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.

 

[nekrataal]

The next time an antifag insists that they're fighting on behalf of the proletariat they love to pretend they represent, just remember that they're fawning over literal child of the bourgeois elite and laugh at them

Don’t forget that her ideals dick over the proletariat, which antifa fags claim to be in favor of.

 

[Antique Rice]

They're afraid of nuclear power because of the China Syndrome movie. Really. That's what caused a lot of the anti-nuke stuff to start, long before Fukishima, before Three Mile, before even Chernobyl. That movie made idiots think it was real, and a nuclear meltdown would burn through the center of the earth and out the other side.

This too. People associate nuclear meltdown with a world-ending catastrophe, like they associate getting bonked on the head with passing out for a few hours, and using a defibrillator to restart a patient under cardiac arrest. Don't get your education from movies, kids.

 

[Wallace]

Babylon Bee on point again.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The government wants you to take climate change seriously, like really bad. So bad in fact, that they showed how very serious they are about the "climate crisis" by inviting a foreign high school kid as their star climate witness.

"Climate change is a real, super serious thing," said Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida at a hearing at which the high schooler had been invited to testify before the legislative body. "And to let you know that this is something that mature adults need to address---mostly by giving me more money and power---here is a 16-year-old girl we are going to exploit for maximum emotional impact."

The girl then gave her testimony, though she was interrupted multiple times by Democrats breaking into tears and screaming, "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"

"As you can see, this is obviously an issue of reason and science, and also anyone who would dare disagree with a high school kid on this is a denier," Rep. Castor said as the student's testimony concluded.

At publishing time, liberals in Congress had clarified that climate change was serious enough for you to change your lifestyle, but not serious enough for them to change theirs.

 

[Postal_Rat]

The problem is I have never seen these people come up with an actual viable solution. It's all either finger wagging at giant corporations who don't give a shit,pointless bullshit like California's idiotic plastic straw ban or apple pie in the sky stuff that if implemented would completely wreck our economy like the Green New Deal.

I myself have always wondered about the viability of hydro-power given our planet is 70% water.

The biggest problem with hydro-power isn't water supply its that you need a change in altitude and good place to set up a reservoir.

The big new thing in europe for renewable power is offshore wind farms there's a lot of untapped energy from the tides and the winds they bring.

Frankly though the most practical solution would be a large scale conversion to nuclear power, of which no one really talks about in the mainstream

 

[GaryGrey]

Said this in chat a few time today but let it sink in how much power this teen with Asperger has. Normal people have been manipulated by a child with Asperger's into the biggest waste of oxygen possible. Tens to maybe even a hundred thousands people were convinced to go out side and scream at clouds as a lynch pin reaction of a small child. From NYC to San Francisco and even internationally in Great Britain, Australia, and Mexico I've watch people with hot takes like:

• Climate change is bad
• No one listens to young people
• We have gathered to affect change (no explanation of how)
• We need to do good things now or bad things will happen later
• Old people don't understand/care
• Just by coming out today things have been accomplished

A solid take was how around 190 billion USD tax dollars fund efforts that lead to pollution by China and Canada in the Philippines. And how the Philippians Army is executing innocent environmentalist teachers who did nothing wrong. (Hoping to hear more of this as the sun goes down). This was by a Philippine American protester in Portland if someone finds a copy of his speech please link it, was definitely a highlight.
Mainly over the day its been a lot of watching people stand around. Portland had groups streaming on the ground and it looked like the vast majority of protesters were high school and college kids. They all wondered in listened to people preach on a stage then stood around looking aimless or board out of their minds. Finally they moved as a mob to walk into traffic with the goal of getting to somewhere else for reasons they diffidently didn't know.
A summery of the daytime events are:

• People missed work
• People want things different
• Gathering and talking will somehow cause detailed plans to develop and be executed.... somehow... my vote is via magic
• Unskilled Amazon labors speak using language like "their products" and "their ads" when describing actions of their employer
• A lot of people will have long commutes home
• Many random cities had small protests
• Total change effected: None, just new job opportunities for some hard working people at Amazon

Hopes are as the sun goes down more people with stronger feeling come out. Protests are great if you like people watching since it has a habit of drawing out those with strong feeling but questionable reasoning.

Main resources:
Periscope Searching climate on Periscope or searching a city where special people tend to gather (like Portland)
Youtube Searching climate but then clicking on FILTER-> FEATURES -> Live (Beware some live streams may just be re-streaming popular recordings from earlier. Always ask what time of day is it at that location)

EDIT: Special Mention
Feminist Forum on Climate Change from the American University of Beirut

 

[Vulpes Incunta]

I want to see Trump call her a mongoloid

 

[Pixy]

Said this in chat a few time today but let it sink in how much power this teen with Asperger has. Normal people have been manipulated by a child with Asperger's into the biggest waste of oxygen possible. Tens to maybe even a hundred thousands people were convinced to go out side and scream at clouds as a lynch pin reaction of a small child. From NYC to San Francisco and even internationally in Great Britain, Australia, and Mexico...

They timed it to take place 3 days before the UN Climate Summit. Imo they could have planned it better, as striking on the day of the Climate Summit would be far more attention-grabbing, and it would still be on a school day. Doing so would've overshadowed the event though, which they clearly wanted to avoid.

According to a self-proclaimed 'anarchist' I know who participated, the ringleaders talk with the other organisers in different countries, organise dates for strikes, and then issue their orders to the rest of the others. Still conspiratorial-esque, but they aren't takin It's not just students who are participating in these strikes, either. In Australia the Teachers' Unions and some other Labor-oriented unions have decided to strike "in solidarity" with the students. Most of the children participating in it are die-hard lefties that've probably participated in the Extinction Rebellion events and support the Greens, Labor and various Socialist Groups (they show up at every protest).

There is definitely some form of corporate backing for the Australian climate strike. The decision to use progressive-leaning mass-mailing service Action Network is a deliberate one. Nine Media Group also appears to have ordered Pedestrian Group, their 'youth-oriented' publishing brand to participate in the strike. Pedestrian runs Kotaku Australia and all the other Australian Gizmodo websites, and published a virtue-signalling post on all their websites about why they're joining in and why you should too. Given that Nine didn't endorse the strikes, it was plainly corporate virtue signalling for the sake of keeping up appearance.

Not Business as Usual is a group of progressive companies that decided to participate in the strike. They've taken out ads in newspapers, and a couple of billboard posters.

 

[dirtydeanna96]

Who's Greta Null? The brave school-skipping girl who wants to save KiwiFarms from man-made global sperging?

Greta Null (née Greta Thunberg) is Joshua Null's wife. Our leader loves lolis.

 

[Crystal Golem]

View attachment 940964

A girl that couldn't tie shoes at 12 was allowed to cross the Atlantic alone in a small boat and was completely able to handle that? Wouldn't the swirling waters of the open ocean combined with squawking seabirds and the beating sun present some kind of major potential for Sensory overload? Or is that just loud talking? Her parents obviously have those gigantoid nordic genes why is she so small? Sorry I'm just catching up.

 

[CWCissey]

A girl that couldn't tie shoes at 12 was allowed to cross the Atlantic alone in a small boat and was completely able to handle that? Wouldn't the swirling waters of the open ocean combined with squawking seabirds and the beating sun present some kind of major potential for Sensory overload? Or is that just loud talking? Her parents obviously have those gigantoid nordic genes why is she so small? Sorry I'm just catching up.

She's really a midget.

 

[The Penultimate Warrior]

Has she ever actually suggested any workable solutions? All I ever hear is her telling people something must be done now. Although part of me would actually like to see a government take extreme action, like banning all all travel or anything made with fossil fuels, just to see the economy and support for the green movement collapse overnight.

 

[Picnic_Boy]

The good news is the world ended about 20 years ago according to the sorcerer priests of the scientist caste. No use fretting over a doomed wasteland, right?

 

[Koby_Fish]

this shit's the anti-nuclear power/weapons protests of the 70s all over again.

 

[Crystal Golem]

The good news is the world ended about 20 years ago according to the sorcerer priests of the scientist caste. No use fretting over a doomed wasteland, right?

They tell me that if we don't act immediately the icecaps will be completely melted by 2015. We must act now!

 

[Coleslaw]

Every country that betrayed the Catholic Church began the decline. The Swedes were some of the earliest, and so fell farthest.

The Afrikaners would like a word.

 

[Wallace]

Has she ever actually suggested any workable solutions? All I ever hear is her telling people something must be done now. Although part of me would actually like to see a government take extreme action, like banning all all travel or anything made with fossil fuels, just to see the economy and support for the green movement collapse overnight.

Plans and action are passé. Keeping people scared and angry generates much more money for the people pulling Greta's strings. It's not like she could come up with an original idea on her own; she's basically a puppet.

 

[Zero Day Defense]

Heh
View attachment 941428

The Hill on Twitter

“WATCH: Video of young boy shielding Greta Thunberg from photographers goes viral https://t.co/CF7jOeHKds”

twitter.com

https://archive.li/QeBii

Boy's getting a head start on being a white knight.

 

[Koby_Fish]

Plans and action are passé. Keeping people scared and angry generates much more money for the people pulling Greta's strings. It's not like she could come up with an original idea on her own; she's basically a puppet.

one of the worst parts about this is Greta has claimed she can SEE Carbon Dioxide (a colorless, odorless, invisible gas). So either this kid is straight-up delusional, or her idiot parents never thought to get her checked by the doctors for synesthesia. If this kid sees ANYTHING (particularly a COLOR) associated with the word "Carbon Dioxide" either from hearing it outside or from in her head, I'm betting it's fucking synesthesia.

Like so:

It might simply be a glow of a color in her vision which she's somehow associated with Carbon Dioxide because she's an autistic sped, and nobody around her has the brains or the empathy to realize or at least get checked out, what's wrong with her in this specific context. Because "seeing" a colorless odorless gas IS NOT NORMAL.

And also she's not actually seeing it.

 

[CWCissey]

And also she's not actually seeing it.

She's really just huffing her farts

 

[Ash Gassem]

This thing is so transparently fake and gay, it's not really worth discussing, or even paying any mind. What is worth thinking about is whether her vegan diet is responsible for her stunted development. She looks like a sickly 11 year old, yet she's 16. Did you see that picture of her with Obama? She can't be over 5'. Presumably, she's going to look like this for the rest of her life.

How is everyone overlooking this? If it's not the veganism, what the hell is going on? We need answers.