Smoke alarms don’t actually put out fires. Most developed countries require them by law, because they are “all noise and no action” but they’ve saved plenty of lives by waking people up or alerting them to a problem and getting them to action. Asking a plastic beeper without moving parts to extinguish a fire alone is like... expecting a teenage girl to fix centuries of environmental damage on her own. Not very realistic. But they can both call people to action to save themselves.
you know there are teenagers and others that are doing something about climate change, not just saying this or that is bad, and not providing an alternative.
And you know both can co-exist at the same time, and both have a positive effect without one detracting from the other right ? No matter what individuals are doing, no solution will be reached without involving governments and such, which requires to mobilize A LOT of individuals, which Gretta helped doing.
Also one might say that regardless of the effectiveness, POTUS might avoid taking shots at a 16yo doing her best, but hey, vote for a narcissistic manchild, get a narcissistic manchild.
Poopun I think summed that up pretty well. I mean... seriously... even IF you felt her efforts were misguided, a grown man old enough to be her grandpa... and leader of the USA... seeing’s child passionate about the planet and politics and making a difference... and his message wasn’t even: “I think you’re passion is great and you just need some direction...” it wasn’t to maybe... offer her a tour or some type of experience to have her shadow experts and get to see the system.... it wasn’t “keep learning and growing and maybe someday you’ll be where I am...” he told an impassioned and intelligent young woman trying to do some good on the word... “chill out and watch a movie...” not even “your passion is good but your anger can divide...” nothing, nothing constructive or to help make things better or inspire the future or inspire... anyone.. well... maybe inspire assholes to troll.... children. On Twitter....
But @iccarus- there are young people doing things. And I won’t sell their efforts short. It all matters and there are plenty of things in the world that could be improved, and plenty of ways to do it. Enough that we don’t all need to do the same thing. If all the people lobbying for change went and cleaned garbage off of beaches, we’d have very clean beaches and very dirty lakes no? If you manage a store, having all your employees clean the bathrooms means clean bathrooms- but it also means no one is stocking shelves right? And you- the manager- if you are cleaning bathrooms all day- who’s managing? So we not need a manager, is that work useless? Arguably, by inspiring millions and pressuring politicians who make policy and command resources on a large scale, I won’t say she’s doing “more” but she’s doing work across a wider range versus a deeper range. The idea that we don’t need advocates is laughable. If that were the case, why do we even have politicians and lobbyists?
Also one might say that regardless of the effectiveness, POTUS might avoid taking shots at a 16yo doing her best, but hey, vote for a narcissistic manchild, get a narcissistic manchild.