Nowadays, everywhere you look, the battle cry of environmentalism screams in our faces. That part really isn’t unusual since this is the liberal’s M.O.: if you can’t win the argument with evidence and logic, yelling is the next best course of action. However, this push for environmentalism is now detracting from more important issues, even issues important to liberals.
For instance, teenage activist Greta Thunberg stormed out of nowhere into the mainstream consciousness. First rising to fame by angrily criticizing world leaders at a U.N.-sponsored conference, Thunberg has stolen the show. Most bizarrely, Time went so far as to name Thunberg as their 2019 Person of the Year.
Now, Time has incurred many controversies for their previous picks. After all, this was the publication that named Adolf Hitler as Person of the Year in 1938. They later followed up with Josef Stalin in 1939 and 1942. Admittedly, this was a different era featuring far different social mores. But at the very least, these two individuals did something, even though history will judge them quite poorly.
But Thunberg? Yes, she may have advocated publicly for environmentalism, but so what? Plenty of people both young and old vocally support various political causes. Having an emotional meltdown and presenting distorted evidence on a scientifically contentious issue is great marketing. It’s not, though, the basis for a prestigious award.
Yet here we are.
Environmentalism Suffocating Critical Issues
Looking at this topic from afar, though, I’m not necessarily surprised that environmentalism has taken off. Where I am taken aback is the unwillingness to call out the movement’s hypocrisy.
With my remark, I’m not just referring to the environmental damage that green initiatives cause. For instance, the leftists love embracing electric vehicles over petroleum-based cars. However, they don’t discuss the heavy environmental impact that mining for the elements that go into EV batteries impose.
Rather, I’m looking at this broadly. Environmentalism is a collective effort – everyone must do their part for the betterment of the whole. Liberals embrace this movement, yet they support their core issues, such as LGBTQ rights and “family planning.”
The latter issues are very much individual concerns. For example, I don’t give a damn whether someone’s gay or not. But the extreme left has pushed this individualized narrative onto the mainstream, which is majority straight. Having achieved success in this arena, now, they want the public to support a collective cause.
It’s ridiculous. Thunberg and other environmentalists can talk all they want about saving the globe. But they’re just as guilty as anyone else – what’s the carbon footprint for a cross-Atlantic flight? Furthermore, their nonstop environmentalism crusade is blocking out voices for true and meaningful change.