I can’t believe Greta Thunberg won the person of the year

[Munkcestrian Republic]

You need to go outside more.

You need to calm down, take a breath, and stop attacking posters rather than content.

how are they attacking OP? they're making a suggestion in response to a post of debatable quality

[Ifreann]

I am fine with HKers not being selected as person of the year but I don't think Greta Thunberg deserves that title.

Exactly. I could understand why Hong Kongers don’t win. We got other great people, Pete Buttigueg, the Ethiopian prime minister. BUT NOT GRETA FREAKING THUNBERG

Why the fuck would Pete Buttigieg win? By all accounts he's been a terrible mayor.

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Not the UN itself, the world leaders who attend speeches there.

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Yelling at China probably wouldn't make any difference. China is a dictatorship, they're largely immune to public outrage. Democratic nations, not so much. Democratically elected leaders can, to varying degrees, be shamed and pressured into taking action on the environment.

Very true. Democratic countries, let’s use Switzerland as an example since they’re the most direct already, got their seven chancellors. When they want to push a regulation, you need public support. So Greta going to UN screaming while doing publicity stunts won’t do much really. She could’ve used that time and effort on going around putting up poster (preferably made from recycled paper) or going to the local council to attend a small meeting. Doing that at a few local councils would already do better than screaming

I don't know why you're so insistent that people should only take small, local actions instead of going right to the top.

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Once again, you must be pretty damn sheltered. These people aren't anywhere close to left.

One can be left without being straight socialist.

Gay socialists *nods*

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Not the UN itself, the world leaders who attend speeches there.

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Yelling at China probably wouldn't make any difference. China is a dictatorship, they're largely immune to public outrage. Democratic nations, not so much. Democratically elected leaders can, to varying degrees, be shamed and pressured into taking action on the environment.

But Democratic countries are ALREADY REDUCING their carbon emissions.

The current leader of the United States thinks that climate change is a Chinese hoax meant to hurt American businesses.

On the other hand, it's totalitarian or developing countries like China that are increasing their emissions.So you are completely fine that democratic countries bear a greater responsibility than China when it comes to reducing carbon emission?

It's nothing to do with responsibility. Those of us who live in democratic nations have some ability to make our governments take action on the environment. We have far less ability to make the Chinese government do anything. To a point we can try to get our governments to economically pressure them to get their shit together, but that's not going to be as effective as voting in our own countries.

If we don't tackle the problem of China , there is no way that climate change can be resolved. And I don't see how the current approach adopted by Greta helps solve the problem anyway.

We're certainly not going to resolve climate change by focussing exclusively on China and trusting that our own governments will do enough on their own.

[Washington Resistance Army]

Na, the Hong Kong protesters collectively deserve the title a lot more.

Yeah, they’ve really changed the world.
Wait, no they haven’t.

Nor has this Greta chick. If we went with people who actually changed the world we wouldn't be having person of the year because world changing people aren't that common lol.

Na, the Hong Kong protesters collectively deserve the title a lot more.

Ok "Third Positionist"

Such an intellectual response.

[Oskenia]

She doesn't focus on the highest polluting countries in the world and instead "cries" at the civilized western nations who are actually trying to make a difference. She is a political pawn, just like those before her. It's obvious she has no idea what she's talking about, and in reality she wastes a lot of energy and fossil fuels by all her traveling.

This is nothing but political child abuse and neglect. Her parents should be prosecuted and she should be removed from the world stage.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

PERSON of the year, not PEOPLE of the year or GROUP of the year

It has been awarded to groups multiple times before.

Yeah, and that's bad

[Munkcestrian Republic]

Ok "Third Positionist"

Such an intellectual response.

Is there a problem here?

[Necroghastia]

The point I made was that she didn't start any conversation like you were trying to claim, she's just a poster child.

And one who a lot of people think is somewhat unbalanced, which maybe does not help the cause.

Most if not all of whom are climate change deniers anyway. Of course they're going to grasp at whatever straws they can to preserve their fantasy that nothing is wrong.

[Solanos]

Yeah, they’ve really changed the world.
Wait, no they haven’t.

Nor has this Greta chick. If we went with people who actually changed the world we wouldn't be having person of the year because world changing people aren't that common lol.

Ok "Third Positionist"

Such an intellectual response.

I don't debate fascists. It's a form of mental abuse.

[Washington Resistance Army]

I don't debate fascists. It's a form of mental abuse.

That says more about you than it does the people you refuse to debate in all honesty.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

She is a political pawn, just like those before her

pawn of who??

This is nothing but political child abuse and neglect. Her parents should be prosecuted and she should be removed from the world stage.

LOL

[Solanos]

I don't debate fascists. It's a form of mental abuse.

That says more about you than it does the people you refuse to debate in all honesty.

Yes cause debating you people has always worked out well.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

Nor has this Greta chick. If we went with people who actually changed the world we wouldn't be having person of the year because world changing people aren't that common lol.



Such an intellectual response.

I don't debate fascists. It's a form of mental abuse.

careful! the mods don't like people being "mean" to fascists

[Merni]

You need to calm down, take a breath, and stop attacking posters rather than content.

how are they attacking OP? they're making a suggestion in response to a post of debatable quality

Na, the Hong Kong protesters collectively deserve the title a lot more.

Ok "Third Positionist"

She reminds me of Tana Mongeau. I’m gonna leave it here lol and tmr morning I’m gonna see how people react to this comparison lmao

You need to go outside more.

And more.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

how are they attacking OP? they're making a suggestion in response to a post of debatable quality

Ok "Third Positionist"

You need to go outside more.

And more.

not an answer! and you fucked up the quotes btw

[Washington Resistance Army]

That says more about you than it does the people you refuse to debate in all honesty.

Yes cause debating you people has always worked out well.

fwiw I explicitly reject fascism as a failed ideology that was riddled with flaws

[Solanos]

how are they attacking OP? they're making a suggestion in response to a post of debatable quality

Ok "Third Positionist"

You need to go outside more.

And more.

I mean their sig literally says Third Positionist. Which as we all know is fascist.

Yes cause debating you people has always worked out well.

fwiw I explicitly reject fascism as a failed ideology that was riddled with flaws

They always say that.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

Yes cause debating you people has always worked out well.

fwiw I explicitly reject fascism as a failed ideology that was riddled with flaws

Third Position = fascism

[Zurkerx]

Eh, good for her. Were there other choices? Of course such as the Hong Kong Protesters but she has made an impact and deeply cares about the issue she holds.

[VoVoDoCo]

I probably would’ve gone with the Hong Kong protesters, The people who created the zero carbon natural gas refinery in Texas, or Boyan Slat. If Greta deserves it, then Bill Nye deserves it. The hundreds of politicians have spoken about climate change deserve it. I see nothing special about Greta. There’s nothing wrong with her really, I just don’t see how she does anything special to deserve the award.

[Munkcestrian Republic]

And more.

I mean their sig literally says Third Positionist. Which as we all know is fascist.

fwiw I explicitly reject fascism as a failed ideology that was riddled with flaws

They always say that.

tbf fascism is a little too moderate for WRA

[Bear Stearns]

I can't believe it's not butter!

[Munkcestrian Republic]

I probably would’ve gone with the Hong Kong protesters, The people who created the zero carbon natural gas refinery in Texas, or Boyan Slat.

PERSON of the year, not people or group of the year.

and who the fuck is Boyan Slat

[Costa Hermosa]

Removed.

[Hong Kong People]

Let’s get real here . Many people around the globe every day really takes part in reducing carbon emissions.They might not be famous but they are actually changing the environment.They collectively deserve the title.But for a 16-year-old girl born and bred in a rich country, it is totally not relatable when she talks about how hard people life’s can be due to climate change.Plus the fact that she is just giving speeches everywhere without real actions taken just make the whole thing even more hypocritical.The only reason she gets selected are 1.She is Young 2.She dares to rebel 3.She becomes popular by screaming at world leaders which reflect the liberalism promoted by a left -wing media such as Time.I definitely do not think that the choice is based on the real influence that she has .

[Salandriagado]

So first off, you've entirely and completely missed the point of the Person of the Year award. It's for people who've had a large impact, which she undeniably has.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m an environmentalist. You really need to care about the environment, but definitely not by being a drama queen.

Greta Thunburg is a drama queen. Her parents are actors, and she planned everything out.

Lie.

She condemned Sweden, the greenest countries in the world that aims to reach carbon neutral soon, for not doing enough

An aim which they committed to after she called them out.

but is somehow completely fine with China polluting.

No, she isn't. She's not suing them for precisely the same reason that she isn't suing the US: they're not a party to the treaty that allows such lawsuits.

Why don’t you go cry at Tiananmen? You scared?

What a hypocritical drama queen. Pretends to be a brace hero against governments, but a coward inside. Sure let’s see what she could make up to explain that. ‘How dare you’

I'm not going to dignify that disgusting shit with a response.

She did nothing, I repeat, nothing, to help the environment. She is trying to draw attention and build a hero style thing for herself, how pathetic is that.

You are absolutely wrong. Literally no government was considering getting to net zero emissions at all before her campaign started. Now, major world governments are committing to actual timelines for it.

Remember how she went hyper-cool mode by going to New York on a boat, heck look at all the people who served her on the trip. Of course they called themselves fellow environmentalists even though they’re just servants. Somehow having servants to serve her is fine but taking a plane isn’t, cool now we got publicity stunts from her.

What the fuck is this bullshit?

She deserves no awards, and definitely no congratulations. To save the environment we don’t need publicity queens like her, we need genuine people trying to take small steps to save the world.

Yeah, no. Individuals making small steps will never be sufficient. Being quiet has failed already and rather thoroughly fucked us over. Other than violent revolution, what else is left?

Oh and look, an article from online:
Are you fecking kidding me

Look, I'm not mad that we (Hong Kongers) aren't the Person of the Year. I'm mad that Greta Thunberg is the winner.

She's a god damn hypocrite. She did a "zero carbon trip" across the Atlantic with small boat that generates energy for the voyage. But each time it goes to US and UK, two crewmembers will have to fly to the respective locations to retrieve it.

This is probably a lie, incidentally: delivery runs are generally done by teams of professionals who just pick up delivery runs in the other direction to get home.

Which means four men will have to use the airplane, while if she just took the plane herself with his dad only two will have to ride the plane. Four people using the plane (and only the plane) produces 2,134,800 grams of C02. Look who's producing emissions?

And the reason that all of that is incidental is that you've entirely missed the fucking point. It's about publicity, and about putting pressure on governments.

Oh, and the manufacturing of her Tesla Model 3 and her Europe train trip produces quite an amount of carbon, don't forget that 63.5% electricity is produced by fossil fuel.

You're using US generation figures for a trip in the EU.

She probably has less carbon emissions than most people, that's undeniable, but she doesn't deserve so much attention for screaming at politicians.

That's an inevitable feature of having been born in the West. You're also ignoring secondary effects, with which she's massively in the negative.

Indeed, she's bringing attention to climate issues, but not everything is solvable.

Either we solve it, or billions of people die.

Imagine the socioeconomic consequences.

"It's expensive to avoid" is not a reason to let billions of people die.

When she called on all countries to stop carbon emissions, did she realise how many developing countries have no way to feed their people except carbon emissions?

Another lie: between developed countries running carbon-negative and the fact that we produce far more food than we need, this is a thoroughly solvable problem.

All I see her do is
a) Scream at lawmakers to guilt them

You mean "put pressure on the people who can actually do something about it".

b) Skip planes, which is unavailable for people who have a job

What a fucking absurd statement.

c)Strike from school, unavailable to kids who actually need to learn

You appear to have entirely missed the point of a strike.

Is she a scientist who contributed to reducing emissions? No.
Is she some community leader? No.

Yes.

She's too young and inexperienced she's born with a famous mother (opera singer) and is privileged, yet she screams "yOu rUINeD mY chILdHoOD"? HoW dArE sHE say that? hOW dArE sHE say that while millions of people are starving around the globe?

Not what she said at all.

I'll credit her for her genuine beliefs on saving this planet, but instead of throwing speeches everywhere, how about actually do something? She does not deserve it.

What, exactly, could anybody possibly do that's more impactful than successfully pressuring governments into taking action?

But, if the public wishes, she shall be the person of the year. Now that's true democracy.

Nope: the Time Person of the Year is not a democracy, and they're very clear about this.

Oh

btw, you know how she rode the train. I like trains too, it’s environmentally friendly. Oh but look at Greta Thunberg ruining it, first class, packaged plastic meals,

You're lying again.

and plenty more carbon producing stuff. Oh and you see her jeans? Those waste plenty water, why don’t you condemn yourself then Ms. Attention Seeker?

Where the fuck did you get that from? What kind of clothing is available to people living in the developed world that's less impactful. Additionally, the water used in making jeans doesn't have to be drinking water quality, which means it's not in shortage in any way.