Greta Thunberg declared war on capitalism. During the presentation of her book in London, the activist described the system as"oppressive and racist," defined by "colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide" and guilty of the current "climate collapse."
While taking advantage of the graciousness of the system that she denies to encourage the purchase of her book, Thunberg called for "a transformation" of the entire system. According to the young Swede, "We need to change everything because right now our current system is on a collision course with the future of humanity and the future of our civilization."
"Racist and oppressive extractivism"
According to The Telegraph, the activist warned that "We are never going back to normal again because ‘normal’ was already a crisis. What we refer to as normal, is an extreme system built on the exploitation of people and the planet. It is rooted in a racist, oppressive extractivism that is exploiting both people and the planet to maximise short-term profits for a few."
Shortly thereafter, Greta would again insist that capitalism "It 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."
Criticism of the Egypt Climate Summit
”We are still here, and we are not planning on going anywhere. Young people all over the world are stepping up, showing that our leaders messed with the wrong generation.”
My full speech from The Climate Event at Southbank Centre this Sunday is here: https://t.co/d9WfUbCwSQ pic.twitter.com/OwZcCxDHXI
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 2, 2022
However, Thunberg announced that he will not participate or attend the Climate Summit to be held from November 6 in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt). "I'm not going to Cop27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited." She also sharply criticized the chosen venue and the planned agenda: "it’s very symbolic that it’s held in a tourist centre - a tourist paradise - in a country that violates most of the basic human rights - and many world leaders are too busy to go there."
Shellenberger dismantles their arguments
These statements earned her responses from intellectuals exposing the contradictions and weaknesses of her discourse. For example, writer Michael Shellenberger paraphrased Greta's statements in a tweet to dismantle her arguments in a thread on the social network.
To begin with, the author stresses that "the capitalist system has allowed for the average life expectancy of humans to rise from 30 to 70." It is also responsible, according to Shellenberger, for producing "larger food surpluses than any other (economic system) in history."
The "whole capitalist system" produces larger food surpluses than any other in history pic.twitter.com/bTzb9Xn0JL
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) November 1, 2022
The communist USSR polluted 1.5 times more than the USA
"'The whole capitalist system' has resulted in declining emissions thanks to the transition from coal to natural gas, and to less deforestation for agriculture. This is proof that Greta hates capitalism for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with climate change," Shellenberger wrote. Moreover, the writer reminded Thunberg that "total emissions in the USSR in 1988 were about 79% of the U.S. total. Considering that the Soviet GNP was only 54% of that of the US, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the US per unit of GNP."
“Total emissions in the USSR in 1988 were about 79% of the US total. Considering that the Soviet GNP was only some 54% of that of the USA, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the USA per unit of GNP.”https://t.co/fHxonqZRyg
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) November 3, 2022
