After the Green New Deal resolution was released Fox started ranting about how AOC wants to take away your hamburgers and cars and air travel. GND supporters pushed back, but the thing is that to save the planet the government *does* need to take away those things.
— Rabi Abonour (@rabonour) July 19, 2019
This is the left’s failure mode and it’s how they will fall on their face here in a big way. These people don’t want to make life better for anyone. They are flagellant Antonian ascetics at heart, who want to punish others for their sins, who use the pretense of caring about the fate of humanity so they can see others suffer — those who of course “deserve” it like the deplorables and hicks.
I agree of course that consumption patterns will have to change. Instead of this asinine approach, though, we could be exploring better land use patterns, different technologies, putting in high-speed rail and so many other initiatives. But people like this on the left don’t actually want any of that or care about it in any way. For them (and this is much of the left) that is not the point. They deeply want to take away your AC, your ability to visit distant cities, any quality food, because to them it’ll be your righteous comeuppance for your sins against the planet, you deplorable.
This of course is terrible from the perspective of converting anyone to your cause and will only harm the movement. It achieves exactly the opposite effect. Tell me, except in rare cases of other masochists or the extremely religious, how has telling people about all the things you are committed to ripping away from them helped a cause to prosper? This strategy is exactly like nominating Hillary Clinton despite knowing she’s a bad candidate just to show those damn flyover fuckers who is boss! And how’d that work out for ya?
This approach to combating climate change will be that, but worse.