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Yes, Actually, Individual Responsibility Is Essential to Solving the Climate Crisis (www.sierraclub.org)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net

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A fixation on system change alone opens the door to a kind of cynical self-absolution that divorces personal commitment from political belief. This is its own kind of false consciousness, one that threatens to create a cheapened climate politics incommensurate with this urgent moment.

[...]

Because here’s the thing: When you choose to eat less meat or take the bus instead of driving or have fewer children, you are making a statement that your actions matter, that it’s not too late to avert climate catastrophe, that you have power. To take a measure of personal responsibility for climate change doesn’t have to distract from your political activism—if anything, it amplifies it.

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[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 month ago (6 children)

You can say this, but you can't make it happen. What is more realistic, changing the attitudes and habits of billions of individuals quickly enough to reverse climate change, or enforcing restrictions on thousands of companies?

[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Why not try to do both?

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's fine, but the focus should be on the thing with 99% leverage and not on the thing with 1% leverage.

[–] Sas@beehaw.org 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The thing with 99% leverage sadly has only a chance of 1% to happen while the 1% leverage thing you can just make happen. And if you make the 1% thing happen in more people the votes for the 99% thing start to go up as well. And eating less meat does have an impact. For years now i read headlines that year n had less pig meat being eaten in total than year n-1 (pork being the focus as my country afaik does not have a big beef industry so it's not as relevant to report about it)

We have very little influence on the industry as a whole but if you buy less meat, the meat industry actually becomes smaller over time. The alternative products also become more and more. Super markets over here all have a vegan shelf at least and there's more vegan only restaurants opening up in my city that even made my meat eater colleagues go there to eat from time to time.

[–] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

if you buy less meat, the meat industry actually becomes smaller over time.

that has never happened.

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/meat-production-tonnes?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL

[–] Sas@beehaw.org 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/meat-production-tonnes?tab=chart&country=~DEU I'm talking over here where our meat industry has become smaller each year for 8 years now

or here the whole of EU if you want https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/meat-production-tonnes?tab=chart&country=OWID_EU27~OWID_EUR~DEU

[–] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

if the industry continues to grow, the location of the farms doesn't seem to matter.

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