Propaganda works. Is why.
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2026
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I get that this post is a bit of a satirical question, but as a serious answer to the question. I think it's because for a lot of people it is impossible (or feels impossible) to not consume fossil fuel products. If we then label it as bad then we feel like we are thus the bad guy while we feel powerless to not be that.
Basically people are forced to be something they don't want to be thus to cope they make it their personality because that gives a sense of control over choices we really do not have a say in.
Do not, my friends, become addicted to oil. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence!
but i neeeeed my vitamin e. and my olives.
Everyone likes palaeontology until it turns a profit, smh my head
Shaking my head my head
Many people have as an immutable axiom "I am a good person"
When you suggest they are doing something bad, like contributing to climate change, this clashes with that axiom.
That clash causes discomfort. Most people are, frankly, lazy cowards. They could accept that they are not being a good person all the time, and update their axiom. But that's scary and feels bad. They could also try to do something about climate change (or whatever the topic is. see also: veganism), but that's also hard. It's far easier to just lash out at the source of discomfort.
The oatmeal did a comic on basically this topic: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe
Veganism is not a solution to climate change. First anything that requires everybody to agree on one solution is always going to be a non-starter. But also veganism just doesn’t work for everybody, like myself, I became so malnourished that I nearly died. It’s simply not possible for everybody to be vegan and still get all of the nutrients they need. Especially in this economy.
"in this economy" veganism is cheaper than vegetarianism is cheaper than omnivorism
If you became malnourished you weren't eating vegan, you were eating junk food.
But to actually address your point, we don't need everyone to be vegan, or for those that do to be vegan consistently. Even cutting consumption of animal products by a third would have a huge impact.
Right you know everything about my life and what my nutritionist and I talked about at the time. Yeah… I fucking hate responses like this.
For the record I became malnourished because it was impossible to afford the number of calories I needed without meat or dairy. And even though that was some years ago I can pretty much guarantee you that that’s still going to be the case in small towns like the one I was in at the time. Veganism is only cheaper than anything else if you don’t need 4000 calories a day to stay alive and have options that aren’t Walmart to shop at.
The back-fire effect explains why so many people love to watch Fox News, even when they've admitted in court that they're not news and no rational person would take them seriously. Reinforcing beliefs through propaganda is comforting - and no amount logic or fact checking is going to change it.
... yeah we're basically fucked as a species.
I don't think they're lazy cowards - or rather, I think "lazy cowards" is something lazy cowards say to explain away lazy cowards they disagree with - I think they grow up in an environment where admitting fault or even suspending judgment is something that will get you attacked or taken advantage of. Whether by parents, teachers, classmates, friends, politicians, cops, priests, or gods.
Children aren't great at lying. If they don't believe they are a good person, people will notice that self-doubt and take advantage. Believing you are axiomatically good is safer, protecting you from bullies of all kinds who are looking for someone who won't resist being punished.
Properly dealing with climate change often requires a major lifestyle change that is largely outside of people's control. It's natural that people who haven't processed their childhood schemas would respond to it according to those schemas, and that for people whose childhood schemas are centered around avoiding responsibility they respond by stall tactics like pretending climate change isn't real so people waste time proving it to them.
The yt channel Technology Connections made a video on solar and made a great point that stuck with me
If oil was so precious and valuable and important why do we light so much of it on fire?
I mean, I think it’s precious for its ability to be lit on fire
We still need things like grease, lubricants, and plastics. We rely heavily on oil products that are not burned and oil is a finite resource, yet we like to light most of it on fire anyway even though we have energy alternatives that are more cost effective in the long run.
Here comes the wind power: Woosh
I'm about to start my own political party and call it "The Gas Price Party'". Since it's the only issue that matters for 75% of the population, I bet I could get elected just because of the name.
The rent is too damn high!
That's exactly why we want to keep gas price low, so you can give the money you saved to your landlord.
I like this guy's words!
Enough of these retarded woke politicians, we say it as it is: High gas price is gay!
Gas prices still come second to "owning the libs"
Yo mama so fat she’s a 10,000 ton derrick drilling for oil in the Gulf Of America
Yo mama so leaky even BP won't drill her.
Well, where I live the propaganda goes hard saying that oil is responsible for our entire economy so we should be grateful.
People even have I ❤️ Oil bumper stickers here. It’s embarrassing.
There are politically motivated “think tanks” that pump out a lot of misinformation, in a similar vein as the tobacco lobbies used to do.
Either they claim that there’s no such thing as climate change, or “rising temperatures are of all times”, or “we humans didn’t cause climate change” to (in my country) “we’re just a tiny country, what we do, doesn’t make any difference on a global scale, because (insert third world country) will just continue to harm the environment”.
Some people (who seemingly are bereft of any conscience or empathy) are susceptible to such propaganda, because it makes them feel better than with the news about climate change.
Because admitting climate change is real means effort and change.
- Effort, because those responsible for causing climate change need to be deposed. Nobody will make that change happen if their sofa is so comfy and there aren't any problems that personally effect them.
- Change, because deposing those responsible for climate change also means getting rid of the system that enables them. If the solution to climate change were a drop-in replacement to something that requires no change whatsoever in daily norms it would have a lot more support.