appreciate the rec, I’ve been a patreon to Climate Town for years and already listened to that episode of CDH…

my point still stands. “too much” is a spectrum, my opinion likely differs significantly from most people, including Rollie’s. i lean towards the Daniel Quinn side of environmental ethics, which definitely places more than just fat over consuming Americans in the category of unsustainable cultures.

(I’m not saying this is my personal opinion so don’t roast me plz):

it’s not that there are too many people.

it’s that there are too many people living under a regime that compels them to wantonly consume, pollute, and generally destroy the ecosystem in favor of the sole benefit of a miniscule number of oligarchs

in other words, the planet has the carrying capacity to sustain all of us theoretically, but not practically as things are today, at least not if humans continue living according to capitalist hyper consumptive individualism.

so yeah, there are too many people - unless we effectively reprogram all of modern culture to embrace a sustainable and pro environmental ethics… which you and I know, isn’t going to happen.

QED: too many people.

note: this is different from the other commenters take because it’s not making claims about human nature as being inherently bad. it’s just claiming that the system/culture people are born into is bad and does in fact impose artificial limitations on the capacity of the planet to support diverse ecosystems

it’s really encouraging. I’ve thought a lot about it and I don’t see many viable alternatives to mass mobilization/protest right now.

lets consider a few of the most common alternatives to protests you hear from online leftists and dismantle them one by one: 1). General Strike 2). Guillotines/purge style violence 3.) Vote harder

what preconditions are necessary for those things to even be possible? how will we get normal, apolitical people leading ignorant lives involved enough to overcome the doomerism/apathy/loneliness/passivity that undercuts our ability to take action? it’s going to take enormous social pressure. social pressure is one of the most powerful motivators for humans, at a basic biological level.

1- no one’s going on a Strike until they believe that a fuckton of other people are doing it and they won’t simply be fired.

2- no one is running out to buy Purge supplies unless they are absolutely convinced that hundreds of thousands of other people are doing it too and they can disappear in the crowd to evade being caught and prosecuted.

3- and as for voting… we all know that ship has sailed. elections are not going to be free or fair here on out (arguably never were). our current elected officials won’t listen or won’t actually put up a fight (Dems are ineffectual opposition party). and the govt is completely captured by corporations and insiders… say goodbye to the courts and regulatory agencies who ensure govt accountability. how will winning an election alleviate these systemic problems?

arguably, the strategic and controlled intimidation of government officials (after Jan 6th, trust me, theyre scared of big motivated crowds) using well orchestrated protest events, is exactly how you change things when free and fair elections no longer work.

I’m open to all possibilities… but we need to realize that people have to get up off our asses and go into the world to accomplish any of them. attending a mom and pop friendly protest is a good starting place.

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those Vance eyes 👀

this is a brilliant observation honestly. every accusation or criticism levied against the fascists gets reversed in a “I know you are but what am?” sneer. it works for many reasons, and it’s part of the right wing playbook.

• accused of nepotism? flip it around and prosecute Hunter.
• accused of Jan 6 violence? bring up the George Floyd riots or antifa.
• accused of sexual scandal? point out Bill Clinton’s many accusers and Bidens hair sniffing.
• greed? bring up Pelosi’s insider trading.
• coercing abortion? they point to vaccines/mask mandates.

obviously none are equivalent in scale or scope, but they have truthiness to them at first glance. and just as importantly, like in your purse thief example, they redirect attention and create doubt… just long enough to avoid getting caught or face the wrath of the crowd.

it also works, esp in America, partly because the so-called opposition party is actually kind of a piece of shit and has been for generations. Dems profess to hate the extreme consequences of capitalism, but love capitalism itself and benefit from it. so they ultimately can’t condemn it or offer long term solutions to the problems it creates. conservatives at least offer simpler solutions which all boil down to “hate who you’re told” and “obey your God King and you’ll someday be rewarded”.

threats to federal workers across the entire government - ‘you have 10 days to turn in your colleagues or else you’re fired’ - went out January 20th. Remote workers were threatened with firings the day or so after. people currently being hired but not yet finalized were given notice the same week, and people hired but on probationary status (doesn’t mean what youre thinking it’s just a designation for people in good standing who haven’t secured permanent position) - were told to fuck right off around January 23rd.

the amount of chaos and fear generated in the first week alone was staggering. but you’re right, the actual FIRINGS took a couple more days. the threats came IMMEDIATELY.

not saying it caused the crash entirely, but there’s reasonable evidence the administration at least contributed to the high levels of stress ATCs already experience. especially since they’re nationally short staffed from retirements linked to Reagan.

better question is, why the fuck should military helicopters be doing exercises right the fuck beneath flight paths of commercial airlines? there’s literally thousands of military bases where they can pRaCTiCe and do military shit. gtfo civilian air space.

TIL

based af

idk, I don’t think it will be as swift as some imagine/want. this will be a long road ahead. the wealthiest 10-20% aren’t going to vanish overnight because food stamps got scaled back or national parks sold off to real estate developer or groceries become more expensive.

total collapse is going to take a few generations. we should plan accordingly and start building micro communities decoupled from capitalism and moderately self sufficient within a small region. small enclaves of survivors may have a chance at a life less destitute.

instead of buying a new gun… get a used one! better yet, simply wait to inherit one from a dead relative! even better, steal one from a conservative!

arms dealers hate this one trick!

if only we lived in a time where we had to worry more about kids shooting up Tesla dealerships rather than schools… where did we go wrong?

that’s the problem with KidS tHeSe dAyZ! they furget which country they’re livin in!

if they wore Official Donald J Trump Stars & Stripes Underwear every day like I do, they’d NEVER FORGET!

< salutes flag >

[Redacted]

c’mon, just block the community and move on if you’re unhappy about the content. other people having a bit of fun (pointing out the hypocrisy and deeply flawed irrational nature of a reactionary political philosophy) isn’t worth getting upset about. given current circumstances in America, it’s refreshing to see people criticizing authority and those who seek to empower the powerful at the expense of the many.

thank you! you get it.

people with decades of experience responding to communicable illnesses have been getting fired without cause or driven out of government just for some conservative publicity stunt precisely when they’re needed (which it turns out, is actually all the time). even when no diseases are breaking out, they are developing plans and strategies for the next event. we need these experts.

mmm big egg 🥚

this is anti-THRUG propaganda and I won’t stand for it.

RIP THRUG (76,358 BC - 76, 335)

hope he’s up there in heaven eatin raw guts smiling down on us.