I agree we need to be more specific. I try to avoid "climate change" as much as possible and try to only use "climate crisis" when talking about climate-related things because it's more urgent and honestly more true. Plus, climate change as a phrase replaced global warming because it sounded less scary and therefore wouldn't be as top of mind to voters. And I don't want to play their stupid focus-grouped game 😅
Everything is so interconnected and you're right, people's lives will have to change quite a bit. But I think what confuses me is why people are so resistant to that kind of change? Like if public transit was actually funded and I could take the bus everywhere or high speed rail on long trips, I'd sell my car in a heartbeat. I hate driving. I hate thinking about maintenance. I despise getting gas. It's just all awful to me. I'd also love to be able to walk everywhere but that's going to take much longer to fix. I guess it surprises me that people are so happy with the way things are and don't crave those kinds of changes. That they've just decided to live and accept it. Or maybe I'm the odd one out and most people really don't see a problem with the modern day lifestyle.
I also think people forget the other C word that's making the climate crisis and quite honestly everything else worse: capitalism. But that's an even bigger ask for people to reimagine their lives around.
All of this makes me think of how hard it is to fix inequality, too. Because you inherently have to ask people to give up things they otherwise would've had. And that's really hard for a lot of people. I've often wondered if there's another way to frame it kindly and gently or if we all just have to be blunt and use tough love and say "yes, you'll lose something, but it won't actually be that big of a deal because of x, y, and z reasons." I don't know. But it's all definitely a tough conundrum.
Yeah unfortunately I think the idea of car ownership and the lifestyle that requires it is inextricable in this culture with the concept of freedom. Freedom=the most important value, and freedom=my own car, my own house, my own stuff. And what's more, I've earned that freedom, as proven by the fact that I can afford it. And if I can't afford it then I just have to work harder or go into more debt. Freedom to be isolated, miserable and in debt, lol.
I think the challenge we have is either in reconceptualising the idea of "Freedom"—to be more communal, to share space on the bus or train, live closer to amenities and each other, even share our cars, tech and equipment—or to make community and compassion more valued than our conception of freedom. I don't know which is more effective given that the concept is so ingrained!
On the language point, I think there's always going to be times where we have to refer to terms like "climate crisis" or whatever, but essentially leaning on any term too much will render it meaningless after a while, or make it seem separate from real life somehow. I think it's useful to ask, what if I didn't have a term for this? For example, just taking the example sentence from dictionary dot com: "Brewers are taking notice as the climate crisis decimates Europe’s barley crops."
If there was no term, we'd have to say something like: "Brewers are taking notice as Europe’s barley crops are decimated by changing weather patterns caused by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas."
Or even: "Brewers are taking notice as Europe’s barley crops are decimated by changing weather patterns caused by the carbon emissions of the super rich, as well as the fossil fuel and factory farming industries"
It's a bit longer but it's much much clearer, and doesn't assume that people already understand exactly what climate change is and who/what is causing it.
The freedom point is so frustrating because it can be so easily turned around on people who say that having their own car is freedom. To me it's like "society has decided everyone needs a car to get around by not investing in public transit or walkable cities, and therefore I do not have the freedom to choose to take the bus and must be a car owner if I want to be able to get around."
And honestly maybe more people need to hear that. It's like when people say they want the "freedom to choose their own health insurance because everyone has different needs" and I can't help but think we're all people and all have the potential for the same needs, why make it different?
I agree with your reconceptualization! I think the pandemic made me too cynical that we could get there when people refused to mask. Literally the simplest thing a person could do and we still couldn't get everyone to do it because "freedom." Freedom isn't a synonym for selfishness but people really treat it like one.
I see your point with language. And I do really love your example. I think that would actually be helpful to spell out more often even if it is longer. Although, I do think the people who already don't believe in the climate crisis will still be able to twist the words and say "Changing weather patterns? The weather has always changed! It's meant to change on earth, it's not the fault of fossil fuels." Or maybe I'm too cynical lol.
Psch yeah, there's always gunna be those people who twist words and deny the problem, but I guess those aren't the people we're after as we'll never change their minds (at least not in some short copy). It's the people who know there is an issue but at the moment struggle to connect with it and see it as a tangible thing.
The mask thing is interesting, it wasn't such a divisive issue here in the UK, in part because i think we have a higher level of trust in our health system (insofar as we actually have one, for now). But it's a good example, as people we've really been conditioned to think of ourselves above others, so to sacrifice convenience and comfort for the wider group feels jarring. But I don't think it helped that a large part of the response to the reluctance to wear masks came from a desire to admonish and demonise other people, rather than understand where they were coming from. I think it's the same with this stuff — it's understandable people are scared and reluctant to change, so we need to highlight the positives, praise and reward incremental change, as well as get people to understand who is actually to blame for it.
I agree we need to be more specific. I try to avoid "climate change" as much as possible and try to only use "climate crisis" when talking about climate-related things because it's more urgent and honestly more true. Plus, climate change as a phrase replaced global warming because it sounded less scary and therefore wouldn't be as top of mind to voters. And I don't want to play their stupid focus-grouped game 😅
Everything is so interconnected and you're right, people's lives will have to change quite a bit. But I think what confuses me is why people are so resistant to that kind of change? Like if public transit was actually funded and I could take the bus everywhere or high speed rail on long trips, I'd sell my car in a heartbeat. I hate driving. I hate thinking about maintenance. I despise getting gas. It's just all awful to me. I'd also love to be able to walk everywhere but that's going to take much longer to fix. I guess it surprises me that people are so happy with the way things are and don't crave those kinds of changes. That they've just decided to live and accept it. Or maybe I'm the odd one out and most people really don't see a problem with the modern day lifestyle.
I also think people forget the other C word that's making the climate crisis and quite honestly everything else worse: capitalism. But that's an even bigger ask for people to reimagine their lives around.
All of this makes me think of how hard it is to fix inequality, too. Because you inherently have to ask people to give up things they otherwise would've had. And that's really hard for a lot of people. I've often wondered if there's another way to frame it kindly and gently or if we all just have to be blunt and use tough love and say "yes, you'll lose something, but it won't actually be that big of a deal because of x, y, and z reasons." I don't know. But it's all definitely a tough conundrum.
Yeah unfortunately I think the idea of car ownership and the lifestyle that requires it is inextricable in this culture with the concept of freedom. Freedom=the most important value, and freedom=my own car, my own house, my own stuff. And what's more, I've earned that freedom, as proven by the fact that I can afford it. And if I can't afford it then I just have to work harder or go into more debt. Freedom to be isolated, miserable and in debt, lol.
I think the challenge we have is either in reconceptualising the idea of "Freedom"—to be more communal, to share space on the bus or train, live closer to amenities and each other, even share our cars, tech and equipment—or to make community and compassion more valued than our conception of freedom. I don't know which is more effective given that the concept is so ingrained!
On the language point, I think there's always going to be times where we have to refer to terms like "climate crisis" or whatever, but essentially leaning on any term too much will render it meaningless after a while, or make it seem separate from real life somehow. I think it's useful to ask, what if I didn't have a term for this? For example, just taking the example sentence from dictionary dot com: "Brewers are taking notice as the climate crisis decimates Europe’s barley crops."
If there was no term, we'd have to say something like: "Brewers are taking notice as Europe’s barley crops are decimated by changing weather patterns caused by the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas."
Or even: "Brewers are taking notice as Europe’s barley crops are decimated by changing weather patterns caused by the carbon emissions of the super rich, as well as the fossil fuel and factory farming industries"
It's a bit longer but it's much much clearer, and doesn't assume that people already understand exactly what climate change is and who/what is causing it.
The freedom point is so frustrating because it can be so easily turned around on people who say that having their own car is freedom. To me it's like "society has decided everyone needs a car to get around by not investing in public transit or walkable cities, and therefore I do not have the freedom to choose to take the bus and must be a car owner if I want to be able to get around."
And honestly maybe more people need to hear that. It's like when people say they want the "freedom to choose their own health insurance because everyone has different needs" and I can't help but think we're all people and all have the potential for the same needs, why make it different?
I agree with your reconceptualization! I think the pandemic made me too cynical that we could get there when people refused to mask. Literally the simplest thing a person could do and we still couldn't get everyone to do it because "freedom." Freedom isn't a synonym for selfishness but people really treat it like one.
I see your point with language. And I do really love your example. I think that would actually be helpful to spell out more often even if it is longer. Although, I do think the people who already don't believe in the climate crisis will still be able to twist the words and say "Changing weather patterns? The weather has always changed! It's meant to change on earth, it's not the fault of fossil fuels." Or maybe I'm too cynical lol.
Psch yeah, there's always gunna be those people who twist words and deny the problem, but I guess those aren't the people we're after as we'll never change their minds (at least not in some short copy). It's the people who know there is an issue but at the moment struggle to connect with it and see it as a tangible thing.
The mask thing is interesting, it wasn't such a divisive issue here in the UK, in part because i think we have a higher level of trust in our health system (insofar as we actually have one, for now). But it's a good example, as people we've really been conditioned to think of ourselves above others, so to sacrifice convenience and comfort for the wider group feels jarring. But I don't think it helped that a large part of the response to the reluctance to wear masks came from a desire to admonish and demonise other people, rather than understand where they were coming from. I think it's the same with this stuff — it's understandable people are scared and reluctant to change, so we need to highlight the positives, praise and reward incremental change, as well as get people to understand who is actually to blame for it.