Better for yourself, worse for the environment.

Which is more important, yourself or the environment?

The easiest and most effective solution would be to just get Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter/X to crack down harder on misinformation.

Optimally, there should even be a sort of “social reputation ranking” system in place to disincentivize online misinformation and hate speech by tying it to real-life ramifications. We sort of already have something like that for job applications, and I’m proud of that, but if we could extend the enforcement and implementation of this kind of thing to, say, transportation, real estate, or banking, that would certainly be a commendable step in the right direction. Ranted about the mask and vaccine mandates in 2020? Good luck buying that car.

Too bad an increasing and worrisome number of these platforms are being owned by right-wing shrinks. Heil Spez and Heil Musk.

While on the magnitude of hundreds rather than thousands, we literally just had one whole town burning down, and in the same state as Pearl Harbor, no less. If that’s not enough “psychological impact” to wake the masses up, I don’t even wish to imagine what will.

Well, we’re going to have to have a president who cares strongly about environmental issues asap.

No way that’s making it through Congress. It’s gonna have to come through an executive order.

Maybe we should start naming ecological disasters, such as forest fires, after conservative politicians.

Fucking carbrains.

I also think it’s foolhardy to naively assume that once the older generations start dying off due to old age, things are just automatically going to become better and more progressive without us having to lift a finger. Wrong! I’ve observed conservative brain rot already starting to infect my peers. And while I’m fortunate and privileged enough to live in a progressive blue state that (relatively speaking) cares about the Earth, unfortunately, very few communities around the globe have such luxury.

I think better trust in government is what we need. But the way things stand, we are so not ready for this. And if democracy doesn’t work in getting people to accept and comply with climate regulations that are bound to follow - and at this point that’s much more of a “when” than an “if” - leaders maybe shouldn’t be afraid to use force.

Hopefully at that point, we can keep a lid on things better than we did during COVID. But who am I kidding.

Incidents like these expose how dysfunctional and unsustainable our current economic system remains in this catastrophic climate crisis.

The elitist attitudes surrounding Apple products is so unbelievable. “OMG, I have an iPhone!” Yeah, you have an iPhone, so what? You’re the best? You can FaceTime your friends, despite you and your friends probably having, like, 7 other apps to do so? And no UI customizability or jailbreaking?

I’m just unable to understand the Apple/iOS hype. It makes my eyes roll. I’m content with my Samsung and Android, thanks.

“Landed gentry”, remember?

And disallowing… everything good.

“It’s pretty much over?” Hey, I don’t mean to sound like I’m putting you down, but this kind of defeatist rhetoric isn’t exactly helpful. After all, it reflects the kind of attitudes that allowed oppressive systems to persist for centuries. I’m as anti-fascist as you, but I’m worried that adopting a tribalist mentality will only nurture fascism and shield the privileged from accountability. Giving in to cynicism and analysis paralysis will do little to resolve the ever-worsening environmental catastrophe, and cedes the moral high ground to those prizing individual gain over the greater good.

Instead of wasting energy on Schadenfreude, I believe it’s more productive for us to come together as a species, set aside our differences, and reorganize our social and economic structures for the common benefit. Although it might sound demanding, anyone can help, and we can go a long way just by working together. Small daily choices will aggregate into powerful movements, but only if enough of us opt for sustainability over excess, demand accountability from corporations and governments, and upend the industrial capitalist machine that created this crisis.

The progress may seem glacial, intermittent, or stagnant. But this should not be rationale to give up! Besides, let’s celebrate the positives, and look towards how far we’ve come - more people than ever, especially those most directly impacted by climate change, such as Gen Alpha and/or the Global South - are recognizing the danger we’re headed for, and momentum for a just transition is building. Bottom line: the battle isn’t hopeless, but if we make it hopeless, it will. Stay strong, warrior.

And people still say she’s “politically neutral”? BS.

Identify as a woman.

Also another problem would be that some languages are more character-efficient than others. E.g. Chinese vs English vs Navajo.

Looking at you, Trump.

Me neither. It’s alright to learn superstitions and traditional folk beliefs, but what you shouldn’t do is allow them to get in the way of safety and productivity. E.g. taking herbal supplements with adverse side effects.

I, too, used to have a phase where I went around telling people I was “agnostic”, but looking back, the only real reason I kept saying that was to show an apologist face towards my conservative Christian family. Really I was just atheist, but it took me quite a while for me to be able to confidently say that.

That’s awesome!

Something I’m noticing is that while America continues their pattern of climate denial and destructive hyper-individualism, China - for all its flaws - seems to be leading the charge on the single greatest existential challenge of our time.

China is rapidly expanding renewables and green tech. They’re on track to become the world’s renewable superpower. While Americans absentmindedly whine and complain about society improving, China gets right to work on constructing a green national infrastructure to actually address the root causes of the crisis.

China understands collective action and planning are the only way humanity can overcome existential threats. China’s top-down governance, however authoritarian some claim, efficiently marshalled resources to minimize devastation during the COVID pandemic, but what’s possibly more important is their collective culture, the populace’s eager willingness to listen to the authorities, and make personal sacrifices for the benefit of society as a whole. None of that “freedumb” nonsense or pearl-clutching. Imagine if the US mandated decisive actions, not “choose your own experiment!”

This is serious; we cannot rest on our laurels and we cannot go back to brunch. We haven’t the luxury of half measures. Rather, we need the appropriate sort of complete and holistic mobilization asap to transition to greener, more sustainable models. To survive impending eco-collapse will require global equity, not privileged nations hoarding pie while the rest burn. We’d be wise to learn from China’s example. Obviously they’re not perfect - no one is - but I think their climate policies reveal what truly ambitious climate action looks like: bold, large-scale interventions that prioritize the collective good over individual freedoms.

I was pretty surprised too when I saw Colorado. Aren’t they and their governor among the least progressive Democrats? And aren’t they lax about their gun laws? Remember Colorado Springs?

Speaking of which, that city has a reputation as the “buckle in the Bible Belt” and is home to many evangelical seminaries. I’m glad Denver and Boulder are more open-armed, though the state as a whole could see more diversity.