AIBU Greta Thunberg?

[onalongsabbatical]

AIBU to ask everyone who can to get behind Greta Thunberg, even if only online, as she's now getting a lot a lot a lot of hate. She clearly threatens people - especially her polar opposites, men, rich old men, powerful men (did I mention men?). Let's all give her the lurve and support she needs.
So on FB I challenged one just now - Why are you attacking a young woman? - and he disappeared. Funny, that.

The same as her parents, get involved, do something. Social activism has been shown to be good for mental health.

Keeping a child calm by not filling them with terrifying apocalyptic visions of the future has also been shown to be good for mental health.

I suppose we’ll just have to see how the “Spokesperson for a generation” thing works out in the long run. Of course according to Greta and her acolytes there isn’t going to be a long run unless “governments do something”. It’ll be interesting to see what she’s going to be doing in 20 years when the earth is very much still here. Launching yet another media campaign around the fact that this time the earth really really really is going to end, no kidding, this time unlike the last 30 times we really really mean it?

@IntoTheHoods
I totally agree.
The media and your every day folks, can be very selective when it suits.
I feel so bad for that girl, shame shes not getting the same well deserved support as Greta.

I also wonder if we’d see quite the huge numbers of children out in force protesting if these were rallies on Sundays as opposed to mid week school day strikes

Quite.

I think she’s a victim, so no, YABU.

Huh? How does that make it OK to attack her?

It’ll be interesting to see what she’s going to be doing in 20 years when the earth is very much still here. Launching yet another media campaign around the fact that this time the earth really really really is going to end, no kidding, this time unlike the last 30 times we really really mean it?

FFS, of course the planet's not going bloody anywhere!? 😂

Human life, on the other hand, is a great deal more precarious...

Ha some of these posts are laughable.

One thing going for young people they don’t cringe and shy away from everything to do with the environment - their future after all they should start shouting about it.

Taking a day off school and shouting slogans is not the same as giving up cheap fast fashion and take-away coffees and persuading your ever so supportive parents to give up cars and meat and holidays to Spain. How many of them are doing that? Because the shops and roads and airports around me are still packed from what I can see.

I know a few Jilly

And I can’t wait until they replace half the thread ;

Great conversation people. But this - my original plea - DEFEND A YOUNG WOMAN BEING ATTACKED ON SOCIAL MEDIA - currently 32% think I'm being unreasonable.
That's 32% of 729 - that's 233 people who think it's ok to attack a young woman on social media. On mumsnet, 233 people defending grown men attacking a young woman.
Think about it.

Keeping a child calm by not filling them with terrifying apocalyptic visions of the future has also been shown to be good for mental health

She’s not stupid (clearly) and can see what’s on the horizon. How ridiculous to suggest her parents should have tried to keep it from her.

For those of you expecting the next generation to save the planet I hate to let you down but it’s not going to happen unless it’s through technological innovation (or the widespread use of nuclear). I was a climate activist in my teens. I then grew up, had children (and no longer had energy for the small lifestyle changes) and realised that the kind of solutions that the movement was touting were not going to solve the issue of emissions (the only known technology that can do that is nuclear) and demanding the kinds of emissions cuts that the scientists think we need in the absence of nuclear power (which others refused to campaign for) was going to cost lives, especially in developing countries. I no longer bother. I would imagine most of the children striking today will follow suit.

Maybe it’ll prompt someone to innovate rather than work for a bank etc better than nothing.

Do people really not want this exposure to the issue?

Mass exposure not a few ‘crazy’ eco warriors on a boat

@Trewser I don't mean that Dutch parents listen to their own children and that is unusual. One would hope that all parents everywhere would do that.

I mean that children are taught, at school and in the wider culture, that their opinion is important and that they deserve - and should give - the same respect as adults. Teachers are called by their first names ("Miss Lisa", "Mister Tim") and the teacher shakes hands with each child at the beginning and the end of the school day. It's a big part of Dutch culture that everyone's opinion is important (it's one reason why meetings here take for-fucking-ever) and that begins right from primary school age.

But anyway, we're not focused on Holland here. I just thought that a PP raised a very relevant point as to why many Britons might feel more strongly that Thunberg was being manipulated, while I think it's a really odd idea. Cultural differences.

I am glad climate change is back on the political agenda. It’s been far too quite for many years.

Taking a day off school and shouting slogans is not the same as giving up cheap fast fashion and take-away coffees and persuading your ever so supportive parents to give up cars and meat and holidays to Spain. How many of them are doing that? Because the shops and roads and airports around me are still packed from what I can see

I can't think of one tbh and I know some who are very behind the whole movement. That's what the Jeremy Vine show highlighted,it was lots of talk but actually not much action.

A shame people don’t know any. It’s great when changes come from teens.

So you’re all saying the world would be better off without this exposure?

Better for you and your children

I know a lot of people who are making changes to how they live. Consumer habits are changing if you look around you. So much apathy on this thread. Almost as scary as climate change deniers.

People will ask why didn’t people do anything it was blindingly obvious

And they can look at the millions of reasons on this thread from jealousy to apathy on and file it under the stupidity of humanity

For anyone interested have a look at the C-Roads interactive climate model,

croadsworldclimate.climateinteractive.org/

Lets you model various climate policies and how they'll effect gmst. Even if all countries were to cut net emissons by 100% by 2020 we'd only just achieve the Paris Agreement. As thing stands we're facing 4+*C rise in gmst. We've been warned about the consequences of the way we live for over 50 years now and have burried our heads for far too long. The only saving grace is those of us 30+ should be dead before the full effects are felt.

Maybe it’ll prompt someone to innovate rather than work for a bank etc better than nothing.

This is such a shallow viewpoint. Plenty of people are innovating in green technologies and do you know who is investing in them? Those terrible banks and the people who work for them.

Great well that’s good isn’t it

Sounds like a good partnership what’s the problem?