Does anyone feel positive for the future?

[Insaneinthemembranesweep]

I don’t really mean the immediate future as hopefully things will improve with the road map of reduced restrictions (hopefully!) and I feel cautiously optimistic and hopeful about that.

I understand the huge costs of covid and this with brexit being hugely hugely concerning. But I’m finding all the posters about the hideous future and economic fallout, terrible struggles ahead and how the ‘best days are behind us’ really hard. I have two small kids and feel so guilty for having them into this world if it’s going to be awful and difficult for them. Day to day is it going to go back to ‘normal’? What will be so bad? I know we don’t know for sure but does anyone feel hopeful and positive that we can recover and there’s happiness to be had ahead?

Our kids are embracing being part of the solutions life, the universe and everything needs.

They are aware there are problems to solve that we don't even know of yet.

When has life never had problems to solve? We have discussed malaria, robotic bees, stem cell medical research, overpopulation and carbon-lite societies, amongst other things.

Try not to worry your kids will amaze and impress you as they grow.

I feel very positive about scientific developments and achievements in the last year. Necessity does seem to be the mother of invention. But also for future treatment of viruses. And new drugs and repurposing of existing drugs. For other diseases as well.

Hopefully also for things like hand washing and etc which might stick in the collective memory for avoidance of flu etc.

Even if another pandemic comes along when we've largely forgotten this one there should be huge amounts of documented evidence from Covid 19 to learn from.

I come here for the drama and I'm never disappointed if I want reasoned debate and facts and frankly hope I go to the Reddit coronavirusuk. The Covid threads are mainly hyperventilating epic doomscrolling.

OP hell yeah I feel positive about the future. Roaring twenties are here to stay. Starting this summer ! We have a date when things should get back to some kind of normality. With the vaccine roll out, I really don't see why this should not happen. It's not been proven anywhere that any variants of covid are completely resistent to vaccine. Until that day, I will remain positive and even then, they can make a booster- they're already working on it.

Nothing has actually been proven. I don't believe anyone has been vaccinated, caught a variant and then died. There are a lot of ' could ' words in the media. But nothing is for certain.

The same as when they said they don't yet know if vaccines stop transmission. Lots of negative people took that to say that vaccines do not stop transmission. That's just incorrect. We were just waiting for the data. I'm keeping my positive hat on. Last summer was pretty good where I live. It can't be worse this year with the vaccines.

I've already had mine. This stuff happens and we always get past it. Hopefully we will learn from it and invest more into public health / NHS etc. Some hygiene measures will stay ingrained in us, but that's not a bad thing at all. I feel very positive that things are getting better. Life goes on. We can't be stuck in our homes forever.

This roaring twenties stuff is nonsense.

@PracticingPerson

This roaring twenties stuff is nonsense.

Why? Because you say so?

Yes pretty optimistic. I know there will be a lot amount of challenges but we are very resourceful and adaptable and as well as all the shit things that come of it there will be positives.

For all the negative things written about them I am another who have great faith in my children’s generation. Most I know are great and so much more sensible than most people I knew were at the same age.

You sound very privileged, you'll be fine and have a positive future. Its more the people who were already struggling that have had their lives ruined beyond repair don't worry xx

@RosieLemonade

Yes, because I said so

Everyone is different at the end of the day. Staying positive is getting me through it right now. Some people need to stay negative because that's how they deal with it. I avoid those threads.

The roaring twenties stuff isn’t rubbish. I and everyone I know is raring to go! Every night out, weekend away, party etc - I’ll be there! I think we’re in for an incredible couple of years where people embrace going out more, making the effort to see friends who live far away, whereas before the pandemic I’d have been tempted to stay home for stuff because I was tired or whatever, now I plan to spend as little time as possible sitting in my house. I will be taking my kids on ALL the days out as soon as things open, they’ve missed out for too long.
So yes, I feel positive. Things can only get better from here.

The UK economy could take until Q1 2023 to recover to pre-crisis levels under the ‘quick recovery’ scenario, and by the middle of 2024 under the ‘slow recovery’ scenario. PWC Jan 2021

The International Monetary Fund has downgraded forecasts for the UK’s recovery this year while the expansion of the global economy, aided by accelerating vaccine rollouts, is expected to gather pace. Jan 2021

UK unemployment expected to rise during 2021.

Yes we will see growth in 2021, but growth after a very big loss is not the same as growth on growth.

@Rasclut

You sound very privileged, you'll be fine and have a positive future. Its more the people who were already struggling that have had their lives ruined beyond repair don't worry xx

Yeah, feeling positive means you're privileged.

I am a single parent working in a factory on minumum wage, I am not "privileged". I still like to look on the bright side of things. Being negative gets you nowhere.

@unmumsymummy21

Everyone is different at the end of the day. Staying positive is getting me through it right now. Some people need to stay negative because that's how they deal with it. I avoid those threads.

Just to respond to this point, I think it is important not to attribute negative motivation to the actions of others.

I consider most problems to be solveable - but to tak action we need to acknowledge the problem exists.

I know we are all coping in different ways but I sometimes find the positivity frustrating because it prevents us taking steps to secure better outcomes.

Pessimists are the true positivists

Broadly speaking, yes. I think things are going to snap back into place more quickly than people imagine. However, there will be some longer term disruption - I expect international travel will be curtailed for several years.

Everyone I know in rl feels very positive and optimistic.

The benefit of being quite old is that you've heard all of the gloomy predictions before but they haven't come to pass yet.

I feel that mn attracts a greater % of pessimistic people so it's not the place to come to cheer yourself up really.

I've found it's better to look to the future with hope and optimism, and deal with any knocks when they happen.

Yes of course I feel positive, hope is the best thing we have right now. Joy and happiness will return as will normal life, it's just a matter of time.

@Puddymuddle

The roaring twenties stuff isn’t rubbish. I and everyone I know is raring to go! Every night out, weekend away, party etc - I’ll be there! I think we’re in for an incredible couple of years where people embrace going out more, making the effort to see friends who live far away, whereas before the pandemic I’d have been tempted to stay home for stuff because I was tired or whatever, now I plan to spend as little time as possible sitting in my house. I will be taking my kids on ALL the days out as soon as things open, they’ve missed out for too long. So yes, I feel positive. Things can only get better from here.

Yeah, I think it's personality dependent as well. The last year has been particularly hard socially for extroverts who just want to go out again and socialise properly. Whereas the more introverted type might be that used to staying at home now that they can't imagine doing anything different.

I feel positive about the future. There are always boom times after a big disaster like this. Such as after WW2. Give it till the end of the year, there’s going to be an economic boom and we’ll make a fortune.

I’m always hopeful. It’s just my personality, I’m a very glass half full person. And when it comes to the future, I tend to look very personally. All I want is a happy, peaceful life with my children. I don’t need to be rich, just comfortable. So long as we are pottering along happily, then I’m happy. Of course, I want to see my friends & family & be able to socialise etc & I do believe that once most people have a first vaccine dose we’ll be able to start to do so. I’m not expecting normal life fully this year but certainly next.

You are only here for a limited amount of time. Tomorrow isn’t promised. Life is there to live & enjoy, I refuse to spend it worrying!

Yeah, I think it's personality dependent as well. The last year has been particularly hard socially for extroverts who just want to go out again and socialise properly. Whereas the more introverted type might be that used to staying at home now that they can't imagine doing anything different.

I think people are mixing up economic reality with their own emotions.

Yes some people are going to want to do a lot when we unlock.

But the economic reality is we had -10% last year, and predictions are for at best +5% this year. This is not about how I feel or how you feel about life, the basic sum is clear.

A significant number of people lost jobs, had reduced pay, or increased debt last year. They can not spend more next year.

There will also be supply side issues e.g. centre parcs will be the same size in 2021 as it was in 2019. They will not build more chalets for a short term increased demand. So the price for an individual holiday may rise but the overall scale of increased activity has a ceiling. The cafes that have closed won't be reopened by new owners quickly.

This isn't about introverts not going out.

This is about economic reality. Economic shocks take time to work through.

@BlueSoop

I feel positive about the future. There are always boom times after a big disaster like this. Such as after WW2. Give it till the end of the year, there’s going to be an economic boom and we’ll make a fortune.

The post ww2 boom was in large part caused by huge labour government public spending, don't expect we will see that from current government.

The roaring 20s of the 20th century was all a bit frenetic and out of control and ended badly with the depression. And there was the General Strike halfway through to boot.

I expect the end of lockdown to be a bit all over the place.

@Downriver

why should life be great, when it was shit even before all this happened - climate change, social injustice, global inequality, lengthy working hours, mental health crisis, perma war in Middle East, etc etc etc.

Blimey.

I bet you're fun at parties

Yes I am. There may be ups and downs but once the vaccine is rolled out we need to find a way to move forward and live alongside this illness. I think financially people want to go out and have fun so the economy will get a boost. Even places that have a zero covid policy such as NZ are finding cases and locking down so even it’s not realistic to strive for that in my opinion. It will get better op & in a couple of years this will be something we just get on with.