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by nickff 1655 days ago
Industrial-scale polluters are often catering to consumer-level demand. Clamping down on industry may be easier, but it will restrict the consumer (either via reduced selection or increased prices). Individual-level voluntary action has the benefits of being more flexible and less tyrannical.
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> Individual-level voluntary action has the benefits of being more flexible and less tyrannical.

It also doesn't work, while serving as a political shield to protect industrial-scale polluters. But it allows you to deliver with hauteur, so it passes generally without comment and things continue to get worse.

I would argue though, that if politics really is downstream from culture, that there needs to first be a robust culture that is anticonsumerist. These cultures exist, the FIRE set being the most clear-eyed to my way of thinking. If there is no culture that is willing to unplug from the destructive systems, there's no viable political movement either.