To think we are doomed and there's no way back now?

[StellaGibson118]

We have constructed a society that doesn't work for people. People are burnt out from overworking, many are getting poorer year on year, services cant meet the demands of the population, we are becoming nastier due to these stressors and the influence of social media/the media, and well the planet is fucked too.

We have moved so far away from simplicity that we have descended into chaos and it isn't just the UK, it's all around the world. I'm worried for my children's future but I can only allow myself to think about it for a minute or two or I'd go mad.

Yanbu.
Other posters have suggested that previous generations have felt the same, but I disagree.
I think previous generations always had the hope that things will get better with, and for, each new generation. But I now think we've hit the point where a child born in the Western world today will have worse outcomes than its parents.
You just have to look around you. Kids living at home until they're in their 30s because they struggle to find work and affordable housing. So many mental health issues, made worse by the toxic nature of social media, our 24 hour news cycle and culture of "bullshit jobs" (if you're lucky enough to have one!).
The environment is f*cked- there's no way we will all change our lifestyles to the extent that is needed to fix the pollution and plastic waste crisis. And even if we were all prepared to, we exist in capitalist systems which won't support it.
I don't have kids - not because if all of this - but because I don't want them. But I'm relieved I don't have the worry of thinking what sort of future lies ahead of them.

What an utterly depressing post. No wonder people are depressed reading rubbish like this. Whatever happened to positivity?

Personally, I'm just grateful to be alive and healthy (having lost too many people this year). I've been through some horrendous stuff in my life, but I still smile and think positive. There's a hell of a lot worse could happen than what we're going through now.

Focus on yourself, your immediate friends and family and your local community. Do what you can to bring positive change including being loving and kind to yourself. The world will seem less bleak if you do so

@LetterBug

I agree and I am going mad with worry can you do something in your small circle to change something. ?

Then you need to learn some history. Honestly, talk about overreaction.

YANBU to feel that way. It's tough at the moment but as others have said, there must be generations and generations before us who have felt the same.

I remember during the first lockdown I felt exactly the same and then I read a book called Dear Mrs Bird. It wasnt a groundbreaking book or anything, just a bit of fluff but it was set in London during the blitz and two young women were working in the day and volunteering as firefighter dispatches at night. It really made me realise that our "everyday life" before covid was a real prolonged period of luxury. We didnt have any huge worries and dangers. Theres peaks and troughs and we are in what seems a very deep trough at the moment. In 100 years time there will be something else and the last few years will become those peoples time to look back on and think "wow they had it bad then too"

YABU. This isn't the case at all. Most people live healthy productive lives, the majority of us live in good housing, there are lots of jobs, our children have access to education. We have access to a great health service. The majority of people aren't burnt out from overwork. You don't know the planet is fucked. Fucking hell OP, lighten up.

@ufucoffee

YABU. This isn't the case at all. Most people live healthy productive lives, the majority of us live in good housing, there are lots of jobs, our children have access to education. We have access to a great health service. The majority of people aren't burnt out from overwork. You don't know the planet is fucked. Fucking hell OP, lighten up.

LoL, no we don't, the NHS is wrecked, 4m in poverty, shite housing and yes climate change and plastic in the oceans means things are not great at all.

BUT its all fixable, we should be focusing on this, not comparing ourselves to people living during the Black Death and saying how great things are.

Materially we’ve never been so wealthy or well off. But in terms of happiness and contentment I think we are just “okay”.
Material comfort is great. But it doesn’t equate to contentment and happiness if everything else - mental health, family, community, a sense of belonging, self-respect, a sense of importance in ones community, quality of life (health isn’t just measured in years - is your body fit? are you mobile? comfortable? stress free?), a faith in something bigger … is all getting sacrificed along the way. Unfortunately for a good 50%+ that’s the case I think.

We’ve been conditioned by the system to believe that happiness and fulfilment will be achieved via 1) our bank balance and to a lesser extent 2) our job/social status. This is despite all studies showing that it’s complete bullshit. Of course a level of material comfort/wealth is also necessary. But in the UK that hasn’t been an issue for 80%+ since about the 1940s.

‘ U don’t know the planet is f*d up’
Wow. I think the majority of climate scientists are actually pretty pessimistic about our ability to slow down global warming.
NHS is on its knees, schools likewise, police and judicial system barely functioning, homelessness rife, boomers sat on huge wealth due to property price inflation but youngsters unable to buy, zero hours for loads of people and others working multiple jobs to keep their heads above water. Add to that the sht show that is brexit.
I think the UK is in dire straits certainly but most are too apathetic to give other political parties a chance because they would apparently be worse. Funny how people weren’t as timid years ago and would happily vote incompetent governments in and out.

I think it really helps to compare with older people in your family to get some perspective.
My grandmother was a household servant in her teens, lost her first child as no C section, her husband died in his late 30s of a condition that would be treatable today with antibiotics, then became quite destitute as his business died with him, and lived through two world wars in which she lost siblings and other relatives.
Yes, I work very long hours, worry about my kids and the impact of SM and am pretty stressed out. But I would infinitely prefer my life to hers.
I'm not saying life isn't difficult now, or that there isn't a need for change. But I really think it's not right to imply things are worse for us than previous generations.

I'd still rather be alive now than at any other time in history. Modern medicine is amazing - look at how fast a vaccine was made, absolutely incredible! The internet - information about anything and everything at your fingertips. Our ability to travel - get to the other side of the world, 10,000 miles in a day. To be able to keep in touch with people easily, anywhere in the world.

We are though hugely over populated. Rather than trying to solve all the problems that arise due to over population what we really should be doing is getting on top of over population. It's the one thing people can really easily do if they're worried about the future - and if people really are that worried about the future why would they want to have kids at all - they're they ones who will suffer the most.

Climate change and global overpopulation are what will end us.

Regarding societies, there's nothing new about this. Civilisations rise and then they fall. Look back and it is the same pattern over and over and over. Simple start, fairly crap for most. Gets stronger, gets better, still fairly crap for most but had some great achievements too. Most people ok. Reaches its pinnacle. Things start to go wrong. People stop achieving. Society becomes that bit more brutal/decadent/selfish. People turn on each other. Everyone blames someone else - sometimes specific segments of the population are demonised.

It carries on like that until finally there's a huge war, it's all turned to shit and the population is living in poverty surrounded by the ruins of their civilisation.

It'll be a bit different these days because the war/invaders element will be missing but ultimately we'll end up a heart rending TV advert in whichever part of the world has taken the top spot. This is Emily. She hasn't eaten today and probably won't eat tomorrow. Emily needs your help. Your sponsorship will help her eat this week.

I'm exaggerating of course, but probably not by much.

Tldr: we're all fucked.

I do think we are on the decline so to speak & it's only going to get harder. We have an ageing population & if healthcare & finances are bad now what will they be like in 20 years time. Try not to think about it!

Based on most of the things used to try and 'objectively' measure this idea, the world has literally never been a better place to live.

Climate change is a huge problem, but in terms of health, conflict, food security, wealth, safety etc the world has consistently improved and continues to do so.

Chin up, people, things are getting better!

See I think the issue is it's normal to have bad times whether they are economic, natural disasters, wars etc but then things to improve. I'm not sure if things are improving anymore.

Funnily enough I think brexit was a huge protest against austerity ( albeit against the wrong target) and the huge inequalities in wealth and opportunities. It was a kick in the teeth for Cameron and Osborne but inadvertently has caused a huge seismic shift in our relationship with our closest neighbours. So in a way the left behinds did try to change things. A guardian journalist travelled round the UK 2016 - 2019, visiting places like Stoke and Blackburn, interviewing the locals. Many felt ignored and exploited and used their referendum vote to change things - remember how Farage latched on to the ‘establishment’ and ‘ middle class elites’ ? So in essence we had a revolution but not one that really changed things for ordinary people in the way they hoped.

I really feel for the younger generations

@OfMinceAndMen yes I think they don't seem so hopeful.

I read this recently & I was quite surprised things were so bad.

"Youth unemployment in the capital has soared by 55 per cent to 105,000 since the start of the pandemic with more than 21 per cent of young people jobless and seeking work, a joint investigation by The Independent and the Evening Standard reveals today."
"Most worrying is that 42 per cent of unemployed youths countrywide have remained jobless for six months or more, with crushing consequences, said experts, for their hopes and self-esteem."

We are though hugely over populated. Rather than trying to solve all the problems that arise due to over population what we really should be doing is getting on top of over population. It's the one thing people can really easily do if they're worried about the future - and if people really are that worried about the future why would they want to have kids at all - they're they ones who will suffer the most.

Overpopulation in many parts of the west including the UK is to do with people living longer.

@DerTrotzkopf yes, I think Brexit definitely represented that for some.

EishetChayil
Capitalism has spectacularly failed

It's the socialist countries that have beaten COVID

How would anyone know?

Because they have beaten Covid or because that is what they say they have done

Anyone remember the hospital China built in 10 days at the same time giving out tiny numbers in regulars to infections and deaths

@niceupthedanceagain

The system is broken . I'm guessing most people posting saying it's not so bad do not speak to people living in poverty every day like I do. There is no hope for them I'm sad to say. Do we just accept it??

What do you suggest?

@DerTrotzkopf I have read this many times but the reality is if just another 600k people have voted differently, Brexit would never had happened.
The majority of very wealthy areas voted for Brexit, as well poorer areas, funnily enough, where the SUN isn't sold, Liverpool, they voted Remain.

People voted for brexit not because they felt ignored but because of immigration, which is even more bizarre because by voting for Boris's "Get Brexit Done" routine, they voted for up to 5m Hongkong Chinese to be allowed to come to the UK in a very short time., 2500 per week are settling in the UK, causing huge strain on local services, at a time when there is zero slack.
HK belongs to China, it isn't for us to be taking in their citizens, China isn't going around persecuting them or demanding they leave.