It’s been fashionable to dunk on “individual activism” in favor the f targeting the corporations and wealthy individuals responsible for the greatest impact.
And I am the last person who’d yell at a tired working mom for using a disposable plastic straw.
But there *is* something powerful about small individual actions: call it stigmergy
When an ant moves a bit of soil the action itself can serve as a cue for others to take the same action.
https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/113520971868012233
@futurebird I try to be pretty strict with my own behavior, while believing we need collective effort for systemic regulations, but I do find if I have spent so much effort conserving energy […]
@futurebird
True. But when so many individuals are working so hard to make changes that have a minuscule effect, & encourage others to the same, it means that we’re distracted from doing […]
@futurebird I just wish the best things we could do weren't so blasted expensive.
I'd kill do be able to switch to a non-crappy EV, to get solar panels on my house, etc. I hate that I can't.
@futurebird I'd argue that a lot of it is a cry of despair at being alone in the action for years if not decades, watching institutions that exist to help do nothing, etc
@futurebird I can't articulate it, but we are doing the same thing in the climate movement. Only a systemic solution is the solution. But being vegan and not driving unnecessarily is also […]
@futurebird this is a recycle yard in Shanghai’s Jewish Quarter in 2009. Rampant development was replacing the hutongs and older high-rises—an issue for sure—but what was cool was how the […]
@futurebird
This post right here!
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@futurebird I think people do this because it lets them feel virtuous criticising private jets and whatnot without needing to make any (possibly uncomfortable) changes to their personal […]
@futurebird agreed, collective activism can’t happen without individual activism. throwing up your hands isn’t a valid response to acknowledging corporations are bad, look at how you can do […]
@futurebird The meme got subverted. Is very frustrating.
Individual actions can not, by themselves, solve systemic problems. But they are a necessary component.
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