Science Greta Thunberg Megathread - Dax Herrera says he wouldn't have a day ago (I somewhat doubt that)

Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering? How can a 16-year-old girl in plaits, who has dedicated herself to the not-exactly sinister, authoritarian plot of trying to save the planet from extinction, inspire such incandescent rage?

Last week, she tweeted that she had arrived into New York after her two week transatlantic voyage: “Finally here. Thank you everyone who came to see me off in Plymouth, and everyone who welcomed me in New York! Now I’m going to rest for a few days, and on Friday I’m going to participate in the strike outside the UN”, before promptly giving a press conference in English. Yes, her second language.

Her remarks were immediately greeted with a barrage of jibes about virtue signalling, and snide remarks about the three crew members who will have to fly out to take the yacht home.

This shouldn’t need to be spelled out, but as some people don’t seem to have grasped it yet, we’ll give it a lash: Thunberg’s trip was an act of protest, not a sacred commandment or an instruction manual for the rest of us. Like all acts of protest, it was designed to be symbolic and provocative. For those who missed the point – and oh, how they missed the point – she retweeted someone else’s “friendly reminder” that: “You don’t need to spend two weeks on a boat to do your part to avert our climate emergency. You just need to do everything you can, with everyone you can, to change everything you can.”

Part of the reason she inspires such rage, of course, is blindingly obvious. Climate change is terrifying. The Amazon is burning. So too is the Savannah. Parts of the Arctic are on fire. Sea levels are rising. There are more vicious storms and wildfires and droughts and floods. Denial is easier than confronting the terrifying truth.

Then there’s the fact that we don’t like being made to feel bad about our life choices. That’s human nature. It’s why we sneer at vegans. It’s why we’re suspicious of sober people at parties. And if anything is likely to make you feel bad about your life choices -- as you jet back home after your third Ryanair European minibreak this season – it’ll be the sight of small-boned child subjecting herself to a fortnight being tossed about on the Atlantic, with only a bucket bearing a “Poo Only Please” sign by way of luxury, in order to make a point about climate change.

But that’s not virtue signalling, which anyone can indulge in. As Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and their-four-private-jets-in-11-days found recently, virtue practising is a lot harder.

Even for someone who spends a lot of time on Twitter, some of the criticism levelled at Thunberg is astonishing. It is, simultaneously, the most vicious and the most fatuous kind of playground bullying. The Australian conservative climate change denier Andrew Bolt called her “deeply disturbed” and “freakishly influential” (the use of “freakish”, we can assume, was not incidental.) The former UKIP funder, Arron Banks, tweeted “Freaking yacht accidents do happen in August” (as above.) Brendan O’Neill of Spiked called her a “millenarian weirdo” (nope, still not incidental) in a piece that referred nastily to her “monotone voice” and “the look of apocalyptic dread in her eyes”.

But who’s the real freak – the activist whose determination has single-handedly started a powerful global movement for change, or the middle-aged man taunting a child with Asperger syndrome from behind the safety of their computer screens?

And that, of course, is the real reason why Greta Thunberg is so triggering. They can’t admit it even to themselves, so they ridicule her instead. But the truth is that they’re afraid of her. The poor dears are terrified of her as an individual, and of what she stands for – youth, determination, change.

She is part of a generation who won’t be cowed. She isn’t about to be shamed into submission by trolls. That’s not actually a look of apocalyptic dread in her eyes. It’s a look that says “you’re not relevant”.

The reason they taunt her with childish insults is because that’s all they’ve got. They’re out of ideas. They can’t dismantle her arguments, because she has science – and David Attenborough – on her side. They can’t win the debate with the persuasive force of their arguments, because these bargain bin cranks trade in jaded cynicism, not youthful passion. They can harangue her with snide tweets and hot take blogposts, but they won’t get a reaction because, frankly, she has bigger worries on her mind.

That’s not to say that we should accept everything Thunberg says without question. She is an idealist who is young enough to see the world in black and white. We need voices like hers. We should listen to what she has to say, without tuning the more moderate voices of dissent out.

Why is Greta Thunberg so triggering? Because of what she represents. In an age when democracy is under assault, she hints at the emergency of new kind of power, a convergence of youth, popular protest and irrefutable science. And for her loudest detractors, she also represents something else: the sight of their impending obsolescence hurtling towards them.

joconnell@irishtimes.com
https://twitter.com/jenoconnell

https://web.archive.org/web/2019090...certain-men-1.4002264?localLinksEnabled=false
Found this thought-provoking indeed.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Really, overpopulation was the real bugbear of the day, just read some of the works by Paul "the Human Klaxon" Ehrlich sometime, a lefty college type he wrote one of those provocative treatises (backed by I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE SO MUCH MY FEELINGS ARE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE!) that said the only question was how many thousands would starve vs die in food riots in the US by 1990...... that article that went around about how the Greens of the 70's were wrong with their dire warnings? He's on it like ten times.

I guess if Paul "Human Klaxon" Ehrlich talk of overpopulation in Africa today. He'll be called a racist.

 

[Keep Yourself Safe]

Perhaps it was already mentionned in another thread but PJW did a vlog about Greta.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qpSQuc69R9c
PJW along with one Youtuber commenter, hit the target.

That didn't stay up too long...

Paul Joseph Watson

GRETA 🤡🌎

www.bitchute.com

Is this the face that launched a thousand ships multi million dollar yacht piloted by the Prince Of Monaco?

Telling how little every one gave a shit when she actually made it to New York, the rain forest literally caught fire and everyone raged and then forget all about it again while she was still shitting in a bucket in the mid Atlantic. This whole publicity stunt just fizzled out miserably, 2 weeks at sea is FAR too long in the current news climate, all the shill media outlets who sent her off with a fanfare had pretty much dropped it by the time it was over.

 

[Cosmos]

This says more about the people feeling triggered than it does about the person doing the triggering. How insecure must you be to be triggered by an idealistic little girl who genuinely wants a better future?

Man the fuck up snowflakes and leave the child alone. She is harming no one.

Lol, the dumb ratings you got. This entire thread is full of climate change deniers who think environmentalism is a (((globalist))) conspiracy theory and not something we should care about so our planet stays healthy and habitable. I never thought “we should regulate corporations so they can’t pollute freely to save a few bucks” and “we should try to cut down on plastic waste” would be a controversial opinion but here we are.

Also, she’s 16 years old, insulting her and shaming her just because you disagree with her isn’t a good look.

 

[vertexwindi]

I never thought “we should regulate corporations so they can’t pollute freely to save a few bucks” and “we should try to cut down on plastic waste” would be a controversial opinion but here we are.

That's not a controversial opinion but that's also not what we're talking about here. We're talking about insane activists who claim that we're all fucking doomed in five-ten years unless we all switch to electric cars, solar power and the Green New Deal NOW. It's not gonna fucking happen.

And insulting dumb teens is always a bad look but lol A&H.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

I guess if Paul "Human Klaxon" Ehrlich talk of overpopulation in Africa today. He'll be called a racist.

Next time you hear some blowhard complaining about overpopulation and saying that white people need to stop shitting out babies, show them the stats about the two countries with by far the highest birth rate in modern times: Nigeria and Pakistan. Then ask them to continue their point about which races are having too many babies. Watch how quickly they stammer and try to change the subject. I've seen it happen personally more than once.

 

[Fork Cartel]

Also, she’s 16 years old, insulting her and shaming her just because you disagree with her isn’t a good look.

People resent how she’s being used as a tool. And you fell for the schtick. The agenda goes far beyond just a handful of extra taxes and regs, you know that. Or should.

Being 16 and autistic doesn’t put you beyond criticism, especially when she (semi-)voluntarily put herself in the spotlight like this.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

People resent how she’s being used as a tool. And you fell for the schtick. The agenda goes far beyond just a handful of extra taxes and regs, you know that. Or should.

Being 16 and autistic doesn’t put you beyond criticism, especially when she (semi-)voluntarily put herself in the spotlight like this.

I get the thought @Cosmos , but that concept of unacceptable targets is basically what the people using her are counting on. And I brought up Soph for a reason - she's even younger but the people in this mob don't hesitate to demand her head. If the kid wants to go viral and play in the big leagues, she's game for that level of criticism too.

 

[pwnest injun]

That's not a controversial opinion but that's also not what we're talking about here. We're talking about insane activists who claim that we're all fucking doomed in five-ten years unless we all switch to electric cars, solar power and the Green New Deal NOW. It's not gonna fucking happen.

And insulting dumb teens is always a bad look but lol A&H.

All of the 5-10 years stuff is about tipping points. Environmentalists see climate change as a process. It happens slow, but then it picks up steam as certain processes kick in. Things like jet streams changing, loss of solar reflection from polar ice, prevalence of wildfires. They see it like trying to push a bolder up a hill, but the further down the hill it gets, the steeper it gets, so if you let it roll too far, you're eventually fucked. Not saying they've got a full picture or anything, but that's where the alarmism comes from.

 

[Mexican_Wizard_711]

Lol, the dumb ratings you got. This entire thread is full of climate change deniers who think environmentalism is a (((globalist))) conspiracy theory and not something we should care about so our planet stays healthy and habitable. I never thought “we should regulate corporations so they can’t pollute freely to save a few bucks” and “we should try to cut down on plastic waste” would be a controversial opinion but here we are.

Also, she’s 16 years old, insulting her and shaming her just because you disagree with her isn’t a good look.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c

OT but it's sad how the same people who worship the legacy of George Carlin are currently demonizing Dave Chappelle.

 

[AnOminous]

And I brought up Soph for a reason - she's even younger but the people in this mob don't hesitate to demand her head. If the kid wants to go viral and play in the big leagues, she's game for that level of criticism too.

Much of it just isn't criticism, though, but autistic screeching mixed with thirst. Also, I think the criticism is of the parents who are (allegedly) somehow forcing her into this. Well, 16 years old isn't old enough for some stuff but they aren't a baby in a fucking cradle and they have their own opinions by that point. If anything, that's the age when people start rejecting their parents' opinions.

 

[neverendingmidi]

Every time I see a kid propped up as a savior figure "speaking truth to power" I start humming that silly "Henry the Eighth" song... "Second verse, same as the first!"

 

[Particle Bored]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c

Carlin touches here on my issue with overzealous vegetarians/vegans. It's a noble concept, and go ahead and engage in it on your own, maybe calmly endorse it to your friends, but until people stop killing each other, on the whole they're not gonna give a fuck about eating animals.

 

[Krimjob]

Much of it just isn't criticism, though, but autistic screeching mixed with thirst. Also, I think the criticism is of the parents who are (allegedly) somehow forcing her into this. Well, 16 years old isn't old enough for some stuff but they aren't a baby in a fucking cradle and they have their own opinions by that point. If anything, that's the age when people start rejecting their parents' opinions.

Not really though in this case. The girl might seem "normal" but don't forget she is a complete full-on aspie. You might think she's a mild case, but do remember that this girl was essentially fully psychotic at one point because of "climate".

This is one of the main concerns among Swedes as well, the parents really should have gotten her therapy. This is essentially letting her delusions foster, which could lead to actual meltdowns. She now genuinely believe that she's doing a difference when it's already been proven that she's just a pawn. No one gives a shit, not a single politician that she meets gives a shit and this entire thing is genuinely exceptional. This is all quite noticeable in some of her interviews in Sweden (the latest ones), she's just getting worse and seems more irrational and panicked. This isn't activism for her, this is a bonafide battle against the apocalypse to her.

I could be wrong, but I kinda hope I'm not. It's a good dumpster fire worthy popcorn.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Much of it just isn't criticism, though, but autistic screeching mixed with thirst. Also, I think the criticism is of the parents who are (allegedly) somehow forcing her into this. Well, 16 years old isn't old enough for some stuff but they aren't a baby in a fucking cradle and they have their own opinions by that point. If anything, that's the age when people start rejecting their parents' opinions.

That's true for kids that are normal, but she isn't. She's high-functioning autistic, diagnosed late as well. She isn't capable of that level of autonomy and certainly wouldn't start wholesale rebelling against her parents. If anything she'd conform to their views more tightly than before, because she's experiencing rapid changes in her life that threaten her mental stability. Higher-functioning autists nearly always accept the claims of authority figures without question (which is why so many of them end up transed - someone they trust told them they were actually the other sex, and so it was suddenly true).

Her parents are both actors and both have some significant clout in Stockholm's media scene. They stand to gain immensly by exploiting their daughter's fame and they had the connections to place her in front of the right people to gain her visibility. They took their child - and mentally she is a child - and have ruthlessly exploited her for their own gain.

This is no different than Desmond is amazing, it's just a different audience throwing money at the performative abuse of a child.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Much of it just isn't criticism, though, but autistic screeching mixed with thirst. Also, I think the criticism is of the parents who are (allegedly) somehow forcing her into this. Well, 16 years old isn't old enough for some stuff but they aren't a baby in a fucking cradle and they have their own opinions by that point. If anything, that's the age when people start rejecting their parents' opinions.

Fair point. Spergy screeching at the kid is no better or more deserved.

 

[ElAbominacion]

That's not a controversial opinion but that's also not what we're talking about here. We're talking about insane activists who claim that we're all fucking doomed in five-ten years unless we all switch to electric cars, solar power and the Green New Deal NOW. It's not gonna fucking happen.

And insulting dumb teens is always a bad look but lol A&H.

Just remember that the same crazy ass motherfuckers predicted in 2000 that the San Andreas fault line would collapse if we were to keep polluting and so far we haven't seen anything of California sinking into the sea.

Which is a damn fucking shame.

 

[4str4staleatherbelt]

It's hard to name a more astroturfed figure as of late. No one knows or cares about this person.

 

[cactus]

Just remember that the same crazy ass motherfuckers predicted in 2000 that the San Andreas fault line would collapse if we were to keep polluting and so far we haven't seen anything of California sinking into the sea.

Which is a damn fucking shame.

Hey, the way the Pacific plate is going means California is going to hit Alaska, not fall into the ocean, let's get this right. Arizona Bay will still be a thing though.

 

[DtoDab]

It's hard to name a more astroturfed figure as of late. No one knows or cares about this person.

I can confirm I truly don't know about this person at all.