Humans Who Complain About the Planet-Behavioral Indifference!

[9squaredis81]

Does it hurt you to see people talking about how much they hate what’s happening to the planet, and then not do anything?​

I don’t know if this belongs in Environment or Support, so I’m putting it here, but it can be moved if you need it to be. When me and my parents were walking the dog, we talked about what humans are doing to the environment and the climate and how horrible it is etc. etc. I found it hard to empathize. I don’t feel like they do anything. They went home and ate meat and cheese and stuff. They aren’t doing one of the single biggest things you can do to save the planet. That’s what first turned me vegetarian four or five years ago. I was a kid who was scared about everything happening and I didn’t have any way to vote or do anything, so I voted with my plate. Veganism came much later, after learning more about the animal cruelty aspects. I try to do other things too. I bike wherever I can. I don’t feel like most people who complain about the environment being how it is do anything in response. I do what I can as a teenager. I wish I could do more. I wish I could actively protest. But I feel like people say they care about the environment until personal sacrifices are required. And the whole thing grinds my gears.

 

[Second Summer]

I suppose most people who care on some level feel they are powerless to do anything that matters, since after all each of our personal contributions to the problem and solution through consumption is incredibly small. And therefore that any solution has to instead come from the governments and politicians, and / or perhaps somehow from big business, i.e. a top - down solutions.

In a way they are correct, but it's just that politicians in general won't do fudge until there is sufficient popular pressure for them to act, and big business in general also won't do fugde until there are either popular demand for enviro-friendly products and/or they need to adhere to regulations decided by the politicians.

So therefore, getting society to address climate change and environment degradation in general does require grass-roots activism, and therefore the support of each and every one of us. We ought to support pressure groups that work to force politicians to address these problems, both through memberships and advocating for these groups, in addition to going vegan and otherwise trying to lead sustainable lifestyles.

 

[Emma JC]

I think the fact that they are even willing to discuss the environment is an awesome thing as it is only with awareness does change come.

Be the best example that you can be! and it sounds like you are doing a great job.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[majorbloodnok]

Please bear with me on what might at first seem like a dive off down an unrelated rabbit hole, but you will see the relevance in a bit.

When I was growing up, my parents and pretty much all their generation viewed the idea of consuming alcohol and then driving home as an acceptable risk. They had the idea that "only a little bit over the limit" wasn't really doing anything wrong and that they were safe up to that limit. They certainly didn't think that the limit was where the risks became too great and everyone used idioms like "just one more for the road". These days, whilst there are certainly persistent pockets of drink-drive offending, pretty much every gathering I go to will naturally assume that if you're driving you won't drink. If someone admits to intending to drive later and consumes alcohol, they are treated almost as if they've got two heads, and as a rule of thumb drink-driving is very much frowned on.

This change has definitely come about by successful and persistent education of the general public, but it's interesting that people of my parents' generation haven't changed their attitudes all that much. In other words, the shift has been from one generation to the next, not by changing individuals' minds.

My point, of course, is that the pressure to be more environmentally aware isn't wasted even if it seems like individuals are deaf to the message. I'm not saying we have to wait for the next generation to take control before things will get better, but shaping the next generation's views in that way is still a big thing in itself. And whilst continuously pushing that message may not change individuals in the current generation, it might well convince them not to stand in the way of future change - again, a significant win.

In short, don't get disheartened just because change isn't happening the way you imagine it; your effect may well be more profound and far-reaching that you expect.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Most people's resistance to change and desire to copy what others are doing outweighs any ethics.

Very few people are capable of doing things such as going vegetarian, declaring that they will sell their petrol/diesel car and never buy another one again, declaring that they will never fly again etc.

At least not until they see others doing it.

 

[Daniel Swords]

Most people I know consider themselves to be environmentally aware and concerned; yet they take almost no responsibility for minimizing or even reducing their own personal environmental footprints. They seem to take refuge in their beliefs that only legislation, regulations and governments can cause a difference.
Look at any recent videos of weather related disasters and 80% – 90% of the burned out car carcasses from fires, or those being swept away by floods, are unnecessarily oversized, gas guzzling, self-indulgent behemoths. Yet rarely is the point ever mentioned that every individual could, and should, contribute to making a positive difference. The wonderful success story of “The March of Dimes” has been completely forgotten.
Perhaps that is human nature. Perhaps most people will continue to rationalize and accept their materialistic self indulgences and status quo lives, and ignore their own impacts and responsibilities, expecting that somebody else must do something, until conditions become so dire that they will be forced to change; or until it becomes overwhelmingly financially advantageous or exceedingly convenient for them to take actions.
I find my sanctuary in the hope that someday kindness and cooperation will be esteemed over competition and materialism, and concerns for Nature and the Planet Earth will override concerns for personal affluence and self indulgences. Someday societies will come to realize that as products of Nature, all beings are interrelated and interdependent and that whatever harms the Planet Earth, harms humanity.

 

[Andy_T]

Unfortunately, this is quite common.