Summary: The stories of Greta Thunberg and Joan of Arc are similarly bizarre, more like Santa Claus than history. We believe them as children believe Santa. But after two centuries, let’s see the real story about Joan. That can help us more clearly see Greta.
Imagine the world if the Climate Emergency crusade gains political power in the West makes the Green New Deal into law. They will claim victory no matter what the climate does in the 21st century.
If we get a climate catastrophe, perhaps because climate sensitivity is on the high end of estimates, they will have been proven correct.
If we get no catastrophe, perhaps because climate sensitivity is on the low end of estimates (see here, here, and here) – then their programs to fight racism, sexism, and inequality will have saved us (although nothing they have proposed will substantially reduce global CO2 emissions).
In this future, children will learn that Greta Thunberg transformed the politics of the early 21st century. She spoke to the legislatures of the West and softened their hard hearts. She spoke to the leaders of the West and persuaded them to sign onto the bold Green New Deal. She spoke to the people of their world and swayed their votes to the Left.
Children will be taught that she was a miracle heroine that changed the world. That will not know that she is teenage girl (age 16) manufactured into a hero to manipulate the public into supporting the Left’s policies. Just as stories about Joan of Arc (age 17) were used to create the nation of France. As Martin van Creveld explained in The Rise and Decline of the State
Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1854.
As The Guardian explains in “Truth tarnishes legend of St Joan.” I have not read the book, but these are valid observations.
“A new book that casts serious doubt on nearly every aspect of the myth of the Maid of Orléans. ‘I’m very much afraid that precious little of what we French have been taught in school about Joan of Arc is true,’ said Roger Caratini, an eminent academic, historian, mathematician and psychoanalyst and the author of Joan of Arc: from Domrémy to Orléans
“‘She was, it seems, almost entirely the creation of France’s desperate need for a patriotic mascot in the 19th century. The country wanted a hero, the myths of the revolution were altogether too bloody, and France more or less invented the story of its patron saint. The reality is, sadly, a little different.’
“‘Psychologically, her story is beautiful,’ he said. ‘It’s the little girl who lives out her dreams to the end. But she really wasn’t the heroine who saved France – just a human being with exceptional energy and self-belief.’ …According to Mr Caratini, who based his book on what he says is the first scientific study of the records of her trial, her voices were quite clearly ‘fantasies fabricated by our heroine, presented as if they were real, but with no deliberate intention to deceive. They are frequent and normal in every young child’. …’Joan of Arc played no role, or at best only a very minor one, in the Hundred Years War.'”
See the end of this post for a fun book in English briefly debunking the Joan legends. There are also many articles doing so, such as “8 Joan Of Arc Myths Busted.”
The legends of Greta and Joan differ in one big way. Joan is an example of manufactured history, a common and effective tactic of elites. As Graeme Donald said (see below) …
“If she {Joan} was all the legend hails her to have been, then one would expect there to have been countless portraits and account of her in her own time, yet there is nothing. The first ‘biography’ was not written until {1630, 200 years after Joan’s death) by Edmund Richer, head of the Faculty of Theology in Paris. His manuscript laid unpublished in the archives until 1911.”
Greta is a creature of our time. She knows only the propaganda her liberal parents and handlers have fed her. In interviews, she cannot answer simple questions. What is our excuse for taking her seriously?
Update: a look behind the curtain
One similarity between Joan and Greta: both spoke in a manner beyond their age. While we know little about Joan, we had a peak behind Greta Inc. due to a programming error at Facebook. Greta’s Facebook page is verified as being hers, personally. Yet the content under her name was posted by her father’s FB account. Details and screenshots here.
For More Information
Ideas! For shopping ideas, see my recommended books and films at Amazon. Also, see a story about our future: “Ultra Violence: Tales from Venus.”
Important: the Climate Emergency is a moral panic.
For an entertaining and brilliantly written version of the Joan legend, see Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more information about this vital issue see the keys to understanding climate change. Also, see all posts about uncertainties in climate science, and especially these …
- A look at the workings of Climate Propaganda Inc.
- The Extinction Rebellion’s hysteria vs. climate science.
- See how climate science becomes alarmist propaganda.
- The climate crusade marches across America!
- Toxic climate propaganda is poisoning US public policy.
- DoD study: climate change will destroy us …in 2020.
A fun book including a debunking of Joan de Arc
Lies, Damned Lies and History:
A Catalogue of Historical Errors and Misunderstandings
By Graeme Donald.
It’s 256 pages. From The History Press (2010).
From the publisher …
“This collection takes the reader on a journey, century-by-century, showing how the truth that is usually taken for granted is a far cry from the facts. Amusing anecdotes and little-known facts travels through history, while teasing cross-references show how obscure events are linked. This is not a book for those who like their history sugarcoated, but for those who truly want to see the past as it was.
“Any history lover will delight in these revealing, hilarious lessons of how historical events didn’t always unfold as was thought.”
