The Emperor’s New Clothes — The Timeless Metaphor

I’ll admit it. I asked a teacher for a copy of her speech in May and it sat in a file on my computer until now. We were protesting at the American Gas Association meeting in Seattle and her speech struck me as bare, honest, truth. In the process of talking with her about what she had said, I made friends with someone I had never met before, had her send me a copy of the words she had spoken, saved the file and forgot about it. She lives near me and we are working on a project together, but the speech was all but forgotten. I came upon it yesterday while preparing for an Extinction Rebellion retreat and reading it again, still felt moved.

It’s not that I’ve been feeling cynical exactly, but I’ve been understanding how we’ve arrived at the dystopian America we’re living in. How have I come to this understanding?

I’ve been listening to the Lever’s Master Plan podcast. It has been helping me connect the dots, uncovering path that got us to the Citizens United decision that corporations are people.

I’m on the side of the people, and it is devastating, heartbreaking, disgusting, how a small group of power hungry, and of course extremely wealthy, men, is getting their way despite what the average citizen wants. But I digress. Here’s the teacher’s speech:

I come to you today as an educator — which also means I have a cold most of the time so I apologize for my gravely voice.

I’ve been an elementary teacher for 10 years. I go to school everyday to teach students what I know and to keep them safe the best I can. I’m here today to fight for their safety and their futures which American Gas Association (AGA) is trying their best to destroy.

The great thing about working with children, is that children understand common sense and they will change their minds at the drop of a hat if something you say has truth to it. They have no egos or deep seated fears to protect with lies. They have no reason to try and coerce or manipulate (unless candy or recess are involved.) Children can immediately see the greed and sociopathy inherent to groups like AGA. Their clarity and insight keep me accountable and inspired to go to school each day.

During my fourth year as a second grade teacher, I taught a science unit on earth changes. We were exploring how deforestation contributes to erosion and how dangerous and destructive clear cutting is. I remember the shock and disgust on their faces when they realized the avarice of such a careless approach to our earth.

They questioned.

“But why would they do this?”

“If they know it is bad, why wouldn’t they stop?”

“Who cares about more money, just live with your parents!”

One student raised her hand and shared with the class, unprompted, how this reminded her of slavery — of how her ancestors had been ripped from their homes and used for money and wealth for the prosperity of others.

This seven year old student had the clarity and wisdom to see how connected we are to the earth and how it’s destruction means our destruction. Within a matter of minutes, children are able to see the moral depravity of corporations that prioritize profits over communities — of groups like AGA that care more about the money in their pockets than the health of our planet or the future of our children.

Two Septembers ago, my students were kept inside, all day, for weeks because the air outside was so poisoned with smoke we couldn’t risk them playing outside for 20 minutes at a time.

Air contaminated so badly by smoke that we can’t go outside for even 20 minutes is a crisis, and let’s be very clear — American Gas Association and their reckless reliance on methane gas are one of the groups responsible for this crisis. AGA continues to push gas as affordable, reliable, and safe but we know this is a lie. The only affordable, reliable, and safe way forward is through a just transition away from fossil fuels, period.

When I look in the faces of my students, I think about the future they are inheriting — the future that we are passing down to them and the crisis that the fossil fuel industry has created for them. I try to supply them with the most information I can, with critical thinking skills, courage to act, and the conviction to stand for what is right without wavering.

But we do not have time for these children to grow up and save us from the disaster that wanton burning of fossil fuels has constructed, that the fossil fuel industry has lied and manipulated to maintain.

We have to act now if these children will have a future to grow up in at all. This crisis was formed from greed, inhumanity, and mindless consumption. The American Gas Association, like all the other fossil fuel lobbyists, is selling my students’ futures and their lives for profit. I am here today to say that they are not for sale.

But alas, their futures are for sale. With corporations being people and money equalling free speech, I’m sure 7 year olds are scratching their heads with me. With corruption called lobbying, a Supreme Court held to no moral standard, and a chaos creating, fascism fomenting president on the way, even a child would be puzzled as to how this is possible.

In the spirit of the serenity prayer, I plan to focus my activist efforts on highlighting and facing the tremendous inequity in the United States and across the world yet stay focused locally on how I can better take care of my neighbors by helping my community take care of itself. I won’t be distracted by candy or recess. Well maybe recess, taking breaks is good. Even a child knows that, just like they know The Emperor is naked.

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This post was previously published on An Injustice!

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