Extinction Rebellion and Climate Activism

Climate change makes for an awkward fit with human psychology. It creeps slowly where we instinctively respond to immediate threats. Climate science is complex and predicts our doom with much uncertainty, but we prefer to receive simple and final answers. Adapting to mitigate climate change would require sacrifice, and major adjustments to our economic and political systems, but we dislike change, and prioritize our own interests.

Humanity is now split among unbridgeable islands of opinion. You can't compromise between people who think that everything will be fine, and people who think that humanity will collapse in 11 years, and we see this tension breaking out in public protests that continue to grow larger and more extreme.

Extinction Rebellion is a global network of climate activists whose protests have shut down highways, bridges and subways in major cities around the world. Are these the extreme actions of a gang of lunatics, or a rational attempt to change the course of humanity before we destroy ourselves? How should we publicly express our thoughts on climate change and send a message that will spur our political leaders to act?

Excerpt

Extinction Rebellion is a global network of climate activists whose protests have shut down highways, bridges and subways in major cities around the world. Are these the extreme actions of a gang of lunatics, or a rational attempt to change the course of humanity before we destroy ourselves? How should we publicly express our thoughts on climate change and send a message that will spur our political leaders to act?

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Activism [1] Climate Change [1] Environment [6] Ethics [20] Politics [26]