Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be seriously worried about the future of the world…

36 replies

Mummytotwonow · 03/08/2022 22:10

Just watching the news and now the possibility of China going to war… feels like since COVID, war in Ukraine, Cost of living crisis, all the other issues over the world and now China possible war… what the hell is going on??? AIBU and overreacting or does anyone else think we are heading to the end??

OP posts:
Original poster
Mummytotwonow · 03/08/2022 22:15

Oh and the ongoing climate crisis threat

OP posts:
Hbh17 · 03/08/2022 22:24

Well, there have always been wars and crises, so no change there. But if the world ends, so what? None of us will know anything about it & ignorance truly is bliss.

Thatboymum · 03/08/2022 22:24

Honestly can’t say I give it a second thought , what will be will be

Desperado40 · 05/08/2022 06:25

I understand how you feel OP. It just feels like a downward spiral at the moment and I keep thinking that we will never have true economic comfort in this country again. The outcome looks very bleak and I expect come spring there is going to be a rise in homelessness, suicide, deaths (due to hypothermia) etc. I would not be surprised if they are going to be riots, on the other hand we are getting used to accept lower standard of living because we are constantly told that it is a global problem. It may be partly true, but UK outcome seems particularly gloomy at the moment and I really worry that it will only get worse.

Carpy88999 · 05/08/2022 06:41

Mumsnet melodrama strikes again.

mjf981 · 05/08/2022 06:43

I agree. But, I've accepted it. We are in the middle of a mass extinction event, entirely caused by humans. And there is no stopping it - humans are far too greedy and there are too many of us. So I just enjoy each day as it comes and treat others and animals with kindness. I almost feel serene now I've accepted it.

Washermother33 · 05/08/2022 06:44

I have a feeling of unease too . I think that many have got to use to life being relatively easy and secure and won’t have the resilience they are going to need .

malificent7 · 05/08/2022 07:04

No point worrying...the world has always been a mess. I'm just glad I didn't live in the tudor times. If I was in the Victorian era I would end up in the workhouse.

Species go extinct...look at the dinosaurs.

Ducksinthebath · 05/08/2022 07:06

I’m not worried about the end of the world generally but more worried that going into previous recessions we had been in a pretty good financial space rather than coming off the back of years of austerity.

Lottsbiffandsmudge · 05/08/2022 07:06

Yup. I have a constant feeling of unease. About everything you mention. We are going to end up killing our species. One way or another. Once money cant buy people out of the shit its going to get ugly pretty damn quick.

malificent7 · 05/08/2022 07:09

I reckon we are a victim of our own success. I guess when any population gets too big it will fail due to lack of resources whether that's mould on a petri dish...or us. It's nature. Live life as best you can, stick to your values and enjoy the immense beauty of nature like sunsets, a single flower, birds etc....whilst it's still there.

Curiosity101 · 05/08/2022 07:11

There's always been war, disease, financial crises etc. It's just more visible now as we're constantly connected to news sources and social media.

Limit your news and social media to once a day and you'll likely feel better.

abadgutfeeling · 05/08/2022 07:13

I agree with you OP

Theanswersarewithin · 05/08/2022 07:14

I read something once that said ‘apocalyptic thinking is small thinking’ and it really reasonated. It’s easy for our minds to always think worst case scenario, it’s harder to appreciate the full spectrum of amazing, good, bad and in between.

personally I try not to watch the news and I try and count my blessings everyday. This helps. My circumstances are actually wonderful if I drown out the media and wider world.

Workinghardeveryday · 05/08/2022 07:18

I worry too, everything is such a mess really. I worry for the kids and the future before them.

the heatwave opened my eyes to climate change and how very real it is, scares me.

Newrumpus · 05/08/2022 07:19

Curiosity101 · 05/08/2022 07:11

There's always been war, disease, financial crises etc. It's just more visible now as we're constantly connected to news sources and social media.

Limit your news and social media to once a day and you'll likely feel better.

I agree with this. Read some social history books if you want perspective but generally avoid doom-mongers and don’t dwell on things you can’t change. If your own circumstances need improving make short term plans to affect these changes.

sunsetsandsandybeaches · 05/08/2022 07:19

The world has always been this way, but in the past we never had access to 24/7 news channels, social media and first person accounts from atrocities on the other side of the world.

You will feel a million times better if you turn the TV off and stop watching it all.

drpet49 · 05/08/2022 07:21

“There's always been war, disease, financial crises etc. It's just more visible now as we're constantly connected to news sources and social media.”

^This.

LadyWithLapdog · 05/08/2022 07:22

I disagree with PP that we’ve outgrown our resources. I think there’s enough but not shared well and little political will to change that.

MyDarlingClementine · 05/08/2022 07:23

Agree op things look incredibly bleak.

We all thought we would be on recovery for COVID then Putin happened.

I think the moment he started to gather troop's onto Ukraines border the un should have been allowed to equally match the force toe to toe.

Remember we left those poor older ladies to defend the rest of the world?

I can't believe in this day and age this has happened.

MsTSwift · 05/08/2022 07:23

Absolutely. We’ve had it so good for a while. Our ancestors didn’t! In the dark ages there was a period where the crops failed (a volcano ash cloud blocked out light but they didn’t understand that) and most of the population in my area now died of the Black Death. It’s all happened before.

KangarooKenny · 05/08/2022 07:25

This is why I don’t watch the news.
To be fair, there has been crisis all my life. Miners strikes, electric going off and bins not collected in the 70’s, Falklands, the Ireland troubles, riots in Toxteth, Iraq, Afghanistan. It’s always been there.

crossstitchingnana · 05/08/2022 07:30

I do feel I have changed since the pandemic. I feel like I have grown-up in a way, like life will never be the same. And I am in my 50s. Then I remember the 1st world war and the Spanish Flu epidemic, so it's happened before.

Goldenbear · 05/08/2022 07:48

I don't agree, what has actually happened is that the availability/imposition of 24 news headlines has led people to overly focus on negative outcomes as that is the 'news' they are directed to. Good news that is often about longevity and people's ongoing efforts is never reported on as it doesn't sell! The way things are reported increasingly has a sentimental tone which adds to the doom annd gloom. It is quite a dangerous trend as it leads people to feel helpless in changing things and they vote for reactionary politicians like Trump, whereas we need collaborative global politics to have an effect on climate change and peace.

Neverendingdust · 05/08/2022 08:17

I agree OP. The future is bleak enough for us in the UK without the prospect of WW3 devastating international relations and supply chains even further. Climate change is going to slap us all in the face in the coming years, by which point we’ll be regretting not adapting sooner.

To those who say we have been here before with WWs 1+2, technology and our way of life has advanced to such an extent now that any risk of disruption in even a small way can have catastrophic consequences for us all. Self sufficiency is an impossibility for the majority unlike in previous wars where they had very little to begin with, the stark reality is we need the wheels to keep turning in order to survive.

We’ve had it so good for so long that for most of us it’s all we know. What are we without hope, connection, convenience and the ongoing aim of wanting to create a better life for ourselves?

Once the wheels come off, we’re fucked.