Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Greta Thunberg Is Her Parents’ Failure

Greta Thunberg Is Her Parents’ Failure

Greta Thunberg Is Her Parents’ Failure
Climate change teen activist Greta Thunberg is the left’s current darling. They adore everything she’s doing.

From giving angry, anxiety-ridden speeches to adults

… to giving the President of the United States the stink eye while Democratic candidates squee with giddy glee.


And when actual adults ask legitimate question about Greta Thunberg – what about her autism spectrum disorder? What about her education? Where are her parents? – the left does a collective “shhhhhhhhh!” and proclaims how brave and noble and wise this 16 year old girl is.
Yeah, I have a daughter who is about to turn 16. And I parent not one, but two, boys on the autism spectrum. So you’ll forgive me if I feel a need to put forth a correction. Not to Greta Thunberg. This is for her parents.
Malena Ernman and Svante Thunberg – you have failed your daughter in almost every way imaginable. My pity for her is laced with my contempt for you.
You allowed an impressionable young girl with autism and depression to work herself into an obsessive state over something she cannot control. I hate to break it to you, but no one person on this earth can control the climate any more than they can control the weather.
When Greta began obsessing over climate change and by her own admission, fell into a depression so deep that she couldn’t eat, what did you do?
SVANTE THUNBERG: Yeah. She made us realize that we were these parents, you know, standing up for human rights and refugees and right and wrong and all these things. And we were really fighting for that. And then she said, you know, “Whose human rights are you standing up for?” You know, when my wife, for instance, went to Japan to make concerts and being on Japanese TV—you know, very important. You know, it was a good reason to travel across the world to do that. But when she got home, you know, Greta sort of worked out how much—how many tons of carbon dioxide she had spent on that and how many people’s carbon budget that was living in West Africa, for instance. So, she basically, you know, confronted us with that. You know, “Whose human rights are you standing up for, when you are draining the world’s resources, the functioning atmosphere, for instance?” And so we basically realized, in the end, after a couple of years of her going on about it, that we had to change. You know, we had to stop doing these things. And that really had an enormous effect. She made her much more happy. And she changed a lot with that. So, yeah.”
You allowed a child to become a dictator in your own home. You are fools.
Let me speak from my own experience. Autism is a wonderful and terrible lens through which to view the world. My personal life is a kaleidoscope of great joys and hard work tempered with struggle. My sons have taught me so much, but before there was even a diagnosis to put a name to what we were seeing, I knew my first duty. And that was to be A PARENT. I set the rules, I set the schedule, I set the expectations. If I did not, my ASD sons and their obsessions would rule our home – which means I would be digging a basement to create a Batcave, installing a giant saltwater tank to own some carpet sharks, and allowing YouTube to play the 20th Century Fox fanfare on a constant loop. Does that sound healthy?
Instead, Greta Thunberg’s word became law in her own home. You allowed her to dictate the family diet when she became vegan. You allowed her to kill her mother’s opera career because it involved plane travel. You allowed her to stop her father’s acting career. You have allowed her anxieties to run rampant, and you’ve let her think that if she can just keep talking and shouting and protesting, she can convince the Western world to change their laws regarding carbon emissions. If Greta Thunberg had her way, the West would be full of modern Luddites. And because she forced you to stop your careers, you now profit off her activism.
And China and India continue to laugh in Greta’s face and go their merry way. You see, she isn’t yelling at them about all the carbon they produce. Why is that? Is it because she doesn’t speak their language? Is is because Asian cultures tend to not take child activists seriously because, well, they are children?
Here’s another hard, honest question for Malena and Svante: what kinds of therapy has Greta participated in due to her autism spectrum disorder? Any decent behavioral therapist would have helped her address her obsessions, compulsions, and anxieties – if not with something like ABA, then with another kind of qualified therapist. Has she done any ABA? Sweden has universal health care – are there appropriate therapists available in Sweden for mental and behavioral health? Was therapy even an option for Greta in your health care system? And who is writing Greta’s speeches? English is not her first language, yet she has given many speeches in English. Does she have a proofreader? A ghostwriter? A grammar consultant? Or does she write everything in Swedish and then hope Google Translate is good enough? Her anxiety and autism are evident in her speech – has she had practice in speaking in public? Any speech therapy work? Or is she just out there, shaking in front of the cameras, because her obsession and anxieties have convinced you that it’s more real and authentic (and profitable) if you put a ASD teenager in public to yell at adults?
And did you know Greta has a sister, Beata? My heart hurts for her, because their parents have been cowed by one child to the detriment of the other.
So, here we are, with Greta Thunberg standing in front of the cameras, proclaiming that her dreams and her childhood have been “stolen” from her.
I’m sorry, WE didn’t do that, Greta. Your parents, in failing their first duty as a parent, stole your childhood. In not setting boundaries, they let you become a tiny tyrant. In not getting you appropriate therapy, they let you fall victim to your own depression and anxiety. By not appropriately redirecting your autism-focused obsession, they have let you become this – a child who is shunning a full education because you think you know everything there is to know about your chosen subject. They have failed you as parents, and are now unleashing you on the rest of us.
It’s time for everyone to say the word that Greta Thunberg never heard from her own parents: NO.
Featured image: Greta Thunberg (screenshot via NBC News on YouTube)

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