12 Comments
Nov 14, 2023Liked by Betje

True, however there are matters too urgent to leave aside. The climate crisis is, but the humanitarian crisis and genocide occurring for more than a month with devastating consequences every day is something we cannot, we must NOT remain silent about; As spectators we do not have many resources to try to stop this, let's not stop using our voice where it can be useful

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I totally agree that this matter is too urgent to leave aside. We have to use or voices and I have been vocal about the rights of Palestinians. However, there are always urgent and horrific events ánd we have to fight climate change to avoid having even more devastating conflicts, disasters etc. What I'm saying is; keep those things separated and focus on one piece of the whole at a time.

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I fear that it might be impossible to avoid arguments over political sides, since the effects of climate change are only worsening the conditions in countries where those in charge would rather distract people with scapegoats than take the blame for their inhumane decisions. Gaza, which has run out of water and resources, will unfortunately be another region like Sudan, Syria and Somalia where climate changes solutions will have to included discussions about how to first eliminate the political strife.

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You're absolutely right. Maybe I should have added that this stage at the end of a climate march was not the right place. People have marched for hours for a certain cause, they're tired and only half listening...

The arguments you're talking about, we should have them but probably in a setting that allows for discussion, learning and sharing thoughts.

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Ah, I see and agree. I never have understood the reasoning for ending a march at a stage when people are worn down from the march. Instead it should be the reverse, where the stage is used to fire up people before the march. (Unfortunately, Friggin' Trump and his minions knew this oh too well on Jan. 6 2021.)

I also agree on using smaller settings for having deeper discussions over the various aspects of a topic. A march is a supposed to be a simplified show of unified force delivering a message boiled down to a few points.

I guess not as many folks are as well briefed on revolutionary political tactics and history as we are.

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Nov 14, 2023·edited Nov 14, 2023Liked by Betje

I totally agree! For clear communication, choose 1 message and stick to that. That does not mean other issues aren’t equally important, or maybe even more urgent, but change is made one step at a time. Running around for here to there and back and forth will ultimately slow progress on all.

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Right? Letting urgency run the agenda is part of what got us this deep into the climate crisis I'm afraid...

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I understand where you’re coming from but I completely disagree. Climate change is an intersectional issue and so all injustice is climate injustice. Plus why do you think Biden is supporting the genocide? OIL.

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Dec 19, 2023·edited Dec 19, 2023Author

I'm not denying all those things are connected, as I wrote in my piece, they absolutely are! What irks me, is the notion that you can't be a climate activist and not speak out about other injustices.

As I wrote in my piece: speaking up about one aspect or cause of climate change doesn't mean you don't see or care about other pieces. I've personally been very vocal about what's happening in Gaza and I think everybody should. Just like I think everybody should stop eating meat. However, I think climate organisations should welcome every person who wants to fight climate change, even if they don't subscribe to all those things (yet).

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Unfortunately I still personally disagree with your viewpoint, but I understand that it’s motivated by wanting to be inclusive, and that’s not a bad motivation. I’m just not sure how I can see anyone who supports or is neutral about genocide as a real climate activist.

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I can’t imagine any human not being outraged by what’s happening in Gaza… And it’s OK for us to disagree on this. Thank you for taking the time to respectfully voice your opinion.

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You're incredibly wrong, and deeply uneducated about activism and intersectionality. Worse, yout lazy privileged ass doesn't seem to care.

Shame on you

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