I think there are important distinctions between the examples. National defense provides public good. Buy American only provides public good if what is being purchased comes from producers who could not get a higher-value job or to pre-empt supply chain disruptions we might have in the future. Reparations do not provide a public good, they are reparations of institutional discrimination and so individual donations are not reparations- but only charitable donations. Climate change provides a global good. Its economics most closely align with planetary defense. As with an anti-asteroid program- almost everyone on earth would benefit from carbon reduction meaning expense and compliance must be borne by every economy on earth. The argument that individuals can make a dent is only barely correct. It's true that I can buy an electric car but the energy required to source materials, construct, deliver and power the car are all carbon based. Carbon isn't emitted through the sum of individual's choices- it's emitted by the systems our societies use. What would really lower my carbon footprint is medium density- multi-use zoning so I can live where I shop and work with public transit to make travel more energy efficient. Broad investments in battery capacity and nuclear energy, high speed trains for cross-country along with some compliance measures (such as carbon taxes) would all be necessary. Imagining that some voluntary organization could deliver these societal alterations seems silly to me.
"True, global collective action will be more effective than individual actions. But until that happy consensus arrives, ordinary people can reduce their personal carbon footprints."
One of the greatest merits of individual action is that it doesn't preclude collective action. Start with the former; progress to the latter, if the latter is what you prefer.
I think there are important distinctions between the examples. National defense provides public good. Buy American only provides public good if what is being purchased comes from producers who could not get a higher-value job or to pre-empt supply chain disruptions we might have in the future. Reparations do not provide a public good, they are reparations of institutional discrimination and so individual donations are not reparations- but only charitable donations. Climate change provides a global good. Its economics most closely align with planetary defense. As with an anti-asteroid program- almost everyone on earth would benefit from carbon reduction meaning expense and compliance must be borne by every economy on earth. The argument that individuals can make a dent is only barely correct. It's true that I can buy an electric car but the energy required to source materials, construct, deliver and power the car are all carbon based. Carbon isn't emitted through the sum of individual's choices- it's emitted by the systems our societies use. What would really lower my carbon footprint is medium density- multi-use zoning so I can live where I shop and work with public transit to make travel more energy efficient. Broad investments in battery capacity and nuclear energy, high speed trains for cross-country along with some compliance measures (such as carbon taxes) would all be necessary. Imagining that some voluntary organization could deliver these societal alterations seems silly to me.
"True, global collective action will be more effective than individual actions. But until that happy consensus arrives, ordinary people can reduce their personal carbon footprints."
One of the greatest merits of individual action is that it doesn't preclude collective action. Start with the former; progress to the latter, if the latter is what you prefer.