What If People Don’t Need to Care About Climate Change to Fix It?
What If People Don’t Need to Care About Climate Change to Fix It?
“I think the debates on climate change are far too politicized, and that’s doing a disservice to making progress,” says researcher Hannah Ritchie.
We can't fix it. We have no power. I'm a vegetarian. How many animals have I saved? Did they shut down the factory farms? Have I made an impact? I quit driving. Has the air gotten cleaner? Global temperature gone down? I don't take vacations. I rarely leave my home. What's gotten better through my piddling sacrifice? Nothing. There's no point in any of it. Capitalism won. Greed won. The poorly educated won. It's over.
one comment that came up in the context of yet another of the Blizzard scandals – “You, as an individual, boycotting Blizzard will have no noticeable effect on their bottom line, BUT it will have far more of an effect on your ability to live with yourself.”
Yes, we can; and we do it by achieving the power to set the rules of society so that people do the right thing by default, whether or not they care
We can't fix it. We have no power. ... There's no point in any of it. Capitalism won. Greed won. The poorly educated won.
Developed countries are getting more of their power from renewables every year. Solar and wind are now more cost effective than fossil fuels for bulk generation. The US has lowered its GHG emissions 3% by reducing dependence on coal this year.
Most importantly, policies that encourage renewable use are coming into effect. The next few years should see gradual declines in GHG output.
It's over.
There is no "over". As long as we keep emitting, we need to cut back. We'll find a sustainable level eventually - it's only a question of when.
If we win this, it'll be due to the effort of people like you making that sacrifice, so thank you.
I saw an research years ago saying that donating for a ngo or militating politically in a party was more effective than recycling or going vegetarian. This issue would not be fixed individually as neo liberalism tries to sell to us, we have to make big polluters accountable and also, transitioning to green energy is expensive, only governments and big companies can do it
Hey! You're just like me! A vegetarian with a minimalist lifestyle! It might not help the planet much, but it certainly helps my bank account. I own a house and have 6 figures in savings while most people my age are still paying off student loans.
Consumerism and living in constant debt are just too normalized. The very idea of companies like uber eats blows my mind, and yet it's a successful company. Not only are you going to pay a lot of money for something you could make yourself for very little, but you're also going to pay even more for someone to bring it to you when getting it yourself is essentially free?? I'm not being cheap, I'm being efficient! How many companies need to be put in-between you and eating food?
You can't expect to fix systemic problems with individual action. But you can hope to. Hope is a powerful motivator even if it is not necessarily rational. We rarely run on logic, usually action is spurred by our emotions.
Accepting defeat is counterproductive. Progress is made by people being willing to fight for their ideas whether in a metaphorical or a real sense. People died to fight for a 40 hour work week. People died to fight against slavery. People died to fight for democracy and free speech.
Or more accurately, they were and continue to be killed (sacrificed) in an attempt to uphold the status quo.
I feel many people are so far removed from the consequences of their actions that they act irresponsibly. Hiding behind the wall of "it's massive corporations not me" is so infuriating to me because things will never get better if people keep being passive as opposed to proactive. Try going vegan, try driving less, try attending a climate protest. Make some fucking noise. Shits getting worse, where's your fucking anger?
i pay taxes and have been paying them for a long time, why isn't this history already?
i pay so that things happen for society
That's what you think taxes are for? Taxes are so we can bomb children to pieces in the Middle East, not for improving the country.
Just show the people who don't care the study that says the pollution is making their dicks smaller. They may not care about the environment, but they certainly care about their tiny dicks.
Okay, but what if they are lesbian or into tiny dicks or suffer from big dick syndrome (asking for a friend)
I haven't read the author's book, but I think her position in the article still misses the mark and is naively dangerous, having us all just look at the flowers and embrace market solutions while we collapse the biosphere at stunning pace.
Honestly I'm not seeing any 'solutions' that are on a timeline relevant to the crisis. But I think any first step will have us coming to terms with climate change not being the problem, but a symptom of our economic system and our relationship to the environment. We're going to have to reorient away from growth, because that growth is literally consuming the biophysical basis of our own existence.
Large-scale solutions aside, I think we're going to start seeing a growing desire in people to somehow 'exit' this system. I know I feel it in myself, deep in my bones, and it pisses me off to no end that I'm forced into destructive behavior because of the system I'm trapped in. All this waste, plastic and destruction just to exist each day, and I'm not even having a good time! If anyone has made some progress in this area I would love to hear about it. I imagine it must start with some rejection of what the market 'values', choosing not to participate in this whole game that is making us miserable, and somehow trade material wealth for greater awareness and connection to our humanity. If Elon and Jeff want it all, they can fucking have it, I just want out of this nightmare and to find peace with nature somehow.
Permanently Deleted
My post was removed for "unsubstantiated doomerism" which is code for "I don't want to feel bad".
I'm disappointed in you, mods.