Why do old white men hate Greta Thunberg so much?

[MotherOfDragonite]

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"?

The earth is being destroyed. Sadly my DGCs will see the mayhem that ensues due to that. Will they survive , if they survive will it be whilst watching others starve, drown whatever. Perhaps one country will release sarin , anthrax or similar to reduce the population, so that those that survive can start again

And you wonder why many are turning away or outright ignoring this alarmist BS......

I'm a 47 year old man (and yes, white, but wtf does that come into this?!) and I can't stand the sanctimonious little girl. She has no concept of history or geology or geography yet lectures. The Earth is 4.6 billion years old and has been constantly changing for its entire existence. It has been way hotter and way colder than now. It operates on cycles so vast and complex and lengthy we can not begin to comprehend how they interact. Simply to say an increase in CO2 causes warming and that the warming is dangerous is ridiculous. Everyone who believes this latest scare tactic is pathetic; there's always some apocalypse uses to frighten us; in the late 70s we were heading for a new ice age then in the 80s we were going to cook due to ozone layer depletion then it was global warming but annoyingly for the doom mongers the warming stopped so they invented the phrase climate change which covers everything! Now we get a cold winter and it's a sign of doom due to climate change! Hot summer; that'll be climate change! It's mental. The oft quoted report by the IPCC is the most abused inquiry report ever - the result actually said anthropogenic climate change is not proven but despite the panel repeatedly trying to get the media to release it in full no one will. Instead snippets are releases inaccurately as headlines. I despair of the lies being peddled and most blindly accepting them as fact. No one who disagrees with this cult of climate change can get work or published and careers are lost; that's how they can say the science is settled. I'm going to be proved correct now by getting abused and called the disgusting phrase denier now.

White female.....she really annoys me.

Why is choosing not to have kids because of the environment "weird"? People choose not to have kids for a miriad of reasons. This is a valid , sensible choice. Not everyone wants to breed.There are too many of us anyway.
Love or loathe the Green movement, we are all clearly derply uncomfortable with our negative impact on the planet and cannot face up to it. Call it dark, call it pathological.Call it a cult.
Equally cult like is consumerism....we worship the Mall and ...check out a landfill site then tell me THAT is not pathological or cult like.

Deeply

How people can call the Green movement dark while happily avoiding the knowledge that rainforest is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate ...due to humans is quite beyond me.

Climate change is the least of our worries tbh....but hey carry on and dont change your behaviour if it isn't going to make any difference. And therein lies the rub. Most of us dont want to give up our lifestyles ( me included) so we can't really complain if things go tits up.

I actually also have to disagree that the envirinmental movement is totally middle class...it is driven by the middle class but who will bear the biggest brunt of climate change? The world's poorest.
Im not talking British poor either...im thinking flood plains of Bangladesh poor.

I think the science of climate change is undeniable, but even if it wasnt, why would we not want to reduce pollutants that we can see, caused by fossil fuels, or reduce throwaway plastics that we have to bury in the ground for eternity, lordship plastics being thrown into the sea? Of course the Earth will newfound far longer than we will. We can't rebel against our own extinction but we can make the environment a better place for all of us to live until that time comes. That's not the issue I have with ER and to an extent Greta. The hysteria is doing nothing but annoying people who have to get to work. Especially when those people are stopping buses and trains and screaming at other people to 'do something' but not saying what and often not doing it themselves. Scientists are quietly beavering away growing coral in the ocean and coming up with solutions to the problems we face. They are doing far more to combat climate change (and the money to do that often comes from evil big corporations and energy companies) than some keyboard WarrIor glueing himself to a commuter train.

I hear you mention Bangladesh. I agree but I find it a little patronizing to talk about it as if you really know about the culture of this and similar third world countries. I have worked there for a few years but also, now I manage around 400 contractors, mainly from Bangladesh in the middle east. As a facility manager, waste in my mall is a hot issue with national targets and demands to reduce plastic use. Supermarkets are no longer offering bags unless asked etc. However, the contractors are brought 2 meals a day, 365 days a year. In carrier bags, 1 per person. That's 800 cheap plastic bags binned a DAY in one mall. We discuss and argue this point all the time and the supervisors refuse to change because they feel that a carrier bag per person is how it's done at home and the rest of the world. They also roll their eyes at a white lady lecturing them about life, I see them. In the supermarket, the guys push bags on people because they are free and anything free must be good. So all the efforts to keep them hidden are wasted. The vast, vast, vast difference in culture between the richest (us) and the poorest regions on earth must not be underestimated. I manage one set of contractors in one mall in one cou try in the east. Times the waste by thousands and then start to realize the issue you face. I know Greta thinks she is clever and doing a good thing but she knows nothing. I would rather be lectured by a real human adult with exoerience than a rich, spoilt little girl. People tend to rememberthe hunger and poverty from the accident of birth over dressing like Pippi Longstocking and playing a role for attention which is gravely worrying in itself.

That's a ridiculous comment to make that Thunberg is "disliked b old white men", whatever old white mennis actually defined as? My ds aged 14 can't bear her and her histrionics. Someone is pulling her strings, telling her what to say and cultivating that wholesome image of her with her plaits, no make up etc. I don't trust her.

Ive been to Bangladesh...ive worked in Nepal and the 3rd world as a teacher. I saw water on the streets of Daka 20 years ago and kids sleeping rough there....so yes...i know it.

Our actions in the West affect flooding in Bangladesh as much as plastic bags.

Yes internatIonal teachers really get down and dirty with the locals my husband is a Principal and was in Bangladesh, his gated little compound and school of expat kids was really special

Sorry that was rude but the staff at his school had little interest in the locals.

My point is what about their actions affecting us? Why do we have to be berated by a rich kid for our lives, why isn't she tackling things in a more realistic way? Because she is not capable.

It would not surprise me if many of the men the OP describes have a negative view of the intelligence and any campaigning of women in general, not just Greta Thunberg.

Silvafox - of course the Earth's climate has changed previously. This is a well-known fact. How do we know that it has changed? Because of the work of scientists. How do we know that human activity is affecting the climate, and that this is a serious problem? Also because of scientists. Have a read of this - a respected climate scientist debunks five myths about climate change.

How do we know that it has changed? Because of the work of scientists. How do we know that human activity is affecting the climate, and that this is a serious problem? Also because of scientists.

Right. You do know that not all scientists share one single hive-mind, right?

we are all clearly derply uncomfortable with our negative impact on the planet and cannot face up to it

Actually I’m not at all uncomfortable with my impact on the planet. I’m uncomfortable with continually being told I ought to be.

It would not surprise me if many of the men the OP describes have a negative view of the intelligence and any campaigning of women in general, not just Greta Thunberg.

Quite. Some men seem to think that possession of a penis is required for an opinion to be valid.

Right. You do know that not all scientists share one single hive-mind, right?

90%–100% of publishing climate scientists agree that humans are causing recent global warming.

Interesting how those who say that 'the climate has changed in the past, this is all part of a natural cycle' are happy to believe the scientific research underpinning these statements, but not the vast majority of scientists who say that human activity is changing the climate.

But what a big difference she made to emissions by not just getting on a plane that was going to her there anyway

Supply and demand: if fewer people booked flights, then airlines would cut routes. There is talk of the 'Greta effect' in Sweden where airline travel is down and more people are travelling by train. She acknowledged that most people don't have access to a yacht or a spare three weeks to get to New York, but said it's about sending a message about the environmental impact of air travel and that it's currently impossible to travel sustainably. I have some doubts about the benefits of the boat crossing given that the crew had to take flights - more flights than would have been the case if Greta and her dad had just flown - but on the other hand, she would have been pilloried if she had chosen to fly.

I am an old white woman who is trying to do her bit to lessen her carbon foot print. I find her very strange and think that someone else is pulling her strings.

the vast majority of scientists who say that human activity is changing the climate.

There is a huge difference between acknowledgement that the Earth is warming and that human activity is having some kind of impact, and an agreement about how much of an impact - and whether or not this is actually a bad thing.

I’m very familiar with Cook’s work that you link to, and the “vast majority of scientists agree” rhetoric. The studies are flawed, to say the least.