Donald and Greta

With respect to the climate debate, you could say that Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg make a strange pair: two figures animated by opposing symbolic forces. Greta, of course, is serious. She is the yin, which, in Taoist dualism, represents the following: the (virgin) earth, passivity (what does this girl do for the climate during her endless hours spent on trains and catamarans?), darkness (which is the outcome of saving energy) and absorption. More iconic than Jair Bolsonaro, Donald would be the yang, which, linked to the principle of masculinity, represents light (just look at the enormous and recently inaugurated Christmas lights display decking the hallways of the White House), activity (he is unquestionably a man of action) and penetration. (He is always ready to penetrate new depths.)

One points to the future (a future that is alive and bright, but precarious, given that it all appears to be about to explode) and brandishes a disavowing and childish optimism. The other points more to the past; she seems to have stepped straight out of a Mennonite settlement and demonstrates an angry and whiny pessimism. Donald and Greta, puppets who have become recurrent features in the world of the media, complement each other perfectly; they openly hate each other and feed off each other’s theatrical nonsense.

Separately, but in perfect stellar alignment, they are each followed by a swarm of photographers and fervent supporters. The devotion they inspire is more worrying proof of science’s loss of prestige: Donald couldn’t give a damn about scientific rigor. Greta utters a few informative generalizations and, in one fell swoop, awakens all those minds that were fast asleep while renowned and prestigious scientists were providing proof of the planet’s deterioration.

Lastly, and this is perhaps the most insane point about this duo, there is the age difference between them. How is it possible that the optimistic, empty-headed and reckless one is old Donald, while the pessimist who is bitter and anxious about the terrible predictions is young Greta? Don’t elderly people usually show sound judgment, wisdom and a painful awareness of the impending apocalypse? Aren’t kids supposed to be protected by a certain indifference and enjoy the freedom from ill-fated predictions that their tender age allows them? Isn’t this not only normal but also healthy? Together, they are the stars of a musical tragicomedy in which the age of innocence has been bizarrely inverted. It is thought-provoking that the audience watching the show has chosen this pair to entertain us in what now seems to be the precursor to the end of the world.