The discussion around climate change is not a new one,
so why Greta Thunberg, and why now? In this video we'll talk through that
question and the rise of social movements, and we'll also talk about what
everyday people can be doing to make an impact on the climate crisis now. By now
most people have heard of or seen Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old climate
activist who - in just a year - has rallied young people and people of all ages
across the world to rise up to take action against climate change. But she
isn't the first, nor will she be the last person to raise her voice on this
important issue. So why has she become the face of the movement and been able
to inspire so many to action, where before it has seemed like progress had
been moving so slowly? In many social movements, we see one person become the
face of the movement, even though many people and groups play a huge role in
driving the movement forward. The reason? The people who become faces of a
movement are courageous, bold, and compassionate to be sure, but sometimes
other factors are at play that cause their face to be the one for the
movement instead of the other courageous, bold, and compassionate people who have
been working for change also. Two factors in particular shape who may be accepted
as the face of a movement. The first is right time and right place. Sometimes the
world is just ready to hear that particular person in that moment in
history, when other pieces have lined up to create the perfect timing for their
message. The second is that it's just easier to digest one person's story. As
humans, we look to simplify complex matters through symbols and stories.
Honing in on one person as the symbol of a complex movement is just easier,
especially when we can see parts of ourselves in that person too.
This month an article in Psychology Today by Zoe Weil, the co-founder and
president of the Institute for Humane Education, took a look at this very
question so that we could understand why Greta Thunberg has become the face of
this movement and to understand how we can inspire others to rise up and raise
their voices too. Zoe Weil had been teaching people young people
specifically for the past thirty years how to be activists especially on issues
affecting the environment and human rights she had seen many others with the
intelligence and the talent similar to grete and had seen them work very hard
on these issues as well so she had some really great insights on why grete might
be taking the world by storm so to speak as she has been one of the most
interesting insights that Zoe Weil had about Greta was her artlessness. As Zoe
well put it, and what this means is that Greta has no desire for fame. She doesn't
desire to be an icon. As Zoe's article explained in a world where so many of us
are social media and status obsessed Greta is only using her social media to
promote her message her cause she doesn't seem to care about getting a lot
of attention except for when it relates to her cause so that level of integrity
has been really inspiring to a lot of people part of this integrity that Zoe
talks about in her article is that Greta isn't claiming to be an expert on this
topic she is instead just asking people to
listen to the science and to heed the science and she's asking leaders and
professionals and scientists with greater expertise than she has to
come up with these innovative solutions because Humanity is capable of them and
there's no reason that we shouldn't be on top of it another great insight that
Zoe's article laid out is that Greta doesn't seem to be on any kind of
political side her only agenda is the healing and protection of the
environment and while we know that certain issues tend to fall on certain
political sides by sticking with them and the mission that the earth is for
all and that we all need to play a role in protecting it there is the great
potential to rally people from across the sides to do something to take action
towards this issue another unique characteristic that Zoe's article
pointed out about Greta is her Asperger's this is a characteristic that
some have felt has been a weakness in years past but by turning it into a
strength she is showing her vulnerability and she
is showing her honesty and her ability to stand up for something despite what
some feel could be an obstacle or a challenge
finally Zoe's article draws attention to Greta the integrity in that she lives
what she preaches so refusing to fly not eating meat these are the things that
she is asking others to do and she lives the message that she is asking others to
heed it is sometimes pretty difficult to live in a way that aligns with your
principles in a world so interested in convenience and comfort that being able
to live in a way that aligns with your principles really demonstrates a
commitment to them and I think a lot of people are drawn to that and find that
very appealing in a world as Greta says this feels so shallow and meaningless
sometimes I want to add a couple of my own personal insights to this
conversation as well one of the reasons I think the world is
so receptive to Greta's message now is that in this world of rampant social
media we are finally getting used to seeing young people lead and take action
on important issues even though they've been doing so for a very long time now
we can finally see it it's in front of us regularly and we're becoming used to
it while social media can lead to feelings of disconnection when you use
it for cause for a message with integrity it can be a great tool at
affecting social change finally in world that is so focused on choosing
your words carefully so that you don't scare or offend people Greta
seems unconcerned with either of those things and it's working to her benefit
while some may be calling her message inciting hysteria many are seeing that
the urgency in her words has truth to it and that her anger and her rage on these
issues is just the honest feelings that are coming out after decades of inaction
on an issue that's going to affect her generation very much Greta is not
worried about inspiring people she's just worried about telling people the
truth even if it's hard to hear and I think a lot of people are sick of being
talked down to being condescended being given sugar-coated messages and there's
something refreshing and galvanizing about that harsh truth but I want to get
into what can we as individuals be doing to act on this message that Greta is
trying to spread Greta focuses her messaging a lot towards policy makers
and leaders which can sometimes feel like everyday people are lost as to what
to do in our daily lives while we are waiting for leaders and policy makers to
take meaningful action so the first thing I want to point out is that every
individual raising their voice in their own City in their own community to their
own network of friends can make a difference if you recall Greta just
started one year ago in 2018 at age 15 by herself sitting outside of a building
with a sign that's it and that had a ripple effect and grew and grew from
there not every social movement is going to
take off and create the change that this one has in such a short period of time
but they're never going to get started unless we try at all so we've got to get
out there we've got each of us be raising our voices
telling our leaders what we need to make a better world the next is to get
educated it can feel very overwhelming and confusing to know what actions we
can be taking in our daily lives to affect what feels like such an enormous
issue fortunately other experts and other organizations have taken it upon
themselves to identify what the most critical moves we can be making towards
this issue are organizations like project drawdown for example in terms of
food our daily eating habits project drawdown has identified that reducing
meat consumption composting cooking over clean oven and throwing away less food
are some of the most effective things we can be doing in our daily lives that's
it just throw away less food and reduce your meat consumption anybody can do
that even in small steps in terms of
transportation driving an electric car flying less ordering less goods that
need to be shipped very quickly these things can have an impact on the
environment as well and each of us are capable of taking these steps at least
in small doses as a start in our homes switching to LED light bulbs or getting
solar panels which are becoming less expensive by the year are really
effective measures that we can each take to make an impact on our environmental
footprint also in our homes using water more efficiently such as doing your
laundry in cold water instead of worm or increasing your recycling activities at
home can make a big impact - there's a lot of work to be done and some of it
will involve policy changes and large-scale changes that we all need to
be talking about and taking action on but there are things we can be doing as
everyday people in our everyday lives from different ways to manage our food
and our households and our transportation that can be making an
impact - I really hope this video helped you out and helped you think more about
social change and the rise of movements and also on a practical matter
how we can make a difference to this specific issue and Greta's message
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