Greta Thunberg

[Gingerkittykat]

twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1176930548146692096

*Here we go again...
As you may have noticed, the haters are as active as ever - going after me, my looks, my clothes, my behaviour and my differences.8

It looks like she faces the normal misogynistic bullshit most women face when men want to shut them down. Can't argue with her message so just attack her looks to try and discredit her.

Thankfully she seems strong and with her head switched on, I hope this doesn't put her off having her voice heard.

"But I do not think Greta can possibly be the messiah of climate change action when she is promoted and supported by the very status quo she purports to be challenging."
But that's the first move they always make. Am I the only one who's endured watching the second Hunger Games film?

"Yes - climate consensus has the full backing of the establishment"
No it doesn't. It has lip service. Capitalism and growth has the full backing of the establishment.

I think we need to differentiate between an individual's desire to think a problem through (including finding exceptions to the rule/doubts) on the one hand, and falling for the oldest trick in the book on the other hand. Of course the establishment's first move is to try to absorb Greta, make her one of them.....

"It should not need to resort to ad hominem arguments, or use a child as its figurehead"

I've campaigned using reasoned justification for many years and at the end of the day you have to realise that people need symbols, spokespeople and things they can hold in their hand. David Attenborough's focus on plastic doesn't come from his concluding that that's the most important thing, it comes from his knowledge that that's what people can understand.

Of course the establishment's first move is to try to absorb Greta, make her one of them....

You've put the cart before the horse there, I'm afraid.

I don't understand, sorry.

Just a thought, brought on by a few facebook memes. I remina puzzled about how we, wider society, see climate change and our part in making our world safer, healthier!

I admire her greatly. I just hope she is ok in terms of stress/anxiety about the world, and the terrible bullying she recieves, she is obviously aware of it as she tweets about it.

I am also very wary about GT and how she is being used. And I think she seems like a lovely girl, and climate change is an existential crises for us.

But the business about adults doing this to children is nor true and not helpful. None of us chose to be born into the particular sort of world we live in in terms of economic structures, power, and technological advances. And quite frankly I don't think any of us really know how to turn that all around. I also do not see young people as any more likely to live in a way congruent with a sustainable lifestyle than older people.

The fact that GT isn't really able to evaluate even possible ways forward is a problem. Yes, she is telling people to listen to scientists, but not really understanding the problem means she can't easily understand how she is being used herself, or what kind of motivation people need. And while scientists are able to give one kind of help with this problem I don't know that they are really going to be able to give us the way forward. That requires a new kind of thinking, new kinds of values.

However, neither wind nor solar is predictable enough to act as a full replacement for fossil fuels.

This is part of the problem. We are not going to be able to carry on with the level of energy consumption and consumerism we have now. Even if we could get enough no-strings energy, it is unsustainable in many other ways. A system predicated on infinite growth is an impossible system doomed to failure.

There used to be articles and such that would show what kind of lifestyle a person who was living at a sustainable level would live. You don't see those often now and maybe there is a reason why - people don't want to hear it.

However, neither wind nor solar is predictable enough to act as a full replacement for fossil fuels.

I'm working for one of the large electricity providers and we are working on attaching battery storage to renewables (i.e. wind, solar and tidal) to allow the energy to be stored and used when required in order that we can reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Furthermore battery technology is emerging that is non polluting (no heavy metals or rare earths) and in abundant supply. The last 30 years has seen research directed at small high power battery storage for mobile devices and other technologies were ignored as being too bulky. All that is changing now and research is being done into sodium based (and other) storage. Who cares if it is the size of a fridge if it sitting under a windmill (or in a house). A revolution is happening and the grid will be transformed over the next 10 years. It isn't all gloomy.

I agree with stumbledin. I have reservations about GT, and I don't like what is happening.

When I first saw her, I was struck by her presentation. I've taught secondary in schools across Europe and the Middle East, and I've never seen a 16 year old appear so incredibly young. She looks like a 9 year old, if that. And it's not just her physicality, but her grooming - - the plaits, the clothing. All in all, I am very suspicious and I fear her image is an intentional ploy to create a certain kind of impact.

For, to be blunt, no one is going to pay much attention to an average, hormone ridden 16 year old giving them a subpar sixth form lecture. Otherwise, model UN would change the world every year.

Indeed, the activist needs to look younger, because then you get the "from the mouths of babes" effect. But said individual can't actually be young, because then there's issues of duty of care, consent and parental coercion.

So this is how we end up with the strange mash up of GT. It sets off so many alarms in my head that can't quite see how others are so blasé about it.

Add to this the fact that the message is terribly anodyne in content. I hesitate to think that people would accept such a bland and unthinking message from a 16 year old that actually looked like a 16 year old; you would be more likely to notice it for the bizzare, childish perspective it conveys.

But her primary school appearance tricks you into thinking she is a passionate, brave child and you make allowances that normally you wouldn't make for a 16 year old.

But what bothers me most is that GT is female. I may be being paranoid but it strikes me that the two most controversial figures in Britain at the moment, both individuals that are figureheads for highly complex social, cultural and political issues, have a lot of similarities.

They are both female, both quite obviously utilised for their looks, both subject to horrific abuse, and both without any real discernable expertise. And these two females are GT and Gina Millar.

I'm in two minds - I think she's a remarkable young woman and terrific role model but that the amount of attention and pressure not to mention vitriol she's getting can't be easy for her. She must be the most famous young person on the planet right now, possibly ever. The campaign is by its nature urgent so it's not easy to make the case for her to take time to recoup and rest at times, but that's what we all need to do maintain sanity. I hope the people around her are looking after her.