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I think it’s quite evident that we are going to blast beyond a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius. As long as the purpose our our existence is

I think it’s quite evident that we are going to blast beyond a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius. As long as the purpose our our existence is GDP, economic growth and shareholder value, noting substantial will happen. We will never take real, substantial measures because that would hurt shareholders too much. The USA doesn’t even feel a need to care about the poor and homelessness, how can they care about something abstract as climate change? And the poor, not the rich, will be mostly affected by climate change anyway so is there really a problem at all? /s

predictabl3 3y ago
At this point, I'm much more worried about shorter-term effects as this reality becomes more tangible for folks. We already have spikes in heat-related deaths, people dying in their homes. The despair... No, that's the wrong word, nihilism? from young generations is devastatingly sad to me, not to mention alarming. The political powers in the US have orchestrated the fear and hate just enough to keep the people at each other's throats, always just out of reach of true class consciousness. These days, I can't really be motivated to play the games anymore either. If no one else cares, in meaningful, impactful ways, why should I?
- louwrentius 3y ago
  I feel you are 100% spot on. The class war and the “groomer” scare are just tactical distractions to keep scared people voting against their own interest. Frankly I don’t see what young people have to look forward to, I can see your point. I’m doing relatively OK and I’m affected by the same nihilism.
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
Bafflingly, many of steps required to fight climate change increase GDP, create economic growth and increase shareholder value. Even within that framing, where those are more important than foreign children's lives or ecosystems ignoring climate change is a really stupid thing to do.
- louwrentius 3y ago
  Capitalism got us into this mess and it’s not going to solve it. She’ll got out of renewables because it didn’t make profit enough. We can’t consume our way out of this problem.
  - ben_w 3y ago
    I'm all in favour of someone making a successor to capitalism that accounts for all the things that Adam Smith got as wrong as Karl Marx, but there's no guarantee that any successor is going to be better for the environment; and even if it turns out this (currently hypothetical) successor is good for the environment, we're on enough of a time constraint we should still try to convince all the people who think capitalism is The One True Path to do good things for the environment.

predictabl3 3y ago

At this point, I'm much more worried about shorter-term effects as this reality becomes more tangible for folks. We already have spikes in heat-related deaths, people dying in their homes. The despair... No, that's the wrong word, nihilism? from young generations is devastatingly sad to me, not to mention alarming. The political powers in the US have orchestrated the fear and hate just enough to keep the people at each other's throats, always just out of reach of true class consciousness. These days, I can't really be motivated to play the games anymore either. If no one else cares, in meaningful, impactful ways, why should I?

louwrentius 3y ago
I feel you are 100% spot on. The class war and the “groomer” scare are just tactical distractions to keep scared people voting against their own interest. Frankly I don’t see what young people have to look forward to, I can see your point. I’m doing relatively OK and I’m affected by the same nihilism.

ZeroGravitas 3y ago

Bafflingly, many of steps required to fight climate change increase GDP, create economic growth and increase shareholder value. Even within that framing, where those are more important than foreign children's lives or ecosystems ignoring climate change is a really stupid thing to do.

louwrentius 3y ago
Capitalism got us into this mess and it’s not going to solve it. She’ll got out of renewables because it didn’t make profit enough. We can’t consume our way out of this problem.
- ben_w 3y ago
  I'm all in favour of someone making a successor to capitalism that accounts for all the things that Adam Smith got as wrong as Karl Marx, but there's no guarantee that any successor is going to be better for the environment; and even if it turns out this (currently hypothetical) successor is good for the environment, we're on enough of a time constraint we should still try to convince all the people who think capitalism is The One True Path to do good things for the environment.