Unless being vegan would keep you from actually eating the rich, this point is utterly and completely irrelevant.
To illustrate, imagine some celebrity said “rape culture is bad, and everyone should work against it!”. Do I, as some average guy, get a pass if I talk about how “um akschually, Epstein Island, Trump, bla bla”?
Like, seriously, my INDIVIDUAL impact on womens liberation is exactly as big as your impact on animals rights. So do we both get to just not care, and sit on our lazy asses, because we can’t, on our own, change the world?
You people talk a big game about material reality, about systems, but you’ve turned “systems” into a near religious excuse for personal inaction. “The revolution” is the second coming, and all you have to do is believe. Not act, not make the world a better place, just preach.
Learned hopelessness. You do more for the rich by wanting something more equal but being too pathetic to even believe it’s possible than those who are entirely ignorant of our exploitation.
If you want to break this cycle you should start doing small things that make a difference. This will teach you change is possible, give you hope and make you more able to resist your oppression. Something like going vegan is a good place to start. A small change with a lot of impact.
Change happens all the time but its shaped by power, which the vast majority if individuals have very little of and seem to insist on never using. Collective empower is our only chance and everyone refuses to exercise it, at always have, so its really just the illusion of power.
Also, learned hopelessness comes from actual hopelessness. Just because you want to be hopeful doesn’t mean there is any hope, you’re just deluding yourself to protect your feelings.
So you’re a champion of collective power but don’t believe that the choices people make have any impact and thus individuals in a collective shouldn’t pursue change?
I don’t believe individual efforts are effective for the powerless and that not enough people are willing, able or commited to contribute enough to collective efforts to force systemic, positive changes.
Maybe because no one is leading by example? You don’t even have to commit to veganism to help. Just trying to eat less meat adds up quickly, especially when you do it and encourage others to do the same. That is one of the many ways collective action can kick off.
Countless people have led by example but nobody followed. It isn’t a problem with having examples available. Reducing resource consumption won’t work if those resources are simply used by others.
It’s actually called a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_cliché and you deploy it to avoid processing thoughts and feelings that are better socially for you to pretend you don’t understand. You’re afraid of abandoning or being abandoned by your tribe, so you have to do everything and anything to avoid thinking about the vast cruelty and needless violence that you are participating in every day.
It might be wrong, but it’s certainly not ridiculous. Everyone ones it. EVERYONE does it. It’s the most basic human psychology. There’s nothing ridiculous about thinking you are doing it, when you are giving all the signs.
You forget. You’re a tourist here. You’ve never really even deeply thought about these subjects in your entire life. Meanwhile many of us have been here for more than a decade, and we’ve been seeing people exactly like you doing exactly what you are doing the whole time.
Fuck, we all used to BE you. We all used to do the exact same things, employ all the exact same psychological defense mechanisms. You have no idea how transparent you are right now.
Why come here of all places and argue from a place of ignorance about the effects of animal exploitation. Seriously, think about that. What are you doing here?
I can tell you. You’re coping with thoughts and feelings that you are not prepared to fully process, but which you also cannot put away.
Not even close. Dealing with the excess personal ambitions of the wealthy would do far more.
Unless being vegan would keep you from actually eating the rich, this point is utterly and completely irrelevant.
To illustrate, imagine some celebrity said “rape culture is bad, and everyone should work against it!”. Do I, as some average guy, get a pass if I talk about how “um akschually, Epstein Island, Trump, bla bla”?
Like, seriously, my INDIVIDUAL impact on womens liberation is exactly as big as your impact on animals rights. So do we both get to just not care, and sit on our lazy asses, because we can’t, on our own, change the world?
You people talk a big game about material reality, about systems, but you’ve turned “systems” into a near religious excuse for personal inaction. “The revolution” is the second coming, and all you have to do is believe. Not act, not make the world a better place, just preach.
Not really given the bold claim in the op title.
Can you do that?
Nobody can. We’re fucked.
So why are you even bringing it up then
To share the pain.
Learned hopelessness. You do more for the rich by wanting something more equal but being too pathetic to even believe it’s possible than those who are entirely ignorant of our exploitation.
If you want to break this cycle you should start doing small things that make a difference. This will teach you change is possible, give you hope and make you more able to resist your oppression. Something like going vegan is a good place to start. A small change with a lot of impact.
Change happens all the time but its shaped by power, which the vast majority if individuals have very little of and seem to insist on never using. Collective empower is our only chance and everyone refuses to exercise it, at always have, so its really just the illusion of power.
Also, learned hopelessness comes from actual hopelessness. Just because you want to be hopeful doesn’t mean there is any hope, you’re just deluding yourself to protect your feelings.
So you’re a champion of collective power but don’t believe that the choices people make have any impact and thus individuals in a collective shouldn’t pursue change?
I don’t believe individual efforts are effective for the powerless and that not enough people are willing, able or commited to contribute enough to collective efforts to force systemic, positive changes.
Maybe because no one is leading by example? You don’t even have to commit to veganism to help. Just trying to eat less meat adds up quickly, especially when you do it and encourage others to do the same. That is one of the many ways collective action can kick off.
Countless people have led by example but nobody followed. It isn’t a problem with having examples available. Reducing resource consumption won’t work if those resources are simply used by others.
It’s actually called a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_cliché and you deploy it to avoid processing thoughts and feelings that are better socially for you to pretend you don’t understand. You’re afraid of abandoning or being abandoned by your tribe, so you have to do everything and anything to avoid thinking about the vast cruelty and needless violence that you are participating in every day.
That’s a ridiculous conclusion.
It might be wrong, but it’s certainly not ridiculous. Everyone ones it. EVERYONE does it. It’s the most basic human psychology. There’s nothing ridiculous about thinking you are doing it, when you are giving all the signs.
You forget. You’re a tourist here. You’ve never really even deeply thought about these subjects in your entire life. Meanwhile many of us have been here for more than a decade, and we’ve been seeing people exactly like you doing exactly what you are doing the whole time.
Fuck, we all used to BE you. We all used to do the exact same things, employ all the exact same psychological defense mechanisms. You have no idea how transparent you are right now.
Why come here of all places and argue from a place of ignorance about the effects of animal exploitation. Seriously, think about that. What are you doing here?
I can tell you. You’re coping with thoughts and feelings that you are not prepared to fully process, but which you also cannot put away.