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Wouldn't you say though that "live for today" is a logical response to high amounts of insurmountable and uncertain fear? If you're an average person, what can

Wouldn't you say though that "live for today" is a logical response to high amounts of insurmountable and uncertain fear? If you're an average person, what can you logically do to overcome the actions of governments and corporations with pocketbooks that make more per minute than you do per year? I'm not defending it. I'm just asking, how do you convince someone otherwise? You can't go "Just buck up and do something!" That's something you tell someone who is depressed and that doesn't work. Plus they can point to survivorship bias to the very, very few that meaningfully accomplish anything.

lm28469 7y ago
People who don't have the will to personally do something about it shouldn't discuss it. It all boils down to you in the end. If you just want to continue with your life and don't care about it feel free to just do that, but at least don't try to persuade others they shouldn't care, you go from inactive carelessness to actively trying to make things worse. If you feel concerned take actions. Who's going to challenge politicians, lobbies, industries, if everybody thinks "I can't do anything and nobody can anyway", we put ourselves in this situation, we can get out of it. I think everyone aware of the issues, aware of the solutions, and not taking any actions is an insult to humanity.
- corodra 7y ago
  But in terms of climate change, that's not viable. It's literally a global effort to make change and the current discourse doesn't say anything about that. In my youth, don't waste water by much, every little bit counts if we all do it. Don't litter, if everyone cleans up a little, there's not much trash out there. When I was a kid growing up in Florida, there was a special place in Hell for you if you didn't cut the soda can rings before throwing them away. Where even Hitler looked down on you. While living in Florida, that was the norm. I didn't know anyone who didn't do this. I leave the state to travel for a few years, NO ONE DOES IT. Colorado, Washington, Virginia and Oregon to name a few. I look like a freak to people. They all wonder WTF I'm cutting the rings for. Mind you, these are people who are at least relatively environmentally friendly. And I'm a republican (ish). I yell at people who don't snip those rings and shame them with pictures of sea turtles. Lots of shaming. Don't use plastic straws, at least use paper ones if it has to be disposable (which Florida coastal restaurants do). Don't crank your AC too low, or get an HE fan to help it out. And again, I'm a republican. Little things compound over time. But when someone goes "How the hell am I to offset the CO2 of a cruise ship or cargo ship?" I mean... yea. Little actions I can defend pretty easily. And while I understand the powers of compounding efforts. Still. The current environmental rhetoric doesn't leave room for the average person to make change. In the 90s, the rhetoric was "everyone, down to the individual level can make a difference". Naive and childish statement now that I'm in my 30s. But I do see the value. And that message is no longer spread. It's just "Big companies and governments are to blame and there's nothing we can do about it! We have to rely on governments and companies to make change!"

lm28469 7y ago

People who don't have the will to personally do something about it shouldn't discuss it. It all boils down to you in the end. If you just want to continue with your life and don't care about it feel free to just do that, but at least don't try to persuade others they shouldn't care, you go from inactive carelessness to actively trying to make things worse. If you feel concerned take actions. Who's going to challenge politicians, lobbies, industries, if everybody thinks "I can't do anything and nobody can anyway", we put ourselves in this situation, we can get out of it. I think everyone aware of the issues, aware of the solutions, and not taking any actions is an insult to humanity.

corodra 7y ago
But in terms of climate change, that's not viable. It's literally a global effort to make change and the current discourse doesn't say anything about that. In my youth, don't waste water by much, every little bit counts if we all do it. Don't litter, if everyone cleans up a little, there's not much trash out there. When I was a kid growing up in Florida, there was a special place in Hell for you if you didn't cut the soda can rings before throwing them away. Where even Hitler looked down on you. While living in Florida, that was the norm. I didn't know anyone who didn't do this. I leave the state to travel for a few years, NO ONE DOES IT. Colorado, Washington, Virginia and Oregon to name a few. I look like a freak to people. They all wonder WTF I'm cutting the rings for. Mind you, these are people who are at least relatively environmentally friendly. And I'm a republican (ish). I yell at people who don't snip those rings and shame them with pictures of sea turtles. Lots of shaming. Don't use plastic straws, at least use paper ones if it has to be disposable (which Florida coastal restaurants do). Don't crank your AC too low, or get an HE fan to help it out. And again, I'm a republican. Little things compound over time. But when someone goes "How the hell am I to offset the CO2 of a cruise ship or cargo ship?" I mean... yea. Little actions I can defend pretty easily. And while I understand the powers of compounding efforts. Still. The current environmental rhetoric doesn't leave room for the average person to make change. In the 90s, the rhetoric was "everyone, down to the individual level can make a difference". Naive and childish statement now that I'm in my 30s. But I do see the value. And that message is no longer spread. It's just "Big companies and governments are to blame and there's nothing we can do about it! We have to rely on governments and companies to make change!"