Biggest Dork.

I just wanted to point out how this kind of thing I see a lot of on tumblr is actually really unhelpful in addressing climate change and I think a lot of y'all are stuck in an "it either has to be one or another" approach, where it either has to be the individual consumer or large businesses, and that's just not the case, it should be both.

@mutuality-tied Yes and no, like yes certain industries can pay to have that put out to the public to distract from and turn people's attention away from the bigger culprits, but we also can cause more harm than needed in our day to day lives and it's always worth having a look to see where we could make changes not instead of holding the main culprits accountable but rather in addition to. The whole "individual changes do nothing" quip and mentality is destructive, unproductive and just flat out not true. Like with the plastic straw discourse, and I will say it again and I will fight anyone on this, if you don't need it due to disability, an acute condition and or neurodivergence reasons then actually yes you should avoid it, and other kinds of plastic single-use items when and where you can and are able to. (and actually I could go on another side tangent to do with some problematic infantilization of disabled and neurodivergent folks that I've seen occur on this app, where it's probably well intentioned but people somewhat right away the agency left that people have which is actually pretty gross, but anyway that could be a whole other post in and of itself, (same thing with co-opting what is specific to a certain group of people when it doesn't apply to you)). I just wanted to point out how this kind of thing I see a lot of on tumblr is actually really unhelpful in addressing climate change and I think a lot of y'all are stuck in an "it either has to be one or another" approach, where it either has to be the individual consumer or large businesses, and that's just not the case, it should be both.

We really need to stop imposing false dichotomies on how we go about something as serious as climate change. Things are going to get really bad. We need to be encouraging a multi-pronged approach to this, and that includes doing things to put pressure on politicians and big businesses, voting, attending protests, etc., in addition to reexamining our own lives and where we can make improvements and adjustments where/when practical and possible. Like any serious issue we face in society actually, it needs to be a multi-pronged approach and effort to most effectively address it.

@earthly--truth Is correct here. We need to stop trying to completely wash our hands clean of any responsibility here, we are not separate from the companies that produce the goods for us to buy. Reflexively feeling the need to remind everyone for the hundredth time that the main culprits are corporations, celebrities, and the government would be fine if it weren't for the conclusion drawn from that being that us as the individual consumers are some how absolved from needing to make any doable lifestyle changes what so ever whilst expecting the individual working inside the aforementioned infrastructures to make any changes when we ourselves wouldn't. This is illogical, if anything indicating to business that we're going to avoid certain brands associated with child labour, sweatshops, underpaying workers, poor working conditions, unsustainable practices, etc., actually incentivizes them to address these issues, as it effects what is always prioritized under our neoliberal capitalistic society, profit. Keeping in mind we all see ourselves as just one person, just an individual but collectively we make up the entire consumer population that helps to run and sustain the market for products. Every consumer collectively buying a particular kind of product means billions of people putting profit towards it to keep the business running, the idea that such huge swaths of people aren't making any impact here and or aren't capable of making a difference just doesn't really make any sense.

As @acti-veg has said "You blame them, and they blame the consumer for creating the demand which they simply fulfill, and meanwhile, people do fucking nothing to stop this global catastrophe. We know consumers aren’t the only problem, but if you had the option to fairly easily lower your own carbon footprint, why wouldn’t you? Some evil corporation isn’t going to do it so you don’t have to either? This diffusing of responsibility is the exact reason we are in this position in the first place."

Standing in his laboratory, Harvard professor Sean Eddy gazes at a row of vacant work stations. More than a year ago, this lab was filled with over a dozen researchers. On a given day they might be working independently on analyzing genomic sequencing or gathered around the group table, drinking coffee and helping each other troubleshoot questions about genomic data from different species.

Now, after his funding was terminated under the Trump administration, the computer screens are gone and the room is silent. He's one of the last people left.