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Comment by swayvil | Hacker News Reader

God forbid we stop consuming everything in sight like a fat kid in a candy shop.

More like a crew of a spaceship dismantling their life-support system to create disposable junk.

Funny how improving self-awareness and self-control is always at the bottom of the list of solutions. It's always a new machine, product or pill.

(But I think that public access to hallucinogens is a step in the right direction, actually)

One must deal with humans as they are, not as we'd wish them to be. The correct solution is that externalities associated with consumption should be priced in by fiat. The government has the (uneviable) task of protecting the environment because it is a perfect example of a common good. Of course, such authority must be given to the government by the people; it is already happening to a very small extent; as climate change becomes more real to people's everyday lives, I expect to see more movement in this direction. Of course, by then it will probably be too late, but we can hope that it will not be.

The technologies of education and advertising have proven to be quite good at changing people.

Yeah, this. Perfect example, our crazy car-based transportation network was popularized by a deliberate domestic propaganda campaign, we went from vilifying "speed demons" to vilifying "jaywalkers" because "they" told us to:

"The Real Reason Jaywalking Is A Crime" (Adam Ruins Everything) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxopfjXkArM

"Street Rivals: Jaywalking and the Invention of the Motor Age Street", Peter D. Norton https://www.jstor.org/stable/40061474

If we can convince people that it's their own fault for getting hit by cars, we can do anything.

I think you fall in the typical trap of thinking that social issues are easier to solve than technical ones. This is not the case.

"Why take vaccines ? Can't we just be well-behaved, wear a mask, air spaces correctly or put air filters everywhere ?" The answer is no.

https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/10/society-is-fixed-biolo...

Try to promote walkable, mixed-use development that supports a car-optional lifestyle.

Feel free to stop taking flights, delete your Amazon account, and never buy another plastic-based product again.

I mean its easy to say this, but asking people to live worse lives is basically impossible.

This is a common misconception.

The choice isn't between a mildly worse life -or- a better life.

The choice is between a mildly worse life -or- a horrible life as the planetary life-support system reconfigures itself into a radical new climate regime.

And really, living in harmony with Nature is fun and fulfilling, so the choice is between a mildly inconvenient transitional period to a hip, swinging, easy living, eco-friendly life -or- a horrible life as the planetary life-support system reconfigures itself into a radical new climate regime.

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