Michael

In all seriousness - I wouldn’t because I value people’s privacy, but I imagine it’d all be quite lucrative with the data economy being what it is.

I’m seeing a bit of a shift in others’ attitudes. I’m usually everywhere discussion is found online. Things just seem to have gotten more real to people and that seems to be what is prompting this. Plus the propaganda from the usual places just isn’t hitting the same.

Most people cope with reality by escaping or distracting themselves - e.g. into various hobbies, interests, habits. It doesn’t really help that media and games just kinda suck anymore and hobbies/habits are more expensive than ever.

I’m doing my best to soften the hearts of those who engage in feckless browbeating, as you aptly described it. Usually behind the veneer of hate and hard feelings is a very sensitive and vulnerable person who is seeking rather harmless things (like validation, approval, camaraderie, community). Of course, that’s not always the case - sometimes people are caught up into hate and bad faith without even realizing it, and some absolutely do intend on spreading hate and operating in bad faith.

Regardless, I just do my best to clear things up for everyone and it seems to help. I don’t delude myself into thinking my impact is very large, but I do intend on helping others in a general sense - and I know I have helped many.

If a mindset or perspective is vulnerable to the delusions and other breaks from reality of others, perhaps we need to work on expressing ourselves with clarity and confidence - and gather facts for people to consume.

Trust me, in a neutral arena, the truth will always resonate with the majority of people. I’d say the fediverse has pockets that are fairly neutral compared to other discussion boards/websites.

Delusion usually starts from a place of persecution, real or perceived gaslighting, and paranoia and concern. We can address the gaslighting if it does exist, and ease their concern.

And they should be free to do so. We can still lay the facts bare - so when they are ready to face reality, they are available to them.

There is no way to reason sense into someone who has reasoned themselves into their mindset. No evidence or proof can change their mind for them.

Those are limiting beliefs and I firmly disagree. You can’t change someone’s mind, but they can. We can succinctly give them the information to do so on their own terms.

Any reply on confirms the beliefs of anyone who reads it, regardless of their side on the matter.

Not everybody is operating from a fixed set of beliefs and a narrow perception.

Humanity has a lot of curiosity, if it’s all laid out bare, we can at least stop impressionable people from getting herded into rabbit holes that they don’t understand and being propagandized.

Calling people names and spreading hate only perpetuates the tribalism that you see coloring reality.

Or you can call out bad faith and veiled extremist views in a few words. It only takes a little more effort.

Sometimes that is infinitely better for people reading (who are not in the know) and it still gives the person with the controversial views something to latch on to that inadvertently exposes their beliefs and bad faith further if they keep engaging.

If I was the owner of Reddit, i would 100% save in-progress comments, and […]

sell the data to AI companies

Taking back our power is necessary and urgent, especially here in the US. Apathy is the recipe for our suffering. We can raise awareness so the problems we face don’t bite us. Your disbelief is valid, but I am holding out hope that things will quickly start making sense.

You mentioned scarcity, so I chimed in. I am going to stand resolute because I don’t want to see humanity devolve. I am going to stand in my power and encourage everybody I interact with to do the same. Doesn’t mean they have to agree or listen.

For my friends here in the US, the current state of affairs cannot continue or we will lose all of our rights and very quickly this leadership will drive us off the cliff while they play chicken.

Thanks for responding, sorry that it wasn’t entirely relevant.

I’ve been through some pretty rough experiences too by most people’s measurements. No harsh judgement here, everybody is free to feel however they wish as far as I am concerned. I empathize and understand.

You too, though I can’t say it isn’t disappointing that you’ve seemingly given up on the world.

I don’t have the energy to try and explain current events, capitalism, history and physics to you.

I understand current events, capitalism, and history better than most. Physics doesn’t relate to our conversation because I am not suggesting or advocating for infinite growth.

I suggest that you engage with your home instance slrpnk.net with your views for more stimulating conversation and discourse and browse the community and expose yourself to the movement with an open mind. There is plenty of activity on /r/solarpunk, as well.

Prepare yourself for the worst, hope for the best, and lower your expectations a bit because you’re definitely going to be disappointed.

I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m not preparing myself for the worst or “lowering my expectations”. We either commit collective suicide and devolve into barbarism and scarcity or we choose a different path that is more desirable.

Late stage capitalism, fascism […] and ww3 is currently in the process of kicking off.

If one doesn’t believe a revolution or significant change isn’t imminent and necessary (within the next 5 years), they aren’t paying attention or they are not informed. I don’t care what your ideology is (and how capitalist you are) — comprehensive action and change, specifically solutions, need to manifest soon.

WW3 can fuck right off, it takes soldiers and willing participants to fight. We had massive desertion in the Vietnam War, I reckon that if the world was able to focus just for a second on common dreads and our shared reality, we’d identify that we can’t afford to continue the current world order and state of affairs and discontinue hostile actions.

War is a wet dream for the capitalists at the very top of the food chain, who are likely frightened that they no longer can maintain their power without it.

resource depletion

Resource depletion implies that we continue our state of affairs — with our reliance on fossil fuels and other non-renewable materials, at a large and very wasteful scale.

Infinite growth on a finite world is fundamentally unsustainable. We are blasting through tipping points and heat records daily now and the world is still fundamentally reliant on fossil fuels, despite how fast ‘renewable resources’ are developing.

Scaling vertical farms, renewable energy, and energy storage (that doesn’t use rare earth materials) are not crazy suggestions. We can build high speed rail powered by renewables, that carries freight and also passengers. We can develop sustainable economies of scale and rethink the global economy.

Our planet can support humanity and every living being on it for the foreseeable future if we take action.

climate collapse

We can mitigate effects of the climate collapse by moving our agriculture indoors and growing food where it’s natural, rational, and sustainable to do so — in addition to exploring new soil and agricultural practices. We can leverage GMO technology sustainably and keep it in balance with the environment.

We can encourage degrowth and decentralization. We can centralize where it makes sense (with all of our centralization being designed to be sustainable and self-sufficient). We will already have to move many cities for various reasons, we are positioned to make development make sense instead of creating urban, ecosystem-disrupting, concrete and asphalt hellholes.

We can build our houses better and refit houses to better withstand climate effects, without expending a ton of energy to do so.

I get that people want hope, but believing in entropy defying magic that will rewrite physics and human nature and save us all from ourselves at the last second… is naive at best and actively harmful at worst.

You don’t need entropy defying magic to address the current world system and the many crises we are facing. I believe it’s undesirable to advocate doom and worst-case scenarios without considering what is in our power and advocating for it.

I don’t believe human nature is inherently violent or greedy. I believe our system elevates and enables people with these character traits — we need to rethink it and the power they have over others.

We need to shift our collective mindset from lack and survival in imbalance (and in a sea of abundance), to thriving in balance with nature.

but maybe think twice before having kids.

People already aren’t having kids at the rate that they once were, global birth rate is on the decline year after year, and fertility is down by a lot for a lot of reasons.

I don’t think we’re doomed. I think the solarpunk movement has plenty of valid ideas to address these problems.

I am new to the movement, but it’s definitely given me some optimism — I believe that we have the means to deal with any crisis with our technology, evolving understanding of the world, and ingenuity.

I am learning things every day and exploring new ideas fairly often. I don’t think I am the best ambassador yet (not even close), so forgive me if I am off-base or not 100% dialed in.

Agriculture is in dire need of reform and revolution. It’s unsustainable — we could more intelligently feed the world by blending agriculture with nature (e.g. by discontinuing monocropping and scaling ideas garnished from food forests) and we can explore scaling up vertical farming. We can power this by renewables and utilize wasterwater recirculation.

We can regulate industrial water usage. We can reduce animal agriculture and grow meat in labs. We can expand upon desalination technology (finding a way to derive scalable benefit from the brine and repurpose the salt) and explore other water capture technologies that all account for potential ecosystem disruption. We can make landscapes that retain water, and reforest and reduce desertification where appropriate (e.g. with ideas from the permaculture movement). We can make water pipelines and more sensibly use groundwater, respecting replenishment rates.

We can explore creating scalable synthetic terra preta and we can explore other promising ideas like this reddit thread proposes.

Solar panels are cheap to manufacture, and if we can finish the proton battery technology, we can build scalable, cheap energy storage and power scalable vertical farms — and more broadly power our societies.

I am sure for whatever crisis you can think of, there is valuable discussion in the solarpunk community to explore more nuanced, comprehensive, and educated viewpoints than my own.

You’re valid in your perspective, but I don’t think I am throwing my hands up just yet. There are billions of people who can figure this out if we actually take the initiative as a global society.

Our produce and ingredients suck here in the US. It’s all devoid of nutrition and usually gamed to look better than it actually is. Lots of things taste funny to me, and if it’s not flavorless, it tastes like chemicals or metal. There’s simply no regulation or oversight. Our soil practices also are only viable for approximately 60 more harvests.

When I have food that is grown or produced locally (and ethically) or food that is imported from Europe or even Canada, the difference is stark — I feel like I can actually digest and the flavor is night and day.

We do need to have more self-sufficient societal development. Shipping critical materials (raw or otherwise) and critical goods across the world doesn’t make a whole lot of sense unless something is unique or a very rare resource.

We don’t need to put our eggs all in one basket — global supply lines e.g. should be for specialties and artisan goods, to ship excesses in production, and be used for aid.

The current global trade system relies on exploitation and slavery (even child slavery e.g. with cocoa).

We suck third-world countries of everything they have; their land, their labor, their resources, and their goods — and all the wealth concentrates into the hands of the very few in first-world countries. The result is the stagnation of the exploited region’s development — we trap them into these conditions of servitude.

I didn’t mean provide consent or bow down — most certainly not. I just meant mentally coming to terms with reality and accepting what needs to be changed.

If I was there, if I was involved in law enforcement, if I had access to the crime scene and raw footage and evidence, I might be able to speculate. Armchair speculation is insufficient for me.

There are plenty of events that raise legitimate questions and concerns - like suspicious, high profile deaths that are immediately ruled as suicide. Everybody is free to hold their own positions and perspectives as far as I am concerned. Question on, sate your concern and curiosity, you’ll get no arguments against that from me.

Scarcity is artificial with our level of technology and our ingenuity.

It’s a myth, we are able to produce more than enough even with many countless individuals in dire straits maintaining the world’s economy/production. We produce so much that we can afford to waste incredible amounts of food and other goods without batting an eye.

What if the individuals slaving were given the ingredients to be happy and healthy, with their human rights and needs respected?

Personally, I believe the world would get even more productive, things would start making sense, people wouldn’t have to work so hard, we’d see forward movement in our societies, and without a doubt we’d see incredible advancements.

I refuse to believe that everybody would laze about, leave the “hard” jobs unattended, and let the world rot.

If we can work this hard while we are forced to survive, forced to live in lack while the landfills pile up to the sky — there’s no way we wouldn’t be incredibly more efficient if people could take a second to breathe and fill their cup. If everybody could take a second and look around and see where things could be even better, where they can make a difference, everything would surely very quickly improve.

There’s no way to convince me that “peak productivity” is everybody emptying their cup and breaking the glass to pay debts and to afford necessities.

You do realize that most people don’t know the truth, right? That the world doesn’t need to be the way it currently is? That we have the empathy, technology, and ingenuity to solve these issues with awareness and action?