I agree too, but I also think asking 'how do I save the planet' is perhaps not a very realistic question to ask myself and maybe thinking about the impact I can make within my sphere of influence may be better...I'm certainly not denying that that's not *enough* but there are daily local impacts to climate-changing behaviours e.g. local air pollution, loss of biodiversity etc. The analogy that springs to mind right now is that by rescuing people crossing the channel the RNLI aren't changing Home Office policy, or the conditions that led people to make the journey in the first place, or ensuring that people have safe and stable lives once they've been rescued*, but nobody who isn't a total c.nt thinks what they're doing isn't worthwhile.Fishnut wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:32 pmI promise I'm not picking on this particular twitter thread, it's just an example of the sort of thing I see in lots of places. In this thread - and many places elsewhere - we're told to not despair, that there's lots of things we can do to tackle climate and we should focus on the positives. It admits that individual decisions are only part of the problem and it's the system that needs changing. But the list of things we can do to change the system is as follows:
- go on climate marches
- vote for parties which prioritise the environment
- support environmental charities
I know I'm feeling incredibly pessimistic about everything which is probably clouding my judgement but f.ck those seem toothless.
Climate marches may achieve something, I don't know, and they can't hurt but the government seems to be singularly disinclined to care what protesters say. Protesting didn't stop the Iraq war, it didn't stop tuition fee rises, it didn't stop Brexit, there's been no signs to suggest it's going to change the substance of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Maybe protesting will influence companies, I certainly hope so, and there are examples of companies doing the right thing voluntarily, but they are few and far between.
My vote in national elections hasn't once mattered in the 20+ years I've been eligible to vote. Writing to my MP does f.ck-all because I, like a huge number of other people in this country, am in a safe seat. Stick a rosette of the right colour on a cow and they'd get elected.
Supporting environmental charities requires disposable income which isn't something everyone has.
I get there's no simple solution but these feel more about making peple feel better than they do about creating any meaningful change. Oh, I waved a placard and I wrote an email to my MP which he never saw because his secretary is a master gatekeeper and I donated a couple of quid to the local Wildlife Trust. That's really going to make the government listen come COP26
Are there any actually effective things an individual can do to change the system? Or is it all symbolic stuff in the hopes that those with actual power decide to take note?
Also like BOAF points out, lots of people have been at it for *decades* and somehow manage not to be totally defeated by it, feels a bit unfair to just keep on leaving them to it.
*although as a matter of fact I'm not entirely sure what does happen post-rescue, and I can't find info on their site very easily