It’s taken me quite a bit of time to formulate my thoughts on this situation. There are way too many moving pieces, and there’s more nuance to all this than one could imagine. I gave everything a bit of time to play out because I needed to see what the general consensus from the opposition is. Quite frankly, it’s pretty fucking alarming, but not in the way you think.

Now, before I say my thoughts on this situation, there is one disclaimer i need to put out there just so we’re clear on what this rant is about.

I will not be debating the validity of climate change because I am not qualified to do so.

Let me say that a little louder so that those in the back can hear.

I WILL NOT BE DEBATING THE VALIDITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO DO SO!

Now that we’ve gotten this out of the way, it’s time for me to ramble on about all the problems with this situation. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with debating, or criticizing a person’s position, particularly one you don’t agree with. The beautiful thing about this country is that we can have a myriad of polarizing views yet somehow manage to coexist without murdering each other because we’re just pretty fucking weird like that. That, and we can have different views without fear of getting killed by our own government. This however becomes a problem when instead of attacking one’s position, you resort to character assassinations so brutal that Abe Lincoln would think he got off easy.

Barely anyone who has been vocal against Greta has actually countered JUST her position with actual scientific facts. Instead, people have either:

1. Called her a mentally ill Swedish girl.
*You know you fucked up in life when even Fox News tells you to chill*

2. Called her an anxious little girl.

3. Accused her parents of using her.

4. Had the audacity to point out her Autism as a reason she has her views.

The problem here is that I’ve stared in this movie before. I have been on Greta’s end of the shotgun. I know how this game works. Very few people actually want to have an honest scientific debate with her. Very few people actually want to refute her points with facts, trends, charts, etc.

The idea is that if they spend all this time pointing out all her quirks like having Autism, OCD, Depression, Anxiety, etc, they’ll paint her as this incompetent person, thus destroying her entire argument without ever having to confront it.

This approach is not only reckless, it’s quite dangerous. Essentially the consensus is that it is impossible for someone like Greta to formulate these thoughts independently because of her mental disorders and illnesses.

I know I’m being biased, and I have right to be. I dealt with Dad who found it impossible for me to develop viewpoints he didn’t vibe with of my own volition. His thought process is that someone put those ideas in my head. I would be pretty pissed if I was passionate about something that people were totally polarized on and someone said that someone else must’ve put those ideas in my head because there’s no universe where I could conceive said ideas because of the mental quirks I had.

You ever think for a moment that those mental quirks may actually be a reason no one wants that smoke? Seriously, have any of these reporters ACTUALLY chilled with Autistic people? Cause let me tell you, when us Autistics are obsessed with something, nigga we are OBSESSED!!!!!!!!!!! It ain’t the simple “I’m going to talk about this a lot for a few days” obsessed. We will literally read as many books, articles, wikis, etc on whatever subject we’re obsessed with. If you lived in Greta’s hometown and wanted to do a paper on the climate, you’d probably have to go to the next town because Greta probably took out all the damn books for the next few months.

Again, I’m not here to debate climate change because I’m not qualified to do so. Even if I was qualified to do so, I sure as fuck wouldn’t go toe to toe with Greta because she’s a fellow Autistic, and I know what I’d be getting into. I DEFINITELY wouldn’t want that smoke.

The point of this long winded rant is this:

We are not the judge, and jury of one’s competence. We have no business determining someone’s competency to hold a position simply because of what they’re dealing with up there. It’s okay to disagree with Greta. It is okay challenge Greta’s position from a scientific stand point. It is not okay to simply dismiss her position simply because she has a series of mental disorders and illnesses. There’s far more to competency than simply having a series of mental disorders and illnesses. The fact that people are quickly dismissing Greta by calling out her quirks instead of disputing her points directly gives me the impression that these people really aren’t confident in their evidence.

It’s also taught me the true feelings some have pertaining to those on the spectrum, and I feel pretty sad for the human race.

Stay classy…

 

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.