And if someone doesn't like something, counterarguments are made. This is fundamentally sensible! However, one should also be careful not to drift into “whataboutism” in which arguments are presented that have no direct connection to the topic.
We have already reported on another picture that supposedly shows trash from the students demonstrating, but comes from somewhere else entirely. And here too the question arose as to where the images came from:
The images suggest that demonstrating students, derisively called “climate disciples,” left their trash behind.
The origin of the images
The pictures are actually current and come from April 2019. They show the Ziegelwiese in Halle (Saale) after the graduation ceremony .
As the website “ You are Halle ” reports, there was a lot of rubbish to be removed, as in previous years, but this was done in half an hour by GHS cleaning staff the next morning, and there was also less rubbish than before More trash cans were placed there.
(edit: a previous version stated that the students did the cleanup)
Conclusion
The intention of the post and images shared on Facebook is clear:
“Young people don’t care about their own trash, so they shouldn’t demonstrate against climate change.”
However, these were not young people actively demonstrating at #FridaysforFuture, but rather celebrating high school graduates who caused the trash. So “whataboutism” is being practiced here: a group of young adults celebrates and doesn't completely clear away their trash in the evening, so the arguments of the young people demonstrating shouldn't be taken seriously since they themselves obviously don't behave in a climate-friendly manner.
Unfortunately, such arguments reduce the actual topic to absurdity, as happens again and again in heated discussions:
a part of a certain group does something, be it asylum seekers or young people, and the entire group is then condemned. You can do that, but it is not a reasonable basis for an argument.
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )