Your self-absolution does not a scientific solution make.
The difference is that (on this topic) our government has showed real leadership. We haven't left health policy in the hands of millions of individuals. We put health policy in the hands of experts, and then implemented strict policies to get us to 0. Change didn't happen from individuals independently figuring out what to do. Change happened from the country as a whole picking a direction and moving in that direction together.
In comparison, Australia has been utterly appalling with climate change. Its a national embarrassment. I don't eat meat and I don't have a car - but I don't think thats going to matter much in the long run. What we need is to do the same thing for the planet that we did for covid - we need effective leadership on climate change. We need to do it together.
For the record, I think of democracy as a strictly positive thing even when it seems like democratic societies have erred.
Thats a surprising thing to think without justification. To hold up a mirror, imagine if someone said the same thing about china's communism:
> For the record, I think of China's communist system as a strictly positive thing even when it seems like the CCP has erred.
There was a great quote by Bill Clinton - "The problem with ideology is that it gives you the answer before you've asked the question."
On the other hand, by just not ordering one Widget off Amazon, I am making a huge impact, if you count all the materials mining, shipping and re-shipping, packaging and re-packaging, and so on.
At this point we need hard societal pressure via laws to make any kind of statistical difference. I’d prefer someone be a hypocrite pushing for legislation to reduce emissions (e.g. Al Gore on a private jet) than someone who reduces locally and calls it good.
There are just too many people that don’t care for “local action” to stop the impending doom.
There is grace in fighting against impending doom.
Life can be measured by how we approach things. Never lose hope. :)
Some situations are like a jiu-jitsu match where an opponent can pin you down. In a subset of these situations and unlike in a jiu-jitsu match—you can’t tap out.
Say you’re in one of these situation.
Don’t avoid the feeling provoked by this impending doom. You can’t tap out. You cant restart the match.
In such an encounter, grace might mean to keep fighting. Keep thinking. Keep struggling. Recognize your prison.
Fortune favors the prepared mind. :)
This in no way detracts from your point - unlike the Titanic, steering away from ecological disaster too late will never make things worse, it just won't be enough - but the metaphor isn't quite apt.
The collective shift in mindset of half of the US didn’t do shit and we’re already past the point of irrevocable damage. Hard decisions need to be made (pressure all countries in the world extremely) and you using the iPhone for a few extra years is just placation to avoid real change.
If I tell ten people about my strategy and they buy ten fewer Widgets, that's ten fewer Widgets' worth of carbon footprint.
If you factor in material mining, transportation, production, transportation, storage, transportation, and packaging trash, that's a lot of reduction.
Not only that, my life is simpler, I spend more time making meaning rather than consuming, and am overall happier.
Or... I can waste my time trying to affect the political system, which I will never move a nanometer with all my effort, or affecting the corporations, whom I will also not move a nanometer with all my life's effort, etc.
But that’s fucking useless. It is simple math and the math is that you’ve moved the needle on carbon output from one company by 0.0000001%.
An advertising campaign that associates that widget with Devil worshippers probably moves the needle two orders of magnitude more than that.
Solving climate change is a global numbers game. If you’re not changing more than your own behavior, you are effectively complicit and not doing anything to stop it.
> If I tell ten people about my strategy and they buy ten fewer Widgets, that's ten fewer Widgets' worth of carbon footprint.
See, but this is the only bit that has any meaningful effect. This is you being political and affecting change.
You’ll quickly realize that your individual reduction is completely irrelevant in total harm you’ve reduced.
The earth has 200 million square-miles of area, so your portion of the 7.6 billion people equates to 0.0263 square miles. Do your part to keep that virtual area as clean as possible!
Not only that, but I'm eliminating all the materials mining, shipping, re-shipping, packaging, re-packaging, and so on, which adds up to quite a bit per Widget.
I think you are grossly underestimating the impact of one un-ordered Widget.
But we will be shamed for this change in creative ways, nevertheless. A good crisis must not be wasted, unlike starfish.
It's more like both my spouse and I and my kids are each over-spending on a daily basis, and I tell them that we all have to cut our spending, and start doing it first, leading by example, and not buying two lattes per day.
I'm not picking pennies in the parking lot, I'm not spending dollars on things, literally! I am amazed at the level of inaccuracy in your metaphor, thank you for that.