bernadettedevlins:

caustictickingoftheclock:

nin-i:

caustictickingoftheclock:

solarpunkcast:

nin-i:

if you’re into solarpunk and you’re not trying to cut your impact on the environment down as much as you can, are you really into solarpunk?

no.

I do not think this is how solarpunk should be represented. This is not a Holier Than Thou movement, and it certainly isn’t a “if you don’t do exactly x y z, then you aren’t punk” movement either.

This is ignoring the majority of younger people who are interested in solarpunk, that don’t have the means or independence to do everything they can.

This is ignoring disabled people, people who are at the whim of caretakers, or people whose conditions require disposable medical supplies.

This is ignoring people who cannot be fully independent due to economic factors and are beholden to the rest of the household, or those whose vocation makes it hard.

The point of economic pressures (of capitalism), is that it forces people to go against their own interests. For example, how is a trucker supposed to cut down on food waste, when they will rarely have a full kitchen? How can they cut down on carbon emissions when their job is ferrying cargo around? How can diabetics prevent medical waste when reused needles are dangerous?

It is neither helpful nor solarpunk to tell people they cannot be a part of this movement because they “aren’t doing as much as possible”.

The entire point of this movement is to uplift and support one another: to help each other create art, media, and social norms that raise communal environmentalism above individualistic consumerism.

Gatekeeping is not solarpunk. Period.

also: not that you shouldn’t try to reduce your impact, but trying to center every last bit of your life around reducing your individual carbon footprint is going to take a lot more energy and be a lot less effective than taking action on a collective level, and trying to reduce the emissions of your whole town/region/country.

so yeah, if you’re helping take bp to court but you drink a coke every now and then you’re still pretty fucking solarpunk

never said that :)) xx

i got the impression from your post that you were trying to emphasise individual action, and was trying to point out that individual and collective action compete for your time and energy, and individual action is often more time-consuming. i’m not trying to put words in your mouth, but i do think this is a corollary of your view.

i also think the reason people are taking issue with your post is because it wasn’t put in the kindest of terms. i’m sure you weren’t trying to alienate people but please understand that if you put things in terms of who does or doesn’t belong in a community, people are going to feel alienated.

We’re not going to build a solarpunk world as individuals. We are only going forward together, and caustictinckingoftheclock is right, this is a problem for collective organizing and collective action.

Eat vegetables? Plant vegetables, and give away whatever you can, but help get a community garden off the ground. Involve your community.