Results: Time Magazine Person Of The Year 2019

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl who inspired a global movement to fight climate change, has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2019. The 16-year-old is the youngest person to be chosen by the magazine in a tradition that started in 1927. She topped the list, which included (on the short list) Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, the Hong Kong protesters, and the Whistleblower. Time's Person of the Year is the most influential news maker of the year (for better or worse). Do you agree with the choice of Greta Thunberg as Person of the Year?

Greata may be the youngest person to get this honour, but she is certainly one of the most inspirational. Not only is she only 16, she has also been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a developmental disorder, and has described it as a gift and a superpower. She started becoming interested in climate change when she was eight and couldn't understand why people weren't taking action. "I remember thinking it was very strange that we were capable of changing the entire face of the Earth and the precious thin layer of atmosphere that makes it our home. Because if we were capable of doing this, then why weren't we hearing about it everywhere?" Always active since then, she really became involved last year, when she started going to protests and soon under the hashtag #FridaysForFuture, more than 20,000 students around the world had joined her in countries including Australia, the UK, Belgium, the US and Japan. In September, she travelled to New York to speak at the UN Climate Conference. She made her way there on a zero-emissions boat in a journey that lasted two weeks. During her address at the UN, she blasted politicians for relying on young people for answers to climate change. "How dare you," she said in her speech. "I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean, yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. We will be watching you." Since then, critics of this young girl have tried to discredit her, but Greta keeps on speaking up for her generation, defying them all. Do you admire this girl for her maturity and tenacity, even if you don't agree with her views?

The Time cover shows a picture of Great, with the caption "The Power Of Youth". One of her more powerful statements was her recent "People are underestimating the force of angry kids," which could be taken in reference to not just her campaign, but to the likes of her fellow young protesters actively campaigning for tighter gun controls, and other causes that directly affect them. Considering 115th Congress was the oldest in the U.S.history with average age of a congressional representative 59, and leaders in their 70s and 80s, at least the 116th Congress is slightly younger, with more women and visible minorities. That makes this the youngest in the past three cycles. It is also the most diverse to date. Hopefully this will be good news for the younger generation, who have every right to be concerned. Do you agree that the decision makers in both our countries seem to be out-of-step with the younger generation?

It is true that wisdom is something that often comes with age and is indispensable to making political choices. But we must also have leaders who look and think more like the people they represent. After all, they are the ones who will be dealing tomorrow with the consequences of the decisions made today. Do you agree with this?