The barely concealed glee from climate doomers with their crescendo of “look at the graphs! We’re all going to die, and it was totally your fault for putting an aluminium bun case in the black bin that one time” is, I have to be honest, kinda getting me down.
Andreas H.
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Shimriez
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Shimriez • •@Maria Karlsen Lots of us do what we can do. The reality is though that none of it makes any difference. Our actions on an individual level are irrelevant. It would be like trying to build a 747 by individuals making paper aeroplanes.
The people who can fix this are governments and massive industries, and they don’t want to.
There is literally no point in the constant moralising and insinuation that we’re all fucked because we didn’t believe in fairies, er I mean recycling, hard enough.
It’s just terrifying people for the sake of terrifying people.
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Arne Brasseur
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@shimriez I used to feel the same way, and still largely do. The actions and choices of individuals can not meaningfully shift the impact on the climate. I also don't believe in any sort of shaming. It's just a terrible motivator. You don't want people to feel like "climate" is about finger wagging tree huggers who feel superior to you because they recycle.
But I also think that individual action matters, because in a more sustainable future our lives will look differently, we might as well get a head start. And it normalizes caring about these things, and helps to start conversations on the topic. I think it can help create broader public support for tough climate action, which will help politicians to take their responsibility.
So yeah I guess I largely agree, doomerism and shaming are counterproductive. That's not how you mobilize people.
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Sarah Brown
in reply to Arne Brasseur • •Andres Moreno
in reply to Arne Brasseur • • •@plexus @shimriez
There is also the social value of the alternatives: biking or taking public transportation enables a different relationship to the world.
When I bike, I notice things that I don't see when I drive or take the bus, while taking transit allows me to be in a space with other people--it takes me out of my personal bubble and forces engagement with the world.
Personally, I feel that the shift to individual EVs misses on the opportunity to restructure our world.
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Shimriez
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Shimriez • •@Maria Karlsen When I say none of it makes any difference, I'm specifically talking about the effect individual actions have on climate change. To a first approximation, this is zero, and has little scope for it to be any other number.
I agree that we can very definitely make a difference in how people feel, and this is the source of my complaint: the constant stream of "we are all going to die, because we are filthy eco-sinners" articles just make people feel like shit.
It's basically doom and gloom protestantism, but with the climate playing the role of their god.
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