This post is not my usual rambling about tech. But I want to share my frustration with how I can't help with climate change.
First of all. I'm not virtual signaling, but I think I'm likely one of the least consumerist people in the population - I host my blog on Gemini. Boring jokes aside, I truly believe it. I barely buy new clothes. My Mom forced me to get new ones becasue the ones I had worn them for 12 years (but still good!). I don't own a car even though I do have a driver's license. I only switched out my smartphone becasuse the old one isn't fast enough for my work anymore. etc, etc.. I don't even go to the cinema or eat out. It's just not my thing. I buy vegitables and meat form a local market because it's chaper then the suepermarket.
On the computing side of things, I am not the most frugal person. But I must explain myself. I do computing for a living. I NEED a fast computer to do my work. As of my other computers, they all serve a purpose. The Orange Pi5 was bought to explore edge AI. The HoneyComb LX2K is my low pwoer server that hosts almost everything I have. This blog, cloud storage, Matrix, etc.. I used to have a laptop but it unusible now. I bought a PineTab to replace it's purpose. I've been debating if I should buy a Framework 13. But haven't as I don't have a purpose for it. That is until recently I joined a local hackerspace and I need an actual laptop.
All the above is to say, there's no meaningful amount of "degrowth" or "sustainable" I can do. I'm already doing it, for more then half of my life without even knowing it. And this is where the powerlessness comes in. I can give up on drinking Vodka. That's not going to make any difference though.
Sorry for the strong words, but. There's jack sh*t more I can do.
Less of getting solar panals and building my own pile of LiFePO4 battries. There's nothing I can do that will make a meaningful amount of change. But I CAN'T. I live in an apartment in a city. I calculated the maximum power I can get is ~600W from using CIGS solar panals as blinds. That's not remotely close to useful. Me buying the materials will simply be a waste. I've been looking into putting my spare money into green energy ETFs. Sold a few PUTs by now. Doing well on that front. But I'm ok if I lose money on it since it's really a donation on my end.
That's it. There is nothing I can do beyond where I am at. All I can do is hope that local and international politicians will do something about it. But I'm not super optimistic about it. There has been a lot of inaction since I was told about climate change in school. Looking at statistics, it's not getting fast enough. My country is still lacking 40% of it's 2025 goal. We need another 4.5GW of solar per year to reach it. Yet there's nothing I can do. I won't even make a dent if I throw my net worth at it.
I can also ramble about how unstable renewable energy is. That we likely need much more nuclear power. While F-ing Greenpeace is against it. The fact that we need more engineers making decisions, not politicians. But I'll spare everyone that.
Like, no. This is not the world I want to live in. But I have done everything I can. I am already as much of a part of the solution as I can be.
Sigh.
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I mean, what else? YOLO out-of-the-money Calls and Puts on volatile stocks, become a multi millionare and then build my own power plant? Forgive me I want a peaceful life.