To feel utterly depressed and hopeless about the cruel world we live in

[Sosocold]

What is the world coming to? So many cases of child abuse and cruelty - there's so much of it around.
Plus, parents being killed whilst children asleep upstairs, asylum seekers stuck in freezing cold woods for weeks on end, no food or milk for babies. A humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan... I could go on. what World are we living in?! Surely every life is as important as another, but it seems not. Where's the help for these people, what can we do to help?!
Sorry for the depressing rant, I just feel utterly hopeless this morning.

@littleburn

Yes, I agree many, many people have been deeply affected by that particular case. On some of the earlier threads there was talk about what we can do to bring about change. Once the case has ended I think we should revisit that as Mumsnet users. There are a lot of women on this site who can pull together to campaign for change.

I completely agree. Will be keeping an eye out for threads once it's over, so we can get involved with pushing for change.

Look at history. The situation of the many of people on earth has always been wretched.
Humans never learn from the past.

Also to add, although cruelty seems in some ways innate to human nature and there are many things we can't control, there are tangible things that we can do.

We can campaign for better funded services to protect the vulnerable and we can campaign for the right of children not to be physically 'disciplined', for example. We can be vigilant in our everyday lives and choose to report concerns (and encourage others to do so too) and not worry about being seen as 'interfering'. Better that than the alternative.

Humans do learn, it's just slower moving than we would like but lots of things are improving.

www.bbc.com/future/article/20190111-seven-reasons-why-the-world-is-improving

I’m not sure if it’s the same thing that has broken my heart? (Young mum and her traveller girlfriend aka heinous monsters?) but last night was my 3rd night of not sleeping and unable to concentrate on anything. I even sobbed infront of my children which is something I never do and I couldn’t stop. Poor things were trying to cheer me up but didn’t understand what was wrong. I’ve tried to tell my partner how low it’s made me feel but he doesn’t understand so I feel silly being this upset infront of him about someone I’ve never met but I don’t know how to get it out of my head, I can’t carry on feeling this sad. I hate this world and the evil inside of it :’(

That same piece of news has saddened and disturbed me to my core too.
I tell myself that 99.9% of people are decent and we see the 0.01% more than we should because of our 24 hour news cycle. But it certainly feels like things are worse than ever, so perhaps they are.

Look for the helpers. There are always helpers.

And just avoid the news. Scroll pass, unfollow, change channel, turn the radio off. If someone you know talks about something distressing then change the subject.

The world has always been like this...which is why i no longer fear death or climate change...a nice rest from it all and the end to human treachery...god im a miserable bugger!
This is much beauty too...in nature mostly.

I hold on to what my dad told me- the majority of people are good and decent

Historian by training (PhD) checking in to say the world has always been pretty chaotic & cruel. If anything we've actually made considerable progress in some areas - ie European societies were infinitely harsher in their treatment of - for example - minorities, children, women & the mentally unwell even fifty years ago. It's easy to forget that when many MNers were kids back in the early 80s terrorist attacks were regular occurrences in London, part of the UK (Northern Ireland) was in a state of virtual civil war, half of Europe was brutally authoritarian and nuclear war or a really horrible nuclear accident (worse than Chernobyl) was a real possibility. It's a bit of a hobby horse of mine that we've lost all perspective in the contemporary west, probably due to lack of historical awareness, but there you go.

My best advice is to switch off from 24 hour news content, however you access that, and set aside half an hour each day to catch up (I personally go with the BBC as it's less "the end is nigh!!!" than the Guardian / Telegraph / Twitter, all which are very End Times-ish in their different ways). Then think about what you can practically do within your own sphere of influence, which is mostly just bog standard stuff like kindness, patience, cheerfulness etc i.e. can you be the person in your workplace who listens & pays compliments & shuts down bitchy conversations? In terms of global / national affairs, accept no one individual is going to save the world or meet every need. Then pick one issue to focus on & set aside a manageable amount of time & money to devote to that i.e. if the plight of refugees really stands out for you, set up a direct debit for a relevant organisation and consider whether you can give up a few hours a week to help somewhere locally or to sign petitions / write to your MP. I'm suggesting one issue because realistically we have a limited resources, so it's easy to get burnt out otherwise.

Stop reading the news.

Firstly, its not new. Its just that the news of it spreads more easily. I don't think there is a growth in the cruelty and misery in the world. A brief look at history will tell you we are 'improving' as the years pass. Secondly, looking at the good in the world is not the answer. Its a distraction but its not a positive move to contribute to changing the upsetting things. If everyone stayed with the feeling these reports arouse, rather than trying to make themselves feel better, and channelled their grief into positive action; campaigning, volunteering, donating, small local acts of support to struggling people, there may be less to read about in future.

We used to send 7 year old's up chimney, torture people for information, go to war with our neighbour over land.

True. We no longer send seven-year-olds up chimneys.

@Sosocold

What is the world coming to? So many cases of child abuse and cruelty - there's so much of it around. Plus, parents being killed whilst children asleep upstairs, asylum seekers stuck in freezing cold woods for weeks on end, no food or milk for babies. A humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan... I could go on. what World are we living in?! Surely every life is as important as another, but it seems not. Where's the help for these people, what can we do to help?! Sorry for the depressing rant, I just feel utterly hopeless this morning.

The issue is that many people are tired and stretched just trying to keep their head above water/survive. We would all be more inclined to help each other if it wasn't for this. If we could actually slow down for a bit we would notice what a state things are in (and always have been) with the human race, we would probably feel more empathy.

I think things are cultivated to be this way to be honest. If we fight amongst each other, we don't look at the top of the heirachy and demand answers.

@littleburn

Yes, I agree many, many people have been deeply affected by that particular case. On some of the earlier threads there was talk about what we can do to bring about change. Once the case has ended I think we should revisit that as Mumsnet users. There are a lot of women on this site who can pull together to campaign for change.

That;s a wonderful idea.

That case is badly affecting me as well, and I have been avoiding the details, but a few have snuck through. My father always says that we have to remember that most people are good, but it's hard to believe that sometimes.

I read the same article I think Op. the one with the little boy?
Utterly heartbreaking, I couldn’t sleep last night.
I’m an optimist and think the World is a good place, I think there is a very small minority of evil within it.
It’s good that we feel things though, when we read such articles, it means we’re loving, living, breathing, decent humans.
I reconcile by thinking that sharing the story may save someone else and the lessons learnt may help. His suffering has also ended now.

We used to send 7 year old's up chimney, torture people for information, go to war with our neighbour over land.

Many seven year olds go to school starving and are probably caring for their parents too. We have come such a long way in the last 150 years! 🙄

I could have wrote this post myself. The story I read has killed me. I guess we are all talking about the same case.

OP the world used to be far more cruel, 24/7 news as pp have said but more importantly we have higher expectations!
Most major civilisations have had a strict hierarchy. It was accepted that some would be at the bottom and some at the top.

The idea of ‘fairness’ has only arisen in the last 50 years or so. And this is obviously a gargantuan task as everyone has different ideas of what’s fair etc.

The only way for there to be no war is for a giant AI to gain control of everyone’s minds and have them behave in an efficient, robotic manner.

I don’t watch the news anymore, I read newspapers with balanced unemotional reporting and am much happier.

@Thecurliestwurly

We used to send 7 year old's up chimney, torture people for information, go to war with our neighbour over land.

Many seven year olds go to school starving and are probably caring for their parents too. We have come such a long way in the last 150 years! 🙄

But this is considered unacceptable. It happens but it shouldn’t In the last 150 years nobody would have batted an eyelid.

I get that people are emotionally affected but the world was never ‘fair’. Fairness is a human concept and not found in nature

Quick question OP - if you feel this strongly about it all, what are YOU doing to bring about an improvement? Be the change that you want to see 🙂

@DillonPanthersTexas

Mother Teresa would be the last person I would be taking moral guidance from.

And me!

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

I hold on to what my dad told me- the majority of people are good and decent

Absolutely. I agree with this and when things are bad I remind myself of this statement.

Having said that I would dearly like to know what they have done to the Chinese tennis player in the news recently. I am disturbed by this.

@SomewhereEast

Historian by training (PhD) checking in to say the world has always been pretty chaotic & cruel. If anything we've actually made considerable progress in some areas - ie European societies were infinitely harsher in their treatment of - for example - minorities, children, women & the mentally unwell even fifty years ago. It's easy to forget that when many MNers were kids back in the early 80s terrorist attacks were regular occurrences in London, part of the UK (Northern Ireland) was in a state of virtual civil war, half of Europe was brutally authoritarian and nuclear war or a really horrible nuclear accident (worse than Chernobyl) was a real possibility. It's a bit of a hobby horse of mine that we've lost all perspective in the contemporary west, probably due to lack of historical awareness, but there you go.

My best advice is to switch off from 24 hour news content, however you access that, and set aside half an hour each day to catch up (I personally go with the BBC as it's less "the end is nigh!!!" than the Guardian / Telegraph / Twitter, all which are very End Times-ish in their different ways). Then think about what you can practically do within your own sphere of influence, which is mostly just bog standard stuff like kindness, patience, cheerfulness etc i.e. can you be the person in your workplace who listens & pays compliments & shuts down bitchy conversations? In terms of global / national affairs, accept no one individual is going to save the world or meet every need. Then pick one issue to focus on & set aside a manageable amount of time & money to devote to that i.e. if the plight of refugees really stands out for you, set up a direct debit for a relevant organisation and consider whether you can give up a few hours a week to help somewhere locally or to sign petitions / write to your MP. I'm suggesting one issue because realistically we have a limited resources, so it's easy to get burnt out otherwise.

@SomewhereEast

I agree with this. I was a teenager in late 70's / early 80's. It was a scary time in many ways. Threat of nuclear war, Troubles in Northern Ireland, Falklands War, miners strike

It wasn't all bright clothes, pop music and legwarmers