Politics hates a vacuum. If it isn't filled with hope, someone will fill it with fear.
Naomi KleinRead
As soon as you write about climate change, the first attempt to discredit you is, 'Well, you wrote this on a computer,' or, 'You took a plane to this conference.' So your opinion isn't valid.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the hypocrisy in criticizing individuals who address climate change based on their use of modern technology or means of transport.
Naomi Klein points out the irony and often unfounded skepticism that arises when people try to discredit opinions on climate change by focusing on the writer's personal choices of technology or travel. This serves to dismiss valid arguments by shifting the focus away from the actual content and toward the perceived contradictions in the individual's lifestyle, ultimately undermining the important conversation about environmental issues.
Themes
Climate ChangeHypocrisyTechnologyDiscreditOpinion
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at an environmental conference might use this quote to address the common critiques faced by climate activists.
More from Naomi Klein
All quotes →Because it is such a huge crisis, because it puts us on a firm science-based deadline, it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to build a better society and address raging inequality, create huge numbers of jobs, rebuild our public infrastructure. But, we can't do it unless we break every single rule in the free-market playbook. Which is why the worst people in the world all deny climate change.
Naomi KleinRead
Terrorism doesn't just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism - real and exaggerated - has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.
Naomi KleinRead
Everybody that's trying to get anything progressive done in this country knows that the biggest barrier is getting money out of politics.
Naomi KleinRead
I think I would say that there is absolutely no way to reconcile an austerity agenda with climate action. Our political class needs to understand that the fight against austerity and the fight for climate action are the same fight.
Naomi KleinRead
I think the fossil fuel industry is genuinely freaked out by the combination of the price collapse, the divestment movement, and that fact that renewable energy is getting so cheap so fast.
Naomi KleinRead
Similar quotes
I think Zelda 64 is utilizing about 90 percent of the N64 potential, ... When we made Mario 64 we were simply utilizing 60 to 70 percent. So we have come a long way I believe.
Shigeru MiyamotoRead
All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news. We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press, but we must also help the reader.
Tim CookRead
Before social media, if I, as an individual wanted to publish something to the world, unless I could get some local TV crew to interview me, or I wrote an op-ed or took out an ad, I had no voice.
Sheryl SandbergRead
I was in Bangalore, India, the Silicon Valley of India, when I realized that the world was flat.
Thomas FriedmanRead
Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend to resurface when we least expect it. Yes, everything you do in the digital realm may as well be broadcast on prime-time television and chiseled on the side of the Parthenon.
Douglas RushkoffRead
Many of us now expect our online activities to be recorded and analyzed, but we assume the physical spaces we inhabit are different. The data broker industry doesn't see it that way. To them, even the act of walking down the street is a legitimate data set to be captured, catalogued, and exploited.
Kate CrawfordRead