The Swerve

Also, it's not petroleum production that's the biggest problem really (even though as you say, plastics do have more and more viable alternatives available these days), but rather the burning of petroleum products as a fuel source that seems to be the major problem re; climate change.

I feel like the analogy has to be fleshed out with the caveat that "turning the engine off" kills some > 50% of the people in the confined space right away.

> Fighting against what? Change?

Yes, exactly. It's no more complicated than that. Change is hard, and we need to acknowledge that. When its change you deeply believe in, it's not so hard. But when that change is framed as a set of "for" and "against" political ideologies, with little interest from either side in having an honest conversation, now that change looks like one political party imposing their will on the other. People are hardwired to be loyal to their tribe, and when these issues manifest as Tribe A vs. Tribe B, it's little wonder that they fight against it at what seems to be an almost unconscious level.

I don't think this can change until we start having different kinds of conversations with each other. The current shouting, name calling, derision, etc. only deepen that divide, and ultimately it doesn't matter if the subject is climate change or inequality or abortion rights, we're in an era where almost no one is willing to have an open conversation, with genuine interest in hearing the other side. Because of this, all each side sees is a caricature of the other, unable to see what's really there.

I'm about as liberal as one can be, and I find myself incredibly frustrated at how "my party" engages.

> anything can be your way of life if you are stubborn enough and willing to make it your identity I guess?

Look at the state of modern discourse. Almost everyone is tying their identity to a myriad of things. This is relatively new. Political party is just one. By definition, political changes that impact attributes of one's identity are now perceived as existential threats, because identity is about as existential as it gets.

> “Yeah you’ve got ghosts in your blood, better do cocaine about it!” - Old timey doctor whose way of life is threatened

This is a pretty disingenuous example when there are real/current issues that we could examine instead. I think one need only look at the pandemic and how it unfolded. Was I incredibly frustrated at conservatives for their selfish behavior and denialism? 100 times yes. But it seems clear to me that much of that behavior was precipitated/exacerbated by the attitudes of liberals, who shamed, shunned, yelled and screamed at those who disagree (behaviors which seem antithetical to liberalism...).

And what was everyone screaming/yelling about? Telling people that they could no longer live their lives. No longer see their friend groups, etc. You can argue that this isn't what it was about, but if you come from a position that suspects the premise of the argument is incorrect, the only thing you can look at is the outcome of the argument, which in this case directly impacted everyone's ability to live their lives freely.

"But it was for the greater good and they're just selfish and don't give a shit about other people" is what many of my liberal friends would counter with. And I agree it was for the greater good (which is why I was extremely conscientious about my own behaviors throughout that time), but the trouble is that the dialog got stuck at the screaming/shouting phase.

That this resulted in a similar response and backlash hardly seems surprising.

If the pandemic was a dress rehearsal for how we tackle world-wide existential problems, we need to be going back to the drawing board, and fast.

Maybe it's fatalist to say, but the only rational action at this point is to adapt. This is happening whether any of us individuals want it to or not at this point. Perhaps it's time to drop the fear and uncertainty and look at this as a challenge to be dealt with outside the context of any form of emissions control. The only plausible foreseeable future at this point is one with total runaway greenhouse conditions. So now what?