Argumentum ad Misericordiam

Latin phrases often dress up rather drab, but fundamental, ideas. In the case of the title for this blog, the phrase “appeal to pity” implies that the writer is soliciting emotional support.

Topics like this? Yeah. I need it.

Greta Thunberg and climate change activism… How do I express my views without giving the perception that I am neither a soulless cretin who attacks children nor a willing participant in the growing chorus of apologists/critics?

That’s the trick, isn’t it? When children become the main focus of debates which are as controversial as they currently are, it is nearly impossible to entertain an opinion on the subject at hand due to the potential for outrage and blowback. However, in keeping with the intent of this blog, I have a different focus: the manner in which the need for a change is presented.

For me, climate change – whether it is a by-product of human activity or a natural phase of global cycles – isn’t the big issue here. There are a plethora of reputable sites, studies, and reports which go either way… and that isn’t my current point. Rather, it is the fickleness of the media’s handling of this topic and the manipulation of emotions to properly address the issue which is bothersome.

The fame – or infamy – surrounding Greta isn’t a new phenomenon. While her story was gaining traction in some circles long before the full glare of the public spotlight hit her, the use of children in activism has been going on much longer.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (2018)

David Hogg (17 at the time of the interview): “Regardless of what your opinions are or where you come from, you need to realize we are the future of America. And if you choose not to stand with us, that’s OK because you’ll be on the wrong side of the history textbooks that we write.”

Border Crisis / Migrant Caravans (2018)

There are hundreds of children traveling in the caravan of Central American migrants. That number has fluctuated somewhat as the group’s size has grown and diminished, but kids of all ages are still everywhere and at risk of illness, dehydration and other dangers.

European Refugee Crisis (2015)

More than one year later, the photo that woke up the world to the Syrian refugee crisis remains indelible: three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a sandy beach in Turkey. The Syrian boy’s lifeless body had washed ashore after the rubber boat carrying him and his family — to what they had hoped would be new lives in Greece — capsized.

ISIS (2015)

Attacks by children affiliated with the likes of ISIS can also pose serious (if not especially new) moral dilemmas: Child terrorists are themselves the victims of most heinous war crimes; yet at the same time, they can and do threaten their opponents with lethal force.

Chibok Kidnapping (2014)

Thanks to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, so famous are the girls that the Nigerian military says it cannot guarantee their safety if they go home.

Elián González (2000)

Statement of Patrick Leahy: “Lest anyone think that this draft was an attempt to justify law enforcement’s conduct after the fact, the Justice Department also provided page after page of intelligence reports that were filed in the days leading up to the operation, including the April 17 description of reports that a bodyguard who was spending time in the house carried a weapon in an ankle holster (DOJ-EG-0073); an April 19 report that four individuals with lengthy arrest records – including arrests for gun crimes and other crimes of violence – were camped out in the back yard of the home behind the Gonzalez home (DOJ-EG-0080-81); and an undated report of a threat from a nearby house where ‘there may be shotguns’ and where ‘armed men whose mission is to try to prevent removal of Elian from the house by US authorities’ were living.”

Yugoslavian atrocities (1991)

Because such unverifiable stories are blamed for inciting or perpetuating violence, some justice officials and respectable journalists have begun calling for postwar criminal charges against those whose propaganda inspires reprisal.

 Iraqi soldiers taking Kuwaiti infant incubators (1990)

Statement of Lauch Faircloth on the veracity of claims made by Nayirah al-Ṣabaḥ (15): “Nayira’s emotional testimony riveted human rights organizations, the news media, and the Nation. That incident was cited by six Members of the Senate as reason to go to war with Iraq.

However, it was later discovered that the girl–who had only been identified as an escapee from occupied Kuwait–was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United States. It also turned out that Lauri Fitz-Pegado had concealed Nayira’s real identify.”

I had to stop there – at some point, the idea is established and going any further risks serious erosion in one’s faith in humanity.

Looking at these stories, there is the aforementioned dilemma: how does one objectively look at the instances where children were the main focus of an issue – and, essentially, the “hook” – and not be emotionally affected by the images and stories? It is all very powerful stuff… which is the hazard of using children – either directly as the spokespersons or faces of an issue, or indirectly as an image which draws attention to a larger problem.

In some cases, the international attention gained offers a chance for more funding or governmental scrutiny into a problem, but the risks of desensitizing an audience or worse, fostering a sense of apathy and/or disengagement would seem to outweigh any benefits gained with children at the forefront of an issue.

When David Hogg’s caustic rhetoric surfaced as a reaction to critics and detractors shortly after the tragic events took place at his school, a strange “Streisand effect” occurred – he inadvertently invited even more criticism and shifted a good portion of whatever discussion on gun control he wanted into a realm of whether or not teenagers have the maturity to lead such discussions. Today, we see a backlash against Greta Thunberg… from outrage at her condescending tone to mockery of her medical issues to the more distressing dissociation of concern: “If that is how they are going to go about getting their message out, I no longer care about whatever their message is.”

In “Political Red Shoes” I brought up a quote about the media and their gaming of the emotions of their audience, and it still applies today:

The rule of thumb is: if you read something or watch something or hear something… and you have strong emotion to it, like a strong response – like you are instantly terrified… or you’re instantly really pissed off… or you’re instantly looking at somebody who doesn’t look like you and thinking they’re the enemy – especially that last one – check your sources. That’s it. Check your sources because you are being manipulated or being played.

The media goes fast and hard for emotions for a reason: they are counting on folks to forget because the next story is slightly different, and closure is something that we just cannot have in today’s headlines.

Did we bring back “our girls”?

Did we find loving homes for those machete-wielding fanatics?

Are the kids still “in cages”?

Did the masses get to where they were going?

Have we made ANY headway on any of the tragedies involving kids?

No. It is all reaction and very little logical solution when it comes to the media’s use of children… and one of the things that continues to get under my skin. Did we, as an audience learn… or were we mentally shuffled along to the next big thing? After all… it was all for/because of the children, right?