Action at the individual level does a great fuck-all when O&G companies are raping our planet for shareholder value at an accelerated rate.
That’s the same argument as arguing as Canada doesn’t have to do anything about climate change because China and India can fix it on their own with their bigger population. We have to make some changes on the individual level to be good role models and to pressure those same corporations
I disagree with the “blame all the individuals”, but those O&G companies are destroying the planet because they have customers. Somebody buys the gasoline, the fertilizer that becomes cattle-feed, the airline-tickets that consume the fuel.
If demand dropped, so would their profits.
At the same time billions of people live paycheck to paycheck and they can’t afford to vote for the future with their wallets, because they have to vote for their survival right now. Demand pressure is essential but we can’t rely on just that.
Edit.: Not saying that you’re implying otherwise, I just think it’s important to add that any demand drop will be mild at best in the short term, negligible at worst, and we need to go fast so policy is necessary.
Right. I’m not prescribing how the supply should look. Whether it’s a mass deregulation and turning the entire green belt into a trailer park and importing a crapload of mobile homes, or whether we go top-down and start building Khrushchyovkas, or we invent a complicated system of co-ops, or we nationalize every hotel in Canada, whatever strategy that we take: we need a crapload more rental housing, and at least some of it will need to specifically target the most vulnerable because it’s going to take time to properly drive down rents system-wide and there are people for whom this is an emergency.
Action at the individual level
Individual x 8.1 billion = significant change.
Yes, some companies are just awful, but we are supporting them with our lifestyle. Our choices affect their bottom line, and often force them to do better (or worse) depending on how we spend our money.
Yeah, the method for those 8.1 bil to organize together to affect meaningful change exists already — it’s called countries passing laws to stop corporations.
it’s called countries passing laws to stop corporations.
Stop them from doing what? Providing goods and services to 8.1 billion people?
