Greta Thunberg

[Del.Monte]

I see today where she is hitting out at the Scottish Green Party's entering government with the SNP and the Scottish Government's claim to be 'a world leader on climate change'.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-58387017.amp

She's so right, the Scottish Greens seem more concerned with leaving the UK than they are with the climate - much like our own bunch of virtue signalling Greens who prefer social issues to seriously tackling environmental problems. Would somebody ever bring back Trevor Sargent to lead the Green party again - please! I'm sure the Church of Ireland would let him double-job.

[Del.Monte]

Greta is becoming a very accomplished speaker and would put many of our politicians and public speakers to shame. This from her speech at the Youth4Climate https://youth4climate.live/ Would that our own useless bunch of Green politicians would take a leaf out of her book.

[schmittel]

One of the few silver linings I found about Covid was we had to listen to a lot less from and about Greta Thunberg.

I guess the reverse is also true. Glad to see we are moving on from the pandemic.

[Del.Monte]

We need a lot more like her.

[DeletedUser]

A mouthy brat who should shut up and grow up ????

God there’s millions of them. Bad enough one has that kind of publicity.

[CelticRambler]

She's right, though: our glorious leaders - including those of a supposedly green persuasion - are all about the blah-blah-blah; and we - the electorate - happily choose to re-elect the blah-blah-blaggers on the back of their pointless promises.

There was a very good article about Miss Thunberg in the Guardian at the weekend. For those that aren't inherently prejudiced against assertive young women.

[schmittel]

I've heard her talking for less than a minute. The "you have stolen my dreams" speech. I found it a bit OTT, but it's a small quibble.

I'm curious about posters who say it was good to hear less of her and she's mouthy. It's incredibly easy to avoid her speeches if you're not interested in what she has to say. She's far easier to avoid then any of the politicians constantly on TV, in newspapers etc

Throughout 2019 she was constantly on TV, in newspapers etc. That was my point about Covid taking over the news agenda.

[490808]

Can stand her, luckily I don't even have to get up out of my chair to switch channels with the remote control.

For some reason she doesn't get much coverage on BBC Radio 4 which is what I'd tend to have on during the day.

[Del.Monte]

A mouthy brat who should shut up and grow up ????

God there’s millions of them. Bad enough one has that kind of publicity.

Shoot the messenger or stick your fingers in your ears because you don''t like the message?

[isha]

She annoys me tremendously and indefinably. She should have been left alone to heal.

It is not her fault though. I think it is the fault of those hypocrites who cynically adopted her and pimped her out as a Joan of Arc-lite - powerful people, governments and organisations who make profit or garner attention out of the green bandwagon even while they shyte on the planet. The type with billions invested in tar sands or chemical industries who also buys up vast acreage of pristine land for some kind of new age retreat. The type who flies around the world on private jets heckling the peasants about their dirty breeding useless-eaters lifestyles.

[Del.Monte]

It appears from that Guardian article linked to by CelticRambler that she has healed very well. If only more young people spoke out the way she does the world would be a far better place but from what I can see the younger generation are more interested in social media, boob jobs, inane computer games, selfies, whatever drug is flavour of the month....and of course the GAA.

When I was younger I was passionate about and involved in issues but the way the world is set up it gets beaten out of you and eventually you give up which of course is what 'they' want.

[isha]

I agree that being a traditional environmentalist is a very good thing. We are messing the whole place up with our ways of going on. I'm not against the ideas - I have had enough of a zero carbon lifestyle to be entitled to off set a private jet! That includes decades of growing me own food and 25 years of only having an outdoor compost toilet and zero electricity in my past. Washing mountains of kids nappies by hand in buckets. Greta should try it!

But what I don't vibe with is setting up figureheads or saintly cult leaders and engaging in some kind of feverish religion. Nothing comes out of it. Has anything changed because of Greta? I don't think it has. She is used, almost, to channel an energy, to make people feel like they are doing something. But it is an advertisement campaign, glossy and loud and full of nothing.
I am a cynic, I suppose. She would have achieved more concrete results by going off grid and starting a permaculture forest.

[GubuOriginal]

We need a lot more like her.

What has she done of actual substance? She'd be far better trying to become a politician to be the one to enact the change or physicist/chemist and try to come up with technological advances to help combat climate change (which she still might, but I doubt). Talk is cheap.

[Del.Monte]

What has she done of actual substance? She'd be far better trying to become a politician to be the one to enact the change or physicist/chemist and try to come up with technological advances to help combat climate change (which she still might, but I doubt). Talk is cheap.

She's only turned 18 and hopefully will get involved in politics eventually if some loony or agent of some rogue state (Russia, China, USA, France) don't kill her first. What did you expect her to do?

[CelticRambler]

But what I don't vibe with is setting up figureheads or saintly cult leaders and engaging in some kind of feverish religion. Nothing comes out of it. Has anything changed because of Greta? I don't think it has. She is used, almost, to channel an energy, to make people feel like they are doing something. But it is an advertisement campaign, glossy and loud and full of nothing.
I am a cynic, I suppose. She would have achieved more concrete results by going off grid and starting a permaculture forest.

And isn't that exactly what she's saying - both in that clip and in the interview? Going off grid and starting a permaculture forest would do nothing of consequence (see the Kurzgesagt video linked in another post) so what she is doing - challenging those with the power to effect serious change to swap their empty promises for concrete action - is the very best use of her talents.

[isha]

Sorry about being mean about Greta!

Everyone has their dark side

[schmittel]

What has she done of actual substance? She'd be far better trying to become a politician to be the one to enact the change or physicist/chemist and try to come up with technological advances to help combat climate change (which she still might, but I doubt). Talk is cheap.

Give her time. Only 18 and she is youngest ever person to be named Time Person of the Year.

Also youngest ever person to have a gritting lorry named after them:

[JONJO THE MISER]

God I simply can't stand her, I actually hate her more than Harry and Meghan.

[Del.Monte]

God I simply can't stand her, I actually hate her more than Harry and Meghan.

Why, I'm seriously interested how a teenage climate activist can make anyone hate her?

[JONJO THE MISER]

Why, I'm seriously interested how a teenage climate activist can make anyone hate her?

The way she goes on, a cheeky insolent pup.
Yeah we are going to listen to her, someone with no life experience and thinks she knows it all.

[GubuOriginal]

She's only turned 18 and hopefully will get involved in politics eventually if some loony or agent of some rogue state (Russia, China, USA, France) don't kill her first. What did you expect her to do?

You seriously think some states want her dead?

There's is no indication that she will go the scientific route. I'm not sure she's even finished school yet? Politics is the most likely out of the two, but it'll be a big wake up call. I think she'll continue on to become a professional activist. But sure only time will tell.

[GubuOriginal]

Could that not be said about most environmental activists, or indeed activists, especially when they're still teenagers. What did Joanna O'Riordan achieve, or Malala Yousafzai?

Raising public awareness about an issue is hard to measure.

It could, but that aspect is not quite a criticism of her per se, but the fanfare that surrounds her. A lot of airtime compared to nearly all other individual activists for achieving relatively little of substance.

And I mean raising awareness of climate change? It's been in the news near continuously for 15, 20 years.

[Del.Monte]

The way she goes on, a cheeky insolent pup.
Yeah we are going to listen to her, someone with no life experience and thinks she knows it all.

I don't believe she as laid claim to knowing it all but given that it is her, and her generation, that will inherit the mess we have left the planet in I think she has every right to be very mad. I don't know what age you are but you come across like a grumpy old sod that thinks just because you're older it makes you wiser.

[Del.Monte]

It could, but that aspect is not quite a criticism of her per se, but the fanfare that surrounds her. A lot of airtime compared to nearly all other individual activists for achieving relatively little of substance.

And I mean raising awareness of climate change? It's been in the news near continuously for 15, 20 years.

Climate change has indeed been in the news for a long time now but only recently has become accepted after years of water muddying by the climate change deniers and their backers. It is only through the actions of people like Greta Thunberg that politicians have started to wake up even if it has largely been lip service to date.

[GubuOriginal]

Climate change has indeed been in the news for a long time now but only recently has become accepted after years of water muddying by the climate change deniers and their backers. It is only through the actions of people like Greta Thunberg that politicians have started to wake up even if it has largely been lip service to date.

It's been accepted for a very long time by near everyone outside of Republicans in America (whose minds Greta certainly hasn't changed) and certain right wingers in Australia. The scale of the threat in people's minds has indeed risen, but that has little to with Greta.

A poll done in Spring 2018 (before Greta was well known) showed a majority of people considered climate change at least a minor threat, a majority that stretched back to 2013 at least.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewres ... e/%3famp=1