Bronac Admittedly, my argument as you call it was not perfectly worked out before writing. I admit it was joyful and excited—somewhat emotional and perhaps too spontaneous for a nettime audience accustomed to extremely careful social discourse.
Obviously, many, including myself, admire all of these figures — and more in today’s ether. It seems I really messed up regarding GTs effects upon the US in her visit here. I think she’s great. Obviously, she is impactful and plays a role in discussions elsewhere. Clearly living in a miasma of spectacle. Thank you for the Guardian link. I look forward to reading any healthy critique. Molly On Tue, Oct 1, 2019 at 3:31 AM bronac ferran <[email protected]> wrote: > I was troubled reading your last few comments Molly in this post below. It > seemed you were either adopting what Suzanne Moore has called out as a > patriarchal critique: > > https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/01/greta-thunbergs-defiance-upsets-the-patriarchy-and-its-wonderful > or trying to find another tone, based on a 'like' option, that seems > leaves an equally chilling effect. > One way or another it has affirmed for me the current failure of nettime > as Felix noted on the radio broadcast to offer any kind of counter-or > anti-environment to what goes down on social and mainstream media. I may > have misinterpreted your comment, but as Liz rightly, the thrust of your > argument seemed weird. I also can't recognise any real understanding of > performance art in your abstract adoption of the term 'no one'. > > B > > On Fri, 27 Sep 2019 at 04:42, Molly Hankwitz <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Dear Ted and Felix, >> >> Thank you these links. I have been following Ms. Thunberg with a mix of >> rapt interest, admiration, and fabulous disbelief at her courage for some >> time. I have picked up, now, on some of the bile that Monica Hesse bites >> into which is being directed at Greta by such patrons of insanity as FOX >> and Breitbart and their White House cohort, Mr. T. >> >> What totally fascinates, and I’d agree with Felix here about some of the >> reasons and the “threat” itself as it’s perceived, is this absolutely >> stellar decade we are living in that we should find ourselves amidst the >> likes of Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and Greta Thunberg. >> >> How is it that from out of today’s heady mix of problems - perpetual war, >> lying government, climate change ignorance —come these public figures who >> have swum upstream to surface and call out the lack of truth and justice? >> >> I find this so interesting —this age of networked publics, and social >> media and the advance of issues into a never-before witnessed - in the same >> mix of feedback loop — weird -tactical-media event (to borrow Wark’s >> phrase) that creates a critical outside - in globalized terms - Thunberg >> and Assange both from other countries yet directly energy to US. Is it >> correct to think of these persons as similar? They are almost like >> performance art. Spectacular but also sincere. No one wants or likes them. >> They may succumb to too harsh a light. >> >> Molly >> >> >> >> >> On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 7:49 AM tbyfield <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> [a little collaborative text-filtering] >>> >>> < >>> >>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/greta-thunberg-weaponized-shame-in-an-era-of-shamelessness/2019/09/25/66e3ec78-deea-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html >>> > >>> >>> Greta Thunberg weaponized shame in an era of shamelessness >>> >>> By Monica Hesse >>> Columnist >>> September 25 at 11:24 AM >>> >>> A vocal cohort of fully grown human adults seems unable to deal with >>> Greta Thunberg. >>> >>> The 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, as you might have heard, gave >>> a scorching speech at the United Nations on Monday. "We are in the >>> beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and >>> fairy tales of eternal economic growth," she admonished a crowd of world >>> leaders. "How dare you." >>> >>> Oh, but they hadn't even *begun* to dare. >>> >>> That evening, pundit Michael Knowles went on Fox News and referred to >>> Thunberg, who has Asperger's syndrome, as "a mentally ill Swedish child >>> who is being exploited by her parents and by the international left." >>> >>> On the Fox show "The Ingraham Angle," host Laura Ingraham compared >>> Thunberg's physical appearance to a character from a horror movie, then >>> quipped, "I can't wait for Stephen King's sequel, 'Children of the >>> Climate.' " >>> >>> "I can't tell if Greta needs a spanking or a psychological >>> intervention," tweeted Breitbart columnist John Nolte. And, actually, if >>> you're in the mood to be unsettled, then I'll wait here while you search >>> Twitter for "Thunberg" and "spanking" and see how many middle-aged men >>> are eager to corporally punish a teenage girl. >>> >>> Finally, as Monday evening drew to a close, the president of the United >>> States sarcastically rang in: "A very happy young girl looking forward >>> to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!" >>> >>> By Tuesday morning, as a cheeky rejoinder, Thunberg had changed her >>> Twitter bio to President Trump's description. >>> >>> Thunberg does not keep to the model of how we expect fresh-faced child >>> activists to behave. She is not interested in delivering a message of >>> hope or in standing behind a bill-signing politician in a chorus of >>> beaming youths. She is not interested in offering incremental solutions >>> for individual households, in urging consumers to switch to reusable >>> grocery bags or buy stainless-steel drinking straws. >>> >>> She also does not seem particularly interested in using her activism to >>> make you like her. At one point in her U.N. speech, the audience >>> interrupted to applaud. Thunberg looked mildly irritated by the >>> interruption; she just wanted to get on with it. >>> >>> What was she getting on with? With ruthlessly explaining just how badly >>> older generations have ruined things for her own. With castigating >>> politicians for focusing more on keeping power than heeding science. >>> With calling out liberals, too, like Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), who >>> benevolently told her at an event last week that young people would soon >>> have the chance to run for office themselves. >>> >>> "We don't want to become politicians, we don't want to run for office," >>> she responded. "We want you to unite behind the science." >>> >>> At every turn, in every appearance, what she's interested in is making >>> her listeners feel shame. >>> >>> We live in an era that has become impervious to shame. An era defined by >>> a president who views it as a weakness. Shame has become an antiquated >>> emotion and a useless one. It's advantageous, we've learned, to respond >>> to charges of indecency with more indecency: attacks, misdirection, faux >>> victimhood. >>> >>> When Thunberg's noxious treatment began to get attention -- Fox News >>> apologized for Knowles's statement, calling it "disgraceful" -- some of >>> her defenders suggested that she drew so much scorn because she was >>> female. I'm sure that's part of it. The past few years have produced a >>> rash of books explaining how women's anger is historically belittled >>> while men's is seen as worthy of empathy. We have "effectively severed >>> anger from 'good womanhood,'" wrote Soraya Chemaly in "Rage Becomes >>> Her." >>> >>> But I don't think that explains all of the reactions. Thunberg hasn't >>> been treated any more appallingly than Parkland student David Hogg, who, >>> in the course of lobbying for gun control, was labeled a shill and a >>> "crisis actor." He received death threats. >>> >>> What Thunberg and Hogg have in common, along with others like Hogg's >>> classmate Emma González, is their utter lack of regard for our >>> feelings. They do not care if they make us feel bad; their entire point >>> is to make us feel bad. They don't need our votes; they're not elected >>> officials. They don't need our money; many of them live at home with >>> their parents. >>> >>> With every public appearance, they are saying: This is what it would >>> look like, to be free to do the right thing. This is what you would say, >>> too, if you weren't beholden to donors or viewers, if you didn't have to >>> muster the right sound bites for your next reelection campaign, if you >>> weren't afraid of sacrificing some of your personal comfort for the >>> greater good. >>> >>> Thunberg is saying: *Aren't you ashamed of yourself?* >>> >>> And deep down, way deep down, in the place that stores unfamiliar >>> emotions, many of her audience members are. >>> >>> This is the uplifting way to interpret the grotesque response to >>> Thunberg. >>> >>> She is a small, slight child wearing braids and using the best science >>> available to beg the adults in the room not to let her die. Not to let >>> animals die. Not to let the Earth die. Not to let everyone die. Anyone >>> who listens to all of that and immediately wants to punish or attack >>> Thunberg -- they're not having that reaction because they think she's >>> wrong, but rather because, deep down, they fear she is right. >>> >>> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission >>> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, >>> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets >>> # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l >>> # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] >>> # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: >> >> -- >> molly hankwitz >> # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission >> # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, >> # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets >> # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l >> # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected] >> # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: > > > > -- > Bronaċ > > > -- molly hankwitz
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