We Crush, Poison, and Destroy Insects at Our Own Peril
I think one of the problems with most of the climate change and environmental articles like this is that they focus entirely on the negative.<p>We aren’t going to see the massive cultural change that it would take to bring massive (positive) environmental change, until we have a shared narrative of how it’s going to be awesome and make life better for all of us.<p>Collective action to “stop the bad thing” just doesn’t happen at the scale required unless the harm is severe, immediate, and personal. Environmental damage is not like that: each individual can barely perceive it. We do see some cultural change on the things people can perceive (such as recycling and litter reduction, the tremendous growth of “organic food”). But the majority of major environmental problems are big cumulative things that happen slowly over time and are hard for individuals to perceive.<p>Meanwhile, you read an alarmist article and the question is “so what am I supposed to do about it?” Until we have a shared narrative on what it is we’re supposed to be doing about it, and that shared narrative paints the picture of a better future where everyone can see themselves being happier, healthier, etc., bottom-up change won’t happen.<p>And in the western democracies, you (by design), won’t get dramatic, sweeping change until there’s broad bottom-up support.