# Time Person of the Year 2019 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 12, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748 "2019-12-12T12:55:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/1 "2019-12-12T12:55:52Z")
The person selected was Greta Thunberg. I think that’s a decent choice. She certainly had an impact. Do you think Time made the right choice? Who would you rather have been selected if not? I think another strong possibility would have been the whistleblower that started the Trump impeachment process. Although they kind of did that in general in 2017. They’ve done non-people in the past, so another option would have been “The Climate Crisis”. However, they’ve done so many non-people lately, I kind of understand why they chose not to go that route. Greta kind of represents the climate crisis (for good or bad) at the moment in the mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/2 "2019-12-12T13:36:55Z")
I’d rather have seen the Hong Kong protesters win; they had the most votes in the reader poll. > **[Here’s Who Won TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year Reader Poll](https://time.com/5747261/person-of-the-year-2019-reader-poll-results/)** > > Activists claimed most of the top five spots in this year's survey ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/3 "2019-12-12T13:37:21Z")
She’s had no impact, nothing has changed, a year from now few people will remember her name. At best she’ll end up as a trivia game answer. Also note that Time selected her as an outstanding teenager or something like that last year, this is just lazy self-promotion on their part. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/4 "2019-12-12T13:51:34Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’d rather have seen the Hong Kong protesters win; they had the most votes in the reader poll. > > [Here’s Who Won TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year Reader Poll | TIME](https://time.com/5747261/person-of-the-year-2019-reader-poll-results/) I didn’t even think of that option. Yeah, they should have won. QED Well, that was quick. Thanks for coming out everybody. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/5 "2019-12-12T14:05:20Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She’s had no impact, nothing has changed, a year from now few people will remember her name. At best she’ll end up as a trivia game answer. Also note that Time selected her as an outstanding teenager or something like that last year, this is just lazy self-promotion on their part. I disagree. Climate change isn’t going anywhere. This isn’t just an issue of the day that will fade away as times change. Rather, climate change is going to be with us for a very long time and getting progressively worse as time goes on. I can see her being a major player on the side of reversing AGW for a long time to come. I see no reason to think she’s just looking for her 5 minutes of fame. Even if she personally does fade into obscurity there are people out there her age who are going to be the leaders on this issue 20-30 years from now, and in a sense her selection is representative for all future leaders on the side of reversing AGW. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/6 "2019-12-12T14:05:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She’s had no impact, nothing has changed, a year from now few people will remember her name. At best she’ll end up as a trivia game answer. Also note that Time selected her as an outstanding teenager or something like that last year, this is just lazy self-promotion on their part. Obviously she’s the most famous new face of 2019; in that sense Time made a logical choice. It’s a bet, I guess. If she does change anything they’ll look like geniuses. I agree, though, that she almost certainly won’t, and there is a grossness to a kid with significant psychological problems being thrust into the spotlight, and now Time is part of that. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/7 "2019-12-12T14:15:13Z")
I think the broader impact of Greta is the “speaking truth to power.” People feel more emboldened to stand up to the established power structures. I think it is important to remind those in power that they are in power at **our** sufferance. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/8 "2019-12-12T14:17:58Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I disagree. Climate change isn’t going anywhere. This isn’t just an issue of the day that will fade away as times change. Rather, climate change is going to be with us for a very long time and getting progressively worse as time goes on. I can see her being a major player on the side of reversing AGW for a long time to come. I see no reason to think she’s just looking for her 5 minutes of fame. Even if she personally does fade into obscurity there are people out there her age who are going to be the leaders on this issue 20-30 years from now, and in a sense her selection is representative for all future leaders on the side of reversing AGW. I’m not arguing the climate change issue, just what her impact will be on it. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/9 "2019-12-12T14:25:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not arguing the climate change issue, just what her impact will be on it. Not much directly given who the current leaders are of the nations who are able to most do something positive about the issue. Her impact is in getting people to realize that the issue is not going to go away. If Bolsonaro is addressing her, it’s because he has to realize at some level that his side is bound to lose either way. Even if they win politically today, they (admittedly along with the rest of us) will lose a stable environment favorable to humans in the future. [https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/americas/bolsonaro-thunberg-brat-intl-scli/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/americas/bolsonaro-thunberg-brat-intl-scli/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/10 "2019-12-12T14:36:24Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Not much directly given who the current leaders are of the nations who are able to most do something positive about the issue. Her impact is in getting people to realize that the issue is not going to go away. If Bolsonaro is addressing her, it’s because he has to realize at some level that his side is bound to lose either way. Even if they win politically today, they (admittedly along with the rest of us) will lose a stable environment favorable to humans in the future. > > [https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/americas/bolsonaro-thunberg-brat-intl-scli/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/americas/bolsonaro-thunberg-brat-intl-scli/index.html) Yeah, when you have world leaders calling you a brat (among other things), then you know you’ve had an impact of some sort. Although I think the reaction is only 50% about the climate crisis. I think people in power are simply not used to having the common folk expressing their outrage so directly and publically. Frankly, her message on climate change is only ok, because some of the rhetoric she uses is unhelpful. But she’s passionate, like I get it, but it gives holes through which opponents to attack, and try to diminish the entire message. But, as I posted above, I think the broader impact is in the speaking truth to power. The powerful elite cannot simply hide behind their ingrained power structures as much. So in that sense, I think her actions were important and a real sign of the times. I still think Hong Kong protestors probably should have had the win. I wonder if Time was afraid of the Chinese government’s reaction? Cody covers this in a past episode of Some More News (hilariously presented by the way if you’ve never watched him). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szybEhqUmVI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szybEhqUmVI) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/11 "2019-12-12T14:46:52Z")
I don’t see the opposition digging in their heels and dismantling the minimal efforts to address the problem as a positive impact. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/12 "2019-12-12T14:49:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She’s had no impact, nothing has changed, a year from now few people will remember her name. At best she’ll end up as a trivia game answer. Also note that Time selected her as an outstanding teenager or something like that last year, this is just lazy self-promotion on their part. This. I barely even know who that person is. Probably because when I see “A 13-year old said…” I stop reading. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/13 "2019-12-12T15:47:13Z")
Ok, congrats I guess? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/14 "2019-12-12T15:53:22Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > She’s had no impact > **[School Strike for Climate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_strike_for_the_climate)** > > School Strike for Climate (Swedish: Skolstrejk för klimatet), also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy. > Publicity and widespread organising began after Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg sta... > [@](#): > > Publicity and widespread organising began after Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg staged a protest in August 2018 outside the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read “Skolstrejk för klimatet” (“School strike for the climate”).[4][5] > > A global strike on 15 March 2019 gathered more than one million strikers. Around 2200 strikes were organised in 125 countries.[1][6][7][8] On 24 May 2019, the second global strike took place, in which 1600 events across 150 countries drew hundreds of thousands of protesters. The events were timed to coincide with the 2019 European Parliament election.[7][9][10][11] > > The 2019 Global Week for Future was a series of 4500 strikes across over 150 countries, focused around Friday 20 September and Friday 27 September. Likely the largest climate strikes in world history, the 20 September strikes gathered roughly 4 million protesters, many of them schoolchildren, including 1.4 million people on strike in Germany.[12] On 27 September, an estimated 2 million people participated in demonstrations worldwide, including over 1 million protesters in Italy and several hundred thousand protesters in Canada.[3][13][14] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/15 "2019-12-12T15:58:02Z")
And the Orange Wonder tweets > [@](#): > > So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! _This_ is the [del]hill[/del]dung heap Republicans want to die on? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/16 "2019-12-12T16:02:53Z")
Here is the list of past winners of this award: > **[Time Person of the Year](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year)** > > Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the United States news magazine and website Time featuring a person, a group, an idea, or an object that "for better or for worse ... has done the most to influence the events of the year". The editors of Time magazine select the featured subject, though the Time website also runs an annual reader's poll that has no effect on the selection. > The tradition of selecting a "Man of the Year" began in 1... Clearly there are a lot of questionable choices. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/17 "2019-12-12T16:08:35Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > [School Strike for Climate - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_strike_for_the_climate) That’s a lot of people on strike. What did those countries agree to do with regards to climate change in order to get those people to stop striking? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/18 "2019-12-12T16:16:55Z")
_Trump,_ of all people, is telling Thunberg to deal with her anger management problem? Really? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/19 "2019-12-12T16:25:28Z")
Clearly a person has had no impact when the so-called president of the United States decides to take potshots on Twitter. Maybe very painful imaginary bone spurs make a person lash out when a flareup occurs. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748/20 "2019-12-12T16:29:24Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > _Trump,_ of all people, is telling Thunberg to deal with her anger management problem? Really? _Irony_ is not in Trump’s lexicon. Actually, many things are not in Trump’s lexicon, including\* intelligence, compassion\*, and _charity_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-person-of-the-year-2019/844748.md?page=2)