Kachumbari
More than renewables versus nuclear, this is perhaps the reason why I object so strongly to these calls for “climate activism”. I do not want the world of my kids to be smaller or more limited than the one I inherited. On the contrary, I want the 21st century to be one of truly great discoveries and adventures beyond our wildest imagination. We will not solve climate change by limiting our appetite or rolling back the physical, spiritual and cultural emancipation of the last few hundred years. Every minute that we spend dividing ourselves and narcissistically comparing our carbon footprints is a minute that we do not spend accelerating the transition to a world where everyone can live a life with open horizons.
That is not the same as recklessness. We need to care for our local environment and recycle our household waste. But frugality cannot be the solution in a world of eight billion people. Or to put it differently, shaming “influencers” on Instagram for their international travel is not particularly Star Trek. We need the very opposite mentality, one that doubles down and takes back the initiative. With this in mind, I made an East African kachumbari salad and saffron rice for lunch while dreaming of Lamu. Within a few generations, we can build a world without borders and solitary identities. Let’s get to it!
posted by Rasmus Karlsson at 14:40
2 Comments:
I find it ironic that you in your previous post referred to the climate strike as "neo-colonial efforts to impose 'sustainable energy transitions' on poor people in the developing world", while you in this post advocate a highly neo-colonial behaviour (i.e. traveling) yourself. On top of that, you refer to it as something as ignorant as "physical, spiritual and cultural emancipation of the last few hundred years". Thankfully, the younger generation is aware of the consequences of their parents' behaviour, and willing to give up the luxuries of the Global North, such as traveling by plane.
(Hej förresten Rasmus! Kände mig bara tvungen att reagera på ditt inlägg. Hoppas det är bra med dig!)
Hej själv!
I am not so sure, neither on that young people are actually willing to give up on travelling nor that travel necessarily is "neocolonial". Given the immense economic, cultural and political benefits that global aviation brings, while only being responsible for 2% of all carbon emissions, I would focus my attention on the numerous other sources of emissions that do not have such positive externalities. A good place would be closing down coal power in Europe or working on making our societies less car dependent (or even introducing a meat tax).
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