Whenever someone tells you that the climate crisis is a personal responsibility issue, show them this:
The climate crisis is a billionaires crisis, a trillion-dollar corporations crisis, a capitalism crisis, a systemic inequality crisis.
#climateChange #climateCrisis #climateCatastrophe #climate #corporatocracy #capitalism
The crisis we are responsible for is accepting capitalist accumulation and taking the benefits from it all without requiring politicians to keep wealthy classes and forces in check. That has reached crisis level because we were manipulated, and are still being manipulated to accept it, rather than rising up and making the fundamental changes that will keep humans and ecosystems alive into the future.
@Sammurraysutton @rcbo @aral I've had a very hard time with the Greens here in the UK. They opposed nuclear, and Lucas was especially loony with her Guardian op-ed about how men can't be trusted to lead. It was... alienating to say the least.
With Corbyn ousted though, I'm now struggling to find a party worth voting for. Can you sell me on the Greens?
@bwada @rcbo @aral you're right, though I wouldn't put it that strongly -- there's definitely a tension between the wants of capital and the needs of workers.
But that tension also exists in communism, because you end up with a new elite that can't be democratically removed, and they act as gate-keepers to the capital.
I think that it should be *possible* to have a social democracy that redistributes wealth to those who need it -- and there are societies that come close (eg. Scandinavia) -- granted, their economies are subsidised both by fossil fuels and exploited foreign labour. I think, that if the middle-classes in those countries could be pursuaded to settle for a life of scarcer material goods, and better social connections, then they could reduce their exploitative nature and become a close approximation of social democracy. To me, that seems more likely than a communist system with elites that don't exploit their power
There's no shortage of histrionics and delusions for sure. But rather than frame things by that, we can look at increasing awareness of how power operates, with the goal of implementing structures for the wider good. Avoiding wars, reducing environmental destruction etc etc. Basic stuff.
@aral Can I remind everyone here of the need to set up a #Nuremberg process for the authors of the #ClimateGenocide ?
https://www.journeyman.cc/blog/posts-output/2023-05-22-Climate-Change-as-Crime/
Its a capitalism crisis, unlimited growth and ditto profit is unsustainable… the model needs change.
"Whenever someone tells you that the climate crisis is a personal responsibility issue, show them this:"
And are you not enabling those 100 companies by directly or indirectly buying their products?
Those companies are not causing the climate crisis by burning their fossil fuels on their own, you know.
@aral And let’s not forget an extra big biggie: a #MilitaryIndustrialComplex crisis.
@aral The climate crisis is Tragedy of the Commons on a global scale.
"If an individual acts in their best interest, it can result in harmful over-consumption to the detriment of all. This phenomenon may result in under-investment and total depletion of a shared resource. "
That global footprint bullshit was just to hoodwink that we, as individuals, were as guilty as Shell and BP.
That #Petronas advert with "see you in Energy Asia" seriously does my head in.
@aral thank you so much for including the link! Most people don't, which gives the mistaken impression that those 100 petroleum producers actually consume the fossil fuels.
The article shows that the fossil fuel industry is wildly concentrated. Economically this is terrible, but it gives activist investors an opportunity to put pressure on a relatively small number of companies.
Many of the top producers and refiners are state-owned, however, and don't have shareholders to be responsible to.
@aral also, the idea that because most oil is produced by just 100 companies, individual action doesn't matter, is really mistaken.
Please don't spread that misinformation! Fossil fuel companies want you to get climate depressed, and intentionally spread gloom and doom to discourage action.
Individual action matters a lot. I wrote a blog post about it here:
https://evanp.me/2021/10/07/what-individual-action-does-for-the-climate-emergency/
Vote, protest, boycott, donate. Everything we do moves the world closer to keeping under 1.5C.
@aral Yes, though it’s not one or the other - all interlinked. beheviour change can impact policy, and we hwve sonlittle time that we cannot wait for policy to curb corporations, we need #EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce.
We should also distinguish, some people have much higher personal responsibility than others. Those in public eye who don’t change high carbon lifestyles suggest all is fine to millions of others.
@aral Every mile you do with your ICE car, every trip you make in a plane, every 38°C shower you have, every time you warm your house, you are part of the equation.
Those big COs are producing the energy *you* burn. You can blame them, but you are just deflecting your responsibility.
@aral What companies produce those emissions is less relevant than the output, with the real question being if it can be replaced with greener energy.
If fossil fuels are feeding and heating 8 billion people, then shaming the top X companies involved is akin to shaming people for existing and for creating the demand.
I find it disingenuous when people don't talk about the elephant in the room.
It would be useful to have a 2023 version of this table. The position since 2015 may have changed a lot.
Aral Balkan
Extinction (our fate)
Robert Boler
Sammurraysutton
Daniel Quinn
Gssy
levampyre
bwada
rood
Jake in the desert
Lord H
WallOffTrump
Simon Brooke
Darwin Woodka
xs4me2
Sibrosan
SuperTwaddle
SSSam
Totts
Jake Rayson
jorny
Al ⁂
Dr. Quadragon ❌
toxtethogrady
chris
Evan Prodromou
Emma Builds 🚀
Vesna Manojlović
Pauline von Hellermann
Emmanuel Lécharny (he/him)
Jigme Datse
pavi
Alex Nedelcu
Fierce, Lord Pankake
Diesel
Sean
Dave #FBPE