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Original poster

Why do old white men hate Greta Thunberg so much?

705 replies

MotherOfDragonite · 21/12/2019 15:57

My 65 year old uncle and friends of a similar age (and also white, though not necessarily all British -- others are American, German and Australian) seem to talk about her an awful lot with great vitriol and hatred.

They seem to have shared views about climate change, but I still can't understand why they hate Greta so much. Not only do they comment on her, but they post unpleasant memes about her. While I understand that they fundamentally disagree with the concept of climate change, I don't really understand why a 16 year old girl with Aspergers, who does not live in the UK and who clearly has good intentions even if they disagree with them, is the focus of so much of their ire.

What is it about Greta that older men find so very "triggering"?

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 26/12/2019 12:37

malylis

The scientific community has been calling for and has seen an increase in more actions for years.

See maybe this is the problem, she makes you realise you aren't doing enough.

Maybe people are doing all they can and are being told that its not enough.

malylis · 26/12/2019 13:19

The scientific community have been calling for more, for years. Remind me when they got millions to protest for it?

malylis · 26/12/2019 13:21

"People are doing all they can and being told its not enough"

And people know its not enough, they aren't willing to make enough changes and then being told so pulls this uncomfortable truth in front of them. So they attack the messenger

Dozer · 26/12/2019 13:21

We’re not doing all we could.

ImGoingToBangYourHeadsTogether · 26/12/2019 14:50

No “we’re” not. Some of us have been green-y for years, recycling, not having cars as long as we could and always trying to find the most environmentally friendly solution we can afford to our domestic power and power consumption needs.

And then you get the people who won’t walk half a mile down the road to the shops, and drive those Chelsea tractor monatositues. Probably the same people who think appearance is so much more important than anything else that they’ll have a go about a 16/17 year old’s preferred, non-trendy clothes that probably fit right into her sub grouping in her homeland culture if I know anything at all about the continent and the scands. The difficulty as someone else said, is focusing the message and getting action out of those people while not irritating the rest of us more than she has to. (Wave to fellow Sid Meier game fan too!)

BoneyBackJefferson · 26/12/2019 19:16

malylis

And people know its not enough, they aren't willing to make enough changes

Some people cannot make more changes.

and then being told so pulls this uncomfortable truth in front of them.

Most will already know

So they attack the messenger

No, they say that they can't and people accuse them of attacking the messenger because it suits a narrative.

P999 · 26/12/2019 20:11

She's galvanizing the younger generation. Which can be a threat to older generations who have been complacent. My girls love her. I think she's a brilliant role model. I'm glad she isn't feeling pressured to be likeable. She shoots up in my estimation for that. I think she's fucking amazing

squeekums · 26/12/2019 20:22

See maybe this is the problem, she makes you realise you aren't doing enough

Doing enough? Tried that, nope. Not any time soon again.
Now I know what's best for our day to day life. Our financial and mental health comes before being green.

Like as an example, for so bloody long we have kept stuff that could be sold or passed on like kids toys and clothes when we found someone, stuff that we could reuse or repurpose one day.
It turned our house into a cluttered mess, killing us mentally, feeling bogged down in crap all cos this green guilt trip gets put on people.
Its now ALL in a trailer, waiting to go to the dump. Its half of what needs to go, we will dump the 1st lost and I will fill and dump whatever else needs to go. I'm told by greta, media, protesters I should feel bad about so much in landfill. Screw that, my and my families mental health mean more.

Or like we tried to have a vege garden, in rural Australia, in soil that is beyond rock hard and useless for growth. The cost to the wallet for set up and up keep was huge, sourcing products annoying and a general physical and mental drain having to be present and attentive every single damn day.

Tried shorter showers, not having as hot, just made me feel like I was 11 again back living with my gambling addicted father with no electricity or gas. Screw that

And I won't be told by a 16 yr old that how I live is wrong. When she had my life, then she can see if she so willing to deliberately live a harder life than necessary.

malylis · 26/12/2019 20:25

Your children and children's children will have a harder life because you can't cut back on those things that you require.

malylis · 26/12/2019 20:26

What you mean essentially is your spurious needs matter more.

BoneyBackJefferson · 27/12/2019 00:22

P999
She's galvanizing the younger generation.

As malylis would say, objective facts please.

BoneyBackJefferson · 27/12/2019 00:25

malylis

I think that you may have "require" and "need" mixed up with "want and "desire".

Jillyhilly · 27/12/2019 00:44
Jillyhilly · 27/12/2019 00:49

they aren't willing to make enough changes

It requires an enormous amount of privilege to even be able to consider making “changes”.

What exactly do you want us all to do differently? Please be specific.

Jenpop234 · 27/12/2019 00:51

Just another angry whiner who only gets publicity because she's a child. How about she becomes a scientist and actually does something about climate change? Can't stand her.

malylis · 27/12/2019 04:15

Boneyback, I think you need to stop ignoring facts, did anyone else bring millions out in protest? Anyone else push climate change to the agenda so much that the freaking queen mentioned the campaign in her speech.

But nah it was all already happening.

malylis · 27/12/2019 04:17

Can't stand people who say "how bout she becomes a scientist", cause she is saying exactly what the scientists are saying.

Funny that privilege suddenly exists for old white people too.

squeekums · 27/12/2019 05:54

Your children and children's children will have a harder life because you can't cut back on those things that you require
What you mean essentially is your spurious needs matter more

Ahh yes mental health such a trivial need. You have NO IDEA on mental health.
Broken down we do what puts us in a better mental health zone.
This green guilt trip people try is now ignored by this house as people spouting it prove they have no idea on the issues people face and expect miracles. The arrogance and spite, the cult like mentality is disturbing.

The whole you must do it is much like the FAILED "just say no to drugs" campaign. Telling people they must with no effort to understand or even care why things are as they are, no effort to make it easier and affordable for all.

DD will have no good life in the NOW if my and dp mental health suffers.
We already feel the life returning from dumping so much crap.
We dont stress now coz xyz didnt grow, dont stress at each other cos watering was forgotten or the chooks got into garden.
We have decent rainfall in our pocket of aus, even a local farmer sold up at record prices due to annual rainfall so i will shower as needed

malylis · 27/12/2019 06:09

How is your mental health impacted by trying to consume less or to be more eco friendly? We all need to change our consumption habits in order to make a difference.

No one was arrogant or spiteful to you, there are plenty of things we can all do to make a difference.

The people with the power to make things different and more affordable for all are exactly the people Greta and the other campaigners are putting pressure on.

NearlyGranny · 27/12/2019 06:24

Squeekums sums the problem up:

"I won't be told..."

AlaskanOilBaron · 27/12/2019 07:28

To squeekum's post, certainly there's no benefit to hoarding clutter in your house to avoid using a landfill. Hopefully we're all learning to live with less stuff to make future clearouts less epic.

BoneyBackJefferson · 27/12/2019 10:06

malylis
I think you need to stop ignoring facts,

I'll stop ignoring facts when you start posting some.

malylis · 27/12/2019 10:44

I did, you just conviniently choose that they aren't facts.

Come on you were asked questions. Before Greta did this issue get as much attention, headline news for months?

Nope.

Oliversmumsarmy · 27/12/2019 11:18

Just another angry whiner who only gets publicity because she's a child

But she isn’t a child.

BoneyBackJefferson · 27/12/2019 11:19

malylis
I did, you just conviniently choose that they aren't facts.

Come on you were asked questions. Before Greta did this issue get as much attention, headline news for months?

That would depend on the papers that you read and the news that you watch.

Do you think that ER would have got no news time if it wasn't for greta?

And you haven't been posting facts, you have been pulling numbers out of the air, the plural of anecdote is not data.

For someone that that went on and on about being objective, you seem to think that this doesn't apply to you.