These stats about the 100 largest companies get posted a lot, and once again, it's not meaningful because those companies exist to provide goods for other people. It's like saying just 100 entities (who all happen to be water utilities) consume 90% of the world's water so individual attempts to reduce water usage are meaningless.
People aren't going to like the reality that we need BOTH people to change their habits AND we need companies to follow suite.
I mean, needed. Past-tense. We're in it now, it's too late to stop, maybe we can still prevent the worst case if people all get over themselves really fast and are willing to change the way they do things.
People aren’t going to like the reality that we need BOTH people to change their habits AND we need companies to follow suite.
Jon Stewart said it best.
"The work of making this world resemble one that you would prefer to live in is a lunch pail **** job, day in and day out, where thousands of committed, anonymous, smart, and dedicated people bang on closed doors and pick up those that are fallen and grind away on issues till they get a positive result. And even then, have to stay on to make sure that result holds."
Yeah. I mean I agree that focusing on change at the systemic level is more effective than changing individual habits, but what people don't realize is that the systemic change we need is the kind that will force those individual changes.
Taxing or regulating the oil companies will help, but it will help by making energy more expensive so people are forced to make do with less.
You do though? There's a ton of things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Eliminate? No. But don't let perfect be the enemy of good, or even the enemy of "less bad than doing nothing"
This is child brain. What's the point of all of this? To feel better, or to prevent the extinction of the human race? You think paper fucking straws are going to accomplish anything worth accomplishing, or just mollify your rich-enough-to-have-choices ass to inaction?
Funny, it kind of seems like the opposite to me. While you make edgy leftist posts online I have made changes to my lifestyle to reduce my carbon footprint. If everyone used paper straws the evil corporations making plastic ones would suddenly start making paper ones. Not because they care about the environment of course but because that's what consumers demand. Individuals making small individual changes can add up when done on a global scale. Let me guess- you think voting is a waste of time as well? If not, what's the difference?
anything I do is insignificant on a global scale. Same for you. But enough people acting together can make a difference and doing my part is the right thing.
You're not acting together with people. You're making individual consumer choices that do not extend outside the framework that is destroying the planet and will never challenge it. And you're not doing your part. You're siloing yourself and calling it a day.
Acting like you're doing something when you're not is worse than doing nothing. It's dishonest and demobilizing. Either you're extremely stupid or you don't give a shit whether the world burns. You've staked a position where you get to feel morally righteous and that's it.