*Fewer humans, and that would actually solve most of our problems, it’s just that we need to be more specific about which humans we get rid of. Specifically billionaires/unchecked capitalists.
Real talk
Submitted 18 hours ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/2bba7e14-9e56-4cd1-845c-8e0de7c068fe.jpeg
Comments
PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
There were fewer humans a century ago. and there were no human caused ecological crisis back then.
it isn’t the number of people really, but the exploitative economic system they use.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
No human caused ecological crises during the height of industrialization? Sure bud.
lmmarsano@group.lt 8 hours ago
Specifically billionaires/unchecked capitalists
The easy scapegoat oversimplifies the problem, which goes beyond & predates capitalism. Though exterminating all of humanity is one way to achieve sustainability, it doesn’t necessarily require it. So far, however, humanity has reached living standards beyond subsistence only by consuming resources at unsustainable levels faster than the planet can replenish, and that has been true regardless of economic system. Even when living at subsistence levels, humanity has likely caused mass extinction events.
From a comment to a similar post
People here tend to fixate on their pet theories that scapegoat capitalism for everything including that humanity’s drain on ecological resources exceeds Earth’s rate of regeneration without acknowledging that their alternatives don’t address the problem, either.
Although governments are far more able than individuals and firms acting singly to take action to protect the environment, they often fail to do so. The centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe, where governments controlled production, had a particularly poor record on pollution control. Per capita mortality from air pollution in Eastern Europe (outside the EU) and China remains high relative to the EU and North America.
In particular, the Soviet economy—with constitutional guarantees to continuously improve living standards & steadily grow productive forces—caused disproportionately worse ecological damage than the US’s. All economic systems have the same capacity to degrade the environment & deplete stocks of natural resources. Without adequate policies to protect the environment, improving & maintaining living standards with the continuous economic growth necessary to do that threatens the environment.
Moreover, human activity before capitalism has led to extinctions of megafauna, plants, & animals dependent on those plants. The quaternary megafauna extinction was likely driven by overhunting by humans. Those extinctions & increased fires coinciding with the arrival of humanity to Australia transformed the ecosystem from mixed rainforest to drier landscapes. Aboriginal landscape burning
may have caused the extinction of some fire-sensitive species of plants and animals dependent upon infrequently burnt habitats
More recently, they killed off the elephant bird likely due to major environmental alterations & overconsumption of their eggs.
Until humanity starts living sustainably, they are the problem.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Meme is accurate. I am weird and misanthropic.
BillyClark@piefed.social 17 hours ago
Yeah, I was going to say that there is nothing inherently illogical about the misanthropic person, despite what the meme implies.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
I just wonder if non-misanthropes have actually met people or if they’ve got this idealized view of them.
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 17 hours ago
Just uhh, don’t look at all the things we’re doing for infinite growth. The beef industry is totally a normal thing to inflict on an environment
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
Well we needed something to replace all the native ruminants we brutally slaughtered.
joostjakob@lemmy.world 40 minutes ago
Do we?
Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 hours ago
If we’re a part of nature, everything we do is also a part of nature, it’s just that we have the capacity to understand the consequences of humanity’s actions on the rest of nature
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 15 hours ago
I mean if you want to generalize, mass extinction events are also an occurrence in nature even when we’re not involved. I think the hope of environmental endeavors is to try and preserve as much as we can, which our current population growth and desired goals of wealth just will not do.
Hylactor@sopuli.xyz 18 hours ago
Connection between the human development index (HDI) and total fertility rate (TFR)
The human development index has three components -GDP per capita is one of them, life expectancy is the second and the education level - the third. As all these factors are negatively correlated with fertility
pageflight@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Generally seems like the right message, but there are plenty of third factors that might be a more direct cause — amount of drugs, microplastics, pesticides, etc in the environment / food.
Sunsofold@lemmings.world 15 hours ago
Real talk? Missing the third group that groups the other two under the same heading for political expediency. The bottom group is essentially never sincerely grouped with the top.
someguy3@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
If everyone on the planet lived like an American… Yikes.
MerryJaneDoe@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
Personally, I prescribe to Carlin’s philosophy. The problem will take care of itself.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 17 hours ago
Most people who say humanity is an invasive species are actually just talking about white people. They’re erasing the harmony between Indigenous peoples and nature that in Australia has lasted for tens of thousands of years.
Yet if you say white people are an invasive pest… /joking
lmmarsano@group.lt 8 hours ago
From earlier comment on similar post
Moreover, human activity before capitalism has led to extinctions of megafauna, plants, & animals dependent on those plants. The quaternary megafauna extinction was likely driven by overhunting by humans. Those extinctions & increased fires coinciding with the arrival of humanity to Australia transformed the ecosystem from mixed rainforest to drier landscapes. Aboriginal landscape burning
may have caused the extinction of some fire-sensitive species of plants and animals dependent upon infrequently burnt habitats
More recently, [indigenous people] killed off the elephant bird likely due to major environmental alterations & overconsumption of their eggs.
and I see like before the same OP still won’t do the decency to support fellow humans by following web accessibility. That sums up our conviction of humanity.
JizzmasterD@lemmy.ca 15 hours ago
There aren’t actually many cool hats
happybadger@hexbear.net 18 hours ago
Urban ecology is the proof of dialectics.
stabby_cicada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 hours ago
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Also I depicted Cool hats