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Not discussing climate change seems to me to be a big omission. I sometimes wonder if I will have enough to retire on; a teenager today won't have those concern

Not discussing climate change seems to me to be a big omission. I sometimes wonder if I will have enough to retire on; a teenager today won't have those concerns, as the best they can hope for is that they don't become climate refugees. Why plan long term in such a scenario?

brutusborn 4y ago
It’s because people have wide beliefs of how climate change will affect them. I doubt rich countries will notice much difference until the end of the century. Like most issues, the poor of the world are the ones who will suffer the soonest and the greatest.
- kiliantics 4y ago
  people in rich countries depend an awful lot on people in poor countries making stuff for them and keeping them rich
  - brutusborn 4y ago
    It’s not a true dependency because they could do it themselves - it’s just a bit more expensive. Remember we are comparing catastrophes here; while Bangladesh might starve and lose most of its land, at the same time the US will probably just need to spend a bit more on food and make their own clothes. Both are affected, but orders of magnitude difference in the affects. Rich will still be rich, just a bit less.
    - kiliantics 4y ago
      Resources are not homogeneously distributed either though. Coltan for your smartphone has to be mined by children in the Congo before being shipped to fabs in China, etc. Most supply chains are just so global and complex. Reorganising to have local production in well off nations will be very extreme, not just "a bit more expensive"
      - brutusborn 4y ago
        You're right that there are exceptions, but I don't think this would make life for Rich people much worse. Worst case Rich countries will Annex resource rich countries, or just use predatory loans to gain control like China. As always happens, poor powerless people are the losers. If you beleive the article, the only reason the majority world supplier of Coltan (Australia) stopped producing is because of cheap African labour. https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-conflict-mineral-coltan-mining-in-dr-congo-and-australia/ https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-conflict-mineral-colta...
SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
I think this is a good example of the kind of pervasive nihilism the OP is describing. Climate change is bad, and "climate refugees" describes a real phenomenon that's likely to happen, but the idea of a global apocalypse where most people have no long-term future is beyond even the worst case projections in the literature. Why are people so attracted to this untrue idea?
- germinalphrase 4y ago
  Because our media (which is increasingly ubiquitous) is saturated with extreme narratives about everything, so people adopt extreme beliefs about current and potential reality.

brutusborn 4y ago

It’s because people have wide beliefs of how climate change will affect them. I doubt rich countries will notice much difference until the end of the century. Like most issues, the poor of the world are the ones who will suffer the soonest and the greatest.

kiliantics 4y ago
people in rich countries depend an awful lot on people in poor countries making stuff for them and keeping them rich
- brutusborn 4y ago
  It’s not a true dependency because they could do it themselves - it’s just a bit more expensive. Remember we are comparing catastrophes here; while Bangladesh might starve and lose most of its land, at the same time the US will probably just need to spend a bit more on food and make their own clothes. Both are affected, but orders of magnitude difference in the affects. Rich will still be rich, just a bit less.
  - kiliantics 4y ago
    Resources are not homogeneously distributed either though. Coltan for your smartphone has to be mined by children in the Congo before being shipped to fabs in China, etc. Most supply chains are just so global and complex. Reorganising to have local production in well off nations will be very extreme, not just "a bit more expensive"
    - brutusborn 4y ago
      You're right that there are exceptions, but I don't think this would make life for Rich people much worse. Worst case Rich countries will Annex resource rich countries, or just use predatory loans to gain control like China. As always happens, poor powerless people are the losers. If you beleive the article, the only reason the majority world supplier of Coltan (Australia) stopped producing is because of cheap African labour. https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-conflict-mineral-coltan-mining-in-dr-congo-and-australia/ https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-conflict-mineral-colta...

SpicyLemonZest 4y ago

I think this is a good example of the kind of pervasive nihilism the OP is describing. Climate change is bad, and "climate refugees" describes a real phenomenon that's likely to happen, but the idea of a global apocalypse where most people have no long-term future is beyond even the worst case projections in the literature. Why are people so attracted to this untrue idea?

germinalphrase 4y ago
Because our media (which is increasingly ubiquitous) is saturated with extreme narratives about everything, so people adopt extreme beliefs about current and potential reality.