Climate change isn’t for the working class to solve

With Earth Day 2019 coming to an end, I noticed one theme throughout the entire day — how we, as ordinary people, can make changes to save the whole planet. With every post, that undoubtedly meant well, I just questioned how we had strayed so far from the truth and practical solutions.

Let’s take a look at all the things that we’ve been told to do recently.

• Ditch plastic straws
• Stop buying fast fashion
• Start gardening
• Have shorter showers
• Use reusable bags and cups
• Buy bamboo utensils

Now, make no mistake, I’m the first to move towards a greener lifestyle. I follow a vegan diet, shop locally, use reusable beauty items, and have stopped buying from fast fashion outlets. Wherever possible, I will live an eco-friendly lifestyle — for the planet and the animals.

Small steps do help, but our efforts seem futile when the real culprits of global warming are sitting comfortably, making no changes at all.

The rich fuel climate change

Oxfam released a study which revealed that the wealthiest ten per cent of people produced half of the planet’s individual consumption-based fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, the poorest 50% (approximately 3.5 billion people) contribute only 10 per cent. Why are we not shouting from the rooftops and kicking and screaming about this?

And let’s not forget about the big corporations that actively make decisions to affect our planet negatively. Coal industries, oil corporations, and tech companies all make decisions every single day — decisions that are damaging our world, all for the sake of the planet. Take Apple as a shining example; they purposely make their phones break after a few years, so, we as consumers have to buy a new one. Where does that toxic waste go from old phones?

Yet, it’s the ordinary people and their plastic straws that cause the most damage? Let’s not be naive about this. Gaslighting isn’t a term I would ever use lightly, but it seems like the only way that I can describe how the top 10% are focusing so much effort on manufacturing a reality that just doesn’t match up to the facts. Masking their weird “efforts” to being more sustainable, actively passing all responsibility to the working classes, and then returning to their lifestyle that is, quite literally, killing the world.

How climate change affects the rich

It just isn’t a worry for them, though. As the weather gets warmer, and the ocean rises, there will be winners and losers. Yes, you guessed it — the winners won’t be the working class and their metal straws, it’s the rich.

Stanford research that looked into the effects of rising temperatures on the economic output in 165 nations found that the countries with the highest and lowest per-capita economic output grew by 25% more than it would have without global warming. Perhaps this explains why the Trump administration has scaled back on it’s commitment to ending climate change?

The poorest of countries are considerably poorer because of global warming. Similarly, the poorest of people in those countries are significantly poorer because of global warming.

It’s worth noting that women and children are also adversely affected by climate change. With 80% of those displaced by climate change being women, and women being much less likely to recover from disasters which will affect jobs, housing and infrastructure.

Sure, I could go on a tangent about how capitalism and socio-economic inequalities have caused this. I could bring in my (extensive) arguments for feminism and socialism. But we probably don’t have time. My point is, the rich evidently don’t care about climate change because, well, it doesn’t affect them.

The rich will survive it, too

Let’s take our minds back to the devastating California fires. Though, you probably already knew about the celebrities which were affected, did you know that in the lower class neighbourhoods, the death total has risen from 63 to 600 missing? Probably not, because the media chose to focus solely on celebrities and their poor mansions.

Did you also know that prisoners were forced to fight the fires for just $1/hour? All while the millionaires were taking advantage of their resources and systems to protect their million dollar houses.

It’s a weird, dystopian reality that we live in, and the contrast in how these types of disasters affect people highlight the environmental class inequality which is entirely evident. It takes blissful ignorance to not notice it.

Is the fact that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West hired private firefighters just a glimpse into the future of climate change? Where the wealthiest few will use private systems and their grotesque wealth to avoid any of the cataclysmic effects of climate change? These fires should demonstrate the need for action towards helping those who will be the most harmed; poor people.

The problem with passing the blame

You’re probably really angry now. I am just writing this. It’s even more ridiculous when you start to look into how the rich are actively trying to pass the blame onto the folks who are doing the least damage and will be the most affected.

Take the plastic straw ban, for instance. Great, it’s a fabulous small step, and I hope that fewer animals will suffer from this little change. However, plastic straws make up for less than 0.003% of plastic waste in our oceans. With 46% of all trash in the Great Pacific Garbage patch being from fishing gear.

So, where are the campaigns to limit our fish intake? Or does that align with the wealthiest few’s best interests?

The problem with passing the blame onto everyday people, in my opinion, is that it allows everyone to turn a blind eye to the real culprits. Big corporations systematically destroy our precious planet for profit, and we sit there and try to remember to use our reusable bag when we go shopping.

It’s precisely what they want — to keep us distracted with little indoor herb gardens, bamboo forks and knives and metal straws. Meanwhile, they’re entirely wrecking the earth.

It’s what the upper class are notorious for. Throughout history, they’ve made the middle classes believe that the lower classes are responsible for the problems that the upper classes create.

You can see this in other political discussions. From immigration, gun control, and gang violence. They pass the blame so that they can continue with the actions that earn them their money.

The solution

There are no secure solutions, especially when regarding altering the most powerful and wealthiest people in the world. To be honest, myself as a working class 22-year-old from Preston, probably doesn’t have the answer, either.

But take the Notre Dame fire as a perfect example of how help and change can be made. Of course, watching helplessly as such a beautiful, iconic building crumbled down was horrible. However, the very fact that billionaires pledged 600 million dollars in under 24 hours only shows how easily rich people could solve world problems if they really cared.

Seriously, every time I think about climate change, my mind jumps to the New Yorker cartoon in which a suited man is telling children “yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time, we created a lot of value for shareholders.” It seems like a battle fought in vain sometimes.

I will say, grass root campaigns have historically made significant differences to the world. Even with solving problems that the rich had vested interests against. Take the anti-coal seam gas movement as an example that’s had too many wins to even count, including France, Bulgaria, Germany and Scotland officially outlawing fracking.

Moving away from capitalism, and pushing towards a socialist society will also help us to beat climate change. The changes needed to avert environmental destruction are not compatible with capitalism. With an economic and political system that prioritises profit and growth, how can we expect the 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions to make any meaningful change?

In short, we need system change to prevent climate change.

Keep making your small changes

I would obviously never want you to jump back into your harmful habits. Your small changes are making a difference — saving just one animal is worth it.

Adopt a greener lifestyle, and you’ll feel happier and healthier in yourself. The small steps all together do make a big difference, it’s just a stepping stone to more significant and more impactful changes.

The changes needed to end climate change go way beyond ignorance now. It’s a simple question to those with the most money — do you care enough about the future generations and this planet, or is momentary money more important to you?

I’ll end this whole rant with this, directed at the middle classes: stop using working class people as a scapegoat for the issues that you create, stop demonising them, and use your money to help the world.