Quote (IceMage @ 25 Feb 2019 15:59)
I have a hunch that if the kids were arguing with her over abortion, you'd feel differently.
i won't deny i would - but mainly because i think abortion is a topic that's much harder to grasp in terms of its moral implications. that being said, i hear you on the 'deliberately using the easily manipulabe minds of kids for political stunts' sentiment. however, i would distinguish between the mindless indoctrination you might see when kids are simply shouting campaign slogans and one liners, and kids belonging to a grassroots movement concerning a certain issue and intelligently arguing a point they quite obviously grasp to a certain degree. their points here are based on science and their movement is not concerned with an issue of purely moral deliberation, therefore i reject your comparison.
it's also a nice illustration of how big the disconnect between the establishment (that has a decades long history of being paid by the people that spent millions and earned billions hiding those facts from the public) with its appeasing, smug, and condescending
'trust me, i know what i'm doing, know what's best for us all, i don't need to listen to you' approach and their base, or anyone who actually cares about certain issues (obviously doesn't have to be kids that young, equally applies to the poor, working class, teachers, young congresswoman, old senator with 'radical' ideas...), is.
that's the main reason we don't see significant changes on topics that people care about, but that no lobby pays the lawmakers for (like environmental protection, like regulating wall street, like universal healthcare...).