No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference - Greta Thunberg

In a world of apathy, voices of reason and compassion shrink day by day. Young people are often erratic, caught in a world of fantasies, and fail to recognise the dangers the planet Earth faces. That there is no Earth B seldom sinks into the minds of people who are recklessly on the rampage to destroy it in the name of development. It's heartening to find a ray of hope amidst chaos and endless destruction.  Greta Thunberg, a Swedish global icon on Climate and Human Rights activism, began her journey of activism, calling it "Fridays for Future" at the age of fifteen in 2018, reminding the world that there's no possible future. Greta's determination and willingness to take on powerful men and women, despite being mocked, have inspired millions of people worldwide. It's no exaggeration to say that she is one of the world's conscience keepers today. "Why should I be studying for a future that soon will be no more?" is the poignant question of Greta. 

Her book No One is Too Small to Make a Difference (2019) is a clarion call to mend our ways and change the course of the world. She emphatically notes that every person counts and "it is now the time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel." Greta stands tall in front of those who cannot possibly think beyond their immediate political outcomes and crony capitalism. An economy that runs on 100 million barrels a day and the sweat of millions to keep a handful of billionaires afloat is essentially unsustainable and unjust. The first step towards resolving the current ecological crisis is to recognise it as a crisis in the first place. Her words, though well beyond her years, come from a heart full of compassion and concern for the planet Earth. The real power, in Greta's assessment, does not rest with governments, however powerful they seem, but with the people. "Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that Homo sapiens has ever faced," and therefore, a collective wisdom can only save us all. Greta is the kind of global leader that all, especially the disoriented youth of our times, need to emulate. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tragedy of Macebeth

Image
Recently I was reading Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth.   The following dialogues are worth mentioning. "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desire." Macbeth before murdering the king.  "Is this a dagger I see before me? I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." Macbeth's guilt is manifested in the form of a dagger. "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" Lady Macbeth washes her hand every quarter of an hour. She sees blood stains in her hand. Her guilt is manifested in this way. She again says: "Here is the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." It was a pleasant reading. There are a lot of things we can learn from this tragedy. There are Macbethian symptoms in our modern age. There are people who live in guilt and die of it eventually. Perhaps Shakespeare helps us to see the psychotic and neurotic tendencies that ...
Read more

வைக்கம் முகம்மது பஷீரின் பால்யகால சகி

Image
  எழுத்துகளில் தான் எத்தனை உணர்வுகள். கடந்து வந்த பாதை யாருக்கும் அவ்வளவு மென்மையாக இருந்துவிடவில்லை என்பது தான் எதார்த்தம். நினைவுகளின் அசைவுகளில் தான் வாழ்க்கை பல தருணங்களில் இனிக்கவும் கசக்கவும் செய்கிறது. நினைவுகளின் அன்புக்குரியவர்களோ நாம் சிறிதும் வாழ்க்கையில் எதிர்பார்த்திராதவர்கள். ஏன், நம்மால் துவக்கத்தில் புரிந்துகொள்ளப்படாதவர்களாகவுமே இருக்க செய்கிறார்கள். மஜீதும், சுகாறாவும் வாசகனின் கண்களை குளமாக்கும் கதாபாத்திரங்கள். பால்ய காலத்தின் நட்புக்கு ஈடேது! “நாம வளந்திருக்கவே கூடாது. வளர்ந்துவிட்டதால்தானா சோகங்களும் ஆசைகளும் உருவாயின”? என்ற சுகாறாவின் வார்த்தைகளில் எவ்வளவு அர்த்தம். “மனிதர்கள் எல்லா இடங்களிலுமே ஒரேபோல்தான் மொழியிலும் உடையிலும் மட்டும்தான் வேறுபாடு. எல்லாருமே, ஆண் பெண்... பிறந்து, வளர்ந்து,  இணைசேர்ந்து உற்பத்தியைப் பெருக்கி... பின்பு, மரணம். அவ்வளவுதான்!” என்று தேசாந்திரியான மஜீதின் மனக்குரலில் வெளிப்படுகிறது வாழ்வின் எதார்த்தம். அழகும் அமைதியும் பொதிந்த வாழ்க்கையென்று ஒன்றில்லை. வறுமையின் கொடுமையிலும் நினைவுகள் ஊடாக மகிழ முடியும், மகிழ்விக்க முடியும். வ...
Read more

Destructive Leadership Has a Cultic Face!

Image
Unprecedented is the word to describe the way TVK stormed into power  in Tamil Nadu  – some might even say crawled into it with the help of other parties in a post-poll alliance - supposedly a state with a progressive mindset, only in comparison with the dismal records of other states. While change is permanent and welcome, the aura built around an individual is a serious cause for alarm. What propelled him to power is not necessarily the misgovernance of the past government, but rather the cult carefully developed around him. Let me decode some of the traits of a cultic figure and impending disaster for all. 1. It’s all about me, and I can make no mistake This, in a way, is a variant of narcissism. Self-obsession and invincibility are dangerous traits in any leader. From the start, Mr Joseph Vijay has consistently manifested a narcissistic tendency in his dealings. He declared that people should consider him as if he were a candidate in all the constituencies. It was ridiculo...
Read more