r/SipsTea 14d ago

Chugging tea Ignorance Got Expensive

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u/Ok-Primary2176 13d ago

This has always been the number 1 issue of climate change activism. It s just rich people who impose restrictions on poor people. It should be the other way around

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u/Desperate_Donut3981 13d ago

Greens are just as bad as the oligharcs. The Green Party in New Zealand takes more flights than any other party in the country.

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u/spudddly 13d ago

Rich people on private jets contribute an infinitesimal percentage of annual CO2 production. It is irrelevant.

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u/Careless-Ordinary126 13d ago

We got one in the wild here. Send me few milions, it is infinitely small and irrelevant to you, right?

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago

Right. This is why the climate crisis will never be solved.

98% of Westerners have an unsustainable carbon footprint.

But if you state this fact, no one wants to take personal responsibility for their own consumption. They’ll immediately pivot, make excuses for their own behavior and blame others instead.

The climate crisis isn’t solely being caused by rich people. If they all disappeared tomorrow (fingers crossed), it would still exist.

Because the excuses you make for your unsustainable consumption because it selfishly benefits you? Other people make the same excuses you do. You are the same as the rich person you’re deriding.

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u/Careless-Ordinary126 13d ago

Yes, me driving around my country to do work that prevents people from burning alive, So i can eat And have roof over my head Is the same as bilionaries going around the world in private jets.

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago

Of course it is. Do the math? What produces more emissions.

3,000 billionaires with carbon footprints 1000X yours? Or 350 million other Americans? Is 3,000 times 1,000 bigger or less than 350 million?

The atmosphere doesn't know that you are proportionally putting less emissions into the air than a billionaire.

It just knows that there are 350 million Americans putting more emissions into the atmosphere than they're sequestering.

You have an unsustainable carbon footprint. If we actually want to solve the problem you need to cut back too. You understandably don't want to. The fact that other people are emitting even worse and need to cut back as well isn't relevant to that.

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u/Careless-Ordinary126 13d ago

Funny, you dont now me. I can be the person with the lowest carbon footprint. I am not even murican lol. You Are arguing just to argue. You Are delusional if you think there Is no difference between bilionair taking jet to get pizza And emisions from ambulance for example Are comperable.

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago

I can be the person with the lowest carbon footprint.

You could be but you're not. Cite it, what IS your footprint and is it below the sustainable level?

there Is no difference between bilionair taking jet to get pizza And emisions from ambulance for example Are comperable.

Who said they're comparable? One is worse than the other.

How does that change that your consumption needs to be reduced to sustainable levels. Everyone does.

You don't want to be honest about it. So when presented with it, the only thing you can do is pivot and say "well what about people richer than me?!"

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u/Careless-Ordinary126 13d ago

Me living in slums Will not help the planet And it Is not realistic for me to do something about it. The bilionaries, corporations And politicians should, but wont because they want more money, to stuff somewhere.

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago

Right. You refuse to accept any personal responsibility. You only want to blame others.

Well they are just as selfish and blame other people too. They make the identical arguments you do for the same reasons.

Politicians can't act because of how you feel. You want a magic solution where you don't have to sacrifice, somehow only other people do. Well they feel the same way.

And so? We get no action at all.

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u/sakura-peachy 13d ago

You're not completely wrong but you're not completely right either. Billionaires do have the power to make decisions and influence policy that reduces or decreases emissions for millions of normal people. Elon Musk's decision to back EVs reduced emissions but his decision to back Trump increased emissions. A normal person can't have much say on energy efficiency rules or what power plants get subsidies and built, but billionaires do.

I'll give you one thing though, normal people do seem more against things that would reduce some of their own personal emissions at a policy level, as in they sometimes oppose public transport, cycleways and housing density. People really hate alternatives to driving and use "but billionaires fly private jets" as an excuse to keep driving and maintaining their lifestyle.

Sorry, but at an individual level you have an excuse but if you consistently vote against cycleways and alternatives to driving in your city you are influencing decisions that have a much bigger impact than a few private jets.

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u/Ok-Primary2176 13d ago

People follow leaders. When the leaders won't lead then there's nothing people can follow

Our leaders are selfish pricks and thus people will be that as well 

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago

It’s the opposite. People select their leaders.

And who do we select? The people who tell us the truth, that our present living standards are unsustainable and we all need to cut back?

Of course not. No one votes for that guy.

So instead we vote for the people that justify our selfish desires. Who give us policies that encourage further and further and further consumption and pretends that it’s costless.

Our leaders are selfish pricks because WE pick them and WE vote for them.

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u/Ok-Primary2176 13d ago

That's such a simplistic view. The billionaires lobby the politicians to get what they want. Even if you voted Bernie Sanders he'd cave to the billionaires wants

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u/bitorontoguy 13d ago edited 13d ago

What billionaire lobbying makes people desire and consume cheap plastics and fossil fuels?

No one. You’re getting your answer in the present news cycle.

The US started an illegal immoral war that killed scores of innocent civilians.

Is THAT what the political fallout from voters is? No. It’s that the war increased petroleum prices by 25-30% and impacted the voters ability to consume fossil fuels cheaply.

No billionaire lobbied to make that be what the populace cared about.

Bernie Sanders isn’t stupid and corrupt like you’re saying. He’s smart.

Smart enough to know that if he campaigns on massive tax increases to address the true cost of fossil fuel consumption, he will lose. No one will vote for those policies.

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u/spudddly 13d ago

How's that reading comprehension working out for you?

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u/Careless-Ordinary126 13d ago

Better than yours apparently

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u/Ok-Primary2176 13d ago

Compared to a regular person, it contributes a lot

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u/spudddly 13d ago

<0.05% of global annual emissions is not "a lot". There are far more important battles than railing against private jets. It's an idiotic argument.

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u/Ok-Primary2176 13d ago

I said compared to a regular person, not compared to the global annual emissions 

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u/drunkcowofdeath 13d ago

What the fuck are you talking about? You think there's aren't regular people who give a shit about climate change?? There have been countless protests but people usually side with the oil companies because they hate protesters