aibu to be pisswd off that the world's ills haven't been fixed yet?

[wenevernewthis]

When I was a child I was just so sure that all the children in Africa would have clean water, all of the animals In the rainforest would be protected and all of the litter bugs would be eradicated by the time I was grown.

Now I am grown and things seem positively worse than they were in the 90s, when I was a child.

I genuinely can't believe that things are still going south. Why oh why are we still destroying everything we touch?

Now I'm listening to my own children ask me the same questions and I just feel so... so cheated.

And to top it all off, I'm addicted to my smartphone and use it as a substitution for human contact.
A problem I couldn't have conceived of when I was a child.

oh course that should read 'pissed off'

How did you think all these problems would have been solved?

Oh come on shox
by the grownups of course.

Yes in 1970's as a child I remember Blue Peter's Bring and Buys sales and the Totalisers , for say water pipes to be built in various Countries across the world so that Children had access to clean water . In my mind when it reached the top of the totaliser problem solved . Yet every day I see adverts still telling us some of the worlds population still don't have access to clean water .🤔

You’re the grown up now 😃
Sort it out

Human beings as a group are inheriently selfish arseholes who are only in it for themselves. Not enough of us are altruistic enough for things to ever change.

Yes, @plinkplinkfizzer I rber telling my parents that I couldn't wait until they all had clean water pumps because the adverts to help them made me feel sad.

I also remember asking my dad to send my dinner to Africa like Karen in outnumbered "just put it in an envelope and send it to them!"

@Shoxfordian
bloody hell I'm trying but I'm not in any position to make a real effort. we'll I can make an effort but I my effort amounts to nothing much. I just thought it'd be all done and dusted by now. silly child me

Yes I always thought this as a child! Our family religiously watched children in need etc growing up and millions upon millions were donated each year, the numbers donated grew as I grew and I started to think how aren't people living better from this.. seeing videos of kids in Africa every year and not seeing much progress. Obviously I have no clue what goes on over there so could be better or worse for all I know. But I do remember feeling like when I was a grown up everything would be better :(

Do you really believe that?
it seems to me the lower down of the group (so normal people) care loads but can't do anything about the problems, but the higher ups (millionaires plus) don't care but do all they can to make more problems.

@gonutkin oh yes I can't watch it now. It just depresses me. I never donate either so I just feel extra rubbish.

YANBU

Our economic system doesn't support the worlds ills being fixed though, it supports making a few people very rich, which is why we are in this mess. My suggestions are:

-Develop a virus that wipes out the world's narcisstic psychopaths

-Develop a virus that wipes out the world's cocaine crops

-Redistribute the world's wealth

That should help people be more compassionate.

All the evidence certainly point that way.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

If we really wanted to fix the problems we face, we could.

There is enough food produced every year for every single person on earth. There is enough clean water for every single person, and yet here we are.

@wenevernewthis
Do you really believe that?

Why not? We're animals. Animals aren't known for their altruism. Like humans, there's a few that are.

Ha yes.
When I was a kid I thought why can't we all grow food and weave baskets and make stuff like that? knit and sew and build and grow and dry beans and make jam and cakes and stuff then we wouldn't need to go to big shops and we could just trade with eachother.

of course I didn't know about rent or anything then. damn thing ruined my plan.

I used this argument to try to convince My dad to stay at home from work.

To pick one example of why problems persist, compare the population of Ethiopia with what it was when the first Band Aid single came out.

Well yeah but aren't animals against destroying their own habitats and food sources too?
We know that we are killing ourselves and we still are.

AND yes I know about the food thing.
Also clothes and shoes. there are tonnes being thrown away before being sold. I can't comprehend whyyyyy

what is it?

39.37 million (1984)
121 million (2022)

Yikes!

On thé other side, extreme poverty has been slashed, child mortality is crashing, we can genetically engineer crops to stop people going blind through vitamin deficiency, and there are hundreds of other achievements in a similar vein.

@StillGoingStrongToday
also scientists have played sounds of a healthy coral reef to a 'dead' one and the fish came back. so thats nice too.

On one of our trips to Africa we asked our African friends why there was so much poverty when so many mineral resources. The answer? Corruption in government.

Yikes indeed. It was absolutely the right thing, to feed and provide water for the starving millions, but if the new facilities are just used to facilitate adding another eighty million people then what can possibly “fix”
the problem of not enough food there?

See, that’s lovely.

Anyway, as I understand it the little baby Jesus is due back any day now, and he’ll be making everything better.

also just saw this

corruption
fucking hell why can't we fix that?

wouldn't mind seeing ol bojo in the stocks to be fair.