I found these paragraphs inspiring enough to share. Just living is praxis when you live mindfully.
Source: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/brian-a-dominick-animal-liberation-and-social-revolution
Yup. Systemic change and individual action are both very important
Sure but don’t flagellate yourself if you take a plane once per year to see your family who live across the globe in your home country.
Actually nobody should be taking pleasure cruises or flying for a vacation…
I see a lot of comments that make it seem like the burden of the environment falls on you, which is crazy. There are things affecting the climate that absolutely and unfathomably dwarf what you as an individual contribute. Don’t get me wrong though, anyone trying to do their part is admirable in doing so, and it’d be nice if more people that are capable of doing so, tried to.
Seems like a more specific way of saying, “Be the change you want to see.”
While this is certainly a valuable mindset and I agree with it wholeheartedly, it does necessitate being in a somewhat privileged position in life. Sometimes it’s all we can do to make it through the day, pay our rent and bills, or keep a desperate hold of our shit jobs. Growing gardens, installing solar panels, or changing diets aren’t always at the top of the priority list when there are other more basic needs that are still unmet.
As a disabled person and caregiver, I agree. I still do what I can but some days it is incredibly difficult to even do the bare minimum.
It’s hard not to get discouraged when my body betrays me, but for me I have to remember that my best will usually fall far below a non-disabled person’s best… And this is ok. (I’m still not completely convinced that it is ok but it’s what I tell myself.)
The thing is that the people who can not do it, mostly live a very sustainable lifestyle anyway. Subsidence agriculture is basically organic and a lot of permaculture is just repackaging that for a Western audience. Diets are also fairly vegan as meat and other animal products tend to be expensive and if they are not they are usually raised at home.
The people who need to change as their lifestyle is unsustainable have the means of actually changing it to a fairly large degree. Maybe not solar or gardening, but going vegan is certainly possible and even for the two first there are usually ways of finding a workable solution.
Those are examples, not requirements. Do what you can. Anyone who judges you for not doing enough while you’re struggling to merely survive is a shit person.
If there are small changes you can make to live a more sustainable life, do them. If there’s nothing you can do, that’s okay too. And if you’re so weighed down by the struggle of mere existence that you don’t have the mental energy to think about ways to change - that’s okay too. We who have the privilege to act should act, and when we do, we carry the aspirations of those who wish they could act but can’t.
If I meant to criticize anyone by this post, it would be the people in wealth and privilege, who could change their lifestyle to be more sustainable - who could be an example to their friends and family and neighbors by living their values - but who choose not to, because they believe personal sustainability is irrelevant when political and corporate actions have so much more impact on the world.
We need more noob-friendly systems in this direction. Better sharable guidelines to get started into this approach.
I totally get the sentiment, but our individual effects are miniscule when compared to the devastation caused by a few wealthy elite.
Even if the entire world’s population went vegan overnight, that would still only reduce emissions by 10-15%.
Solar panel tech has exploded over the last 10 years, yet CO2 emissions and power consumption have grown faster still.
Considering this is very much a time sensitive issue, I’m beginning to believe that the most effective use of resources would be direct action against the fossil fuel industry and military industrial complex. Things such as monkey wrenching, blockades, and other more radical means of force.
Of course not everyone is willing to personally go and cause damage to physical assets of corporations, fearing arrest and punishment. But some people have very little to lose and are willing to put their personal safety on the line.
For the others with more to lose (families, etc…), they can still help by identifing targets, keeping watch, donating tools/equipment, and even providing funding for more action, bailouts, legal fees, etc.
There is a reason the word punk is used in SolarPunk.
