I Really Fucking Hate When I’m Like “this Is A Systemic Problem” And People Are Like “You’re

I really fucking hate when I’m like “this is a systemic problem” and people are like “You’re right! Everyone needs to work on themselves to solve this problem!” like bitch no this is not a self-help book. 

You aren’t going to stop a drought from taking shorter showers or save the world by eating tofu or fix economic injustice in Africa with micro-loans or stop global warming by lowering your carbon footprint or end marginalization by changing what words you say.

“Systemic” doesn’t mean “everyone’s stuck in this original sin and must repent to be saved”, it means “there is a system that is responsible”. Systems aren’t just the aggregate of people’s individual behavior, but networks of institutions that enforce ways of life.

Your shorter shower doesn’t save the earth, that’s just an idea that Nestle sold you to lower everyone else’s water intake so that they could expand theirs and make more profits. That’s the case for most of these individualizing solutions: they are almost always trotted out by the worst offenders to redirect responsibility to the average citizen.

If you want to take significant steps to end the drought you should go literally destroy Nestle’s facilities as the first step. Anything less is good for coping with anxiety over the issue but basically nothing else.