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I've always wondered what I, as an individual, could do to help. I work full time, and I have a chronic illness which makes it difficult to physically contribut

I've always wondered what I, as an individual, could do to help. I work full time, and I have a chronic illness which makes it difficult to physically contribute. I am a software engineer, so I do have technical skills to contribute if there were problems that needed technical solutions, but I simply don't know where to look.

0xffff2 7y ago
Nothing. We're far past the point of no return at this point. Minimizing the disastrous consequences of climate change requires a coordinated worldwide effort. In principle, the only thing you can do that might make a difference is get active politically. In practice, given the level of dysfunction exhibited in global politics right now, I'm extremely pessimistic that there's any hope of doing anything on that level either.
- jogjayr 7y ago
  "It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope."
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- antisthenes 7y ago
  Seems like for the next 50 years, politics will be about passing the buck to the next guy in the office.
kaybe 7y ago
We do have one problem that could do with a technical solution: If we managed to invent a carbon removal technique scalable and cheap enough to deploy on a massive scale, we'd still be able to prevent the worst. The problem is, currently there is no money in it, so the efforts are not the size they should be. We'd need a war economy on all fronts here.
ForHackernews 7y ago
Get in the face of your political representatives: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ https://rebellion.earth/ https://rebellion.earth/ There is no chance your individual actions will have any impact. Our only hope is drastic, large scale policy changes at the national and international level.
agumonkey 7y ago
Well you're doing as much as you can right now it seems. Methink the solution is mostly of social nature. Are your neighbors nature friendly ? Talk with them, do more things without waste, do more things locally. There's a guy in Florida who turns neighborhoods in semi-gardens. People gather around and plant some stuff. Big factors like industrial pollution, transport, long distance shipment are 1) too heavy to move (you need political power, and political power is also heavy to move) 2) but they do depend on people spending their money for their product. I dream of a smooth swap (https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-kYHr65LBeUg%2FUWMY3YanojI%2FAAAAAAAANps%2FEiiah8CATnc%2Fs800%2Findiana-jones-swap-sandbag-golden-idol.gif&f=1 https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flh4.googleu...) where people allocate more to simple and local life. Forcing the economy to curb accordingly. I have the feeling that it will make (and it does already) people a lot happier[0], and since having to do locally you can't rely on economies of scale so people will have things to do instead. It won't be fancy or pretty but plausibly more meaningful to work with and for your surroundings, even if it means no more white collar position in a shiny tower. There are online places to discuss, reddit has many (r/collapse, r/guerrillagardening), some people also make discord groups. You might take a peek.

0xffff2 7y ago

Nothing. We're far past the point of no return at this point. Minimizing the disastrous consequences of climate change requires a coordinated worldwide effort. In principle, the only thing you can do that might make a difference is get active politically. In practice, given the level of dysfunction exhibited in global politics right now, I'm extremely pessimistic that there's any hope of doing anything on that level either.

jogjayr 7y ago
"It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope."
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
antisthenes 7y ago
Seems like for the next 50 years, politics will be about passing the buck to the next guy in the office.

kaybe 7y ago

We do have one problem that could do with a technical solution: If we managed to invent a carbon removal technique scalable and cheap enough to deploy on a massive scale, we'd still be able to prevent the worst. The problem is, currently there is no money in it, so the efforts are not the size they should be. We'd need a war economy on all fronts here.

ForHackernews 7y ago

Get in the face of your political representatives: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ https://rebellion.earth/ https://rebellion.earth/ There is no chance your individual actions will have any impact. Our only hope is drastic, large scale policy changes at the national and international level.

agumonkey 7y ago

Well you're doing as much as you can right now it seems. Methink the solution is mostly of social nature. Are your neighbors nature friendly ? Talk with them, do more things without waste, do more things locally. There's a guy in Florida who turns neighborhoods in semi-gardens. People gather around and plant some stuff. Big factors like industrial pollution, transport, long distance shipment are 1) too heavy to move (you need political power, and political power is also heavy to move) 2) but they do depend on people spending their money for their product. I dream of a smooth swap (https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-kYHr65LBeUg%2FUWMY3YanojI%2FAAAAAAAANps%2FEiiah8CATnc%2Fs800%2Findiana-jones-swap-sandbag-golden-idol.gif&f=1 https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flh4.googleu...) where people allocate more to simple and local life. Forcing the economy to curb accordingly. I have the feeling that it will make (and it does already) people a lot happier[0], and since having to do locally you can't rely on economies of scale so people will have things to do instead. It won't be fancy or pretty but plausibly more meaningful to work with and for your surroundings, even if it means no more white collar position in a shiny tower. There are online places to discuss, reddit has many (r/collapse, r/guerrillagardening), some people also make discord groups. You might take a peek.