You're a software engineer, you're in the upper echelon of the upper echelon, please don't try and appeal to some unearned sympathy. I am arguing that you, as a person of privilege, should do the best you can do to bring about the world you want to see. I would not have the same argument with a person living in poverty, I would not argue that someone struggling to survive should be concerned about their carbon footprint. Most people in Europe are not struggling to survive by global standards.
The obligation you and I have is very different, because you and I (and the others on this website) are in a position of privilege, we are in a position of power, our actions influence the lives of the less fortunate. "The big corporations" are just a convenient get out for not taking responsibility for your own choices. Who do the big corporations answer to? Their customers. Who are their customers? You and I. If you choose to purchase petrol, you're creating demand. If you choose to purchase food grown overseas, you're creating demand for fossil fuels to be burned to transport the food thousands of miles. Are there ~8,000 planes in the sky right now because corporations are evil, or because there's 8,000 planes worth of demand for planes to be in the air? If everyone chose to fly half as much, how many planes would there be in the sky?
You're trying to shift blame to boogeymen, you're trying to argue that "developed countries" and "big corporations" are to blame without acknowledging that you're a part of a developed country, you're a customer of big corporations, you are creating demand. Every time you burn fossil fuels for convenience, you're choosing to pay for your convenience with the suffering of the people in the global south impacted by fossil fuels.
My point is not that you must be perfect, not that you must live a saintly life with no worldly pleasures, my point is that you should do your best, and that if we all do our best, it will have a meaningful impact on the world around us. If what you're doing today is your best, so be it, but from what you've said, it doesn't sound like it at all.
The obligation you and I have is very different, because you and I (and the others on this website) are in a position of privilege, we are in a position of power, our actions influence the lives of the less fortunate. "The big corporations" are just a convenient get out for not taking responsibility for your own choices. Who do the big corporations answer to? Their customers. Who are their customers? You and I. If you choose to purchase petrol, you're creating demand. If you choose to purchase food grown overseas, you're creating demand for fossil fuels to be burned to transport the food thousands of miles. Are there ~8,000 planes in the sky right now because corporations are evil, or because there's 8,000 planes worth of demand for planes to be in the air? If everyone chose to fly half as much, how many planes would there be in the sky?
You're trying to shift blame to boogeymen, you're trying to argue that "developed countries" and "big corporations" are to blame without acknowledging that you're a part of a developed country, you're a customer of big corporations, you are creating demand. Every time you burn fossil fuels for convenience, you're choosing to pay for your convenience with the suffering of the people in the global south impacted by fossil fuels.
My point is not that you must be perfect, not that you must live a saintly life with no worldly pleasures, my point is that you should do your best, and that if we all do our best, it will have a meaningful impact on the world around us. If what you're doing today is your best, so be it, but from what you've said, it doesn't sound like it at all.