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So it's better to just throw up or hands and do nothing? If what I do isn't enough, surely it contributes something, right? If we all only ever think of this a

So it's better to just throw up or hands and do nothing? If what I do isn't enough, surely it contributes something, right? If we all only ever think of this as someone else's problem, nothing will change. The guy that passes legislation to fix this also has trash to recycle, ideally has an EV, and hopefully a son or daughter that looks up to the likes of Greta Thunberg... The comments here sound so fatalist. It disappeared off the home page really fast too which suggests most don't want to face climate change. Which is a shame. Our legacy could be amazing. But, for example, lauding Bezos for his ego trip to space seems more to people's tastes than to object to the planet-destroying consumer culture his company promotes. This is right up there with the absurdity of colonising Mars when people are still starving on earth.

blooalien 5y ago
I wish more people thought like you about things like this. I'm in my mid-fifties and been riding a bike most of my life rather than buying a car; I try my best to recycle; I try not to waste; etc, etc; and been doing all these things since I saw as a child many scientists give advance warning on TV and in various magazines and other publications about pretty much all the things that are now happening. Truth is most of the messes the world is in right now were avoidable, except that the vast majority of humans would rather ridicule and harass anyone trying to make a better tomorrow than allow anyone to succeed at such "lofty" and "naïve" goals. I've truly lost all hope for humanity as a whole, because the percentage of people who actually care about anything beyond themselves is vanishingly small.
jacobr1 5y ago
No, the argument is that we should be actively supporting changes industrial regulation. That might mean writing wonky letters to congress or the editor, it might be protesting a factory, it might mean boycotting a company with certain practices. It certainly means being involved in the political process. None of that means one shouldn't also make changes their personal lifestyle, but the problem is that plenty of people see that as sufficient. "Well, I'm a vegan and bike to work, so I've done my part." Or worse, a more watered down "I recycle." Those views are just a bad as the person that considers the problem too big and throws up their hands in defeat. > If what I do isn't enough, surely it contributes something, right? No, it quite possibly might NOT contribute something worthwhile. At least not enough to change the climate. _So we need to make it enough_ We need ways for citizens to contribute more meaningfully than virtue signaling.

blooalien 5y ago

I wish more people thought like you about things like this. I'm in my mid-fifties and been riding a bike most of my life rather than buying a car; I try my best to recycle; I try not to waste; etc, etc; and been doing all these things since I saw as a child many scientists give advance warning on TV and in various magazines and other publications about pretty much all the things that are now happening. Truth is most of the messes the world is in right now were avoidable, except that the vast majority of humans would rather ridicule and harass anyone trying to make a better tomorrow than allow anyone to succeed at such "lofty" and "naïve" goals. I've truly lost all hope for humanity as a whole, because the percentage of people who actually care about anything beyond themselves is vanishingly small.

jacobr1 5y ago

No, the argument is that we should be actively supporting changes industrial regulation. That might mean writing wonky letters to congress or the editor, it might be protesting a factory, it might mean boycotting a company with certain practices. It certainly means being involved in the political process. None of that means one shouldn't also make changes their personal lifestyle, but the problem is that plenty of people see that as sufficient. "Well, I'm a vegan and bike to work, so I've done my part." Or worse, a more watered down "I recycle." Those views are just a bad as the person that considers the problem too big and throws up their hands in defeat. > If what I do isn't enough, surely it contributes something, right? No, it quite possibly might NOT contribute something worthwhile. At least not enough to change the climate. _So we need to make it enough_ We need ways for citizens to contribute more meaningfully than virtue signaling.