this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
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The memes of the climate
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The climate of the memes of the climate!
Planet is on fire!
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Okay, so what do I do?
Vote? Been doing that. Doesn't seem to be helping.
Recycle? Okay, let's have two trucks pick up garbage every week.
Eat less meat? Been doing that. But I'm a drop in the ocean.
Drive less? Been doing that. But it's made completely inconsequential because of private jet owners.
Short of killing large numbers of people in the first world we won't be able to even slow it down.
So what do I do that can actually have an impact?
They are spinning around throwing punches in all directions and mostly just hitting the air. We are nowhere near actually getting a punch across the jaw of any of the people that it actually matters for.
I get it. It's maddening to have no obvious villain but be surrounded by "bad" people. We do need people to flail and cling to life but they are more just trying to appease their own mind than anything.
Vote, of course. But also donate and campaign. The only way out of this mess is political. Volunteer. Protest. Rally others.
There are political parties, big, mainstream ones that frequently win elections, who want to bring us to carbon neutrality and even beyond, to undo the damage of past generations. Give them more power. They're stemming the tide but with enough power they could reverse it.
You actually have a positive impact. But you're also having a negative impact by spreading the mentality of "nothing will change", both to yourself and to other people you're voicing it to. It makes yourself and everyone you voice it to less likely to take action like you did.
Don't get me wrong, I also realistically believe we will run into massive problems. But the only sensible thing to do is just keep trying everything possible personally, it's the right thing to do.
So lie to myself and others? Because "nothing will change" has been my lived experience my entire life. Should I just ignore the helplessness and hopelessness and put on a happy face?