>And pardon me for saying this, but part of me is ever so slightly disappointed Covid-19 is not a lot more deadly. I am a terrible person.

I suspect that if it was a lot more deadly, it would have triggered a stronger government response (at least in the U.S.) and ultimately killed fewer people.

Then again, I've repeatedly underestimated just how incompetent this administration could be.

To the extent that the US administration (slightly worse than France) is incompetent, the British, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, Peruvian, Swedish and Chilean administrations are all worse and some significantly so if you look at deaths per 100,000. Brazil has lower per capita deaths than the US.

> I mean things that will actually make a huge difference, not just telling myself I am making a difference by doing little things like not having a car, or re-using and recycling.

I think if we all do more to make a little difference, we'll make a big difference as a group.

I've been making a focused effort to buy food produced locally. Details on how this helps here: https://www.terrapass.com/eat-your-way-to-a-smaller-carbon-f.... Lettuce from across the country costs the same, and isn't as fresh.

We moved for a better quality of life, and part of that was reducing our commute. We were able to cut the commute back from 3hrs a day to about 30min a day per adult, if that. There's a calculator here that can help you figure out the carbon savings: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/household-carbon-footprint-...

When our water heater failed, I did some research and realized the state where we were living at the time would pay for a replacement tankless combined water heater and furnace. That saved us about $4k from the cost of the system, plus it is super efficient so our heating and cooking costs dropped, plus we had endless hot water for showers.

I realized one day it's like working on legacy software: if you look at it as a whole, it looks like a completely intractable problem. But if you start making incremental changes, over time you can change and have an impact.

What you describe is a good way of coping with individual anxiety but doesn't really get us closer to tackling the bigger problem. If this approach was so great, why isn't it working already? I think you're assuming that everyone else is embracing optimality and that everyone else sees the mutual benefit in that. In reality, many people don't care and quite a few find negative outcomes sufficiently profitable that they're willing or even eager to sacrifice your future wellbeing for their benefit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action_problem#Soci...

The hard truth is that all the changes you made have little impact. The worst case scenario for species and the environment is pretty much on track to play out. But we don't like the truth do we? I see myself getting voted down for this.

Hey, you can be proud for having spent time thinking about it to start with. And for having tried! Feeling responsible for it yourself alone is not necessary, it's bigger than that.

Here's a thought or two by Attenborough on overpopulation, one of the drivers of these problems [0]

The problem will solve itself however (with certainty), and I cannot explain it better than George Carlin [1]. Enjoy!

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRPmLWYbUqA

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c

Thank you for this

I hear you. I have been watching Sir.David Attenborough for 2/3rds of my life. While I have a lot of respect for his work and his presence, hearing his voice causes PTSD.

Not long ago, I told someone that every time I hear his voice, either some creature is going to die or something is going to go hungry. There is no happy ending to this earth saga. I feel helpless most of the time and don’t know how to leave this world a better place.

I don’t know how pay my debt back to this planet. So far my plan is to arrange for my estate to consolidate all my assets to buy land and return it to nature. Not Ag..not gardens. Not habitat. Just return it to nature and let nature do what it wants.

I guess it’s just going to keep going until it’s our turn ?