Americans simply have no idea how much of what they take for granted is simply an unsustainable luxury. That absolutely includes leftists, too.

Responsibility comes not from fault, it comes from power to affect change. We do have the power. No individual person has, sure, but we all have a little bit of impact. You people fully understand that concept for racism or sexism, so why are you pretending it’s different here? Instead of looking at who has more power, why are you never asking yourself who has less power? You have the power of entire fucking families in the poorest countries in the world. You know, the people you pretend to care about when we talk about the GLOBAL climate change problem? Weird how the global-ness leaves your body the second we talk about responsibility…

Seriously, there’s a really good chance everyone here it in the global top 10%. And just like the local top 10%, we OVERCONSUME!

You say it’s important not to assign blame, yet this entire thread is about blaming companies. You keep using the word “ethically consume”, as if consumption is this magical shield that saves you from all responsibility. If I want to see a woman raped and I rape a woman and tape it, that’s obviously horrible. But if I instead find someone to PAY to create the video so I can CONSUME it, that suddenly cancels ANY AND ALL responsibility. WTF?

Calling for people to do what they can, which absolutely includes consuming differently, is the only correct choice here. Stop picking and choosing the parts of activism that require no effort from you personally. Stop pretending like the “system” is some kind of nefarious being in a cave we can just slay. We are all the system, we are all responsible to the degree that we have the power to change.

You might agree a little, but then talk about how little power we have. For one, do you think that’s true for feminism, or anti-racism? Me not making sexist jokes has a tiny, tiny impact on patriarchy. Can I then just keep doing that, because it makes no real difference? A bunch of rich patriarchs have so much more power, therefore can I just sit on my lazy ass and never do anything feminist, expect call myself feminist? Secondly, again, you’re picking and choosing what effort is ok to ask for. You ask for political activism, but draw the line at changing your habits where you can. That is simply non-sensical. Finally, you’re just wrong. Global climate change is GLOBAL. You do not get to shirk your duty on the pretense of powerlessness. The average American has the power and influence of ENTIRE FAMILIES in poorer countries. You know, the countries likely most affected?

Well, the beauty of research is that you can actually do it, instead of spouting whatever nonsense that was.

If Bill Gates tells you tomorrow to not kill puppies, you killing puppies overmorrow?