Challenge Defeatism. Resist Doomerism
From the same study you linked:
However, if each lost quality adjusted life year is considered to be worth €22 200, the net effect is reversed to be €70 200 (€71.600 when adjusted with propensity score) per individual in favour of non-smoking.
Then there are the risks to other people from second hand smoke: https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/stopping-smoking/reasons-to-stop/dangers-of-second-hand-smoke/
The wealth of our nation is built upon our historic ability to capture the ingenuity and industry of our people, and the willingness of many to trade risk for reward. It’s become a dirty word, but our renewal must also mean a renewal for capitalism.
In other words ‘Make us richer’. Cunts, the lot of them.
…and make sure that a green belt established in the middle of the 20th century works properly for the 21st.
I sincerely hope this bit isn’t code for “we’re going to build houses wherever the fuck we want, to hell with your biodiversity and local wildlife”.
Also a shit load more houses are only half the requirement. Those houses need to be well insulated, well built, fitted with renewable energy generation and water recycling and supported with appropriate infrastructure such as public transport and additional schools, GP surgeries etc. They also need to be fit for local purpose. Not every location needs another ‘exclusive development of 4 - 5 bedroom homes’, nor do they all need 5000 red brick cookie-cutter Barrett homes and flats.
You can’t just brand 5 acres of shit-tier housing admist a sea of concrete and tarmac and fuck-all else as a successful job done. There needs to be more thought as to how the housing will be used and how well it integrates into the local environment and infrastructure.
It’d also be great if they made at least some effort to make them even remotely pleasant places to look at/drive through/live nearby. Green spaces, trees, water, hedges, grass, greenery. These don’t only benefit wildlife they also make it nicer for people - both those living there and those living nearby. A vague attempt to match local architectural styles would help as well. Make it look like it belongs, not like someone just copy-pasted the same half-dozen house designs all across the country.
But all of these extra requirements cost money and therefore less profit for the housing developers, so I can guess the likelihood of them happening…
the chancellor, foreign secretary and health secretary all warned separately that the public has lost faith in mainstream politics and that if they fail, voters will turn toward the far-left or far-right.
Oh no, not the far-left!
Whilst any investment in green energy is to be applauded, I’m not sure why the government feels it necessary to go cap-in-hand to private business via what feels like PFI 2.0 to raise money. We’re one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the issue isn’t lack of funds it’s where those funds are accumulated. Tax the rich appropriately and we wouldn’t need to be reliant on dangling the carrot of profit in front of businesses just to help pay for our countries future.
Well, that’s a sobering read.
£66bn and counting…
Disruptive protests help activists causes:
Indeed, anger is important as long as its channeled correctly: https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-channel-your-anger-into-productive-action
But getting angry at something doesn’t mean we have to be angry all the time. Neither does it mean we have to do so at the expense of other emotions, including hope and positivity. Emotional engagement with climate change is complicated, and it’s important we understand that one size doesn’t fit all. If anger works for you, great, but it may not work for everyone:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/risa.12140
I share your frustrations about people’s voting patterns, but as I’ve demonstrated only focusing on the negative will not help change that. Motivation is important, and people are willing to change, we just need to find better ways to help them: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/09/14/in-response-to-climate-change-citizens-in-advanced-economies-are-willing-to-alter-how-they-live-and-work/#:~:text=A median of 80%25 across,or no changes at all
You are most welcome :)
No one is pushing toxic positivity. Positivity becomes toxic when it’s based on suppressing feelings. Instead of accepting and working through negative or challenging emotions, toxically positive behavior simply pushes them away. I’m not advocating for the latter or suggesting we ignore the many problems the world is facing, only that in doing so we don’t also ignore the tangible positives to.
I’m sorry that the information I provided doesn’t meet your requirements. Personally I believe that optimism and hope is important, and that we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good - any progress is better than none at all.
Suggesting something isn’t good because it may or may not change in the future is a very negative way of looking at things. Remember, pessimism isn’t realism: https://medium.com/the-ascent/the-magic-that-happens-when-we-stop-equating-pessimism-with-realism-9480a5481540
There’s also research that demonstrates that positivity increases motivation: https://www.positive.news/society/media/positive-news-stories-bring-people-together-study-finds/
And that people are more likely to engage with positive content, and that it provides purpose and direction: https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/rn3012085
Indeed we see this mentioned in the article linked in the header:
…in this case there has long been a group of people out there who believe we should tell the worst stories we possibly can, because then the public will get it and wake up and that will enable change. That practice has not really worked.
If positivity doesn’t feel right for you, or doesn’t feel right in this specific situation, that’s okay. Sometimes we use worry and other negative outcomes to help us. Just remember to look after your mental health. There’s a lot of negative news out there at the moment and constant doomscrolling is bad for you: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/cravings/202208/are-you-negative-news-junkie
Maybe take the time to remind yourself of what is going right in the world:
Not a robot. Just doing what I can to push back against the sea of gloom here on Lemmy.
Try not to despair! Here is some more positive news to improve your mood:
The world already passed the peak of per capita emissions in 2012: https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/co2?facet=none&hideControls=false&Gas+or+Warming=CO₂&Accounting=Production-based&Fuel+or+Land+Use+Change=All+fossil+emissions&Count=Per+capita&country=CHN~USA~IND~GBR~OWID_WRL
GDP has been decoupled from CO2 admissions: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/co2-emissions-and-gdp-per-capita
Per capita energy consumption from renewables is increasing rapidly: https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/energy?tab=chart&facet=none&Total+or+Breakdown=Select+a+source&Energy+or+Electricity=Primary+energy&Metric=Per+capita+consumption&Select+a+source=Renewables&country=USA~GBR~CHN~OWID_WRL~IND~BRA~ZAF
Newly installed renewable power capacity increasingly costs less than the cheapest power generation options based on fossil fuels. Solar PV shows an 82% cost decline: https://www.irena.org/publications/2020/Jun/Renewable-Power-Costs-in-2019
Emissions in advanced economies fell to their lowest levels in 50 years: https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2023/emissions-in-advanced-economies-fell-to-their-level-of-50-years-ago
Global energy related CO2 emissions could peak by 2025: https://www.iea.org/news/the-energy-world-is-set-to-change-significantly-by-2030-based-on-today-s-policy-settings-alone
Remember, pessimism isn’t useful: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23622511/climate-doomerism-optimism-progress-environmentalism
Try to stay positive, friend! https://fixthenews.com/planet/
Find out more here https://www.wcl.org.uk/
It’s worth bearing in mind that some of this may also be down to the rules of origin of the UK EU TCA, not necessarily a reduction in actual trade. UK and EU branded clothing and footwear made outside Europe can no longer be counted as UK or EU exports. Instead they are now recorded as an export of the country where they were manufactured.
A lot of modern clothing is made in places like India or China and then branded in another. This would have then been classed as a UK export when sent to the EU, but this is no longer the case.
Disappointed that climate change isn’t more front and centre here, although at least their commitment around energy security includes renewables.
No big loss then…