Milla Havanka

Much of the reluctance to do what climate change requires comes from the assumption that it means trading abundance for austerity, and trading all our stuff and conveniences for less stuff, less convenience. But what if it meant giving up things we’re well rid of, from deadly emissions to nagging feelings of doom and complicity in destruction? What if the austerity is how we live now — and the abundance could be what is to come?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/15/rebecca-solnit-climate-change-wealth-abundance/

What if climate change meant not doom — but abundance?

People assume that adjusting to climate change means giving up stuff we want. But what if it means giving up things we’re well rid of?

The Washington Post
Mar 27, 2023 at 6:41amWeb
Show threadMikko KarvonenMar 27, 2023

@immersfer Tämä resonoi vahvasti ja tiivistää merkittävän osan omasta kipuilustani maailman kanssa.

”Look closely, and you can see that by measures other than goods and money, we are impoverished. Even the affluent live in a world where confidence in the future, and in the society and institutions around us, is fading — and where a sense of security, social connectedness, mental and physical health, and other measures of well-being are often dismal.”

Show threadThiernaMar 27, 2023

@immersfer this looks like a good entry to the #ClimateDiary

https://spore.social/@immersfer/110093878087660252

Milla Havanka (@[email protected])

Much of the reluctance to do what climate change requires comes from the assumption that it means trading abundance for austerity, and trading all our stuff and conveniences for less stuff, less convenience. But what if it meant giving up things we’re well rid of, from deadly emissions to nagging feelings of doom and complicity in destruction? What if the austerity is how we live now — and the abundance could be what is to come? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/15/rebecca-solnit-climate-change-wealth-abundance/

Spore by Project Mushroom
Show threadCarly SaganMar 27, 2023
@immersfer I think this is too much wishful thinking. There simply aren’t enough earth resources for everyone to live in “abundance” let alone do the “basic” of the west in having a car, a house, having kids, and eating meat daily. Plus “renewables” are just fossil fuels in disguise. Everyone who understands the climate problem (10% of global pop?) needs to scale back - no red meat, no SUVs, no non-adopted kids, no giant houses.
Show threadHolli-Anne PassmoreMar 28, 2023
@carlysagan @immersfer I'm not sure you read the article. That's not at all what she meant by ""abundance".
Show threadCarly SaganMar 28, 2023
@HAPassmore @immersfer I enjoy some of the author’s writing and that’s why I read it. “What if we were to think of wealth as security in our environments and societies, and as confidence in a viable future?” Well, if striving for SUVs, mansions, and daily red meat consumption doesn’t decline (what the west considers “abundance,”) the author’s “abundance” won’t happen - it will continue to erode what a viable future is
Show threadStephanie JaneApr 18, 2023
@immersfer It would be so great to change that perspective so that adjusting our lifestyles for climate change became seen as a positive, not a sacrifice.
Personally I've found I am a lot happier overall after downsizing my life. I enjoy things like walking past traffic jams on the way to the shops rather than sitting in them!