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.

 

[ditto]

A little disappointed that they walked that one back. Would have been entertaining to watch her go full Che Guegreta.

 

[JambledUpWords]

Former first lady Michelle Obama, meanwhile, tweeted a message of support to Thunberg, writing "don't let anyone dim your light."

What light, Michelle? She’s a Debby Downer and you know it. Her entire shtick is about inciting fear and hopelessness in everyone. Instead of being part of the problem, you should be encouraging her to go back to school, see a therapist, and go back to a normal life.

 

[Coldgrip]

A little disappointed that they walked that one back. Would have been entertaining to watch her go full Che Guegreta.
View attachment 1051608

Depending on how addicted to fame she is, she could decide that her "movement" isn't going in the "right direction" and start spewing more violent rhetoric in hopes of staying in the spotlight.

Personally, I hope she goes through a Mao phase.

 

[Hatoful Dandy]

"That's what happens when you improvise speeches in a second language," the Swede continued. "But of course I apologize if anyone misunderstood this. I can not enough express the fact that I — as well as the entire school strike movement — are against any possible form of violence. It goes without saying but I say it anyway."

Oh, like when someone asked her questions that she hasn't rehearsed behforehand and suddenly wasn't as articulate and knowledgable as the media likes to convince us she is?

 

[Buster O'Keefe]

Greta Thunberg apologizes for "against the wall" comment
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greta-...vist-apologizes-for-against-the-wall-comment/ (http://archive.vn/Kj30d)

Greta Thunberg apologized on Saturday for a comment that some interpreted as a threat of violence against politicians who ignore climate change. Thunberg said she was merely translating a Swedish expression into English and apologized for the way her comments may have come off.

"Yesterday I said we must hold our leaders accountable and unfortunately said 'put them against the wall,'" the 16-year-old climate activist tweeted on Saturday. "That's Swenglish: 'att ställa någon mot väggen' (to put someone against the wall) means to hold someone accountable."

"That's what happens when you improvise speeches in a second language," the Swede continued. "But of course I apologize if anyone misunderstood this. I can not enough express the fact that I — as well as the entire school strike movement — are against any possible form of violence. It goes without saying but I say it anyway."

The expression in English is often a euphemism for executions. It refers to putting someone in front of wall before they are killed by a firing squad.

Thunberg, who was recently named Time's Person of the Year for 2019, made the comments during a speech in Italy on Friday while talking about world leaders who aren't helping to fight climate change.

"We have to make sure that they cannot do that," she said. "We will make sure they, that we put them against the wall, and that they will have to do their job and to protect our futures."

Thunberg has gotten under the skin of several world leaders, including United States President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Mr. Trump tweeted earlier this week that Thunberg "must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!"

Former first lady Michelle Obama, meanwhile, tweeted a message of support to Thunberg, writing "don't let anyone dim your light."

I'm pretty certain one of her wranglers spotted the offending passage and let if fly, knowing there was a smug 'mistranslation' walk back. Cue outrage, tweets, clicks etc ad nauseam.
Someone made a Joan of Arc analogy a while back: Greta should take heed of how that ended, when Joan's sperging became inconvenient for her controllers.

 

[AnOminous]

I agree that her winning Person of the Year is dumb, but why does Trump feel it necessary to throw a tantrum whenever someone who dares disagree with him on something wins?

Because he's mentally a child, it literally causes him anal anguish that anyone thinks he is a moron, even though he obviously is a moron.

 

[vertexwindi]

Greta Thunberg on Twitter

“Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home!”

twitter.com

Deutsche Bahn AG on Twitter

“Liebe #Greta, danke, dass Du uns Eisenbahner im Kampf gegen den Klimawandel unterstützt! Wir haben uns gefreut, dass Du am Samstag mit uns im ICE 74 unterwegs warst. Und das mit 100 Prozent Ökostrom. 1/2”

twitter.com

Deutsche Bahn AG on Twitter

“Noch schöner wäre es gewesen, wenn Du zusätzlich auch berichtet hättest, wie freundlich und kompetent Du von unserem Team an Deinem Sitzplatz in der Ersten Klasse betreut worden bist. #Greta 2/2”

twitter.com

Well then.

 

[It's HK-47]

"You have stolen my childhood!"
"People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of the mass extinction [...]"
"Nuclear energy isn't good enough! We need to destroy the patriarchy!"
"We will put the world leaders against the wall!"

When a kid is acting completely out of line and running up and down the aisles screaming at everybody, it's an adult's job to tell the kid to chill the fuck out. Somehow this is something that a lot of adults are finding difficult. It's not as though she's just some random kid, either, because the media and an entire political faction will not shut the Hell up about her and they put her on magazines and drag her to the fucking U.N. to yell at everyone.

Rather than encouraging her to focus on her education or try and rationalize with her to help her understand that she's not about to fucking die they just keep feeding this kid delusional propaganda until she's whipped into this absolute frenzy because she's convinced that we're all years away from being completely destroyed by this Climate Spooky nonsense. They're not trying to help her calm down, they're feeding her fear and it's creating an insane person.

I don't understand how telling the physical manifestation of "lol calm down" equates to throwing a tantrum. It's what any rational person should do in the face of a child who just will not calm down.

 

[Happy Fish]

I think it's more of a sign that cancel culture is getting it's claws into Japan.

Its been seeping in for years now.

 

[Wy4M]

Greta Thunberg on Twitter

“Traveling on overcrowded trains through Germany. And I’m finally on my way home!”

twitter.com

Deutsche Bahn AG on Twitter

“Liebe #Greta, danke, dass Du uns Eisenbahner im Kampf gegen den Klimawandel unterstützt! Wir haben uns gefreut, dass Du am Samstag mit uns im ICE 74 unterwegs warst. Und das mit 100 Prozent Ökostrom. 1/2”

twitter.com

Deutsche Bahn AG on Twitter

“Noch schöner wäre es gewesen, wenn Du zusätzlich auch berichtet hättest, wie freundlich und kompetent Du von unserem Team an Deinem Sitzplatz in der Ersten Klasse betreut worden bist. #Greta 2/2”

twitter.com

Well then.

I think your post misses some context. Let me try to help

- Greta posted a picture on her Twatter where she was forced to sit on the ground because the train was so overcrowded.
- This caused a shitstorm against the German railway company
- German railway company respond to her tweet:
Dear #Greta, thank you for supporting us in our fight against climate change! We felt flattered that you traveled with us in the ICE 74 with 100% green energy.
it would be even better if you had mentioned how friendly and comfortably our team has treated you on your seat in the First Class section of the train.

 

[moocow]

Thunberg has gotten under the skin of several world leaders, including United States President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Why do they keep repeating this lie? Trump's mentioned her in two tweets and has otherwise ignored her (including ignoring her completely when they tried to "force" an encounter with him). Bolsonaro mentioned her once.

Shitposting is not an indicator for "has gotten under their skin." The fact that her handlers have changed her twitter bio to quote every drive-by shitpost about her speaks volumes as to who's getting under whose skin.

Egads these people just suck. "Oooooh, I'm getting under your skin, take that!" Go away, fly, shoo.

ETA:

German railway company respond to her tweet:

Holy shit, what a backhand. Well done, German railway company.

Too good for coach, eh Greta?

 

[byuu]

To be fair the German train company is an absolute piece of shit and their trains are constantly overcrowded.
Except for the type of train that she rode on, which was an expensive long-distance train.

Also their "100% green energy" claims are utter bullshit.

 

[CWCissey]

I think your post misses some context. Let me try to help

- Greta posted a picture on her Twatter where she was forced to sit on the ground because the train was so overcrowded.
- This caused a shitstorm against the German railway company
- German railway company respond to her tweet:
Dear #Greta, thank you for supporting us in our fight against climate change! We felt flattered that you traveled with us in the ICE 74 with 100% green energy.
it would be even better if you had mentioned how friendly and comfortably our team has treated you on your seat in the First Class section of the train.

She pulled a Corbyn!

 

[JosephStalin]

A little disappointed that they walked that one back. Would have been entertaining to watch her go full Che Guegreta.
View attachment 1051608

Yeah, and eventually take care of her the same way they took care of Che.

 

[Wy4M]

I found some info about ICE 74:

vagonWEB » Řazení vlaků » 2019 » SBB ICE » ICE 74

vagonWEB » Fotogalerie » Německo » DB » 401 DB ICE 1

Look at those 1st class seats! Poor kid, They really took her childhood away.

 

[Crankenstein]

Greta was in RE2 Remake.

 

[vertexwindi]

I think your post misses some context. Let me try to help

- Greta posted a picture on her Twatter where she was forced to sit on the ground because the train was so overcrowded.
- This caused a shitstorm against the German railway company
- German railway company respond to her tweet:
Dear #Greta, thank you for supporting us in our fight against climate change! We felt flattered that you traveled with us in the ICE 74 with 100% green energy.
it would be even better if you had mentioned how friendly and comfortably our team has treated you on your seat in the First Class section of the train.

Yeah I had to leave right around posting that, but thanks for the context.

 

[heathercho]

Its been seeping in for years now.

Korea and Japan were the patient zero for cancel culture. If you "fuck up", you better get your shears ready to cut off that hair.

 

[bippu_as_fuck_ls400]

View attachment 1052003

I know I've become fixated on the shoes. I notice them in every pic. I just really, really hope that they are rotating between two pairs or something. Go ahead and rate me autistic.

 

[benithedude]

because spoiled teens online hate successful kids, remember when they hated justin bieber ?