this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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I don't think that being part of the current society and doing what that society pushes people to do is a reason to dismiss criticism of that same society. I can acknowledge that I am flawed, that I am part of the problem, and still argue for change on a societal level. Especially because it is easier to act responsibly when everyone does
I agree. I'm all for demanding change, protest, debate, inform. Yet there are many things one can change in his/her life, some very easy, some more difficult. And I think it's important to change yourself as well, so you can demand it from others.
The most frustrating topic being plant based food: It is super easy to stop buying from animal agriculture, you simply decide it by yourself and buy a different thing next time you shop for groceries. People are very demanding when they talk about BP and their very lucrative business model because it's rooted in destruction, oppression and expiation. Then they sit down to eat every day and pay money to the most amoral, destructive, oppressive and exploitative food there is. Because they are accustomed to the taste. Why would BP change if you don't?
and it is entirely ineffective at stopping the growth of animal agriculture
Because BP isn't a human being it is a legal entity without inherent value other than those that we as a society allow it to have. If society decides BP should stop existing that's just a logistical effort (replacing energy needs, finding jobs for the workers there etc etc) where as if society decides I should stop existing that's a crime against humanity. Putting legal entities and humans on the same level here is a false premise in my eyes.
Also: Arguing for removing BP from the world IS showing a willingness to change personally because it means changing a lot of other stuff too that will affect everyones live.
I'd argue that that only works on small scales. For big changes we need to agree beforehand that we want and will do the change and then do that change together. Demanding someone jump first won't work here.
Problem with BP is, that the whole world runs on their product. It needs time, negotiations, laws, education and probably riots and sabotage to bring these large scale destroyers down. And they fight back because they earn a trillion dollars each year. Yeah you can ride a bike, please do, but this is not something you can take on by yourself.
Your food, on the other hand, is super personal. As I said, everyone could change their diet tomorrow. It's your choice, no politics involved. None will fight back, they can just show you more ads. If we'd eat only plants we'd solve 25% of the climate crisis over night. We'd stop murdering billions of sentient beings and we'd get healthier. Yet, if I bring this up, everyone starts arguing.
And even of we changed to renewables, all co2 emission from our food alone would shoot us way past 1,5°C warming because we need to stop eating animals anyway.
So, I jumped, many people jumped before me, even more after me. It's a commitment to change, it takes responsibility, it's healthy and fun and a big fuck you to animal agriculture, which is another large scale destroyer. It's the most radical thing most people can do in their lifes, and it tastes good. You should give it a try. :)
you are exaggerating. all of agriculture is only about 20% ghge
I'm not sure I see the difference between bringing big oil down versus bringing animal based food down. Both are critical pillars of our current societies, changing that takes a lot of work (even if we were to convince everyone that that change needs to be done). My personal decisions don't really matter as long as everyone else keeps going the way they are.
That being said I basically have a vegan diet and I very rarely use transportation that runs directly on oil. I just don't think that gives my arguments for societal changes any more weight. These arguments are right in my opinion, independent of whether I already live the change or just argue that the proposed changes would be beneficial.q