We Were Wrong About the Economic Impact of Student Climate Change Strikes

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Student climate change strikers advised to refuse sweets, makeup, computer games and sparkly unicorn poop over Easter.

A lot of officious adults have been saying that there’s little point in school pupils striking in protest at the lack of action on climate change, as it will have no economic effect. They have a point, and so I would like to put forward a suggestion that may work better.

Schoolchildren have no voice at the ballot box or wealth-creating labour to withdraw, but the pounds in their pockets weigh as heavily in the till as anybody else’s. We are at the beginning of Lent, when Christians traditionally deny themselves the good things in life in order to achieve a higher goal: why don’t our children hold a consumer-spending strike for this period? Buy – or have others buy for you – only life’s essentials: no sweets, makeup, computer games, sparkly unicorn poo slime, cinema tickets; buy clothes and books only if compulsory for school; if you usually buy a pasty or a sandwich at lunchtime, sign up for school dinners instead (I know, I know, but it will be a conspicuous sacrifice…).

Combine the financial strike with a conventional one, with lots of banners letting us supposedly responsible grownups know what you are doing and why, and see if the dent you can put in the economy will wipe the smiles off our faces.

Rachel Savage (age 51)
Sturton by Stow, Lincolnshire

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/08/school-pupils-can-make-their-climate-change-strike-hurt

I think the kids have got us folks; We shall have no choice other than to cave in and accept the Green New Deal, to prevent the economic fallout of a sparkly unicorn slime consumer strike.