The idea that individual action will make any meaningful difference is fanciful. I mean, I try to do my bit, too, but the modern highly unjust, hypermobile, high-consumption, animal-torturing, corpse-consuming lifestyle can only be successfully addressed by concerted political action. In the world of transport, most flying needs to be banned, motorways need to be replaced by railway lines, many roads removed, and towns and other places reorganised to ensure people can do and get most things locally. As I keep saying ad nauseam, for instance, London has a ridiculously over-concentrated centre and vastly excessive transport emissions despite the very high modal share of public transport, because people have to and want to travel very far around London every day.
Other areas are similar in the radical action needed--corpse-eating needs to be curtailed as much as possible (I'm under no illusions that it can be stopped entirely), large areas need to be 're-wilded' so that animals can actually live there rather than being shot at for profit, etc. The standard of living of people all around the world needs to be raised, but in such a way as to ensure 'developing' countries don't make all the mistakes the 'West' has made in adopting nonsense concocted by science fiction writers in the 20th century as desirable ways of living. Increasing equality and justice around the world is also the only way in which human populations can develop sustainably.
Obviously, all of this is fanciful. While some people are having their little protests and bask in the media attention, the vast majority of people aspire to things they don't have, try to participate more in the economy, and try to increase their status by embracing hypermobility and other unsustainable practices, because they're not as privileged as the chattering classes leading the protests, and they try to do what they've been shown is the way to success. I don't blame them. Until the remedy is 'we need to change our system of shared values' instead of 'give this up, give that up' there won't be a swing towards positive change at all.
The idea that individual action will make any meaningful difference is fanciful. I mean, I try to do my bit, too, but the modern highly unjust, hypermobile, high-consumption, animal-torturing, corpse-consuming lifestyle can only be successfully addressed by concerted political action. In the world of transport, most flying needs to be banned, motorways need to be replaced by railway lines, many roads removed, and towns and other places reorganised to ensure people can do and get most things locally. As I keep saying ad nauseam, for instance, London has a ridiculously over-concentrated centre and vastly excessive transport emissions despite the very high modal share of public transport, because people have to and want to travel very far around London every day.
Other areas are similar in the radical action needed--corpse-eating needs to be curtailed as much as possible (I'm under no illusions that it can be stopped entirely), large areas need to be 're-wilded' so that animals can actually live there rather than being shot at for profit, etc. The standard of living of people all around the world needs to be raised, but in such a way as to ensure 'developing' countries don't make all the mistakes the 'West' has made in adopting nonsense concocted by science fiction writers in the 20th century as desirable ways of living. Increasing equality and justice around the world is also the only way in which human populations can develop sustainably.
Obviously, all of this is fanciful. While some people are having their little protests and bask in the media attention, the vast majority of people aspire to things they don't have, try to participate more in the economy, and try to increase their status by embracing hypermobility and other unsustainable practices, because they're not as privileged as the chattering classes leading the protests, and they try to do what they've been shown is the way to success. I don't blame them. Until the remedy is 'we need to change our system of shared values' instead of 'give this up, give that up' there won't be a swing towards positive change at all.