Oh, I’m not saying that there are no activists anymore, just that the corporations successfully distracted large parts of the population by shifting blame to the consumers.

Oh, I just singled them out because they are big offenders and completely unnecessary in general.

You already can get from A to B without them, the only usage they have is to save rich people time and the indignation of traveling with the poor.

Look at it from the other way around: Capitalism is dependent on endless growth to function. To that end, consumerism is one tool by which capitalists sustain that endless growth rather than the problem in and of itself. It would be no good for them if people were able to just buy a thing when they needed it and it lasted a really long time. So they find ways to induce demand. A shiny new phone every year with planned obsolescence, advertising and other forms of cultural influence that equate happiness with disposable consumption, monopolistic tactics to crush alternatives, lobbying for government policies to limit alternatives and promote financial conditions that encourage consumption over saving, etc.

You can still say that at the end of all of this people ultimately “decide” to consume or not, but… what is that accomplishing exactly? Is our plan to just hope that every single individual person decides to lower their consumption, no matter how difficult or burdensome that might be given their situation? Especially considering how lopsided the actual emissions are towards the very wealthy? And if people started doing that… do you think corporations don’t aggressively push back in whatever way they can? Because that plan isn’t working either.

The “personal responsibility” angle isn’t actually taking responsibility, it’s just acting smug and accepting our doom is inevitable, but not your fault because you already “did your part.” Get organized or we all die. It’s that simple. It won’t be easy, but it’s our only real option.

Notably, this is all a very daunting task. While we need national and international action, that isn’t the only thing that matters. Activism in your community can help too. Plenty of stuff happens at the level of cities, towns, and counties. Roads and transportation. Zoning laws. Any gov or HOA requirements around grass and gardening. Tree planting. The gov’s relationship with utility providers. Fighting back against destructive development projects like data centers, parking lots, etc.

This is going to depend a lot on what the town is like though. Some places are going to be too poor to build any infrastructure projects like trains without funding from higher levels of gov. Some states have passed laws which try to limit local gov’s ability to enact environmental legislation. In some places it might be a pretty big uphill battle politically to make any big changes.

Ultimately the important thing is to gather enough people who can be engaged in the process that whatever your goals are become achievable. And hey, going back to the consumer side of this, if you have a lot of people, a boycott or strike becomes more of an effective option.

So to echo your final dismissive line: Go touch grass (then rip it out and replace it with native plants). This is coming from someone who’s been dealing with chronic depression for years and is finally making an effort to get out there and connect with people again. If I can do it, you can. (Maybe, idk your circumstances, maybe you have a condition even worse than mine.)

Additionally, those corporations aren’t made up of robots. People work there and make the decision to cause this damage. It being done at work doesn’t absolve them of their responsibility.

“If they knew that to save .03 a unit we are dumping this byproduct in the river, they would have our heads on a platter. Get the PR team in here” “Why dont we tell them its their fault for buying it in the first place, but never really blaming any specific product” “Yeah, its all their fault”

The attempts to repopulate populations of beavers and American buffalos are going great as well.

I don’t normally recommend YouTube channels, but if you are ever feeling down about everything there is a channel called Good_News https://m.youtube.com/@Good__News Which tries to capture all the decent bits of things that do occur while everything else looks bleak lol

It really seems to me like many people really want to recycle and make a difference if they can, they just need a gentle nudge, or for it to not be too difficult. It’s just that other people don’t want to feel bad about not recycling, so they speak out against any change that makes it easier. Then there are the idiots who are in denial and think climate change is a hoax.

I do. Guess that’s all fucked now then, eh?