Greta Thunberg: The face of the ‘iPhone Generation’ and an outcry for a new politics

There’s too often too much tutting with anger with young Generation Z the up and coming generation of young people the generation fall in who’ve grown up with social media and the world in our hands seen as generation ‘iPhone’ by some glued to scrolling through twitter, facebook, Instagram, snapchat and TikTok constant connections to the world around us since from the ages of primary and comprehensive school seen by our elders as glued to screens. Being glued to screens has exposed us to the wider world that our parents, grandparents and ancestors before never did. Technology has changed us than generations before we now seem more politically engaged and tuned into the world of news. Not having to pick up a newspaper, catch a television or radio news bulletin clicking on videos of articles, tweets and posts in how I and my generation learn about the world around us. Some claim that this could make us closed off and become more tribal, it can picking and choosing what views and version of events we want to see and engage in, but when we turn of the phone or hear murmurs of conversations on buses, shopping, cafes out and about in our lives in public. We here elders closed off disengaged and perplexed out of breath with our rapidly ever changing society. The newspaper, the news channel that anyone consumes from the world of traditional media is curated by editorial teams. So does our personal curation of the world around us give us more power in our hands that isn’t left to the hands of an editor in mainstream news?

The generational views and ‘culture wars’ are based on two paradoxical hypocrisies that leaves the Generational ‘iPhone’ more resilient to the old elder folks on Facebook where we are more strengthened and impassioned about progressive causes around us regularly branded ‘generation woke’ in a means of over simplifying the politics of one generation often done to create a generational mono culture and hegemonic view of the politics and philosophy of a generation which is defined by generations actions and words in history history. It seems our elders are in fear of how we use our words and actions and what we are outraged and offended by.

We as a generation seem to be more liberal when it comes to gender and sexuality, more concerned about ableist, racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic injustices the ways the mainstream societal structures present these issues are what drives us away from mainstream areas of society and smaller communities that we feel more safe to be our authentic selves and our true selves rather clinging onto the conservative ideals of the past nowhere is truly a ‘safe space’ but we are seeking ‘safe spaces’ when we outflanked by the majority who often we feel at odds with feeling silenced but we wont be silent.

Greta Thunberg seems to be the face of a generation a generational icon who seeks to hold truth to power an passioned and emotive speaker who tries not to mince her words speaking frank and honest on humanities grim future but not alone. The autistic young adult is one of many in a powerful cohort of our generation that refuses to be silenced and clashes with those in power for failing our generation. The United Nations meet for the 26th time to discuss action that is needed to be taken on climate change Thunberg not officially invited by host country of the 26th meeting in Glasgow but attending as leading force in the protests that are organised surrounding the protests with the pessimistic distrust of world leaders in addressing such an issue. She stands for what our generation is doing right whether protests against police brutality, support and solidarity of trans right and the rights of all LGBTQIA+ people, women feeling unsafe on the streets at night. With climate change and environmentalism Greta’s honest words fill me with hope and adoration as an autistic person and a person of the same generation to have voices from minorities to prove that democracy is more than what is done at the ballot is one thing I admire.

It’s brave to emerge strong many of us have done sometimes scared of hearing critical responses of our political thinking that we can shut down discussion and debate, many of us like Greta rise above opposition and the battle of words. She’s no ‘snowflake’ to speak without fear but accept that words comes with consequences and know the art of using words wisely is a talent and that is rare to come by not to allow personal insecurities, shame and prejudice to slip in. Unlike others who through the words of ‘cancel culture’ we accept that it’s no one’s right to offend for offensive sake. The power of block button may feel someone has cancelled you but has given our generation great power as such as the mute button on social media. No one isn’t obliged to or owes you your ear to hear your words its our right to have the guts to be honest and square up to our elders when they are in the wrong. Questioning authority is so important in any functioning democracy and that’s what we are doing, we don’t need to comply with the idea of ‘don’t answer back’ that silences us that cancels out our voices more importantly that ours don’t matter and the generations before us don’t face consequences for their words when we are offended and they are in the wrong ‘Sticks and Stones may break our bones’ but words do hurt us.

We are biting back and that’s how democracy works its ‘power to the people after all’ so when a person is angered by Thunberg using her words to make them responsible for what they say makes me feel a sibling pride that makes me think ‘I wish I could do that, have her bravery to be so public, ignoring the abuse I don’t know where she finds her strength’ We young (and neurodivergent) people seem to find comfort in breaking women social rules especially when it’s the case its in our interest to speak out. We wont see our leaders that maybe democratically elected as our masters that would be defeatist we wont say ‘yes sir’ when we can see videos and stories pop up of our time line of burning wildfires in Australia and California, rising sea levels and hottest summers on records are the undisputed heavy weight of ‘climate catastrophe’ a heavy burden to carry. Social politeness in the discourse of climate politics isn’t the way generation Thunberg deals with a crisis when we are on the clock and it’s a worry soon it will be too late to act. It’s not compatible with ideology of any kind to see such harm inflicted of the future for wildlife and the human race that evades the harm principle of JS Mill the classic liberal thinker that inaction, irresponsibility and fecklessness that sees carbon being pumped into the atmosphere that causes harm to others. We know how democracy should work this isn’t it this is why unelected people are speaking out we want more action less of politicking and factionalism.

The same inaction Thunberg and my generation speak of and discontent for political fews and elites expose the failures in a Hobbesian democracy that delegates power and responsibility to an third party that falls to centre people, citizens the voiceless with such a voice that representatives and delegates can create a state stuck in time that serves them and not the people creating a myth of democracy