I've been saying for years now that when the UN said "we're committing collective suicide" that what they should actually be saying is "we're experiencing mass murder, and the blood is on the hands of the corporations, governments, and people in power who continue to fail us."
Thousands, if not millions of us, have been protesting, adopting our own "green" practices, reducing our carbon footprints, taking transit and so forth. It all feels futile when my government continues to drill billions of gallons of oil from Albertan fields and Taylor Swift takes her private jet everywhere on a weekly basis. It is not collective suicide, it is mass murder, and many of us have been screaming for help (and shouting for the world's poorest, who have no ability to speak when they are running from the deathly effects of climate change).
Indeed, all of our individual efforts seem to be more or less in vain, until we get truly SYSTEMIC change. It is the worlds largest collective action problem, and the system is rigged.
Important, timely article - thank you. So many people have been violently impacted by extreme weather I think that the idea of extreme event attribution’s time has come. Let there be a wall of shame. Let the corporations hear feom their shareholders, increasingly millennials who make purchases with conscience.
Only two days after Trump was elected to most powerful government position in the world , your warning appears. He has called climate change a fraud and promised as president to unleash oil drilling in environental preserves. And voters simply ignored the inevitable consequences. The simple rationale - I'll be dead by the time it really matters, if it ever does. And Trump's favorite people, the Christians, will tell you even the Bible commands it; Proverbs 10:5 Make hay while the sun shines.
This is so relevant! (Also, I am presenting a paper on the environmental impact of telehealth at a conference and, may I use your hook about Eunice Foote? I didn't know about her either!)
Amen to that! Well-said overall. The oligarchs and their sycophantic lackeys luuurrve to gaslight We the People to blame themselves in order to take the heat off of those same oligarchs and their lackeys. While there is a kernel of truth to the idea that we are all collectively responsible for climate breakdown and ecological overshoot in general, the oligarchs are orders of magnitude MORE responsible for causing it in practice.
It is literally the world's largest collective action problem in all of recorded history.
Exactly. While individual sustainable choices are helpful and I believe needed as well, they’re not nearly enough on their own. Real change requires a complete overhaul of how these corporations operate and how governments enable their practices.
Of course, we would be remiss if we ignored the biggest elephant in the room of all, overpopulation. That is, the MEN who force, coerce, deceive, and manipulate women into having (more) kids that they otherwise wouldn't have, need to be held accountable. Forced-birthers, I am looking at YOU most of all.
After all, the lowest-hanging fruit thing that an individual can do to reduce one's impact on the Earth is to simply have fewer kids. Nothing else at the *individual* level has anywhere near as much bang for the buck, no pun intended.
The problem with blaming governments and giant corporations is that they will just say they are giving their customers and the voters what they wanted. Then what?
So Putin released explicit photos of Melania posing in the nude. How odd. Why would he do that? Trump says they are buddies. It was a warning. Now that Trump has reached the pinnacle of power, again, he is certain he can do anything he wants and can't be touched. Putin had another "friend" named Prigozhin who tested the Russian leader. No more. I'll bet that the sensational story in the Steele dossier about a video tape of a tryst in a Moscow hotel between Trump and two ladies dancing on a bed is real. If it is, Putin is reminding Donald he could release that as well. Remember Prigozhin.
Hypocrite: Attribution - maybe it was your (wholly unnecessary) jaunt to Valencia that tipped the scales. Collective byproduct from jet-fuel. Cough up!
Valencia has seen heavy rain in such a short period of time before, such as in 1959. Inquiring minds would also like to ask whether the removal of several dams upstream of Valencia also contributed to the disaster. The products of those 57 companies are used by billions of people. Do you seriously think that if we stop burning fossil fuels these disasters will stop? What about the Great Hurricane of 1780? Can that be attributed to climate change?
How should you be held to account for your contribution to global warming (or "climate change" or whatever the powers that be have decided we're supposed to call it these days) by using your device to post this article? Who should be held responsible for the fossil fuel used by all those reading it? Not me, I hope.😎
It would make sense that the energy and device producers would be held accountable for the emissions, pollution and other damage that ensued from their product production. They then can make the product more expensive to keep the production costs + environmental tax below the consumer price.
Generally, shifting the focus from corporate and governmental accountability to personal accountability in such global problems as climate change is a counter-productive strategy aimed at maintaining status quo.
Nothing in my suggestion indicates that you would be singled out and required to pay more than any other person on this planet, or otherwise would be treated unfairly, so I am perplexed at this reply. What is it exactly that you perceive as unfair and that bothers you?
I realize that I have not been singled out. If money is being taken out of people’s pockets it is going into other people’s pockets. I am one of the people whose pockets money would be taken out of, not one of those whose pocket it would go into.
Excellent thought piece!
I've been saying for years now that when the UN said "we're committing collective suicide" that what they should actually be saying is "we're experiencing mass murder, and the blood is on the hands of the corporations, governments, and people in power who continue to fail us."
Thousands, if not millions of us, have been protesting, adopting our own "green" practices, reducing our carbon footprints, taking transit and so forth. It all feels futile when my government continues to drill billions of gallons of oil from Albertan fields and Taylor Swift takes her private jet everywhere on a weekly basis. It is not collective suicide, it is mass murder, and many of us have been screaming for help (and shouting for the world's poorest, who have no ability to speak when they are running from the deathly effects of climate change).
Yup, it absolutely is a mass murder. It's good to see you on here, Ashely!
Indeed, all of our individual efforts seem to be more or less in vain, until we get truly SYSTEMIC change. It is the worlds largest collective action problem, and the system is rigged.
Yes, exactly, I've been just talking about this with friends in the latest months.
People love magic, I've heard,
because it can solve quite a lot.
Imagine such magical border
that, via the air and the water,
permits inconspicuous disposal
of garbage in volumes colossal,
and yet, as a tunable faucet,
it filters the humans who cross it.
People love magic, I've heard,
because you would never be hurt.
Imagine the pestering threat
of paying for things that you get.
It's simply too much,
and warrants a fight,
for you have the rights,
you all have the rights,
and if you were ever to blame,
you already wished it away.
Important, timely article - thank you. So many people have been violently impacted by extreme weather I think that the idea of extreme event attribution’s time has come. Let there be a wall of shame. Let the corporations hear feom their shareholders, increasingly millennials who make purchases with conscience.
Only two days after Trump was elected to most powerful government position in the world , your warning appears. He has called climate change a fraud and promised as president to unleash oil drilling in environental preserves. And voters simply ignored the inevitable consequences. The simple rationale - I'll be dead by the time it really matters, if it ever does. And Trump's favorite people, the Christians, will tell you even the Bible commands it; Proverbs 10:5 Make hay while the sun shines.
And of course he probably still claims it is a Chinese hoax. SMH.
This is so relevant! (Also, I am presenting a paper on the environmental impact of telehealth at a conference and, may I use your hook about Eunice Foote? I didn't know about her either!)
Of course you can use it! It would be great if more people knew about her.
Amen to that! Well-said overall. The oligarchs and their sycophantic lackeys luuurrve to gaslight We the People to blame themselves in order to take the heat off of those same oligarchs and their lackeys. While there is a kernel of truth to the idea that we are all collectively responsible for climate breakdown and ecological overshoot in general, the oligarchs are orders of magnitude MORE responsible for causing it in practice.
It is literally the world's largest collective action problem in all of recorded history.
Exactly. While individual sustainable choices are helpful and I believe needed as well, they’re not nearly enough on their own. Real change requires a complete overhaul of how these corporations operate and how governments enable their practices.
Well-said. Anything less than truly systemic change is simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic in practice.
Of course, we would be remiss if we ignored the biggest elephant in the room of all, overpopulation. That is, the MEN who force, coerce, deceive, and manipulate women into having (more) kids that they otherwise wouldn't have, need to be held accountable. Forced-birthers, I am looking at YOU most of all.
After all, the lowest-hanging fruit thing that an individual can do to reduce one's impact on the Earth is to simply have fewer kids. Nothing else at the *individual* level has anywhere near as much bang for the buck, no pun intended.
The problem with blaming governments and giant corporations is that they will just say they are giving their customers and the voters what they wanted. Then what?
Then we don't buy into it and make it clear that public demand isn’t an excuse for knowingly engaging in harmful practices.
And that is some grade-A gaslighting coming from them.
So Putin released explicit photos of Melania posing in the nude. How odd. Why would he do that? Trump says they are buddies. It was a warning. Now that Trump has reached the pinnacle of power, again, he is certain he can do anything he wants and can't be touched. Putin had another "friend" named Prigozhin who tested the Russian leader. No more. I'll bet that the sensational story in the Steele dossier about a video tape of a tryst in a Moscow hotel between Trump and two ladies dancing on a bed is real. If it is, Putin is reminding Donald he could release that as well. Remember Prigozhin.
Hypocrite: Attribution - maybe it was your (wholly unnecessary) jaunt to Valencia that tipped the scales. Collective byproduct from jet-fuel. Cough up!
Valencia has seen heavy rain in such a short period of time before, such as in 1959. Inquiring minds would also like to ask whether the removal of several dams upstream of Valencia also contributed to the disaster. The products of those 57 companies are used by billions of people. Do you seriously think that if we stop burning fossil fuels these disasters will stop? What about the Great Hurricane of 1780? Can that be attributed to climate change?
How should you be held to account for your contribution to global warming (or "climate change" or whatever the powers that be have decided we're supposed to call it these days) by using your device to post this article? Who should be held responsible for the fossil fuel used by all those reading it? Not me, I hope.😎
It would make sense that the energy and device producers would be held accountable for the emissions, pollution and other damage that ensued from their product production. They then can make the product more expensive to keep the production costs + environmental tax below the consumer price.
Generally, shifting the focus from corporate and governmental accountability to personal accountability in such global problems as climate change is a counter-productive strategy aimed at maintaining status quo.
Everybody wants “the other guy” to bear the burden. “I will emit carbon, but I want you to stop.”
If you are willing to set the example, then I might follow.
Funny how everybody’s solution seems to involve taking money out of my pocket and putting it in theirs.
Nothing in my suggestion indicates that you would be singled out and required to pay more than any other person on this planet, or otherwise would be treated unfairly, so I am perplexed at this reply. What is it exactly that you perceive as unfair and that bothers you?
I realize that I have not been singled out. If money is being taken out of people’s pockets it is going into other people’s pockets. I am one of the people whose pockets money would be taken out of, not one of those whose pocket it would go into.