The Yungest Onion @ YungOnions @sh.itjust.works

Challenge Defeatism. Resist Doomerism. Alt account @ Lemmy.world (now banne

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2 yr. ago

Then I think we're talking at cross purposes. Believe me, I understand the scale of the task and I understand that performative action can be just as damaging as doing nothing at all. However my point is that by only and exclusively focusing on the negative you risk giving the impression that any action is pointless. Those people that you mention chaining themselves to trees etc do so because they believe that it is the only way to achieve the change that is required, but they do believe that change is possible, otherwise why bother? Marinate those same people in a exclusive culture of "we're all doomed, change is pointless because it's too late and it's naive to think otherwise" and soon enough you won't have anyone chaining themselves to anything because you've managed to convince them, wrongly, that it's a waste of time.

There's a psychological aspect to fighting climate change that I think people forget. You need motivation and determination and I belive you get that by staying informed of both the bad and the good work that is being done. Celebrating the little wins so we can continue to push for the big ones. I hope that makes my point a bit clearer? Maybe these articles will do a better job of explaining what I mean, lol:

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

https://grist.org/climate-energy/hope-and-fellowship/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/du%20jour

No one said anything about mindless optimism. You are correct, change is needed and fast, but relentless pessimism achieves nothing except foster defeat. I'm advocating for a realistic approach to how we look at climate change mitigation. Part of being realistic is understanding that things may not be as hopeless as parts of the Internet would like you to believe.

Countries already are. Slower than we'd like, but change is happening. Big changes start small, but gain momentum. Look at the rollout of renewables and EVs. If you'd described where we are now to past me only 10 years ago, I wouldn't have believed you.

The amount of Doomers on Lemmy and Reddit is depressingly large as well. It's du jour to act like any talk of climate positivity is naive, change is impossible and collapse is inevitable. Just look at the popularity of whole subs dedicated to Collapse and Doomer material. It's exhausting trying to challenge the position of some of these users, yet we must try. Hope is an important part of tackling the climate challenges we're facing, and the glamorisation of defeatism isn't going to help foster that.

Excellent. This will both highlight those companies that are just performative in their actions and those ones who are really trying. A good move.

Maybe try these guys:

https://www.simplygum.com/en-gb/collections/gum

They taste great, but they're not as chewy as normal gum.

Playing a bard in BG3 be like...

Actually evidence suggests otherwise. Look up 'Broken Window Theory'. Basically keeping an area clear of litter discourages people from littering, not the other way around.

If I understand your comment correctly you are implying that individual actions matter little because it's only on a large, collective scale that change can be implemented? My counter to that is you can do both. Personal responsibility and collective responsibility are not mutually exclusive. Plus I'd argue you're more likely to foster collective responsibility from the actions of individuals, than you are waiting for a group to spontaneously decide to act as a whole.

Finally I'd also point out that there are degrees of change. My picking up litter on my daily walk is not going to make the world a better place, but it will make my neighbourhood a better place, and that's valuable to. And in doing so it may inspire others to do the same, and from there you generate that collective responsibility you mention.

You're right, you can't achieve collective action alone, but I'd argue that individual action, such as what you're doing is part of that collective action, no?

Sure! There's goodnews@kbin.social, lemmybewholesome@lemmyworld, goodnewseveryone@sh.itjust.works and upliftingnews@lemmy.world. They're all small communities, but they're worth checking out. I'd recommend those news sites on that link I listed to. Definitely eye opening to see all the good stuff that is just ignored by the mainstream media. Stay positive out there, friend! 👍

Doomscrolling bad news is really bad for your health. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/what-is-doomscrolling-and-why-is-it-bad-for-us/143139/

Bad news is also literally addictive and it is important to break that habit https://www.fastcompany.com/90269566/how-to-stop-your-brains-addiction-to-bad-news

I'd suggest subscribing to some of the more positive news threads on Lemmy. I ended up blocking those ones that only seem to post negative stuff. The world is a bad enough place as it is without Lemmy ramming it down my throat to. I'd also suggest regularly visiting other positive news sites to remind yourself that there is good news happening, you just don't hear about it from the normal places. Certainly helps put things into perspective. https://www.groovnow.com/blog/where-to-find-good-news-online

It's important to try and stay happy, friend, now more than ever.

You mention 'solve world hunger', implying you know that's the outcome already. That's an easier choice then, isn't it. The point I'm making is that doing something because it's the right thing to do regardless of whether you know it's going to work is what makes it a bigger sacrifice. The person I was replying to was also implying they would only consider sacrificing something if they knew the outcome first. If we all did that we'd never achieve anything.

Then it sounds like you've made your choices, and you should be satisfied with them. That's a good thing. Those compromises and reductions have moved the needle. A little, maybe, but it's still doing something. Good for you. 👍.

Insignificant in the wider picture, maybe. But as you imply we have little to no control over that. All we can influence is our own actions, and hope that will be enough. The problem with the defeatist attitude that so often surrounds any discourse regarding, for example, climate change is that by declaring success impossible before you even try, all you do is guarantee failure.

All one need do is chose what changes one wishes to make and then make them to the best of one's abilities. That's it. If you can look yourself in the eye and say 'I did all I could. I did my best' then you have succeeded. Will it achieve everything we want it to? Maybe not, but it'll achieve 100% more than not trying. Ultimately we all have a responsibility to do what we can. So I argue we should all try and do just that and be content that we did our best, because I will not except defeat. How about you?

If you already knew the outcome, it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice would it. Sometimes we need to do something because it's the right thing to do, not because it guarantees success.

I agree, greenwashing is a real problem. Hence my point around holding these people to account. We all have a responsibility to ensure they cannot back out of these commitments, and it's only with that kind of pressure we'll see any meaningful change. Luckily we are starting to see that kind of sea change begin to happen.

That being said, I do believe that it is also important to foster positivity when it comes to climate change, to ensure we don't drown out motivation with defeatism.

Better than nothing. We just need to hold them to account, to ensure they actually follow through on it now.

I enjoyed Greenland with Gerrard Butler. I appreciated the focus on the human element that didn't feel annoying.