„Green” Greta Thunberg Turns Left… and Red

by John Horvat II https://www.tfp.org/greta-thunberg-turns-leftand-red/

When climate activist Greta Thunberg appeared on the scene some years ago, the media celebrated her as a child hero intent on saving the earth’s environment. She scolded world elites for depriving her of her childhood, an act that made her an overnight sensation. Time Magazine selected her as its Person of the Year. Now, as the 19-year-old Swedish activist matures into adulthood, she is showing her true colors. And the color is red, not green.

At a recent book launching in London, Greta shocked some observers by targeting the West’s “oppressive” capitalist system as the cause of all climatic ills. The move is surprising since she has always made generous use of this oppressive system to spread her alarmist message. Indeed, Greta has no problem using the capitalist marketing system as a platform for promoting her new book. She also sees no harm in sacrificing plenty of trees the publishing industry needs to print up books for a mass audience.

However, what surprises many is that this strange darling of the greens would align herself so clearly with Marxist ideas. Part of her effectiveness was her ability to display a naïve childlike attitude that psychologically disarmed those who heard her. She seemed immune to leftist propaganda and incapable of a hidden agenda.

Coming Out Red

As she grows up in her bitterness, the poster child of the eco-movement comes out of the red closet. Her embracing of the left proves that climate activism taken to its final consequences will always lead to anti-Western communist ideology. The various doctrines of the left all eventually merge into one. Catholic thinker and man of action, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, likens this to a thousand individual fires that come together to form the unity of a single forest fire. So also, the ecological cause melds into the Marxist pot.

Thus, “exploitation” of the earth seamlessly becomes synonymous with economic oppression. Greta is now calling for “system-wide transformation.” She rails against “those in power,” which she identifies as the cause of climate breakdown. All these things are part of “the exploitation of people and the planet.” She imagines the system as having “roots in racist, oppressive extractivism (sic!)” that only desires to “maximize short-term profits for a few.”

Greta now minces no words, calling for the overthrow of the whole capitalist system that is “a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world order.”

No Marxist attack is complete without a tirade against the opposition, which she instantly labels as “fascist movements offering easy, false solutions and scapegoats to complex problems.”

All these attacks are read straight from the Marxist script.

A Book Greta Did Not Write

The broadside against capitalism did not get in the way of the business of selling her book. The de-growth activist appeared at London’s prestigious Royal Festival Hall in late October to launch her 464-page manifesto, The Climate Book: The Facts and Solutions. The liberal establishment pulled out all the stops to welcome this book that desires the West’s destruction. Amazon’s algorithms are already hard at work turning this full-color tome into a bestseller. Penguin Press is drumming up publicity as it releases it in the U.K. and worldwide. Americans will have to wait for the official U.S. release on February 14, 2023.

The hullaballoo is all about a work that Greta did not write entirely. Following sound marketing practice, her name is attached to the work. She merely stitches together a compilation of essays from 100 leftist “experts,” which make up most of the title’s content.

Scattered inside its pages are well-known leftists like writer Naomi Klein, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, eco-writer Bill McKibben and French economist Thomas Piketty. However, for the most part, the diverse collection is a who-is-not-who of obscure scientists, novelists, indigenous leaders and other “experts” that make up the closed eco-world of activists peddling their tired narrative of doom. Most people will not recognize the “experts” or follow their pseudo-science.

Finding Merit

The new book does have some merits. It shows that while the leftist experts manifest themselves differently, they all come together to promote a single cause. The book also documents Greta’s transformation from a climate change campaigner to an anti-capitalistic, anti-everything leftist militant.

The launching makes it clear that Greta is a creature of the media, supported by the liberal establishment that she hates. The carbon-heavy production of the work shows how activists break their own rules when it comes to advancing their revolution.

The shame, however, is that it is a waste of good trees…