this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
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[vlogbrothers 2021] Wrong on the Internet - The importance of individual action (www.youtube.com)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Hank Green on the importance of individual action, not because it helps directly (which it does), but because it helps remind our brains of the problems which need to be solved.

Social scientists have studied this, and they've found that people taking individual action leads to more pushes for policy change, not less. The original idea is that if you focus more on individual action there will be less push for policy change. It turns out to be the opposite of that.

As social psychologists Leor Hackel and Gregg Sparkman said in their 2018 article, "People don't spring into action because they see smoke; they spring into action because they see others rushing in with water."

I've seen a lot of the "It doesn't matter what individuals do because 90% of the emissions are done by 50 companies" sentiment on Lemmy, and find it concerning. What are the best ways to address this?

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[–] [email protected] -5 points 5 months ago (8 children)

Ok, I watched the video and I agree with Hank's point. Taking action towards your values, even if it isn't effective by itself (which Hank argues against), is always a good thing.

The thing is there are barriers within society that make it harder to make the ethical choice. For example if I wanted to be a vegan I'd have to pay extra since the dairy and beef industry have subsidies and most corporations charge extra for vegan/vegetarian options.

Or if I wanted to help with pollution and started to recycle yet most of the recycling gets thrown in landfills anyways because of how things are stored with other trash.

And I'm not saying that just because it is harder that people shouldn't try and do the right thing but the thing is that most of these barriers are dynamic and will change to make it just as hard for people if it starts taking away power from people at the top.

I think the general point that is trying to be made when people say that collective action is needed instead of individual action is that individual action doesn't really change underlying problem that is causing most of the harm and instead is just making the cause of the problem more bearable.

I'd say if you want change it is better to take action that encourages the system to change rather than taking action that doesn't focus on effecting that at all.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

“For example if I wanted to be a vegan I'd have to pay extra since the dairy and beef industry have subsidies and most corporations charge extra for vegan/vegetarian options.”

That is not true as eating a whole foods plant based diet is 30% cheaper and it also saves you thousands in healthcare costs over the long term.

Stop being unethical and do what’s right for your health, the environment and for the animals. Go vegan.

“Oxford University research has today revealed that, in countries such as the US, the UK, Australia and across Western Europe, adopting a vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian diet could slash your food bill by up to one-third.

The study, which compared the cost of seven sustainable diets to the current typical diet in 150 countries, using food prices from the World Bank’s International Comparison Program, was published in The Lancet Planetary Health.”

Source: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-11-11-sustainable-eating-cheaper-and-healthier-oxford-study

[–] [email protected] -2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Apparently I'm already a flexitarian so baby steps I guess.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's not difficult to be vegan it just takes some habit changes. Here are some great resources to get you down on the right path. You can learn all the tasty the plant based recipes you need to know in a month.

Veganuary Month Challenge

Vegan Cheat Sheet

The Vegan Society where it all began in the 1940s

All the interesting vegan statistics

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