By Karen Orr
The jungle is a cruel, magnificent teacher. You see an orangutan, born with the strength and protection of a dominant mother, and you expect her to simply feast on the ripest fruit and rest in the highest canopy. But what if she uses her safe position to warn the whole troupe of a predator, or to guide them to a new, richer feeding ground? Her privilege, her protected status, becomes a tool for the common good.
I have watched, with a familiar weariness, the way certain corners of the world attack Greta Thunberg. They sneer that she is a “nepo baby,” that her family’s wealth—her mother being an opera singer—somehow invalidates her passionate, vital, world-shaking activism on the climate crisis and the horrors unfolding in Gaza. They imply that because she did not start her journey from a state of abject poverty, her fight is a performance, funded by an allowance. This line of attack is not only cruel; it is a profound misunderstanding of moral responsibility and the proper use of inherited advantage.
When a child is born to wealth, they are gifted not just money, but access, a platform, and most importantly, protection. This protection shields them from the immediate, grinding pressures that consume the energy of those less fortunate. The time and mental space someone from a privileged background has to devote to global issues is itself a profound luxury.
To criticise Greta for using that positional advantage to draw attention to the collapse of our natural world and the mass slaughter of innocent people is entirely backward. What, pray tell, should she be doing? Should she be using her connections to launch a lifestyle podcast? Should she be leveraging her name to sell beauty products or creating an algorithm-optimised “brand” to secure lucrative advertising deals?
This is the path of so many of the privileged elite: they consume their advantage, focus it inwards, and use it to build an ever-larger tower of personal celebrity and capital accumulation. They become a self-referential echo chamber, their fame a means to generate more wealth, leaving the world as broken as they found it—or worse.
The Moral Duty of the ‘Nepo Baby’
The children of the privileged—of those who have accumulated wealth and secured their comfort—have a moral duty to use their position for political and societal change. They are the ones with the freedom to speak truth to power without the immediate, catastrophic fear of losing their job, their home, or their healthcare. When they protest, their voice is amplified by the very system they criticise. That megaphone, built on their parents’ achievements, should not be thrown away; it should be pointed at the real problems.
Look at Pedro Pascal. He is a figure of considerable privilege and fame, a cultural icon. He does not simply make blockbusters and retreat into his gilded cage. He consistently uses his immense platform to advocate for social good, from LGBTQ+ rights (supporting his trans sister) to refugee aid. His fame is not an endpoint; it is a conduit for visibility for the marginalised and a tool for compassion and inclusion. He has taken the light shone on him by the entertainment machine and redirected it to the shadows where it is most needed.
This is the noble calling of privilege: to spend it, not save it. To use your unearned safety to create safety for others.
The Correct Use of Privilege
Greta Thunberg, far from misusing her parents’ wealth, is using her privilege precisely as she should. Her journey was not initiated for profit; it began with a deeply personal and informed conviction—a reaction to information that caused her immense personal distress.
She took the protection of her upbringing and deployed it on the front lines of the global conscience. She is a beacon, proving that the children of the secure elite can and must look beyond their own garden walls. Her family’s ability to support her allows her to travel, to speak, and to be heard by world leaders without needing to compromise her message for corporate sponsorship.
So, let us stop the petty sniping. The criticism of Greta Thunberg’s privilege is a smokescreen designed by those who fear her message. The question is not, ‘Does she have privilege?’ The answer is obviously yes. The essential question is, ‘How is she using it?’
And on that measure, she is an exemplar. She has taken her protected position and dedicated her youth to fighting for the fundamental right of all living beings to a stable climate and a peaceful existence. She is proof that an inheritance of privilege can, and must, be transformed into a legacy of justice and genuine hope. She is a guide for the rest of the fortunate, showing them the right path out of the forest.
