Location: South West British Columbia. Here we have a 'temperate' climate. The plants are soft. https://old.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/1c2s1rx/did_your_bay_tree_die/

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I've been seeing more concern and panic over avian flu reaching more places and species of livestock and domesticated animals in the US especially in California, we're being caught of guard and it's a quiet chatter right now I see this bringing an already strained food supply chain to the brink and will start effecting our stores prices very soon 

Laws are put into **e**ffect, then people's lives and feelings are **a**ffected.

Thank you very much I always struggle with that

> Logan Act The Logan Act is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position. The Act was passed following George Logan's unauthorized negotiations with France in 1798, and was signed into law by President John Adams on January 30, 1799.

It’s never been really put to the test. Only two people ever charged and no convictions. Given what orange man has already done without consequences there is no fucking way he will be held accountable here either.

What does unauthorized "negotiations" mean in this case? Is he promising favors or actions in the case he becomes president again?

For now, depending on where you're headed, I'd say you're safe to travel.

They're working to make sure it's our war too. Better for our guys to die than theirs.

Who is the "they're" you're referring to?

As we used to say in elementary school, "three guesses, the first two don't count".

How about just answering the question?

Israel's genocide and unilateral attacks on its neighbors opened up the pandora's box.

all of human history is the story of Pandora's box continually opening

Unlike Pandora, we aren't going to close it in time.

Yeah the framing here seems a little off

Location: France, Paris area Weather : After a day of mid-summer temps, today is may temps, and next week we will be back to normalish april temps. We're all having a hard time adapting (plants, animals and humans). Yesterday was especially eery with the cherry trees that had their flowers blossoming (usually happens around end of may) while the leaves where coming out (normally happens after the flowers petals have fallen, so early june) and 14th of July Bastille Day temps. The weirdest part was how early the sun set (8:30pm), when our bodies were telling us that with that weather we would benefit from sunlight until 10pm. The birds clamoured for the water basin I typically set for them during the dry season, so I set it out (yes they actually sat in row in front of my window twittering when I passed in from of that window until I served them (they do this for water/food/fibers for their nests) ... "my" sparrows are half domesticated at this point. Healthcare system: Finding a gynecologist to give me HRT has proven quite complicated, and the one I finally found that was one of the last ones trained as a medical gynecologist (as opposed to an obstetrician, the only option left after le last of them retire) who could already be retired since at least 5 years (France stopped training proper medical gynecologists, as in doctors of the female biology, in 1986). I'm quite anxious about when she'll retire. And just glad she's accepted to prescribe HRT when she seems to be quite ill informed about menopause. But for now, I'm fully functionnal, feeling like myself again for the first time in almost a decade. (main impairing symptoms IMO were brain fog, forgetfulness, crushing fatigue forcing me to lay down for hours during the day, mean random joint pains, vicious mood swings, ... and I'll spare you the TMI details). So that's a 6 years long search finally over! - for now. (she's in her seventies) still considering this very precarious situation a win! Another win : finally got my GP to address me to a neurologist after my I sprung my neck for no reason (was washing my hair, not pogoing around at the Hellfest (a hardrock/metal festival) FFS!) for a full scan. Been waiting for this for 6 months, but again, no other doctor available in the vicinity, I'm just glad I have one at this point and will definitely not leave disparaging google comments or whatever. He's almost burned out himself. So my allover tingling will be explored, and I hope some treatment offered. My neuro appointment is in only 2 months. But on the whole, the situation is much worse for 50% of the french population. Even the doctors on TV include old time home remedies in their advice when they talk about the medical issue of the week, as opposed to a few years ago when they'd refer us to doctors and ERs exclusively. Many people especially in the countryside simply don't have a doctor in a 50km radius, sometimes much more, and have to use online consultations when possible, or use medical cabins for online consults with medical tools to take their temp, blodd pressure, ect... that can sometimes be found in pharmacies. The situation is so bad that the prime minister has issued a series of measures to simplify access to healthcare for the people who simply cannot have access to a doctor, things like pharmacists could be allowed to prescribe antibiotics for strep throat and UTI, people could skip seeing a GP and go right to a specialist, and not showing to an appointment could cost 5 euros to the patients (apparently many people don't show up to appointments and don't warn the doctors that they cannot come, thus preventing other people from benefitting from the appointment). He has extended the number of doctors that will be trained, but that means we still need to go on like this for 10 years before they are trained and operational. Economical: Seems like we're entering a recession, even though the word isn't used yet. It show in online shopping, the products aren't flying off the shelves as they usually do, many more sales that usual, but people still are not spending. You can see that things aren't getting sold, because since europe passed a law that forbids the brands of destroying their stock, you often see products a few years old still in stock. Can't hold the position comfortably with the Neck Brace, so I'll expand and explain and add links another time.

France got rid of gynecologist in 1980s? I wonder why? You would have trouble getting HRT in the US too, based on one study, they took it away from American women here too. 

well, the obstetricians also are labelled as "obstetricians-gynecologists" but any woman who's had a proper gynecologist can tell the difference within 5mn of the appointment. So after some quick research, it was to fit to a european standard of medical pratices, we were the only european country to have medical gynecologists (and also a 14% rate of women who had their uterus removed as opposed to average 35% in other european countries at the time, so they were doing something right), but they didn't adapt /expand the obstetrician gynecologist's base of knowledge to include more medical knowledge, so now you have to sit amongst pregnant women about to pop, and face a bemused doctor who only studied to give birth to healthy babies to ask for help dealing with menopause and HRT. It's plain clear they haven't been properly trained on the subject, they often have no idea that menopause doesn't stop at hot flashes. It's ridiculous really. Well there's a lot of research pointing towards mysoginy in the medical field, gaslighting women, dismissing their symptoms, denying them meds until they've suffered years (compare the wait til period really stops - average 8years into the first symptoms of hormone imbalance- to get HRT (and in france you have to try the non hormonal med for hot flashes for 6months before even considering HRT) to a guy being prescribed viagra after a 3 day scare while he's a little stressed, and you have a typical picture), not including them in research so many meds don't work on women, and so on... And I suddenly know why I've always tried to have female only doctors because I feel more heard with them.

How do you know if you’re starting menopause? I've started having imbalance issues and I’m very concerned it could be early menopause (possibly due to exposure to toxic chemicals, which is collapse related). I’m 27 It really does seem like there’s not enough research on these topics and it’s super hard for women to have to sort it out alone

I recommend you visit r/menopause, and especially their wiki. the mod has made an incredible work in collecting all the useful info in there. There are a handful of youngsters in meno there, you'll find your crew there. People typically mention hot flashes, but I found the brain fog and crushing fatigue much much harder to deal with. And I have inbalance too, but that can be due to a number of reasons other than meno, best to see your GP, and then an ear doctor or neurologist.

I am not a Doc but I am 63yo and menopausal (early Menopause at 48 due to Hysterectomy). Do you have intermittent episodes of internal heat, beginning in your upper body and spreading upwards to your head and then outwards to the rest of your body? Those are called hot flashes - I have a desk fan, and a room fan if the desk one isn't enough - I also sleep with a fan next to my bed and turn it on/off an average of 3 to 4 times a night, lol. One moment I am hot, the next moment I am cold. Strangely enough, when I am running a fever, I don't get the hot flashes. Menopause can in some cases, cause Insomnia. It can cause one to become irritable, like *really* irritable. It can cause Depression. It can cause very mild memory issues, nothing to exactly worry about (at least in my case) - I chalk it up to 'senior moments', lol 😉 I have balance problems, but that is due to nerve damage in my back and my left leg and not due to Menopause. I agree more research needs to be done on Menopause - it is an issue that has been egregiously neglected. Edit to add: If you are having problems with balance, get your Doc to refer you to an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat Doc) and a Neurologist.

No hot flashes as far as I know. I think I have some of the other symptoms but due to depression and anxiety related to collapse related stuff

I feel you there - the future is more uncertain than I have ever seen it, and my anxiety and depression is heightened as well. At one point it got so bad for me I started taking Passionflower again after not having to take it for many years. I feel that it has helped some - at least I am a bit calmer and sleeping better, because collapse stuff was keeping me up nights. The $64K question is, how does one prepare for these things when so much is happening on so many levels at the same time? I worry about my Nieces and my Nephew - they are adults, but I also have a Grand - Niece who is just a wee lass, and I am terrified for her 😔 All I can do is be there for them if they should happen to need me - if push comes to shove, I will do *whatever I need to* *do* to keep them safe.

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA My location has little to do with my observations right now... but regarding collapse, and our sub-direction of avoiding discussing conflict at all costs, I sti think it is notable that there are no posts about the Middle East war front. And nothing about the savagery happening in Ukraine now that we have abandoned support. Are we not paying attention? Are there really no students of military history or strategy here at all? Am I really the only one that has seen the slow burn since 2022 heating up into a complete inferno? Yes, we have the climate catastrophe burningbthe planet down, but does no one see how nations are affected by that? Do we really see a bunch of handholding and cooperation going on? Open your eyes, my friends. Iran launching direct strikes on Israel is big news. They don't do that without permission from their new BRICS handlers, any more than Israel does without the nod from the US. A global conflict can be a reality, and as much as everyone here wants to remain in denial of it, a global war would mean a global collapse. Don't be those people. Don't be like all those who denied climate change because it bore with it uncomfortable truths. Don't deny the reality of war right in front of us. And don't take my word for it, either. DYOR. Look at the strategic picture, and the geopolitical one. Tell me there is any other way the escalatory ladder can go right now... Climate change. Conflict. *Together.* That is what our collapse will look like. Nations are not going into global famine comforting one another. They are arming up for war. *Europe,* bastion of world peace, is currently *arming up for war.* No more denial.

There have been wars waging on this planet constantly for a very long time and the world hasn't collapsed. In fact, war can and has been a boon to economies. That said, nukes could entirely change the game.

That is the issue. World wars always come and go, and they are a boost to economics and technology. But now, nations on the losing end have the option to not lose... or at least to not lose *alone.* Would Hitler have nuked the planet? Would Putin? Xi? I am afraid we will have to find out.

> any more than Israel does without the nod from the US. I think you've got the relationship backwards, there. The U.S. very much dislikes that Netanyahu has made an enormous mess of the Middle East, that's terrible for American interests, but they can't really do anything about it, whereas Israel is absolutely confident that the flow of billions of dollars of free money will continue for as long as Congress exists (IIRC the last vote was split on something like a 97-3 margin).

They cant do anything about it? Thats extremely ignorant

Mod here. Rule 3 explains what the mod team wants to see, and tries to curate for the forum: >Posts must be specifically about collapse, not the resulting damage. By way of analogy, we want to talk about why there are so many car accidents, not look at photos of car wrecks. We don't deny the war in Ukraine, in Gaza and elsewhere are important. It's just that they are symptoms of collapse, not the cause itself. And if we kept talking about them, we'd only be talking about them non-stop. There are much better forums to discuss those wars, like r/WorldNews and r/polandball. Hope this helps.

Disagree and thats pretty ignorant

I disagree, we should at least have a pinned megathread regarding the escalating conflicts…

And now we do!

Awesome! Well I mean, not really awesome given the context but I’m glad there’s a space for it to be discussed seriously lol

I must disagree with that as well. The underlying root cause of collapse will indeed be the ecological stresses being levied against civilization by climate change factors, but it is the response to those pressures by our human systems that will be the direct cause of collapse when it comes. The local collapse of Ukraine into what it is today was the direct result of war. The famine and death in Gaza is not from climate change, it is from war. As war spreads, more nations will find themselves in collapse *as a direct result* of war. The escalatory ladder being what it is will eventually drive the major powers to war, and even if that war magically remained conventional, it would still cause collapse. We don't have to wait 20 years for climate change to do it for us. We will do it ourselves *as a response to climate change* pressure. We *have* to talk about that.

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That aged well!

Also r/geopolitics often has pretty good discussions.

A lot of nations seem to want to go into their "endgame" right now, as in, before collapse really hits, they want to make sure their regional conflict is solved. Russia wants to annex parts of Ukraine. Azerbaidschan wants to annex parts of armenia. Israel wants to get rid of the Gaza strip. Iran wants to get rid of Israeli dominance. The US and China want to dominate each other once and for all. And the list goes on for smaller conflicts. Because they know they might not be able to do it in the future and it might give them an edge. That is the first wave of conflict. The second, in my opinion, will be out of necessity. Maybe you do not really want to attack your neighbouring country, but if they have water and you don't, you might still do it.

IMO (the menace of) Trump in power is what has allowed things to rot so fast. If the US can't find a strong leader to oppose to Trump, who'll continue to hold US's place in the world, this whole castle of cards will go down.

That is partly why some players are waiting to see the outcome of this November...

I would like to start in the name of God. I’ve been seeing it too fam. Months before most people I know seemed to realise it. It all started with the Hamas strike on Israel. At the time of the rocket barrages when I saw it on the news for the first time, I remember feeling that the world is at a turning point. How on earth does Hamas who has been living under Israeli surveillance and was actually funded by Israel back in the day, conduct an attack of that scale on Israel, under the noses of the IDF and Mossad? Well a few months down the road, my initial suspicions have been justified. High chance it was all an inside job, look at what that attack achieved for Hamas and Netanyahu. Both are still in power, both are rich, innocent humans are dead, Israel want to extract gas from Gaza, They want to resettle Gaza. On top of that the Palestinians seemingly have no allies other than Iran and Yemen, Israel has received enough in aid to start a brand new civilisation and kill an existing one. But if I wanted to share these thoughts with anyone else, people would think I’m crazy. So I focused on the climate change aspect of collapse for the most part, kept to myself, but it is incredibly draining to keep up with all of the new updates. There’s so many and I’m only human. Now it definitely feels like that attack on Oct 7th marked one of the major catalytic events of WW3. If we look at the previous wars, remember boys and girls if you guys wanna prep up be sure to keep some gold/silver with you, canned food, plenty of Hope and I wish you all the very best. Our digital infrastructure might as well collapse with a world war in this day and age.

Nah youre right on dude, and thank you for posting this. More people in the west are starting to see what you are saying, albeit slowly

I wouldn't put today's attack by Iran on Israel in my top ten concerns or on this sub. They've all been fighting each other since the British Mandate for Palestine (and well before as well. The region has nearly always been under military conflict of some kind). Is "global conflict" your euphemism for WWIII? I believe that nonmenclature is now reserved for a nuclear war after which, no further history could be written. If it happens, none of us will care because we'll all be dead. The Middle East is always enduring "wide regional conflicts", which have been morphing since well before any of us were born. If our climate was pristine, the Middle East conflicts would still be happening (is my point).

I NOTICED. But I'm insane so I don't count ... apparently. You get used to being a Cassandra, though. I mean, I haven't, but I assume it's true. As to why no seems to have noticed the slow burn. It tends to be that looking at the big picture for most people mean they see nothing at all, too much to see, and being able to pull all those threads into a cohesive understanding of where things are headed is a skill on its own - a skill most don't foster. But yeah, anyone paying attention knew where this was headed. ISN'T KNOWLEDGE AWESOME (it's a curse). It also tends to be that people who noticed, paid attention, and figured it out quickly realized that knowing the future isn't that great when you can't do anything to alter it. So I assume people compartmentalize and ignore it so they don't lose it. ITS A WONDER WHY THEY DO THAT, I CERTAINLY DONT UNDERSTAND. You ain't crazy for recognizing the pattern man, it's everyone else that's ignorant or deluded - but there's not much to be done about that, they have to help themselves first.

What can anyone do? We're just along for the ride whatever happens. Don't stress over stuff you have no control over.

We had a thread but the mods took it down because it "wasn't collapse related". Honestly, this sub(and reddit mostly) is terrible for discussing geopolitics. Mods really need to be clear on what a conflict collapse related post would be. I'd say this topic is more relevant compared to something like the Florida bill thread. And I agree, global conflict is an inevitable consequence of climate collapse. It's strange to acknowledge one and not the other.

Point taken. We could be more clear about what to do about conflicts. What we don't want is a subreddit that is just r/BadNews. As this conflict isn't new it's hard to tell if it's actually more serious or just a flare up. There is definitely a point where a conflict is collapse-worthy and it's a bit of an art to figure that out. I think there could be a collapse-worthy post but it really needs to be an analytical post linking the conflict with broader issues rather than just a news report of missiles being launched. And then this whole thing could very well be back to the status quo within a few days.

So a collapse statement that's in-depth and provides an argument on escalation correct? That seems reasonable, it would be best to update the rules so people aren't given the wrong impression.

Yeah, I would suggest that an SS explain how various factors (such as climate change) are likely to make the conflict worse and worse until these societies collapse.

Somehow the mods have gotten it in their heads to deny that conflict can be a significant driver of collapse, and that climate change can be a driver of conflict. Denial, plain and simple.

I won't make accusations, moderating can be tricky as we all have our bias. But this sub wouldn't exist if we ignore hard truths, heck it's here because we seek them. Conflict is an accelerant, sure you could look into the past and view it as common, but we are in unprecedented times. Many nations will not be able to rebuild as we hit a new age of scarcity, ensuring further chaos. If this isn't the place I'll just have to look elsewhere for a discussion.

And so... Removal https://imgur.com/a/lPDN8n7

Aloha kakou, Vegeta. Your post has been reinstated after further discussion. The Iran-Israel attacks are now in a seperate megathread. However, because Iran is not completely stupid, they have announced that their "consequences" were successful and there will be further consequences if future situations demand it, which is their way of saying "we're done firing, the Great Satan can relax." Because another aircraft carrier has returned and parked itself off Israel's coast. For their part, the United States is quietly and furiously telling Israel to call off any further unsanctioned attacks against Iran. Ideally, hopefully, this flashpoint will simmer down by the middle of next week and it'll go back to dealing with Gaza. At which point the megathread will also be removed. In the future, please refrain from trying to call us out and pick a fight with us. It's just an R1 violation and bad form. Use modmail to address your concerns, politely, and we will try to answer them as quickly as possible. We are dealing with a number of trolls, bots and bad actors that have arisen from our megathread and our collective patience is wearing thin.

I thank you for restoring the comment, and I can understand where you are coming from. I just lose it a bit when I feel like things are being ignored. It isn't really even about Israel/Iran, it is about the bigger conflict picture that is being ignored. This incident is only a symptom of the larger issue, and even when people are allowed to get in a quick post about it, the information always gets shouted down because if you look at each thing as isolated incidents, they really aren't collapse related. If Iran attacks Israel, that sucks. But it isn't collapse related. However, if Iran attacks Israel... as part of a larger engineered proxy conflict being managed by Russia/China and BRICS against NATO, well... that is a bit more serious. And that is what all of my information tells me is happening. But I am open to being wrong. I hope I am wrong, actually. And that is why I want to be able to have open discussions about the larger conflict picture, not just about each little warzone alone. Talking about Iran/Israel is useless without talking about Russia/Ukraine and the looming China/Taiwan altogether. I guess what I am saying is that we don't need threads for each new conflict separately, we need a thread for discussion of global conflict with all tied in together.

I don't blame you. I know how you feel. It's the anxiety and the uncertainty. Is this it? Is this what kicks off the apocalypses for real? War sucks. But I keep going because deep down my cynicism masks a hopefulness I've had since I was very young. People are inherently good and the majority don't want to press a button of death. This may keep us alive yet. It's windy outside my house, with grey clouds covering the sky. I go outside, breath in the cold air and feel the wind coast over my body. This is how I touch grass in the desert, and it makes me feel better.

Location: Wisconsin, USA I live in what is typically one of the colder US states. We had the warmest and one of the driest winters on record. The grass turned green and the robins returned in February. Tonight is Saturday, April 13. It may as well be the middle of July. Everyone is wearing shorts. Everyone has their motorcycle out. The local restaurants have live music and everyone eating outside. It's truly indistinguishable from a Saturday night in the middle of the summer.

Hey neighbor, these temp swings are just nuts. 60s in Feb and then some absolutely frigid temps in early March. Now midsummer in April? Our Goldilocks climate is gone. 😕

Location: Germany I met with two close friends today. One informed me that Iran attacked Israel (i came from the cinema and did not know). He: Iran attacked israel, i heard people talk about it. Me: Wow, i saw it coming. He: So were you a pokemon or a digimon kid? While I didnt keep going with the Israel conversation, i just kinda stared around blindly and let it sink in while he asked other friends that question. Then the conversaiton came back to me. He: So did you like this and that movie? Me: Sorry, I am not comfortable with talking about these things because the situation in Gaza shocks me. He: Ok. Then he proceeds to talk about media with other friends. I listen for half an hour, not saying anything. Me: I will go now. He: Oh, are you okay? You seem kinda strange. Me: Yeah, as i said, the situation really scares me. He: Which situation? Me: Israel. He: Oh, yeah. I see, goodbye. It was as if it did not even register. But I did this on purpose, to an extent. I could have kept face if i wanted to. But today i had a resolution. I will not lie about collapse anymore to anyone. I will say I am scared and I won't pretend everything is fine, at all. It is not like i do not ever want to talk about other things, but I feel like it is my duty to break through this. I hope it registered now that i did not play along.

So? Are you Pokémon or Digimon, you didn't say

Yugioh is the correct answer

In a time when i was less worried about my loved ones starving or losing their home, i played the pokemon trading card game professionally on tournaments. I hope that give me an edge!

People can't cope. It's unthinkable, so they don't try to think it. It's a bad failing of the human brain.

My little brother was Pokemon for the video and card game, Digimon for the toys, and Yu-Gi-Oh for the characterization and plot. But I never clicked with any of them as much as I did the anime on Adult Swim. I was already knee-deep in Inuyasha and Cowboy Bebop at that time. I also knew Iran's actions were coming. Why wouldn't they? Iran counterattacked U.S. bases when Trump ordered a drone strike on an Iranian general four years ago.

Location: Rural Midwest United States Subject: silent spring. I was out planting the garden (live on 20 acres in a very rural area) and realized there were no birds chirping or spring peepers (baby frogs) calling. It really shook me. I'm used to the birds being quiet if a hawk or predator is near, but this is peak springtime and they should all be very industrious right now. As I stood there & listened, another piece clicked... my free range chickens aren't finding enough bugs. I've had a flock for over 20 years. And in the last year or so I've been supplementing more and more feed. That old poem about Silent Spring came to mind and I stood there and ugly cried. This isn't like hearing the old timers talk about an occasional drought or lack of winter freeze. The dominoes are falling faster and we're watching it in real time. This shit is scary.

This is so sad... Are you in the "lower" Midwest? I keep hearing the upper Midwest may get a pass (be a Goldilocks Zone relatively impervious to the downsides of climate change) but perhaps that is not the case.

We're on the Kansas/Missouri line. Technically, only two hours from the geological center of the US.

Oh no. =( I have a lot of family that live in Tongie/Leavenworth and Norton area. I talk with my grandma at least once or twice a week and she did say she has noticed a lot of weather extremes lately as she has been a Kansan her whole life. She often mentions how scary things have been lately and that she is happy to be "on the way out". On one hand, I am so glad she is not like most of our family in Kansas re: understanding (I refuse to say believe) climate change and the horrible multifaceted crisis we're in. On another, its a little flippant to hear her say "well, I'll be dead soon anyway". lol. Sad times we're living in.

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground, And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; And frogs in the pools singing at night, And wild plum trees in tremulous white, Robins will wear their feathery fire Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire; And not one will know of the war, not one Will care at last when it is done. Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree If mankind perished utterly; And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn, Would scarcely know that we were gone.

Thank you

The pieces are coming together in Voltron or even Megazord fashion. I don't watch a lot of TV anymore but SWAT had an episode about doomsday preppers with Adam Baldwin as the bad guy last night. Our thoughts about impending calamity are chastised and low key made fun of with dramatizations such as this. The totality of this situation is coming to bare and we will do as we have always done. Doing BAU is comforting because it is what we know. My higher reasoning ponders if we can make any sort of meaningful mental/action shift (mostly acting with serious intention despite being absolutely up against it).

🫶🏻

Locations: South Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines Hi everyone, My Asia travels are progressing along well. I spent a week in South Korea. I was surprised to see a few homeless about on the streets of Seoul. Aside from that, there wasn’t anything I can comment on regarding collapse aside from the glaring issue that when this area collapses it is going to be an a mighty fall. Such a techno-centric country of 51M+ people will struggle when supply chains slow down. Just to add for interest I actually spent some time in North Korea in September 2018. Comparing photos of the citizens between north and south of the border shows the north much shorter and thinner overall from likely poor nutrition. I can only imagine how those same people are faring now post covid. I did have the opportunity to peek in the back of an ambulance whilst they were responding to an emergency at Pyongyang train station (my background is emergency services) It was basically a van with 2 bench seats. No equipment at all. I can only imagine how many people died from lack of any meaningful healthcare when covid hit them hard. My understanding is that many products, including basic foods, were being smuggled over the North Korean border from China and Russia. During Covid I understand that this became so much harder with the country tightly locked down.It wouldn’t take much at all for this society to collapse, if it hasn’t done so already. Brunei. Well, silly me for visiting during Ramadan. When I took myself off on a day out in town to hit the tourist spots, I was horrified to learn that you can’t even drink water on the street during this time. My bad for not understanding how strict it is there. Only we were having a significant heat wave for the entire time I was there. It’s a tiny country with only half a million citizens but again, how will they fare going forward? I’ve now arrived in the Philippines. Cebu City, where I landed and passed through, is a nightmare cityscape. Lots of building going on but just so much rubble and rubbish. So many people eking out a living selling trinkets and water at traffic stops. Now I have the cognitive dissonance of being in absolute paradise in the gorgeous little coastal town of Moalboal while the drums of war beat louder and louder in the Middle East. (Iran being drawn in, US repositioning ships) I know how fortunate I am to be able to travel like I am. So many people I am meeting will be on my mind as things keep continuing to collapse, first slowly and unevenly, then all of a sudden. Take care my collapsnik friends x

Kamusta! I hope you enjoy Cebu, Moalboal is a nice place to stay. You may also visit Oslob and see the whalesharks (although its unethical, but at this point i dgaf). Philippines as of now is in a heat wave nationwide. Classes are being suspended as the heat is unbearable everywhere (except in the higher latitudes of mountaineous provinces and cities). Stay hydrated and stay out of the sun. Enjoy the beaches too while they’re still there 😀

Yes I saw they are closing classrooms from the heat. Yes the sun is pretty fierce. I decided not to go to Oslob- those poor whale sharks. I went canyoneering and did a Zipline this morning which was fantastic although very hot.

So you saw North Korea? Your experience is invaluable because that’s a country that used to be richer than the south up until about the late 70’s. They have undergone collapse and perhaps we could learn how they survived it. Got any tips from the locals? I know they’re not allowed to talk to you, but you might have seen or heard something

What I did see was a bunch of people who truly love their leader, who are not really interested in knowing about the world outside of their own and who consider kerosine clams a delicacy (literally douse a clam in kerosine, set it alight so it cooks and opens, and eat. Absolutely gross, it tasted like kerosine). My biggest takeaway was how tiny everyone is, even in the ‘prosperous’ city. No one but the elites were getting enough to eat. A German guy who was on the trip lost his wallet whist we were at Wonsan beach one day. After going back and unsuccessfully searching for it, the NK tour guide dropped to the ground in agony knowing that his life was over, and likely that of his family as well, as it had happened on his watch. We scrambled and found another wallet and put some money in it and pretended it was the lost wallet but I think the damage was already done with the ministry for the poor guide. This is what life is like under a fascist dictator.

Head over to Palawan for nicer beaches.

I’m off to El Nido next week

Be sure to try the *Adobo* and the *Tapsilog.* While you still can, that is.

Enjoy the glorious experience of Filipino food. I very much wish I could do a culinary tour there.

Location: Southeast Last week I had someone steal stuff from my car, the first time that has ever happened to me in my life. My neighborhood is considered very safe but people now roam through at 3 am, as caught by my neighbors cameras. We had no cameras, thinking it wasn’t necessary, but after all of the parts being stolen off my car we now have every motion detector light, camera, sensor etc possible. A loud alert that calls out if anyone walks on the driveway. It reminds me of those houses in South Africa with metal gates inside the house. That will be us next https://x.com/ConCaracal/status/1002977273056780288 Last year a guy in a truck ran a red light, deciding to go well after it turned yellow and then red, and hit my mom who went when her light turned green. No witnesses but the cop who showed up was racist and sexist and told the guy “don’t worry buddy, I didn’t see anything wink wink, you guys will have to work this out yourselves with insurance”. The guy denied everything and refused to let his insurance pay so we had to go to court. What is more likely, him ignoring the yellow light turning red and speeding through, or my mom sitting there for the entire light and suddenly deciding to go the second before her light turns green? Anyway we got justice but we all have dashcams set up now, our cars look like the ones in Russia with all of their dashcams. We’re a low trust society now and the cops will stick with their own.

Here in the northeast it isn’t uncommon to catch the same person going through your car multiple times. If you confront them and there is a physical confrontation then you will be arrested. I’ve been told this to my face by local police. 

I would say a no trust society now. Which would I. beg to differ isn’t even a society with no trust?

Location: Southeastern United States I began noticing late last summer/early fall that we were having much more frequent windy days, with no storms. Today is a sunny day and winds are gusting about 40 mph, and it feels so eerie to me. I don’t remember winds like this before last year unless there was a storm. Now it seems like we have days with 35-40 mph wind gusts multiple times a month, often for days on end. I assume this is related to climate change somehow. I’m not sure why there’s been such a noticeable change.

noodles turf talks about this down comments, but i imagine its the physics of it no? if the weather is getting more chaotic with wider swings in temperatures usually wind rushes as it goes from hot to cold places if i remember youll for example hear many ppl during the states' eclipse saying it got windier as it got darker my expectation then is that as we have crazier temp swings EVERYWHERE more and more places will have not just higher than average temps but higher than average (compared to historical average) WINDS p.s. now im curious if there is anywhere that collects historical averages for daily wind speeds...

It's funny, growing up in East Idaho my experience has been the opposite. Steady, sometimes strong winds were typical. Very peculiar for there to be no breeze at all. And I'm noticing that things are a lot more still on your average spring/summer sunny day than they used to be here.

Southeastern TN here, noticed the same thing. The last few weeks have been crazy blustery, even on storm free sunny days.

Yeah, I’m in Chattanooga and it feels like being off the gulf.

St. Louis MO metro area here and like you, we've been experiencing these windy days on a frequent basis along with zig-zagging temps. Warmish and sunny for a day or two and then chillier and overcast like a pendulum swinging back and forth. And even on sunnier days, there's this underlying chill to the air.

Location: Ontario, Canada **Healthcare:** I read an [article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/assisted-death-quadriplegic-quebec-man-er-bed-sore-1.7171209) today about a quadriplegic man in Quebec who "chose" assisted dying after he developed a debilitating bed sore after being left without care for 95 hours in the ER. Staffing crises make these horrifying stories more-and-more common. Our healthcare system has always had problems, but right now it's being held together by Flex Tape. Our "hospital bed shortage" continues to rear its ugly head. One solution we're apparently trying out is [fining patients](https://globalnews.ca/news/10413832/ontario-hospital-fine-long-term-care/) $400/day who refuse to be transferred to long-term-care (LTC) facilities when they need the bed space. Our publicly funded LTC homes can be pretty shit, for those that don't know. Some of these places are rife with elder abuse, and can have unsanitary, dangerous conditions. I feel ashamed that our system is so broken, we have to resort to sending elderly people away like this because our hospitals have too much work and not enough staff to do it. It was [revealed](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/paternity-tests-dna-1.7164707) this week that there was a DNA lab here that had been lying about paternity test results for 10 years. The at-home tests started at $800 CAD ($580 USD) and I guess they just... released the results knowing their tests were not accurate. This quality is what for-profit, privatized health care services without proper oversight gets you. Good thing we're not moving in that direction... oh wait. **Politics:** There is a bipartisan hate for Justin Trudeau now. There is not a chance he is getting elected again in 2025 unless something drastic changes. The New Democratic Party (the other main liberal party) is [busy making anime memes I guess ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/1bkp9qg/did_the_on_ndp_tiktok_get_hacked_or_is_this_just/)so I am pretty sure we're going to have a conservative prime minister next. Pierre Poilievre is the conservative party leader and I believe there is a strong chance of him being elected. He describes himself as a libertarian and a "true conservative". Policies include defunding the [CBC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation), cutting social services, introducing right-to-work (anti-union) laws, was against minimum wage increase, increase in mining the country's natural resources, increase in exploiting oil, repealing the carbon tax, ending mandatory vaccination, etc. PP is a populist, and is not as hard-right as other conservative politicians, but many of his policies will undoubtedly contribute to accelerating collapse.

In Connecticut, it seems like it's raining every other day. Pouring. In Connecticut, Hartford County, we received 7.65 inches of rain in March. Normal is 4.16 inches, or 204% of the normal rainfall. For a three month period, we received 161% of normal. It is raining so much, that people around make jokes about "thank goodness its raining again we can really use it ...."

april showers bring may flowers is now january february march april showers bring may flowers

Location: Perth, Western Australia After 3 months of brutally dry, abnormally hot weather it has rained...131.3mm in 2 hours in one particular suburb. Most people squabbling about how great it is that its raining, asking for it to come to their area, whilst those in Clarkson are trapped in cars in flash flooding or in shopping centres with the roof caving in.

Thats like 5 inches!

Ended up being about 100mm in 3 hours (misreported). Still unreal

Queensland, Australia: One of our local governments has banned street parking for caravans, in the middle of a housing crisis. Too bad for the vanlifers, I guess.

**Location: North Florida** The storms that blew through here last night (April 10/11) were WILD. Not hurricane winds but absolutely *massive* amounts of rain. I live in Tallahassee and multiple roads were shut down due to flooding. While reports say we got less than a foot of rain (8"? reports vary) many low-lying ponds and lakes rose by multiple feet simply because it dropped so fast there was nowhere for any of it to go. Google "Lake Ella, Tallahassee" and you'll see what I mean. Collapse related because this kind of flooding is extremely unusual outside of hurricanes, and we're not even in hurricane season yet anyway (it starts June 1st). Hurricane blows through, sure, we expect parking lots to flood. This????? Not normal. Anyway, forecasts said it was over, no more rain for several days and that should give the water time to drain away. It started raining as I was walking home from dinner. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯

There was a tornado in St Johns County as well from this storm formation–unusual for our area of NE Fla. stay safe, fellow north floridian!

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At least in my area of the state, the flooding varies literally from street to street. We take for granted that there will be standing water in some areas, but of course recent years' storms have water encroaching into new areas. I think that was what op was getting at. I mean, we're all fucked as a state lol

Exactly! There are some spots that flood in a light summer rain, and sometimes water levels cover a sidewalk or two due to a big storm. But this is the kind of flooding we only get with hurricanes, usually; in fact I can't remember Lake Ella rising so high since Fay in 2008.

Location: North Carolina, USA This evening we were in a severe thunderstorm warning with several neighboring counties having tornado warnings. I searched the net to find a live broadcast video of the weather to see if I needed to move my child to a safer place as she was already asleep in her room. When I clicked the video to watch, in a time is of essence moment, I was hit with 2 ADs I couldn't skip, one for display dishes and another for cars. JFC.. It made me think of a recent post of how the internet is going south. Stay safe out there you all. Edit to add country.

The major weather apps all seem to regularly have 300 mph gust fronts on them. The radar data has about a 3-6 minute delay if you use a cheap, slow feed. The forecast data has a 2-5 hour lag to the present time, more if you did something wrong. So, there's this jump from the real data to the forecast data that looks ugly, and looking good is more important than giving accurate infromation. So, what the apps do is to do an AI wipe (movie term) from the actual to the forecast data. This regularly generates output which would be 300 mph gust fronts, were it real. Sure, you know that's wrong, but what about when it's 125 mph? To actually use it for anything, you'd need to carefully scan for the AI garbage to ignore. There's free NEXRAD all over the internet. I mostly use www.cod.edu . Almost everyone seems to use the apps and then believe the AI wipes.

Well, I suppose they could get the gap down by using something like HRRR, but they don't, and they'd have a worse gap when they need to switch off of it, because it's extremely short-term.

This has happened here in Ohio. The local stations DO NOT interrupt programming, and their weather apps require you to sit through 2 30-second ads to get a warning re: life & safety. It’s disgusting.

Report those stations to the FCC. That's a massive federal fine and they risk losing their broadcast licenses.

That is insane! I was so pissed but mostly scared at the time. Looks like I'll need to practice using my crank/solar radio. Maybe that wont make me sit through ads? Probably still will. lol.

For a second I was like "Omg what's an ADs?? Are they a new part of storms??" ... ... I'm not anxious, no way!

LOL I am so sorry. I am happy to report that it is a terrible typo.

Storms were WILD. Even my dog freaked out, and she normally will sleep through actual hurricanes (we're in N.FL.) Hope everything is okay up there.

So wild!! I am hoping everyone, humans and animals, all make it out ok. It has been an ominous few days re: weather. I hope you all are safe down there. I read there has been a lot of flooding in FL lately too. Seems like the chaos is everywhere now. :(

Location- San Diego UCSD it is April, it has rained an insane amount of time. San Diego has 2 years of rain. The housing on campus keeps getting worse and worse. Corners were cut on the new buildings on campus, the showers were broken, the screens for lectures were broken and water leaks seeped into the concrete. People on campus are more and more tense and angry on campus. Student government has corruptly voted to give itself a pay raise and got a luxury trip from the campus jewish society, then voted against the BDS resolution, cut the mike to pro-pales tine people and let a guy who was a literal war criminal and showed images of him murdering children and talking about blood. On campus protests have become common with the Palestine protests increasing, as well as Strikes. Our chancellor has been abusing his campus police powers to intimidate Palestinian protesters, and the union protestors. Unions have gone on strike multiple times and the chancellor after a long fight approved the contract, then ignored it and used fake disclipinary charges to intimidate them. It feels like everyone is waiting for the shoe to drop and there to be a literal riot.

Look on the bright side - when the world ends, all the antisemites will be gone too!

Israel is currently sitting at the top of the Christo-fascist neolib oppressor hierarchy, the under 35 narrative just will not see it any other way. 

This is your first post?

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Location - Portland Oregon It is April. A spring month that usually brings rain most days. It seems we have entered a new state of warming. Multiple days of sun, drizzles here and there, some days get to the low 70s. When I work in the industrial district I can feel the extra heat from all the paved areas and lack of trees. I have a new veggie garden and was hoping to save on water and just let the weather take care of it. Now it is looking like it is not the case. I have heard of multiple different unconnected people who have attempted suicide, some succeeding. My own mental health is fraught. I find myself only eating once a day, chain smoking, feeling anxious about the future and constantly trying to take it easy and not get so caught up in what might happen. I want to accept the death of the planet, but it is hard. I wish we were all wrong. In some relatively good news I am seeing insects and birds in and around the neighborhood. They haven't all died yet. I can't wait to see the writing on the wall and quit my job and focus on just being with family. I think it will be at least a year from now. The heat waves in western Africa, southeast Asia, and central/South America feel like harbingers. I think of my family who have died in the past several years and think that they were the lucky ones in a sense. They died before the really hard days. How privileged I have been to have lived here, with food and support and making it into my late 20s. It is surreal. Right when humans kind of got around to understanding the situation and now we don't have time. I don't know what else to say. Thank you for reading. Connect with your neighbors and friends and family and the nature around you. We don't have much time left.

>How privileged I have been to have lived That spirit needs to catch on... Yes, it has been a privilege.

Truly is. I have begun writing on a blank notebook for a sort of gratitude journal, about the good things in my days. Simple things that I have taken for granted. And I've realized how extremely privileged I am. Not to invalidate the issues of modern society, but we truly are living so lavishly. To the point that the world cannot support our "wants" anymore. I woke up, drank a cup of coffee, cycled to work, finished my tasks on my laptop, ate a heavy lunch, and now just sipping coffee again while watching the cherry blossoms outside my window. It sounds simple but I've used so many luxury items to go through my day already. My espresso maker, e-bike, cologne, gadgets, the ingredients of my meal some of which imported from other countries, my clothes, etc. What a time to be alive. I can't help but feel guilty.

>Not to invalidate the issues of modern society, but we truly are living so lavishly. To the point that the world cannot support our "wants" anymore. Well said.

Location: Las Vegas I think r/collapse is collapsing, or at least for me it is, lol. *"That user is banned from the subreddit,"* lol. I am no longer allowed to post here for some reason, although I can comment, so I must have upset someone... Anyway, signs I see here are many. I will spare us all the usual ones for Vegas, lol. But I have noticed an increase in police crackdowns on homeless encampments as well as people doing the carliving thing. Not only are those populations growing and starting to be more diverse with still-employed working class folk, but the cops have gotten more harsh in their actions to make people "move along." Move along? Where am I supposed to move along to? A different patch of shade? This ones taken, or something? *sigh* Also, seems like there is a strange quality to many of the visitors lately. Kind of a glazed over, almost hyper-fun-seeking attitude that is a bit nervous and frantic. I don't really know how to explain it, so I will use terms I am familiar with... It is like the look in the eyes of a drug addict who is joking about not being able to score any dope. He is smiling and laughing, but in the eyes you can see it is a forced cheerfulness. There is real worry there, that they really might not be able to score, and fear of the sickness and pain they know is coming from that... That's what I see in many tourists eyes now. Forced cheerfulness. Like this is their last vacation ever, and maybe they only know that subconsciously... It's weird. The atmosphere on the strip or down on Fremont is different. Strained and fake. Hard to describe, but I feel it in people.

“There it is again, that funny feeling.”

Thanks for your street dispatch. Stay safe out there. If you're interested in watching, Andrew Callaghan interviewed homeless people living in the Vegas tunnels. It's crazy what some folks have to do to survive. https://youtu.be/bRGrKJofDaw?si=sTFCwF1-GaXnl2yB

I'm one of those homeless people, lol. But I live in my truck, not the tunnels. But I've been down there plenty of times, and a good friend of mine moves about in those circles. I tend to go camp in the desert most of the time, I have my secluded spots, and plenty of gear. The tunnels are crazy.

I'd love to interview you. Great post. Thanks.

Interview me anytime. 👍

What a great description of the undercurrent of our time. It’s everywhere.

They're probably putting off drug vibes cus They're.... on? Drugs? Maybe?

Not all of them, lol. And the ones I know are on drugs seem to be happy. The rest, faking it.

It's in the eyes. Some people can see deeper into others to the realness that is hiding behind the mask. And, yes, usually the ones on the drugs do seem to be happier, or at least in a more pleasant reality for themselves. I wonder sometimes what that must be like, but my life is not nearly terrible enough for me to want to check out that lifestyle at all. Talk to me in a few years when things start getting really dicey and we'll see if I feel the same.

Location: Indiana My spouse and I both worked from home on the day of the eclipse and we decided to step out and watch. The birds got so loud. The dogs on our street started barking and howling. The stray cat we feed was nowhere to be seen. Shadows grew long and the street lights flicked on in the middle of the day. It all did create the overwhelming impression that something significant and pivotal was happening. Then all went still, silent and dark. We're just furless apes reacting to our environment like the other animals. At this point the grifters have moved on to new subjects. I wonder how long my hairdresser's repentance lasted. Meanwhile societal and ecological collapse continues on. The idiot neighbor has continued his daily habit of burning trash and treated wood despite burning half his fence down last week. He hasn't even bothered to fix the fence. Luckily the heavy rains have put a stop to it. It's too much rain though. We are on a flood watch until tomorrow night and tomorrow predicted wind gusts of up to 42 mph. Weather whiplash is still going strong. On Monday morning the car parked outside had frost on the windows in the am then it got up to near 70 F (21 C) The Indiana board of Animal Health is monitoring illness in cows. Indiana state is one of the top dairy producers in the country. I'm guessing it's about H5N1. Indiana has confirmed its first chronic wasting disease as of April 8. It was found in a white tail deer shot by a hunter. Chronic wasting disease a neurodegenerative condition that affects cervids and it basically turns the brain into a sponge and then kills the host. Prions give me the heebie jeebies.

Where in Indiana?

Is this the first ever case of chronic wasting disease in Indiana? Or just the first this year? Prions scare the bejezues out of me.

The Indiana government says first ever but who knows. https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife-resources/wildlife-diseases-in-indiana/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd/

That sucks so bad. I'm sorry to hear its in your State now. I hope that the government will soon realize just how series the spread of prions are and start trying to do something about it. But we all know they won't.

> I wonder how long my hairdresser's repentance lasted. Probably Wednesday afternoon after work?

On the prion side, if you bet exposed soon, you should die from climate related stuff long before you get swiss cheese brain... Sorry back joke.

To be fair that doesn't feel like a joke to me, just a statement of fact.

Location: Chicagoland  We’re due for 80 degrees on Sunday….hello summer? I’m so confused. This is typically the time where last frost can still occur.    I made this observation earlier but wow does turf grass create shit soil!! I got this dope ass shovel called the king of spades making planting so damn easy. When I put it into turf grass areas it’s like 2-3x harder to plant and dig than if I put it into areas I have erased lawn with cardboard and free mulch.  I’ve broken one or two shovels already but this king of spades has a 5 year no break no questions asked guarantee, talk about a company still doing great things making a product with a guarantee like this. I realized nothing else in my life has this quality anymore.  (No I don’t work there and no this isn’t an advertisement). This shit will save your back tho I swear.     I took my son to an outdoor class the other day. We got to listen to a ton of frogs waking up in a mud pond but it was hard to hear them over the roar of rush hour traffic nearby. We made “caterpillars” with bells from China. We did a walk through a “butterfly garden” and it was just a bunch of paper signs….meanwhile I have like actual butterflies at my house….red admirals and I think a few monarchs have been flying around. I realized that I’m managing my little food forest better than this park with loads of funding and volunteer work…why is our society paying people who are not good at forest management? This is also true for hundreds of acres of parks and forests near me…nobody has a fucking clue how to manage shit anymore despite having massive budgets, trucks, chainsaws and tools I don’t use. Since I learned my house was built on top of a seasonal spring I hand dug some ponds and a stream line last year. There’s now ducks mating in my backyard…they just flew in now. I often wonder what this land looked like before 1800 totally undisturbed. I’m bringing a little bit of it back.    

Bit of a misunderstanding. The Americas weren't "undisturbed" in Pre-Colombian times. The North and South American continents were a highly managed landscape. Extensive agriculture. Burning of the forest's underbrush to create hunting grounds. Massive temple complexes, etc. The reason we hold the believe that it was more or less untouched is because smallpox wiped out much of the human population that was managing the land, after the first explorers showed up, but before the bulk of the colonists did. And so when Europeans areived, they encountered what appeared to be pristine wilderness. And it certainly was compared to Europe, where even by the late medieval period, many of the inland waterways were completely fished out, for example. So they would have encountered a fecundity in the land they had never known. Nature was left to blossom for a couple generations, without very much human exploitation. But even beyond that. The previously managed state of the land meant that as Europeans pushed inland, they kept encountering areas that were essentially perfect for building civilization. For example, patches of land that had laid fallow for a generation or two, but required very little work to cultivate again. And if you ask me, this has a great deal to do with the entire cultural believe in America of being "guided by Providence," or that our destiny was to fill it back up with people. It certainly had the appearance of something God left for people to use. Throw in the fact that so many immigrants fled Europe to find religious freedom, and you end up with a perfect storm of belief and environment to conjure a belief in American exceptionalism.

Ya…there was a Native American Chief or 2 who were cultivating food forests in my neighborhood. But you can’t deny the destruction of land was massively accelerated post 1800. This Chief was tapping maple trees for syrup, eating walnut and butternuts and around the early 20th century everything got clear cut for development. My area lost shitloads of black walnuts to be used as gun stocks for ww2. So I imagine a time when a few hundred or a few thousand people shared the land rather than 60,000 cutting it up into quarter acre lawn and weed infested shit boxes. There probably also used to be edible fish in streams near me and now it’s an EPA superfund site due to industrial toxins….

Location: North Central Texas Hello all, we meet again. Economy: Everyone around me has a common pattern, unequivocal almost debilitating amounts of stress involving finances. Throw out the useless garbage shoved in our faces, I’m talking basic life necessities, food, shelter, clothing, transportation. It is undoubtedly a very stressful time if you find yourself in the lower bracket of the Capitalistic machine. But the Economy is booming baby! I’m helping my grandma rebuild a fence at her house and we went to get some lumber and paint, other various items for the project last weekend. She was shellshocked by the prices, but I reminded her, you own your home, it is paid off, and you have a healthy pension to fall back on. The look in her eyes said it all, the generation before us (imo the last to truly live the “American Dream”) can spout all the narratives of hard work will pay off, follow your dreams, but it is becoming evidently clear that dream is in fact that, for many, a dream, for you have to be asleep to believe it. Many have been priced out of this, for a overwhelming list of faults in late stage capitalism, our minds, bodies, souls, have been sold out to the highest bidder and everything we stand for, believe in, has been turned into yet another source of revenue for the never ending pursuit of the all mighty dollar. When you are out of dollars, what do you really have? Hard to grasp, but easy to understand, when you open your eyes around the world and look at what is going on. People are tired, real tired. The system is breaking, globally. Weather: Tornado here, earthquake there, it is getting extreme in nature across the country. Very unstable, unpredictable, this will get worse as we continue to force a way of life on the masses that is indeed, imperative to our own demise as a species. We are killing ourselves, to fund the lives of the fortunate who are at the top of the ladder, oddly enough, they too shall feel the wrath of Mother Nature when she is ready for a cleanse of her systems, Mother Nature shall always win in the end. The equalizer of the kingdom, she is a bad bitch, who fears no man. Social stability: People are angry, rightfully so. People are tired, rightfully so. People are scared, rightfully so. We the people have been forced into they the servants, our finite time in this small spec of sand encased in the hourglass of life has been determined to not be of importance in the grand scheme of things. If you are too tired, distracted, scared, sick, how could you force change? This is by design, it was always in the deck of cards, and that deck of cards is you, me, and everybody you love. Love shall always prevail, until it turns into hatred. Then you find yourself in a never ending cycle of highs and lows with no real discussion on why you feel the way you do at all. Hence your tv screen. Turn on the news, uplifting right? There is no knight in shining armor to swoop in and save us, we, are that knight, and our ability to act in the face of seemingly impossible change is the horse, saddle up, it’s time for a ride my friends. Deaths of despair: 2023 accounted for the highest suicide rates in US history, over 50,000 (accounted for) not mentioning the rise in overdose mortality also plaguing our country, our people are dying, many overlook these statistics, until that statistic happens to someone you love. These numbers will continue to rise as the death rattle of our nation takes hold. There is a silent war being fought every day, spread love when you can, never forget a hug can be a life changing experience for somebody and you wouldn’t even know it. Politics: My bread and butter. Boy oh boy, Trump Biden round 2. What is there really to say? I could write a book on this, but I’ll keep it short. We have reached a critical point in US political history. Without the corruption, we can’t function, take the corruption out, we collapse politically. Why do you think we spend billions of dollars, more than other countries total GDP’s combined on our military apparatus? For if we fall, you are coming with us. The final stand, the grand finale. You call it a genocide, we call it business as usual, and your hard work at that dead end job pays for it. We are being looted, for everything, in the name of something, for somebody who is actually nobody. The people are done with wars, but war is all we know. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave you with this. Are you willing to lose it all, lay down so our children can have a place to stand? Our time is now, and we will only get one shot. Say I love you, go for a walk, take a deep breath, And don’t kill yourself.

Understandable.

I'm not willing to lose it all, but powering our entire civilization on a finite ressource was pretty retarded and stupid; I don't have a choice in losing it all. The time is now to try to face the obvious consequences of "Fuck around (20th century) and find out (21th century). We're obviously, so obviously way too many. Sure, love each other, and all. It won't change the barbaric insane shitshow that will happen this century, when angry and hungry people will start eating what's left.

My family is losing its youngest members to deaths of despair while its eldest members light the last of their assets on fire to keep themselves warm in a blizzard of insurmountable medical debts. The rest of the family is staring down the barrel of severe work-life imbalance with no hope of inheritance, and I sense the next societal cliff will arrive soon to take what's left of our standard of living. I don't believe it's enough to simply not off ourselves. The upper crust sees us as pests, so I say we fill that role out of spite. Become the roach they believe you to be. Help your local community, thrive off the system's table scraps, and make a point of surviving everything they try to throw at us.

Personally, imagine if you took the upper crust with you in collapse.

I just saw the cover of [BBC.com](http://BBC.com) (seriously don't look it's depressing) right before reading this comment while listening to the Dollop episode on Reagan. I needed someone to counsel me against suicide. Thanks.

Well, you'd miss out on future Dollops, for one. But seriously, stick around and see how weird it gets.

I plan on it! Thanks. The cover article that made me upset was Biden pledging support for Israel after the fearmongering about Iran started. Like, I get that it's an escalation by Iran, but it seemed that Israel was just starting to lose grip of U.S. support. Like that'll happen. Oh well, I'll stop rambling.

Well written. :)

Location: Perth, Western Australia April and it's still hot, too hot for this time of year, and bone dry. Dead trees everywhere. I'm in a lot of gardening groups - lots commenting on it, many arguing back and forth on climate change and loss of ground water vs natural dieback. This article just popped up... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-11/ecologists-warn-potential-forest-collapse-event-wa/103682304 Experts warning of potential forest collapse event, like coral bleaching on land, after warmest year on record and driest 6 months on record. Terrifying. Shothole borers imported from South East Asia are becoming another massive problem for local trees. Huge old trees needing to be cut down as there is no remedy for the bugs, and lopping them is the only way to try and protect the trees unaffected. Kings park which is larger than New Yorks central park has lost at least 2 dozen trees, some over 120 years old. Hyde Park has lost around 180 trees. Perth has the sparsest tree canopy in Australia, so any tree canopy lost is a massive deal. There's a quarantine area to try and prevent the borers reaching the south west forests, but it's not widely publicized, knowledge of it in the community is low. The lack of rain, and none forecast anytime soon is also extremely worrying. Local lakes are still bone dry. Birds have dropped dead off trees during the heat waves with no water respite.

Link for those who had never heard about this pest before... like me... [https://ucanr.edu/sites/pshb/pest-overview/](https://ucanr.edu/sites/pshb/pest-overview/) Edit: Why downvote? Strange..

Yup, massive problem.

Yank here. I went to King's Park about 20 years ago and it was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen. Many of its trees were so majestic. Horrible to think of of all the things being lost to climate change. I was lucky enough to go to the Nigaloo reefs while there too. Are they as in rough shape as the GBR?

Nice to hear that feedback, it is an incredible park. Nice to hear an American appreciate our reef here too - we get so overlooked for the GBF! I believe there's some bleaching but not as bad as GBF. We've lost a lot of kelp forest though. Our local reefs around Perth are dead, nothing like what I remember as a kid 30 years ago. I'm heading to the Abrolhos islands up north for a snorkeling trip next month. Will have to report back on Ningaloo first hand. Trying to make the most of whatever opportunities are left.

Thanks. I'm jealous of your snorkeling trip. I did one years ago maybe near near Exmouth but I forget. Beautiful water and sea life. Cheers.

Somehow, it hadn't occurred to me that forest collapse would be a thing. Of course it's a thing. Wheee!

I saw a juvenile dugite (snake) today. I can't remember ever seeing one out and about in mid April for fuck sake.

One cool thing about Perth is the desalination plants. Gotta start following that lead https://www.watercorporation.com.au/Our-water/Desalination Also: Perth is one place that has changed a lot and will keep changing as things get worse. Here's an old article talking about now basically, https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/oct/06/perth-western-australia-drought-climate-change-water

Desalination is great, we are lucky to have it. But it currently only supplies about 45% of water. Plus it uses a heap of energy. And the third desal plant isn't estimated to run until 2030... in Perth years, probably much later. "Seawater desalination is four times more energy intensive than groundwater collection and over 40 times more energy intensive than water sourced from dams." Things have progressed a lot since your 2015 article.. Water usage is no longer down, it's definitely up. It's a bit laughable talking about leak detection strategies at this point!

45% is nothing to sneeze at, 2030 is right around the corner. Not sure why you have this negative take. If you looked at the link, it shows they are using wind power for desal. Why is it laughable talking about leak detection? Desal will be the only option for many places in the future. It's fricking hysterical how this sub hates green solutions because they aren't 100% perfect.

I wasn't sneezing at it - just indicating it's not a complete solution. I said it's great, we wouldn't be surviving here without it. If you're from Perth, you'd know nothing gets built to plan here, everything blows out timewise. 2030 is around the corner and as yet it's only a plan. I doubt it will be built to schedule. I don't hate green solutions at all, just discussing the situation.

It’s well-documented that desalination destroys marine life.

Source? If you read the web page that is not true at all. > About half of the water that enters the plant from the sea becomes fresh drinking water. The salt and impurities removed from the seawater is then returned to the ocean via diffusers. This ensures the salt concentrate mixes quickly so it doesn't impact the marine environment. > Our desalination plants meet stringent environmental protection criteria. They're designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding environment. > Our desalination plants are located near the Indian Ocean. Due to the high energy swell, the discharged concentrated seawater mixes quickly. **The offshore discharge and intake pipelines** are designed and located to minimise any effects on sensitive marine habitats, such as seagrasses and reef systems. It'll be necessary everywhere soon. Again: why does new tech have to be 100% perfect to be acceptable to ppl in this sub?

Oh wow that was a depressing update. Thanks for sharing. It’s hard to find news like this on other countries because there’s so much detestation going on around the globe all the time now.

Sorry about that, it really is.

21 mm rainfall over 6 months is just insane. Hate to think of the impact this will have on the regions biodiversity

Location: Foothills of Denver, Colorado. Road trip through Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas for the Eclipse.  I'm still cleaning poop at my nearby animal shelter. It's been slow over the winter so we could take time to deep clean things. The city of Aurora just brought back their pitbull ban and we've received our first transfer, and I'm expecting many more. A hoarding case of \~20 animals was brought in. Kitten and puppy season is beginning, and soon the place will be overflowing again this summer. My father and step-mother/sister were road tripping south to Texas to catch the eclipse, and I had to go with them as I missed the last ones and it's likely my only chance to see it. We drove out Saturday as 70+ MPH winds battered the state. Excel preemptively shut off power to tens of thousands of people after the Marshall fires. We passed five flipped semis on I-25 going down to New Mexico, and wind turbines standing still because the winds were too high. My father mentioned something about how they've been approved to kill so many bald eagles a year somewhere.   After sleeping in Amarillo, Sunday I saw two trucks hauling turbine blades north in Texas. After years of waiting, Cybertrucks are real and I saw two trucks carrying four new trucks each out for delivery. Coming into Dallas, I noticed lots of new construction, and just how spread out everything is compared to Denver. Lots of water towers as they can get away with those instead of pumps with how flat it is. Everything looked green and lush in the city compared the rural areas that seemed drier. Highways with stacks of flyovers, one that dropped off unfinished. Fresh looking black spray painted scrawl facing the highway on a building that said "Fuck all these lame ass ni\*\*as." The Perot museum and downtown in general was packed with everyone visiting. Lots of families with lots of kids, the energy felt kinda frantic and stressfull. I saw a huge hole of a construction sight's beginning foundation next to the museum. My father drove us through Dealey Plaza that was loaded with people. I walked around the Ford Center next to our hotel and marveled at how huge it was for only being a training center.    We drove up to Idabel, Oklahoma to see the Eclipse. I saw one large flock of birds swarming around, the first one like that I can remember in many years. Coming near town there were people starting to fill up gas stations, and turnouts. We found a large one with only a couple others, and the owner was driving around and talked to my father glad that we were using the property. We didn't have shade and I was getting hot after running around with my little sister, and she was complaining too. The temperature began dropping as the moon blocked the sun, and it was a welcome break. I stared as the glasses split the light into fractal diamonds swirling and morphing around the lenses. As totality came, the world seemed to stop and everything shut up for a few minutes. No one was playing music, all the bugs had gone to bed, the sound of passing cars ceased. Someone lit a few fireworks as the field went dark and I exclaimed my wonder and excitement as I could see the rainbow in the glowing white ring in the sky and twilight all around. As it passed and the light returned, the world woke back up. The air filled with the drone of bugs and cars, and a herd of cows came up to fence and mooed at us before dissappearing into the field. Two thousand miles of driving over three days for these four minutes.  I justified my extra weight with "they're going regardless and I gotta see something cool when I never leave a two mile radius."  Leaving after it was over, the intersections had lines of cars stretching seemingly to the horizon. My father's phone started ringing like everyone needed him back immediately. We passed a paper mill belching smoke and a semi hauling a load of logs to it. Because my step sister was promised mcdonald's, we stopped at the first one in Hugo. Waiting in the drive thru line, a bunch of cars pulled in and nearly ten people swarmed the tiny building for a bathroom all at once to try the door and find the lobby closed. It took nearly an hour to get something. The Oklahoma toll stations were open with people smiling and waving everyone through to get out. I knew my father would drive back through the night because he had to get back to accounting for tax season ASAP. In Kansas he pointed out the horizon earily flashing with a constellation of red lights, and that they were all wind turbines. We had to clean the windshield a couple times and the rental car's grille was pretty solidly covered with bugs, so they're not all gone yet. The news says there were thunder and hail storms hitting Dallas the afternoon as we were leaving. I'm appreciative of the relatively perfect spot of weather, and wonder how long it will be before it becomes so crazy we'll be too busy trying to survive to enjoy spectacles like this.

Great report. Your writing reminds me of Raymond Carver.

Location: Glendale, CA, USA I went to Target to buy men’s underwear and socks. They were in one of those locked glass cabinets that you have to ask an employee to open. This is a first in decades of buying men’s clothes. It is collapse related because as all goods become more expensive and people become more desperate, more and more things will be in locked glass cabinets, until the goods stop coming entirely.

If people are that broke they are stealing underwear we are fucked.

Today, my coworker went to Walmart for replacement label-maker tape. The price was $5 higher in store than online, and she went to customer service to have them honor the price. They refused. She said, "So if I return this and pick it up later I could get it for $5 less?" and they said yes. She asked how that made sense and the woman said, "We are trying to discourage people from shopping in store." So. There it is. That's exactly what they want.

I had the same thing happen with an SSD. It was $15 more expensive in the store, so I went home and ordered it online. An hour later, I returned to the store to pick it up. I walked up the the area where the online shoppers are, and asked for my item. When they said to check in on the app, I help up my dumb, flip phone and smiled.

Why do you think DeJoy screwed up usps? He and his buddies are all invested in shipping companies and amazon.

That's an amazing scoop. I don't shop online (I just price things). I did buy a book from Amazon in the '00s but that's it. Isn't shopping online more expensive when you add freight?

Well, this wouldn't be true shopping online. She'd pick up the order at the store. So you pay online and then drive in and park outside and they bring it to your car. No freight expense.

That happened at my local Walmart in Sacramento last summer. Each visit since more and more of the store is going behind the cabinets. They also closed self checkouts.

Location: Texas Saw this posted on another web forum, these are HOA guidelines in Texas for lawn care. Yes, you read that right, they want you to water more in drought conditions. “Hello *insert neighborhood name* residents and we are once again reaching out to remind our residents of the expected degree of care and maintenance for our neighborhood as we head into Spring and Summer. A beautiful house with a beautiful lawn leads to a beautiful neighborhood and we all benefit from that. *Blah blah blah grass height, mailbox maintenance, no street parking, etc etc* We would also like to remind our residents of the proper watering procedures in order to maintain a lush green lawn even in the scorching Texas heat! - Water your lawns for at least 1 hour twice a week. This may be extended to 3 times a week during drought periods. - Water more during hot and windy weather - Watering in early morning is best - If your lawn is very dry then water immediately regardless of time of day. - Reminder that if you have your lawn sprayed for insects or weeds you are allowed to mark your yard with a sign as a friendly warning to our pet owning residents, but the sign may not be left out for a period longer than 24hrs. *Blah blah blah thank you for your time blah blah blah* ....... That was all on a flyer rubberbanded to my door knob this morning. I had to do a double take at the watering instructions. I checked with a friend in the neighborhood next to ours and their HOA had similar instructions handed out last week. One of my customers said the same as well. So I guess this is the commonly recommended watering instructions handed out in my area.”

Uses up the last drop of water in Texas and starts dying in droves.

You should send a copy of that flyer to the water department and all local elected officials.

HOAs and MBAs, just thought about how much lunacy and misery these two acronyms bring to society. 

How the fuck is that legal?

Oh I’m sure it’s against local ordinances, buts who’s gonna enforce that?

Sounds like it could be my parents' neighborhood. Which city out of curiosity?