Thousands of students skipped classes in Hamburg and demonstrated together with the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg against climate change. The fascination of a simple form of protest.
Andreas, 16 years old, student from Hamburg, is now really excited. Not because he’s failing for the umpteenth time, also this Friday the school, but because he has to do it today, here in Hamburg, with the currently best-known climate activist and school schwänzerin: to become Greta Thunberg from Sweden, whose “Fridays for future”Initiative, and within a few months of an international movement. It is eight clock in the morning at the goose-market in the Hanseatic town, Greta is still there. Why he is committed to the protection of the climate? “It is always said: It is what it is what is done, but it is made nothing,” says Andreas. “And that bothers us, that needs to be changed.” Today, more and more of his classmates will come, as usual, of course also due to Greta: “We are indeed excited, we are so happy that you come here to Hamburg. You came in here, but it is on the way through.”
Andreas, a student from Hamburg, Germany, for climate protection
Prominently within a few months
True, and it sounds like you are talking about a professional politician. At the moment this is kind of like that too. Greta comes from Brussels, in the weeks before that, she was at the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, at the UN climate change conference in the Polish city of Katowice. She has spoken in front of politicians, Business leaders and environmental activists, and said the phrase that everyone understands, even today, here in Hamburg they will talk to you later: “for too long the politicians and the powerful people have waited and done nothing. And we will make sure that you can get away with it. We will continue the school strikes for so long, until you do something!” To stop the climate change, she says.
A simple school strike
Has started all this in August 2018. Because today’s 16-year-old student sat down, instead of going to school, in front of the Parliament building in Stockholm. In the few months since then, she has found innumerable imitators, in many countries – also in Germany. Greta forgets to mention in any speech, how angry she is on the older generations. Even today, here in Hamburg, thousands came, mostly with the blessing of the parents and the schools. What is the action, how many admit, off the record, something about the allure of the forbidden.
Scenes such as the rock concert
Then she’s there. Only a very short-Greta – bordeaux-red jacket, white wool hat has the look, the pigtails for the DW time. Cool and businesslike, she says: “I stand here not in the centre, but the climate, and we should focus on. It’s not about me.” But this is not true. The petite girl is celebrated like a pop star. She runs at the very front of the March across the centre of Hamburg to the town hall, but she almost disappears behind the Transparent. The organizers speak of 10,000 participants, the police of 4000.
Between 4,000 and 10,000 demonstrators will work with Greta Thunberg by the Hamburg City run
She smiles as well as never. To the left and to the right of the Demo-train running and shrieking Teenagers, try the cell phone at the ready, a picture with the campaign star. Of Selfies is not thinking. Because all the story of the girl in the white for several years, it suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a mild Form of autism.
Climate protection campaign theme these days.
Julia, 17 years old, student from Hamburg, is also due to Greta. And for climate protection, because on the one hand, the contrasts between the Required and the actual policy so violent as in the case of any other issue. And also, because of sustainability for today’s students-Generation is an important issue. Julia summarizes it this way: “In school, nothing at all, which I find very disappointing happened with me actually. But I have lived in for several years, and vegan.” The battle against heat and drought and sea-level rise is far more attractive than employment issues such as armament, terrorism, or even the contrast of the Poor and the rich.
Julia, 17, from Hamburg, came for Greta to the Demonstration, but also, because their sustainability is at the heart
Hatred and recognition in the net.
Greta has many Fans but also many enemies. In social media your beats to meet a lot of hatred. Rumors making the round that she had been made of very ambitious parents to the campaign leader. But she denies that. Her parents were not thrilled. You got it without their support. A bit tired of her look, as the DW says: “I’ve just been on holiday, so I’m going to Sweden to go home this afternoon, and Monday is back to school.”
Criticism of politicians
In Germany, some of the most conservative politicians, such as the new CDU have made General Secretary Paul Ziemiak, heavy, unpopular, as you indicated, a 16-year-old girl could not overlook complex relationships such as the supply of energy or the modern agriculture and the consequences for the climate. But most of the politicians have stopped, the movement of the student from Sweden. Because of the “Fridays for future” has everything a popular youth needs exercise: a clear, understandable theme, anger against the parents ‘ Generation, and a emotional access, and a leader.