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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU Greta Thunberg?

999 replies

onalongsabbatical · 22/09/2019 10:34

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.

OP posts:
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FreshwaterBay · 22/09/2019 12:14

It is unwise to invest such a vital matter on just one person. It makes the issue of climate change fragile. Other people, groups and causes should be invested in with equal strength and urgency if we are serious about climate change. Ultimately it is whole armies who win battles.

derxa · 22/09/2019 12:15

,

shannuni · 22/09/2019 12:15

I find her a precocious attention seeker

Well, yes. She’s seeking people’s attention to the very real and pressing issue of climate change Hmm

Thegrasscouldbegreener · 22/09/2019 12:17

I find her PR stunts a little nauseating. However I support the authentic message she is conveying, and admire the way she has reached young people.
I care desperately about climate change, so any attention is a good thing.

Not sure why she is attracting hate though? She is just a kid, so if that true that is not good.
The rise of activism politics has two sides though.

MyCatsHat · 22/09/2019 12:18

I like her and applaud her but I am worried about her. She is earnestly doing her best and trying to achieve her aims as far as I can see, but she's in that situation where she's being treated like a guru and a goddess. I saw a pic of protesters all wearing masks of her face yesterday and I found that chilling. I hope she is really, really well protected and has some very safe spaces she can escape to - from her supporters as well as her enemies, who can be pretty scary.

We eed people to do what she's doing, but a 16yo girl with ASD may find it very hard to continue to be a huge figurehead. I think Malala has handled things brilliantly and hope she is in touch with Greta.

midsomermurderess · 22/09/2019 12:18

Precocious attention seeker🤣🤣

MyCatsHat · 22/09/2019 12:20

And yes we need more Gretas, not just one.

I think sailing to NY was a great thing because it really showed what it's going to take and that she means it.

ImGoingToBangYourHeadsTogether · 22/09/2019 12:20

I don't doubt that someone of her age standing up and telling adults who were trying to make livings since before she was a baby is indeed a huge great attention seeker. I don't doubt that she's from an entitled background, massively indulged and entitled, and is living off, as she always has lived off, a wave of support from all around her.

I don't care.

She is saying something that needs to be said loud and clear. The message that the world cannot continue like this is finally reaching important places, the reaction proves it.

Public figures take a huge amount of abuse at the moment, especially if you are female, and all respect to her for being prepared and able to take that. I wouldn't. Combined with the problem of vested interests pp's have outlined she must be getting hell.

IntoTheHoods · 22/09/2019 12:21

Good point @MyCatsHat. I understand that both her parents are performers/in the public eye so hopefully they can give her better guidance because of it.

Cantstopgrazing · 22/09/2019 12:22

Who?

Starfish28 · 22/09/2019 12:22

I hate the fact that if men are shouting at you, you are somehow winning because you are hitting a nerve. She is such an inspiration. But it is apparently acceptable to write horrific messages on the internet to a 16 year old girl who is on the spectrum, trying to address the most terrifyingly thing, and the shocking inaction of the world’s leaders. It does make we wonder about humanity

IntoTheHoods · 22/09/2019 12:24

lmgtfy.com/?q=who+the+fuck+is+greta+thunberg

MilkTrayLimeBarrel · 22/09/2019 12:24

I think she is a pain in the neck!

Yabbers · 22/09/2019 12:24

She gets pushback from adults who are afraid of her message.

The same kind of crap we saw spouted about the kids protesting on Friday.

Nobody can believe she cares and it’s all about her parents manipulating her. Some of the vile comments from high profile adults are shocking. But it’s always the same whenever anyone challenges power, especially if it’s a “weak and meek little girl”. Nice easy target that.

pottedshrimps · 22/09/2019 12:25

Good on her, something needs to be done.

LaPeste · 22/09/2019 12:31

I also think she's great. She's cutting through a lot of BS to highlight perhaps the most pressing issue of the 21st Century.

I see some criticism along the lines of that we should listen to the professionals and not a 16 year old, but quite frankly, the professionals (i.e. the scientists, environmental policy advisers, etc) have been spreading the message for years now, with limited effect.

Saucery · 22/09/2019 12:31

I’m sure there are a number of people behind her, including her parents and so far they seem to be facilitating things for her while still taking her lead.
I’m cynical that the movement will have the desired impact because of the capitalist forces against it and other sectors of ExR need to be careful they don’t alienate the rest of society (the sheer mess they leave behind, blocking cities for consecutive days, making demands that the vast majority of people are unable to meet so switch off).
I am not cynical about her, her close supporters and facilitators and her core message. The marches on Friday were inspiring and I’m a sceptical hard hearted old bat usually.

Symptomless · 22/09/2019 12:33

It's admirable what she's done. There will come a time when she will take a less prominent role and hopefully someone else will step up instead.

DirtyWindow · 22/09/2019 12:35

I find her a precocious attention seeker

Well, she is precocious, clearly. I don't know any other 16 year old who could do what she's done.

And she is an attention seeker - all be it seeking attention for climate change, not herself.

mencken · 22/09/2019 12:35

using a brand new superwhizzy yacht was a badly misjudged stunt. Plenty of older yachts (with holding tanks!) which would also have got her to NY and in more comfort, and perhaps without the need for a chaperone who then flew home. Also without the massive carbon footprint involved in producing new yachts.

I'd like her to use her influence not to have kids missing education, but to encourage the uncomfortable truths. We need to use less, buy less, drive less, fly less, consume less. If we are to tackle this jobs will be lost and standards of living go down. Standing outside on a sunny day waving placards and wasting an education day achieves less than nothing.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 22/09/2019 12:35

I thinks she is very inspiring, I first heard of her in Dds First news newspaper. It is important that young people have someone positive to look up to and I'd much rather Dd looked up to Greta then Youtubers opening boxes. Greta also has autism so that might explain the one track focus on some topics. Its interesting that she is following in her Grandfather's footsteps as he was one of the first scientists to recognise climate change several decades ago.

Ohdeargodwot · 22/09/2019 12:35

Yabu - she's all hype. I'm a youngish poor woman and worked on eco issues all my life. She and her protests are BS. Sorry.

RosiePosiePuddle · 22/09/2019 12:38

l listened to the Jeremy Vine show a few weeks ago. They got some man to attack her. He claimed that she was basically a leader of a cult. Said that she was misandropic (how?!).

He dodged the question if he believed the science behind climate change (impossible for the right to deny as Trump has expressed an interest in Greenland). He then said that he didn't want to mention her asperger's or other mental health problems that "her mother has written extensively about"(he repeated it twice that he didn't want to bring it up).

He then went onto dismiss the green movement in general. But his attack on her was extremely personal, nasty and either outright wrong or very exaggerated or biased. (I wrote a complaint right after listening, and noted all the crap he came out with on a second listen, it pissed me off so much).

All she is really doing is highlighting environmental concerns. She isn't saying anything new. But the right are obviously scared of her power. They would ignore such a young female otherwise.

Sallycinammonbangsthedruminthe · 22/09/2019 12:39

I worry about this young lady being projected all over the place and I wonder how much control she has on her day to day life.I agree the issue is vital which she promotes but I do worry who is behind her and I also worry that she may be used ...She is still so very young.

Cantstopgrazing · 22/09/2019 12:41

Ok. Just looked her up. I think it's weird that people, especially adults, are idolising a child and putting her on a pedestal. That's a lot of responsibility for someone so young, and it just feels bit odd; but then again I've never understood why people idolise people that they don't know.

I don't think it's healthy to give children such power (or fame). It often doesn't help them or isn't good for them in the long run.

The legal age for an adult is 18 for a reason.