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[-] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 25 points 1 month ago

Greta Thunberg - how to milk one viral moment you had as a kid and make a career out of it.

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 302 points 1 month ago

Uh... What the fuck man? This woman was going to an active warzone to deliver aid to genocide victims. Let me repeat, she was headed to an active warzone where aid workers have routinely been targeted and murdered. If you think that's making a career out of a viral moment then you need to fuck off.

[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I have complex feelings regarding Greta.

Sure, she's an inspiration and she's courageous and selfless and her heart is in the right place.

Other people were on this boat who were also at risk, many other atrocities have occurred during this war and the one in Ukraine in which Greta wasn't present. Her involvement in this one is not why it's significant, and the people present at all the others were no less courageous than Greta.

In fact, there's a lot of other people being a lot more courageous receiving a lot less recognition.

Additionally, in some cases the recognition Greta receives is counter-productive. I mean, putting a world famous influencer on a humanitarian mission to a place where the aggressors want as little attention as possible isn't really a sound strategy.

All that aside, I have two main concerns:

One is that Greta is the hero of the leftists, but she's unable to engage with the right - the people who really need to alter their behavior. To them she's just an insufferable child who makes them feel guilty - that's not how you reach people and propagate change.

Second is that, I don't think she's used her influence very well. During the US campaign she was pushing the "both sides bad" narrative.

Edit: I'm happy to wear the drive-by downvotes, but I had hoped for some more compelling rebuttals - 150 downvotes deep and the best we've received is that Kamala was bad.

[-] ParetoOptimalDev@lemmy.today 56 points 1 month ago

If the goal is more publicity rather than the aid that had a low chance of making it through, it is very smart to have a world famous influencer aboard.

Why do you assume she endangered the others rather than they chose to take a calculated risk?

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[-] CBYX@feddit.org 56 points 1 month ago

She is not a "hero to the leftists" as much as someone trying to do the right thing. Hats off to her, but the average aid worker in a war zone is more of a hero.

[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

Everyone is trying to do the right thing, some are more effective than others.

[-] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

No. Not everyone.

[-] Count042@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 month ago

People who voted for McClellan during the civil war instead of Lincoln weren't trying to do the right thing.

They were trying to make peace with slavers.

They were trying to be complicit with slavery.

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[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 40 points 1 month ago

I mean, putting a world famous influencer on a humanitarian mission to a place where the aggressors want as little attention as possible isn't really a sound strategy.

How? If anything it is sound strategy because it puts the media's eyes on the event. It's one thing to kill a bunch of nameless activists, but it's another to kill Greta Thunberg, or at least I'd like to believe it is.

One is that Greta is the hero of the leftists, but she's unable to engage with the right - the people who really need to alter their behavior.

They're never gonna change their behavior, or at least not due to messaging from the left. The right will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to civilization by the sane two thirds of society. Trying to get the right on board with good things is a fool's errand. In general, the role of leftwing activists is to either promote their own politicians or force neoliberals' hands, not persuade the right.

During the US campaign she was pushing the "both sides bad" narrative.

I mean she's right. We can argue about the tactical merits and demerits of endorsing Harris all day but the fact of the matter is that she was an absolutely terrible candidate and "What the shit? You want me to endorse that‽" is a valid position to take no matter how you personally feel about it. Greta didn't get where she is now by compromising with neoliberals and there's no reason to expect her to start now.

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[-] Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 month ago

Well neither side has done enough, if anything, about people dying in Gaza.

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[-] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Edit: I’m happy to wear the drive-by downvotes, but I had hoped for some more compelling rebuttals

The perfect is the enemy of the good. It's that simple. Nothing you've said really makes sense as an argument for why Greta Thunberg shouldn't do what she does. It's just an argument that we also need other people contributing other things.

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[-] Trihilis@ani.social 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The rest of the world is not USA my man, my country has at least 10 political parties that go anywhere from progressive to conservative and being "right wing" can still mean they have ideas that support the environment or human rights.

We're not all like the USA where you can choose between "the right" and the "ultra right" wing party.

There are right wing parties here that support Gretas ideas. And left wing parties that disagree with her.

I can completely understand her "both sides are bad" point since politics are wildly different in the EU from the US. We have actually choice here where as the US is just voting for the lesser evil (or the greater evil in case of Trump lol).

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[-] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 118 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

No, that would be like uh... Ms. Hawk Tuah.

Greta is what you call an activist: Someone who actually believes things and advocates for change based on her beliefs.

When I was in school, this kind of behavior was referred to as a politically involved/informed, active citizen, the kind of people without which a democratic society cannot survive or function.

[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 104 points 1 month ago

How to consistently stand up for your morals and do more to make a difference than 99.999% of people on this planet.

Sorry that offends you so much.

[-] blakenong@lemmings.world 91 points 1 month ago

She is a career humanitarian and environmentalist. You, on the other hand, haven’t done a damn thing with your life.

[-] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

She is a career humanitarian and environmentalist

You just repeated exactly what I said.

[-] PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 83 points 1 month ago

So, people dedicate their lives to improving the world and that just pisses you off?

[-] blakenong@lemmings.world 42 points 1 month ago

Pretty standard maga it would seem. No wonder we can’t have nice things.

[-] blakenong@lemmings.world 18 points 1 month ago

So you like her then?

[-] superkret@feddit.org 76 points 1 month ago

Damn, that's an impressive number of down-votes!

[-] bluesheep@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago

It truly is, its the most downvotes I've seen a comment get yet.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 73 points 1 month ago

User name checks out.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 45 points 1 month ago

I have a feeling that she would have ended up being an activist with or without any viral moments. Sure, that sort of thing helps, but she doesn’t strike me as the type of person who is out there just for the clicks and likes.

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 month ago

I have a feeling that she would have ended up being an activist with or without any viral moments

Kind of a "yes and no" kind of thing: she became an activist back when she was just an unknown 15yo who believed in something, and the "viral moments" have all been the results of effective activism (with the exception of some hilarious trolling of some prominent far right idiots), which is part of what effective activism IS: getting as many people as possible to notice and talk about the issues.

[-] chaosCruiser@futurology.today 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Oh, she certainly knows how to use publicity. No doubt about that. Also, I totally approve of using the tools at your disposal. If you’re an activist, and the media is interested in you, using that opportunity is perfectly fine be me.

But did she turn a single viral moment into a career? I would argue that publicity itself doesn’t seem to be her career, whereas activism clearly is the main thing. The way I see it, publicity is a tool she uses to enhance her activism.

BTW that Twitter bio thing was brilliant.

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago

But did she turn a single viral moment into a career? I would argue that publicity itself doesn’t seem to be her career, whereas activism clearly is the main thing. The way I see it, publicity is a tool she uses to enhance her activism

That's the argument I was trying to make too, sorry if I was unclear 🙂

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 41 points 1 month ago

Now that she's spoken out against genocide, I can no longer tell if the people who hate her are democrats or republicans.

[-] jonne@infosec.pub 40 points 1 month ago

It is funny that she was a media darling up until the moment she started talking about Gaza. Same thing happened to Malala. You won't see either of those on cable or in talk shows any more.

[-] eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago

Manufactured Consent, the media is pro-genocide.

[-] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

Have another downvote, on the house.

[-] Mihies@programming.dev 16 points 1 month ago

I'm sure you have done plenty more, right?

[-] cashsky@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

Username checks out.

this post was submitted on 04 May 2025
685 points (100.0% liked)

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