Rich people don’t want to sell their stocks yet. So we all can’t act like adults and admit everything is fucked or their fake assets will start to lose value before they’ve convinced you to become so invested in the charade that you’re willing to buy them.
Climate is fucked, but regarding everything else the world wasn’t a utopia back then either. Poverty, war, corrupted overlords, etc have always existed.
Life has been pointless in the grand scheme of things and unfair, and been up to each individual to try and find
My parents lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation, my grandparents fought in ww2. My gg parents lived through ww1. Most of everyone before them lived in relative poverty.
I'm not sure id take any of them over the current situation. Certainly there are massive problems looming that will cause lots of suffering, but humans do find joy and purpose at all times
Every single action you take ripples outwards to the people around you and on in to future generations. You matter just as much as every living thing on earth and in the universe. If you accept the suffering that is inherent in existence and aim towards being the most innate and true version of yourself, you will get the most meaning and consciousness out of life. We are an interconnected, trippy, murderous, loving, intelligent, massive group of apes all experiencing each other's psyche together. The world wants and needs you to love yourself.
There are real problems, but be wary of news/social media that use doom & gloom for engagement. Algorithms will drown you in the most extreme takes, even when on the “right side” of real issues.
Just try to do the right thing, and don’t let the internet scare you into not living your life.
I wonder about this sometimes. Things aren’t great and will get worse before they get better at the very least.
I figure that even if the world is ending and there’s nothing I can do about it, I can still do small kindnesses whenever possible. The question is how small to go for maximum effect.
Our lives, too, have meaning beyond these issues. The relationships we form, the joy we find in our passions, the simple pleasures we get from a beautiful day or a good meal - these things matter. They give us strength to face the larger problems of our world.
And in the face of these problems, we can find a purpose. Many people find fulfillment in dedicating themselves to fighting for a better future. Whether that’s in climate change activism, social justice, or just in being a kinder, more understanding person, we can all make a difference.
While climate is new, corruption among ruling classes is a story as old as civilization.
Was living ever motivated?
Well, one of the differences between now and then is the access to bad information.
If you were living in a village and a village far away from you was all killed off, maybe you’d hear about it eventually.
Today, you’d be able to see photos the same day.
So online access is overstimulating your “wow this is screwed” circuitry in ways you wouldn’t have experienced decades, centuries, millennia ago.
Maybe a bit of a break from online news would be helpful.
The world has always sucked and had issues. But you were just way less likely to be constantly aware of it.
If anything, the past few years show some incredible promise for things changing in terms of corruption among ruling classes, even if the climate is long term going to completely screw us.
But humanity was never going to last forever, and whether or not you are part of the last hurrah for the species shouldn’t necessarily detract from your experience in the here and now of it.
Find your own meaning and path on a relative basis, and be less caught up in existential dread, especially given there’s little benefit to absorbing yourself in the latter.
asklemmy
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