A psychotherapist explains why some adults are reacting badly to young climate strikers

When adults are challenged to behave like adults, by a child, they can go in one of two directions.

Barbara Alper/Getty Images

Young climate strikers I spoke to recently are confused and distressed about the things adults are doing.

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To overthrow a tyrant, try the 3.5 Percent Solution

A study of 323 uprisings against repressive regimes yields stunning insights.

  • No democracy movement has ever failed when it was able to mobilize at least 3.5 percent of the population to protest over a sustained period
  • At that scale, most soldiers have no desire to suppress protesters. Why? Because the crowd includes their family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors.
  • With a population of 327 million, the U.S. would need to mobilize about 11.5 million people to assert popular, democratic power on the government. Could that happen?
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Terraform Mars? How about Earth?

Fauna and flora refuse to go quietly into the Anthropocene.

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  • Pioneers of the Greater Holocene plan to strike back against concrete.
  • Seed packets and plant nutrients are the weapons of choice for standing up to humanity's destructive impact.
  • Hopeless? Maybe. Poignant? Absolutely.
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Hashtag politics: 4 key ways digital activism is inegalitarian

Many believe that the internet has made it easier for us to participate in political activism. But is that really true?

  • Protesting in person is costly in terms of money and resources; some people have children to take care of, jobs that can't be away from, or may not have time to attend a planning event.
  • The internet was supposed to be a way to sidestep this barrier to political activism. But this doesn't consider the other barriers preventing poor and working-class folks from participating in digital activism.
  • In particular, these people lack ASETs: access to computers, the skills to use them, the empowerment necessary to feel that using Twitter or other social media is for them, and the time to make use of digital platforms in an effective way.
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Equinox and the dangers of cancel culture

Recognizing the consequences of your actions requires consideration of the long game.

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  • A boycott of Equinox and SoulCycle has been called as owner Stephen Ross held a fundraiser for President Donald Trump.
  • While the story has made headlines, the actual consequences of member cancellations are not what many think.
  • The episode provides another example of the dangers of cancel culture.
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