What does it mean to care about climate change but be equally unmotivated to help promote any change? With the current rise of political instability, social media addiction, and AI, we are apathetic about the global catastrophe that is climate change. It is an omnipresent figure hovering in the background of our daily lives—we try not to talk about it, we try not to think about it too much, and we simply proceed with our accepted fate.
To address this paralysing reality, we must consider how the fast pace of modern-day consumerism of products and media has altered our attention span and mental reward system. With this consumerist behaviour and global political instability, we live in an intense and continually changing world, which has drained our collective mental energy. This leaves little room to deal with overarching threats such as climate change’s rapid yet almost invisible progression.
Herbert Marucuses’ book “One Dimensional Man” discusses these conflicting actions, highlighting that highly technological societies have created a form of “false needs.” These false needs are evident in our never-ending want for satiation via consumption. For example, this can be needing several of the same items, such as multiple trips abroad per year and a vast wardrobe of clothes that you do not wear.
This overconsumption cannot be separated from the sense of urgency that it both creates and relies upon. Marcuse states that this fast pace and trend turnover creates a false sense of personal contentment through consumption as well as a societal passive acceptance, an acceptance that this current reality is how we are meant to spend our time on earth.
Climate fatigue can be understood through this framework. While people may be aware of climate change as a looming issue, they feel desensitised and unmotivated to help. This is due to the perceived impossibility of going against a rigid economic structure that is constantly turning over more trends and items to consume. The constant coverage of climate issues set amongst corporate encouragement to consume has created a conflicting message which is difficult to navigate. Individuals are left anxious about their lifestyle’s moral implications yet unmotivated to change their habits and belief systems.
We cannot underestimate the nature of the human condition and our relationship with crises. Consistently, there is devastating news about not only climate change but genocide, war, LGBTQ+ rights and women’s reproductive rights. In a sense, many of these issues are deemed more easily fought than climate change. Our societal focus on hyper-consumption has almost shifted to fit into our political actions. War and human rights violations can seem much more manageable and actionable than climate change.
We vote we protest, we donate, and it is within these actions that we can see immediate change before us. Whether it’s a politician elected or a bill passed, a gratifying outcome comes from our political action. Yet, there exists a superficiality within our intentions. The political mind should not simply be satiated with a nominated figure or a passed bill. We struggle to collectively address the deeper patterns of political instability developing over decades or the degrading social belief in ideals of “community” and “purpose.” When we have become simply gratified by cyclic outcomes, we will remain unsatisfied and disillusioned with our society.
artwork created by Charlotte Patten
We know that climate change is one of the most significant challenges of our generation, and we are aware of the pending extinction of humanity—yet we are completely demotivated on an individual basis to act on our beliefs, leaving us frozen in guilt while also accepting the implications of our behaviour. It can be challenging to conceptualise and understand its enormity as it is not truly visible. Actionable change to combat climate change is also not glamorous or gratifying. Choosing a reusable water bottle, taking the bus, limiting red meat—these are all commonly agreed-upon actions we as individuals should be taking if we care about combating climate change. Yet, it is hard to continue to motivate people to complete these daily actions. The daily effort can feel exhausting and endless. It is not as simple as voting for a party or signing a petition. It is a consistent effort to go out of your way to complete actions for the intangible “greater good.”
Climate change is insidious, silent, slow, and catastrophic. It can feel exhausting to discuss, with everyone pointing fingers at one another to blame for its progression. Rather than dismantling the systems that contradict our moral responsibility to our planet, we slip deeper into the ignorance cast upon us by the consumer society we live in. Our impending reality is too dire to admit.
By Charlotte Patten—Features Contributor
