• 11 Posts
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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 24th, 2023

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  • Humanius@lemmy.worldtome_irl@lemmy.worldme_irl
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    3 days ago

    It is worth keeping in mind that the poorest two-thirds of humanity really don’t emit all that much.

    I may be making an assumption about where you are from, but I’m hazarding a guess that you are from a developed nation.
    You and I likely emit significantly more than than someone who is not from a developed nation.

    The wastefulness of the billionaire class needs to be dealt with, but that doesn’t mean that recycling, reducing energy use, etc for people in the developed world isn’t going to collectively have a significant impact.

    Edit: Here is a graph to help visualise the share that rich and middle incomes contribute to emissions

    Source: https://www.therichest.com/oxfam-richest-carbon-emissions/

    Assuming you are from the US, Europe, Australia, etc, you are likely to fall on the higher end of the middle 40% or in the top 10%



  • The welfare state isn’t capitalism working as intended. That wasn’t what I was saying, nor am I saying that the welfare state is a result of capitalism. That was ultimately a result of workers fighting for their rights.

    What I am saying is that the government not leaning heavily into laisez-faire capitalism, and them interfering in capitalism where needed, is what is making the European capitalist model largely work as capitalism is supposed to work. The government is there to prevent negative externalities and prevent monopolies from forming.

    Ultimately the “correct” implementation of capitalism doesn’t exist. Only one which creates the most benefit for the people while reducing its negative outcomes.

    It is a tool you can use in places where it makes sense to use it in order to drive innovation and lower costs to consumers.
    The government can set regulations in order to guide capitalism to that outcome, and can directly interfere to do things themselves in industries where it deems fit to do so.

    Edit: Fixed a typo in my first sentence, making me say the exact opposite of what I was trying to say…


  • Humanius@lemmy.worldtome_irl@lemmy.worldme_irl
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    3 days ago

    That is largely down to where you live and the systems that are in place to help and encourage you to recycle

    For example here in the Netherlands we have a bottle and can deposit system which encourages people, and makes it easy, to return bottles (both glass and plastic) and cans to the store.

    The cans get recycled, and to my knowledge the glass bottles generally get washed and reused.

    This system is common in many countries throughout Europe, and they are effective and increasing the recycling rates of these things


  • Humanius@lemmy.worldtome_irl@lemmy.worldme_irl
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    3 days ago

    He argues the point in a good way.

    It’s something I have believed for a long time but I’ve always found it difficult to vocalize to people why a single person recycling or saving energy matters in the grand scheme of things.



  • Humanius@lemmy.worldtome_irl@lemmy.worldme_irl
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    3 days ago

    People underestimate the sheer number of people that live on the planet.

    One guy recycling or not using a plastic straw is not going to make a difference. But millions or billions of people doing those things will be vastly more impactful than a few rich dudes sailing their yacht to Monaco.




  • This “trade deal” always was a rotten one, where the EU has to accept worse terms than it already had.

    The only reason why we would even go along with that, is because Trump knows that there is a certain amount of reliance from Europe on the US in terms of defence. It really is a wake-up call to Europe that we can’t allow ourselves to depend on the US like we used to.

    I agree that it’s a shame the US doesn’t engage with its allies in good faith anymore

    Edit: Personally I think we should not even bother trying to appease Trump.

    No matter what deal you reach with him, he will not honour it and demand more. Any trade deal reached with America is not even worth the paper it is written on.