Well said, and it's not nothing to do the smallest thing whenever you can. Then do it again, the next time you can. And so on. It not only adds up, but can slowly become a way of life, a way of being. And pointing out what perhaps is not being said or acknowledged (on social media, and in life) is a great idea, thanks for that. There is so much going on it is easy to feel defeated but if we are mindful of the choices we make each day it encourages us to stay in the fight.
The last two towns I've lived in have burned down (I'm in Western Canada) so I have been getting mad at people flying for no good reason for a long time. Sweden pioneered flight shame (flygskam) back in 2018 and I believe it's a movement that is still going strong in Greta land (at least, I met a Swedish couple with a tiny baby on a train in Portugal many winters ago. They could have just taken an Easyjet flight or Swedish equivalent down to Faro, but they didn't; they took a baby through Denmark, through Germany, through France, through Spain, to spend winter there). The Guardian, at least, hasn't been doing travel features that involve long-haul flights for years. Instead they are doing, 'I cycled to Iceland from Newcastle using cargo boats to get there,'-type stories, which, true is not really doable for most, but going to Iceland from Newcastle isn't exactly a human right -- though it's been so normalised in recent decades in the UK especially that it's seen as one.
Flight shame! I love it. We feel like maniacs taking the train to ile de ré but I’m so glad to hear we’re not alone! Last November J and I took the train from london to Zurich via Paris, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse, and it was so great. The only issue is the expense…
Going on thetrainline(dot)com=a truly miserable experience most of the time.
Respect for the long train trips. There are Orion magazine columnists and New Yorker environmental writers who just post and post about their many long-haul flights all summer long and it makes me want to scream and shout, fuck off fuck off fuck off!
P.S. The Swedish also have a phrase they’re trying to get off the ground in order to try and make people proud of their train trips: tågskryt/train-bragging.
Thank you for this Lauren, but i think you are missing the number one thing we should all be doing. Mark Fisher's discussion of responsibilisation is useful here. The neoliberal capitalist system tells us that it is us who must take responsibilty, but no amount of recycling or not taking planes is going to cut it. We need to become activists and fight the system, the US military industrial complex, which is the biggest institutional polluter on the planet. Abby Martin's new film explains it well. It would take the average American 40 yrs to use as much fuel as a single flight of a Boeing Pegasus, of which the US military have around 600 flying around the world all the time. They have 800 bases around the world. The only answer is fighting against the forever wars, the genocide in Gaza, and the system that maintains all this
I do agree. I just think there is way too much emphasis in the discourse on the behaviour of individuals, and i didn't see much mention of the war machine in your piece. The US military are tying us to fossil fuels forever. They want to mine the arctic to keep it going. We need to get much less complacent around protesting and direct action. They want us feeling guilty about plastic and ignoring the bigger fight. It is this fight, in my opinion, that is only thing that will save us. Sorry to be so beak
Very interesting, as per. My climate related rage has been in crescendo for years and I totally understand the feelings you describe. A few weeks ago we were visiting friends not far from where we are based and a fire broke out nearby and it was terrifying. Not even that long ago I wasn't scared of fires in the summer and now is a constant fear / thought, as is the crazy temperature, above 30C isn't a rarity anymore as you mentioned, or seeing London gardens thirsty or how mass tourism goes on as if there weren't any consequences... :(.
I suppose you know Robert Thomson’s brilliant book on Claude Cahun, Never Anyone But You? I am currently editing my short story collection and have got to Kurt - about a man who is able to precis any book into a few words who meets a man who has written an indecipherable book about how to live a small environmentally friendly existence. They are pursued by the CIA who fear the they will bring an end to capitalism.
Shame/guilt culture isn't my favorite (cf. The Catholic Church, patriarchy, etc.), but even if it were the answer, many people are shame-immune and simply un-interpellable.
There’s a line of thinking that holds that there are different kinds of shame - I would like to think about this not as a form of policing or controlling, but as a form of encouragement to adopt new social norms which have as their aim not coercion or power but a regard for the greater good, ie saving our species from extinction. Anyone who is socialised is subject to this kind of constructive encouragement.
I was so glad to read this piece - thank you! You put the discomfort I’ve been feeling into words so beautifully. I’ve been trying to avoid flying for holidays - much prefer the train anyway - but it’s the culture of flying for work that will be more difficult to break as it’s not usually a personal choice (though with conference calls and Zoom why is it still so necessary?) And I think we definitely need to call out the unnecessary AI use as people seem so unaware of the climate damage it is causing!
Very well said and I don't think going to Ile de Ré by train is crazy at all - my husband and I just did London-Arcachon by train and it was fine! (Though we were there when the fires started, which... just adds weight to everything you've said above.) I love the concepts of flight-shame and train-bragging and think perhaps we need an AI-shame one too.
Brilliant as always, Lauren. I always feel better when reading you.
❤️🩹
Well said, and it's not nothing to do the smallest thing whenever you can. Then do it again, the next time you can. And so on. It not only adds up, but can slowly become a way of life, a way of being. And pointing out what perhaps is not being said or acknowledged (on social media, and in life) is a great idea, thanks for that. There is so much going on it is easy to feel defeated but if we are mindful of the choices we make each day it encourages us to stay in the fight.
The last two towns I've lived in have burned down (I'm in Western Canada) so I have been getting mad at people flying for no good reason for a long time. Sweden pioneered flight shame (flygskam) back in 2018 and I believe it's a movement that is still going strong in Greta land (at least, I met a Swedish couple with a tiny baby on a train in Portugal many winters ago. They could have just taken an Easyjet flight or Swedish equivalent down to Faro, but they didn't; they took a baby through Denmark, through Germany, through France, through Spain, to spend winter there). The Guardian, at least, hasn't been doing travel features that involve long-haul flights for years. Instead they are doing, 'I cycled to Iceland from Newcastle using cargo boats to get there,'-type stories, which, true is not really doable for most, but going to Iceland from Newcastle isn't exactly a human right -- though it's been so normalised in recent decades in the UK especially that it's seen as one.
Flight shame! I love it. We feel like maniacs taking the train to ile de ré but I’m so glad to hear we’re not alone! Last November J and I took the train from london to Zurich via Paris, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse, and it was so great. The only issue is the expense…
Going on thetrainline(dot)com=a truly miserable experience most of the time.
Respect for the long train trips. There are Orion magazine columnists and New Yorker environmental writers who just post and post about their many long-haul flights all summer long and it makes me want to scream and shout, fuck off fuck off fuck off!
P.S. The Swedish also have a phrase they’re trying to get off the ground in order to try and make people proud of their train trips: tågskryt/train-bragging.
I’m going to try to lend them a hand!
Thank you for this Lauren, but i think you are missing the number one thing we should all be doing. Mark Fisher's discussion of responsibilisation is useful here. The neoliberal capitalist system tells us that it is us who must take responsibilty, but no amount of recycling or not taking planes is going to cut it. We need to become activists and fight the system, the US military industrial complex, which is the biggest institutional polluter on the planet. Abby Martin's new film explains it well. It would take the average American 40 yrs to use as much fuel as a single flight of a Boeing Pegasus, of which the US military have around 600 flying around the world all the time. They have 800 bases around the world. The only answer is fighting against the forever wars, the genocide in Gaza, and the system that maintains all this
I am saying that both things are true. We have to fight the wars. But we also have to change the way we live.
I do agree. I just think there is way too much emphasis in the discourse on the behaviour of individuals, and i didn't see much mention of the war machine in your piece. The US military are tying us to fossil fuels forever. They want to mine the arctic to keep it going. We need to get much less complacent around protesting and direct action. They want us feeling guilty about plastic and ignoring the bigger fight. It is this fight, in my opinion, that is only thing that will save us. Sorry to be so beak
Bleak!
Very interesting, as per. My climate related rage has been in crescendo for years and I totally understand the feelings you describe. A few weeks ago we were visiting friends not far from where we are based and a fire broke out nearby and it was terrifying. Not even that long ago I wasn't scared of fires in the summer and now is a constant fear / thought, as is the crazy temperature, above 30C isn't a rarity anymore as you mentioned, or seeing London gardens thirsty or how mass tourism goes on as if there weren't any consequences... :(.
I suppose you know Robert Thomson’s brilliant book on Claude Cahun, Never Anyone But You? I am currently editing my short story collection and have got to Kurt - about a man who is able to precis any book into a few words who meets a man who has written an indecipherable book about how to live a small environmentally friendly existence. They are pursued by the CIA who fear the they will bring an end to capitalism.
Shame/guilt culture isn't my favorite (cf. The Catholic Church, patriarchy, etc.), but even if it were the answer, many people are shame-immune and simply un-interpellable.
There’s a line of thinking that holds that there are different kinds of shame - I would like to think about this not as a form of policing or controlling, but as a form of encouragement to adopt new social norms which have as their aim not coercion or power but a regard for the greater good, ie saving our species from extinction. Anyone who is socialised is subject to this kind of constructive encouragement.
I hope you're right
I was so glad to read this piece - thank you! You put the discomfort I’ve been feeling into words so beautifully. I’ve been trying to avoid flying for holidays - much prefer the train anyway - but it’s the culture of flying for work that will be more difficult to break as it’s not usually a personal choice (though with conference calls and Zoom why is it still so necessary?) And I think we definitely need to call out the unnecessary AI use as people seem so unaware of the climate damage it is causing!
Insightful, thank you 🤍
Very well said and I don't think going to Ile de Ré by train is crazy at all - my husband and I just did London-Arcachon by train and it was fine! (Though we were there when the fires started, which... just adds weight to everything you've said above.) I love the concepts of flight-shame and train-bragging and think perhaps we need an AI-shame one too.