Waiters and Activists

Some of us wait for change to happen and then respond; others take the lead and create change. If you are a waiter, you may wait too long and lose touch with the reality around you. You may think you will be ready to respond, but you can get distracted or lazy or indifferent. Some wait because they are afraid or think their efforts will not make a difference.

Activists see a need and do something. Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish school girl, is definitely an activist. She sees the climate crisis and decided to take action. She went on a school strike and is credited with raising global awareness of the risks posed by climate change and with holding governments accountable for their lack of action on the climate crisis.

On September 21, Thunberg led an international climate strike with over four million participants around the world responding. Most of them were young people who feel that adults are standing by just waiting for the world to destroy itself with gas emissions, plastic waste, and destruction of ecosystems.

In her speech to the United Nations this week Thunberg minced no words:“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?"


She believes politicians are taking away young people's future by pretending that there is enough time to save the planet, that things are not as dire as they seem to environmental scientists. This is no time to wait and see. Unless we begin to make big changes now, it may well be too late. Recycling is a beginning, but it is not enough. Conversion to solar and wind energy on a wide scale basis will help, but it is still not enough. We need a whole new mindset on how to live in a way that will guarantee clean water, pure air, and more land used to raise crops instead of for grazing, for all people.

We need more Greta Thunbergs to get those in power to act quickly.