"Fly if you like, I won’t judge you." – Greta Thunberg

Jan 18, 2021
 

“Fly if you like, I won't judge you” was a statement that Greta Thunberg gave to The Sunday Times Magazine as she turned 18.

This sentence really got me thinking about influence and divisive ideals and opinions. Something we are seeing more and more in modern society in the midst of this Trump era, is the rise of the far right all over the world and more worryingly - extremism. 

The definition of polarising is ‘to cause something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, to divide into two completely opposing groups: “The debate is becoming polarised and there seems to be no middle ground.”’

We have all seen first hand the damage that a destructive leader can do during Trump’s presidency, culminating in the assault on the Capitol Building on January 6th

Radicalism or fundamentalism of any “idea” is never a good path to follow. We need to allow that as humans, as a society, people are going to have different points of view and opinions. Opinions that are regularly born in one’s self from the way we have been raised or the individual experiences of our lives.

We are ALL different, and we should celebrate and embrace our differences, rather than allow them to segregate our society.

Once more, mighty Greta has shown to have a level of maturity and intelligence that surpasses that of many other people much older than her. 

A couple of years back, I had a run-in on social media with a Vegan. I was expressing my desire to eat less meat and move to a plant based diet and explained the tactics and methods I was using.

I was subsequently attacked (because that is how it felt - attacked) by a stranger and radical vegan calling me a variation of insults (that I will not repeat).

My crime? Not being vegan already! The confrontation left me stunned. I understand that for people that have been vegan for a long time, non vegans appear to them almost like “murderers”. We make animals suffer to the highest degree so we can see aisles of meat products in our supermarkets. I get that.

However his attack and the words he called me did not in due course make me stop eating meat, it actually made me resent him and what he was advocating for -which was "veganism". 

This much I know for sure:

To forcibly push your opinion on someone else is NEVER going to have the desired result. 

Society is full to the brim of differing cultures, opinions and ways of living and this is something to be embraced and joyous about. The ability to accept that people think differently from you and to then try and find that middle ground - this is what will bond us.

But the only way to find that middle ground is by educating one another. Education holds the key to a successful society of different opinions that can live together

It is no different when it comes to climate change and environmentalism. A radical  environmentalist that pushes his/her views on others without listening to their arguments, is on a losing trajectory.  

The only way we can bring people to a middle ground of care for our planet and actually achieve a lower carbon lifestyle for millions of people, is through educating them in a pragmatic way. Showing them what it is they can do practically rather than theoretically, helps them understand the basic steps they can take in their own lives without needing a degree in science.

That is how I became an environmentalist. I started to understand that whether climate change exists or not, there is no reason why I could not learn a few things and make some changes to my lifestyle that would help me reduce my impact on the environment in some way. Because at the end of the day, the environment is “my house”, it is all of our houses! It is where we live, where we exist and where millions of other people will exist in the future.

Costa Rica is a prime example of successful environmental education. They prioritise environmental education and incorporate it into interdisciplinary studies across its education system. The government protects the natural areas of the country and ensures environmental education reaches all its citizens.

I can only hope that over the next few years, other governments will follow suit and understand that if we want CHANGE, educating people is the very first step.

 

Raquel

[email protected] 

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