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Opinion: You Are Not the Problem — Climate Guilt is a Marketing Strategy (news.climate.columbia.edu)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Saying there are countless issues is another one of those convenient distractions. Of course its complex and there are many factors, but we have one basic issue: greenhouse gases.

We will not get to carbon neutral(or a global net negative) by slowly getting used to things by word of mouth. Not by signalling through market forces that we are willing to pay for pea protein instead of meat. It has to be political, it has to decisive and radical action at this point. A carbon tax that makes meat much more expensive instead of being subsidized. Completely changing the funding of transportation from being car focused to public transportation focused. And, perhaps most important of all, government oversight and enforcement with teeth that does not shy away from nuking a company with fines if it steps out of line too often.

All these what YOU can do talk carries the danger of obscuring what needs to be done at a societal and global level.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Somehow I have the feeling that we are, in fact, on the same page.

Yes, we need big political and societal changes (how often do I have to repeat that?). But the result will be the abscence of meat and straws and cars and airplanes. And the transition will be much smoother for the individual if he already learned how to not use them even while they are still available and affordable. Affordable in a solely monetary way, don't get me wrong! They are far from affordable from a ecological point of view.

By no means I want to obscure any issues or distract from them. On the contrary!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

In q wq all this is distracting, because there are many, many people who cling to thinking that just doing this or that is already enough. That's why I call this focus on individual lifestyle choices dangerous. It gives you a psychological out. "I've done something, so the problem is out if my hands now," is a form of complacency I see quite often.