Greta Thunberg Uses Her Voice for the World and Faces Bullies

To the United Nations leaders, Greta Thunberg, 16 years old from Sweden and reported to be diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (high functioning Autism), uses her voice for an impassioned plea about environmental causes to save the world for this and future generations. In the midst of the plea, Greta shows emotion and speaks directly about the disregard for the environment over money. She earnestly references scientific data. Please Google Greta Thunberg and United Nations speech on environment to watch videos.

Wow! I just learned about Greta Thunberg and was totally taken by Greta’s directness, passion, and knowledge. Similarly, I have long-held beliefs about our moral obligation to take care of the environment to preserve the Earth for ourselves and future generations. While working on my bachelor’s degree, I recall taking a microbiology course, and my professor drew my attention to a petri dish. The professor pointed out the growth of bacteria in the petri dish and compared the petri dish to our world’s environment. He said, “All the right ingredients are there for life. At some point, there will be overgrowth and the resources will be used up. Then, most of the bacteria will die off with some bacteria left to survive.” His words stuck with me. Greta Thunberg’s words, voice, and courage to speak out stuck with me.

Following Greta’s speech, a few more things stuck with me, which were the reactions from President Trump and Laura Ingraham from Fox News. Please Google the responses. All I could think was, “now the bullying of a minor begins.” And, my following thoughts were the old clichés, “Kids say the darndest things,” and “Out of the mouth of babes,” which translate to mean that kids speak the truth even when the words are socially uncomfortable. I imagine that President Trump and Laura Ingraham felt such tremendous discomfort that they had to attack this young woman, a minor.

I commend Greta Thunberg for standing up for what she believes and using her voice in the face of grown adults attacking a minor. Hang in there Greta and keep speaking your truth on the playground of adult bullies.