On Earth Day - A reminder to walk the walk

Discussion

This isn't going to be a popular post. But it's been bothering me for a bit and I have to say something about it. No this is not directed at any one person. Nor is it a reaction to any one thing....but it is important enough for me to share.

Solar punk shouldn't be a "one size fits all" idea. You can disagree with someone, debate with someone but always be open to learning something new. Yes, you need to be weary of greenwashing and we all agree capitalism is bad. However debate them...just don't down vote something because you don't agree with it.

Being "Punk" is something you do. It's punk to organize. It's punk to ride your bike to work, or take public transpiration or car pool. It's punk to vote. It's punk to eat vegetarian or vegan but if you can't do it all the time, that's cool too. It's not punk not to try.

It's not punk to expect the world to suddenly change if you are sitting on your ass talking about buildings with trees on the roof. It takes work. Hard work. Get your hands dirty and grimy work.

Punk is getting up each day and saying "Once more into the breach my friends" because the battle never stops.

The fact that I've seen good ideas belittled or down voted or ignored because they were not "solar punk" enough or "your definition of punk" has to stop. You have to open your mind that Bookchin and Marx might be right on X but wrong on Z. Trust me, I've been a socialist long before many of you were born and Marx still surprises me all these years later.

We are building a better and greener world. The ideas...the seeds....are being planted. We have to be the good gardener and tend them so they bloom.

Rant over.

Upvote or down vote me.....I really don't care. I just want you to think a bit first.

in solarpunkby Houndguy

115

98%

17d

AutoModerator

17d

Thank you for your submission, we appreciate your efforts at helping us to thoughtfully create a better world. r/solarpunk encourages you to also check out other solarpunk spaces such as https://wt.social/wt/solarpunk , https://slrpnk.net/ , https://raddle.me/f/solarpunk , https://discord.gg/3tf6FqGAJs , https://discord.gg/BwabpwfBCr , and https://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia .

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

saintlybead

Creative

17d

Great post, and it needs to be here.

We have lots of idealists in the sub, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but work needs to be put behind it.

Thanks for sharing!

brassica-uber-allium

17d

Thanks for this. I've been getting frustrated with a lot of the debate here lately. What you are saying is 100% right and why I became a solarpunk to begin with. Thanks for speaking up. Happy earth day comrade

tchek

17d

Yes.

Thing is that Solarpunk started as an aesthetic, not something ideologically precise. Therefore it became the oultet for any fantasy about what and how things should be according to different people.

I joined as a curiosity, I think debates are great but of course we have to be open minded, I could be critical about the concept of Solarpunk itself.

mc292

17d

yeah this is how i am seeing as well.

i joined solarpunk because i was interested in permaculture and i like technology, and i want to start working more in tune with nature, and solarpunk has the aesthetic that i think would result from changing those behaviors in myself and society. now we need to figure out how we can get there.

MerrilyContrary

17d

“This is going to be unpopular,” followed by the most popular, oft-repeated Earth Day sentiment in the wider Solarpunk community.

Using the language of debate among likeminded peers isn’t necessary, we agree with you!

sunjoseph

17d

Solarpunk is still relatively new as both an aesthetic and an ideology. Imagining Greener cities is fun and necessary, but idealism only goes so far.

We need to look at action on both a micro and macro level. Taking care of our bodies is punk. Community involvement is punk.

JennaSais

17d

🫡 I'm playing hooky from work today to get into a patch full of invasives and turn it into a pollinator-supporting food garden. (Actually. I lost track of the date and didn't realize it was Earth Day when I planned it, though.)

OpenTechie

Have a garden

17d

You speak the truth. It is one of the hardest parts here, the level of gatekeeping and obstructionist behavior that is done. Instead of saying how nothing is "Solarpunk Enough", what needs to be said is that it is more Solarpunk than nothing being done.

Pop-Equivalent

17d

Yep

Kissmanose

17d

I don't like socialism. But fuck capitalism even more. Punk to the bone bro! Let's plant native flowers.

TOWERtheKingslayer

17d

I’ve frequently been harassed and threatened by self-identifying Vegans because of my stance on meat consumption. I follow my ancestors beliefs that it’s alright to consume meat so long as you respect the life that was taken to let you survive. It goes for all life, though - fauna AND flora.

I don’t know if it’s because of some discrepancy among Vegan authority that animals should be treated well but plants shouldn’t, or if it’s just racism, but frankly I’ve been seeing it a lot in solarpunk spaces. Anarchist/adjacent spaces too.

It’s why I tend to immediately distance myself from anyone who makes Veganism their main personality trait.

Houndguy

17d

I'm more of a "plant based diet" guy than vegan. I also believe that 10,000 + years of human evolution has made us into omnivores. All I ask is that you try to eat more plants than animals because it's better for the environment overall.

Eissimare

17d

Every little bit helps. It's punk to care :)