Yes, Actually, Individual Responsibility Is Essential to Solving the Climate Crisis
Yes, Actually, Individual Responsibility Is Essential to Solving the Climate Crisis
A fixation on system change alone opens the door to a kind of cynical self-absolution that divorces personal commitment from political belief. This is its own kind of false consciousness, one that threatens to create a cheapened climate politics incommensurate with this urgent moment.
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Because here’s the thing: When you choose to eat less meat or take the bus instead of driving or have fewer children, you are making a statement that your actions matter, that it’s not too late to avert climate catastrophe, that you have power. To take a measure of personal responsibility for climate change doesn’t have to distract from your political activism—if anything, it amplifies it.
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So you’re saying you’re plan is for individuals to choose the choice that is not an option?
You’re saying the solution is for everyone to stop using electricity?
Stop driving to work and earning money is the solution?
Buy solar panels without a house to put them on?
This is why the individual carbon foot print doesn’t matter. Because it is a systemic problem. So the large majority of people don’t have the luxury of being able to reduce their carbon footprint. And it is such a small percentage to begin with.
This is why BP is paying a marketing firm to convince the public to focus on their individual carbon footprint.
We need systemic change not paper straws.
When purchasing new appliances, choose more efficient appliances over less efficient one's. Replace all your incandescent lightbulbs with LEDs. Limit your use of air conditioning to reasonable temperatures. Choose energy-saving programs for your washing machine and hang your clothes outside to dry when it's warm instead of using a dryer.
Stop driving unnecessarily. If there is decent enough public transit, use it instead of a car even if it takes longer. If the distances are short, use a bicycle. Choose food that causes fewer carbon emissions - locally grown vegetables are the best in that regard.
On its own none of these matter. Combined however they will significantly reduce your emissions. None of these cause significant sacrifices.
Not only should we ban plastic straws, we should continuously ban more and more plastic. First plastic straws, then plastic bags, then plastic packaging. The systematic change will happen either gradually or spontaneously. I prefer the latter but if the former is all we have it must be encouraged as much as possible.
I am not opposed to any of those things they are all good.
I just think articles like this are made to get everyone to focus on the least impactful things, by putting too much emphasis on the individual’s carbon footprint.
Achieving climate goals with the individual carbon footprint approach requires 100% willing participation from everyone on the planet.
Achieving climate goals with a systemic approach requires the majority of the voters, which is closer to 25% participation.
Maybe I was overly harsh earlier, I saw elsewhere in the thread that you are vegan. So am I , and I'm sure you've heard the "I didn't kill any animals, the farms did" or "the meat at the store is already killed" or "I'll go vegan when eating meat is illegal" and I'm not sure how you reconcile the two.
I’ve never heard those comments and I don’t know what point you are trying to make with them.
Either you're not vegan or you haven't had many conversations trying to convince others to go vegan lol
I’m vegan and have had many conversations trying to convince others to go vegan. The only thing I commonly hear is “where do you get your protein”?
I still don’t know what point you’re trying to make.
I feel like the parallels between the stupid shit carnists say and your comments are obvious, but maybe you're operating on some Idealist level of logic I'm too utilitarian to follow.