First, there is no doubt climate change is real.  Doubts arise when activists begin to claim climate change is the result of humanity’s ignorance concerning the fragility of the ecosphere. Yes, climate change is real. The questions are how much of an impact do humans, cows, and industry have on the changes, and what are the short and long term prognoses for the planet.

The doomsday crowd may be correct, and the world as we know it could be changed dramatically for the worse in a short time, relatively speaking. On the other hand, the climate disaster crowd’s record as prophets is not impressive. Either way, this piece is about another issue that is being revealed by the climate change debate.

Greta Thunberg is the new darling of the climate change world, and rightfully so. She has done a marvelous job of pushing her understanding of the pending disaster and what must be done to avoid it. In fact, her efforts led to Time Magazine naming her person of the year, as well her becoming the target of some who feel the whole thing is a plot of one sort or another.

Whether Thunberg is a child prodigy or is simply being used by others makes little difference. The fact she is even the topic of conversation and debate points out a long-term strategy of the Left that should have everyone conservative or moderate worried.

Believe it or not, there have been other doomsday prophets in the past. Some with much more credibility than the group for which Thunberg is now the poster child. When I was a bit younger than Ms. Thunberg, I was being trained to defend my family and my homeland from the coming Russian-Cuban invasion.

My homeland defense training was after years of being indoctrinated into the duck and cover practices of the impending nuclear war worries. I have no idea how many times I watched doomsday related news stories. Buildings were flattened by atomic bombs, and communist soldiers marched in parades to show their country’s might.

Not only were my brother and I trained to survive, our dad, like many people today, made money off of the doomsday prepping of the time. He designed and sold bomb and fallout shelters. Since we were in Texas, some of those could double as tornado shelters, but no bombs ever dropped.

While there are similarities between the doomsday cult of the 50s and 60s and the doomsday propagators of today, there were significant differences. For one thing, my brother and I were not allowed to skip school to protest. We were never allowed to organize student walkouts, strikes, or protests, and if we had tried, no one would have paid much attention. Which brings this back to Ms. Thunberg and others.

The word exploitation is used in the title of this piece for two reasons. One is to get a potential reader’s attention. The other is to bring up a potential problem Greta Thunberg represents, whether she or anyone else realizes it.

The extremes of both the Left and the Right exploited the likes of Ms. Thunberg for decades, if not longer. The World War II era was the time of Hitler Youth and teenage Kamikaze pilots. Earlier in the 20th Century, it was the Soviet Youth and Communist youth movements. In more modern times, we have teen and younger, terrorists, and soldiers. These and other examples show impressionable youth can be utilized effectively to help bring about radical change, whether they know what they are doing or not.

The current movement, of which Thunberg is the staring example, has been in motion since at least the 1980s. That is when I first became aware the Left in this country is attempting to change practices and laws to bring the likes of Greta into the world of adults and politics. Their goal is to lower the voting age to sixteen, and Ms. Thunberg is a stellar example of why they wish to make such a change.

What I will say now, will label me an “adultist” in the eyes of many of my old friends and associates in higher education. By that, they will mean I am engaging in adultism by implying a sixteen-year-old should not have the same rights as a fifty-year-old. Especially when it comes to voting and political activities.

Whether anyone is purposefully exploiting Ms. Thunberg is not the question. She is being used, even though at the moment, she probably feels she is empowered and in control. To her credit, she appears to be handling the spotlight and notoriety very well, either that or she has the best puppeteer behind her anyone has ever seen. Still, she is the poster child for two positions on this issue.

First, and the one most important to those who applaud her current notoriety and role, she is representing their position of climate change doom. Not only is she doing so, but she is doing it with passion and elegance far beyond her years. Second, she is precisely why the idea of lowering the voting age to sixteen or further emancipating teenagers wholesale is dangerous.

Someone has frightened this child to the point of near hysteria. Now, they are manipulating her, keeping her agitated. Too, it seems they do not care about the long term effect of her involvement in their doomsday view of the world.

Of course, Ms. Thunberg is not your average sixteen-year-old. She is, reportedly, a sixteen-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome. A syndrome her mother flippantly calls her “superpower,” which likely means her mother does not understand the danger of that superpower.

Whether she is being used or simply allowed to act on her own, Ms. Thunberg’s behavior should be concerning. It should be especially bothersome to her parents or anyone with any knowledge of special needs individuals. For example, one effect of Asperger’s is increased anxiety and depression.

Ms. Thunberg has displayed both of these in spades during her public presentations. These characteristics and others may lead to uncertain outcomes for a person with Asperger’s. I will not mention them here, but anyone with interest in the matter can easily find them. Here, let’s just say it does not bode well for someone in Ms. Thunberg’s position, should she fall out of favor with her supporters and fans.

Personally, the circumstantial evidence surrounding Greta Thunberg’s rise to notoriety leads me to believe she is being used. Admittedly, there is no definitive evidence that is the case. Still, the idea that a sixteen-year-old special needs child could orchestrate her rise to fame seems a bit far-fetched. If she is being used, those manipulating here are playing a dangerous game with her physical and mental well-being.

© oneoldcop.com – 2019