Wow, They Hate Greta Thunberg
There are so many features of American life I’ve just never been able to understand. The popularity of NASCAR and professional wrestling. Now it’s the death threats against 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
She’s just a girl with a devotion to environmental responsibility that should be shared by all. OK, suppose you don’t share it. Do you really want to kill her? Can’t you just go back to watching cars with big engines zooming around a racetrack?
Craig,
Actually, no one “hates” Greta Thunberg ! No one seriously want’s to kill her, as you well know.
What annoys and irritates millions is the idiotic and mawkish way this precocious teenager has been manipulated as a sort of modern day “St Joan of Arc” for the environmentalist cause.
The exploitation of Greta Thunberg is a form of child abuse. Not by those who find her irritating, but by those who would exploit her youth,inexperience and need for exhibitionism for their own political/ideological gain.
I’m not a motor racing fan, however I don’t sneer and insult the millions of people who enjoy motor racing in various forms. While TV wrestling has no attraction for me personally, I see no harm in the spectacle. The acting, sense of drama and athleticism is quite amazing and obviously delivers good value for the audience.
Did it ever occur to you, just once, that these are the very people we need to enlist and convince of the benefits of better environmental practices?
How does insulting and alienating people help with that mission?
Recently an older American asked, “how the hell did Donald Trump capture the hearts and minds of traditional working class democrat voters”.
Craig, your comments reveal why. The working class didn’t leave the democrats, the democrats left them! In turn the working class got tired of being sneered at by condescending, smug, self-righteous hypocrites who insult them at every turn and take them for granted.
Donald Trump showed them respect, even admiration. He listened and talked about their needs, and aspirations. He didn’t give a damn about what some effete foreign intellectual writing for the NYT or New Yorker thought, even less about the pontifications of aging “flower children ” in California.
His policies have delivered for the American blue collar worker. Before Trump, these folk felt neglected, betrayed and under attack in America. Once President trump was elected, unemployment dropped, hope returned and wages began to rise. Suddenly, they had a voice. Suddenly it felt good to be American.
Oh, and I looked up a few stats about NASCAR.
The NASCAR fan base is 63% male, 37% female
1 in 5 fans are Black or Hispanic
NASCAR fans are just as likely as the U.S. population to be 18-44 (98 index vs. U.S population).
NASCAR fans are just as middle class and just as affluent as the U.S. population: 54% earn $50,000+ per year (104 index vs. U.S. population)
NASCAR fans are more family orientated than most sports. 2 out of 5 attendees to events bring children under the age of 18.
NASCAR fans vote. The percentage of registered voters is almost double the rest of the population.
(Interesting demographic group you just denigrated !) .