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Children understand the issue of avoiding climate change very well. They just don't understand yet that grown ups don't care about climate change, despite what
by jakobegger 12y ago
Children understand the issue of avoiding climate change very well. They just don't understand yet that grown ups don't care about climate change, despite what they say.
Fixing climate change really is easy; it's just that almost every single person in the world cares more about their personal comfort right now than about their future.
People say things like "Climate change is terrible", but then they choose not to do anything about it. Most people could probably halve their energy costs with little effort (and enjoy immediate cost savings), but they choose not to.
It's not the children who are stupid, it's the grown ups who are.
- collyw 12y agoI would be happy to avoid flying if I felt it would make a difference. At the moment though, I will inconvenience myself, while our politicians decide to build another airport. My inconvenience will have had zero effect.
- jakobegger 12y agoMaybe that's the underlying cause. We can immediately see the inconvenience (taking the train is more expensive and takes longer than a plane), but we can't visualize the consequences (what does releasing 5kg of CO2 into the atmosphere mean?). Its a similar issue with fitness/personal health. I really want to drink this beer now, but I don't see how my drinking will cause diabetes 30 years down the road. We justify actions by their individually negligible marginal cost, but we fail to see the compound cost in a lifetime.