans nor the environment has survived damanged done by capitalism. What then is so fabulous about our economic system? Humanity is the only nonh-zero waste species of the world - that is how intelligent we and our systems are.
Anyway, it all seems repeating same things that have already talked about several times before. The real reason for writing this piece is my admiration for author. It is admirable, her clarity of expressions - something not easily visible in our political-so-called-'leaders'. She is seeing things so clearly that if she be abnormal (another criticism she has been getting a lot, I mean seriously?); it is abnormal in admirable way. She kind of gets more of my followship than most popular leaders would get out of me (very few speeches ever move me and hers do). If she stubbornly refuses to entertain arguments defending present system and status quo; it is of clarity of vision - of seeing things clearly, she knows that present system is indefensible - an albatross around necks of older generations. I agree that we should seeeverything in terms of how it might help the planet, that we must panic - it is of clarity of vision she asks us to do so. And this clarity of vision is something that people like me won't be able to, being distracted by thousand minor trifals such as the next book. I truly admire such clarity of vision. People like me need people like her to tell what is most important. And if you really think that despite her good intentions, there are some points at which she is wrong (such as littering done by her folowers at her campaign) - than remind yourself she and her followers are still young and doing older people's job.
I do think she deserves a Nobel Prize but I hope they don't give it to her this time as I get the feeling that she has only started and is going to do far much more - things that, once again, really are responsiblity of mine and preceeding generations. And once we have given her Nobel Prize, we won't have much else to thank her with.
But again, may be they should. That should keep her in attention of media much longer. Because I am scared that the powerful are already treating her the way they treat such admirable idealists - as a sort of entertainment. They invite her, listen to her speeches, express their concern about issues raised by her, applause her efforts in patronising ways and then move on to next entertainment in charts. Their merely having listened to her and applauded her efforts is supposed to be seen as their having done their bit (and why should it not be so? How much more do most of us who truly believe in her cause are doing?).
Evil is full of devilish charms but none of those that dark characters in novels show. The people we are talking about are not dragons but Prince Charmings! they are clean shaved, often handsome and well built men wearing suits, looking clean or equally charming empowered women- no blood stains visible anywhere in those tall office buildings - not even under the mattreses, no smoke coming out of factories anywhere in surroundings (the factories are tucked away herr in third world countries). These people commiting highest amount of evil (not giving enough wages to their customers, creating products harmful for environment) are capable of convincing themselves that they are really good people - because so often the sufferings they cause are so far away (both geographically and chronologically) from what they see in their daily lives. And even others might not see the evil in them, after all how many of us hold billionaire businessmen and most disgusting politicians in admiration?
Yes such evil people are really few; but than so are people who can really be called good (Martin Luther King Junior, Greta Thunberg etc). Most of us here (including yours truly) is just dummy, dull, banal people - who easily give into evil in power, look after their own ass by taking jobs that will help powerful keep thier kingdoms; while the dreams of good people rarely move us to only for a few moments of intense emotions. People who are capable of very little good action.
The very idea of 200 species dying every day would haunt a really good person - that is about one specie for time you might take to read this review. A life form that was there on planet for millions of years won't any longer be and might not ever be here again. It should make us loss sleep, haunt us all the time but it doesn't. I think it does haunt Greta though, I think it is kind of thing she can't get out of her mind (so feels compelled to repeat it) and that is kind of reasons why she (or really other activists like her) are better humans than we are or at least I am.
Greta says powerful are counting on technology not built yet. True that (unless conspiracy theory they are hiding those Technologies for personal profits) but also ... I have read and seen some examples of tricks and techniques that provide commendably better resource utilization and waste management (mostly in Japan, though a few are from others parts including India too) with very little effort, cost and not any inconveniences on part of users after they have been put to use but most people for whom such techniques are; won't be moved to make even those slight changes. Most people just resist change.
Unlike Greta, I really don't have hopes for humanity making it through this crisis. However, if my assessment of her is true, I don't think anything will stop her and some of her friends from trying.
December 15, 2019
Throughout the book or the speeches, Greta insists to be treated like an adult, but most of her speeches begin by saying “I am Greta Thunberg and I am sixteen years old”. Why? Does her age carry any significance? I will value what she has said and criticize it.
First, the hypocrisy is nothing short of mind-boggling. She says, “Even the most green politicians and climate scientists go on flying around that world and eating meat and dairy.” What is she doing? She flies around the world. She is promoting the book of her speeches. Millions of copies of it will be printed on paper, thanks to the death of millions of trees. I mean come on. Stand on principle or do not lecture the world.
Is the book helping the environment? Creating awareness among people or politicians? Suggesting anything new for individuals to do to help the environment? Or does it contain any suggestions on how to educate people? No.
All the speeches are entitled ramblings. No one asked her to leave school to protest. “How dare you?” to impose this kind of hardship on her, she asks. Give me a break. It is her choice and she should own it.
It is not her fault. The hashtag viral culture just catapulted her to fame, even nominating for the Nobel prize. For what? Nothing. It is like a cat distracted by a laser. Her popularity just goes to show “we ran out of things on earth to do”. There are millions of people who are personally, politically, and globally doing things to help the environment, but they don’t get any attention. The things that they do actually work and they do not seek attention.
Climate change is real and she is a terrible messenger.
First, the hypocrisy is nothing short of mind-boggling. She says, “Even the most green politicians and climate scientists go on flying around that world and eating meat and dairy.” What is she doing? She flies around the world. She is promoting the book of her speeches. Millions of copies of it will be printed on paper, thanks to the death of millions of trees. I mean come on. Stand on principle or do not lecture the world.
Is the book helping the environment? Creating awareness among people or politicians? Suggesting anything new for individuals to do to help the environment? Or does it contain any suggestions on how to educate people? No.
All the speeches are entitled ramblings. No one asked her to leave school to protest. “How dare you?” to impose this kind of hardship on her, she asks. Give me a break. It is her choice and she should own it.
It is not her fault. The hashtag viral culture just catapulted her to fame, even nominating for the Nobel prize. For what? Nothing. It is like a cat distracted by a laser. Her popularity just goes to show “we ran out of things on earth to do”. There are millions of people who are personally, politically, and globally doing things to help the environment, but they don’t get any attention. The things that they do actually work and they do not seek attention.
Climate change is real and she is a terrible messenger.
January 14, 2021
Qué importante es tener conciencia ambiental.
➤ "So we can’t save the world by playing by the rules.
Because the rules have to be changed.
Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.
So everyone out there: it is now time for civil disobedience.
It is time to rebel."
Greta es un ícono. De esperanza. De rebelión. De inspiración. Si, muchos la reducen a una marioneta política, un juguete manejado por entidades superiores, pero ¡vamos! Dejen las teorías conspirativas para otro momento, sea lo que sea, Greta Thunberg está haciendo algo necesario: visibilizar la crisis climática y priorizar el cuidado medioambiental.
➤ "Your silence is almost worst of all."
Una causa que muchos olvidan, pero que a todos les compete. ¿Que Greta habla pero no ofrece soluciones? Primero, apenas es una adolescente, segundo, parece que se hablara de una causa que plantea ella y su grupo, algo ajeno, cuando nos afecta A TODOS: todos debemos colaborar en una solución, todos deberían estar interesados. El compromiso debe ser comunitario: desde las grandes cosas, como las políticas gubernamentales, hasta los pequeños detalles, como apagar la luz si no la utilizas o evitar el derroche de agua. Si no te importa el ambiente, ni tu futuro, es una decisión personal, pero el problema es que, al dañarlo, no solo estás afectando tu futuro, sino el de otros.
➤ “And I am sorry, but saying everything will be all right while continuing doing nothing at all is just not hopeful to us. In fact, it's the opposite of hope. And yet this is exactly what you keep doing.”
Supongo que no hace falta aclarar mi interés por la causa, de hecho, hasta soy vegetariano. Pero, tal como el título de este libro dice, nadie es tan pequeño para hacer una diferencia. Desde lo básico y más "tonto" posible, puede significar una mejora. Y creo que todos quieren pensar en un futuro no colapsado.
➤ "The real power belongs to the people"
Entonces, ¿por qué solo tres estrellas? Si nos enfocamos en que esto es un libro, creo que se puede encontrar/realizar obras literarias del tópico más sólidas. Seamos claros, esto no es una novela ni tampoco un texto académico, es simplemente una colección de los discursos que Greta dio a lo largo de estos años. Y sí, es repetitivo, porque cada uno se da en días y lugares diferentes.
Me quedo con su mensaje, con su pasión ysu NUESTRA causa.
➤ "So we can’t save the world by playing by the rules.
Because the rules have to be changed.
Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.
So everyone out there: it is now time for civil disobedience.
It is time to rebel."
Greta es un ícono. De esperanza. De rebelión. De inspiración. Si, muchos la reducen a una marioneta política, un juguete manejado por entidades superiores, pero ¡vamos! Dejen las teorías conspirativas para otro momento, sea lo que sea, Greta Thunberg está haciendo algo necesario: visibilizar la crisis climática y priorizar el cuidado medioambiental.
➤ "Your silence is almost worst of all."
Una causa que muchos olvidan, pero que a todos les compete. ¿Que Greta habla pero no ofrece soluciones? Primero, apenas es una adolescente, segundo, parece que se hablara de una causa que plantea ella y su grupo, algo ajeno, cuando nos afecta A TODOS: todos debemos colaborar en una solución, todos deberían estar interesados. El compromiso debe ser comunitario: desde las grandes cosas, como las políticas gubernamentales, hasta los pequeños detalles, como apagar la luz si no la utilizas o evitar el derroche de agua. Si no te importa el ambiente, ni tu futuro, es una decisión personal, pero el problema es que, al dañarlo, no solo estás afectando tu futuro, sino el de otros.
➤ “And I am sorry, but saying everything will be all right while continuing doing nothing at all is just not hopeful to us. In fact, it's the opposite of hope. And yet this is exactly what you keep doing.”
Supongo que no hace falta aclarar mi interés por la causa, de hecho, hasta soy vegetariano. Pero, tal como el título de este libro dice, nadie es tan pequeño para hacer una diferencia. Desde lo básico y más "tonto" posible, puede significar una mejora. Y creo que todos quieren pensar en un futuro no colapsado.
➤ "The real power belongs to the people"
Entonces, ¿por qué solo tres estrellas? Si nos enfocamos en que esto es un libro, creo que se puede encontrar/realizar obras literarias del tópico más sólidas. Seamos claros, esto no es una novela ni tampoco un texto académico, es simplemente una colección de los discursos que Greta dio a lo largo de estos años. Y sí, es repetitivo, porque cada uno se da en días y lugares diferentes.
Me quedo con su mensaje, con su pasión y
April 18, 2020
"This is all about an emergency, and not just any emergency. This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced."
Greta Thunberg is not speaking about the pandemic, although there are many similarities. The world sees the travesties of this current emergency because it is so 'in the face'. But if everyone put the puzzle pieces of global warming together - rising temperatures, increase occurrence of droughts, floods, and wildfires, the melting polar cap, and more, maybe the immediate need for action would be apparent.
I found this book of speeches sad in so many ways. It is sad that such a young girl must worry about the environment her children will live in, sad that the message is not being shouted by more adults, sad because some national leaders are allowing this dire forecast to happen sooner than the scientists have predicted. As James Freeman Clarke said in 1870, "A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman of the nest generation." It is as true now as it was then.
Other quotes
"We live in a strange world where everyone can choose their own reality and buy their own truth."
"We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases."
Greta Thunberg is not speaking about the pandemic, although there are many similarities. The world sees the travesties of this current emergency because it is so 'in the face'. But if everyone put the puzzle pieces of global warming together - rising temperatures, increase occurrence of droughts, floods, and wildfires, the melting polar cap, and more, maybe the immediate need for action would be apparent.
I found this book of speeches sad in so many ways. It is sad that such a young girl must worry about the environment her children will live in, sad that the message is not being shouted by more adults, sad because some national leaders are allowing this dire forecast to happen sooner than the scientists have predicted. As James Freeman Clarke said in 1870, "A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman of the nest generation." It is as true now as it was then.
Other quotes
"We live in a strange world where everyone can choose their own reality and buy their own truth."
"We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases."
March 10, 2020
Worth reading and thinking over, but understandably a little repetitive.
May 23, 2021
Greta Thunberg and her passion for environmental justice is beyond description!
This collection of speeches is exactly what we all need. To bring attention to and confront these major issues of climate crisis and do all we can to create a change!
One of the greatest messages Greta brought to our attention, is that we can't do this alone! This is our house and "it's burning." We need to put the fire out together!
An absolute inspiration!
This collection of speeches is exactly what we all need. To bring attention to and confront these major issues of climate crisis and do all we can to create a change!
One of the greatest messages Greta brought to our attention, is that we can't do this alone! This is our house and "it's burning." We need to put the fire out together!
An absolute inspiration!
June 4, 2019
I applaud Greta Thunberg. A short, sobering, necessary read.
March 4, 2020
I admire Greta a great deal. I am in awe at how gracefully she shoulders the burden that was unrightfully put upon her. When she started striking in August 2018, she could not have fathomed that her actions would inspire millions of others to join her and her cause. But with that rise to world fame, Greta has become a target for critics and trolls. I am absolutely disgusted by the hatred and threats, the misogyny and condescending attitudes that she has to deal with every single day. No one should be called a "bitch" or a "retard", least of all a 17-year-old girl.
It was interesting to see that Greta uses certain "catch phrases" that turn up in almost all of her speeches. There's definitely a repetitiveness in most of them; which is sadly not surprising because nothing has changed in politics, and it seems like Greta is preaching to the void, and has to repeat her demands on every occasion. So, even though I understand why most speeches are simply just a variation of one another, I don't necessarily think that this book was put together that well. To be quite frank, there's nothing new that we learn in these speeches. Sure, I agree with everything that Greta says (with the exception of already having "all the facts and solutions", it's not as simple as that, especially if you take social justice into account), but that doesn't mean that I have to give this collection of her speeches five stars.
From a publishing and literary standpoint, this book should've either been longer or provided more insight into the movement or the ins-and-outs of the climate crisis and possible solutions ... because just having Greta's short speeches isn't enough, and no one will learn anything from them. Again, that's not Greta's fault, I just think it's an odd choice to publish this little book in this way.
“Homo Sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.”I stand with Greta. I stand with Fridays For Future. That's why I decided to pick up this little book of her speeches; on top of that, Greta is known for her straightforward speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she urges immediate action to address the climate crisis. I was really looking forward to analysing her rhetoric.
It was interesting to see that Greta uses certain "catch phrases" that turn up in almost all of her speeches. There's definitely a repetitiveness in most of them; which is sadly not surprising because nothing has changed in politics, and it seems like Greta is preaching to the void, and has to repeat her demands on every occasion. So, even though I understand why most speeches are simply just a variation of one another, I don't necessarily think that this book was put together that well. To be quite frank, there's nothing new that we learn in these speeches. Sure, I agree with everything that Greta says (with the exception of already having "all the facts and solutions", it's not as simple as that, especially if you take social justice into account), but that doesn't mean that I have to give this collection of her speeches five stars.
From a publishing and literary standpoint, this book should've either been longer or provided more insight into the movement or the ins-and-outs of the climate crisis and possible solutions ... because just having Greta's short speeches isn't enough, and no one will learn anything from them. Again, that's not Greta's fault, I just think it's an odd choice to publish this little book in this way.
“I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”With that being said, I still enjoyed reading her speeches because Greta uses comparisons and imagery quite well, and it is refreshing to hear from someone who confirms the urgency of the crisis and who allows herself to see everything in black-and-white.
March 6, 2022
Greta Thunberg is such an incredibly smart and fierce advocate for Climate Change. The speeches she is giving, she is only 16 years old. Yet, she is correct, we listen, are moved by her unique voice for change, then go back to doing something else. We owe her more and all our children more. Greta does not sleep and is worried because ‘Our House is on Fire’ and when that happens we know it is a Crisis and to Not let it burn down and Think later about how to rebuild it.
It is time to listen, be brave as she is and insist that Global Climate Change be addressed in a serious and immediate way. This is a teenager who is speaking around the world for us. She got kids around the world to miss a day of school to fight and work for Climate CO2 Reduction. This must be done.
So, today I read one of my favorite quotes by Nelson Mandela, ‘’Courage is not the Absence of Fear, but the Triumph over it” Greda certainly understands this. I think it’s time to try and be as Brave, too. Children need to have a safe future. We can do this, but we must know it will not be easy. Yet, it needs to be done.
Amazing, how powerful this girl speaks. Takes my breath away. One person can change the world and she already has. What happens next is in our hands, not hers. Still, Go Greda!
It is time to listen, be brave as she is and insist that Global Climate Change be addressed in a serious and immediate way. This is a teenager who is speaking around the world for us. She got kids around the world to miss a day of school to fight and work for Climate CO2 Reduction. This must be done.
So, today I read one of my favorite quotes by Nelson Mandela, ‘’Courage is not the Absence of Fear, but the Triumph over it” Greda certainly understands this. I think it’s time to try and be as Brave, too. Children need to have a safe future. We can do this, but we must know it will not be easy. Yet, it needs to be done.
Amazing, how powerful this girl speaks. Takes my breath away. One person can change the world and she already has. What happens next is in our hands, not hers. Still, Go Greda!
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