tangible problems nested in structural problems
As individuals, we can change things we can tangibly control, but sometimes those problems are nested in larger structural problems.
On the one hand, we should change what we can in the small ways we have access to, without worrying about trying to fix the whole world ourselves.
On the other hand, it’s sometimes useless to spend large amounts of effort when structural problems mean all your work will go to waste anyways. For example, I try to eat less meat in the hopes that it will save the environment, but honestly my individual contribution will do very little, and the only way we are really going to stop climate change is through systemic change.
