Many thanks for clarifying Molly. All best wishes
B On Wed, 2 Oct 2019 at 02:15, Molly Hankwitz <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > -- Bronaċ
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