if capitalism just focused on long term profit, then climate would be tackled, as well as health issues like smoking. these things are all unprofitable.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

This is completely valid. I didn't want to get into the economics of short term vs long term gains, etc.

There's a paradox in environmental activism, like with many other things. Basically, if you do everything in your power to avoid an environmental catastrophe, and that catastrophe does not happen, then, did it simply not happen because it never would have happened? Or did your impact avoid the issue?

There's no way to know.

You know what you can tell really quickly? This quarters profits.... Something that seems to be a focus of every capitalist ever.

Drive the earth into becoming an unlivable hellscape, but for a short time, create a lot of value for the shareholders.