A fixation on system change alone opens the door to a kind of cynical self-absolution that divorces personal commitment from political belief. This is its own kind of false consciousness, one that threatens to create a cheapened climate politics incommensurate with this urgent moment.
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Because here’s the thing: When you choose to eat less meat or take the bus instead of driving or have fewer children, you are making a statement that your actions matter, that it’s not too late to avert climate catastrophe, that you have power. To take a measure of personal responsibility for climate change doesn’t have to distract from your political activism—if anything, it amplifies it.
I have been on this hill for years, ever since the whole “recycling does nothing” attitude became popular.
People who make these individual lifestyle changes are more likely to advocate for holistic change. Meanwhile those who adopt a cynical take on environmentalism are more likely to disengage entirely. This seems incredibly obvious to me.