Unthinking Majority wrote:I'm not even sure why she's famous quite frankly. We should be listening to scientists not youth activists. I have nothing against her, she's young and not a scientist and will sometimes say silly things like we all did when we were younger.
If we were listening to the scientists, the youth would not be marching and yelling in the streets.
People want a better environment yet also want to keep their money/jobs and don't want to pay more for stuff. That's a hell of a contradiction we all need to come to terms with. I understand the hesitancy. But I'm perfectly fine paying a bit more for goods if it will help the environment in a meaningful way.
This is a false dichotomy. We do not have to choose between a better environment and things costing a lot more. Instead, we should (again) listen to the scientists. Economists forecast that we will lose about 10% of the world GDP if things stay on the current trajectory. If we actually get to a 3.2 degrees Celsius increase, that figure will go up to 18%.
So, unless we need to spend that much to deal with climate change, the economic argument is clearly on the side of doing something about it now.
Unthinking Majority wrote:Does there need to be formal institutions for there to be unquestionable tenets based on beliefs that are contrary to science? She's far from the only member of this "religion" that preaches the same sermons and shames us for our sins.
Well in that video she called the UK "one of the biggest climate villains", and she has a big international platform of listeners. So there's a good vs evil dynamic happening here too. Amen. But I guess all she can personally do is shame others. So death by social crucifixion lol.
Again, Ms. Thunberg cannot punish people. They can, at best, make accusations that are not libellous or slanderous.
They cannot enforce any lack of questioning about tenets. And considering the sheer amount of climate denialism in the world (including this very forum), it is impossible to argue that people are not allowed to question it. Trump openly questioned it, and he was lauded for it and given the Oval Office.
In fact, people can not only question climate change, but intentionally lie about it. We know that oil companies have lied to the public about climate change and they have received no censure at all.
From a perspective of power, environmental activists have almost no social power at all. So any comparison to the power of churches to ostracise and exclude unbelievers can only be about elements of style or oratory on the part of speakers. If there is no similarity on a political level, it is not worth discussing.