When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'
In the course of their conversation,
Ocasio-Cortez and Thunberg discuss what it is like to be dismissed for their
age, how depressed we should be about the future, and what tactics, as an
activist, really work. Ocasio-Cortez speaks with her customary snap and
brilliance that, held up against the general waffle of political discourse,
seems startlingly direct. Thunberg, meanwhile, is phenomenally articulate,
well-informed and self-assured, holding her own in conversation with an elected
official nearly twice her age and speaking in deliberate, thoughtful English.
They are, in some ways, as different as two campaigners can get – the politician working the system with Washington polish, and the teenager in her socks and leggings, working from her bedroom to reach the rest of the world. There is something very moving about the conversation between these young women, a sense of generational rise that, as we know from every precedent from the Renaissance onwards, has the power to ignite movements and change history.
They are, in some ways, as different as two campaigners can get – the politician working the system with Washington polish, and the teenager in her socks and leggings, working from her bedroom to reach the rest of the world. There is something very moving about the conversation between these young women, a sense of generational rise that, as we know from every precedent from the Renaissance onwards, has the power to ignite movements and change history.
GT Thank you so much for standing up and
offering hope to so many people, even here in Sweden.
AOC One of the things I’m interested in
hearing from you is that often people say, “Don’t politicise young people.”
It’s almost a taboo. That to have someone as young as you coming out in favour
of political positions is manipulative or wrong. I find it very condescending,
as though, especially in this day and age with the access to information we
have, you can’t form your own opinions and advocate for yourself. I’m
interested in how you approach that – if anyone brings that up with you?
GT That happens all the time. That’s
basically all I hear. The most common criticism I get is that I’m being
manipulated and you shouldn’t use children in political ways, because that is
abuse, and I can’t think for myself and so on. And I think that is so annoying!
I’m also allowed to have a say – why shouldn’t I be able to form my own opinion
and try to change people’s minds? But I’m sure you hear
that a lot, too; that you’re too young and too inexperienced. When I see all
the hate you receive for that, I honestly can’t believe how you manage to stay
so strong.
AOC I think the thing that people sometimes
don’t realise is that here in the United States, because of the gap between the
rich and the poor, people really identify Wall Street as a very potent
political force. With our rules, politicians are allowed to accept campaign
contributions on a level that is probably beyond what happens in other parts of
the world. But what people don’t
recognise is how strong the fossil fuel lobby is. The Koch brothers in the US have essentially purchased the
entire Republican party, but people forget they made their money off oil and
gas. That is where their fortune comes from. And I think that’s what we’re up
against. So the severity of the pushback indicates the power that we are
challenging. You can look at that with despair, or you can look at it with
hope. That’s how strong we are: we’re so strong that we’re able to take this on
credibly and actually build a movement against it... read more:
