[esalman]

It very much depends on personal experience.

I lived in SE Asia for the first 30 years of my life, then moved to the US. There are so many things that Americans and first world people take for granted what would be considered luxury in the other side of the world- and you have to live through that experience to come to that realization.

[Wiseacre]

So you're saying the western world needs to experience something drastic like third world poverty in order to actually change?

[djbusby]

No but the "West" would need to give up a good bunch of luxurious wants. Less trips to the bowling alley, less meat, less drive to the store to get just one thing.

[Ekaros]

Maybe start thinking type of consumption.

A bowling alley where you walk or bike might not be too bad. I don't think they have very massive carbon footprint. On other hand car trips to skiing, or nature should be right out. And tourism in general outside immediate local vicinity.

And then in general consume less, like electronics. Do we really need to replace them every other year or should once in five to ten be enough? And what do we serve with them? Could we start spending more effort to optimize energy consumption and transfer of data?

[esalman]

Not change your whole like in a drastic manner, but maybe at least live in the 3rd world for a significant amount of time- should be enough of an eye-opener for a lot of people.