It’s ironic, in a sad way, that the liberal intelligencia, that very group of people who dedicated their lives to studying the use of language, rethorics, logic, psychology, history of philosophy, journalism, could not come together and form a cohesive argument in a way that speaks to the values of their opponents.
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160425143307.h...
https://www.ted.com/talks/robb_willer_how_to_have_better_pol...
A great example would be Cassie Jaye and her film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMuzhQXJoY
Why do you say conservatism is intertwined with masculinity but not femininity? Does one make sense without the other?
That’s why traditionally Kings were always coronated by bishops and linked to the church. There was an implicit endorsement by god. Today, churches with these types of philosophies are a key part of republican get out the vote movements. That’s why politicians kowtow to people like Falwell.
So anyone past a certain point on the individualist/collectivist spectrum might see their non-cooperation toward global warming as pure virtue signalling, without any realistic chance of their individual action having a measurable effect on the world.
Individualism is a conservative/masculine virtue to a greater degree than collectivism. So it is easy to see why someone may prefer to choose a non-cooperative stance on global warming as a pure virtue signalling move.
That, and the excesses of the environmental movement created this weird environment we have today. The gun culture people I grew up with were deeply concerned about waterfowl and loss of wildlife habitat, as they felt a duty to be stewards to it. Now, that’s devolved into this sort of gun porn.
Let's take a nationalistic country like Brazil. Do you think macho Brazilians would become more receptive to environmentalism if it were associated more vigorously with manliness, for example? I'm curious what you think the result would be.
Conservatism and masculinity are deeply intertwined (I don't want to say "patriarchy" because I'll offend people) but without a doubt, this past election and the messaging used exposes a deep ideological hang-up in conservatives regarding gender roles and masculinity.
But I've noticed a way to completely and totally side-step this problem.
Sustainability does not challenge a man's masculinity.
The permaculture movement and similar concepts do not challenge masculinity, either.
I've found that the same conservative men in my life (I'm from Georgia here in the South) who scoff at the 'green', sneer at a local restaurant which offers "recycle and compost, but no trash can" as being effeminate millennial nonsense, can see great conservative value in living a sustainable rural lifestyle. Farming, self-sufficiency, the repair not replace movement, permaculture, all of this can be very palatable or even engaging and exciting to a conservative.
Caveat: This does not work on fundamentalist Christians who believe that God has created the planet for them to use and is handling things top down. I've met a number of Christian conservatives who disagree with green/sustainable on purely religious grounds that God simply wouldn't let things get out of hand.
But sustainable, permanent culture jives with prepper-culture rather deeply, so can be made to seem masculine when the end result is the same: reduce, reuse, recycle. When it becomes less "stop liberal global warming" and more "protect your family by preparing them to sustainably survive for as long as possible" it plays to conservative desires very well.