Why Is Barack Obama Urging Young People To 'Stay Angry'?

Former president of the United States Barack Obama has always been known to remain calm and level-headed. He even famously earned the term "no-drama Obama" from various media outlets, like The Washington Post, for seeming like he takes everything with ease.

According to The Independent, In 2019, Obama spoke at a tech conference hosted by software company Qualtrics and said, even though people perceive him to be calm, it doesn't mean he actually is. "I have an even temperament and I don't get too high and I don't get too low, but that doesn't mean that throughout the presidency and throughout my professional career that there weren't times when I was constrained by, 'Man I don't want to screw this up. I don't want to let people down,'" Obama said. "'I don't want to be seen as having made a mistake or having failed.'"

In 2021, the 44th president was invited to speak at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. The difference between Obama's speech back in 2019 versus now, however, is that he's encouraging young people to "stay angry" instead of teaching them ways to keep their cool. Here's why.

Even though Barack Obama was formerly the president of the United States, he is now also one of the thousands of American citizens concerned about how the world is handling the effects of climate change. During the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Obama gave a speech acknowledging that although the basis of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement was a great start, humanity needs to do more. "Paris showed the world that progress is possible and created a framework ... That is the good news. Now for the bad news: We are nowhere near where we need to be," Obama said. "The consequences of not moving fast enough are becoming more apparent all the time."

During his speech, Obama also pleaded to the younger generation, who are extremely frustrated with climate change, to keep fighting and harness those emotions purposefully. "To all the young people out there, as well as those who consider yourself young at heart, I want you to stay angry," Obama said. "I want you to stay frustrated. But challenge that anger and harness that frustration. Keep pushing harder and harder for more and more — because that is what is required to meet this challenge."

Obama also brought up climate activist Greta Thunberg to reiterate his point that "the world is full of Gretas," and the majority of people in society are in this climate crisis fight together.