Happy Pessimism, Realistic Hope

For years I was a doomer and was triggered by some climate activists attacking doomerism. Some accused doomers of secretly working for oil companies. In reality doomers are mostly pessimistic environmentalists. Some accused doomers of making children unalive themselves by making them depressed with pessimistic messages. These are of course 'ad hominem fallacies'. I don't think attacking the bringers of bad news is the same as being optimistic. And: are you trying to persuade people, or own and humiliate them?

But one point these "optimists" made, I finally realized does make sense. The argument is: "people need hope to act".

My argument against this point was that doomers don't have children, which is the single most impactful thing you can do for the environment.

In trying to be a better and healthier person, I unplugged from the doomosphere. I realized that doomerism, perhaps internet activism in general, is a form of addiction. And every time I snuck back onto the doomosphere, I relapsed into harmful habits like eating animal products and drinking alcohol. Doomscrolling took my hope and with it my motivation.

But I do believe we need to be pessimistic in the sense of anticipating problems. We need to be realistic. But we can't give up on life and we need a solutions mindset. While also not be delusion and in denial. We need to make sacrifices, like eliminate animal products, eliminate personal cars, fewer children, less consumption,... basically 'degrowth'.

Some of these climate activists that attack doomers are also 'techno optimists' who think gadgets like cars with 500kg batteries will save the world. That we can save the planet but also save our luxury lifestyle. That's just delusional. 

We do need hope, but it has to be realistic. We need to sacrifice. 

If you want to help save the planet, consider donating to: https://planetwild.com/contribute/join-now

Click here to read my guide to eating mostly plants.

peace ✌️ 💜 🌱