Discussion
RE: https://mastodon.social/@grrlscientist/116459010786325602
Sometimes I really do wonder if the whole "individual responsibility for the climate crisis is an oil company psyop" thing is just because the greatest individual contribution you could make towards slowing the climate crisis is to stop eating meat.
@bodil Real shame that what with food deserts and vegetarian food being more expensive this becomes an "ethics if you can afford it" problem. At least in the US.
That said my extended family in India has been living a largely vegetarian diet for generations so there is existence proof.
@deech You're talking about prepared food, surely? I can't believe meat is cheaper than vegetables even in a corporate subsidy madhouse like the US.
@bodil yes prepared, cooking at home takes time most don't have. Also a meat eating culture subsidizes meat based food so it's affordable to most.
In India nowadays most aren't cooking at home due to a transition to service economy but the veg. culture keeps the cost of veg. takeout low enough for most.
@deech Interesting. In the UK, which definitely goes hard on its carnivore culture, the "vegetarian options" in cafes and restaurants (and the UK working class staple, the Tesco ready meals) are usually slightly cheaper than the meat. They're just rarer and of dubious nutritional value more often than not.
@bodil yes prepared, cooking at home takes time most don't have. Also a meat eating culture subsidizes meat based food so it's affordable to most.
In India nowadays most aren't cooking at home due to a transition to service economy but the veg. culture keeps the cost of veg. takeout low enough for most.
To be clear, I believe capitalists are milking "individual responsibility" for all it's worth to shift the perception of responsibility away from them, and I've experienced it first hand many times.
But the one thing we mysteriously never talk about is that if we do look at individual impact, it doesn't matter if you ride a bike everywhere, have never used ChatGPT in your life, or even if you use paper straws, as long as your diet helps prop up the meat industry.
Fossil fuels are even worse, of course, but your ability to make a personal impact is minimal because the vast majority of fossil fuels are burned by corporations, not individuals. Corporations, however, do not eat meat. That bit's all on you.
@bodil sure corporations eat meat: it’s called employees that they chew up and eventually crap out as The Laid Off The Fired The Unemployed.
@MedeaVanamonde I considered whether I should specify "except in the metaphorical sense," so this one's on me.
@bodil agree. For capitalism lovers, every form of exploitation is justified and even "good". Doesn't matter if that exploitation affects or harms people, animals, evenvironment, nature, natural resources, human rights, etc. In that sense, any contribution, however small, is welcome, and any "resource" is well exploited. For them.
(And if you somehow read the above as "it's OK for me to burn Claude tokens because I'm vegan" I will find you and I will slap you.)
Bodil: "I have a very particular set of skills"
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