It’s not like average people really have a lot of choice in the matter. You can’t practically avoid buying materialistic garbage, because you need stuff just to live, and there aren’t non-shitty alternatives. The blame lies almost exclusively with corporations that took the easiest, cheapest routes in order to maximize profits.
Corporations didn’t have to say, ship manufacturing to China, where environmental regulations are … lax, and use giant polluting container ships to move good back and forth. But that was cheaper and more profitable than domestic production.
The pattern repeats across a thousand different examples. It always comes down to businesses being able to externalize environmental impact and a complicit government allowing it.
Not just corporations, governments as well. As an American it pisses me off that we’ve spent all of my life debating whether or not it’s real while doing next to nothing, improving milage and emissions is nice but we need to stop and not only for passenger vehicles either trucking and shipping really need to stop their pollution as well. And that’s where governments can come in. They can fund r&d and make rebates at the time of purchase so that it’s easier to make a change. Instead we have dipshits that think because it snows global warming is fake.
people could stop flying for leisure - they could stop using their car for every trip that could also be made by bike - they could vote for politicians that are actually campaigning for changing stuff instead of promising people to keep their lifes as it is - they could stop eating meat every day
there’s a lot of stuff a single person can choose to not do that would result in huge change if enough people did it since that would actually allow even moderate politicians to change things that actually matter.
if a politician right now is even thinking about banning beef or tripling the price of gas and making flights even more expensive than that they can pretty much start looking for another job since that would be a huge change for a huge part of the population - if enough people started deliveratly foregoing beef or using the most convenient option possible then we might have a chance.
the problem is that people are fucking lazy and a lot of them are egoistic, too - so everyone just claims that others have to change first…
and then there are those “bUt ChInA1!1!”-guys that totally ignore that china is building more renewables each month than any other country does per year and that they still pollute less per person than western countries and also less in total over the last 150 years than western countries, too.
it’s people in the US or Europe that have to lead the charge since they are the ones that profited MASSIVELY from the pollution 100 years ago that led us into this mess…
People in the US are trying to change things. Most new homes in my area have a strong emphasis on green technology including heat pumps and solar panels. There’s a big push for EVs over ICEs and there are more and more EV charging stations all over the country every year. The younger generations are calling for more train transportation and Amtrak in my area is actually making some changes to help promote passenger rail.
Your ‘blame the west’ mentality is some serious PRC propaganda bullshit. 0 of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are western cities. Most of them are in India, which is actually where these Cheetahs died.
You want to blame someone? Blame the international elite. The 0.1% takes what they want, consequences be damned.
As someone from Germany my toes curl everytime someone blames “the elite” - that’s a very dangerous road of thinking to go down…
Those 0,1% don’t matter if the 99,9% don’t slow down their emmisions, too.
Everyone cutting down a little bit is helping A LOT more that the richest 0,1% cutting down most. Sure they pollute a lot more than your average person so they totally should cut down but imho it’s mostly about creating acceptance than about the pure emissions.
While I get your point, it’s those same people who can actually make the change needed. They can stop with their super yachts and support yachts and helicopters and private planes and million dollar cars as disposable playthings and mega mansions they spend a month in a year. They can make the companies they control become greener. You or I could only do so much.
The biggest meat-replacement producer in Germany right now is a company that until 20 years ago only produced meat products. I think it was 2 years ago that they made more profit with their replacements and are projected to stop producing meat altogether in the next 2 decades because of how many people bought their replacements and how they don’t need the meat anymore to survive
You only have the option to vote with your wallet when you have the money to do it. I can’t “vote with my wallet” for electrified public transit, because I can’t afford to live in the places that have electrified public transit. I can’t even vote with my wallet for ethical clothing made in the US by workers paid a living wage, because that shit costs a few days wages for a single pair of jeans.
Most of the choices are made by entities that individuals can’t exert any realistic amount of control over.
That’s a drop in the bucket compared with emissions from super-polluters. Even if I rode my bicycle everywhere–which isn’t practical for where I live–and even if every one of the 5000 people in my town did the same, that still wouldn’t offset Taylor Swift’s jet habit for a week.
It’s not like average people really have a lot of choice in the matter. You can’t practically avoid buying materialistic garbage, because you need stuff just to live, and there aren’t non-shitty alternatives. The blame lies almost exclusively with corporations that took the easiest, cheapest routes in order to maximize profits.
Right.
Corporations didn’t have to say, ship manufacturing to China, where environmental regulations are … lax, and use giant polluting container ships to move good back and forth. But that was cheaper and more profitable than domestic production.
The pattern repeats across a thousand different examples. It always comes down to businesses being able to externalize environmental impact and a complicit government allowing it.
Not just corporations, governments as well. As an American it pisses me off that we’ve spent all of my life debating whether or not it’s real while doing next to nothing, improving milage and emissions is nice but we need to stop and not only for passenger vehicles either trucking and shipping really need to stop their pollution as well. And that’s where governments can come in. They can fund r&d and make rebates at the time of purchase so that it’s easier to make a change. Instead we have dipshits that think because it snows global warming is fake.
people could stop flying for leisure - they could stop using their car for every trip that could also be made by bike - they could vote for politicians that are actually campaigning for changing stuff instead of promising people to keep their lifes as it is - they could stop eating meat every day
there’s a lot of stuff a single person can choose to not do that would result in huge change if enough people did it since that would actually allow even moderate politicians to change things that actually matter.
if a politician right now is even thinking about banning beef or tripling the price of gas and making flights even more expensive than that they can pretty much start looking for another job since that would be a huge change for a huge part of the population - if enough people started deliveratly foregoing beef or using the most convenient option possible then we might have a chance.
the problem is that people are fucking lazy and a lot of them are egoistic, too - so everyone just claims that others have to change first…
and then there are those “bUt ChInA1!1!”-guys that totally ignore that china is building more renewables each month than any other country does per year and that they still pollute less per person than western countries and also less in total over the last 150 years than western countries, too.
it’s people in the US or Europe that have to lead the charge since they are the ones that profited MASSIVELY from the pollution 100 years ago that led us into this mess…
People in the US are trying to change things. Most new homes in my area have a strong emphasis on green technology including heat pumps and solar panels. There’s a big push for EVs over ICEs and there are more and more EV charging stations all over the country every year. The younger generations are calling for more train transportation and Amtrak in my area is actually making some changes to help promote passenger rail.
Your ‘blame the west’ mentality is some serious PRC propaganda bullshit. 0 of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are western cities. Most of them are in India, which is actually where these Cheetahs died.
You want to blame someone? Blame the international elite. The 0.1% takes what they want, consequences be damned.
As someone from Germany my toes curl everytime someone blames “the elite” - that’s a very dangerous road of thinking to go down…
Those 0,1% don’t matter if the 99,9% don’t slow down their emmisions, too.
Everyone cutting down a little bit is helping A LOT more that the richest 0,1% cutting down most. Sure they pollute a lot more than your average person so they totally should cut down but imho it’s mostly about creating acceptance than about the pure emissions.
While I get your point, it’s those same people who can actually make the change needed. They can stop with their super yachts and support yachts and helicopters and private planes and million dollar cars as disposable playthings and mega mansions they spend a month in a year. They can make the companies they control become greener. You or I could only do so much.
Voting with your wallet totally works though.
The biggest meat-replacement producer in Germany right now is a company that until 20 years ago only produced meat products. I think it was 2 years ago that they made more profit with their replacements and are projected to stop producing meat altogether in the next 2 decades because of how many people bought their replacements and how they don’t need the meat anymore to survive
It only works when the alternatives are at a similar price. I can’t vote with my wallet when I can’t afford the alternatives.
Quick quiz: which is cheaper? 1000 calories from Ramen noodles, or 1000 calories from fresh leafy greens, fresh fruits, and whole grains and legumes?
Ramen noodles aren’t the problem
There are a lot of vegetarian ramen noodles out there…
::sigh::
You’re missing the point.
You only have the option to vote with your wallet when you have the money to do it. I can’t “vote with my wallet” for electrified public transit, because I can’t afford to live in the places that have electrified public transit. I can’t even vote with my wallet for ethical clothing made in the US by workers paid a living wage, because that shit costs a few days wages for a single pair of jeans.
Most of the choices are made by entities that individuals can’t exert any realistic amount of control over.
That’s a drop in the bucket compared with emissions from super-polluters. Even if I rode my bicycle everywhere–which isn’t practical for where I live–and even if every one of the 5000 people in my town did the same, that still wouldn’t offset Taylor Swift’s jet habit for a week.