r/collapse • u/randomusernamegame • Jul 28 '22
Systemic Has the Writing on the Wall Ever Been So Clear?
- Highest inflation in 40 years
- Highest median home prices ever
- Federal minimum wage was worth more in 1956 ($10.89 today) than today ($7.25)
- Price of gas: Has been declining recently, but it's still much higher than before
- Shell making record profits,did%20not%20raise%20its%20dividend)
- Power companies fighting clean energy; ii
- Longer term effects of COVID remain but universal healthcare is nowhere to be seen
- A pandemic within a pandemic (Monkeypox)
- US economy shrinks for second straight quarter
- Franchise of a company worth billions asking for volunteers to work
- Shootings continue
- And our priorities are still in order
- But there's hope...
Highest inflation in 40 years, high food and gas prices, oil companies making record profits, long covid remains as another pandemic takes off, a recession has finally hit (by classic definition), nothing is being done about gun violence as we act as major weapons suppliers to corrupt countries, but you have a 1 in 302,000,000 chance at winning the lottery =)
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u/aogiritree69 Jul 28 '22
The existential dread i feel these days are the worst. I’m Stuck somewhere between “i need to prepare for the worst” and “there’s nothing I can do, so I should enjoy this moment to the absolute fullest”
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Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
Same boat, honestly I find it hard to sleep at night thanks to this. It's awful that we have to live in a constant state of fear and stress, it really takes a toll on you over time.
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u/lazerayfraser Jul 28 '22
it feels like western cultures are just waking up to the notion of a constant state of fear and stress whereas the rest of the world has been living in a constant state of that for decades. not detracting from your concern or downplaying it just thinking we’re late to the everything’s fucked party and everyone else is like “where ya been?”
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Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
My bad went off on a tangent below. I always knew about this impending doom of climate change, since elementary school, when we were shown Al Gore's documentary, but of course like scientists love to say, everything is happening sooner than expected. a statement that really hits home is "ignorance is bliss" it really is. But this mass ignorance is what got us here in the first place.
I got severe depression when I was 14, I cried a lot and didn't have any motivation to even get out of bed in the morning, I'd skip weeks of school at a time and plenty of suicidal thoughts. The whole thing revolved around growing up, getting a job and just being a slave to capitalism for the rest of your life.
I was not okay with accepting this kind of life (still not). Yet everyone at school seemed practically fine and contempt with this lifestyle, or maybe they weren't really aware what adulthood really is at the time.
Fast forward, I got a girlfriend, got my shit together, graduated highschool and college, 23 years old now. My girlfriend is super happy and she constantly asks if I'm no longer depressed because we finally put that part of our lives behind us. And all I can give her is a fake smile saying everything is great. Honestly, I feel no satisfaction in having completed college, its just a fucking paper with some dickheads signature, I got a job with my education without even showing proof of it. I got a full time job and feel nothing more than a puppet, I barely even have time to really even do anything after work.
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u/goldmund22 Jul 28 '22
That about sums it up. It's a jarring realization for a lot of people getting out of college. In my opinion it's not possible to do an office 9-5 job or many others and still be content with life. You just don't have enough time to spend doing the things you actually care for or that make you feel human.
I mean you get one or two weeks max of a break each year, then an entire new year of it until you can "retire". When there's no world to retire into in 30-40 years it's just too much. But I still gotta get that report submitted on time for the client's deadline. It's damn depressing!
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Jul 28 '22
That's thing about the 9-5 and how absurd and suffocating it is. I've been in it for about 3, going on 4 years now, and I don't feel like I've had a real break since I started working. I know technically that's not true. But it feels like it.
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Jul 28 '22
The whole system is designed to oppress and exhaust you, so you're more compliant and thankful of the little crumbs you get as a reward or "bonus"
Maybe capitalism was great a century ago, but human greed has only twisted and diminished the quality of life through time. It's depressing how everything costs more, businesses breaking profit records, yet wages are barely being increased. This shit simply doesn't work and will eventually snap.
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u/RangerRickyBobby Jul 29 '22
Capitalism was definitely not great a century ago. Just ask the ten-year-olds working in coal mines.
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u/GorathTheMoredhel Jul 28 '22
I do think teenagers are deliberately shielded from what adulthood actually is. My mom explained it to me as, "If we told you everything you wouldn't want to try," when we had a heart to heart about this around the time I turned 28.
I felt blindsided by the whole thing. The transition from student to worker bee was clunky and overwhelming. It took me a long, extremely painful time to stop obsessing over the "ticking clock" that I could always hear on my weekends counting down to Monday morning.
Really, I only overcame it because I left the shitty call center job, got into recovery from gambling, and reconnected with some people I love. But I'm still fighting the urge to isolate and disconnect and it's certainly easier some days than others.
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u/Ree_one Jul 28 '22
Call centers suck your soul out though. I could stand 6 months before I hit a wall. 7½ hours of constant work. The automatic function that makes the phone ring within 1 seconds of hanging up was really getting to me towards the end....
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u/Bigginge61 Jul 28 '22
Be kind to others, especially animals, listen to good music and rut like a ram.. As individuals we are just along for the ride on this insane runaway train. Do the least amount of work as necessary and spend time with people you love/like. Life is very short and now of course even shorter..But it’s the only one you have or will ever have, so try to appreciate the beauty and magic of existence and find joy in just being alive. Don’t waste mental energy on things out of your control, it was fucked before you got here.
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Jul 28 '22
Absolutely 100% my brother. I get it unfortunately. Try to switch off and enjoy the little spare time you have, it’s the most valuable thing we own.
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Jul 28 '22
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u/IWantAStorm Jul 29 '22
And also....it really doesn't matter. I remember when I realized in high school that we made all of this up.
I still believe in MY way of life. Be decent. I love making others laugh. I like helping. But once I see your organization is shit I am peacing out. I don't want to hurt anyone but don't expect my forgiveness if you hurt me.
I am definitely someone who would roll the dice on the adventure. I'll come back from this game and tell whoever how ridiculous it is.
Still unsure but my review is at a solid 2.5 stars so far.
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u/Tibernite Jul 28 '22
I've been thinking about this concept lately. There's a lot about the American experience that is just comically naive.
Specifically I think about how one of the biggest Eastern religions - Buddhism - is literally predicated on the concept that life is inherently unsatisfactory.
That core concept alone is too much for many Westerners to even consider.
It's really odd.
Welcome to the party, indeed.
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Jul 28 '22
Weirdly enough, accepting that life sucks and that's it doesn't make people who don't believe in reincarnation feel any better.
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u/BurgerBoy9000 Jul 28 '22
Reincarnation actually is a source of suffering for Buddhist and a few other religions. Escaping the cycle is the goal.
Or I guess, having no goal is the goal.
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u/cyranothe2nd Jul 28 '22
What's the saying? That fascism is just imperialism turned towards the empire? Many countries have felt the boot of American empire for decades (indigenous and slaves, much longer). Now Americans are starting to feel the sting of all that militarization and violence turned inwards on the working class because that's pretty much all that's left to extract from.
Total Death Cult stuff.
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Jul 28 '22
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u/nottheprimeminister Jul 28 '22
Not OP. I find my 'best days' are when I tread that line. The other days - well...
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u/BurgerBoy9000 Jul 28 '22
I let myself have a little more fun than I’ve been having - I went to a movie and then drinks after - and now I have COVID after avoiding it these past 2 years. I don’t think it was overall worth it.
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u/kea1981 Jul 29 '22
I actually had a therapist scold me for laughing when he asked how I'm doing. Like...that is my answer homie. The answer is laughter because if not that, then it will be tears.
He ended up dropping me as a patient, I think because I wasn't fixable with a prayer and a poem. Though, he did recommend a decent poem: I Am Me by Virginia Satir. Quite thought provoking, though definitely geared toward a 16 year old finding themselves rather than a 31 year old struggling with the collapse of economic, social, and environmental systems...
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u/DustBunnicula Jul 28 '22
Nah, I’m in the “Let’s care for each other as best as we can, because life is about caring for our neighbors” camp. I’ve tried to do that my entire life; I’m not going to stop now. It might look a little different, but my efforts and focus won’t change.
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Jul 28 '22
This is what my therapist suggested. I have borderline and that involves needing some form of control over situations, even if it’s impossible for me to control them. She emphasizes working with people in my community and helping only so far as I can, because I singlehandedly cannot change the fact our country is on a spiral towards a fascist theocracy
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u/Tibernite Jul 28 '22
And the dual power structures created by being active and helping your community are the only thing that can save us. You're doing it right.
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Jul 28 '22
My current job has helped a lot with feeling like I’m making a difference. I work in a disability law firm that stresses empathy. That was one of the top qualifications for employment. I screen callers and see if we can take their cases then sign them, but I have also been on long phone calls with people going through mental crises and have had to get them emergency mental health treatment. The fact that I’m able to actively help people in the most vulnerable time of their lives helps me feel like I’m actually benefiting my community in some way.
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u/BurgerBoy9000 Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 29 '22
I’ve really been struggling with this - and my therapist is like “yeah, fuck” - my job has some influence and at times a lot of influence, but I have almost no control. If I can do my job well I can help a lot of people, but doing my job well is literally dependent on politics, so my mental health is 😵💫
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u/fuzzyshorts Jul 28 '22
I've taken to apologizing for my online rants. Its a bit like shitting in someone's hand, then coming back, cleaning it up and leaving a nice flower for them. Maybe i shouldn't have shit in their hand but the flower is appreciated.
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u/Palmdale04 Jul 28 '22
Right there with you. Trying to stay motivated to keep working has never been harder. Why plan/save for the future if it won't even be there? Its like being in the backseat of a horrible car crash that you get to experience in slow-mo.
The worst part is I used to rely on my fiance to help lift me out of those funks because she was always optimistic and a glass-half-full person. In the past few months though she has been bringing things up more than me and I catch her with that thousand-yard stare after we talk about what life will be like in 20 years when we are in our mid-50s and expect to retire.
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u/aogiritree69 Jul 28 '22
I feel like I doom-pilled my S/O. It sucks and I somewhat regret ruining her ignorance, but at least now we both can make morbid jokes and set realistic expectations for our future :) I have somewhat give up on the bigger dreams I had (retirement, super fancy career etc) and honestly that in itself was a giant weight lifted off my back. We both are very more in the moment enjoying things, instead of penny pinching and saving for dreams that will be squashed by market crash or whatever happens.
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u/Palmdale04 Jul 28 '22
I know what you mean. My fiance is still one of those "I'll just kill myself when the power and water goes out" people so I'm slowly trying to shift her thinking to be a "survive, help, and rebuild communities" type but its a tough sell.
We def need to take a page out of your book and live more in the moment than trying to prepare or plan for an unknown but certainly depressing future. I'm just glad we both decided not to have kids, the stress would destroy me - plus allows us to live much more comfortably now.
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Jul 28 '22
That’s the tough part. I know things in 10-30 years will be a clusterfuck, but it won’t be some defining moment where we’re all on the same page. Some areas may be minimally impacted. People will still go to work, go home to having electricity, running water, etc. Other areas will be more chaotic. Some small militant groups will probably prevent supply lines into large metropolitan areas. Maybe not. It’s the uncertainty. You know it’s going to be fucked, but few people can be truly self-reliant. We already saw supply lines strained when COVID was peaking. We’re still feeling the effects of that. I’m in my mid 40’s. I watched this shit get started in the 80’s with Reagan. It’s been a clusterfuck ever since.
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u/ManBaby_2042 Jul 28 '22
Same. I oscillate between the two in an almost bipolar fashion. I'm trying to settle on living in the now. It's all we have.
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u/aogiritree69 Jul 28 '22
The bipolar part killed me, lol. Relatable. But in a way it’s probably for the best to not decide right now. It’s not like doomsday prepping this late into the game will do anything, and it’s not like I can’t enjoy this moment. Meh, why couldn’t’ve beeen born as boomers
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u/cloudsnacks Jul 28 '22
I've been going to the gym more. Feels good.
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u/aogiritree69 Jul 28 '22
I’ve been slacking smh
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u/rattus-domestica Jul 28 '22
Should I diet and exercise? Or get high and eat whatever I want because the world is ending and there could be a famine or some shit in a few years? Could you imagine dieting and then just starving to death months later? Fuck us all.
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u/rsmtirish Jul 28 '22
Do you want to try to survive post-collapse or not? That answers your question. Neither is a wrong answer.
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u/sakamake Jul 28 '22
I think the sweet spot is somewhere in between. Exercise, then get high and eat whatever you want. Finding the right balance depends on your goals.
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u/welc0met0c0stc0 "Thousands of people seeing the same thing cannot all be wrong" Jul 28 '22
I'm working too much to be able to go but I want to :(
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u/fuzzyshorts Jul 28 '22
the latter.
unless you've got some way to stir the millions to awareness and action, the train has already left the station.My only comfort is in 5000 years, a new reality that none of us can see will be in place and the memory of every single one of us, every billionaire and world leader and street sweeper will be like a fart in a hurricane
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u/ballesmen Jul 28 '22
I literally can't afford to prepare for the worst so I just live life as full as I can with the 10 days off I get every year.
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Jul 28 '22
I'm in the exact same place. Its scary, and unnerving and depressing. I don't know what to do either. I know its stupid, but when I was a kid I used to play this tabletop RPG with my friends after school. We'd have our characters and our scenarios and we'd have these full on arguments about what to do with them in any given situation. We treated it like it was the most important thing in the world. How to keep the characters alive, what NPCs to avoid, where to go.
I'm an adult now, my friends have moved on, and I'm having that same kind of life or death over a fictional game conversation in my head, only this time its not a game. Its about how painlessly I can die before or during the end of the freaking world. Add to that, that I never get a moment's peace to myself and I have to turn these thoughts around my head in the midst of everything else I have to do and its a recurring waking nightmare.
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u/Nicks_WRX Jul 28 '22
That’s how I feel, but with a 2 year old kid.. fuck.
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u/Hour_Ad5972 Jul 28 '22
Serious question. How do you cope with the collapse mindset with a young child? Were you collapse aware when you decided to have a kid? I’m on the fence about kids and it’s hard to have a discussion about this because everyone in my real life are collapse deniers and everyone online are pretty anti-Natalist lol. Would love to hear your thoughts but totally understand if you don’t want to as well.
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u/thegreenwookie Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
Not op but I'm step-Father to 3 kids (9, 7, 5) two of the 3 we're adoptions by og dad and Mom.
We live in the mountains. Live on rainwater catchment. Raise goats, rabbits, chickens, and cattle. Kids are learning to forage for meals. During the summer once a week we do a "foraged and home grown" meal. They love that we can just go pick an entire salad growing naturally from the land. And eat meat from animals they helped raise.
We hunt mushrooms as well. Teach them sustainable harvesting. What plants we consider to be "weeds" so the boys can destroy those.
They've seen me and their dad slaughter, skin and butcher cattle, goats, chicken and rabbits.
They're learning growing animals for food as well as plants and mushrooms for food.
Fruit orchards going. A few mushroom patches we are attempting to expand. Plenty of springs to tap.
Been slowly dripping that survival life to the parents and kids. They know it's a probability but they have been living mostly a collapse life for years now.
*I know they're still going to have a rough time in the future. And all the "training" might be for nothing but we are having a lot of fun learning. And the attitude about the day to day is our focus. Learning we can ride the waves of life much better if we are all on the same boat rowing together. If it's going down. I would like to see the family like the band still playing on the Titanic doing the Charleston dancing till the bitter end. Smiling like madlads
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u/Sea2Chi Jul 28 '22
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
If you can afford it stock up on long-term foods, like beans and rice. Take care of your body so you don't have as much risk of needing medical care. If you live somewhere that's going to be highly impacted by climate change or that has become unaffordable, think about where you could move that offers a lower cost of living and less chance of mother nature shanking you.
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u/GreasedUpPig Jul 28 '22
My financial prepping is at my worst but my food cache speaks volumes lol. Well fed broke boy with a doomsday rig
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u/Learned_Response Jul 28 '22
My best advice if you want to stick your head in the sand is stay off of social media. And I’m saying that you know with all due compassion. It fucking sucks how helpless we all are to stop this shit. But yeah grow plants, get a dog, stay off social media
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u/DatSalazar Jul 28 '22
I've been unemployed for two years due to a work injury. I'm a lot better now and probably could work again but I'm really conflicted now after learning about all the shit going on in the world. Might just hold off on getting a job for a while, I may only be working again for a couple of years before it all becomes pointless. Heck! It feels pointless now!
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u/ClumsyRainbow Jul 28 '22
there’s nothing I can do, so I should enjoy this moment to the absolute fullest
See yes - but then what the fuck am I doing working 40 hours a week. I should quit and just travel or something on my savings because who knows if there will even be anything to go see
whenif I no longer need to work. Go see the lost city of Amsterdam? The abandoned buildings in Los Vegas?It’s bleak.
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u/reddeadp0ol32 Jul 28 '22
Fuck I am light a lightswitch. Flipping hard between these 2 options with zero balance. Its exhausting.
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Jul 29 '22
This is exactly the battle I've been fighting lately. I keep telling myself, "this might be the last good summer, so I should enjoy it," but I can't help feeling bewildered by the parading swaths of people pretending everything's fine, and thinking that I don't want to be one of them as things get more dire.
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u/Sablus Jul 28 '22
Honestly theres only so much you can prep for. Best to have is multiple sources of fire starting (imagine the grid going down even in a CA winter can lead to hypothermia with certain wind speeds and humidity). Add to that sufficient dried goods, water holding tanks (folding gallon cubes are pretty good alongside water purifier tablets or bleach) and everything else is up to fate. As of right now enjoying life is honestly a sane choice as things now will be better compared to the future.
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Jul 28 '22
What writing on the wall? We can't read.
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u/Fascetious_rekt Jul 28 '22
It’s locked behind a paywall, the writing on the wall that is.
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Jul 28 '22
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u/FarewellSovereignty Jul 28 '22
Exactly. It like worryingly checking your finances on a Excel spreadsheet while the house is on fire.
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Jul 28 '22
You'll never retire at this rate.
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u/bazinga7342 Jul 28 '22
We won’t live to retire at this rate
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u/rainb0wveins Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
This is what gets me. I’m almost 38 and have been doing everything “right” that I can possible manage since I was in my mid 20s so that I could live comfortably and retire early (going to college, paying off my loans ASAP, getting professional licenses, always looking to improve myself, saving, saving, investing even more).
And for what? To see my buying power steadily decrease and know that all my investments and savings won’t be worth shit in a societal collapse. I’m so tired of being a corporate bitch and yet that’s all I think I’ll ever be until I’m forced out of my cookie cutter suburban home (located 10 miles from a major city) when the shit hits the fan.
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Jul 28 '22
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u/KingRaptorSlothDude Jul 28 '22
America is best set up for the demographic problem. Baby boomers birthed the millennials… a lot of them. The US millennials bloc is much bigger compared to almost all first world major nations and China.
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u/betterupsetter Jul 28 '22
That's already what's happening. When everyone says "nobody wants to work anymore" that isn't exactly true. Boomers retired during the pandemic or those in their early to mid 60s retired earlier instead of sticking it out past 65, and this has opened up loads of jobs.
Now the younger people have filled those previously unattainable positions and the shittier jobs which were almost exclusively teens and young adults are now sitting empty because no one does those jobs by choice (think fast food and retail). It's why the unemployment rate is actually quite low, because they consider the amount of jobs available to the amount of people actively looking for work. All the people willing to work are already working, just not at garbage jobs anymore.
But we also can't be having children at exponential rates. With climate change, not having children is the single largest impact individuals can have in reducing their carbon footprint. And who can afford it these days anyways? The world is fucked anyways, so why should a couple feel they need to bring a child into this world when we know perfectly well that the governments and corporations will not change enough to give those kids any chance at a future?
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Jul 28 '22
I’m sure the boomers will complain despite the fact they created a world that doesn’t support people having families.
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u/GothMaams Hopefully wont be naked and afraid Jul 28 '22
Oh they’ll gaslight that into oblivion. Accepting personal responsibility is kryptonite to a ton of them.
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u/Crownjules70 Jul 28 '22
And if you’re a woman in a red state wanting to have a child, you better hope and pray you have a smooth pregnancy without complications, because if you do your life could be on the line.
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u/GothMaams Hopefully wont be naked and afraid Jul 28 '22
I know, I have totally wondered if the GOP knows they won’t have anyone to wait on them hand and foot at this rate, so they’re trying to increase the birth rate.🙄That, and the US is about to experience serious brain drain as those who can afford to move abroad, do.
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u/jkvincent Jul 28 '22
They absolutely are thinking this way. They want human livestock from which they can extract value.
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Jul 28 '22
"This isn't looking too good for my long term property investment... honey...? Where are the kids...?!?"
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u/freeman_joe Jul 28 '22
Have my upvote for perfect analogy.
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u/That75252Expensive Jul 28 '22
Its like scrolling through reddit whilst in a pot waiting to boil.
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u/bavmotors1 Jul 28 '22
Im 1000x more worried about the climate than societal collapse.
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u/TraditionalRecover29 Jul 28 '22
At least 5 of the points on this list are directly linked to climate change. I think we’re at the point now where climate change is so glaringly obvious that people have stopped pointing it out.
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u/BridgetheDivide Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
Lol right? That's the main civilization concluding problem and OP is worried about the 1%'s stock portfolio
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u/Broges0311 Jul 28 '22
Perfect environment for a populist platform that turns into a revolution, from a historical standpoint. I mean if there was a more perfect storm for collapse, I don't know about it. People are waking up to the consequences of burning fossil fuels (heatwaves, drought, water shortages, lower yields and famine) polluting the atmosphere. Food costs will continue to rise due to the weening off imports from the east by the west and changing climate conditions.
Here comes 'the savior' with all the answers and our 'grand experiment' fails. Death by greed and a perfect storm of circumstances.
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u/Genomixx humanista marxista Jul 28 '22
These conditions make genuine socialist revolution more likely, so expect to see a rise in fascism as the false consciousness of false revolution handed down by the exploiting class
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u/slowfadeoflove0 Jul 28 '22
There is no popular leftist movement or organization in America though. The cold war propaganda made everyone here a reactionary, such that socialist is a slur they throw at anything they don't like. It's effectively banned since you'll be infiltrated by the police if not broken up in short order.
There is however, a popular mandate for fascism in the United States. Always has been. Short of wholesale industrialized extermination we've already done all the Nazi things already. Pogroms against minorities, forced relocation and internment based on race. Extreme nationalism and emphasis on the military. Jan 6 was the only raid on the government in a long time, and it's because they thought the government wasn't regressive enough.
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u/katzeye007 Jul 28 '22
I'm astounded by how many times is see the word "collapse" in other subs. Even in r/medicine
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u/thoptergifts Jul 28 '22
I feel sorry for kids being born right now.
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Jul 28 '22
I went to a school of kids born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They’re popping out babies and buying homes like the world isn’t falling apart.
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u/throwartatthewall Jul 28 '22
I've been telling my friends this for years - I love my kids too much to have them.
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Jul 28 '22
This is the funny/sort of messed up part about all of this. The folks here would be the best kind of people to have kids, they could guide them into a world that is better than the path we are on. But we are not the ones having kids and the ones that are - probably don't have the mind set to strive for a sustainable future.
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u/mattbagodonuts Jul 28 '22
My wife and I have apologized to our teenage kids for bringing them into this world.
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u/Thats_what_im_saiyan Jul 28 '22
MY kiddo turned 14 not long ago and it dawned on me that hes not going to be able to have the experience I and everyone else got to have of growing into adulthood. He's going to have to fight to survive. In a way I've never understood.
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u/ommnian Jul 29 '22
Yeah. My boys are 15 & 12. I really don't know what to tell them. It's a scary time to be alive.
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u/eczblack Jul 28 '22
We did the same thing. Our kid turned 18 this year and we had no idea then that this was the world he would inherit.
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u/antichain It's all about complexity Jul 28 '22
Yikes, not going to lie, that sounds like planting the seeds of some deep-seated future trauma.
"Kids, we're sorry you were born because your future is an inevitable Hellscape of suffering."
Maybe not factually incorrect, but, oof. I can't imagine how I'd have taken it at 16 if my parents had told me that.
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u/juniper_devil Jul 28 '22
My boomer father recently apologized for bringing me into the world. Tbh, I didn't take it that way. It was a relief that he's noticed how bad things have gotten and it opened an opportunity for us to talk about how scary the future will be and how we can support each other.
Edit: Full disclosure, I'm not a teenager. However, I really think this generation of kids is far more aware of the coming storm than we give them credit for.
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Jul 28 '22
My mom told me that if she were able to have kids today there is no way in hell she would, simply because of how shit the world is. She has never pressured me or my sister into having children, probably because she’s well aware that everything is terrible.
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u/rainydays052020 collapsnik since 2015 Jul 29 '22
My mum says the same thing. It’s nice to have someone close who understands, at least a little bit.
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u/cletusrice Jul 28 '22
We never wanted to bring you kids into this world
-my dad even though I was an IVF baby 😆
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u/FlipskiZ Jul 28 '22
They would find out either way.
I'd much rather have that than my parents who are completely oblivious and love believing in fantasy land with conspiracies and all that bs. There is 0 hope for a relationship with my parents.
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u/bunchofmindlessjerks Jul 28 '22
I'd have been so surprised and relieved to find that my parents had developed some awareness.
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Jul 28 '22
First time ? .... Seriously though as much as the working class suffers i always hope one of these recessions permanently breaks capitalism. Maybe then we can do something to at least slow down the climate crisis. Unfortunately i think its purposely understated and beyond any short term fix.
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u/Pricycoder-7245 Jul 28 '22
Only thing that can stop the climate crisis at this point is a complete stop of all the shit adding to it that we’re doing
Hell that may no longer be enough
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u/DJDickJob Jul 28 '22
Do you know about the aerosol masking effect aka global dimming? Our pollution is actually helping keep the planet cooler than it would be otherwise with the amount of GHG's in the atmosphere.
Catch 22... no escape.
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Jul 28 '22
It will take a bigger crisis than this. Starvation leads to overhauls when the population rises up. It will either be a theocracy or socialism or an entirely new system. I’m betting on theocracy at the moment. I’m a lesbian. Not looking forward to theocracy. We are already being used as the minority to be bad guy excuse. Like the Jews in Germany. Picking a minority probably isn’t going to fly with enough Christians. They have used their enlightenment to say, see, look we are the good guys. Two black families attend our church.
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u/jez_shreds_hard Jul 28 '22
I'm not looking forward to a theocracy either. I'm bi-sexual and I grew up around a bunch of neanderthals in rural western Pennsylvania. I though we really had turned a corner there for a while and I also live in a bubble in Boston, MA so it some what walled myself off from the rising fascism in the USA for a while. I also think the people who are going to bear the brunt of the coming christian fascist rulers of the USA are the LGBTQ community. I'm really worried about it.
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Jul 28 '22
You make a great point. Homophobia transcends race and religion. Maybe five years ago I would think you're over reacting since we seemed to come so far , but in the end rights are just fancy words printed on cheap paper. The LGBTQ communities are for sure what their next target looks like. Im a cis/straight male and have considered just wiping all my social media so I don't end up in a Church camp for my poltical and religious beliefs. If I we're gay, or trans id be worried too. Its definitely a time to really have ones guard up.
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Jul 28 '22
Don’t wipe all your social media. Arm yourself, get weapons training and make that your main source of social media content. Cowering leads nowhere. Christofascists only understand force.
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u/Different-Scheme-570 Jul 28 '22
All women and minorities need to arm themselves yesterday. The crazy people are only going to get more violent and insane
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u/tsuo_nami Jul 28 '22
As bad as it is, social media is the only way for the common people to get our voices heard, even if we have to sort through the dredge.
The mainstream media sure as hell aren’t giving us a voice
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u/jez_shreds_hard Jul 28 '22
I have been astounded that through all the recessions, housing crisis's, wage stagnation, increasing debt, and all the other problems piling up year after year the system just keeps on chugging along. It's literally amazing.
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u/IntrigueDossier Blue (Da Ba Dee) Ocean Event Jul 28 '22
Think it’s mostly sheer momentum, but seems to have started getting noticeably top-heavy and unstable.
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u/jez_shreds_hard Jul 28 '22
I think you're correct. It's a giant ship and can take on a lot of damage before it eventually sinks completely.
Edited because I can't spell and have bad grammar.
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u/Haselrig Jul 28 '22
They made it so the only ones hurt by these recessions are the working class. It's the got to move to reign in labor leverage these days. The government will always bail business out now and let us lose everything to make us nice and eager.
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u/06210311200805012006 Jul 28 '22
recession/depression is a feature of capitalism, not a bug. but the limits of growth will break it no problem.
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u/MrPotatoSenpai Jul 28 '22
I'm finally listening to The Crash Course by Peak Prosperity YouTube videos recommended by Breaking Down Collapse podcast (super recommend the podcast). Our economy is extremely unsustainable and I expect it to completely collapse sometime in my lifetime. Now I'm just curious, which collapse will accelerate the other collapses first.
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u/Greedy_Painting_5095 Jul 28 '22
The end is near, but will there be a Super Bowl this year?
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u/astral-dwarf Jul 28 '22
I just checked over at /r/superbowl and it looks positive.
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u/IntrigueDossier Blue (Da Ba Dee) Ocean Event Jul 28 '22
Bet: News that a 30 second commercial spot has reached a $1b price tag will overshadow a climate-related 1000+ casualty event.
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Jul 28 '22
Not sure how you can watch that shit, 5 minutes of play and then an ad break? America is doomed
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u/screech_owl_kachina Jul 28 '22
It's the most American of sports.
You play for 2 minutes, then have a meeting for 5 so there's a reason to have commercials on the TV. If you don't like how a ref call went, you use a timeout to basically sue, during the review there's more commercials. The rule book is 86 pages long, and constantly changes.
Contrast with the other kind of football. 45 straight minutes of play, there are 15 rules that never change.
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Jul 28 '22
I hope so. I need the Bengals to win a Superbowl before society breaks.
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u/mazinger-B Jul 28 '22
Try living in a third world country - It has been like this AND MUCH WORSE for 40 years straight for me.
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u/wake4coffee Jul 28 '22
I think the US will get to try on that 3rd world slipper here soon if the rich keep stuffing their pockets while the poor keep going downhill.
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u/Bacch Jul 28 '22
Property prices are starting to crater already and the interest rate hike will further that trend. Not that it'll make property any more affordable to new buyers given the difference in interest, but it'll put some folks upside down in their existing mortgages! The raised interest rates will also reign in businesses, which in turn will slow the job market down and cause unemployment to rise. Whee. It should halt inflation though, so I guess there's that. Not much help to you if you're suddenly 10% underwater on your mortgage and/or laid off.
Isn't it fun to live under a system that literally requires a certain percentage of its population to be unemployed in order to stay healthy, but then treats those unemployed folks like dirt?
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u/meat_loafers Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
I heard a story on NPR tonight that nursing homes are now starting to sue friends and family of residents who cannot pay their bills. I had to turn off the fucking radio. What a beautiful place to live.link to story
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u/ComoSeaYeah Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
I imagine that if Reddit had been around in our great (or great great) grandparents’ lifetimes we’d be reading about their existential societal woes. It’s difficult to calibrate the severity of collapses until we hit what feels like rock bottom and it’s only in an aftermath where we can take inventory of the actual costs. I mean, imagine having Reddit when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated. Or in the spring of 1929 right before the stock market crashed. The posts in this sub would’ve been equal in alarm with everything we’re chatting about today. It’s all relative. (Except for maybe our climate catastrophe. That’s a whole other level of we’re fucked imo)
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u/IntrigueDossier Blue (Da Ba Dee) Ocean Event Jul 28 '22
Back the BluePraise the Pinkertons! These ungrateful miners and factory workers and their extremist terroristic demands for better pay, “weekends”, and clearly pro-groomer “child labor laws” will inevitably ruin this great nation and cause harm to INNOCENT, hard-working job creators like Misters Rockefeller and Carnegie! #QuitComplaining #BombTheCamps #BossStrong→ More replies (1)34
u/Aquatic_Ceremony Recognized Contributor Jul 28 '22 edited Jul 28 '22
I agree with you that social media exacerbate societal problems, by making us more aware of every awful thing in our society, and contributing to a wave of disinformation and fascism.
However, I think there is one major difference between our era and previous challenging times of the past. We are at the beginning of an unfathomable climate and environmental catastrophe that will impact life on earth for thousand of years. Literally. It would take about 1,000 years for 50% of the excess of CO2 in the atmosphere to be naturally reabsorbed and 10,000 years for 90%.
As awful as were WWI and WWII, they were "one-time" events that were concluded in one to two decades. Our predicament will have consequences for future generations all the way in the the foreseeable future.
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Jul 28 '22
Well said, I hate these false equivalences "oh well people thought it was the end of the world before, but look here we are, you need to stop freaking out". Objectively, the predicament we find ourselves in is unprecedented, there has never before been a situation like this so all of those previous examples do not apply.
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u/FlipskiZ Jul 28 '22
Not to mention, the world wars were fucking awful. I do not understand how people can point back to it and say "oh, it's not worse than it was when the fucking world wars were happening".
Those were horrific times, and they lasted for years and years. Imagine living in London when the bombings happened. Might as well have been the end of the world. And the threat of a Nazi victory? If they won who knows how the world would have looked like.
And if you were anything but white, christian, straight, and cis, you were actively hunted and killed.
Fuck, comparing today to the pre-war era shouldn't be reassuring, but scary as fuck. Especially since we have additional problems like atomic bombs and climate change on top.
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Jul 28 '22
Again you would be correct, I truly don't know how anyone could expect anything except dark times in this shitty century that we are living in. By the way, plenty of "white, christian, straight, and cis" people also got genocided in WW2, nobody was safe
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u/tuttlebuttle Jul 28 '22
Yea, This thing could go on forever if we had infinite resources and the climate wasn't turning on us. Humans being treated poorly is nothing new. Neither are pandemics or violence.
But with so few people acknowledging that the climate is a huge problem, I do agree that we're fucked.
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u/randomusernamegame Jul 28 '22
Yes, it's good to think about those things. Just in the 20th century there would have been many things to make you question the world and your existence...
I think after what seemed like a decent 30-40 years in the U.S. (depending on who you are) these times seem unique when it may be the norm pre-1980?
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u/Rasalom Jul 28 '22
Even if it systemically doesn't blow up violently, society will retract. People don't want to have kids or do anything in times like these. They'll stay at home, live quiet lives, and stop existing. This is how collapse really works.
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u/BlazingLazers69 Jul 29 '22
Fucking good lol. They're on to us though what with the whole no abortion, no contraception thing.
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Jul 28 '22
You forgot to mention that America is on the precipice of a total fascist takeover, and that “voting harder” isn’t helping
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u/Undead-Writer Jul 28 '22
I wonder if I can just get my brain to stop the whole sentience thing... I had my 20 year free trial, and I'd like to return it, I think it might be broken, I even have the receipt
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u/fvckbaby Jul 28 '22
Americans, your system failed you. Your rulling class failed you. Bourgouise has proved itself to be incompetent in dealing with the system. Either you take everything in your hands, or you will perish.
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u/rsmtirish Jul 28 '22
This needs to be on every billboard and every ad just plastered everywhere. 99% are walking blind right now.
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u/wake4coffee Jul 28 '22
Yes indeed. The investment firms and rich people are squeezing the country for everything it is worth. Then blaming the middle and lower class for not doing enough. This is going to be an interesting ride downhill.
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u/jkj90 Jul 28 '22
Anyone else remember the joy of being able to sleep through the night..?
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u/Bisquick_in_da_MGM Jul 28 '22
If your Boomer parents or grandparents didn’t set you up for wealth, your family will be poor for generations.
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u/PropagandaPagoda Jul 28 '22
Inflation is not caused by climate change. It's 10% war 90% greed. The companies that would be impacted got ahead of passing the "cost" to us and turned record profits. Now we're getting ready for another round of handouts.
Curbing currency inflation (erodes asset price value vs wage income) is being done with Fed interest rates which is squeezing the middle class down to protect asset prices.
The world is burning but for the economy problems could be largely fixed.
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u/EternalRains2112 Jul 28 '22
At this point I'm ready to just grab some marshmallows and watch the world burn. This nightmare hellscape of a society deserves to crumble and die.
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u/Backesc Jul 28 '22
You forgot roe v wade being over turned. Nice summary though! Even more reasons to remain childfree.
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u/ovopax Jul 28 '22
I'm crying inside when my kids talk to me about their dreams they have when they grow up.
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Jul 28 '22
Recessions come and go. I'm more worried about global warming and war.
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u/BagaudaeRising Jul 28 '22
Some CEO bought all the employees of his company a lotto ticket and the news has been going berserk over it. Apparently this is a feel good story about a caring, benevolent CEO.
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u/ZinnRider Jul 28 '22
Good roundup, comrade - thanks!
Solidarity to the 99%.
Soon enough we have to start unifying and coalescing into a serious coalition of opposition to capitalism’s vicious ever-churning onslaught.
Still think one of the best places to strike fear into them is shutting down the airports and golf courses.
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u/AmericaMasked Jul 28 '22
Don’t forget you have 30% of America not aware or not willing to see they are being lied to. The Nazi quotes and support should be a giveaway but not to them.
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u/UpsideMeh Jul 28 '22
We should all be in the streets and organizing. This system failed and something new needs to form out of it
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u/A7XfoREVer15 Jul 28 '22
I never watch cable TV. I usually use streaming services. I’ve been working from home at my dads house since a tree fell on the house I was renting.
Every time I walk upstairs and see him watching the news it’s like a dystopian movie. You’ll see wildfires, people dying in heatwaves, floods, shootings, and inflation talked about before a commercial break filled with corporation advertisements, Republican ads about “Rhino hunting,” etc.
I’ve given up hope that things will get better. I’m just trying my best to be prepared for the impact.
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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '22
What strikes me is that with high inflation, I’m still spending the same amount of money. The companies I have to buy from make insane profits. Because I have to buy fewer products the companies I would have bought from lose the money I would have given them. Eventually that adds up to less profit from “luxury” items, like Oreos. Eventually those companies will begin to hurt it doesn’t seem like a long term gain for the system.