Okay, so I have decided to start adding my 20 cents worth to some of the issues going on at the moment, largely because I think we all need to put our money where our mouth is (see what I did there?). It is interesting that the reaction from the people Greta Thunberg has challenged to do something about climate change have picked on her albeit under the guise of sympathy regarding her clearly distressed (read unstable) state. My admiration for her comes from the fact that she is thinking critically, possibly due to the fact that she is a product of an education system way more successful at creating thoughtful citizens than what ours is. The whole climate change mess, along with all sorts of other issues the world is struggling with is indicative of the neoliberal society in which we live. Neoliberalism is anti-democratic, where decisions are made purely on the basis of whether the result can be plundered for profit. Critical Theorist Henry Giroux has been writing about this for many years, and he asserts that we need to 'reclaim those non-market values such as caring, community, trust, conviction and courage that are vital to a substantive democracy' (2019, p. 77). I couldn't agree more, and thank young Greta for having the conviction and courage to fight for something that should be a given...a caring and substantive future.
Reference: Giroux, H. (2019). Cultural studies in dark times: Public pedagogy and the challenge of neoliberalism. Fast capitalism, 1(2).
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