Thread by @m_older

We KNOW what to do to solve/slow climate change. Instead of new tech solutions someday/greenwashing increments, what we need to figure out is 1) how to make the change in the face of narrow but powerful interests that don't want to 2) support the vulnerable during the transition

https://twitter.com/m_older/status/1461395844511457284

In order to do 1), we first need to be clear that these are narrow, entrenched interests. The fossil fuel industries are not equivalent to the economy; their profit margins do not correlate to high standards of living for us; their interests are not our interests. Further,

our decision-makers are chosen through a flawed process only tenuously related to democracy; their motivations are not solely (if at all) the well-being of voters; we do have levers to influence them but those levers are attenuated and indirect, unlike lobbying $$$ & corruption.

The way our economy is structured is not the only way it could be structured; it is not an inevitable result of supply and demand, but of subsidies, price fixing, industry lobbying that creates certain condition, the willful underpricing or ignoring of externalities.

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So the interests of those with the most power in the current structure are weighed against necessary action. We can leverage what power we have - which is working, to some extent, we see this simply in the degree of greenwashing going on- but may not be enough. probably won't be.

We need to change the structures of power, change the systems that allows control to this venality, change our ideas of status and success. And why the fuck wouldn't we?? We may be pushed to this by dire urgency but it is all to the better

The US government doesn't function like a democracy, because it isn't fully one - see Cory's thread below for a one set of evidence, there's plenty similar, from the US and other countries. If we want to live in democracies, we need to make some changes.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1461349483581566976?s=20

I've written before about some of the changes we can push for to make the US & other countries more democratic, both at nationally and pushing up from the local level
foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/08/dem…
foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/30/dem…
nytimes.com/2019/10/24/opi…

anyway I'm sick of talking about these comemierdas, may they never be referred to again except as historical villains & in terms of retribution reparations & shame. in the unlikely event of abject repentance that can be mentioned but they still get no cookies. let's move on to 2)

We need to change the way we live and because of the aforementioned comemierdas unnamed except in infamy, that change is going to be more painful & drastic than if we had done it slowly. The system is deep against it. That's why it's so hard to make meaningful change individually

Many people would like not to own a car, but literally cannot get to a job or shopping without one; would be willing to eat less meat, but cheap crappy meat is more available than other options; would love to pay less for electricity but can't afford initial investment in solar.

We're in a culture of (STUPID AND NOT EVIDENCE-BASED) worship of "austerity." That needs to change. We need to prioritize care and support and safety, offer an abundance of what we do have to people who will suffer because of the selfishness and greed of others.

People say "we don't really have an alternative to current energy sources," but we do: use less energy. I was in Japan after Fukushima Dai-Ichi, when all the nuclear plants were shut down, and there is so much we can cut that is entirely unnecessary.

Lower AC use and stop fucking wearing suit jackets in summer. Turn off office lights and use motion sensors in corridors. I'm not saying this will get us all the way to where we need to be, but WHY WOULD WE NOT CONSERVE WHAT WE CAN???

Far better that we now start prioritizing and keep energy, transport, etc for important things - medical tech, family, life-saving, warmth - not stupid unnecessary stuff.

People freak out when I talk about no more cars - cars are so woven into most of our lifestyles and many people literally can't do without them as it stands now. So let's start with some lower-hanging fruit. Por ejemplo

Cruise ships are HORRIBLE for environmental and human health. And there is literally NO ONE who needs to go on a cruise. No one will be harmed by not being able to go on one, I don't care how fondly they dreamed of it. sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/…

So potential passengers aren't harmed if we regulate the cruise ship industry out of existence today (indeed, many of them may be healthier). What about the JOBS? you say (not you, probably, but others).

The CEOs and upper management are exactly the comemierdas I was talking about earlier. They know and have known they are doing harm, they've continued doing it for profit, they can be out of a job and in jail and pay for what's next out of their ill-gotten gains.

Staff and other lower-level employees who needed a job? Give them some money to live on. Give them some training, although they probably won't need much because hospitality industry still exists (for now...). Don't make them suffer, but don't use them as an obstacle.

Yes, you can just give people money, especially if you take away their jobs. Yes, people can be retrained. "But the jobs" is another way of implying that this is the only way the economy can be, and it's not true. euronews.com/2019/01/01/spa…

Okay so what about the places that "depend" on cruise ship business for their economies?
Those economies, too, can change. I'm going to defer to @drkarenlord @tobiasbuckell and others who have thought a lot about this, but the idea that the choice is between continuing with

practices that are extremely harmful across a number of axes- including neo-colonialism, racism, & environmental injustice -or collapsing small island economies because there's nothing else we could possibly do to support them or that they could possibly do productively - stfu

Invest in the people who LIVE in those places. Invest in sustainable transport that supports those people, and let tourists use it if they care enough to. Invest in financial systems that allow people in those places to do remote work and get paid for it, because there is NO

EXCUSE, in this era, for how difficult it is to get a bank transfer or buy an ebook or pay for a streaming service because a place is small. Expand access to education virtual and in-person. Don't just fucking say this is the way it is and let it run us all into a wasteland.

And if you notice, a lot of these changes and transitions and support require not only money - which can come from the comemierdas unnamed except in infamy and the awarding of damages, or from govts who are also complicit - AND they require people. Jobs.

https://twitter.com/tobiasbuckell/status/1461773123871657990?s=20