SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. T_T

(WARNING: This post has LOTS of ambiguous questions)

Out of  all of the sections of the book, this section probably worried me the most. I was particularly concerned when one of the experts said, “We can’t change this lifestyle if we stay in this individualist mentality. It’s only possible if we rediscover a sense of community and common interest. And that is the polar opposite of capitalism.” I know that in any society (including America) one cannot simply do everything that he or she wants. There has to be some sort of rules and regulations for everyone to abide by in order to maintain stability. But for some reason, the expert’s quote about capitalism still made me uneasy. The American economy was built on the principles of capitalism and frankly, I don’t have a personal vendetta against capitalism. Of course it is not a perfect system, but it does a great job at meeting the needs of the consumer. But if the principles of capitalism oppose the efforts of combatting climate change, would we have to use a completely different economic system? And  what would be the consequences if America did have to give up capitalism for the sake of the planet? Aside from the economic side of the issue, there is also the whole issue of individualism. In Western culture, there is a clear focus on the success of the individual rather than the success of the collective group. Would there have to be a change in the Western concept of “self” in order to collectively combat global warming? Is it ethically right to compel others to put aside their own self-interest for the sake of others? Would it be immoral to make people give up a portion of their individual liberties? And just how much freedom would we have to give up? Would taking away freedoms just create even more problems? Would future generations really have a better quality of life if they don’t have the same amount of freedom as previous generations? Am I overthinking this? Am I not thinking about this enough? Do these questions even have answers?