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January 23, 2023

Putting on an act: Greta Thunberg and the cult of actors

By Rajan Laad

When Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; And one man in his time plays many parts," he meant it as a metaphor for human behavior.

Little did the Bard know that someday actors would play parts on the global stage and reap fame and copious pecuniary gains from the performance.

Enter the world's most famous hooky player and "climate activist," Greta Thunberg.  She is known all over the world for her infamous scowl and the permanence of her petulance.

She rose to "superstardom" with her "How Dare You?" speech at the U.N., where she accused world leaders of stealing her dreams and her childhood by neglecting climate change, which she claimed had brought the world to the brink of destruction. 

Thunberg became the brand ambassador for climate change, winning fans such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, who called Thunberg his hero.

The story goes that Thunberg heard of climate change when she was merely eight and could not understand why so little was being done about it.  The situation made her depressed, and consequently, by 11, she stopped talking and eating much, losing twenty pounds in two months.  She was eventually diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). 

What Thunberg needed was for her parents to protect her and ensure that she received the necessary health care to live a normal life.

But instead, her parents, both of whom are performers — her mother an opera singer and her father an actor — decided that Thunberg would herself become a performer — not on stage or in film, but in real life.

They allowed vested interests to exploit her situation for their gains.  It is an astounding dereliction of parental duties and a vile abuse of a child.

This has been a ploy of the left.  They use individuals who belong to a demographic against whom pushback can be characterized as bigotry.

In Greta's case, if someone questions her or challenges her, he will be accused of attacking an autistic child suffering from OCD.

During Barack Obama's presidency, whenever he was criticized, the critics would be branded racist by his proxies.

When Jacinda Ardern became P.M. of New Zealand, any criticism of her was branded "sexist."

The left had found a formula to have its cake and eat it.  When it came to wielding power, the likes of Obama, Ardern, and many others are unsparing.  But when it comes to accountability, they belong to a persecuted group, hence they are beyond reproach.

Back to Greta.

Her constant peddling of paranoia must affect young minds because one tends to pay attention when someone of his age is predicting doom and gloom.

This is how the climate cult grows — they catch potential followers when very young and subject them to indoctrination to make permanently paranoid adults.

The cultists don't care about this adverse impact on lives as long as it gains them power and forums to push their "environmentally friendly" products and their documentaries, books, and podcasts on climate change and green energy.

There are global summits and speaking engagements where leaders travel in private jets to shame regular people about using gasoline-powered automobiles.

In the end, it is all about profits.

They sell an expensive product, claiming it is environmentally friendly, and people buy it, hoping to contribute to a worthy cause and a better tomorrow.  This "environmentally friendly" industry tag is applied to products ranging from detergent soap to electric automobiles.  Few bother to verify if the manufacturing process is really environmentally friendly.  They see a tag and believe it.

These green peddlers need a permanent customer base, for which they need the likes of Thunberg.

Thunberg is like amateur actor who plays a character in a semi-scripted reality show, who uses social media as a medium.  Like all social media influencers and reality stars, she needs to keep publishing content in the hope that it goes viral and prolongs her relevance.  While social media influencers receive ridicule for being frivolous, desperate lightweights, the green tag earns Thunberg gravitas.

Thunberg's "How Dare You" speech was a social media stunt on the U.N. stage.  It was frivolous and pathetic, but nobody was allowed to say so.

Only a few, such as President Trump, dared to state the obvious about Thunberg, for which he was castigated.

Thunberg is also an activist for hire, often involving herself in protests that she is clueless about.  

Is she a true believer?

This is hard to say, given that it's unknown if any of the syllables she utters are her own. What we do know is that she seems clueless without a script.

The German police denied the claim of it being staged.

Thunberg was interviewed by reporters about the incident, and once again without a script, she displayed abject cluelessness.

Despite being in her 20s and old enough to engage in crassness on Twitter, the diminutive activist conducted herself like an absent-minded, naïve, and rather ebullient teenage schoolgirl.

She often giggled and used sarcasm when asked basic questions about issues she claimed to care about, which is a sly way of concealing cluelessness. 

Don't be too surprised if Thunberg claims to fear for her life because of the response after the experience.  The video that has journalists towering over Thunberg could be used to push this claim.  Once again, Greta will get away with fraud.

This is how matters have devolved.

From Jacinda to AOC to Justin, pretenders are in positions of power.

What's next for Greta?

Someday, Greta may be elected prime minister of Sweden.  All she needs is the members of her cult in Sweden to vote for her.  Voters often confuse shallow claims for ability.  After that, the charade will continue; it will all be about posing for cameras and amateur stunts leading to blandishments from the media.

But there is a difference between being a social media activist and an elected leader.

Activists manage to con their supporters for a prolonged period because there are no measurable deliverables.  It is all about empty symbolism.  Attend an occasional protest and be part of a viral video, and that is it.

But in the matter of governance, the outcomes are measurable, which means accountability.  A faltering economy cannot be concealed by virtue-signaling or stunts.  This is where their act is exposed.

Do not expect this trend to end any time soon.

Being liberal is a lucrative business. 

Actors say the right things and do the right things, and an entire ecosystem opens up with copious profit.

In the future, expect myriad other versions of Greta, who may make Greta look like an angel.

Image: Screen shot from The Guardian video via YouTube.

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