By all accounts, Greta Thunberg had no reason to become an activist. She was born into wealth in a stable European country. She could’ve easily stayed silent as the system worked in her favor.
Instead, she tried to break it apart.
She became a global name at just 15 years old, after leading a school strike calling for the Swedish government to address climate change. In the seven years since, she’s become maybe the most famous activist in the world.
Last week, Thunberg and at least 450 other activists were detained as their flotilla carrying aid to Gaza was intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Her presence made this one of the most high-profile attempts to deliver aid to the Palestinian people through the Israeli blockade.
While criticism surrounding her actions is nothing new, some critics have begun to challenge her credibility as an activist.
“Privilege is having rich parents who set you up for life so that you can spend your entire life doing useless activism,” one post on X, with nearly 50,000 likes, reads.
First of all, the concept of calling Thunberg’s activism useless when it has brought the eyes of the world to issues like climate change, autism rights and now the ongoing genocide in Gaza is ludicrous.
Second of all, what should she do instead?
High-profile activists have always had privilege. Access to resources and funding is essential for coordinating and carrying out large-scale protests. Her privilege isn’t a roadblock in her activism; it’s a tool.
If Thunberg weren’t so well-known, would Israel have released and deported her after just a few days? Would the flotilla have been captured instead of simply attacked? With the eyes of the world on her, Thunberg put pressure on Israel.
As rumors of Israeli military torturing and abusing the activists while they were detained began to spread, Thunberg had the opportunity to speak about her personal experiences and hardships. Instead, she called on individuals and governments to stop being complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
“I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me,” Thunberg said. “But that is not the story.”
Thunberg sets the standard for the more fortunate among us. How much more progress could’ve been made if the people with the most resources were committed to making the world better?
On the other hand, privilege cannot become a crutch. For all of the benefits of Thunberg’s flotilla, it didn’t provide any actual aid to Gaza. The people of Palestine have been suffering for decades, and it wasn’t until recently that the world started to really pay attention. If we had listened to those without privilege from the beginning, there wouldn’t be a genocide to protest against.
Lift the voices of the marginalized. They know their plights better than anyone. It shouldn’t take someone like Greta Thunberg to get you to pay attention.
People with influence will typically benefit from maintaining the status quo. Many of the most powerful people in the world are profiting from the deaths of Palestinians or the destruction of our environment.
Thunberg represents a different path—a path where activism isn’t limited by resources and where change cannot be overpowered by force.
A path where privilege is no longer an oppressive force, but an opportunity to create change.
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