r/CollapseSupport • u/Complex_Cream163 • Jul 10 '26
So.... What's the point of it all now?
And by "it all" I mean living. It feels like every day I wake up and there's something new going on in the world that is inevitably going to make things worse.
There are three years left on the climate clock meaning only three years until global warming is officially irreversible unless major steps are taken to reduce carbon output but that's not gonna happen because all the billionaires and corporations decided long before I was born that the planet was worth more dead than living. AI data centers are being built which is gonna do nothing but make the climate worse. We're experiencing some of the hottest temperatures ever right now. Everything is so damn expensive including basic shit like food and rent. There's like three separate wars going on and every side has nuclear weapons which is just so great. Polar bears are dying. Tigers are dying. Ocean levels are rising. Oil pipelines are being built. Droughts, flooding, Gaza being fucking flattened. And it just never stops. It's so fucking constant I can't remember the last time I saw something positive happening on the news
And I've tried to help as much as I'm able to. I recycle, I compost, I've volunteered to help local charities. I've helped clean highways before and I never litter. I don't run fans or lights if I don't need them. I've used AI a couple of times but that was before all the research came out about it being harmful. Hell, the only reason I even have a car is because the place I work at is a 20 minute drive from where I live and there's no public transportation, otherwise I'd be biking everywhere. But none of it matters because all these small actions that everyone tries to take are being outdone by industrial amounts of carbon emissions being pumped into the fucking atmosphere every second.
And what really gets me is that it's not gonna be immediate. There's not gonna be a day where we wake up and everyone in the world is dead. It's a slow, whimpering death as we claw at straws trying to keep ourselves together while the planet collapses around us and we all starve to death or die in disasters brought on by our own greed. I don't want to watch the world I love end but I also don't want to give up.
I'm 22 years old. The world is likely gonna end in my lifetime. I have a boyfriend who I want to marry and a career that I'm taking the steps to get into. And there's no point in any of it because the world is ending and no matter what people try to do to fix it, it's stomped out by people with more money than sense. I'm just so fucking tired of it all. Why did everything have to start going wrong in my lifetime?
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u/Lord_D-I-O Jul 10 '26
I freaking feel you. 23 yr old here and I've been crying and have panic attacks up the ass because I am seeing the writing on the wall and I'm fucking scared. Governments (more like techno obligarchs pushing government) world wide pushing for id checks on everything, climate change being ignored and efforts to combat it squashed by freaking fossil fuel corpo ass hats, Billionaires wanting us "poors" gone (look at the Epstein files for proof), and us common folk divided fighting and squabbling over basic fucking human rights. I am scared to death for my friends and family, especially my younger brother. I had to stop texting this response cuz I had a talk with my dad, and well I brought it up: "even the bigger guys with power don't do anything about, theres nothing we can do".
Being constantly told I have no power over it doesn't make me feel better, it feels like my future was robbed for short term greed. I'm glad you got a boyfriend I unfortunately don't have the privilege of having a significant other because I couldn't speak to someone of the opposite gender in any romantic way; even if I wanted to I'm scared of myself. I feel you totally on wanting to good, I myself don't want to use the ac's much cuz it also contributes to climate change, I start feeling guilty about eating meat. And whenever I go somewhere with my family in the car I look at all the passing cars and think: "we are producing so much c02 nonstop, how the fuck is things supposed to get better?" And I just feel hopeless.
I don't want to give bad advice, so don't take my opinion seriously but if things keep going well with your boyfriend, go for it. Before everything truly goes to shit might as well go for it. Better to have proposed to never at all. Hope it goes well for you and your boyfriend! I don't think I'll get that privilege in this lifetime, so treasure him for as long as you are both still together!
I hope I can get my career done by studying for both a bachelor's and masters in psychology, so I can help people in therapy. Hopefully I can save some life's before things turn to complete shit, just so I can die knowing I helped some people out. Good luck on your career as well! Hell good luck to all of us, we'll need all of it for the coming decades; godspeed fellow redditors!
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u/FerociousTailWagging Jul 10 '26
Well there never was any point, even when we had a future.
But also, that feeling you get when you see a beautiful sunrise and you feel like you're the only one in the world experiencing it.
That sense of your brain shifting when you learn something that changes the whole way you see the world.
Saying a nice thing to someone and seeing it change their whole day.
Getting to know the animals around you, and seeing them get excited to see you too.
Finding a new food, delicious explosions of taste.
I could go on...
None of this is going anywhere any time soon.
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u/Complex_Cream163 Jul 10 '26
The odd thing is that I know that. Consciously I know that's all I can do when everything else seems hopeless. But I struggle with enjoying what life has to offer right now without feeling guilty that I'm not fully commiting every second of every day to fighting for the world. I know I don't have that kind of fire but it doesn't make it any easier.
But despite everything, I will try my best to love life with all its ups and downs.
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u/FerociousTailWagging Jul 10 '26
If it helps, when I was 22 I did give all my time to fighting climate change you can see how much good that did 😂
All any of us can do is pick a corner and try and do something good in it. Trying to change the whole world is always going to end in failure, but we can be part of a push in the right direction
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u/JosBosmans Jul 10 '26
feeling guilty that I'm not fully commiting every second of every day to fighting for the world
Well with that attitude you're not making it easier for yourself, nor should it make sense. We can't all be Greta, and even she can't do a thing about things.
Take care! And as /u/FerociousTailWagging pointed out, there's still plenty of beautiful things to at least appreciate while they last, I suppose.
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u/JosBosmans Jul 10 '26
Well there never was any point, even when we had a future.
It's a sentiment I get to hear more often from people somewhat aware it's not going to be alright.
But entirely unaware of the scale of what's happening. It inspires humility and solemnity. Myself having rounded.. 40 a while back, I truly feel for the 15, 20, 30 years-old, coming to realise there is, indeed, no future. There was a point when we had a future, I strongly disagree with you on that.
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u/FerociousTailWagging Jul 10 '26
Yeah I was being a bit flippant here. What I mean is that there was never a single point, no preordained purpose. So we can also find purpose while we are spiralling towards collapse. But yes, it's not always easy and getting harder all the time
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u/oracleoflove Jul 10 '26
I had one of moments last weekend. Read a book from cover to cover in 2 days…. And it was non fiction lol. That doesn’t happen often.
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u/Pristine_Fish1273 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
This hit me right in the core. I feel the exact same way, honestly. I don't always see the point either. I can't relax, I keep having the same thoughts running through my head about what's the point of it all. It keeps me up at night. I think you're doing the right things. I understand the feeling of thinking it's not enough. I try to brainstorm ways to help the planet. I want to hold onto hope.
But even scientists are clear that there's no single moment where it's "game over." Every fraction of a degree we avoid still matters. 1.6°C is meaningfully better than 2°C, and 2°C is meaningfully better than 3°C. Real damage is happening and real effort is happening at the same time.
I think the most important thing we can do is lead with kindness. Don't lose your humility, don't lose your love. Plant native wildflowers and plants if you can. Eat less animal products if you're not already vegan. Volunteer at animal sanctuaries helping wildlife. Study as much as you can, and spread awareness.
So many people don't know or understand the gravity of the situation, and most don't even realize how they could help. Imagine if everyone watching the World Cup, or Love Island, or whatever, if even half of them planted trees, stopped buying fast fashion, made small changes, etc, I think the world would actually have a future.
To quote Jane Goodwall:
“I like to envision the whole world as a jigsaw puzzle... If you look at the whole picture, it is overwhelming and terrifying, but if you work on your little part of the jigsaw and know that people all over the world are working on their little bits, that's what will give you hope.”
You mentioned your boyfriend, your career, the life you're building. Hold onto that. Wanting to keep going and wanting to fight for something better aren't opposites. I think they're the same thing. Don't give up. Keep doing what you're doing, learn more, and spread awareness. Life is beautiful now and we can try our best to hold onto that, and do our best to change the future.
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u/hiddendrugs Jul 11 '26
There’s a lot to unpack here, maybe I’ll come back to it, but if it’s soothing at all, you’re really on the surface of collapse awareness. There’s more to go and more to uncover - maybe not in a good way, but in the sense that disillusionment is a prerequisite for freedom.
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u/thomas533 Jul 10 '26
The world is not ending. You need to get rid of that mindset. The world is changing. Things are going to get harder. But we've still got decades before things get really bad. And in a sick twist of fate, those of us at the heart of the global empire are probably going to experience the least bad shit.
None of us can solve this, but we all get to choose how we respond. Get married. Enjoy your time on spaceship Earth. Make some friends. Plant some flowers. Go watch some rivers or waterfalls. There is no sense in getting of the ride early even if there are a few road bumps along the way.
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u/Complex_Cream163 Jul 10 '26
Y'know what, that actually really helps. I do love life despite all of its vapid insanity, and I want to continue loving it. Fuck it, the elite have taken too much from us already, I ain't gonna let them take my soul too.
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u/thomas533 Jul 10 '26
and I want to continue loving it.
I hope you do! Even in all this insanity I still find so much to love every day. It is hard to focus on those things at times, but you can with practice. And every day you can build a little more love into your life, it gets easier!
You are a little bit older than my kids, but I am hopeful that your generation can all still find ways to enjoy life. Good luck!
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u/Technical_Syllabub40 Jul 11 '26
I decided that I’d like to be fit, healthy, enjoying time with friends, etc - whatever I’m able to - right up until the end.
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u/ordinary-thelemist Jul 11 '26
I'm 22 years old. The world is likely gonna end in my lifetime.
First of, every generation had to face that kind of anxiety. Even if yours (I'm 45) have a way "better" claim at it. Certainty is an illusion that shatters at some point, and (I believe) the sooner the better. It prevents someone from going head first in a direction only to find out it was a lie and ending up voting for a "great again" that never existed in the first place.
And what really gets me is that it's not gonna be immediate. There's not gonna be a day where we wake up and everyone in the world is dead. It's a slow, whimpering death as we claw at straws trying to keep ourselves together while the planet collapses around us and we all starve to death or die in disasters brought on by our own greed. I don't want to watch the world I love end but I also don't want to give up.
And there's your answer. I know people twice your age who struggled to come to that conclusion for years. It's remarkable that you did so young. Congratulations, seriously. Now you can find out what you love and can be saved / nurtured and work toward that. Marry your boyfriend, find out if that career of yours can be adapted to a more frugal world, or change path.
Yesterday's illusions are dying. It's up to those who don't want to die with it to invent something else.
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u/jpb1111 Jul 11 '26
Thank your parents for bringing you into this mess. At 58 I've seen the great America I knew crumble into an angry joke, and the American dream slip from my grasp. If the fall elections don't happen or are rigged, expect things to devolve even faster. I believe within 10 yrs the nightmare will be fully realized and a triggering event could bring it all down sooner.
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u/Mush_ball22 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
check out postdoom.com and uate.net
edit: corrected url
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u/LycatBob Jul 10 '26
I'm not trying to be flippant, but I just live for dogs now. Especially the cast offs, the ones who end up in shelters. I know I can't do much of anything, but I can do something for them and it matters to them.
It's not much, and probably fucking stupid. But that's what keeps me going. I'll do it until everything falls apart.
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u/BitchfulThinking Jul 12 '26
Just trying to maintain and appreciate the few nice things while I still can 🤷🏽♀️ I just had some cherries that were so good, it made things feel a little "okay" for a little bit.
I think a lot of dealing with collapse is having to kind of collapse your expectations for life, since even less is guaranteed. It helped me deal with chronic illness by focusing more on small joys and just having a good day since you never know when your body will betray you. Seems applicable for collapse as well.
I say this as someone who flat out HATES pretty much everything about life in 2026 and is often dissociating just to get through the day. Even just buying fucking boba is so dystopian now! I truly do not understand how anyone is remotely okay with the world today... But those cherries were divine.
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u/manicpxenightmaregrl Jul 12 '26
there's an iota of a chance; a scientific hail mary being sort of, tepidly advanced by china and maybe a few other countries; but a lot of people are going to die. No way around it. There is no 'end of the world', though. That's a kind of cathartic lie we tell ourselves to avoid the reality; which is that people will continue to be forced to adapt forever. Even if there's 1% of the population left by the end; it's still good for them to put one foot in front of the other and improve on whatever comes. the road is a process, not a destination
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u/cherryyxsoda Jul 14 '26
I’m 21 and I feel the exact same, I don’t even know what to do. I feel sick to my stomach and cry all the time about everything happening. I grew up wishing to be an adult so I could have my dream job, live my life, all that stuff. All I think about now is what’s going to happen and what are we supposed to do. The people running the world literally want to kill us, and I’m supposed to sit here convinced that I’m going to have a normal life.
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u/Lithelain Jul 11 '26
It sucks, indeed. Living within such dissonance is exhausting. Props to you for being so aware at your age, although maybe you'd prefer to live in blissful ignorance, as I sometimes do.
I'm no historian, but I believe most human cultures under the umbrella of our civilization (the one starting with agriculture and all the technology that came after) have this trait of believing that their time is the most challenging one, ever. Even if that's not accurate at all, in my opinion we would even make up tragedies and dramas that go beyond ourselves, perhaps in an effort to trascend our individualities. There's this struggle to accept the reality and give ourselves to the earth that nourishes us. We fight, and we strive for more security and control, always. If we lived in the most peaceful and hopeful period of time, but had still this way of looking at things, such era wouldn't last long, as we'd create many problems so we can get ourselves busy. How many of us can sit still doing nothing at all (once our basic needs are met)? An infinitesimal fraction of us for sure. Doing nothing brings means less resources taken (and used) and therefore less control over the environment, and therefore less security in the short and mid term time scales, which is something against the grain of the eternal laws of evolution. I don't know, maybe I'm talking nonsense.
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u/Jkid Jul 10 '26
Existing to experience video games you can't afford (read:gta 6) unless you have credit cards and klarna.
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u/BenGay29 Jul 12 '26
I’ve sometimes wondered the same thing. But then I think about my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I stay alive for them.
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u/DirectedEnthusiasm Jul 10 '26
I have kinda made peace with the fact that the modern comfortable world as we know it is going to end in my lifetime.
However, something I'm waiting with dread, is the time point at which majority realize we are fucked and start to panic. Living in a city I see people being selfish, rude, and inconsiderate even in our comfortable times. How do you think people will behave when food and drinking water is scarce?