To think we’ve already f****d it up when it comes to the environment.

[MynameisWa]

Am I being unreasonable in thinking we’ve already passed the point of no return when it comes to the environment and that it’s just no one in power or in the know wants to be the one to admit it?

A staggeringly brilliant article that explains why capitalism and not just consumerism is underpinning the climate crisis.

If you have spare money you will spend it on stuff explaining why Bill Gates's carbon footprint is estimated at 7500 tonnes per year.

Plus protectionalism from those at the top will prevent any change to the status quo, by using their money to buy power.

"The fairytale of universal wealth, one day, secures our obedience." This is so true. The promise that we too could be rich by working harder/being more successful/being better keeps us all in line.

Capitalism is nothing but a pyramid scheme. It's based on exponential growth which means we have to keep unsustainably growing the economy.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/30/capitalism-is-killing-the-planet-its-time-to-stop-buying-into-our-own-destruction?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[quote LemonSwan]@TowerOfGiraffes

Thats the crazy thing about it. We dont need a civil war. We just need to wait 20-30 years for a lot of the boomers to sadly die off. Thats 20% of the population in the UK, and they hold some very naice, valuable and expensive housing stock.

My parents are sadly in this group. They own a lovely detatched house with private garden on the outskirts between London and Surrey. They bought for 400k in 1997. Its now worth c. 2 million. Sadly my sister and I will not be able to afford to cover the Inheritance Tax to keep it in the family. It will be sold to a developer. All the houses round there are sold to developers.[/quote]
There's plenty of other land/buildings ripe for redevelopment into housing before it becomes viable for developers to buy £2m building plots. To start with there's a lot of brownfield sites and semi redundant/derelict buildings in city/town centres that would be ideal for flats/apartments, with the added benefit on being in the centre with shops/public transport on the doorstep.

Then, with the growth of online retail and the ongoing closures of town/city centre shops, that's even more prime sites just ripe for conversion/demolision into residential.

Go back a few decades and most people lived in town/city centres - they were pushed out by "modern" shopping centres and other retail. With retail now in decline, our town/city centres will ideally re-purposed back to residential.