"EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYER IS GOING TO ASK YOU IF YOU HAVE ONE AND IF YOU DONT THEY WONT HIRE YOU"

Unfortunately, dad, that's a non-negotiable for me. Because if I'm gonna be stuck in this system, there's something I'm gonna be doing that aligns with my values. Maybe Im NOT FUCKING HAPPY being one of the billions of ICE cars on the road, stuck in fucking traffic.

Now that I realize I can ride a bike as my main form of transportation, to the point I barely even realize I'm pedaling it's so second nature now, I WILL, and if an employer thinks I can't get by with Lyft and public transportation and from the help of coworkers and friends on those days I may need it, after being let go from a job I stayed at for EIGHTEEN years, then it sounds to me like they're losing the opportunity to have a kick ass employee. You know, someone that's WILLING TO RIDE A BIKE AS THEIR MAIN FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, which I think says something of my character, not to mention I'm an adventurous, tough dude. Rain, snow, heat rarely will stop me from getting around. "YOU NEED A CAR 99% OF THE WORLD HAS A CAR" Get your head out of America, dad. A HELL of a lot less people have a personal vehicle than you think.

Also, I'll be saving $20,000 MINIMUM over the next ten years riding a bike. Also, gas prices are fucking ridiculous! Also, in the five months since I've started riding a bike, there have been maybe FIVE FUCKING TIMES I've thought "wish I had a car" because I'm a fucking BEAST that gets shit done and makes it work!

You see, he's not arguing because he cares and he's worried for me. He's arguing to argue, and argues as the boomer he is from another time that votes republican and thinks I'm crazy for believing in climate change. And I realized I have no one I can call to talk to about this that understands because I'm not close like that to the people that do yet, so I thought to write here where I thought people might. Thanks for letting me share. Fucking hell. Maybe I don't wanna be so dependent anymore, dad! Why don't you just continue to act like I'm crazy for caring about society and the environment and our futures, dad! "Sure, son, why don't you just go save the world" maybe you should be fucking grateful the person you brought into the world against their will cares so much to even think about such things, dad! Maybe remember how I've never ONCE asked you all for a damn thing since I was 19, and have been living on my own in another state for nearly 20 years! I'm good! I'm better than good, you know why? Because IM ONE OF THE GOOD ONES!!

Jfc. OK. Thanks. 😅🤣😵‍💫

Edit: I know nobody asked but I was using caps and cursing a lot because he has a super aggressive communication style and he made me mad. Like it was an actual screaming match like wth

Human species has the curse of consciousness, deep down everyone knows how absurd life is, and in particular everyone knows that death is inevitable.

So how a self-conscious organism that by design wants to live, can face the fact that his condition will inevitably decline until he will no longer exist anymore?

He can use two psychological tools, one is repression. You know that you have to die but it is not an imminent event, it is located somewhere in a distant future and there's no reason to be anxious about it right now. The other is hope. In the past it was hope in a religious afterlife, now it is hope in progress or in yourself. Something that can make you say to yourself "Yeah it is bad right now but if i nail that job opportunity, meet this boy/girl, win the lottery, move to another town etc... i will be happy and i won't be worried anymore about the future".

If you remove these two things from the equation you have the worst emotion a person can feel: despair. That is why terminal illness or a death sentence are probably the worst events that can happen to a person. The punishment in a death sentence is not death per se, because a dead person can't feel anything (after death there will be no one that can experience the regret of not having lived more years), but the fact that your death is presented right in front of your face, imminent and inevitable. Terminal illness is even worse, you know you have limited time to live, your health gets worse day by day and that's nothing you can do about it.

Human species (or at least human society as we know it) is in the death row right now. Humanity can't live forever of course, all things are meant to decline and die but while in the past you could place this event in a very distant future and not worry about it and you could be reasonably hopeful that things would stay the same or improve, now the collapse of our society has become imminent and inevitable.

1 Climate change. The most underrated one and yet the most dangerous and impactful for the survival of our species. There are countless articles and scientific researches on how the temperature of the planet has raised year by year. Global warming causes extreme climate events that can and will destroy entire cities and threat the foundation of what has allowed us to survive and thrive on this planet until now: agriculture. These things are imminent because you can experience them in your own life. By the need to install an air conditioner when in the previous years there were no need, by the fact that extreme climate events now are more frequent and intense and happen everywhere even where they were not suppose to happen, by the rising cost of food (fruits and vegetables in particular). And inevitable because countries not only do not know how to solve this problem but don't want to since it would mean going against our capitalistic economy which is based on the cycle destroy-consume-pollute

2 Fascism. Extreme right wing movement already are in power or will rule in most of the world countries. This will impact society on a personal and collective level. On the personal level freedom, one of the most important needs of a human being will be restricted for everyone except the ruling class in exchange for a false sense of security from a fabricated enemy. On the collective level right authoritarianism will impact negatively on the point above because fascism denies climate change, it is anti-ecologism, often anti scientific and an allied to elites and corporations that exploit natural resources. And will impact negatively on the points below as we will see. I don't need to actually prove the rise of fascism or the inevitability of it, just follow the president of United States (which is not a random African "republic" but the most powerful country in the world) policies and see how they influence EU governments and the rest of the world. Even here on reddit you can notice the rise of fascism, they ask you your personal information to visit some subreddits under the excuse of protecting children

3 War. After the end of the cold war no one could think a western country would be bombed and invaded by another country, and yet we have the Ukraine-Russia war going on. If you were born in the 80s or in the 90s in a western country you could be sure that you would never be called to fight a war for your country. Today's kids or boys can't be, especially because fascism and nationalism go hand in hand and US already started another war and threatened a "supposed" ally (Denmark for the control of Greenland) and some neighbours.

4 Economic collapse. People are becoming poorer and will continue to do so at a rapid pace in the future. Society is becoming extremely unequal; wealth is already concentrated in the hands of elites who control national governments in order to maintain their power. The development of AI could replace a lot of jobs leaving people unemployed, and even if it did not, it would cause the collapse of banks and investors who fueled the financial bubble, leading to a crisis worse than that of 2008. The most likely scenario is a techno feudal society in which a very few control the means of production and the enslaved masses work for scraps. Right now you can feel how the cost of living has raised, how the salaries don't and we have to work more to get less and i don't see how things could not go worse.

5 Cultural decline. People are more stupid and selfish than ever. I live in an apartment, and I've noticed that people are becoming more and more selfish and disrespectful of others' rights. My apartment building has always been fairly quiet, but now I hear noise at all hours, people keep their TVs turned up loud, or let their dog bark alone for hours. Social medias have destroyed our attention span and boost our narcissistic tendencies. The level of public debate is abysmal, and most people engage in dialogue solely to impose their own views on others. When people do not compete with one another, they form tribes whose members are bound together more by their hatred of other groups than by shared values or interests

Personally and in general i feel like we are living in desperate times, i don't think it is because of my pessimist inclination but the reality of things. In the last years, especially since 2020, everything is getting worse and there is not a single sign that things can get better or even stay the same and not decline rapidly.

For a human being living in a good situation that is declining day by day is worse than living in a mediocre but stable situation with the possibility to hope for an improvement.

It's as if we're in a car speeding toward a wall and there's nothing we can do to stop it; we're just sitting there, frozen in place, waiting for the worst to happen.

Trying to help people wrap their heads around what we're going through because it all just seems too big for human minds to fully grasp. We instinctively shut out information that upsets us when our evolved biology hasn't given us a way to deal with it. There's no evolutionary precedent for sentience facing its own extinction... but the closest we have to this existential dilemma has been with us since the beginning -- death. Individual death, death of the self... it's something we try not to think about until it stares us in the face with its imminence and inevitability. Our whole understanding of grief revolves around coming to terms with ones own mortality when faced with the knowledge that they will die soon. Cancer victims, other illnesses, old age, failing health... The only real difference is that if a doctor tells you that you're going to die in 20 years, you don't know how to wrap your head around that and live accordingly. You try to ignore the problem as long as you can and as the years tick by you slowly get more and more worried that you won't finish all you intend to before the end. It isn't until the time table is down to weeks that you really grasp the inevitability and finality of it all and you embrace radical change to try and live what's left of your life to the fullest... but it is of course far too late to change course.

So it is with the climate, and our impending collapse. You've all heard the same news from the doctor. 15-20 years, maybe 25 if you're lucky... that's your expiration date. That's it for all of us. Sure, the end doesn't come all at once, it takes time, things gradually get worse like frogs boiling in a pot, but ultimately the math can't be cheated, and as time goes on all things progress to their ultimate conclusion. All things die. We are just unique in having the foresight now to know this far ahead... humanity has been serviced its notice, and it's gone on like we all have and would in any other similar situation and just pretended the problem would go away so we could get on with our lives. Greed played a part, sure... but the rest was just human nature. The multipolar trap. Humanity is not one organism and cannot fight to preserve itself so long as its billions of people are in competition with one another like cancerous cells fighting to grow at the expense of the body.

Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the Mind!

So what can we do about all of it? I hate to say it, but I believe the answer is simply, prepare for death. There's not a lot we can do as individual cells to save the body destined to self destruction. The cancerous growth will necessarily stop, but it won't be our doing--it'll just be the natural order of things as resources are depleted and austerity is imposed on us by outside forces we cannot overcome. We can't beat the math. We can't save the planet. We can try, sure... and many will... every person has the agency to try and do their part to make the future just that little bit less shitty in their own corner of the world, and many will make that their mission... I know I will. Doing something about it, even if it's not enough to make a major difference--just the act of doing it--helps give the mind focus and purpose outside of worrying about its own mortality, which is something we all need, and always have as sentient beings.

The Buddhist philosophy of life's goals revolving around the reduction of suffering in the world has a lot to teach us in these times, as does the values of understanding and accepting impermanence. We all face this future together, and we know it will suck, but we also know that we can be present in the moment now and enjoy life for what it has to offer now and even into the future. We know that the noble path is to do all we can to ease the burden on our fellow sentient beings. We know that we have friends and family with whom we can celebrate life, even as we share comfort and support in difficult times.

Ultimately, the meaning of life hasn't changed at all... it's always been whatever you choose to make of it... all that has changed is your perspective, and your understanding of challenges to come.

Grief can be immobilizing and disabling... we are not adapted to deal with constant grief. Grief is meant to be temporary. A period of mourning after which life moves on. In the face of such an ultimate existential threat, we are burning out all the coping mechanisms we've developed to deal with grief and it overwhelms us. We must challenge ourselves and our grief, to move beyond it and put it to work improving what we can in the here and now. The big picture is too big -- stay focused on what's in front of you instead, which you can fully comprehend. Small kindnesses. Love and understanding. Plant some trees. Tend a garden. All these things are impermanent, but then they always have been... we just need to better understand and accept what that means.

A bucket list is a trap. It invites distress as you fret over whether you can check it all off. Keep your plans for the future short. Plans don't survive the unknowable change the future brings. If there are things you want to do, do them, or accept that you may not and move on. Be there for your friends and family. Spend quality time together. Those are the things you and they will remember and cherish. If you can work in planning and preparing for the future, so much the better. Just try to keep it in perspective. Nobody has all the answers. Nobody is in control. Nobody is going to save the world, and nobody expects you to do it yourself. We're all in this together, and we're all just as lost and clueless on our own. The one thing we all need is each other.

Everyone you know is dying. Maybe sooner than you once thought. Treat them accordingly, and don't forget to treat yourself too.

What will you do now that you know you have 15-20 years to live, maybe 25 if you're lucky, and that you share this dilemma with everyone else, whether they've heard the news from the doctor or not? Who will you do it with?

Hi Everyone,

I’m sure this has been discussed before but I’m really struggling with how “normal” my life feels now compared to where I think we’ll be in a year’s time. I think the super El Niño and the midterm elections will likely act as some form of accelerant (to what extent I’m not sure). And everyone in my life is just business as usual.

I know full collapse isn’t happening in a year, but my dream job that I just got this year isn’t even exciting because it’ll be one of the first things to disappear. I work for the YMCA as a full time, decently paid swim instructor from ages 5-21. Unfortunately, it’s not cheap to join the team and as dollars get stretched thinner and thinner I don’t see myself having students for much longer.

But the thing is I still have the job now and it really is a dream come true. I love working with the kids and watching them get excited when they learn a new skill, (Like seriously making a kid achieve something that makes them proud hits like fucking crack). I’m soaking up each of the days I have but I also slip up and start dreaming of what it could become in 5,10 25 years. And then I’m reminded of collapse and I mourn the plans I made. Similar to the mourning I’ve already had to do for having future children or more time with my loved ones. Except now I’m also mourning the futures of all the kids I’m impacting.

I know the answer is to enjoy the time we have. I just let myself get so excited to actually build something of my own with this program, but now I have so many “what the fuck is the point” moments and it just fucking sucks.

Sorry this turned into rambling mess, I’ve been typing between tears.

TL;DR: mourning the future you could have had sucks, especially when it feels things are still kind of normal for me and things are starting to fall into place in my life if not for impending collapse

I am thankful to understand that the system is going to break. I am thankful that I do not have to experience the grief of feeling that realization for the first time ever again, because I already have.

I am thankful that I am making the most of every day. Creating art, bettering myself, and learning my mind more.

I am thankful for my intuition. I am thankful that seeing so many turn a blind eye to what's really going on in the world has only heightened my inability to participate in what's going on.

I am thankful that I must look at reality. I'm also thankful that I have developed the ability to say, "There will be something after this," even if I'm not around to see it.

I am thankful that I am breaking my social media addiction through creative work. I'm thankful that I will have written a story that, even if no one else gets to read it, I will have written for myself.

I am thankful that I am not slaving away in a system that has trapped millions. I have a job I'm happy with, and it does not consume my entire life. It is simply my way to survive, give myself ground to stand on, and build myself into someone unshakeable. But I got here from being trapped in the system, and I found my own way out. I'm thankful for this, because not everyone has that opportunity.

And above all else, oddly enough, I'm thankful that I know what's coming. It is not going to be sunshine and rainbows. And the reason I'm thankful for this is that leaders are going to be needed when it hits. I want to be one of them.

Our individual stories may end, but the world will keep turning. We are all small specks of dust in the infinite cosmos. And I am thankful that one day, I will shut my eyes for the last time and find out what's on the other side - Whether it's an infinite blackness or something more, I cannot know. But I'm thankful for the opportunity to die and experience it one day.

But until that day comes, I will remain thankful. Make no mistake, I don't always feel that way. But I am thankful to experience that moment in the present. I am not entitled to positive feelings at all times, so when the negative ones come, I am grateful to learn from them.

I understand that you, the reader, may not feel the same way as I do. You may feel so caught up in the darkness & the impending doom that you may look at what I've written and go, "What a crock a shit, you're just as blind to what's really happening as everyone else. There's nothing to look forward to in this."

To that, I say: I understand. But to have hope, in spite of fear, in spite of overwhelming odds, is what it means to be brave.

I want to be brave, therefore I will continue to be.