Slightly More Efficient Is Psychological Equivalent to Economic Jevons Paradoxefficiency gains lead to higher resource usage across the economy.
Feeling better about being more efficient in one small aspect of an overall bad situation allows the situation itself to continue and normalize and be reflected in daily practice.
Polluting companies know this all too well, which is why they keep bombarding us with good stories about more efficient green airlines, cement, cars.
Yet why our media keeps printing these misleading corporate press releases as direct news stories should be a bigger scandal.
In order to be motivated to get out of a bad situation as a whole, we must stop covering up the reality of the situation when we overly congratulate ourselves for being slightly more efficient.
In terms of the cancer analogy, it’s like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, but getting some cigarettes out before we get to the filter. Still causing life-threatening injuries.
3. Outstanding, high moral character
It’s our mechanism for comforting ourselves that we’ve done something wrong, yes, but for the right reasons. Fly over the world — but maybe for a scientific conference that should ultimately benefit humanity.
Work for a company with a poor track record – but as part of their token green or sustainability division.
Benefit from fossil fuel or extractive investments – so you can donate a small percentage to charity.
Again, this mechanism comforts active participation in harmful systems because intention Participate in pure people.
guess what? The biosphere and the rest of humanity does not live as intended. They have to live in reality. If the purity of your intent allows you to support harmful systems, it may be time for a reality check.
In terms of the cancer analogy, it’s like smoking, but to justify it, because we are misunderstood geniuses who need to smoke for their creativity. Not so smart actually.
4. Ordinary and normal
In a crazy society that is accelerating away from planetary safety, you may feel like you are a lunatic trying to derail society from its current trajectory.
Instead, it’s very comforting to go with the flow and do the same thing as everyone else. Driving on the highway with all the other cars feels…normal.
Everyone else is doing it, how can it be wrong? Eat meat and dairy products. Vacation flight. Have a nice job in the finance or extractive sector.
continuously. Doing the same as before, like everyone else, there will be comfort, but that comfort itself may be insanity.
Cancer analogy: Everyone else is smoking and dying from cancer. That’s exactly what we’re doing here.
5. Every little bit counts
It’s the “little action” school of sustainability, and if I could bundle it into a rocket and launch it into the sun, I definitely would.
In this thought process, we do this by reminding ourselves of small symbolic actions—like recycling, turning off the lights, or eating a vegan diet once a month.
It justifies big crime with a small Band-Aid, and it shouldn’t console anyone. Rather than looking for a needle in a haystack looking for superficial excuses, we need to commit to large-scale systemic change.
In terms of the cancer analogy, it’s like a chain smoker who is very good at brushing his teeth. Completely unrelated to the larger problem at hand.
6. Progress is happening
This category is a bit complicated to describe because progress Yes The changes that are taking place, whether in popular consciousness, movements and real life, should not be ignored.
However, the argument that “progress is comfort” is a debilitating one: we rely on the fact that some technological and policy progress is made to justify our own lack of action and engagement.
We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time: Progress welcome and Push harder to make it faster and better in all areas.
as well as preventing it from sliding back. Sadly, as many in the climate and biodiversity justice movement are learning, forces opposed to change do not accept failure lightly and continually strive to reverse positive trends and decisions.
Cancer analogy: keep smoking because medical technology is developing cancer drugs that may or may not be ready in 30 years. Just so stupid.
7. Not everything is shit
This category is why I decided to write this article. It’s also complicated because we should rejoice in the good things in the world around us.
Babies scream, smile, and drool as their loving caregivers work hard, migratory birds travel back and forth across the globe, trees reach into the air and soil, delicious and healthy meals with friends and family, beautiful cool mornings and lovely rainy days .
All of these are very, very good, and no doubt we should be happy about them.
Still, in times of great change and upheaval, it’s entirely possible that we’re overly comforted by the normalcy around us, and thus overly calm.
Our cities, our homes, haven’t been flooded yet, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go all out to prevent the climate crisis from getting worse.
Some beloved birds are still around, desperately trying to feed on the remnants of previously abundant insect or fish populations, which doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything possible to give them life and space, and prevent a sixth biodiversity mega-hit Extinction progression.
In fact, seeing all the parts of the world we love should inspire us to fight harder against the forces of evil that are doing everything in their power to destroy them.
Cancer analogy: Just because we’re alive and feeling well right now, doesn’t mean we don’t need drastic medical treatment to sustain life in the future. When I was diagnosed with the fatal disease, I felt fine, and the treatment made me terribly sick. But without treatment, I wouldn’t be here today.
Where can we find true comfort?
Comfort and safety are a thing of the past, if you ever had them. Many people never do. The Holocene is behind us. What’s in front of you is still inconclusive, and it can still be changed.
But, to change that, it will take a lifetime of struggle, our lifetime of struggle. It’s not going to be fun, it’s not going to be fulfilling, it’s not going to be a worthwhile adventure of self-discovery, it’s not going to be a lovely feel-good movie, and it’s not going to be a mission of personal validation.
I mean, maybe there are those things from time to time, who knows. who cares. It is a struggle of life itself.
Faced with dramatic changes in geological time and a powerful economic system, we can become frustrated, frustrated, and small.
But we need to be little animals and learn very, very fast and very, very well together against the brutal ruling forces that are guiding our current path.
What means love a lost world This time?
Mary Annais Hegra already written: “I don’t need a guarantee of success until I do whatever it takes to save the things, people and places I love. … This planet is our only home. There is no place like this. Home is always, always, always worth it.“
so. Read Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, George Monbiot, Frantz Fanon, Rosa Luxemburg. Learn to be a revolutionary and gain some courage, courage and analysis.
Consulting My Handy”bold kit“On types of action and activism and how to find your place in them.
Join Extinction Rebellion, the Sunrise Movement, or Future Friday—or all of them—that put social and racial justice front and center.
Also, if you can, join a union and fight for a general strike. That’s the scale and scope of power we need. Let the struggles of life itself be something that brings you comfort, because that’s all we have right now.
Let’s get to work.
this author
Julia Steinberg Professor of Social Ecology and Ecological Economics, University of Lausanne, @unil. This article was first published in Moderate.
