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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

162 replies

StellaGibson118 · 13/12/2021 00:31

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.

OP posts:
thisplaceisweird · 13/12/2021 09:27

If you want to do something about it stop bloody voting Tory for a start!

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:29

Thing is we need immigration to support the ageing population, the birth rate is 1.6.

"There are currently 4 people of working age supporting each pensioner in Britain, by 2035 this number is expected to fall to 2.5, and by 2050 to just 2. The number of people of working age in relation to retirees is known as the ‘dependency ratio’."

That's scary!

fournonblondes · 13/12/2021 09:30

Yes a lot of things are worse. However, there are other things that are better. In some ways is easier to make money now. You just need to look for ways to mitigate the bad stuff affecting your life. Also, have only the kids you can afford and so not rely on the government for anything. The worst part I think is the governments around the world. They are the worse kind of people.We need to have individual responsibility.

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:32

And we already have thousands of vacancies & skill shortages as successive governments haven't invested enough.

lonelyapple · 13/12/2021 09:33

YANBU.

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:33

Also, have only the kids you can afford and so not rely on the government for anything

What does this mean? Should we rely on state pensions, transport, healthcare?

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:34

I always surprised how so many people think the UKs woes will be fixed if people reduce the amount of kids they have. People aren't having lots of kids!

fournonblondes · 13/12/2021 09:36

@EishetChayil

Capitalism has spectacularly failed.

It's the socialist countries that have beaten COVID.

Nice try. Venezuela has not even got vaccines. You comment is offensive to the families of people dying there.
fournonblondes · 13/12/2021 09:39

@boltz

I always surprised how so many people think the UKs woes will be fixed if people reduce the amount of kids they have. People aren't having lots of kids!
In general may be not but I keep seeing threats here of benefits for three and more kids. They are starving and so and so. I know I am ok because I did not add thousands a year by having more kids. If you do not think it affects your possibilities you are wrong.
rrhuth · 13/12/2021 09:41

I can only allow myself to think about it for a minute or two or I'd go mad ...so I decided to start a thread to drag everyone else down with me Grin

In essence I agree, modern life is rubbish and all that.

I think the less you engage with the shopping/consuming/pressure the less it gets to you.

ShiftingSands21 · 13/12/2021 09:41

Delete your social media and within a week you will see a very different and better world.

Original poster
StellaGibson118 · 13/12/2021 09:42

Interesting reading of the replies this morning.

I don't like to compare life now to the world wars because it's like chalk and cheese, and it also invalidates people's worries now. Being grateful for anything that isn't being bombed seems a bit of a strange benchmark tbh.

OP posts:
MasterGland · 13/12/2021 09:42

In terms of medical and technological advancements that free us from disease and unnecessary labour, we have never had it so good.
However, studies have shown that those in highly developed countries, particularly with high income disparities, are suffering from unhappiness, worry and anxiety.
This is due to our comparative nature and also the collapse of traditional supportive networks (Italy bucks the trend on the unhappiness chart, despite high income disparity, probably becuase of the role of family and religion in their culture).
The advice usually goes:

Don't use social media.
Practice gratitude for what you have.
Focus on helping others.
Try to get involved in something in your local community.

Original poster
StellaGibson118 · 13/12/2021 09:42

@ShiftingSands21

Delete your social media and within a week you will see a very different and better world.
Well I doubt it because I'd probably still come on here and this is one of the worst places for sniping.
OP posts:
rrhuth · 13/12/2021 09:43

@ShiftingSands21

Delete your social media and within a week you will see a very different and better world.
Oh yes I agree with this. FB etc is designed to make you unhappy.
TheYearOfSmallThings · 13/12/2021 09:44

Whenever I feel hard done by I consider the lives of older generations of my family.

My parents grew up in Ireland in the 1950s. It is true that they had the hope of things getting better... because they were starting from a fairly grim baseline. My father's mother died before she was 30, of complications that would be easily treated today. My mother's mother died before she reached 60.

As a single parent now I can work (and earn a decent salary), buy and own a house, and feel fully accepted in society. None of these things were true in the past. I would have been up shit creek, actually.

I feel oddly lucky to have grown up in Dublin in the 1980s, because I have a clear memory of what difficult times look like, even though we didn't consider them so bad at the time. People who only remember the good times and have only been exposed to affluence and plenty struggle to deal with anything less.

As for the environment yes, that is a huge issue. But I don't think that is really what is bothering the OP.

rrhuth · 13/12/2021 09:44

@StellaGibson118 no constant feed of pictures of unattainable life on here though.

Algorithm-ically (is that a word?) MN is nothing like FB/IG etc. They are programmed to take people deeper into insecurities.

Mybalconyiscracking · 13/12/2021 09:47

There is a tombstone in our churchyard, a family of 7. In 1806 the mother lost 4 young children within 3 weeks, she lost a 4th child the following year. I have no idea whether she had or lost other children, but her husband died in 1817 and she was a widow for 20 years.
I wonder how she would feel about this thread?

Lightswitch123 · 13/12/2021 09:48

Social media has a lot to answer for.

Quit that and you'll feel a lot better.

Do not let your children join it.

thisplaceisweird · 13/12/2021 09:49

MUMSNET IS NOT SOCIAL MEDIA

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:50

In terms of medical and technological advancements that free us from disease and unnecessary labour, we have never had it so good.

Yep

However, studies have shown that those in highly developed countries, particularly with high income disparities, are suffering from unhappiness, worry and anxiety.

This is what worries me as it does not make for a happy productive society.

boltz · 13/12/2021 09:51

I wonder how she would feel about this thread?

Surely there can be a better baseline then why worry at least you are not dead!

Original poster
StellaGibson118 · 13/12/2021 09:52

? I never said it was. I just said I'd still come on here and most threads are full of people being horrible to each other, which is actually what gets to me on social media. I don't really care what other people I barely talk to IRL do with their lives so I'm not a big user of Instagram or Facebook. Twitter is my biggest downfall and that has the same problems as here, only you have more characters to use here haha!

OP posts:
Ohdofuckoffcovid · 13/12/2021 09:53

Well that's a happy thought

ShiftingSands21 · 13/12/2021 09:54

Twitter is a cesspit. It affects real life. But it’s definitely does not reflect real life.