What are minimalist loser politics?
Take your pick:
- Everyone should live in small tightly packed apartments (bugman shit)
- Don’t eat meat
- Don’t have a car (15 minute cities)
- Eat bugs (it’s good for the environment!)
- Don’t have kids (it’s bad for the environment)
- If you have a car, make it a boring small one
- AC should be banned
All of these are loser politics that make mainstream people (aka normies) disgusted and unwilling to support leftist causes. And for good reason! Why should the working classes give up the little comfort and luxury they have, while the rich buy carbon credits to offset a transcontinental private jet trip to the ocean-side to board a mega-yacht orgy?
We have enough resources (especially when we do away with the capitalist class) to give everyone a nice house in a city that looks more like a forest because public and private transportation now happens underground. But people still have nice cars to ride out into the countryside or use on racetracks.
And so on. There are enough resources that everyone on the planet could have a lifestyle of a medium-developed Eastern European country like Czechia. And when the left starts using resources in a more rational way (no more profit motive) everything just gets nicer.
So why then do leftist pick these horrible restrictive policies?
I’m a liberal who knows some leftists, so maybe I can reframe some of these so they make some sense.
Most leftists are not vegetarians. A leftist is more likely to suggest buying locally-sourced, humanely-raised meat sources, and balancing your diet such that meat is still included, but not necessarily the focus of every meal.
On boring cars: a car does not need to be huge or rev very loud to be exciting. On this point, economics and environmentalism actually agree; getting a car with good gas mileage is not only good for the environment, but cheaper over the car’s lifespan. You can make your car more exciting with a neat color paint job, decals, seat covers, custom rims etc.
On kids: I know leftists with kids. The idea isn’t to have 0 children, it’s to only have as many as you actually want. Families like to coerce couples into having kids. Don’t feel like you have to listen! If you would rather use your income for vacations, go for it. Only have kids if raising kids is what you want to do with your next 20 years of life.
The rest of those things you listed are unfamiliar to me. Can you point me to the organization suggesting them?