Morning CoSo. 🗺️☀️
Today for #OnlySky, something a little different.
In this piece on eco-activist thinking, I look at how resource-management gaming can remind us to hold ideas in tension, and that responsible climate change policy is far more complex than it can sometimes feel from our armchairs.
We need *huge* cultural changes--but how do we move the dial as everyday citizens, when our nations show so little will to act?
#Humanism #Environment #ClimateChange #Gaming
https://onlysky.media/mclark/how-to-be-a-better-armchair-activist/
@MLClark I think about this a lot. I have made significant life choices around lowering my carbon footprint but some folks won’t even do bare minimum/don’t care about others.
I feel like I need to study this phenomenon more (many examples of this lack of societal empathy elsewhere eg during Covid etc)
In the piece, I note the difference that cultural norms make. It's easier to live low-imprint where I am than where I was in Canada. Are the folk here "better"? No. They're just moving in systems that make certain low-imprint options easier.
For instance, a car only seems necessary if we've failed to build cities effectively for alternative & less overall transport.
So we need enough groundswell for systemic changes--but we also can't wait for everyone. Some will adjust later on.
My uncle just sent me a message that involved an offhand comment about a 45-minute car trip he took for Krispy Kreme. So I hear you: some lifestyles will not change easily.
The game reaches a demographic that wouldn't read the book, but Half-Earth Socialism thoughtfully outlines global solutions. We need political policy and (for public participation) tax incentives.
Ontarians were actually *really* good about eco-upgrades when tax credits came with them. Guess who stopped those?
@MLClark Yeah, it's always the Tories ....
@MLClark p.s. - put a hold on that book which is at my local library 🤓
@Astro_yyz Woo! Glad it's on hand. Happy reading - though I don't think it's going to make you any more of a "hit" at parties. 🤣
@MLClark I'm no fun at parties; I understand the science, and cultural positioning, and while I do what I can do, the frustration comes with knowing the most vulnerable (who didn't contribute to climate change like the global north did) will be affected the most, and some in the Global North go blithely on.
Toronto has the ability to to that, as long as you're not in a suburb!
I admit I have no patience for computer games though.
Comes back to education - bring on the groundswell!