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dudefeliciano 9 hours ago

and people like Greta Thunberg are labelled self-serving narcisists who deserve getting more scorn than our political leaders who we accept as being "just so".

blueflow 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Greta does get called mean things not because of her beliefs, but there is something about her (personal) behavior that makes her unlikable to many people.

UncleMeat 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The "she is unlikable" argument is just working backwards. It is a mechanism to criticize climate activism without having to talk about the ways in which climate change is a crime against our children. There is no possible behavior that she could take that would not produce this "she is unlikable" response except to never speak in public whatsoever.

blueflow 3 hours ago | parent [-]

A bit less of the superlatives would help.

> ... talk about the ways in which climate change is a crime against our children.

For example, how is this phrase supposed to work, rhetorically. Shaming people into joining your cause?

UncleMeat 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Don't you think it is funny that you are doing the same thing people are doing to Thunberg?

I do not believe that it would help. Respectability politics does not have an especially strong track record. Complaints merely shift.

I believe very deeply that climate change is a crime against our children. This is not me hyperbolizing.

blueflow 17 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I get it, your beliefs are strong, so must be your politics. Its somehow my fault for not liking your methods.

Gnah, just find your supporters elsewhere...

UncleMeat a few seconds ago | parent [-]

I will. I am not demanding that you end up as a supporter. What I'm saying is that I do not expect that me choosing different words would make you a supporter even if I tried.

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Aachen 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You really don't have to personally like someone for them to have useful information

The nazi party member Pascual Jordan contributed significantly to quantum physics but it's rarely mentioned because of that association. On the flip side, also the nazis ignored his suggestions for advanced weaponry, to their detriment I would imagine, because he valued jewish scientific contributions and so was considered unreliable politically. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascual_Jordan, discovered via AstroGeo podcast)

Also consider that you're on hacker news. Hacker ethics, or at least the version I've internalised, include judging people by what they say, not who is saying it (race, gender, and authority are commonly mentioned, but charismacy could also easily fall in that category)

blueflow 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I'm confused about your argument. At first, i didn't contest her cause or beliefs or usefulness of information. And second, I'm talking about how she speaks. I do not have good words to describe it (inflammatory, immature, full of self?). I do not believe this is a bogus criterium in the sense of the hacker ethics.

mrbombastic 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Are you sure you are not just buying a narrative being pushed to you? Who benefits from Greta Thunberg the outspoken activist against climate change and Israel’s campaign in Gaza being labelled a narcissist?

wat10000 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah, her behavior of being outspoken and blunt. And female, of course.

harambae 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Well it is odd how Greta Thunberg pivoted to Palestine as her issue, given that climate change is, in her own words, the greatest risk to us all.

Feels a little bit narcissistic.

Findecanor 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

She has of course the right to get involved in any issue she cares about, just as everyone else.

But I think it was a bad move of hers to make the organisation "Fridays for Future" she had founded pivot towards other issues other than Climate Change. She should have kept her engagements separate.

WickyNilliams 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A brutal war leaving untold numbers of children dead is a reasonable thing to focus on, is it not?

Additionally, military operations are terrible for the climate. The US military is (was?) responsible for more pollution/emissions than most countries, for instance.

Swenrekcah 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are many issues one cam care about and some can be more urgent even if not the most serious.

I guess she’s hoping she can help humanitarian aid being delivered to Gaza where people are starving and dying right now.

I respect her for her efforts in both goals, even if I care more about handling climate change.

dudefeliciano 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> pivoted to Palestine as her issue

Is that the case? she supports many other causes too, and they do not conflict the idea of climate change being the greatest risk. In her own words climate justice and social justice are inseparable and I can see that point.

We are now discussing the narcissism of Greta, a well meaning activist, rather than that of the president of peace, who just bombed Iran. The narcisism of the man who ran on "drill baby drill" is somehow acceptable, was exactly my point.

dijit 8 hours ago | parent [-]

She is spending nearly all of her political energy on Palestine and anti-Israel protests.

So, its very fair for people to pick up on it, he movements are very public as she is a public figure now.