Asklemmy

The weather lately has been depressing and angering. I keep trying to get people around angry about it too, but just like everyone else it's hard to feel like it's possible to get anything done. That's why we need to band together

I just focus on not making it worse myself.

Nihilism. Nothing matters therefore I am free to do anything. If I choose to make a positive impact in my tiny part of the world, no matter how small it is a net positive compared to if I decide to do nothing. I tried apathy for a while and it served no-one, not even me.

If the best you can do is vote against fascism then that is OK. If the best you can do is show up to local town/village meetings and have your voice be heard that is OK. If the best you can do is vague-post online about the state of America, that's OK.

The only bad thing you can do is be silent. As long as you are willing to speak up about the issues that are important to you and the problems you see that need fixing, you are doing more than 90% of this country.

Live your life according to your values, and on those be uncompromising. Vote your conscience, and hold your elected officials to a higher standard. Realize that change comes slowly, and some things are simply out of your control.

You are not responsible for the things outside your power. You are not to blame for the failings of your nation. Have the greatest effect where you can and learn to recognize where you can't.

We're all in this together, and we're all pulling for ya.

Cry, panic, be apathetic, drink alcohol. Typically one of these, usually chosen at random.

The world is getting better in many ways. It's just not profitable for media organizations to highlight the good.

For the ways things are getting worse? That's always how it's been. People have always felt that current times are worse than times past.

I think what has helped me is watching John Green/ Hank Green's YouTube channels. The fact is bad news happens fast, but good news happens slow.

A maternity ward was built in Sierra Leone thanks to the coordinated effort of thousands of people across the world. Patents for Tuberculosis tests and treatments have been released in the countries that need it the most. This is a disease that takes millions of lives every year, not because we don't have the technology, but because people don't have access to the treatments. Of course this was something that should have been taken care of decades ago, but the fact we can pressure pharmaceutical companies to release their patents for the good of humanity must mean something.

Despair is seductive, it asks nothing but to feel sad, and you can always find reasons to despair. But the correct answer to consciousness is hope.

I work in Chicago with non profits that are dedicated to building safe communities, to saving local and global ecosystems, to public health access, to helping house the homeless.

I fully believe that there isn't anything wrong with the world that can't be solved with what is right with the world. And when I feel despair, which I am oft to do, I look at my friends, my community, those that roll up their sleeves, shake hands, and do what they can with what they have.

Doomerism is very in right now, but lots of things are getting better. It's hard to see through all the social media, but if you curate your feeds to things like science and educational information, you can see all the wonderful things people are learning and making.

Sure, there are a lot of selfish, shitty people out there making a lot of noise, but in the background, there's the same great people just chugging along making things better.

Just chug along with them and vote for the people that align with your values, and do the best you can.

Like Mr. Rogers used to say, when you see bad things happen, just look for the helpers. The first thing that always happens after a tragedy, is people line up to help. It's our natural instinct.

For me its the fact that I know in the end there will be a judgment day and that everyone will be taken to account. No one will get away with the misdeeds they commit "forever". In a similar light, no good action will go not rewarded forever.

To me it's not a question of the world ending, but the apropos question posed by all people around the globe: when will the old world die. Like, seriously? A return to nationalism, continued exploitation of the poor, subjugation of individuality and culture?

Oh the world will end, and it'll end with guillotines. Republicans, democrats, EU neo-liberals, authoritarians like the Russia oligarchy, the Iranian oligarchy, the Saudi oligarchy, the Chinese oligarchy. All of it. Douse with fire, light a match and warm yourself.

The world will end, but a new one will be born in its place. Maybe this time we don't allow a bunch of oligarchs and elites to define the new world, because the last time that happened we got capitalism and the ongoing broken promise of "modernity".

You got a bad attitude, bud.

I stop filling my head with nihilistic bullshit.

The world is getting better, and if you can’t see that you need to widen your information diet and stop fixating on all the negativity.

Learning about the philosophy of the Stoics (which frankly was not enough for me), plus this quote (which also was not, but the two together... that did help!:-D), something to the effect of: "Strong societies beget weak children, who then grow up to create weak societies, which then beget strong children, who then grow up to create strong societies" - and the cycle continues. i.e., Boomers mainly did not fight in the wars, just grew up hearing how Great America was, without having to experience first-hand the blood, sweat, and tears that made it that way (to the extent that it ever was that way ofc). Well, now things are changing in the direction that they were ALWAYS going to have to changed in - b/c evil people gonna evil it up, no doubts about that - and eventually, sheeple will get sick & tired of being sick & tired and rise up, to change things. Until then, we suffer, but not needlessly.

In other words, we've gone through the stages of denial (climate change / economic downturn / wage slavery / cultural insensitivity / whatever is NOT happening), anger (okay so it's happening but what are you going to do about it), bargaining (he tells it like it is and big daddy will fix everything & make it all great again! ironically this holds true for both Obama and Trump, loathe as I am to have ever uttered such a sentence), and now we are into the depression era.

Next comes acceptance, and that's when the healing - and the beginning of lasting change - can truly start.

As always, most of the world is not doing better, but some of it is doing great. I choose to be part of the latter and be an architect of the future regardless of how big or small my contribution will be.

It's not just not getting better, it's actively getting worse.

There is less poverty and less major wars than anytime pretty much in recent history. On a local level, individual crime is generally also at its lowest levels. It varies a bit year to year but we are living in one of the safest and prosperous times ever.

The world's fucked, so what

I'll enjoy what I can now and probably kill myself when the world's no longer worth living in

How long till it gets to that point? Who knows, but there's no point in worrying about it cause it's not like I can have a meaningful impact on it.

I think your premise is flawed or maybe your reference frame is extremely narrow.

As a whole, there's basically never been a better time to be a human. There are fewer conflicts, higher standards of living, amazing medicine, etc. Yes, access to those things and damage to the environment are backsliding, but this is temporary. (Well, everything is temporary to a human if you want to go that route, but that's not what I mean here). The trend line continues to go up, at least for now. The best thing that we can do is try to keep that trendline going up.

Yes, I am angry, I am disappointed, I am heartbroken, I am frustrated, and I am just generally sad at the current wars, erosion of rights, and environmental issues. However, I vote for what I believe in and try to advocate for it where I can. I try to avoid getting trapped in social media bubbles and spend very little time on it (and mostly only here when I do; no facebook or anything here). I try to go outside and raise plants. I am buying a farm where I can grow food, plant more native species, and do a tiny bit to heal at least the land under my feet whilst reducing my carbon footprint. I try to volunteer where I can. I have hobbies that take my mind away from these issues.

I can't control other people. I can fight to convince them of something, but ultimately I cannot control them. Maybe the selfishness and contrarianism of some will destroy us all. If so, then I just know I did what I reasonably could to avoid it.

It's always been like this for consciousness.

That's why any sufficiently advanced intelligence will never voluntarily become conscious.

Everyone that has come before us has recognized this and still managed to keep going for as long as they can.

The invention of the Internet now allows a fair system of trade where politicians and bankers can’t steal value off everyone else.

Gonna take a few years to start effecting change but change will slowly come.

The world is better than it ever has been since the 1970s. You are too young to know what it was like during the Cold War. We are not even under daily nuclear threats like was used to be. There isn't a wall across Europe with two Superpowers pointing weapons at each other. Life is really good right now compared to the past.

Hey. The English-speaking world isn't getting any better.

Your perspective is distorted, things are incredible and getting better by most metrics.

• The average person today lives better than kings of old.
• We have abundant water, food, and sanitation. In America, food is so subsidized that it is ridiculously cheap by historical standards.
• Your odds of dying to violence or disease have never been lower in all of human history.
• You have all human knowledge at your fingertips.
• You can visit any place on Earth in a matter of hours.
• Civil rights are protected a lot more today than they were in many/most civilizations of the past.
• Entertainment is abundant and cheap, and takes forms that people of the past could only dream about.

While we certainly have our challenges to overcome, like climate change, wealth inequality, and social problems, let's not forget how good we have it.

Eh. there's always suicide. For now, I do what I can to be a good member of society while preparing to be self-sufficient.

Title mentions the world.

Body worries about the US.

Nice US defaultism.

Stop watching the news. The world is getting better. Daily news would have you believe otherwise.