to feel so sad and disillusioned with the world?

[DisillusionedWithTheWorld]

...I'm watching the news. It's all crazy. Trump, the Ukraine, Israel... even Mumsnet is full of madness lately. I wish I could move somewhere where everyone can just live quietly and in peace without all the nonsense and psychopathic narcissists that rule the planet right now. But that would probably have to involve me literally moving to another planet. And even then, DH reminded me just now that I'd have to rely on the likes of Musk, or the USA or Russia to get me out of here and off to mars! So I can't escape this crazy world or the nasty people that run it, even if life on another planet was possible.

Anyone else just feel like the world's gone mad, they are completely helpless to do anything about it, and to want to just find a way to escape it?

I've felt like this as I've got older. I had a year or two through covid where it nearly drove me mad. I've really got on an even keel by only reading the news once a day and never watching it on TV. Another huge help has been by making a tangible difference to my part of the world. I might not be able to stop wars but I am part of several voluntary groups that do various good things for our local area and I donate to three charities that I think really make a difference. It makes me feel I'm doing something.

@TheaBrandt1 oh there’s no doubt to the brilliance that humanity can produce, the last few hundred years have been an explosion in progress.

But here we are, on the brink of blowing each other up over tiny slivers of land, the planet engulfed and choking in the smog of indulgence whilst billions of people starve next to opulence beyond belief.

We’ve only been here in civilised form for a dozen or so thousand years. The blink of an eye in terms of our planet’s history. And our planet will recover once we are gone, probably for the better…

We have been lucky to have had relative peace in the UK for probably the longest period in history, but I totally agree that the people currently “in charge” are up there with the nastiest, most incompetent bunch of people to become leaders in history.

I think these two things are related. People have become complacent, they don't vote or they do vote for complete idiots because they don't make good choices in order to, 'sock it to the elite' rather than ensure stability and decency.

My nan's generation were in living memory of women not having the vote so would vote to honour those who fought for the right to vote.

My mum's generation lived through WW2 and they were hyper alert to keeping those with ill intent from power and were very pro European union because unity and peace were of paramount importance to them. They valued the peace of the last 80 years in a way that many younger people for whom war is unknown haven't.

YANBU OP. I completely agree with you. I often feel disillusioned about all sorts of things. Sending solidarity.

💯💛

💛💛agree

Great post @Bridport

Thanks! I'd agree that DH, DC and dogs are pretty wonderful and do ease things a bit 🐶

Yes I agree humans can be wonderful

But so many died in ww2 because of a handful of crazy men and one particularly nasty one in particular.

History repeats itself with the few causing catastrophe for the many :(

Good points

Minimise my own capitalistic behaviours as much as possible (because so many of the world’s problems are caused by greed, overconsumption and inequality). Obviously it is impossible to opt out of capitalism entirely unless one goes completely off grid but I try to minimise it by only buying what I need- keeping my life as simple as possible in terms of belongings. Not coveting things. Not looking at pretty things on Instagram or in magazines (clothes etc) because none of that ‘stuff’ means anything or really makes people happy, and much of it involves unethical and unsustainable behaviour in producing and transporting goods around the world.

Well said. This makes a real difference.

I agree. I hate the populist and racist nonsense spouted by trump, farage and some Tories and lapped up by such a lot of idiots. It is scary, I hope it passes soon without any serious damage.

There are some fundamental problems though in dealing with the aging population with people not having enough children. We’ll need to have more babies to pay for our state pensions, or we need more immigration to get more workers to pay for pensioners - which people don’t want. The next generation of pensioners will be much poorer

it makes me particularly hate the current pensioner reform voters

Try to see the good things around you. If you live in the UK in this century you are still one of the luckiest people ever to have lived. There are good people around it’s just the fascist types are louder at the moment

I hear you, OP, it's a horrible state of affairs. I think before mass media and the Internet life was more peaceful as people often didn't know what was happening elsewhere in the world.

I live in South Africa, where the problems are right up close and cannot be ignored. The inequality and poverty is everywhere whenever I leave the house. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, being surrounded by a great sea of desperate need with no power to change things. I vote, I donate, I help out friends, neighbours and family, but I'm also struggling myself.

Maybe if each of us focused on helping and improving things just in our little ambit, that is enough. I work in animal rescue in my area. I've considered looking for a job in an NGO that has social impact but jobs that pay a decent salary are very hard to find, so I'm clinging onto the stable job I have now.

I can't change things happening on the other side of the world, but I can do my best to help out where I can in my immediate community.

Theolittle Please don't lose faith in the older generation. I'm a pensioner and loathe Reform and everything they stand for.

Yes, I'm incredibly lucky. But that makes me feel incredibly guilty.

It's not fair that my birth place dictates my privilege. If I had been born in Gaza or Ukraine or Sudan I may not even be alive right now. I may not have children that survived to teens. But how can I help the people in these countries? Or anywhere for that matter?

I sometimes wonder how people like Musk and Trump (and many men in power positions world wide, not just in the west) can sleep at night, knowing how much money they have in the bank and what suffering and poverty there is in the world. They must truly be devoid of the empathy part of the human brain.

What goes through the minds of these men when they walk past a homeless person, hear of little children dying of famine world wide, when they see babies in Gaza with no parents, hospitals destroyed. When they watch or hear about news from Sudan etc..

I just don't understand it. I couldn't live with myself knowing I was pissing in a gold plated toilet while a man slept outside on the street and his family back home had been murdered by arms funded by my home country ....

I too hear you. It’s overwhelming.

An older friend of mine has recently become a lay minister. She goes to hospitals and spends time with people who have no one. She listens to them and advocates for them when needed. And she is not alone.

There are so many good people. Look for the helpers.

Sending love to all. It’s so hard.

Yes there are still lots of decent people around!

I’m having to work on a newly reform council and try to deal with the new councillors - a few pensioners among them. I put on a smile and grimace at their complete lack of knowledge and experience. This might be skewing my view somewhat!

Spot-on @NaeRolls We little people have very little power or say in what goes on on the global stage, but focusing on our immediate ‘hive’, starting with our own families, and neighbours, schools, elderly and vulnerable. Donating to charity if possible, volunteering if possible, or seeking work with companies/organisations who behave ethically and try to do good in the world. Not only does it make a tangible difference for us and the people around us, it can help us feel more productive in some small way, and therefore less anxious, because we feel like we’re at least doing something, and it’s all we can do.

My life is extremely simple, I work, eat, sleep pretty much. I've always tried to shop ethically and I don't follow trends or fashion. It's a piss in the ocean. Society is so focused on individualism now.

Also want to say pensioners are not a homogenous group in favour of Reform. DF who went in April was spitting feathers about all parties, especially Reform, when he shuffled off the mortal coul in April. Most average pensioners I know are aghast at the state of the world and our current successive governments.

Sure, some of the well heeled might be veering to the right, but it's more a money issue than anything else.

The rest remember some of WW2 from their childhood, and grew up with their parents recollections, male relatives who made it back from conscription and instilled a "never again please God" mentality in them, also female relatives who had to "make do and mend" and taught appreciation and frugality because that's how they survived.

Even my generation, (I'm 56) probably absorbed far more than we realise from values passed on by stories from our grandparents of the war, they were living recent history lessons. I was very influenced.

My Dad died outraged that apparently all that was for naught, and I'm kind of glad it was in April because if he hadn't gone then, this might have finished him off. Ex Navy, a nuclear test veteran, he felt shafted in so many ways due to his own peace time experiences and treatment by the state.

So, just to reassure, NAPALT.

Twas ever thus though, wasn’t it?

When my grandparents were born there was a major economic depression and fascism was on the march across Europe. When my great grandparents grew up, Europe was a battlefield, with industrial level slaughter.

I agree @Waitingfordoggo as @NaeRolls

I do my best and maybe if I did more I'd feel better. I will.

But sometimes I get annoyed. I think "why the fuck am I giving to charity, recycling my plastic bottles, working for the NHS, volunteering, giving my time and money to people who need it. When it should be the wealthy doing more".

I remember Rishi giving a lecture on the steps on no10 once. He was encouraging us all to 'love they neighbour' etc.. help each other etc.. support our communities, blah blah and I just thought 'wtf!! If you actually genuinely cared about the poor of this country, you and your wife would dip into your own pockets to help those people you profess to care about! His and his wife's net worth could easily fund, just from the small change they might acru from a week's interest, a whole new homeless shelter in his constituency, a new cancer ward at the local hospital, dozens of early years centre provisions for the most vulnerable babies and families in the region.

Don't get me wrong, my community is good. There are good people tying to support each other. But it shouldn't be left to the poor, the working classes and the middle classes to give the most time and money to their local areas. The rich and powerful should do more. They should stop pouring money into arms and wars that only result in death and more hatred and start actually funding life. They should give more - not as a political points scorer or tax relief or as a way to demonstrate their compassion to their constituents. But simply because they are human and have empathy. When a baby dies of malnutrition, neglect or preventable disease in this country, it is not the fault of the ordinary man, but of the wealthy or the powerful who chose greed, power, gold and diamonds over funding decent services for the most vulnerable

I think this is part of the issue, the sudden realisation that we're going backwards, often in the name of "progress". The cognitive dissonance is palpable. I always think we hit a bit of a sweet spot in the 80s / 90s, then 9/11 seemed to start a slowish burn of instability and fear. Yes, it wasn't perfect, and maybe it was down to my youth, but optimism felt real.

But the last 5 - 10 years in particular have felt like a divisive manic explosion rushing us into utter chaos in every direction. Neo Luddite that I am, I do feel alot is down to the downsides of technological advancement, and the feeling of being trapped by it.

I feel similar to you!

I also sometimes feel the 90s were a sweet spot of optimism, and it all went down hill after 2001. But that may partly be my age and that I felt.somewhat idealistic in my late teens. I turned 18 the year the Tories were voted out of government. I felt like the tide was turning and life was going to get better. But then it didn't. And I grew up!