Greta Thunberg vs. The World

For the past year, a young Aspie kid has been holding the western world to a halt; she just united nearly half a million people a few miles away from where I am writing this. She has been pointing her finger at our leaders, at their lack of laws concerning climate.

This wonderful teen has been using her super power, her Aspie power. “But Miss M, how is being in the spectrum, being an Aspie, a super power?” You might ask?

Let me invite you in my own personal world: my eldest son is in the spectrum. For those unfamiliar with the term, he is autistic. He lives with Tourette’s and Asperger’s syndrome (he’s what is commonly known as an Aspie). He is rigid and obsessive. He doesn’t understand subtleties or sarcasm and won’t back down! He fights for what is right and has his own sense of values and rules. He has problems when it comes to social norms, but has amazing grades! He is not only in regular school, he is in a varsity cross-country skiing program in high school!

Being an Aspie is Greta’s power! She is seeing a flaw in our planet’s leaders, a big one, and she is not backing down. Her neuro-diversity is bringing nations together!

This beautiful, wonderful mind of a younger generation is being bullied and no one gives a f***! I am appalled!

My kid is being bullied in school for being a ginger and an Aspie (We are of Irish and Scottish descent and we couldn’t hide the hair even if we tried.) I am fighting my bullocks off for him, hoping adults in charge will respond accordingly (so far, so good!) Adults have bullied him in the past, not understanding his ticks, his rigid mind.

So you can imagine my horror when I see the internet sharing memes about this amazing 16 year-old worrying about our planet, about its faith to support life, posting her with Emperor Palpatine, as if he is feeding her her angst, her fears, her anger towards our leaders… Or a nation’s leader laughing at her, patronizing her speeches? Responding sarcastically to reporters about her?

Is this where we are as a specie? Not listening to scientists… mocking a kid? I am ashamed!

Whether or not you agree with Greta Thunberg and her message, you should not be jumping on the meme bandwagon against her! She is a person, with her own system of beliefs, her own combats, her own challenges. She has the guts to stand up for them, to face them head on (not behind a screen or a clever caption to a picture.)

When is the last time you stood up for what you believed in?

[Picture Source: Anders Hellberg (CC BY-SA 4.0)]