To be depressed and upset about our cruel society, but know that there is bugger all I can do.

[ultrathule]

Recently I've been getting quite upset by the news, and especially by comment threads and chat boards where individuals express their opinions. It seems that there is so much hate, casual cruelty and lack of understanding of others misfortune around. I know intellectually that this is what life is like, and it isn't really worth getting upset about, but I can't help it. I am finding it all so overwhelming. I want to stop reading the paper, or looking at facebook, or opening certain threads, but at the same time I can't quite help myself.

I read about spikes put on ground to stop homeless people from sleeping under a bit of shelter. Then I read a comment thread where unfortunate destitute people are called scum. I read about people who lose their homes, who despite working all hours they can, still can't make ends meet, at the mercy of landlords who can evict at will. I read comment threads that call them benefit scroungers, and blame them for having children.
I read about people who will never have the lifestyle their parents enjoyed, despite doing everything "right" - going to university, studying, working hard, finding a vocation. The things that were normal to their parents (owning a home, not being in debt, having a pension), are out of their reach. Yet when they complain, they are called "entitled".
I read about people fleeing awful persecution, left to drown at sea. Or suffocating in the back of lorries. Or thrown into internment camps. Who are then blamed for trying to better their lives.
I hear about people who are exploited, then condemned for their own exploitation.

And the fact of these things is bad enough, but the attitude of so many people which seems to be "to hell with everyone else", is what upsets me the most. A old work colleague of mine, after losing her partner and being unable to continue in her job, suffering from mental illness, was left destitute by benefit sanctions (caused by letters being stolen from the dreadful hostel she'd been placed in after being evicted from her home). She's a normal person who has been destroyed by our so called "society", and now has been left on the scrap heap. I wrote about her, and the comments in response were to the effect: it is her own fault, why should we care?

What have we become?

PtolemysNeedle

One of the posts after your last proves how small minded some left wingers can be when it comes to people whose lives aren't just like their own, and it works equally both ways.

I'm neither poor nor a millionaire but I would rather see extremely wealthy people be slightly poorer than very poor people have their benefits cut. Does that make me "small minded", because I cannot relate to what it's like to be a millionaire and how awful it would be to have to pay more tax?

No, that doesn't make you small minded.

What comes across as very small minded is your belief that people who are more right wing are in general, millionaires. They've mostly started out with two empty hands, a phone book full of daddy's connections and a trust fund. However, because they've gone to public school where they have been drilled into thinking they are destined for high office, they still think they're qualified to tell poor people to be a bit more frugal with their £6.50 / hour.

YANBU, ultra, and I can't actually read your thread atm because I'm protecting my mental health! Times like this, I read a lot of Upworthy and watch harmless TV series where the bad guys always lose. The Huff has an encouraging news section, too.

We will survive and we will make things better

Well we've had austerity for a few years now, allied to decent growth

Nope, we had austerity for a bit and the economy slipped back almost into a double dip recession. Then Gidiot stopped and it's only now, with a full tory mandate, that he will implement austerity measures. The term is used to make ideological changes to society.