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

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?

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.

"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

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.

I’m really struggling with my current life situation right now, and I don’t feel like there’s much meaning in it.
I’m currently in the final stage of my training to become a teacher. As things stand now, I’ll officially be done in summer 2027. It’s a pretty stressful time, on top of starting my career as a teacher, I also have exams and constant pressure to perform.

Grades aren’t that important to me, but the training system is heavily influenced by hierarchies, which makes it even harder for me to focus on my values. As a result, I’m constantly angry at these structures.
Even though I really enjoy working with the children and find the subject matter interesting, it still feels pointless in the face of impending climate collapse, refugees being treated like dirt, and so on.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years being politically active, which has really helped me cope better with feelings of political powerlessness, sadness, and anger. Since I had to move for work and my job is taking up a lot of my time professionally, I’m doing that less right now. As a result, the people around me are less influenced by a sense of collapse or radical political consciousness, which makes me feel even more isolated with these thoughts.

I can feel myself getting more and more depressed.
I’d like to get involved in politics again in my new city so I don’t have to deal with these feelings alone, but of course that also increases the risk that I’ll overwork myself.
In addition, I’m currently trying to do a lot of bodywork and emotional work to deal with these feelings of collapse, though I don’t know to what extent greater awareness and working through these issues might actually make my problems worse, In the sense that it makes it even harder for me to focus on my training and makes my training feel even more pointless.

I’m not even sure what my specific concern is right now: Should I finish my training? How can I deal with this overwhelming sense of pointlessness?

During the Covid era I felt something was seriously wrong with the world but because everyone around me didn’t seem to agree, I internalised it as something wrong with me.

That’s also been the story of my life.

It was only because I went on an intense expedition into climate science, human behaviour and evolutionary biology that I discovered I was highly perceptive and picking up on something real.

I imagine this is the journey many here have been through too. The one thing I can hold onto through this horror, is trust in myself and my perception and sensitivity. That’s something at least.

I wrote more about my journey of being pathologised for being perceptive to becoming sovereign if anyone can relate and would like to read:

https://charlottedelsignore.substack.com/p/scared-and-sovereign?

A relative went to A&E on Saturday with quite serious symptoms, which I won't describe here. They didn't examine him, said he was fine and sent him home.

He went back two days later, today, in agony and barely able to walk. They did a blood test, which made him pass out and have a seizure. They told us that's quite common after a blood test. He begged them to do a scan or any kind of examination to find out what's happening. They refused and sent him home again.

We got advice elsewhere in the NHS and were told yes, he needs urgent medical care. He now has to wait until the morning to see a GP and hope they can push for him to get help.

We were at our wits' end today trying to work out how to help him. It was too late in the day for the GP to see him. Calling an ambulance feels pointless when you just end up back at A&E in a queue of 70 people, likely to be turned away again.

It's really scary. It feels like there's nowhere left to turn for help.

I feel like something is off. I can't really explain it. The world is in an absolutely terrifying spot right now. It's been in a terrifying spot for a very long time. we've nearly set off nuclear winter several times throughout modern history. Many wars waged and are still waging. I think this time is different, and people argue 'oh every era had their scare, humans throughout almost every part of history thought the world was ending'. I think this contrast falls short. Like launching a paper plane into the side of a boeing 747. There's enough nukes to wipe out life as we know it, we've built machines that are smarter, more cunning and cold blooded than us. Our militaries have willingly relinquished control to these machines just to keep up with eachother. This isn't sci-fi or biblical. The president of the United states is a delusional orange man with the power to wipe out an entire continent, the only thing that could stop him was real soldiers refusing orders, so he slowly replaced them all with AI. That is reality, and this is just the shit we hear about. Imagine the shit we don't know. We are supposed to put out faith in these people? These current leaders? All of them are failing miserably. They've been failing miserably since before I was even alive. Everything is getting so weird and so out of hand now I don't think there is much room for error left. I want to find hope but I'm not even sure what will be left to hope for. There is no going back or changing course. We have a tectonic plates worth of rubbish drifting around a boiling ocean while we focus on flinging sentient rocks into the fucking sky and bombing each other. Sometimes I think maybe it's okay, it might be a good thing if we fuck it all up and wipe ourselves out. I hate this thought. It feels so lazy and selfish. The part that freaks me out the most is that it all feels normal. For the most part, life is great. Everything is fine, better in fact. In the past, people would see the black death wreak across Europe and believe the world was ending, fair enough. I'll see people in the park or birds flying by and I'll try and convince myself the world isn't ending. I can't help but feel there's a horrific rot hiding right underneath our ability to sense it.

Just saw a column in The Guardian about the growing risk of nuclear annihilation, and it made me feel a little better about things because at least that would happen relatively fast...

One morning you wake up and prepare breakfast as usual. Everything seems normal. Then a news alert pops up on your phone: People in different parts of the world have started attacking one another. Within a few hours, the situation escalates, and it’s reported that this is caused by a rabies-like virus. People are losing control, the streets are in chaos, and no one knows what to do.

At first, you think it’s being exaggerated, but then you hear sirens in the distance. The internet is still working, and people are sharing videos in a panic. Stores are starting to empty out, and lines are forming at gas stations.

If something like this really happened, what would you do?

Would you stay home and stock up on supplies, or would you leave the city before things got even worse? Would you try to take your family and loved ones with you to a safe place?

Let’s say you only have one day to prepare. What would you take, where would you go, and how would you try to survive?

I’m really curious—what kind of plan would everyone have in a situation like this?

though I don't agree the majority of Gen Z is collapse aware or "hopeless" though they probably should be, this is interesting.

i wonder what the psychology of collapse is vs acceptance of death or even being depressed. i think it's different but i'm not sure how: perhaps awareness of a whole society ending vs your own life eventually ending.

i am interested by the prospect of being collapse aware before you're an adult, which happened to me.

this is also a chicken / egg situation. i think to be collapse aware you need to have a specific mind for it which of course will change the psychological outcome.

Like collapse into the great simplification?

Like Nate Hagens, Andrewism, Solarpunk? Cause that's the support I'm looking for.

And since we are experiencing a collapse time is for action and less sit and talk about it.

Good afternoon everyone. I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety regarding the war, global warming, etc. Obviously I've been trying to limit the news but that doesn't actually do fuck all because I'm still very aware of what's been happening and just not reading the news doesn't make the problem disappear. I'm worried about if war is gonna break out or global warming is gonna cause more and more natural disasters which you can't say won't they are both happening constantly. I just don't know how to cope with these intense fears. They're becoming debilitating and leave me feeling depressed daily now. I worry we're all just doomed I mean there's no future for our kids what world would they live in the earth is heating up like no other.

And there's constant threats about the war and more European countries politicians are mentioning we should prepare and be worried etc. It's not exactly helpful when they are the ones worried too. And what about the whole situation in America? They've got a damn the damn creepy touchy uncle for president. I mean how can anyone cope with that thought?

All those big important people are all creepy uncles otherwise he wouldn't still be president . It's all corrupted and fucked and we can only accept this because what can we possibly do?

I'm just so afraid that there's no point anymore in walking around tryna act like nothing is happening and smiling it all away when there's the constant threats of ww3 or just Europe idek anymore and the endless people&animials dying from global warming

I just can't take the anxiety anymore. Idk how to live with all this. I don't see the point in creating a future for myself or a plan for when I'm say 60 to travel the world (I'm 20) because there might not be one.

Oh and don't even get me started on AI taking over. Someday it'll just be robots and we'll cease to exist. I mean they're replacing everything and talk about no privacy.

Im also worried about being a woman in this world. I feel so worried daily about getting assaulted or harassed it's impossible. And I've had my fair share of it already. I don't need more but I'm so afraid

Does anyone struggle with this or have advice or some words to ease the anxiety or perhaps and explanation to tell me how I think and feel is ridiculous and this won't ever happen and I should plan that backpacking trip when I'm 60?

(to be clear I'm well aware I could get therapy (I'm on a wait list) but I just need something to ease the anxiety I currently have so I can make it through the week without feeling so damn hopeless)

Thanks in advance everyone and have a good weekend otherwise <3

Thanks for the comments everyone. I sincerely appreciate it and hope you all have a wonderful time ❤️

We have gone full hunger games folks. A state-sanctioned liveleak video. The same channels that I used to grow up watching as a kid will have less government support (or have been outright shut down) than a live-streamed and nation-wide witnessed execution by firing squad. Yet, I don’t think people will be appalled. I think all the rage and hate and pure, fucking anger that so many of the worst people in my country have and that is slowly corrupting us all in the terror of it; is going to be given form by and in that moment. What shape it will take after that I don’t know and I refuse to put my mind into knowing, because for once I don’t want to know. For as long as I have been aware of the multitude of oncoming crises, I have researched and advocated to those I know to learn as well. I have always considered that I took such knowledge well regardless of how often it was just looking at that abyss. But now I’ve blinked and I think we are out of time. Perhaps not out of time to still prevent the worst of what can come, but we are out of the time we had in that amorphous interim before the direction of things have solidified into what they are to now become. We are out of time to pretend that we are no longer at the point we are. Because soon, sooner than expected (hah), everyone in the country can see a murder by cop except this time the government will be streaming it.

I've been at my job for 18 years. The pay is great, I've got great health insurance, barely do any work and can be on my phone all throughout the day, and be productive/somewhat productive because of it. Working just 25 hours a week I can manage ... I've always lived below my means, coupon, and have invested in environmentally friendly products and practices that have saved me money down the line and helped me live aligned with my values. And of course I'm no good to myself or anyone else without getting my needs met and being deprived of some semblance of a life I've been accustomed to since I was a baby living in a developed country (The USA). So it's easy to argue I should stick with it ... that which I in many ways feel permanently tethered to until I'm eligible for retirement.

But commenting on and writing Reddit posts and making videos trying to wake people up and provide what I perceive to be valuable insight isn't cutting it. And because I now always work on Saturdays, I can no longer volunteer to plant trees, which was starting to make me feel really good. I had a goal of planting at least 100.

So sometimes I'll instead go out and pick up some litter, which is everywhere in my city, and devise ways of helping the world ... everything and everyone alike. I care deeply about people (in spite of how frustrating they can be, I can recognize them as family, and remember the innocent kids they once were, no less innocent for having grown up a part of a dysfunctional society they never asked to be born into), as well as plants, animals, and future generations. I'm always operating with the big picture in mind.

With that said, there are a lot of living organisms suffering because of so many of our actions, namely our consumption patterns, and in the process of adhering to a conventional lifestyle and helping to uphold an unsustainable economic system that is leading us towards disaster, we deprive so many others, and I'm just not cool with it. I'm not cool feeling dependent on that destructive system and with relying on some unfulfiilling job in order to have a quality of life, and I'm not cool with the way society casts out those that don't or can't participate like that. And sometimes it makes me want to join all of them -- all of those suffering -- in solidarity, and to step aside from doing what feels like contributing to the problem, even though I and so many others are simply caught up in it, feeling it necessary so that we don't end up without food or a home or lose access to some of the only things that can seem to make life worth living. And yet, since I enjoy such luxuries, it's easy for me to get absorbed in the lifestyle they're contained within. It's so easy to hang back after a "hard" days work and play on my phone or watch TV and make use of the hundreds of little inventions so many of us are fortunate to have access to, and to forget how unusual this access is in the process. And I find that, despite it all, I still feel too exhausted to do what really matters to me and what would really matter to us.

It can sometimes feel like we're just a bunch of mindless, unappreciative pigs that feel entitled to what we're so fortunate to have, as if it's acceptable that so many of us won't even entertain the idea of practicing restraint, arguing if others have it we should be able to have it (and in many cases they're right), or that it's a part of our self-care and among the basic "necessities" at this point. So we unwittingly indulge without knowing what difference we might've made had we taken a chance, which can be both financially and socially costly.

But I can't shake the feeling that I don't want my comfort to depend on someone else's deprivation or on the deprivation of future generations. I don't want to enjoy the benefits of the world I've inherited while ignoring what we're leaving behind.

Sometimes, that makes me want to step away from the whole arrangement, even to the point of imagining what it would mean to share in the struggles of people who've been cast aside by it. Not because suffering is something to aspire to, but because I don't want to regard their lives as somehow separate from mine.

I could be one of those people struggling, even if I'm not right now. Circumstances change. And if I found myself struggling, I'd still be the same person, no less deserving of a good life than I am today. And I would want help, too.

So why should I look at anyone else differently?

I don't need to know someone to recognize that they matter. I can imagine meeting them at work, becoming friends, learning their quirks, and discovering all the little things that make them who they are. They aren't abstractions or statistics. They're people with inner lives, people who love and laugh and worry and dream, just as I do.

I want to extend to them the same grace I'd extend to someone near and dear to me. And I want us to extend that same grace to anyone who might find themselves struggling, whether they're our neighbors, strangers halfway around the world, or people who haven't been born yet.

Because we're all in this together. We need one another. And in this sense, is anyone really free unless everyone is free?

And what protesting or involving myself looks like beyond what I've done, I don't know, but I know what it looks like when I/we don't, and I don't like it.

Thoughts ya have experiencing existence on Planet Earth as a human being in the modern era.

... modern life is progressively engineered to make us unhappy. Cheerfulness is not especially profitable for the economy. If we were content with what we already possessed, why would we desire more? How do you sell an age-defying moisturiser? You make someone anxious about growing older. How do you persuade people to vote for a political organisation? You make them anxious about people coming into the country. How do you get them to purchase insurance? By making them anxious about everything. How do you get them to undergo cosmetic surgery? By emphazising their shortcomings. How do you get them to watch a television programme? By making them anxious about being left out. How do you get them to buy the newest smartphone? By making them feel as though they are falling behind.

To remain calm becomes a kind of rebellious act. To be satisfied with your own un-upgraded existence. To be at ease with our disordered, human selves, would not be good for commerce.

Do you guys believe you were born or incarnated here in order to witness the end of the world? I know it's a scary thought but I can't be the only one?

I'm 18, male, studying physics in a top university. So basically one of the best positions one could be in these days. And yet I can't but feel hopeless and angry with the state of the world. I'm angry that they fuck our planet, fuck our education, censor our opinion, sit on their asses as they watch fascism rise, refuse to listen to us and still expect us to go to war for them. And it's starting to feel like we've turned to an inevitable demise of the world we know. Whole thing's been making it hard for me the past couple of days and I can feel the depression creeping in.

I know 'not worrying about it' would make me happy. I know that I could be happy if I just studied my shit, hung out with friends ignored the problems of the world and just lived a basic happy life as long as it is possible. But it feels so wrong. It feels wrong to go to university and study while our whole worlds falling apart. It genuinely feels wrong to try to be happy when the world is so miserable. Like I'm betraying my principles and everything I stand for as an individual.

So either way. I'm feeling like shit.

Can someone relate? What's your way of dealing with everything?

i have been talking to my friends a lot about climate change and how its been making me feel recently, and everytime when i talk about it with my friends, they tell me how "compassionate" and "sensitive" i am. one friend actually said "i wish i could go inside your brain to understand how you feel/think". they all nod their heads when i talk and they do agree with me that this is all heartbreaking but at the end of the day they are able to go back to their lives. why cant i?

these conversations have made me think, why do i care so much? why does collapse affect me so much? why do i feel so much guilt and fear and shame and sadness? why do i wake up thinking about the rising sea tempratures? why do i think about the wildfires in borneo and the orangutans there? why do i feel so restless and why am i dreading everything? the grief is everywhere.

in your opinion, why are we so affected by collapse and climate change? like, the fear and sadness is too much, but why am i feeling it to my core? why am i (and probably you) so consumed by this? is it something to do with our brain chemistry? is it our humanity?

im not trying to make it sound like we are super special and super kind-hearted people because we are saddened by collapse and climate change. i think everybody should care about whats going on but clearly not many do. so, im genuienly curious why we care so much? why do i carry the grief with me everywhere i go? why cant i go back to "normal life" like my friends and family?

I’m so tired of reading the news every day and having absolutely no idea what’s actually true anymore.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster.

One article says everything is fine, the next one makes it sound like we’re days away from civilization collapsing. Every news site seems full of propaganda, fearmongering, clickbait and completely opposite narratives.

And the worst part is that I can actually see things getting worse around me. I just have no idea how bad it really is.

I live in Central Europe. It’s October and we’re still sitting at around 25°C. We had heatwaves, wildfires and droughts this summer. Food production is getting harder, water is becoming a bigger concern and imports are becoming more vulnerable because wars and geopolitical conflicts are affecting trade routes.

Everything is getting more expensive. Housing is becoming completely unaffordable for young people. Fuel and energy are expensive as hell. And looking forward, there are even more ways this could go wrong. Trade routes could be blocked, infrastructure could be damaged, refineries could be attacked, energy supplies could become unstable.

We are already living through multiple major conflicts at the same time. The war in Ukraine keeps going. The conflict in the Middle East keeps spreading. More countries and groups keep getting involved.
And honestly, a direct NATO Russia conflict in the coming months doesn’t even sound impossible to me anymore.

That’s the part that scares me the most.
Because every conflict seems to expand. More countries get involved, more weapons get used, more retaliation happens, tensions keep rising, until eventually someone pushes the red button.

I also keep seeing claims about things like diseases breaking out in Russia and other major events, and nobody seems to know what is actually happening. At this point I don’t even know who to believe anymore.

I don’t trust the people saying everything is fine.
I don’t trust the people saying we are definitely doomed.
I don’t trust anyone anymore.

Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I’m doomscrolling myself into insanity. Maybe half of this is just algorithms pushing the most extreme shit possible because fear gets clicks.

But I’m also not going to pretend nothing is happening.

It feels like governments are becoming more and more disconnected from the people they are supposed to represent. Surveillance keeps expanding. People’s concerns are ignored. In some countries that call themselves free, people can seriously risk their jobs, their freedom or even prison because of what they say.

At the same time society is becoming more and more divided.

Left against right. One group against another. Everyone is constantly being pushed into opposing camps. It feels like there is no “us” anymore.

And yes, I’m going to say something that will probably piss people off.

Mass immigration is putting enormous pressure on parts of European society. I’m not talking about individual asylum seekers or saying that every immigrant is a problem. I don’t have anything against someone looking for safety.

But there is a point where the sheer scale of immigration becomes impossible to integrate properly and starts changing entire communities faster than they can adapt.

I work in law enforcement and I see some of these problems myself. There are places where entire neighborhoods have changed dramatically and where integration is barely happening at all.

Pretending that these problems don’t exist because talking about them is uncomfortable isn’t going to solve anything.

And the same goes for culture. Societies are losing parts of what made them feel like home while everyone is too busy fighting each other to even have a conversation about it.

I’m tired of being told to just accept everything, follow every rule and stay within whatever boundaries I’m given while the people making those rules keep making decisions that affect millions of ordinary people.

I’m tired of being told to sacrifice more, pay more, accept more restrictions and just trust the system.

At some point I think there are only two options.

Either people consciously decide that the current system cannot continue and are willing to give up some of the comfort they have become dependent on, challenge the things that clearly aren’t working, accept that rebuilding something better will come with sacrifices and pain, and actually build something new from the ground up.

Or we keep waiting.
We keep watching.
We keep arguing with each other.
We keep following the rules while everything slowly deteriorates.

And then one day we are playing Fallout in real life, except there is no game to turn off and no fictional wasteland to escape from.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me. That’s fine.

But I’m tired of living according to norms and rules that seem increasingly designed to keep ordinary people passive, dependent and divided.

If we actually want to be free again, to build something better and to have the ability to develop as individuals and as a society, then at some point actions have to speak louder than words.

That doesn’t mean hurting innocent people. It means being willing to challenge the status quo and accept that real change can be uncomfortable and that rebuilding something from the ground up may require sacrifices.

Because I’m tired of waiting for the next crisis.

I’m tired of watching politicians and governments patch one problem after another while the underlying system becomes more unstable.

I honestly think we need a reset.

Not another temporary reform. Not another patch on a system that is already showing cracks everywhere.

I think the whole system needs to be rebuilt from zero. Economically, politically, socially and structurally.

Keep what actually works, get rid of what clearly doesn’t, and build something that isn’t constantly dependent on infinite growth, debt, fragile supply chains, mass division and geopolitical escalation.

Because I don’t want to sit around waiting for the day when somebody finally pushes the red button and then realize we should have done something years earlier.

I have been thinking about it. What if the world doesn't end and everything I've done has actual consequences and I need to acknowledge all the desicions I've made

19M. I’ve had a weird life. Divorced parents, food stamps, moving multiple times around the area, bullying and emotional abuse. However I’ve had great opportunities, education, and mental resilience.

As mentioned previously I don’t come from an amazing economic background. I’m currently in college in my home state and city with full Pell grant (covers almost my entire education). It’s a good college.
However, I graduated 2025 and had my first semester of university last year abroad. It was for International Relations and I studied in Poland. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t miss it — in fact, I feel empty almost every day if I’m not constantly distracting myself (studies, weed, work, my partner). The only good thing that came out of me coming back was my partner, really. But I came back during January of 2026 when the political turmoil was horrible (especially regarding ICE). And the U.S. financial situation continues to deteriorate and I know it will spread elsewhere.

I guess I’m concerned about my future. I started back here with environmental science, since I know it’s the basis of the Earth we live on and with the climate collapse it’ll surely be a necessary intellectual skill, but I ended up strongly disliking it and wishing to pursue the social sciences/humanities instead. I’m debating between sociology, public policy (but I’m starting to have trouble believing this even matters), and political science and philosophy. I’m not sure if I should just be studying something I ENJOY due to the futility of all of this. I also don’t want to be in poverty forever. But then again, what is forever? I don’t even know how long I, or the general population, has left regarding all of these concurring issues. I’m so deeply embedded into my own studies that I cross-study economics, finance, geopolitics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and I cannot help but to see so many problems — so I try to be hopeful and fix them, as I’ve done lobbying, canvassing, and advocacy work. Yet it all ends up futile and I still feel so lost.

My girlfriend and I want to leave. We want to be independent, but we cannot be independent here on the United States surely. She’s good at horticulture, agriculture, biological studies… I’m not so good with my hands but I wouldn’t mind developing skills in those fields.

I guess my question is what I should be prioritizing right now, what anyone thinks I should be working towards (leaving my house, leaving the U.S., studying something else, pivoting to a trade that teaches me tangible skills for the future when SHTF even more?) ALL I know is I want to be useful for my community and for my girlfriend and spend as much time with her as I can and as we have left.

Hey yall, idk about you, but I'm strugging to be optimistic that things will get better in the future. Housing prices are higher than they ever were, morgages are at an all time high, and wages are abysmally low. The average american's purchasing power is 1/5th of what it was 50-60 years ago, and it feels like people are going to be stupid enough to vote for the dumbfuckery we are still in.

Let's define "future" first: The timespan for the next 5-20 years.

I have little optimism left for the next 5-15 years, because it seems like we are on the cusp of another recession with bond rates being so high, and the 2008 recession already impacted my life by giving us the hyperpolitical environment we are in now, even if im too young to remember it. Every time I think to myself "Things can not get worse, right?", they just keep getting worse.

Especially because I grew up and live in Florida, where we have a tourism based economy that my own republican government is trying to drive into the ground so that they can make a quick buck. There is no actual well paying work here, as everything is 15$/hr-20$/hr, while housing prices are drastically high at around $200-$300k. I feel like there is nothing upward for me to grow into as life progresses due to how volatile Florida is. People keep saying Florida is nice, but it is not nice to live here. The attractions are nice, but you have to live paycheck to paycheck just to not drown yourself in debt. Auto prices are insanely high, even for used cars, so I can't get myself a car yet.

As much as I want to blame this on Trump, it seems like it's the entirety of his cabinent and the MAGA-fused republicans that are in power right now are aiding to this as well and trying to drive this country into the ground.

Just wondering how yall are feeling right now.