Mastodawn

I don't own a car. I take public transit everywhere, and I do think personal vehicle use has real environmental costs. But I don't think driving is inherently unethical.

I live in Seoul, and the city makes transit easy for me. That's not a virtue. It's a condition I happen to benefit from. Some people live where transit barely exists, or where it doesn't get them to work, school, or care. In those places, driving is not optional.

The same is true of flying. In parts of Europe you can cross borders by train. In island nations, or in places with weak land connections, flying may be the only realistic option. “Just fly less” means very different things in those places.

A lot of what gets called my ethical choices comes from the conditions I live in. That makes me wary of turning structural failures into personal morality. If the alternative is missing or unusable, shaming people for not choosing it solves nothing.

When environmental harm gets framed as individual moral failure, attention shifts away from the structural changes that would actually matter. It's not an accident that oil companies spent decades popularizing the idea of the personal carbon footprint.

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HelenaN 1d ago

@hongminhee While I do agree with you in principle, I also think that certain personal choices can have a long tail of consequences that can be avoided. I find it good and necessary to make driving in places with good public transit very inconvenient. I do find it necessary to make local populations fight for more transit in more places. So it's not as simple as "countryside = driving". Why not increase living density wherever possible, so that transit and other sustainable options are possible?

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ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 1d ago

@helenan @hongminhee

"Why not increase living density wherever possible"

right but that's not a personal choice

the only real personal choice that matters on questions like this is voting

if we don't vote, with these issues in mind, then we're culpable for our society failing us

otherwise, our personal choices still matter on questions like this as you say, but in smaller ways. larger structural issues are the dominant factor, influenced individually and personally, by our vote

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TJC-1d ago

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee
First job is to prevent the MAGA/bad guys from stopping or stealing the vote.

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ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 1d ago

@TJC_2 @helenan @hongminhee

That's an overblown fear

The states control the vote

Red states may fuck with the vote but they're already red

The primary concern with this overblown "stealing the vote" fear is premature capitulation:

"If they're going to steal the vote, why vote?"

That effect is a bigger effect than any stealing #MAGA can do

Many Americans are cowardly and spineless that way

We just need to fucking #vote

Nonvoters are just culpable as MAGA, they're lazy entitled assholes

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TJC-1d ago

@benroyce @helenan @hongminhee
Understand that I am a voter and encourage all to vote. Important to vote. Also, they are trying their damnedest to squash and steal the votes and the election. We have to exert local vigilance and control over the voting process and protect the polls from the armed minions they want to send in. Corrupt officials are already stealing past votes, setting up an excuse for all the evil vote snatching they hope to do. And yes, it's critical to show up and vote.

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ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 1d ago

@TJC_2 @helenan @hongminhee

excellence

thank you

*and* make sure to speak out against this mindless acceptance of fascism "they want to steal the vote so i won't vote" premature capitulation spineless weakness

that's just as important in my view

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HelenaN

@benroyce @TJC_2 @hongminhee One thing I learned from reading the Lord of the Rings and studying history is that we should never give up on fighting for what is right. Even if we personally cannot benefit from it. It's frustrating and sad, but the fight goes on. There are certain things that we cannot let be normalized or accepted. Human rights being the number one in my list.