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To me this seems to be a case of whataboutism. Just because there are worse things to do environmentally speaking does not mean that this is not a problem.
by plzbo 4y ago
To me this seems to be a case of whataboutism. Just because there are worse things to do environmentally speaking does not mean that this is not a problem.
- tormeh 4y agoWe should focus our efforts where the impact:effort ratio is the most favourable. This doesn't seem particularly productive.
- plzbo 4y agoThis is true of course, but we shouldn't discard any attempt to improve the situation, just because there are bigger fish to try.
- xvector 4y agoActually, we should, when the energy spent improving the situation could be spent on things with magnitude more impact. The whole phone e-waste discussion is virtue signaling in its worst form.
- plzbo 4y agoIt may well be, but the dismissal of it just because you could do more is even worse without action.
- palata 4y agoSure, but not everyone has the same opportunities. So I'd say we should focus on the best we _can_ do personally. It's better for me to focus on recycling my electronics than focusing on the ecological impact of the modern commercial satellites madness. Because I cannot do anything about Starlink and the likes, but I can recycle my phone.
- vlunkr 4y agoI disagree. the point is that if you're concerned about e-waste, start somewhere besides cellphones.
- paulcole 4y agoIf you care about the environment start somewhere other than e-waste.
- permo-w 4y agoI don’t mean this to be facetious, but they pointed out that this is whataboutism, and you, in more or less words, disagreed and said ‘what about this other e-waste that should be dealt with?’ besides this, how many people do you know that don’t have a phone? how often on average do you think people replace their phones? compare those answers to other tech/machinery that you may be thinking of starting with. also, finally, the top-level comment here takes a really shallow view of how the world economy works. yes if there was a shortage of these materials, there would be an economic incentive to recycle them properly, but that doesn’t mean that the obtaining of these materials doesn’t have a huge human or environmental cost. just because you can get a material cheaply doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong with doing it
- dymk 4y ago"Whataboutism" is not always a fallacy. Sometimes it's economic fact.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- thrown_22 4y agoIt's called triage. If you have a paper cut and a heart attack one will be prioritized over the other. To equate the two is idiocy.
- permo-w 4y agothere are enough people in the world to deal with both. it’s whataboutism pure and simple
- thrown_22 4y ago[[citation needed]] If you feel so strongly about phone waste feel free to go live in the third world as a e-waste recycler.
- plzbo 4y ago
- thrown_22 4y agoI wasn't aware that the third world had a single race. Do you per chance also think that poor kids are just as smart as white kids like the current president? >It's on all of us to make a difference, however small. Great, so why aren't you an e-waste recycler?
- permo-w 4y agoif you think there should be less crime and a better police force, you don’t go and fight crime on the streets, do you? in the same way, sure you can go off to Bangladesh to sort through e-waste, but the real issue is how our governments regulate industry saying “why don’t you go and be the batman of e-waste?” just poisons the debate and helps no one. throwaway accounts are for sensitive information, not so you can be rude to people you disagree with without damaging your credibility
- ocbyc 4y agoActually, from an economic perspective, you should tackle the lowest hanging fruit. Assuming we can only tackle a non-unlimited amount of issues at any given time. I'm assuming this article hits the dopamine because everyone has a phone, and it's a very personal item and everyone upgrades / replaces them eventually. A window A/C on the other hand, not so much.
- Gigachad 4y agoUsually I don’t like this argument because it shifts the discussion from something you can control to something you can’t which justifies doing nothing. But in this case, talking about the difference between multiple consumer goods makes sense because you are in control of all of them. Simply not buying an oversized car does more than a lifetime of using phones for longer.