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> By leaving it to the market with such a pithy attitude, we divest collective responsibility and instead assign it to some mystical process. I think of it the

• trgn 4y ago
  > The act of purchasing something creates a very small signal, but a signal all the same. I agree with that certainly. Change starts individually. It really does, I mean that genuinely. As persons, as actual men and women in this world, we need to internalize the values we like to see flourish in the world. We just must. It would not be honorable if we did not. > but in aggregate is powerful The sleight of hand though is that this individual action, in and of itself, can always bring about meaningful change in every situation. It cannot. This disconnect between individual action and aggregate outcome is the main characteristic of a tragedy of the commons. To go back to the coffee maker example, the fact that our world is, well, quite literally, trash is such a tragedy. These traps never resolve solely bottom-up, without coordination. > It's not unlike civic duty and how a single vote Voting is a good example really. A vote is the lowest, least effective way to perform our civic duty. To see the change we like to see in the world, to do our civic duty, we must advocate, picket, canvas, stand on soapboxes, fraternize, run for office, assemble, cajole, badger, pick up arms, ... That is what it means to participate in civic society. A vote, that single small signal, means nothing, if we do not actively shape what we vote for. fwiw - I really don't think we disagree. Just wanted to expand on that train of thought a little.
  • mikea1 4y ago
    Thanks for expanding on that train of thought. Your elaboration with civic duty is apt.