Thanks to those who joined this months book club - Noone is too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg.
Here is a summary of our discussion:
This was a collection of the speeches Greta has made over the past few years. The group found that the speeches contained a lot of recycled content and were a little preechy, however we all agreed that they were much more powerful to watch, especially alongside the I am Greta documentary which is on BBC.
Her speeches are very direct and to the point, but she has done a good job at conveying what the scientists have to say. They are more aimed at the policy makers and people who can make decisions. We would have liked it if she could have included a few more actions and what specific impacts will be to the people she is speaking to so the topic is more relatable to those who don't currently engage with the subject, however it was noted that it is not her place to come up with solutions.
Throughout the book, and as time went on, her speeches became more about moral obligations and duty and she became more worried and frustrated at the lack of action.
We found it interesting watching the speeches, seeing how young she is, in normal clothes in all the grand palaces and castles and it was striking how much she doesn't fit in and how much she doesn't want to be there.
We feel that as she started engaging with climate action by being scared by the crisis she is applying this tactic to her campaign and is hoping that the public will respond the same way. It feels that she thinks that by giving people hope they will be less likely to take action but will instead assume that other people will come up with the solutions e.g. the quote "Hope is something you earn".
The school strikes she sparked have been very effective with 7 million people having taken part and has changed the conversation. Despite COVID this action has moved online which has made it more accessible but less social. COVID has proven that it doesn't have to take a decade to make dramatic changes.
Here is a summary of our discussion:
This was a collection of the speeches Greta has made over the past few years. The group found that the speeches contained a lot of recycled content and were a little preechy, however we all agreed that they were much more powerful to watch, especially alongside the I am Greta documentary which is on BBC.
Her speeches are very direct and to the point, but she has done a good job at conveying what the scientists have to say. They are more aimed at the policy makers and people who can make decisions. We would have liked it if she could have included a few more actions and what specific impacts will be to the people she is speaking to so the topic is more relatable to those who don't currently engage with the subject, however it was noted that it is not her place to come up with solutions.
Throughout the book, and as time went on, her speeches became more about moral obligations and duty and she became more worried and frustrated at the lack of action.
We found it interesting watching the speeches, seeing how young she is, in normal clothes in all the grand palaces and castles and it was striking how much she doesn't fit in and how much she doesn't want to be there.
We feel that as she started engaging with climate action by being scared by the crisis she is applying this tactic to her campaign and is hoping that the public will respond the same way. It feels that she thinks that by giving people hope they will be less likely to take action but will instead assume that other people will come up with the solutions e.g. the quote "Hope is something you earn".
The school strikes she sparked have been very effective with 7 million people having taken part and has changed the conversation. Despite COVID this action has moved online which has made it more accessible but less social.
COVID has proven that it doesn't have to take a decade to make dramatic changes.