Greta Thunberg:Eco-warrior or little rich brat?

[F.W 5,734]

Straight off the bat,my view is little rich brat.I just saw her on TV,and i thought just get back to school,girlie.Leave the important stuff to ADULTS.Youre only 16,you have NO say!When you are a grown-up,we might take notice of you...and then,maybe.

I abhor these people,of any age group,who just decide THEY are more important,THEIR message is meaningful,THEY must be listened to.I do understand the problem of climate change,but WHO THE HELL IS SHE ANYWAY?Little brat,decides to arbitrarily sail the Atlantic to DEMAND the UN listen to this 16 year old brat.Did her sailing the ocean save the Amazon?Did it put food in the mouths of Somalian refugees?I think not.Im all for any meaningful environmental preservation,but these strident brats make me want to use more resources,just to spite them.

These people want to turn back to the medieval area,all horse and carts,no air travel,no factories.How these pubescent brats think they will make a living when they grow up,i dont know.Growing turnips,and tending goats probably no longer will pay the university fees,kids.

They made a big thing of school kids "striking" from being at school.I wonder how many went a marching,and how many stayed in bed that day?When i was at school,i too would have been willing to "strike" if it meant i got an extra day off.

This all ties in with these cretins going around gluing themselves to trains or the motorway.They should just set off,and wait whilst two trains pass,or it goes through a tunnel to get them off.

 

 

[Guest UnabashedUser]

She has a disability and is being used as a puppet/mouthpiece by criminal elements. Child abuse. 

 Look into who's funding this expedition. 

Greta Thunberg is a money making venture for Al Gore. That explains why every unpopular neoliberal politician in the West from Macron to Kamala Harris wants to push Greta's agenda.

The Green in the Green New Deal is MONEY.

Edited September 23, 2019 by UnabashedUser

[Rewdna 782]

She's autistic.Not disabled.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Rewdna

[steve25805 126,156]

Little brat this and little brat that. The entire OP is riven with anti-youth prejudice.

For a 16 year old to stand up for the very planet when the older generations have fucked it up through greed, ignorance, or stupidity, is an admirable thing.

Young people speaking out should be encouraged. They are the future.

[Scot_Lover 1,878]

I'm a member of Rotary International and I've already run into things like this. We visited a Secondary School and basically got the same spiel, ’our’ generation squandered the resources, leaving a legacy of waste and unrest.

It is a good thing though, people should be more aware of the planet and what's happening to it, and if it has to be the younger generation, so be it. Maybe the new world leaders will come from some of these people and suitable action will result. Too many governments are just apathetic to global warming. 

Our government wants to build more coal fueled power stations because wind turbines are ’ugly eyesores’.

 

 

 

[steve25805 126,156]

It seems to me that there is often a left versus right divide on issues as political as this.

If it is a message that the left broadly agrees with it tends to think the message is more important than the messenger because it is right, and consequently because it is seen as right, we tend to sing the praises of the messenger and see attacks on him or her because of his or her age or for any other reason as inherently prejudicial.

The right on the other hand will often attack the messenger, especially if the message is an uncomfortable one for them. And in general - certainly in the UK - the right tend to be far more disparaging of younger people than the left, perhaps because younger people are more likely to be left leaning.

[F.W 5,734]

19 hours ago, steve25805 said:

Little brat this and little brat that. The entire OP is riven with anti-youth prejudice.

For a 16 year old to stand up for the very planet when the older generations have fucked it up through greed, ignorance, or stupidity, is an admirable thing.

Young people speaking out should be encouraged. They are the future.

Gawd help us!

[F.W 5,734]

I mean,she cant even spell "CLIMATE"!😄(and YES i know shes Swedish ok)

[F.W 5,734]

18 hours ago, Scot_Lover said:

I'm a member of Rotary International and I've already run into things like this. We visited a Secondary School and basically got the same spiel, ’our’ generation squandered the resources, leaving a legacy of waste and unrest.

It is a good thing though, people should be more aware of the planet and what's happening to it, and if it has to be the younger generation, so be it. Maybe the new world leaders will come from some of these people and suitable action will result. Too many governments are just apathetic to global warming. 

Our government wants to build more coal fueled power stations because wind turbines are ’ugly eyesores’.

 

 

 

Wind turbines do kill many birds especially more larger ones like birds of prey,that get caught in the blades..

[F.W 5,734]

Im not doubting her sincerity on this emotive issue,but in reality,no one of any weight in the world will give a monkeys bum about anything she says.Its just schoolday politics,kids v grown-ups.

That other young girl,shot by the Taliban in Afghanistan,i cant recall her name,Malila or something,now she IS courageous.To survive that kind of thing then campaign for young women to be educated,against even her own religious edicts,was very brave,and more power to her.

[Peefreak99 3,722]

I think it's good when young people go into politics it's better than having them passed out drunk in a park right?. Im not going to disscus Greta tho i know too litle about her and im too tired. 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Peefreak99

[Gotah 2,382]

I have mixed feelings about her. On one side I really doubt that the "fridays for future" movement she brought to life helps, because just protesting for a better world doesn't change it. It makes people aware, sure, but to be honest pretty much everyone already knows that the world is fucked up ... and most pupils and students join these protests not because they want change or anything but because they can skip school and some of them don't even bother show up ... I know what I'm talking about 'cause I've been a student myself and it wasn't that long ago so I still have that mentality in me, kinda.

On the other side, I think it's great (and about time tbh) that young people finally get to talk and are listened by the older generation. Sure, we don't have the same amount of experience "adults" have but this still doesn't mean that we are all a bunch of morons just because we're young! The youth can have valid arguments and helpful ideas that can lead to big changes that are worth listening to.

Bottom line, if people really want to change something, talking, discussing and protesting won't bring them anywhere. We have to act and start doing the dirty work as soon as possible, otherwise we're all doomed.

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by Gotah

[Scot_Lover 1,878]

8 hours ago, F.W said:

Wind turbines do kill many birds especially more larger ones like birds of prey,that get caught in the blades..

I know, so do jet aeroplanes and helicopters, it's not the point I was trying to make.

At this time, in the land of Aus, wind turbines are generating more power than the current coal-fired monstrosities, but the gubermint wants to dig up vast tracts of land to mine coal, then burn it, generating God knows how much CO2 into the air.

60% of all the houses and businesses have solar panels on the roof, if you're careful, you don't have to pay a power bill at all, yet the government wants to build more power stations, it's a stupid mindset.

[speedy3471 10,655]

On 9/23/2019 at 12:14 PM, UnabashedUser said:

She has a disability and is being used as a puppet/mouthpiece by criminal elements. Child abuse. 

 Look into who's funding this expedition. 

Greta Thunberg is a money making venture for Al Gore. That explains why every unpopular neoliberal politician in the West from Macron to Kamala Harris wants to push Greta's agenda.

The Green in the Green New Deal is MONEY.

She is being used as a pawn to push an agenda that borders on insanity. I mean enough exploiting the youth. 

Iam not saying that climate change doesn't exist, there is no dought it's being altered. I also believe that weather is a cycle. If we had accurate weather maps from 2 to 3 thousand years ago I bet you would see a cycle/pattern. 

As more and more people have populated the earth we have certainly influenced these cycles 

[gldenwetgoose 21,498]

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing...   On the Greta front, I saw a Facebook post shared the other day which apparently was from her (although if she is being used as a pawn it could of course just be the spin they want us to think about her). She basically outlined that all of her warrior-ing had stemmed from an essay she wrote in a competition on climate issues. She wasn't being pushed by her parents, in fact they were to an extent opposed. There were various groups she was 'affiliated' with, but wasn't directly representing.

Personally I think her Aspergers contributes to a teenage naivety, and probably even she is a bit surprised by the roller-coaster she finds herself in.

On a wider front of the issues she's championing, my personal views are that she's preaching to the wrong congregation.  The two issues which do have some overlap are climate change and the rate of consumption of the earth's resources. Separate but related issues.

On climate, I tend to follow the line of thought that the earth follows a natural cycle of cooling and warming over millennia - after all it would only take a small shift in the earth's orbit to change the distance from the sun and achieve that. We are only measuring things over the last couple of centuries and I do agree that the industrial revolution threw a spanner into the works of the earth's cycle - during huge amounts of fossil fuels and creating the greenhouse effect.

The industrial revolution also gave rise to a vast increase in the consumption of resources.  However I do believe that we in the first world have now reacted accordingly - we have and are changing our behaviours from source.  We have regulations and agreements in place like the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Agreement, we are considering our usage of materials and resources - in the first world at least.

In saying that, I accept there are improvements to be made, but we're on the right path.  It's a bit like trying to lose weight - reduce the amount you eat and exercise a bit more and that will do the trick.  The young eco-warrior approach feels like someone telling me I need to totally stop eating and run a marathon every day - not realistic or feasible.

The fact she is so young does seem to get a lot of young people on board - and that is generally a good thing, they are the next generation.  There is a lot of hypocrisy though....   a generation who consume more power, use more manufactured products than ever before, throw away and buy again, travel the world - and all whilst telling us oldies we need to change?   I seem to remember reading somewhere that a wind turbine will never in it's lifetime generate enough electricity to replace the electricity used to manufacture it. So the more turbines you put up, the problem gets worse....

Her point is a good one - we need to consider our actions - but we need to consider them from the basis of what is realistic, what is achievable and what is sensible.

Then there's the fact she's preaching to the first world - not the third world countries trapped in a cycle of dirty manufacture, stripping the land etc...

 

[speedy3471 10,655]

Very good points you make goldenwergoose. I think the 1st world countries need to guide and show the developing nations more efficient and ecofriendly ways of doing things. 

I whole heartedly agree with you on the natural warming and cooling cycles. 

[likesToLick 10,216]

18 hours ago, gldenwetgoose said:

I seem to remember reading somewhere that a wind turbine will never in it's lifetime generate enough electricity to replace the electricity used to manufacture it. So the more turbines you put up, the problem gets worse....

Who told you this lie,  and why did you believe them?

18 hours ago, gldenwetgoose said:

However I do believe that we in the first world have now reacted accordingly - we have and are changing our behaviours from source.

We have not done,  and are not doing enough.  If we maintain the present trajectory,  human civilisation will no longer exist in a hundred years from now.

I have personally reduced my own carbon dioxide pollution by 75% compared to the average Australian.  It has done me no harm at all,  yet our corrupt government is still trying to find excuses to avoid even a 25% reduction.

Even though I am down to a quarter of the average,  I still pollute more than the average Chinese or Indian citizen,  yet I still have to listen to people whining about India and China being the problem.  It makes me sick.

I have gone as far as I can alone.  To get the rest of the way we need government to build infrastructure, change laws and change taxes.  This is vital,  yet the politicians sit there like bloated toads, lying about the science, lying about taking action, lying about economic impacts.  All these lies are bought and paid for by political donations.

If Greta Thunberg was my grand daughter I would be very proud of her indeed.  More power to her.

 

[likesToLick 10,216]

Here's a video that might give you a good laugh.

Greta Thunberg Helpline

 

[gldenwetgoose 21,498]

10 hours ago, likesToLick said:

Who told you this lie,  and why did you believe them?

We have not done,  and are not doing enough.  If we maintain the present trajectory,  human civilisation will no longer exist in a hundred years from now.

I have personally reduced my own carbon dioxide pollution by 75% compared to the average Australian.  It has done me no harm at all,  yet our corrupt government is still trying to find excuses to avoid even a 25% reduction.

Even though I am down to a quarter of the average,  I still pollute more than the average Chinese or Indian citizen,  yet I still have to listen to people whining about India and China being the problem.  It makes me sick.

I have gone as far as I can alone.  To get the rest of the way we need government to build infrastructure, change laws and change taxes.  This is vital,  yet the politicians sit there like bloated toads, lying about the science, lying about taking action, lying about economic impacts.  All these lies are bought and paid for by political donations.

If Greta Thunberg was my grand daughter I would be very proud of her indeed.  More power to her.

 

It's a very good point you make on the 'who told the lie' and 'why did I believe them'.  We have so much information at our fingertips - and it's hence easier than ever before to promote misinformation.  I should have checked more robustly before repeating it.  The thing is though, how much of the information we use to form our position has been created from a non-agenda basis. How much of it is true factual information without any intended skew or persuasion.

The one other point I'll respond to (and I'm not entering into any more discussion) is that when I mentioned the third world I wasn't referring to individual citizens. Clearly a villager with no electricity or vehicle is going to have likely to personally create less carbon emissions than me with my diesel car and domestic electrical consumption.  I was referring more to the industrial practises in developing countries where for a variety of reasons their manufacturing isn't clean, their priorities don't support them conforming to the agreements and protocols in other parts of the world.  We've seen images of parts of the world where people have to wear face masks outdoors - and I assume that isn't down to individual citizens.

But don't misunderstand me - I'm not arguing, merely clarifying what I meant.