No. Individuals openly resisting norms alters the discourse and the boundaries of acceptable thought. Sufficiently aggregated, it is precisely what brings about change.
But, what’s the new norm we want to establish?
“Let’s all use 20% less energy”
Vs
“Let’s produce all energy from renewable sources”
I feel like the second option is the only one that’s going to save us, and option 1 is a distraction.
If you were to, say, mount a solar panel on the roof of your electric car, that would probably be a better message to send than to drive less.
I'm quick to defend the belief at a 'meta level'. It seems good to pretend we each can make a difference, in the same way it's useful to pretend free will exists: if you act 'as if' such a thing is true, then you avoid the outcome of acting as if it is false, one that seems to me utterly terrible - 'you could have made a difference, but you chose not to'.
I'd rather bring important but optimistic goals down a peg than abandon them - thinking I may as well leave things up to Moloch [2] leads me to despair.
[1] https://www.restarters.net/about [2] https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/