Is Greta Thunberg a Hero?

Question

Greta Thunberg: The teenage old soul of the climate crisis By Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent New York (CNN) In person, she is tiny. Eyes wide and head down, her discomfort with crowds and small talk make it easy to understand why Greta Thunberg says she was "an invisible girl" for most of her 16 years. But when Thunberg went to Washington -- into the lights, cameras and lack-of-action that makes up the modern congressional hearing -- the smallest and youngest person in the room came off as the oldest soul on Capitol Hill. Brushing off Republican talking points and Democratic flattery with equal flat annoyance, even friendly softballs were treated as reminders that she takes this much more seriously than most grown-ups. Even those in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Climate. "How can we get more kids involved in this issue?" asked Rep. Ben Luján, a Democrat from New Mexico. "Just tell them the truth," she said. "Tell them how it is. Because when I found out how it actually is, it made me furious." Her manner is level and unflinching, her voice soft and halting and she admits she may be the most reluctant activist in modern times. Yet in the age of Instagram filters and charismatic influencers, something about her raw honesty around a message of blunt-force fear turned this girl from invisible to global. "As it is now, people in general don't seem to be very aware of the actual science and how serious this crisis is," she said to the scattered lawmakers and dozens of cameras at the hearing this week. "I think we need to inform them and start treating the crisis like the existential threat it is."

vald9inches · Accepted Answer

I don't know i told a guy on here if he didn't believe in greenhouse gases then he could cook himself inside a greenhouse since he didn't believe in it lol he reported me like a pussy and gag gave me a warning and sided with him lmfao

John_Doesnt · Accepted Answer

She has bigger balls than most of the guys on this site.  Man made climate change is real and we need to do something about it.

Agape93 · Accepted Answer

I think she is a little hero. She’s welcome at my table any day. Keep it up girl.

WhiteSandBeach · Accepted Answer

Really admire this teenager. Hope she continues with her mission.

jay-88 · Answer

Please read the attached image before reading...

You know, we've been aware of Global Warming since the mid seventies, and since the mid nineties we've is a major cause of that Global Warming.

And yet, we do nothing. Companies make profits from oils and unsustainable manufacturing... or even manufacturing items from the far side of the planet and shipping them over rather than making them in the area said product will be bought.

Rather than walking kids to school or walking to the shops or using public transport, we jump in our cars... Often big cars with far too many gadgets and a massive fuel consumption. There's very little we do nowadays that doesn't have a carbon footprint.

Sure, the issue will come up in the tabloids, a political figure will vow to reduce the CO2 emissions or a company will buy a load of electric delivery trucks. But you know it's a fad; the political figure will only say that knowing it'll get him a few more votes. The company will appear green to get a few more customers. Their image improves but their devotion fades quickly.

These people who spout their "green" agenda that has no plan, feasibility or realistic proposal... It last what? A week? A month? Maybe two. Then it's forgotten, swept under the carpet because we're now interesting in something else.

I've even had clients who ask me to make their buildings sustainable/green but "just enough" so to avoid charges and to pass tests. They don't actually give a toss as to how their new building can be good for the environment.

So finally, along comes Greta... She's certainly no one significant to look at. But she hits the world in such a way that people DO switch on, many many months later and we STILL listen to her and what she has to say.

Her agenda is not a fad, she is not pawn playing to someone else's agenda, she is recognising the problem and actually doing something. Her arguments are logical, her foresight and interest is beyond that of herself.

This is why the attached image/quote is relevant... Carpenter was an astronaut for the Mercury Mission and he made that speech after he saw little Earth alone in space.

Soon the demand for water will exceed its availability, food and suitable land in already in short supply, whole seas and rivers have dried up and we build non-stop.

We need more people like Greta to wake up and take a stand, otherwise... Well the human species is nothing special and can be snuffed out very easily if we aren't careful.

Madeziner · Answer

I have been to climate concerning question 2nd time on this platform.
First of all i would let you people understand few things in clear words.
1. Please do not feel offensive if some one review or share opinion against your question. This is an opinion sharing platforms. If you do not entertained such opinion how would you people educate others.
I am making my statement clear.
1. This issue is a global issue. And i have always heard from my elders that i f no one is listening to you then start teaching or start having converstaion with childs because when they discussed with their elderz they def feel mistaken some where only if they have heart and courage to accept so.
You know mark ruffalo is alos advocation these days on climate change. Even i used to plant 5 tress at least per month in my back yard and in my town where i live. This is a global cause. Who ever is serving nature is a real hero. Action speaks louder than words. I have my friend who at least plant 20 to 30 plants per month only because he do care about people. We all are hero if we by any means serve humanity. Teachers should design tasks for kids that involve parents too for awareness purpose. Its a bigger responsibility and gov should deploy public service campaigns. Its becoming more and more critical. But politics and business screws everything. What is happening to amazon? Every one knows. To plant a tree costs how much but what it serves is much greater.

Dongtai · Answer

No. She’s not a hero and she would most likely disagree with anyone who told her she was. Anyone who says she is proved her argument about people being ignorant.

She didn’t give this speech for heroism or applause. She’s talking about an issue that pretty much everyone knows about at this point. She’s just giving the facts and explaining how dire climate change is. She wants people to wake up and take action. People will only call her a hero because she’s a child but she’s not the first to say what she just said.

I thought it was disturbing when people started laughing during certain parts. Like when she said she was coming to the end of her speech, or when she said she wasn’t going to speak about hope because that’s what everyone does.

Those people who laugh or think she’s “adorable” aren’t “listening” and therefore aren’t taking her serious. And that’s literally what she gave the speech for. So people would listen and hopefully take action.

Being educated and serious about climate change doesn’t make you a hero. It makes you smart and someone who cares. Taking care of our planet shouldn’t be seen as something extraordinary or heroic. It should be the standard.

Electric_Dreams · Answer

Absolutely not. She is a misguided child, manipulated and used for propaganda purposes by the irrational liberal media. She is a hypocrite, a virtue signaller, she presumes to speak for all young generations of the present and future which I believe is cringe enducingly arrogant and pompous. She is irrational, illogical, alarmist and radical.

Mostly I feel sorry for her though as I believe she is out of her depth, and I believe she may potentially be ruining her life, or at least her opportunity to live a quiet, comfortable life out of the public eye as I believe most people with autism very much wish to do. She may one day, many years from now, cringe at her activities and words at this point in her life.

I think your question is absurdly biased, and leading. I think you have a confirmation bias. Rather than asking our thoughts on Greta you ask if we think she is a superhero, and clearly you are primed to attack people who do not think she is a superhero. So why are you asking? For confirmation of your bias. What about children indoctrinated by religion? They are victims of manipulation and/or abuse and/or exploitation too. Why are you ranting about church, religion and... Russians? It's irrelevant.

DashboardLight · Answer

Let me copy my Quora answer for you:

My thing with Greta is this:

I believe in man-made climate change. I’ve studied it myself a bit by reading books about the subject. There are still people, especially from the right side of the political spectrum, claiming that this is an opinion thing like there are two sides to the story. There isn’t.

However… my thing with Greta is quite simple. She doesn’t inform me about anything whatsoever.

She is annoying the hell out of me, pretty much. And no wonder. All she is doing is playing the victim. You can be a victim of something, but you instantly lose my respect when you start emphasizing that in the most overreacting way possible. Hell, she even used to explicitly mention she has Aspergers in her Twitter bio, like she needed to seek even more ways to be the victim of society. ‘’You’re destroying my future…’’… blah blah, we get it, Greta.

That right there is where it goes wrong. She’s not going to come over even somewhat interesting to those that still need their mind changed. She’ll only come over interesting to those that already believe in man-made climate change, and somehow enjoy this kind of approach (not me).

You know what I like? I like being informed. I like gaining information, so I can make my own opinion. Do you know who does this? Ya boy Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

You see him screaming? You see him tearing up? No, he calmly explains the situation to people. He informs people, or as conservatives would put it themselves, he’s DESTROYING RIGHT-WING CLIMATE-DENIERS WITH FACTS AND KNOWLEDGE. That’s the approach I admire, I enjoy it. He’s just giving you the facts, so you make up your own opinion from that. That’s what the media should be doing. Instead, it has become an opinion outlet for right-wing and left-wing people to shout their opinions on. And Greta is no different, except she’s 16 years old and has Aspergers (believe it or not).

N192K001 · Answer

Nope, she's a poor, manipulated girl.

As I wrote in a similar question, she may feel very much attached to the whole anthropomorphic climate-change ideology, but she should realize that this theory isn't too reliable.
"U. N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked"
「UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ A senior U. N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.
…
Coastal regions will be inundated; one-sixth of Bangladesh could be flooded, displacing a fourth of its 90 million people. A fifth of Egypt’s arable land in the Nile Delta would be flooded, cutting off its food supply, according to a joint UNEP and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency study.」
www.apnews.com/bd45c372caf118ec99964ea547880cd0

It's already late 2019 and this hasn't exactly happened yet, has it?

They scared my parents' generation, island- & archipelago-nations will all drown by around that time, and yet we still live. Their findings may be what they are, but their findings should be taken with a grain (or 'massive scoops') of salt!

And she has yet to earn her credibility on money, economic-growth, and why it is sought by governments across the globe. She will have to take many a Economics & Political Science class before she earns her credibility on the matter.

Pamina · Answer

No, she's activist and a very effective one. Whatever you think of her, fact is that her influence is absolutely massive, especially considering that she's a 16 year old girl who was standing all by herself in front of her school just one year ago and now mobilizes literally millions around the world and speaks in front of the UN and world leaders.

I don't have to agree with every little detail of her ways (although I do 100% agree with her overall cause) to fully support her, because generally speaking the world *badly* needs this movement. At least she managed to give the whole discussion momentum and with her popularity and influence forces leaders and political parties to talk about it instead of ignoring the whole topic like most of them have been doing so far.

She's not a hero, but she'll be remembered as someone who immensely helped the cause of tackling climate change.

purplepoppy · Answer

Climate change ceased to be a scientific debate a long time ago. There are few scientists who question it. It's now a political issues and unfortunately a marketing one too. The problem is the more the issue is taken away from serious science and put in the hands of protesters the less serious the public will take the issue. We already see it being dismissed as leftist propaganda by many. Protests that leave a disgusting mess and cause damage and disruption don't help the cause one bit. No she's not a hero, like most of her kind she's doing more harm to the cause than good.

Anonymous · Answer

I did some research on some climate models way back in 2006 and having written much about those models, I do not believe she understand the climate picture to the extent scientists and my colleagues would be happy with. I feel sad because climate is an issue that has been hijacked by ignorant people. I won't even get into the theories and actual science but it makes me sad that even I was led astray by the media and people who I thought were fighting for the climate, but in fact were actually trivializing a much more amazing topic. But like many things today, the worlds intellect is coordinated with a finite number of microphones mostly connected to the media. I just feel depressed hearing most people who haven't even read a full paper on any climate data just setting policies as they please. It saddens me deeply. One of the reasons i left the scientific world of climate.

SomeGuyCalledTom · Answer

I don't know about "hero", I'd say she's the public face attached to a much larger groundswell of climate action that goes far beyond one person's efforts. Kinda funny how 20,000 scientists went ignored for literally decades, and then one teenage girl bunks off school and tells off the united nations, and THAT'S what triggers the cultural tipping point for people actually giving a shit. But I'll give her fair dues for doing her part, although my issue is more with the media's tendency to portray one person as "messiah", rather than reporting on the larger aggregate of scientific expert analysis. People don't listen to facts, they listen to personalities. Such is human nature I suppose.

Juxtapose · Answer

I have Aspergers too, but she fails to understand *how* most people will not act until the issue directly affects them and by then it will be too late. She is puzzled by that.

Humans, unless they train themselves otherwise, are tribal, somewhat primitive and tend to be very impulsive, living in the moment. In order to get anything done, someone with a very clear plan has to accumulate a lot of political power and then utilize it.

But lobbyists fight the long-term solutions that are good for everyone for the sake of their own greed almost every time. It's a tricky issue to tackle, and likely too late.

We're going to have to figure out how to lay in the bed we made.

VIVANT · Answer

Her English is Koch better than mine. Yes climate crusts is real. So is nuclear threat. Countries all around the world are already living in the kinds of conditions that other people have the luxury to worry about happening to their grand kids due to global warming— bc of arbitrary power that comes from having the ability to blow up the world at any point if you press a button, which is a variety of terrorism.

Pisses me off that people will rally for green peace and call it a war crime, but are OK with people becoming extinct due to actual war crime.

But yes I’m all for being against making things worse for planet earth. To be this includes the PEOPLE living on it NOW.

Shamalien · Answer

She’s a useful idiot just like you. Once upon a time it was frowned upon to radicalize children to push your political agenda

Now we cheer at the stands... this girl is not a scientist, all she knows is propaganda, the same shit they tried to spoon feed me in HS

There is no consensus on this issue and to date all models have been incorrect in their predictions (I can say that now as we approach 2020)

Research the other side of this and realize that your opposition is not crazy, they are just looking at different information, like solar cycles and then there’s the political game being played...

GigiMary · Answer

You always present such one sided options when voting. I agree climate change is an issue, but I don't think government regulation is the solution. I don't like Greta's opinions on it either, but I don't dislike her as a person - in fact, I have defended her character.

You always present options that demonize the side you disagree with. There are nuances that you don't seem to realize exist. Things aren't that black and white on issues like this.

If you were actually an honest question poster you could try to have more integrity and post nuanced, or at least unbiased options that don't demonize the side you disagree with.

Naruto_Uzumaki · Answer

I don't agree with any of these choices. I just think she's a disabled girl not acting on her own

And just fyi after reading your edit of this question I reported your account and this post

Offensive posts and behaviour aren't allowed on here so please follow the rules instead of breaking them !

FakeName123 · Answer

You are most likely too young to remember, but we had this entire shitshow already 10 years ago. Just that the messiah back then was Al Gore and not Greta Thunberg.

The aftermath was a shitton of fraud, scam, falsified data and all predictions turning out to be wrong. Not to mention that there were even more endtimes-scenarios being painted as big from swine flu to BSE to god knows what else.

And from what I can see here is that it's the same story all over again. Using panic and fear-mongering together with skewed data to benefit wealthy individuals as well as pushing legislative that takes away more liberties from the common man.

LordSnuggles · Answer

I think it's weird that she's being used as a novelty. We don't take policy prescriptions from children for a reason. And it's not like she's saying something that hasn't been said before or posed in a unique perspective. She was given this platform by her parents and supported by various groups. She's a prop. Just like those kids marching with signs to end gun violence.

MadBoy · Answer

A hero, no. BUT! She is something that we have needed for a long time; someone who doesn't care anything about what others want her to do, and will just tell the simple, clear truth. No mincing of words, no half-truths, no saying one thing but not meaning another, just pure, honest truth to be broadcasted and seen for all to see. That is what we need. And she is that. But only one person can do so much. We need more people like her, who will not be tempted by liars. Who will push away bribes or flattery. Who stand up and speak their mind, not let someone do it for them.

donnny2367764 · Answer

The post is great... and yes this girl is ahead of her time but she had not lived lo g enough to declare what the real crisis is about... her attention is well acknowledged and i support her feedback and Honest opinión but it will take a lot more than one 16yr old girl to make a nation change... her size and age don't really matter because sometimes even adults act childish, and children sometimes seem much wiser than their own parents... i would suggest eliminating all physical comments about her and let her actual voice be what's important

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