Faster Than Expected

Person on the left is a tenured professor at UC Berkeley. They live in a multi million dollar home that they bought in an era where housing was more affordable. They bike to campus, which is about ten minutes. They got tenure a few years ago, so they've taken their foot off the gas a bit. Adjuncts and postdocs do most of the grunt work.

Person on the right is an office worker in some random small city. They live about 30 minutes out by car from city center, where all the jobs are. They would have loved to have lived closer, but it was all her and her husband could afford. They were both much happier two years ago when things were still remote, but corporate forced RTO. There were also layoffs, so they are working more hours than ever.

This debate isn't actually occurring face to face. Person on the right's CEO just emailed a link out to the entire company of a lecture Person on the left was giving at a conference he was attending in palm springs. The same CEO sent out an email "apologizing on behalf of all men" after Trump won.

the only chance of survival is if every person on the planet reduced their carbon emissions to zero

Meanwhile, in reality:

Billionaires emit more carbon pollution in 90 minutes than the average person does in a lifetime

Ending climate change requires the end of capitalism. Have we got the stomach for it?

I'd rather die. What she really means is that i rather scorch the earth because i'll be gone when it's a real problem.

Driving sucks. You have to have a license, insurance, and in many places inspections. You can't or shouldn't do it on meds, alcohol, or sleep deprived. You have buy and register a car. You have to fuel and maintain a car. A few seconds of distraction can completely ruin your life and someone else's. It only takes one person making a mistake to clog up an MTA with millions of people for hours. One in a million will make mistake. You are more likely to have police interactions than almost any other activity. You can only go where roads are. License plate readers can track your movement.

I.e. you pay out the ass to do something stressful and dangerous that opens you up to life altering liability and you can't safely do it if you are impaired in any way. Half of people in the US are all but forced to do this daily and often impaired. Not even negligently impaired, shift workers, emergency workers, parent of new borns are all forced to do this.

It’s not the dying that’s gonna suck. It’s the decades of severe weather, crop failure, starvation, panic, economic collapse, looting, and survivalism leading up to it. Well, if you’re able to make it that long.

If I walked or cycled to get around I'd actually die. These roads are deadly if you're not zooming around in at least a two ton cage.

cycling? but then you're breathing out more co2 than sitting in a gas guzzling SUV?!!?

don't you wish i was joking??