To think there's an off/bad vibe out there?

[ARichSeamToMine]

Does the world feel "off"?
Sorry if this seems ranty, I'm really interested in the vote though.

I'm feeling like there's a weird vibe out there.

I live in London, meet a lot of people through work and am not just judging by my circle.

I've been struggling to articulate this.

I'm late 40s and have seen recessions etc before.

Was out in the City tonight and I would say bar and restaurant were busy for a Monday night, so good there. The street I was on had several completely closed offices, pubs and two gyms, which was sad.

I understand that changes in social habits have been affected by working patterns etc.

I just feel there is something else at play

I increasingly find that people are a bit...strange? We saw groups in the bar, who presumably went out together from choice, just gazing at their phones. I was never anti tech but I'm starting to wonder if there is something in the idea that it affects communication skills.

my friend is worried about her dad because he constantly watches videos of fights - this is a TV show in the US now I hear.

I know a lot of people in my age group feel very "meh" and have little enthusiasm for things, but it's not just middle age. I don't think so anyway.

I'm happy if people are happy, but starting to wonder if they are happy. I meet a lot of people who don't want to go out, are up at 5am walking a dog, they take care of themselves with a good diet, often vegan, don't drink alcohol.

I'm not saying any of these things are bad. I can see if the City is reasonably busy on a Monday night, hospitality must be recovering, which is great.

But something out in the world feels off...like people aren't interested in much.

My online creative writing group has almost no posts. The tutor is regularly cancelling workshops and looking to do online only.

I'm in touch with a couple of exes and we are staying friends but they seem to do nothing but gaming. One in particular has no friends and is not bothered.

I might get flamed but I do wonder if men are particularly prone to doing less stuff if they are single.

Again, that is fine if they are happy. But I get this sense that people aren't happy.

Social anxiety seems very much on the rise.

Just curious to know if others get this vibe.

YABU - people are fine and just living life as usual

YANBU - people are losing communication skills and becoming unhappy

@Abeona your take seems very nihilistic.

I think a lot of people have been shaken by revelations such as the Post Office scandal. It feels disturbing that a seemingly respectable and traditional organisation such as the Post Office could behave so egregiously.

As a long time Radio 4 listener and Private Eye reader I have known about this scandal for a long time. So I'm no longer shocked by it.

The less recent scandals such as the behaviour of public figures in the media isn't shocking. Public figures have always behaved badly, sometimes criminally, but have been able to hide it behind closed doors. SM has opened those doors.

Personally, I am more optimistic. We are more cynical, less trusting of our so called 'betters' because we know they aren't trustworthy. They never were but we know it now.

I am very proud that my fellow voters turned out in some force to reject the sock puppet being presented as replacement for our MP. It gives me heart!

Yes, people lived through WW2 and went on to lead happy productive lives, the "Covid to blame for everything that happens now!" narrative is absurd, many many people were breaking the "rules" anyway. The problem with society IMO is too much debt, too much social media all the time and the notion that has been allowed to develop that the world should be interested in your "feelings" and "emotions", this last one is very damaging because it goes against the basic genetic drives that are necessary for survival of the species.

I completely disagree. Why do you want to shut down discussion? Open it up I say. Let’s make it possible to discuss anything and everything instead of having to self censor opinions that may go against the grain.

Also, how do you propose the OP should celebrate? Whenever anyone comes on here to celebrate their good fortune whether that’s to show off their new handbag or a photo of a beautiful property they’re thinking of buying they invariably get met with cries of ‘Read the room’, ‘Cost of living crisis’ and the like.

Naturally, there are good and bad things in this world but ignoring the bad ones won’t make them go away, no matter how hard you ‘celebrate’.

I think the prevailing narrative of "lockdown was universally awful and ruined everyone's lives" is read by many and makes others feel it must be true for them too if everyone's saying. Whereas for many of us it really was a mild inconvenience for a few weeks and I don't perceive anything different as a general "vibe" on the streets from before 2020.

The change is also do do with a massive property/debt bubble (that the government enabled) and the notion that you need to borrow 30 years worth of debt for a half decent house, plus the fact that people tend to "self-medicate" more now rather than face problems head on, cheap debt turning to not so cheap debt and strong weed is a very bad combination, it won`t lead to a happy society.

Fair enough, you are entitled to your opinion. I just don’t see how not having mental health services available for young people could not have a knock on effect for many. I also think that lowering standards such as not penalising people for shop lifting, has a knock on effect to many. Lots of people who work in shops for one! I don’t think phones help either, but we do have the ability to put them down.

Absolutely.

But there are lots of threads on here where anyone who says COVID didn't really impact them gets shot down in flames.

and for some of us it was fucking bliss and I for one miss it.

Whereas for many of us it really was a mild inconvenience for a few weeks and I don't perceive anything different as a general "vibe" on the streets from before 2020.

lol!

There are significant social and economic problems in Denmark. The energy costs are very high.
Scandinavia is not El Dorado..

Inshock - I fail to see how a bunch of people moaning about how awful the world is, is going to help anything or anyone, except reinforce other peoples already negative views, thereby increasing the overall negativity in the world. Its just people listing loads of bad shit.

" The change does seem to be contemporaneous with the rise of the mobile device in the UK."

So happening from about 1997 then? I can remember twigging that I needed to switch my mobile off in the late 90`s to avoid getting swamped by complete waffle from people at work who knew you were probably on the way on the bus and wanted to give you a "heads up" on what was happening that day when you got in, in reality they just liked the vision of themselves looking important braying into a (very ancient looking now) handset.

As I said, I find it odd that the OP just seems to be noticing this now?

I think it’s good. It’s better than having blinkers on. The world is bad at the moment, and it has got worse. That is fact I’m afraid. The thing is I think we are too passive, myself included. We should be shouting about having no money and everything being so bloody expensive!! It’s ludicrous and not much fun!!!

Bingo. Why the bloody hell should we put ourselves out while they laugh in our faces!?

Yes, I loved it, the empty streets and public transport was a form of bliss, it will never happen again in our lifetimes, unless there is a pandemic that literally has people dying in the streets, then you won`t need to be ordered by government to lockdown. My thought just before it all kicked off, walking along a busy road with lines of stressed white knuckled idiots blasting horns at any slight driving mistake and risking their lives to get past buses that had stopped to pick up one passenger, was - I wish a proper snow blizzard, three months long at least, would turn up and shut this nonsense down - I got my wish, not in the way I expected though, and for a LOT longer.

I also agree with this. I don't think that the world is really any worse than it has ever been, we just have more leisure to worry about it and more information at our fingertips. People moan endlessly about everything, and there are certain ways in which especially Britain could improve, but life could be a lot worse. I'm just thankful I don't live in a war torn country. While I am of course sorry for those unfortunates who do, I also don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about them, as there is nothing I can do about it. I suggest that others should follow suit. Focus on your own life, stop going on about 'malaise' and looking for trouble.

The time to shout was when people were borrowing 10 times their income for basic property, the public were applauding it though, too late now, the debt bubble is bursting and that will reflect at all levels of society and in people`s well-being/mental health.

Are you joking!? It was awful, like uncanny valley. The worst time in a lot of people's lives. Bliss??

Another thing relevant here is to do with having children. Fifteen or so years ago before having DC I was fairly hedonistic and shallow, as well as hard working, but feel now I have almost become a Mary Whitehouse. I am fed up of the access kids have to porn, extreme nationalism, violence, age inappropriate information. Nothing like it when I was younger, and looking at the books and video games and social media which are aimed at kids it is almost as though they are being spoon fed it all - as part of some agenda - on purpose - as crazy as that sounds - and I don't mean central government although they are not doing nearly enough to put a stop to it. And combined with education standards going down, complaints of worsening MH problems amongst school children, poor health and mental health care etc - if this started a decade ago, or more, I just wasn't aware until I had DC, it will be having a wider affect on society, a part of the general malaise, and it will get worse unless we do something about it. So it isn't just covid and just gaming for adults. There is something more "off", it feels.

Good post, too many people think the government is there to bail them out of their financial mistakes, or that the world at large is interested in their dribble about their "feelings".

I ask again - please list the things we should be celebrating?

A balanced viewpoint would be interesting, as from where I'm standing the world's on fire and our only antidote seems to be TikTok videos that may or may not be "real".

Have you heard of SORA? What are your thoughts on the exponential growth of AI? CDBC? All things worming their way into the fabric of an already tattered and divided society and motivated purely by profit.

Tell me what exactly I should be celebrating? Other than my cat, whom I worship wholeheartedly.

Go and visit your local leisure. Loads of people are playing sport and doing gym. Sometimes the hall is fully booked for games.

I can think of lots of things going on socially thankfully.

Shall I have a bath, eat a banana and fill a gratitude jar too? 🙃

The thing is we are being managed not led. And if we do find a decent leader, they should try to bring people together, and ignore Brexit lovers tantrums. We need stability and someone who has integrity, and a genuine care for others. Not some spoilt rich person.

I'm noticing changes in my local town. My experience of lockdown was different to most people's, I think, in that DH was at work early on when nobody else was around, while I did a strict lockdown; & then just as things eased I was diagnosed with cancer, so I avoided going out because of that (I was lucky enough that restrictions weren't as bad & I could have the operation I needed, though with lots of extra rules).

What with recovering & avoiding getting infected plus other life stuff that was going on, it took me longer than other people to get back into normal life again. When I did, I was just so damned thrilled to be out & about again that I was happy & enthusiastic, & I noticed with surprise that people I came across didn't seem to feel the same way. People working in retail seemed tired out or afraid of how customers would behave & astonished when someone (i.e. me) was polite & didn't make a fuss. People generally seemed more miserable.

It seems to be getting worse. I only go into town every week or two, & the whole place has lost its cheeriness. I used to liken it to living in the Truman Show - people were ridiculously polite & friendly. There were upper-middle class country types around who now seem to have disappeared (where have they gone??). Now there are unsavoury-looking men hanging around car parks & outside shops, drinking, lying on the ground or fighting (where did they come from??). That's not a racist comment btw: they're white, with no discernible accent. Did they always live here but their behaviour has changed, or have they come from somewhere else? And why?

Every couple of weeks things get a bit worse. This week, a shop which recently opened has begun to have a security guard at the door when they didn't previously. Another small thing is that everyone seems to be wearing cheap dark clothes; nobody looks individual or as though they've spent any money or taken pleasure in their appearance, & this is so different from before.

It really does feel strange, as though our home life has gone on as usual, but things further afield are changing rapidly & for the worse. It's disconcerting.