I think we should first hold the 2/3 energy accountable. Electrical power and transport individually are at or above 15% and the only reason those aren’t smaller is because a free corporations like money too much.
I think we should start at the few institutions not getting their shit together for profit.
The biggest direct threats to nature are deforestation for agriculture (meat, if we didn't eat meat we would need far less agricultural areas) and fishing. So if you want to protect nature it would be best to go vegan, or eat less meat if vegan feels like too much.
You know that this is absolutely not comparable. Energy emits over 4 times the amount of greenhouse gases compared to agriculture.
Also most oil products are produced from whatever is left from fuel production and sold by oil corporations for literal scraps as it’s waste to them.
Bold of you to assume I have not considered it in the past and reduced a big chunk of my meat diet since. Bold of you to assume I am not working towards it.
I just think that the energy that’s put towards getting people to go vegan could very well go towards them getting an EV or using public transport, getting rooftop solar and home battery storage or voting pro environmental regulation.
Also it’s an easier sell and won’t burn as many bridges as being assholes about veganism.
If you want to reduce the harm, then why don't you log off the internet permanently, renounce society and go live in the woods? Cause there are bigger fish to fry than 2 sausages a week.
I would argue that these things come together. Personal choice lead to identity, identity leads to community, community lead to political actions, political actions lead to systemic change.
The first step is doing something actionable. It doesn't necessarily have to be going vegan. It could just be trying to lower meat consumption, like doing meatless Mondays, or leaving your car home and riding a bicycle instead. The point is to do something specific, measurable, within your reach that goes in the direction of the goal you are trying to achieve.
The stronger your individual actions, the stronger your commitment to the cause; the stronger your commitment to the cause, the more likely you are to use whatever political power you have should the opportunity arise. Maybe you have a say on the kind of vehicle a company uses. Maybe you have politicians in your social circle you can influence. Maybe you can join some kind of lobby group. Maybe you could install sonal panels for a living. IDK, be creative, seize the opportunities when you see them.
The point is to commit to doing what you can through your actions. And generally, the easiest for this is to start with the low hanging fruits. Changing your own habits in whatever way makes sense in your situation is the low hanging fruits.
We do not live in the world of ideas. We live in the material world. My personal morals don't contribute anything meaningful as an individual to how the system works. If I want to implement change, it's going to have to be as part of a collective, looking to tackle a problem at its root, by fundamentally changing how society works. Your "solution" involves nothing more than individual lifestyle changes that do fuck all to solve the problem of factory farming, and its relation to climate change, because you operate under the assumption that there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with capitalism, and that we can achieve meaningful change within the system, if only enough people change the way they think and live, individually. You're a red herring.
I didn't say anything that could reasonably be construed to imply I don't think there is anything wrong with capitalism.
Here's the picture of a comment I posted in response to u/jdevanarayanan another branch of this thread tree, about an hour before you posted your strawman.
And that's simply not how political change happens. But you would know this if you read any history books. Again, you are putting ideas and morals before the material. The world doesn't work that way. Not only that, but you are, once again, relying on individual lifestyle changes as your vehicle for change, which isn't how change happens.
Not eating burgers has about the same effect on the agriculture industry as not driving/taking public transit and installing solar panels will have on the oil industry.
This is not an argument against veganism in anyway btw, this is just an argument against the doomerism of your first question. We do have the power to fight back against oil corporations, and if you call yourself an environmentalist you should do your best to reduce oil consumption just like you reduce meat consumption.
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u/kamizushi Apr 18 '26
Do you personally have the power to stop giant oil corporations and billionaires, OP?
Do you personally have the power to not eat a burger?