this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2023
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I do not disagree with you. I know I am discounting the value of politics, which absolutely does not innoculate me from the consequences of those who participate in it.
For sure, political action is most effective through active participation such as protesting, writing to senators, participating in campaigns.
I think what I am actually annoyed by are the ineffectual joking/memeing and reduction to shouting out buzzwords that seems to have suffocated any hope for a lucid discussion ethical problems and how to overcome them.
Lastly, saying politics controls everything is at best a truism, and at worst it makes it a nebulous term. It is like when people say "society is to blame for ___." No, people, inviduals are to blame. Saying society is at fault is meaningless. Even en masse, individuals are accountable. Obviously that includes me. My actions, my morals, how I treat others can make world a better or worse place. Politics is not some invisible hand controlling the world.
But holding a few individuals to account for systemic problems will rarely accomplish anything. Societal problems require societal solutions. We can only achieve meaningful change via collective action. If it were the case that individuals could simply get up in their own homes and choose to change the world, we would already be in a better world, because most of us want that better world. The mere fact that shit sucks right now proves that the will of atomized individuals is not enough to change anything.
I agree. While I generally dislike its usage in media and political discussion, society is the correct term for a population under a shared set of circumstances who are together affected by changes in policy.
I know it unfair to put the responsibility, or blame, on any one invidividual. Even the loudest evil person with a lot of influence is only powerful due to systemic and voluntary allowance of power.
I know companies with their massive waste production contribute exponentially more to climate than the choices of all individuals.
Still, some people have more power and influence than others. Those individuals are empowered to make decisons that affect the lives of millions of people. It is not some evil cloud silently fucking everything up.
Anyways, yes, the solution to these problems will always be collective action. My viewpoint only serve to mythologize the individual and does not address the fact that it is the complecency of a massive number of people that allows bad things to happen.