TheAlexNevilJul 27, 2023
Dr. Lucky Tran 

Doom is a privilege we can’t afford.

“Some days I think that if we lose the #climate battle, it’ll be due in no small part to this defeatism among the comfortable in the global north, while people in frontline communities continue to fight like hell for survival. Which is why fighting defeatism is also climate work.” - Rebecca Solnit

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/26/we-cant-afford-to-be-climate-doomers?CMP=share_btn_tw

We can’t afford to be climate doomers

It often seems that people are searching harder for evidence we’re defeated than that we can win

The Guardian
Jul 26, 2023 at 7:56pmWeb
Show threadclarebeeJul 26, 2023
@luckytran Such a good piece. "I wonder sometimes if it’s because people assume you can’t be hopeful and heartbroken at the same time, and of course you can."
Show threadRichard R LeeJul 26, 2023
@luckytran
Don’t #ClimateSugarCoat us please.
Show threadSandraJul 27, 2023
@InfoMgmtExec

I had the same initial reaction to the post's excerpt but reading the essay there's a lot more nuance 🤷🏻‍♀️
Show threadRabbit CohenJul 28, 2023
@InfoMgmtExec @luckytran It's not sugarcoating. It's saying that we can't afford to sit around being sad instead of actually taking action.
Show threadशिवदम् ⓋJul 26, 2023
@luckytran I don't think it wise to think of #ClimateChange as something we either can, or cannot "fix." What we need to do, immediately, is become more and better prepared - as best we can - with the likely effects, especially with regard to assisting those people and areas that will be most effected, including wildlife and flora.
Show threadMalteJul 27, 2023
@Shivadam @luckytran You're right in parts of climate change already being irreversible. And that any strategy that does not factor some kind of adaption into it, ignores that. Have you considered that adaptation and fighting against the worsening of climate change could go hand in hand? Some of the best sequestration methods are also simultaneously very adaptive, e.g. by putting more resilient perennial food production in the hands of people.
Show threadशिवदम् ⓋJul 27, 2023
@malte Yes! And reducing to nearly zero Animal Agriculture, a huge contributor to #ClimateChange. Going #Vegan can be a great help and is something nearly everyone can do.
Show threadThe Purple ChickenJul 27, 2023
@Shivadam @luckytran Exactly. I absolutely hate the nagging articles about how if I just go vegan and stop driving, I will solve climate change all by myself. It’s not a problem that can be solved by individual action, and I honestly think that it’s not a problem that will be solved at all. What we need to be doing is adapting.
Show threadशिवदम् ⓋJul 27, 2023
@meepmeep001 And, we need to do what we can individually, because every small reduction in impact is a reduction in impact with #ClimateChange. Going #Vegan is something we can do.
Show threadpatrislav ♾️ #RIPNatenomJul 28, 2023
@Shivadam @meepmeep001 and if you stop or reduce meat and driving, it's not only about the individual emission reduction, but also about vegetarian/vegan diets and "alternative" transport modes becoming more mainstream. That means e.g. vegetarian/vegan options become more accessible and a transport politics that also considers non-drivers will be possible, eventually inevitable.
Show threadDavid J. AtkinsonJul 26, 2023
@luckytran I am very close to becoming a climate “doomer” because I do not see the political or social will to throw off the dominance of fossil fuels at very large scale. The reason is obvious — the economic cost is too high for everyone in the timescale required. The fossil fuel industry is also extremely powerful and works hard against change. Solutions to #climatecrisis are not small, incremental or amenable to individual action. I’m sick of the #greenwashing too. 🤕
Show threadchidi_anagonyeJul 27, 2023

@meltedcheese @luckytran

It ain't over till it's over. Now come back into the fight dammit. We may leave the battlefield scarred, traumatized, and missing a limb, but at least our grandkids will have a shot at a good life. Now fight like it's WW2. The stakes are probably higher in this one.

Show threadDavid J. AtkinsonJul 27, 2023
@luckytran @chidi_anagonye Unlike WW2, the #climatecrisis has no front lines, there is no general mobilization, and the power of the State is not sanctioning massive collective action, including violence against property and the enemy. Consider the case of coal, a meaningful example. Every coal mine must be shut down immediately. Those who resist must be prevented from doing so. Use of force will likely be necessary. How is this going to happen?
Show threadJohnWJul 27, 2023

@meltedcheese @luckytran

You're a realist. That's ok. You see the reality but still fight in the hopes that some miracle will happen.

Show threadDavid J. AtkinsonJul 27, 2023
@the_Effekt @luckytran I don’t believe in miracles.
Show threadJoseph KohlmannJul 26, 2023
@luckytran It’s true. This is also a rejection of so-called capitalist realism, I guess.
Show threadJacqueline JannottaJul 26, 2023
@luckytran This quote a thousand times. Rebecca Solnit is full of wisdom. Now, when (not if!) more of us tune into such wisdom doom can be replaced with hope, and only then can we talk about a livable future.
Show threadSid 🇵🇸Jul 26, 2023
@luckytran this assumes that people who've lost hope have never altered history, and they have.
Show threadsheislaurenceJul 27, 2023
@luckytran your post is more accurate than the entire article. First the article’s approach feels off: imposing hope doesn’t work, it needs fostering. It also really disturbs me that there is zero mention of #climatejustice other than in the very last sentence you posted. The C word #capitalism is not mentioned ONCE. I don’t see how you can pretend to talk of #climate #hope and elude the very system that is vested in keeping the status quo, imprisons dissent and knee-chokes hope itself.
Show threadIvan MirJul 27, 2023

@luckytran being a "doomer" doesn't equal "defeatism" and doing nothing.

Instead, it's understanding that the collapse is inevitable and the actions have to be focused on adaptation and resilience because the overshoot has already happened.

Show threadJohnWJul 27, 2023

@luckytran Doomers and Defeatists aren't exactly the same thing. Plus, in terms of climate, Realist and Doomer have gotten much closer together.

Doomers/Realists will continue to fight in the hope that some kind of miracle will happen at the last minute.

Defeatists have pretty much given up.

I'm in the Doomer/Realist class.

Show threadCobaltRoseJul 27, 2023

@luckytran it’s easy to feel that doom as we look at study after study that puts the writing on the wall. Brazilians raping the Amazon, Arctic ice at its lowest point in all of creation, the potential stopping of the Atlantic current altogether in our lifetimes.

On the other side, it’s hard to feel optimistic when we the people are divided and conquered to the point that we can’t make immediate change peacefully. How the hell do you manage that?

Show threadJohn JaggardJul 27, 2023
@luckytran
If we lose the climate battle it will be down to cowardly politicians who haven't the guts to tell the public that their current consumer based lifestyle is unsustainable for fear of losing a few votes.
Show threadJohn MeadowsJul 27, 2023
@dangerousbeenz @luckytran Let's also blame the public who refuse to make meaningful lifestyle changes. There are plenty of voices sending out the warning message, but people don't want to listen to any message that doesn't let them off the hook.
Show threadclimate voter/degrowthistJul 27, 2023
@dangerousbeenz @luckytran When I visit a a big parking lot, in Rocky Mountain National Park and almost every car is an SUV or a truck, I wonder if there might be someone to share the responsibility with the politicians. Or are we all just hapless victims of the advertised car culture?
Show thread/brúno antúnɛs/Jul 27, 2023
@luckytran I swing a lot between "we need to do this!" and "maybe it's better for every other living thing on Earth if mankind just quietly goes away"
Show threadMrRantJul 27, 2023
@luckytran What do you mean? You can run Doom on just about everything.
Show threadMallory's Musings & MischiefJul 27, 2023

@luckytran It's also possible to think we're likely doomed but fight anyway. Survival will require a more equitable society. Much of what needs to change is a benefit regardless. We can and should make changes that will help people adapt to what's coming. Accepting the coming disaster doesn't mean we can't do anything to help weather it.

And if we are doomed, we have even more justification to hold the people responsible to account. Don't let them get away with fanning the flames of destruction