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Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

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Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#11

Post by ntlk »

sergiotapia wrote: post #4

Climatic, there is nothing you can do. The vast majority of pollution comes from corporations, not individuals. Try to rally a change in laws, but don't focus your efforts on changing individual people's habits, it's a drop in the bucket.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures.

For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for them.

I’m not saying it’s a silver bullet, but these things do count, and sometimes changes driven by economic pressures happen very quickly.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#12

Post by sergiotapia »

ntlk wrote: post #11
sergiotapia wrote: post #4

Climatic, there is nothing you can do. The vast majority of pollution comes from corporations, not individuals. Try to rally a change in laws, but don't focus your efforts on changing individual people's habits, it's a drop in the bucket.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures. For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for…

All of the things you listed do _nothing_ but lower your quality of life.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#13

Post by gatherhunterer »

ntlk wrote: post #11
sergiotapia wrote: post #4

Climatic, there is nothing you can do. The vast majority of pollution comes from corporations, not individuals. Try to rally a change in laws, but don't focus your efforts on changing individual people's habits, it's a drop in the bucket.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures. For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for…

Vegan meals do not help to stall climate change, especially those consisting of soy-based alternatives. This is a marketing ploy by soy producers who profit by shifting public focus to meat and away from monocropping and agricultural emissions from monocrop cultivation. In addition to the fact that very few people have even seen, much less worked with, livestock being grazed and harvested outside of a CAFO and you have an effective marketing strategy that is “natural” enough to justify selling a single meal for more than most people make in an hour.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#15

Post by hhmartin »

Here is a startup incubator that focuses on activist companies. Maybe one of their startups would be a good place to work?

https://www.highergroundlabs.com/about-us

You could also consider running for office. There are several organizations now helping novices run for public office from local level to national.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#16

Post by username90 »

ntlk wrote: post #11
sergiotapia wrote: post #4

Climatic, there is nothing you can do. The vast majority of pollution comes from corporations, not individuals. Try to rally a change in laws, but don't focus your efforts on changing individual people's habits, it's a drop in the bucket.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures. For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for…

Do you honestly believe it is possible to solve this from the consumer side? We can't even make people stop eating themselves to death! You might get a small fraction to consume less but that wont save the environment. "Every little bit counts", no it really doesn't, it might buy us a few years and let the rest pollute even more before things are so bad that we start enforcing laws to stop them but ultimately those laws will be there, so all you achieved was making life a bit cushier for people who don't care.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#17

Post by justsomeguy3591 »

saaaaaam wrote: post #3

This may be a good starting point: https://80000hours.org/

I second this site - it's research-based and takes an objective view at several factors including how solvable a problem is, how many people are already working on it, etc. The podcast they host has some great interviews as well.

Marta - I find myself on a similar path and I wish you the best of luck going forward!

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#18

Post by ntlk »

username90 wrote: post #16
ntlk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures. For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for…

Do you honestly believe it is possible to solve this from the consumer side? We can't even make people stop eating themselves to death! You might get a small fraction to consume less but that wont save the environment. "Every little bit counts", no it really doesn't, it might buy us a few years and let the rest pollute even more before things are so bad that we start enforcing laws to stop them but ultimately those l…

No, on its own these things aren’t a solution, but collectively we are able to add to pressures on businesses to adapt their behaviours.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change?

#19

Post by ntlk »

sergiotapia wrote: post #12
ntlk wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do. Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market pressures. For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase in people willing to pay for…

All of the things you listed do _nothing_ but lower your quality of life.

That depends what for you constitutes quality of life. For me switching energy suppliers saved me money. Becoming vegan introduced habits that are proving to have a positive effect on my health. Cycling to work keeps me doing cardio regularly and it halves my commute time.
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