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I love that analogy. No, you're not going to personally save the world by reducing your carbon footprint. But you know what you are going to be? One leaf on a tree in a forest, making that little bit more oxygen that helps collectively make the world a better place.
And that's worth doing. Especially if you can encourage other people to be leaves too.
i think the overall sentiment of doing your bit is good, but I think this misses some nuance.
When people talk about not focusing on individual action that might not have an effect, often they mean: don’t guilt others for not doing one particular action, or don’t spend all your limited energy litigating actions with small impact.
We all have different constraints, needs and energy levels. Focusing on what the other is doing instead of the systems that cause these problems means that people with disabilities, economic disadvantage, etc. are often scolded for stuff that frankly doesn’t matter.
Oppose systems, support people.