I agree that separating out true causal responsibility (blame) from the most effective/persuasive messaging is a useful thing to do. I think, as a general rule, that blame is not a useful thing to do at a societal level; it seems effective in personal and intimate settings because responsibility in those contexts can be clear-cut and unambiguous. Broader applications just seem to make people angry with each other, without actually accomplishing any substantive change.
the exponentially increasing curve of emissions puts the bulk of the total occurring relatively recently.
I hadn’t really thought that through, and it seems obviously correct when you mention it. I’d bring up, however, that:
I have trouble believing that anyone was genuinely trying to ruin the planet, mustache-twirling villain style.
The process of industrialization started before anyone currently alive was born, and it’s that process, of which people/companies are a part, that is “responsible” for climate change, insofar as any singular cause can be ascertained. There are absolutely people/corporations that have enriched themselves at the planet/humanity’s expense, but they’re part of a system too, and if they hadn’t done it, others would have.
I agree that separating out true causal responsibility (blame) from the most effective/persuasive messaging is a useful thing to do. I think, as a general rule, that blame is not a useful thing to do at a societal level; it seems effective in personal and intimate settings because responsibility in those contexts can be clear-cut and unambiguous. Broader applications just seem to make people angry with each other, without actually accomplishing any substantive change.
I hadn’t really thought that through, and it seems obviously correct when you mention it. I’d bring up, however, that:
I have trouble believing that anyone was genuinely trying to ruin the planet, mustache-twirling villain style.
The process of industrialization started before anyone currently alive was born, and it’s that process, of which people/companies are a part, that is “responsible” for climate change, insofar as any singular cause can be ascertained. There are absolutely people/corporations that have enriched themselves at the planet/humanity’s expense, but they’re part of a system too, and if they hadn’t done it, others would have.