Greta Thunberg is a Pain in the proverbial

This is getting silly. You are supposed to be mature women. Comments are becoming childish insults.

How about you turn your phone off & save energy?

Kandinsky

All the Greta lovers shouldn’t even be online as laptops / iPhones use an awful lot of energy.
If you really cared about the environment you wouldn’t have these devices - or if you have them they’d be used for necessity/ emergencies only - not just idle entertainment/ social media use.
But then hypocrisy is everywhere.

Yay! More false equivalencies!

How about you find a real argument instead of just insulting a) an 18 year old woman, and b) anyone who doesn’t do so?

Why do some of you have to call any criticism a “hate message” if they don’t happen to agree entirely with you?

All the Greta lovers shouldn’t even be online as laptops / iPhones use an awful lot of energy.
If you really cared about the environment you wouldn’t have these devices - or if you have them they’d be used for necessity/ emergencies only - not just idle entertainment/ social media use.
But then hypocrisy is everywhere.

vegansrock

Usual hate messages on here directed towards anyone who has the audacity to get off their backsides and campaign or protest- it draws attention to the mess previous generations have made, not the ordinary individuals but the whole systematic exploitation of the natural world , and not by the young. Pointing fingers saying they’ve got phones or leave litter is just cognitive dissonance writ large. Why demand absolute perfection from anyone when they try to bring attention to the climate emergency which is happening now? It’s not just about recycling or make do and mend, it’s reducing the use of fossil fuels , industrial farming and fishing, more sustainable industrial practices - that action has got to come at a government level.

Agree whole heartedly

People really struggle with systematic issues and tend to take them rather a personal insults

If you don’t get Greta, you don’t get it at all. But carry on scrubbing your yoghurt pots, that’ll fix the problem.

Smiles won’t get the promises the world needs. I don’t think the young of today have much to look forward to when you see the people in power not doing anything really positive to preserve the planet, instead of their jobs.
Agreements are made in front of everyone but they are torn up behind the scenes.
She is angry because she can see the planet’s future.

We need more young people like Greta.

When I was just sixteen I responded to an overtly racist letter that had been published in the Manchester Evening News. My letter, including my name and address, was also published and I subsequently received a torrent of abuse that included death threats. I was living with my grandparents at the time and for a while we were afraid their home, an upstairs flat, would get firebombed (just one of the threats).

The furore eventually died down, and although I had a few scares in the street I didn’t actually get harmed. Now, I’m no Greta or Malala, but the experience did give me a smidgen of an insight into the costs involved in being an activist.

I hugely admire Greta for her passion and her commitment and for ‘waking up’ so many who were either unaware, or unwilling to take climate change seriously. I cannot write as eloquently as the authors of this article, so I’ll leave it with you to read or not.
time.com/person-of-the-year-2019-greta-thunberg/

That girl Greta Thunberg has risked her health and her popularity and spent her young energy to gee up half dead old cadavers into doing something worthy.,

lemsip

it is she who is portraying herself as a silly schoolgirl!

No, she's really not.

it is she who is portraying herself as a silly schoolgirl!

MamaCaz,

Shes bloody irritating

OK, Baggs. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

What you say about the American 'school' terminology starting to be used here is interesting. I have to admit that's a new one on me. I was aware the US usage, but not its use here. I'll be prepared now if my dc or dgc come out with that terminology in the future

MamaCaz

Grandma70s

Baggs

MamaCaz

That's possible. Though I had always assumed this was the UK site?

Some of the young people of my acquaintance are now using the term as Americans do.

She’s 18. Could easily still be at school. I was.

Unless I am mistaken, she was 18 in January. When I was at school, everyone that age left at the end of that school year, in July. No one I have ever known stayed in school beyond that age in England. .

It was quite common when I was at school (1950s) to have three years in the sixth form. It gave you a chance to do the Oxford entrance, or just improve your A-level results in order to get into a good university. Perhaps it is different now, or people go on to ‘college’ to improve their results..

Usual hate messages on here directed towards anyone who has the audacity to get off their backsides and campaign or protest- it draws attention to the mess previous generations have made, not the ordinary individuals but the whole systematic exploitation of the natural world , and not by the young. Pointing fingers saying they’ve got phones or leave litter is just cognitive dissonance writ large. Why demand absolute perfection from anyone when they try to bring attention to the climate emergency which is happening now? It’s not just about recycling or make do and mend, it’s reducing the use of fossil fuels , industrial farming and fishing, more sustainable industrial practices - that action has got to come at a government level.

And Socrates called himself Gadfly.

lemongrove

Luckygirl

I think she is a bit of a victim of the media - a few years ago, when she was even younger, she made an impact because she was saying how much she cared about the environment and her youth and articulacy made her stand out. But the media have sucked her in and she is too young to deal with this in a sensible way.

But to her credit, she does not pretend to be a climate expert, and I think she is right to stand up for what she believes in - but that it has all got a bit out of hand for her.

That’s just what I think too, it’s got out of hand for her.
In fact, I think she may well be very anxious about the whole thing.She hasn’t got anything new to say now and just rubbishing events such as COP26 and whatever good countries are trying to do in a very green way is counter productive. I can take her or leave her and think comments about her looks are out of line ( she simply looks very young and Scandinavian.)However she isn’t some sort of Saviour either and has no idea how to combat climate change in any real or meaningful way ( how could she?)
All that the UK can do is to change whatever it possibly can and use diplomacy to get others on board around the world.
The US, as a Super Power could do so very much if Biden can get things going there ( that won’t be easy either!)
If China India and Russia could be shamed/ helped/ cajoled in to change that would be wonderful.Until then the better countries must lead by example.

Good post, lucky, and I agree.

And lemon, regarding your comment about her being anxious about the whole thing, that is what I was trying to say when I said I thought she was a terrified young woman. It wasn't a criticism.

Unless I am mistaken, she was 18 in January. When I was at school, everyone that age left at the end of that school year, in July. No one I have ever known stayed in school beyond that age in England.

I think you may have misunderstood my comment, mamacaz, which was that Americans call universities and colleges "school" and that perhaps (i.e. possibly; I've actually no idea) this was also the case in Sweden. The usage is certainly beginning to catch on here a bit. This was in response to some other comments about school and Greta of which I can't remember the details.

Other than that general observation I haven't said anything about Greta Thunberg's schooling/education.

Luckygirl

I think she is a bit of a victim of the media - a few years ago, when she was even younger, she made an impact because she was saying how much she cared about the environment and her youth and articulacy made her stand out. But the media have sucked her in and she is too young to deal with this in a sensible way.

But to her credit, she does not pretend to be a climate expert, and I think she is right to stand up for what she believes in - but that it has all got a bit out of hand for her.

That’s just what I think too, it’s got out of hand for her.
In fact, I think she may well be very anxious about the whole thing.She hasn’t got anything new to say now and just rubbishing events such as COP26 and whatever good countries are trying to do in a very green way is counter productive. I can take her or leave her and think comments about her looks are out of line ( she simply looks very young and Scandinavian.)However she isn’t some sort of Saviour either and has no idea how to combat climate change in any real or meaningful way ( how could she?)
All that the UK can do is to change whatever it possibly can and use diplomacy to get others on board around the world.
The US, as a Super Power could do so very much if Biden can get things going there ( that won’t be easy either!)
If China India and Russia could be shamed/ helped/ cajoled in to change that would be wonderful.Until then the better countries must lead by example.

It suits the narrative to portray her as a silly schoolgirl.

Grandma70s

Baggs

MamaCaz

That's possible. Though I had always assumed this was the UK site?

Some of the young people of my acquaintance are now using the term as Americans do.

She’s 18. Could easily still be at school. I was.

Unless I am mistaken, she was 18 in January. When I was at school, everyone that age left at the end of that school year, in July. No one I have ever known stayed in school beyond that age in England. .

DA has been crusading for climate change for a long time, as has Prince Charles and many others, before GT was a twinkle in her Father’s eye, as they say.
And have the younger generation all been out in the streets following and listening to them then lemongrove ??? No I thought not
Can’t stand Chris Packham either fairly predictable Kandinski
No wonder the worlds in the state it’s in with so much vitriol towards a young girl who is doing a great job