Not my OC but what I’ve believed for years: there’s no conflict between reducing your own environmental impact and holding corporations responsible. We hold corps responsible for the environment by creating a societal ethos of environmental responsibility that forces corporations to serve the people’s needs or go bankrupt or be outlawed. And anyone who feels that kind of ethos will reduce their own environmental impact because it’s the right thing to do.
Thoughts?
People who reduce their own environmental impact often take it personal when other’s don’t praise them or copy their behaviour. There’s often a tendency of judging others for their choices. I really try to watch myself but I’m not free from it, and I guess we all know also how annoying it is to be on the receiving end of these world improvement attempts.
Companies on the other hand are not people, so we don’t have to be kind to them. We should always hold them accountable for their actions.
… thinking this further, personal responsibility and corporate responsibility are connected. Corporations consist of people. I decide every day to continue working for a bunch of corporations who aren’t providing useful service for society. You might do the same. Each individual person who gets up in the morning and continues to do their job within a deeply unjust and destructive society is perpetuating the destruction - but it’s like we are waiting for the others to start first. Because obviously it’s utterly scary to imagine running towards the revolution with a raised fist and then find everybody else stayed sitting at their desks. So we just shake our fists a little, and go vegan or take the bus so we don’t feel so bad about our participation in perpetuating the destruction.
… and I think that’s where our joy of life and art comes in, because art gives us the chance to dream the life we want, the society we want, the relations we want, while we are forced to survive in this deeply flawed version of reality. As for our fellow world improvers, the kind thing is to cheer them on: yay, you’re still with us, plant eaters, bus takers, writers, doers!