# There's a Common Foe Among Us **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464 "2022-09-29T18:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/1 "2022-09-29T18:46:40Z")
The world is falling apart. Countries are at each other’s throats. The US is split between two rival ideologies. If only there were a common enemy we could rally against, if not for us, for our great-grandchildren. A foe that endangers the entire planet. A foe that will destroy countless species, melt the ice caps, and raise sea levels dramatically over the next 50 years. If only… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/2 "2022-09-29T18:55:54Z")
There’s the beginning of a great [graphic novel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen) in there somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/3 "2022-09-29T18:59:47Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If only… … one of those ideologies would even acknowledge its existence much less unite to fight it. The movie, “Don’t Look Up”, presented the problem quite nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/4 "2022-09-29T19:02:52Z")
As long as climate change keeps the trains running on time… ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/5 "2022-09-29T19:25:36Z")
Let me put it another way; how bad does it have to get before EVERYONE realizes we need to do something? Or do we have to wait for the UN to make something happen? If aliens attacked, I think everybody on the planet would jump to do something to stop it. Is this a boiling frog situation? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/6 "2022-09-29T20:05:15Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If aliens attacked, I think everybody on the planet would jump to do something to stop it. Really? I fully expect that some significant fraction of the human population would try to gain some advantage from the aliens, even if it is nothing more than “hey eat those people first, they’re tastier” in the end. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/7 "2022-09-29T20:11:42Z")
How bad will it have to get? The problem is that climate change is especially problematic for the poor and particularly caused by the rich. That applies both between countries and within countries, but in the richest countries even the poorest are benefiting from the global disparity. Poor countries can’t force rich countries to do something. And in rich countries no one wants to do the drastic cuts required. There’s also the problem of warming being slower than CO2 levels. We’ve locked in massive warming already, and by the time we start making hard choices (if we ever do) even more warming is a given. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/8 "2022-09-29T20:17:30Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There’s the beginning of a great [graphic novel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen) in there somewhere… First thing I though of! ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/9 "2022-09-29T20:18:27Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Let me put it another way; how bad does it have to get before EVERYONE realizes we need to do something? It may already be too late, but it will be well-past too late before (the appearance of) meaningful global action is taken, though enforcement will probably remain problematic. That means millions of people will needlessly suffer because the consequences of climate change were simply not bad enough to spur the types of changes needed to avoid worse-case scenarios. Put another way, if meaningful action is ultimately taken, it seems far more likely to take place in reaction to conditions already being intolerable rather than as a preventive measure. Massive migrations by the rich to more inhabitable parts of the planet will cause untold chaos and law-at-the-point-of-a-gun type situations. Lacking the means and wealth to move, many people will simply try to adapt to worsening environmental conditions – hoping/assuming adaptation is even possible. Of course, the aliens could come any day now and show us a simple way to fix everything…. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/10 "2022-09-29T20:25:07Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Of course, the aliens could come any day now and show us a simple way to fix everything…. Which would just prove the pubbies correct, that liberals are always crying wolf. And then the pubs would want the (illegal) aliens to live in their neighborhoods. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/11 "2022-09-29T20:32:54Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Of course, the aliens could come any day now and show us a simple way to fix everything…. In a book titled “To Serve Man” ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/12 "2022-09-29T20:34:40Z")
The Judean People’s Front?! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/13 "2022-09-29T21:36:09Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Or do we have to wait for the UN to make something happen? What could the UN do? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/14 "2022-09-29T21:46:26Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > What could the UN do? Since the UN is one of the only worldwide organizations, they could… never mind, I just heard myself say that. It’s hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/15 "2022-09-29T21:47:28Z")
C’mon, if climate change was real, you’d see rich people building spaceships so they could escape Earth. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/16 "2022-09-29T21:48:03Z")
I saw what you did there… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/17 "2022-09-29T22:23:43Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Let me put it another way; how bad does it have to get before EVERYONE realizes we need to do something? Or do we have to wait for the UN to make something happen? If aliens attacked, I think everybody on the planet would jump to do something to stop it. If aliens attacked, what could I do to stop it? To motivate people to do something, it takes more than just getting bad enough. You have to convince them that there’s something they _can_ do that will make things better. Otherwise, the hopelessness will make them think it doesn’t matter what they do. It’s like you’re asking “How fat does that guy have to get before he’ll start exercising?” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/18 "2022-09-29T22:27:25Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You have to convince them that there’s something they _can_ do that will make things better. But there are things everyone can do to help slow down global warming. One simple thing they can do is elect people with the power to make the changes that need to be made now. It’s about slowing global warming down, not turning back the clock. That damage has been done. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/19 "2022-09-29T22:29:14Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If only there were a common enemy we could rally against, if not for us, for our great-grandchildren. Ozymandias did nothing wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464/20 "2022-09-29T22:30:39Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > But there are things everyone can do to help slow down global warming. One simple thing they can do is elect people with the power to make the changes that need to be made now. Such as? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-a-common-foe-among-us/972464.md?page=2)