Greta Thurnberg’s Semi-slow Boat Upon the Stormy Seas

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has since lived and traveled around the world several times over. Though frequently writing about politics out of a sense of duty and love of country, most of the time he would prefer discussions on history, culture, occasionally nerding on aviation, and his amateur foodie tendencies. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter @four4thefire and his food writing website Yonder and Home. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew's Heard Tell SubStack for free here:

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19 Responses

  1. George Turner says:

    Many children’s crusades end in disaster because they put emotion over logic and reason, otherwise they wouldn’t need to rely on children at the forefront.

    In South Africa, a young girl named Nongqawuse had a vision of how to defeat the British.
    She told the Xhosa (Nelson Mandela’s tribe) to burn all their crops and kill their cattle, after which the sun would turn red, the dead would arise, spirits would drive the British into the sea, and all their crops and cattle would be purified and reborn. The people followed her sage advice, killing hundreds of thousands of their cows and burning their crops. Their population predictably nosedived in what was called a “national suicide.” A little over a quarter of the people survived the resulting famine, and they converted to Christianity because their traditional beliefs were obviously a total disaster.

    Greta Thunberg implores us to abandon cheap and abundant energy, which we use to grow food and stay warm. She’s an idiot. Some Xhosa didn’t follow Nongqawuse’s insanely stupid advice. They were called “the greedy ones”, and they stayed in the gene pool because they held on to their crops and cows while everyone else died of starvation. In the aftermath of the disaster, Nongqawuse blamed them for the failure to bring about her visions.Report

    • Philip H in reply to George Turner says:

      That cheap and abundant energy will get most of America rendered cropless in a generation and many urban centers at or under water. And thats the conservative model. But sure, she’s young and naive . . . .Report

  2. DensityDuck says:

    This is another one we’ve talked about before, although not Thurnberg specifically that time.Report

  3. Oscar Gordon says:

    Al Gore wants his spotlight back!Report

  4. Tom Payne says:

    {Ed Note: Tom Payne is a banned commenter}Report

    • Oscar Gordon in reply to Tom Payne says:

      Was this in reply to a comment, or the OP?Report

      • Tom Payne in reply to Oscar Gordon says:

        The OPReport

        • Jaybird in reply to Tom Payne says:

          Oooh! I always love these questions!

          What difference would it make if he’s *THIS* versus *THAT*?

          Like, if his answer is, “I’m an artist who makes designs celebrating diversity while, at the same time, respecting other cultures and my latest piece is a video showing all of the 45 presidents dancing dances that were popular within a couple of years of their respective inaugurations”, what would that mean for his positions?

          If he were the CEO of Greenpeace, what would that mean for his positions?

          If he were an office drone who goes to work, does Excel Worksheet stuff, prints it, staples it, and puts it in the out box, what would that mean for his positions?

          If he were a stay-at-home dad who raises the kids while his wife brings home the bacon, what would that mean for his positions?Report

  5. Jaybird says:

    Does China have people like this? People who drive a green car around the country telling everybody to start recycling?Report

    • North in reply to Jaybird says:

      China doesn’t need people like that; if the Chinese decision makers decide they want something done then their government makes it be done and those who don’t cooperate come to a bad end. I don’t think anyone but the most loony of loon environmental fanatics would endorse the Chinese method.Report

      • Philip H in reply to North says:

        China decided to honor its caps under the Paris Accord – in some measure because the pollution surrounding the Beijing Games was an embarrassment and in part because air pollution was sickening and killing some order of millions of people a year. That decision is why they are the largest producer (and one of the largest consumers) of Photo-voltaic panel sin the world, and why US coal exports have tanked.Report

  6. Damon says:

    This article caused me to spend @ 3 minutes paying attention to someone who doesn’t deserve it nor do I give a damn about their opinion.. They are 16.Report

  7. Ultimately, people who are young now will bear the brunt of climate change, whatever challenges it presents. I don’t mind them being at the forefront of making this issue more visible. BUT their efforts should not contribute to the very problem they’re making public.Report

  8. Jaybird says:

    Something you really ought to keep in mind if you are celebrating Greta Thunberg and contributing to make her a prominent voice for Environmental Change:

    Report

  9. Rufus F. says:

    Environmental concerns have called for serious and measured discussion for most of my adult life. It hasn’t happened. I mean, it’s possible that the people who haven’t been quite ready to have an open mind to the issue of the greenhouse effect and climate change when it was simply mainstream scientific opinion for the last three decades, and who now indicate they’d almost be ready, if it wasn’t for the hypocrisy of Greta Thunberg’s parents or Al Gore’s doofiness or Bill Nye’s use of profanity might be arguing in good faith. But, let’s say I’m a skeptic.Report

  10. Slade the Leveller says:

    Two things:

    For Christ’s sake, it’s an attention getting device. It sure got it, didn’t it?

    The linked article doesn’t say anywhere, but if it’s a scheduled flight, then no new carbon is being added to the atmosphere.Report