vinniep

While I get where you’re coming from, I think there’s another way to look at the comment:

People talk about environmental issues as protecting the planet and that gets a lot of people motivated to make changes, but for everyone else, there’s just no urgency or attachment in that argument. People look at it as if killing the planet will mean we have different landscapes, certain animals stop existing, etc. There’s this idea that humans will be fine, but it’s all of that mother earth nonsense that’s at stake, and some people just don’t give a crap about that stuff.

We can be more blunt and selfish about things and get people to look at it instead as protecting themselves. Saving the whales doesn’t motivate you? Fine. How about saving every human on the planet from famine? Because that’s what we’re really talking about here. You don’t have to be a tree hugging hippy that loves mother earth to want to do something about this. Be a self important prick that only cares about themselves for all anyone cares - you have a personal stake in doing something about this too because ultimately we’re saving ourselves, not some concept of “mother earth”.

The point of comments like that aren’t to say “it is what it is” and dismiss the problem, but rather to re-frame it to not be a touchy-feely “save the penguins” hippy concept that only resonates with a subset of individuals and instead bring it to the simple and universal matter of preservation of the species that will resonate with nearly all people. You don’t have to want to “Save the Planet” to want to “Save Yourself”

That’s also very different from some of the scenarios you shared, but putting climate issues on that extinction event level is exactly the point. If we knew an asteroid was coming at us and would impact, ending ending human life, we’d be SUPER motivated to fix that. Nations would spend unlimited money funding research and construction of solutions and it would start immediately with universal support. If people saw environmental issues as a similar extinction level catastrophe, maybe that would change.

Exactly - In Trump’s mind, that means Powell owes him and should only be making moves that help Trump get re-elected. The fact that it is or isn’t the right move is of no consequence. He expects loyalty above all else.

Disgusted, yes, but not surprised. All the more so, though, whether or not the thing the article is claiming happened actually happened IS important. We can’t just say “that’s the sort of thing I think they would have done, so they probably did it” and move on. That’s the kind of circular logic that gets us into a place where people honestly believe that significant portions of their government are full of literal Satan worshipers who drink the blood of children.