this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2023
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Absolutely, it's a difficult one as I/we have little to no access to the main carbon contributors so I try to do the little I can instead! And vote!
I would recommend not reducing your quality of life to offset the output of the very people telling you to stop enjoying life. You taking a flight on a mass transit jet pollutes almost nothing in comparison to these jackasses flying around on private jets to virtue signal about the climate. When they at the very least decide to fly business class instead of taking their own jets I will take them at least somewhat seriously, but that'd mean they have the possibility of interacting with us normal folk so that'll never happen.
Driving less doesn't necessarily mean you've reduced your quality of life.
I was talking more about flying which is associated with vacations and travel which 100% does affect quality of life.
I don't understand the "need" for extensive travel with vacations. Do people travel to where you live to take a vacation. They do where I live. Why should I go out of my way to travel to some other place when there is beauty all around me right here.
I am betting that you'll be the first to switch to bug burgers and give up your home for a pod. So here's the thing, when you live in a location for tourism (as I do, by the way) it gets kinda boring due to this little fact that you live there. The point of traveling/vacations is to see something new, to have diverse experiences, you can't really have that in your home turf so to speak. Sure, you can go out and do things for fun on days off or whatever, but to actually vacation you're going to want to go out of your home turf. Hitting the same hiking trail for the 1000th time doesn't really hit the same as going somewhere you've never been before, or somewhere you've not visited much.
In those cases, if it's an option, there are also trains to consider. Depending on the length of the trip, that can even be a major improvement to quality of life.
I know that trains aren't always an option, especially in America. But if you can some train journeys can be really beautiful, especially across Europe and it's a much slower way of seeing places.
Trains also become a non-starter if there's a significant body of water such as an ocean between you and your desired travel destination.
People are literally saying "if it is an option". We know you can't take a train over the ocean.
Show me a single train that goes across oceans. Also don't mention ships lol because I will tear you up on that point as ships burn literally the worst fuel imaginable for the environment.
"if it's an option"
I've taken to more national holidays over flying in recent years. I quite enjoy it but I do recognise what you are saying with the reduction in flying having an impact on holidaying in general. I would strongly encourage finding places to see within your country as there are often brilliant places to see and stay and it helps the local economy.
Yeah its like just because corpos fly private jets I still walk first, then bike, then take public transit, and only drive if I have to. I try not to travel but if I do its train first, plane second.
Brilliant, you can only do what you can!
Yet all of your effort is obliterated by a single private jet flight.
So if your travel is a 1 and the jet is a 10, you have 11 damage to nature: If you don‘t travel and have 0 and the jet still has 10 then it‘s 10. That is less. Fair? No, far from it, nothing in this fucked up world is, but saying that it doesn‘t matter at all and everything is fine as long as the billionaires are doing worse is a cope.
So the solution is to remove the 10, but no one ever advocates for that oddly enough. It's funny seeing people in this specific debate simp for billionaires and do exactly as they want, for example you with this very comment.
There is people advocating for that, they’re just not the ones in power for obvious reasons.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/23/climate-activists-private-jet-fair-greenpeace-stay-grounded-extinction-rebellion
https://simpleflying.com/climate-activists-spray-paint-private-jet-at-sylt-airport/
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/climate-activists-least-13-countries-protest-private-jets-rcna56666
So powerless people trying to do what they can which as you rightly pointed out is failing because that is how our system is set up, to favour the wealthy at all times. The only things I see as working are all illegal, but obviously things will get a lot worse before people martyr themselves attacking private jets or pipelines.
Gives me major depression this and yeah maybe I am "doing exactly as they want" when I refrain from travel, but I literally do not know what else to do? Coping by doing a "whatabout the billionaires tho" might work for you, but it doesn‘t work for me cause I can see it as a cumulative effect and I can also see no way to stop billionaires from doing whatever the hell they want.
Well in that case you might as well give up all your possessions and find your nearest bugburger vendor because you clearly don't deserve to enjoy life. Just work, go home, and do nothing all day! Or you can say fuck that and go out to enjoy your life to spite these rich assholes.
Refraining from doing one thing doesn‘t mean you have to immediately go to the extreme of bugs again and again, you‘re only using your emotions on these bugs all the time to justify any behaviour you like.
Whatever, can‘t stop you, I do hope you enjoy life and I will try to enjoy mine within my own moral system too.
I don't know what to tell you if you think bugs are an extreme rather than the goal.
What makes it impossible to communicate between us is how reductive and black and white your worldview is.
You‘re either a bug loving billionaire simp who never goes outside or you eat 50 steaks a week and travel all over the world with no regard.
Seeing as you already put me in the first category and refuse to engage on any nuance whatsoever, it’s best we agree to disagree and end this painful exchange.
Enjoying life is not tied to burning fossil fuels, and I'm not sure who told you that. Or what your obsession is with eating bugs.
Might have something to do with the sudden and rapid onset of people pushing for bug based diets? Don't tell me you have not noticed that bugs went from a novelty that you got covered in chocolate or embedded in a sucker to "let's put cricket protein in everything, fuck people with shellfish allergies!" within the last 1-2 years.
No one listens to those people except you, it seems.
I can't even argue with this level of reality denial lol.