
Greta Thunberg: 'How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood' - qgi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMrtLsQbaok
======
Tepix
I had the same reaction when the German government revealed their insufficient
measures as part of the "Klimapaket" (climate pact) last Friday. Scientists
are recommending a tax of _180€_ per ton of CO2 to achieve the necessary
reduction in emissions. The German coalition government decides to introduce a
_10€_ CO2 tax. _How dare they_?

~~~
Hamuko
How do you prevent populists from gaining power and reducing it to 0€?

~~~
lazyjones
By turning the EU into a dictatorship like the Soviet Union.

Personally, I don't care about carbon taxes (I drive a Tesla, too). The poor
people on the other hand, will have to suffer even more apparently. They are
the main beneficiaries of cheap energy/pollution, since they buy a lot of
stuff that's only cheap because it comes from countries like China and India
and taxes on fossil fuels and meat will hit them hardest.

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Tepix
It's interesting to see how some factions are now claiming that Greta is
merely a puppet, following some hidden power's agenda. That's obviously
nonsense. Listen to her! All she asks is that the politicians listen to the
scientists.

~~~
tobib
That, and that governments do what they promised they would do in the Paris
agreement. It should really not be that controversial.

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whydoyoucare
Was her message to (failing to) act imply actual technical steps and
commitment to reduce certain variables in certain years or increase taxes? I
am confused here.

 _sarcasm_ And yes, of course, global warming is the biggest existential
threat to humanity. Poverty, hunger, addiction, homelessness, open defecation,
and other trivial issues aren't really the ones Governments' should
prioritize, it should be protecting humpback whales and ecosystems! _sarcasm_

Realize there are finite amount of resources any Government can direct towards
any problem. If all attention and resources go to global warming (which is
open ended problem as compared to poverty), then we will end up with
disastrous consequences, both to humans and to the planet.

~~~
ball_of_lint
This is a straw man. No one thinks climate change is the only thing a
government should spend money on. Many do think it has not been taken as
seriously as it ought to be given the significance of the harms it leads to.

~~~
papermachete
So why would the government spend a single dollar on climate change when other
more serious and more immediate problems are on fire?

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sunseb
Just a quick question: why Greta is not talking about world overpopulation? I
think it's a huge problem. The more we are on this planet, the more mess we
make. And by the way, it's too easy to shame western countries to be the root
of all evil in this world.

~~~
monkeynotes
Probably because the subject attacks the fundamental instinct to procreate.
How do you tell a couple that they legally can't have children? Many of my
friends define their lives around having a family, it gives people a deep, and
rewarding purpose.

~~~
sunseb
You are right and I must say it's ok to have kids in the US or in Europa
(because population growth is declining here), but I am talking about Africa
or South Asia, as they are having more and more kids there, and all these kids
end up living in extreme poverty and having no hope for the future. For
example, each year, Nigeria has 6 millions more people to feed (Nigerian women
have an average of 5.5 children).

~~~
securingsincity
Most of the world is having only 2 kids per family. The most consistent way to
reduce the number of children per family is to increase the income of that
family.

[https://www.gapminder.org/answers/will-saving-poor-
children-...](https://www.gapminder.org/answers/will-saving-poor-children-
lead-to-overpopulation/)

[https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$state$marker$axis_x$domain...](https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$state$marker$axis_x$domainMin:null&domainMax:null&zoomedMin:null&zoomedMax:null&scaleType=genericLog&spaceRef:null;&axis_y$which=children_per_woman_total_fertility&domainMin:null&domainMax:null&zoomedMin:null&zoomedMax:null&spaceRef:null;;;&chart-
type=bubbles)

------
Mikeb85
I think the people who have coerced her into being a propaganda piece are the
ones who have stolen her childhood. It's not like the earth is on fire right
now. In fact, living conditions are better than they ever have been. There's
more food security worldwide than at any point in human history. Less war than
ever. Less poverty than ever before.

Yes, climate change will cause issues. Then again, the last glacial maximum
was fairly recent, only ~20k years ago. Climate change has happened and will
happen. And the world won't end. Either the Earth's systems will adapt, or
we'll find a technological solution. Or maybe everyone will simply move to
Canada, Russia, Greenland and Antarctica.

I'm all for solutions, but at the end of the day, people will keep on living
and I suggest this girl do the same (then again, she's probably being
bankrolled by someone so maybe she is actually living her dreams).

~~~
r00fus
> It's not like the earth is on fire right now.

Sure. Fires in the arctic are normal things [1]. 100+ degree summers in
Germany and France are totes the norm. [2].

Reality has a climate-crisis bias.

> In fact, living conditions are better than they ever have been.

This is a false dichotomy - that improved worldwide living conditions don't
indicate a looming climate crisis. It could be argued that it all gets better
until it starts falling apart rapidly.

[1] [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190822-why-is-the-
arctic-o...](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190822-why-is-the-arctic-on-
fire) [2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave)

------
wrnr
There was a post on HN a week ago that was agreeing with some statements Greta
made about climate change, it has flagged and removed. I don't always agree
with everything she says but found little objectionable about the article.
Strange that it was taken down, it seems like HN does not respect any opinion
unless it was mined by a block of cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

~~~
tomhoward
Cryptocurrency topics routinely get mocked, flagged or ignored here. Very
rarely does one get serious attention.

"HN" is a diverse community that represents a distribution of points of view.

When controversial topics get flagged, it's often not because people disagree
with the opinion expressed, but rather that people expect the discussion will
be of low quality - i.e., a flamewar dominated by a small number of
ideological zealots, in which the loudest participants just stick to their
preconceived point of view, and nobody really learns anything new.

------
forgotmypw
Unfortunately, we've built and set in motion a machine that we are no longer
in control of, and there is very little we can do. Look at all the
environmental damage and habitat destruction (our habitat) that went into this
conference as an example.

~~~
Tepix
> there is very little we can do

Science suggests otherwise. Have you read the IPCC report?

