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https://theconversation.com/think-your-efforts-to-help-the-climate-dont-matter-african-philosophers-disagree-247042>
"When I drive my car on weekends, I emit greenhouse gases – but not enough to
change the global climate on my own. But when I, my neighbours and hundreds of
millions of other people drive, fly, eat meat and embark on countless other
activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions, we raise the Earth’s
temperature.
This is what we might call a collective harm problem, where the acts of many
together lead to harmful outcomes, but no discrete act by any one person can
solve it. Debates on how to fight climate change generally settle on the need
for collective action – but does that make personal efforts inconsequential,
even pointless?
If a single pro-environment lifestyle change – like one person giving up their
SUV or cutting out meat in favour of plant-based foods – will not turn the tide
of global climate change on its own, it’s reasonable to feel there is little
that “doing your bit” can achieve. This mindset is disempowering.
Fortunately, it is not the only way of responding to the challenge. African
philosophers have a different way of looking at it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
