If You Don't Know How To Fix It, PLEASE Stop Breaking It!

[Shayna]

@Cat_Whisperer

Yup. It’s hard to tell how much is her and how much is her father. If I’m coming across as sending a mixed message in this thread, it’s because I’m conflicted on people like her father in real life, too - I have immense respect for Dr. David Suzuki, and I also am exasperated by pie-in-the-sky people like him for wanting to do things that would have a horribly negative effect on my life (living in a province where our money comes from dirty oil sands).

I have no doubt that her father had quite a bit of influence.

But remember, when I posted this video, I had no idea who her father was. Never occurred to me to find out. I just thought she was moving, with a strong general message. I see our world in tatters around us, not just environmentally, but economically, politically. So when I saw a little girl asking the grownups around her to stop breaking things they didn’t know how to fix, it hit me where it hurts. It was just as simple as that. Maybe I was just in a mood where it could get to me. Catch me when I’m having a hot flash and I might want to punch her in the face.

[Starving_Artist]

@Bricker

The girl is a good public speaker, but her “message” is programmed, facile, and naive.

Turns out that not only is her father an accomplished environmentalist but her mother is a writer. So it looks like she got help on both fronts. Cite

In her performance, Suzuki did an extraordinarily good job of public speaking for a 12-year-old child. But I suspect that in reality she was merely a passionate conduit for her parents’ message.

[gaffa]

@KinkiNipponTourist

It reminded me of Nobody’s Perfect, a frankly poorly-written book written by an amazing young man born without arms or legs. The guy himself is amazing; his writing (in Japanese; I haven’t read the English translation) is pedantic and tries to manipulate the reader into both feeling sorry for him AND admiring his amazing, upbeat look on life (with a heaping helping of 'my problems are nothing compared to this bloke’s!-guilt-tripping). But try to discuss that with anyone? Nooooo, it’s all “he’s amazing therefore his book/writing etc. is amazing.” End of discussion.

I’d prefer to look at fellow Doper Blinkie. Dealing with Locked-In Syndrome, having an amazing, positive attitude andbeing a hell of a good writer.

@Shayna

And like gaffa points out, it can be applied to a wide array of things, not just the environment. I’m still hoping he starts making and selling those shirts!

I’m not a business type. I can throw out ideas all day long, but am shit at implementation. I’m the guy you want in a brainstorming session, not in production. I just spent today on the phone brokering a meeting between two people that I’m providing solutions to tech problems and the project manager I most trust.

But I would by the t-shirt. I could manage that.