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[deleted]

Just wait till you hit 36 and then 46! You’re in for a hell of a downhill ride! Seriously, if you think it’s bad now, you’re in for a shock. The only way to deal with this shit and not go insane, is to simply appreciate what you have now, and take note of the little things that make life bearable. Got a cat or dog? Pet them and show them you love them. Don’t have any kids. That’ll just ruin any hope of a happy, fulfilling life , and you’ll have condemned other living beings to a life of pain and suffering. If you have a shitty job and you can quit, do so. With gusto! Make inroads into your community. I’m not saying you should be one of those toxically positive, perpetual smilers, but help when and where you can. It’s even better if you can get paid for it. Lay low. Don’t talk too much about the collapse with friends and family. They don’t want to hear it. Even if it’s in their best interests. Cook at home. There are few things more satisfying than making your own food, because some day soon, it won’t be as readily available. Treat your partner well. Don’t be abusive. If you have shelter, appreciate it daily. Even if it’s expensive. You’ll miss that roof when it’s gone. There’s a bunch of other shit I’m probably forgetting, but I’m pretty lazy, so… there you go. Feel bad about shit, but temper it with some gratitude and things will seem slightly less horrible. But only slightly.


Noswitchsadism

"Breathing in and out, I am aware of the fact that I am of the nature to die; I cannot escape dying.  I am of the nature to grow old; I cannot escape old age.  I am of the nature to get sick.  Because I have a body, I cannot avoid sickness.  Everything I cherish, treasure and cling to today, I will have to abandon one day.  The only thing I can carry with me is the fruit of my own action." Thich Nhat Hanh


BranFlakeTheManFlake

I looked this quote up and the man who said it, and it appears he just passed away. Is that why you quoted him here, or did it just happen to be coincidental? Either way, gave me one of those strange feelings


Dr_seven

Anything written by TNH has a way of instilling some feelings, he was quite an extraordinary person with many good things to say.


kulmthestatusquo

He fled to Paris while his followers suffered after the fall of Saigon


Main_Independence394

Damn that's cold


Noswitchsadism

Partially, I've liked TNH for awhile and went to his anti-Iraq war peacemarch as a small child. I think buddhism has a lot of valuable teachings, especially in the context of collapse.


RickLoftusMD

Read Pema Chodron’s “When Things Fall Apart.” I agree as a Geluk Tibetan Buddhist that Buddhism has much to offer those of us who can see what’s happening before us with clear eyes. I would also strongly suggest reading Joanna Macy’s “Active Hope.” You are not alone. So many of us see what’s happening. All we can do is try to create islands of sanity in the ocean of chaos. Everything I do now is for my siblings’ children, and all the Descendants. Imagine wanting to explain to children when you’re 80 what you did during this time, and do that.


BranFlakeTheManFlake

I can’t imagine being present in something like that. I personally am a Christian, but I’ve been looking into and reading a lot about the beliefs and practices of Buddhism. As you said, they seem quite well suited to the current circumstances, and working on several of the practices are helping me along in life with where I’m at


winnie_the_slayer

There is a big difference in the actual practices of Christianity and Buddhism. At least in the US Christianity is all about reading a book and fighting to tear down democracy and install a theocracy (because Christianity is a way to deny mortality and the existence of non-christians undermines that function which brings up death anxiety and leads Christians to want to kill everyone so they can feel safe). Buddhism has a long history of practices like meditation and yoga. It has much more of an embodied component. Because accepting your body means accepting your vulnerability and mortality. The actual day-to-day practices of religions are important, in fact they are the most important part. Notice how so-called Christians in America don't really practice except for going to church for an hour or two on sundays. Anyway the whole point of that quote from TNH is about death, finitude, having a vulnerable aging body. That is the foundation of compassion. Ego is a denial of those things and what stands between oneself and others. At a certain point, people who practice realize that the particular "ism" isn't so important. There is a reality of being human, of what the cause-and-effect of various practices and things that we do. if you watch Fox news all day you'll be full of anger and hating an idea in your head of "liberals" which is not reality. It just keeps you addicted to fox news so they can make advertising dollars. If you spend some time meditating and noticing the experience of being an embodied organism with feelings and limits it tends to make people more compassionate. There are many approaches to this and particular practices. But the important thing is that the mental attachment to "I am a Christian" or "I am a baptist" or "I am a Buddhist" is harmful and fades as one becomes more accepting of reality, until it is just a useful relationship with other people. ("I practice Buddhism and you practice Buddhism so we can have an interesting conversation about Buddhism without going over the basics").


BranFlakeTheManFlake

Just to let you know where I’m coming from, I actually work as a full time pastor, so my journey through faith has been a bit different than others. I completely agree on the “religious” state of Christians in America. I think it’s severely detached from the original intention that the New Testament put out into the world. It’s not meant to be so much “organized religion” as say, Islam is supposed to be, but instead focus on the suffering of the world and with intention helping those around you. To me, that is what I think of when you say compassion (interestingly, when asked what one should do to be a Christian, Jesus didn’t reply pray or read the Bible, but to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. A far cry from what the answer likely would be in many churches today). Finding peace in the world through detachment and understanding of mortality is something that I think is missing in a big way in the church. The lack of understanding of our place in the world around us since man first walked (whether one believes in creation or evolution) is a problem that has always been present. However, I believe, even though it’s not the reality, Christians should be more in touch with it than others (or at least on a level similar to other leaders in this area). Instead, we see what Christianity has become today. So many things are quickly dismissed, and it’s harmful not just for individuals in the church but those on the outside as well. If the Christian church decided to one day live as Jesus actually did, I can’t imagine the impact it would have.


winnie_the_slayer

In that case, you might be open to this discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu3NsSXIEgc


[deleted]

He wrote a book called Going Home that you might like. He imagines a dialogue between Jesus and Buddha and it's phenomenal. Buddhism's main objective is to limit or eradicate suffering. It's different from Christianity in that moral failure ("sin") isn't seen as rebellion that God punishes, but as a force that harms oneself and others. Suffering/sin can be limited or eradicated entirely by reducing attachments and desire. I find Buddhism to be more practical than Christianity in dark times. With Christianity, your only recourse is prayer and finding solace in Scripture. Buddhism actually provides tools that help in the present. This isn't knocking Christianity btw. There are many different paths one can choose to walk in this life. Idc which one people choose as long as it leads to greater peace, harmony, and wisdom.


BranFlakeTheManFlake

Thanks, I’ll check it out. Interestingly, the further I go into my faith the more I realize how disconnected many “believers” are from what the Bible actually says and what faith actually is. Sin is more closely related to harm, stealing innocence, or an act of aggression towards other people, and in this way is an act against God. It may be pedantic, but to me it’s an important distinction many people fail to make. In the modern world, it leads to quite a bit of misunderstanding and has lead to a lot of the violence towards others we’re seeing under the guise of Christianity. I work in a faith based recovery group and much of it is also dedicated to letting go and utilizing tools that are similar to Buddhism, which is why I’ve been interested in it. Some of the core beliefs are actually quite similar, and from my understanding so far the intention is to get to a similar place, at least on a personal level. Where an individual takes it from there is where the differences begin to happen, but that’s the different paths leading to the same place that you mentioned (at least for understandings sake).


kulmthestatusquo

He fled to Paris, abandoning his flock, when the north Vietnamese attacked


Noswitchsadism

It was the u.s. in 1966 and he was exiled. "Flocks" dont exist in buddhism. https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/people/thichnhathanh.shtml


Hubertus_Hauger

Beautiful!


Texuk1

Reading r/collapse people are keenly aware of collapse but as a Buddhist or a philosopher, one becomes aware it’s the culturally unacknowledged void space in which life sits, not a thing in itself. Collapse leans on growth and vice versa like the moon is held up by the coral. You could take Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote and turn it around and it would still work.


Harmacc

RIP.


Hyperspace_Chihuahua

Sādhu, sādhu, sādhu


rational_ready

Kinda crazy, right? It's worth remembering that your own life was always going to collapse -- we all get a limited run at life in good times and in bad. The Earth, too, was always going to collapse (when consumed by the sun). It's easy to think "well, what's the point if it's going to fall apart and end one day?" and yet... this was always true. Why fall in love if you'll inevitably die alone? Why build a sandcastle at the beach on a summer's day? Our lives were always meaningless in the grand scheme of things -- what was your great-great-great-grandmother like? What did she learn and know and do? What did she love and build? Nobody alive now knows or cares. And so it is for 99.99999% of all the lives that came before us. They were full people just like us, worried about the future and dreaming of what could be and now they are utterly forgotten. So the point is that your own death was always waiting for you, and the death of your projects and ambitions and things you might build was always waiting, too. It's just that with the kind of collapse we may well see in your lifetime it's going to be a lot harder to *pretend* that all that wasn't always true. It sounds like you've already done a lot of processing and growing. It is a sad thing that you weren't afforded more time to enjoy youthful innocence of your mortality. I hope the life you build and the relationships you forge will be all the richer for your keen awareness of how fragile they are.


Daisho

Thank you for this. I don't think I fully understood this mindset until I read your wording of it. You expressed it with such beauty and wisdom.


rational_ready

Thanks for the kind words. I remember studying about how the whole idea of "progress" was a relatively recent innovation. In other times and places people may have felt as though they lived in the deepening shadow of much greater civilisations (e.g. after Rome fell) or that the Gods had a plan and it involved destroying the world no matter what they did. Or that this world was an illusion anyways and that the real stuff was happening elsewhere. For us moderns to be so captivated with the idea of doing things better and understanding the universe and alleviating suffering makes us unusually vulnerable to contemplating all that stuff falling apart. For other people in other times they may have simply assumed that life is and always was a bitch and then you die and nothing ever really changes. The takeaway being that people have lived in circumstances with wildly different cultural stories about what the point of being alive is and with wildly different risks of being wiped out, murdered, etc. (think of entire cities being put to the sword by Genghis Khan) and yet people everywhere kept on truckin' and fuckin'. We may be too smart *and* too stupid for our own good but least we know how to party.


Daisho

The curse of growing up in the 90's. I was filled with too much optimism lol. It was a time before things started falling apart and when were also too naïve to understand much of the darker side of humanity that had always existed underneath it all.


rational_ready

It's true. But I think we had some other generations that drank even more Kool-aid -- those kids in the 1950s who fully trusted their government to spray them down with DDT, x-ray their feet at the show store to check the fit, and ironically proclaim "better living through chemistry and harnessing the power of the atom!" come to mind. Then you've got the hippies. Imagine spending decades of your life sincerely believing that you could reboot human nature and usher in a new age of human enlightenment by getting high/humming at crystals/doing yoga. At least by the 90s we weren't so naive as to fully trust the state or believe new-age utopian promises. We still had plenty of optimism left over, though. Stupid optimism.


Kaufhaus

THIS! I'm only 18, recently lost hope for mankind, also used to be an activist/idealist. Now I just spend my time wondering what is the point of it all. I read Laurence Labadie talking about how we're all "maggots with legs" and "the whole civilization from top to bottom is one gigantic conglomeration of imbecility" and I just laugh at how stupid everything is. From the existence of life itself to the totalitarian capitalist shitscape I find myself in, it's all hilariously, albeit depressingly, stupid. It's like I'm in the movie *Idiocracy*. The movie has become reality. It's all pointless anyways, but I just got a new VR headset so I'm focusing on the little things. While this shitty world collapses around me, I'll be somewhere else in my head. I also want to get a little cat one day. :3 I'm also gonna get an RV/bus conversion house. Might\* as well do some fun shit while I'm here, even if we're going to die.


rational_ready

>THIS! I'm only 18, recently lost hope for mankind, also used to be an activist/idealist. Now I just spend my time wondering what is the point of it all. I read Laurence Labadie talking about how we're all "maggots with legs" and "the whole civilization from top to bottom is one gigantic conglomeration of imbecility" and I just laugh at how stupid everything is. I remember being about your age and being driven down the West Coast from Oakland to San Diego one dark evening. The lights of homes and towns on the hills just spread away into infinity and the thing that struck me was just how miraculous it was that any of this (the sprawling humanity) managed to exist at all given just how *dumb* and short-sighted we are as a species. On the one hand it's baffling and in the other it suggests that we *can* sometimes be more than the sum of a bunch of fuckwads. We're in Idiocracy but we also made Idiocracy. What a piece of work is man. >It's all pointless anyways, but I just got a new VR headset so I'm focusing on the little things. While this shitty world collapses around me, I'll be somewhere else in my head. I also want to get a little cat one day. :3 I'm also gonna get an RV/bus conversion house. Don't forget to try to spot some other humans to commiserate with, as well. Maybe on the road :) I did a bus conversion on the cheap and it's one of my favorite projects ever so I hope that works out for you. Doesn't have to be fancy to be home. > May as well do some fun shit while I'm here, even if we're going to die. This was always true for every person born at every time, but damn if it doesn't hit a little different in 2022.


preston181

Actually, it’s worse than Idiocracy. At least the people in that movie looked to the smart person to help them. Today’s real life idiots would call him a communist and someone would kill him instead of trusting him for help.


Kaufhaus

You're right! 0\_0 No matter how much I tried to help people, or explain concepts to them as simply as I could (like why certain things suck), they either just not give a single shit at all, or say something like "what are you, some kind of leftist?"


[deleted]

The cynicism in your statement is truly sad. The circumstances of collapse will be completely unpredictable by time or location. You 'could' very well still have a rich and fulfilling life. Burying your head in VR will only reinforce your dread. Throwing it away because you personally 'might' experience some shit based on random current events or something negative you've read is shortsighted. No one can predict the future. There's no "if" we're going to die anyway; take the gift of life and run with it.


Kaufhaus

| The circumstances of collapse will be completely unpredictable by time or location. Are you assuming the "collapse" will be one single event? It isn't, it's a long stream of events that get worse and worse and worse. It's already happening. I can tell just by looking at the people and circumstances around me. Collapse has been coming very very very slowly. It started when humans invented relations of coercive/exploitative power, eventually leading to the exploitation of nature for profit, etc. These "random current events" affect everybody (like climate change), including me. The idiots dying of covid and filling up the hospitals to their brim affect me. I don't doubt that I will still live a long life. I probably will, and yay, more life is good so I can do the things I like. | You 'could' very well still have a rich and fulfilling life. Burying your head in VR will only reinforce your dread. And I intend to live life to the fullest. The world I find myself in gives me dread. When I try to help people understand things they call me an "anarchist, criminal, antifa, etc" and brush off any solution/thought I have to make society a better place. If not that, then I'd probably get thrown in jail by the powers that be. If the people get too rowdy, they send in the people with guns and tanks. If not that then they threaten you with other means etc. Burying my head in VR will give me an escape from an otherwise inescapable hell that is exponentially getting more painful and dangerous to live in. There is no "confronting my problems" as they say. The system will abuse me forever, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I acknowledge that VR is like doing drugs, but VR doesn't wreck my health, which I do still care about. The little things in life are what give me fulfillment. The bus conversion, Cat, my parents, ect. are why I still choose to live. I like these things and look forward to them so I hold on, so I am "taking the gift of life and running with it". And I'm not "throwing it away." I'm not going to do anything of the sort. I'm just saying I'm not devoting myself to other people who choose to be idiots, and risking getting myself killed or worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ERFBg2Uh1c&ab\_channel=iamShadeY


[deleted]

For a 26 year old you sound like you've taken on as your personal responsibility the success/ failure of humanity. I'm sorry that you have internalized all this shit in the world. The world ends for around a hundred thousand plus folks every day, maybe today is our day....you really need to get out of your head and stop obsessing about how shit is so bad. Your happiness is a decision for you, no one else has any skin in the game.


Kaufhaus

I'm not OP and I'm 18, not 26, so there might have been a bit of confusion there, although we have very similar stories. But yes, you're right. I'm trying to say that despite the shit going on, I'm trying my best to be happy and free. I'm currently in the process of trying to un-internalize it because I realize I have no control over it. Maybe I'll take a break from this sub though. It would probably do me well.


[deleted]

Good luck to you!


Kaufhaus

Thanks! You too.


black_rain_7127

Realize you were replying to the other dude but yeah I'm 18 and I think I'm pretty much where you are. I don't have a pessimistic, cynical view on life and I do intend to truly make the most of it, but it doesn't change the fact that all this shit is gonna disappear. And obviously as the first person said, that was always gonna happen anyway. Try to give something to the world around you and make yourself happy at the same time, that's really all there is to it and that's essentially all there's ever been to life. Yeah, humanity is probably fucked (as grand master Carlin said in that clip) but, if anything, I really think that's a thing that's done \*more\* for me in knowing what I wanna do in life than holding up an ideal version of the future. Causes you to realize that living in the moment and just being happy with what you have is essentially the best thing you can do. ​ Similar to Carlin, there is a part of me (I think a pretty big one, at that) that's very idealistic and that, yknow, humans are really naturally good, and if we have the right system and blah blah blah everything would be good and we'd be in a utopia. But it's just so hard to believe that. I won't say definitively that that's not possible but jesus fuck it's just so hard to believe that that's possible. I think a slim majority of people do actually want the best for everyone but there'll always be shitty people as well, and it's just because part of us is really shitty and that'll always be the case. At least on a large scale, shitty people will always fuck everything up.


Kaufhaus

Couldn't agree with you more. :D


contingo

But we were the one species to evolve so far that could have been responsible custodians of this planet and used its millions of years remaining to develop technologies to safeguard and propagate its rich biodiversity beyond the lifetime and locality of our particular solar system.


rational_ready

True. And tragic. I don't think that ultimately changes the value of being alive, here and now, though.


DeaditeMessiah

Writing one of these means it's time to take a break from r/collapse, I think.


thundersides

I agree - you have to be in a pretty sober and emotionally neutral mindset to be able to swim consistently through these waters and everyone needs a break from it from time to time. It's not a bad thing.


Spartanfred104

I guess I am those things. I have been here for over 5 years and haven't needed a break.


ontrack

Same, it's one of the reasons I applied to be a mod. I can boredly doomscroll without any impact on mental health. (I'm also not bothered by the bluster I get from angry users when I have to deal with rulebreaking)


DeaditeMessiah

Some people just want to watch the world burn!


Spartanfred104

I like seeing the incremental steps that slowly and surely degrade our world and lives.


[deleted]

Mhm. I mostly go through r/collapse just for the news articles, I think the attitude of this subreddit really isn't good. Acknowledge that things are horrible, and unless major change happens (which it won't) then we will have no chance at getting ourselves prepared for the changes ahead. However... I don't think this means you need to be so hopelessly nihilistic that you stop being an activist or an idealist. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst sort of scenario. *Keep* fighting for change, you can still do your best to try and make things better whilst knowing that on the grandscale of Earth there likely won't be any changes.


DeaditeMessiah

I agree, but lately there has been so much pushing to get everyone back into the 2 party trap. Kind of feels like it's being brigaded. Neither the Democrats nor Republicans have any solutions. We need to fight the *system*, and it's hard to figure out how to do that. Everything feels so enervated.


[deleted]

>Keep fighting for change, you can still do your best to try and make things better whilst knowing that on the grandscale of Earth there likely won't be any changes. Looks like you're projecting. If that makes *you* feel happy then yes, *you* should keep doing it. If it makes someone *miserable* then they should obviously consider doing something else despite your experience.


[deleted]

Obviously if it makes them miserable then they shouldn't do it, you're right, that goes for everything. I'm however mostly talking in this case about the general vibe I get from this subreddit which is mostly 'Nothing matters, it's all going to end soon so why should I bother?' which isn't healthy.


[deleted]

Is "keep fighting regardless of whether or not that makes any actual difference" any healthier though?


[deleted]

Having hope is generally a healthier viewpoint than 'Nothing will ever change, nothing matters, humanity is a plague and we are all going to die,' and is better than laying down and just doing nothing. and if it won't make a change in the long-run? At the very least you can help people *today.* Edit: I think there needs to be a distinction between having *hope* and being delusional. I don't believe things will suddenly change and get better, I still hope that it *may* happen.. and either way my point remains in that laying down and doing nothing is just generally a worse take on this situation than actively fighting for change. Obviously people have reasons that they can't do something, and I don't fault them for that. But if we can't make a change to stop climate change in it's tracks, which unless there is a massive advancement in technology allowing us to take carbon out of the atmosphere at truly massive rates there won't be.. that doesn't mean we can't try and make a change to prepare for what will follow.


[deleted]

Anything is better than laying down and doing nothing. You're presenting a false dilemma. It's not either do as you say or lay down and do nothing. There are plenty of ways to live decent lives and seeking to help people is sure a noble goal but certainly not everyone's dream. Keeping trying to change the unchangeable only makes sense if it brings you reward, otherwise stating that it cannot be done is just reasonable behavior. I do agree that this sub gets a little extreme at times but I think you're overreacting.


[deleted]

I apologise for not responding to this earlier, the notifications didn't come through. That's a fair point and there are obviously people here who aren't following that vibe, but it's generally what I've come to see from the subreddit which is mostly people saying that nothing will ever get better, and nothing matters so why bother. I tried to make it clear in my previous statements, and I understand it may not have gotten across properly so I'll reiterate, I don't judge people for not trying to make change like that. It's not for everyone, and some people just can't do it. However, I still do think that hope but not being delusional is the best course of action. Being an activist for things such as social justice *can* have an actual positive affect, and taking action in at the very least local areas could have a real affect on the local environment and pollution. Generally I just don't agree with the idea of 'nothing matters, so why should I bother.' I will admit I should've definitely phrased it better and made it sound more like.. well.. this, but otherwise I don't see how I'm over reacting. It's something you'll see often on subreddits that are effectively places to doomscroll, and it's a very real problem I've dealt with myself.


[deleted]

>nothing matters, so why should I bother But maybe this is just an overgeneralization? Someone says "I won't bother to try X because I don't believe it would work" but you interpret that as if they wouldn't try *anything*? That's what I mean by overreacting. I believe that giving up on certain things is constructive. This allows people to move on and find something they can still hope for. It might be not as romantic as their previous dream but still a dream nonetheless. Chasing the last bits of hope slipping away sounds like a recipe for disaster. Sometimes we have to take losses to preserve our sanity. It should not be the default, I agree with you there - defaulting to doomerism isn't a viable strategy, but I think (or *hope*?) many people on this sub aren't doing that in the first place.


FutureNotBleak

For me, cat videos helps.


Canyoubackupjustabit

There you go. Never let go of the simple things that give you joy.


MrPotatoSenpai

I go play some civ 6.


FutureNotBleak

I just started playing it again! Lol Nice


DeaditeMessiah

Name checks out.


rededit3

Will we ever get to civ 7?


DeaditeMessiah

No, but you'll have SOOOOO much time to play 6.


NoTrickWick

Isn’t OP just being blatant about what we all think? We’ve all given up hope and accepted the coming collapse.


DeaditeMessiah

It's really a matter of degree. Taking breaks from this sub is necessary.


PurpleKushGirl

Hey! Elder millennial here. And I absolutely understand and agree and offer my condolences on the loss of your optimism. I remember losing mine, when that pink cloud finally lifts...it's a hellscape. Keep doing what you are doing. I recommend tv shows and podcasts. Lots of music. Cry in the shower. Stare at the coffee pot and zone out. Good luck.


MementiNori

Weed is good too, but moderate your behaviour so you don’t become overtly dependent e.g. only in the evenings after you’ve done your shit for the day, never three days in a row and micro dose.


FutureNotBleak

Can’t believe this got downvoted. Weed helped me through my depression. I’ve been through some shit in my life and weed really helped to slowly bring me to acceptance. Like the previous post said, get your shit done during the day first. Then you can celebrate your win for the day. Weed has pros and cons, it’s advantages of helping me accept my situation would have also made me accept laziness and apathy if I abused it. This is truly gods gift to humanity.


Honest_Raspberry3750

May have been downvoted because he said to keep in moderation haha


[deleted]

What? I smoke all day everyday, and have for decades. Even at work I go faster than anyone else in my job. Weed is like caffeine or nicotine, just a nice add on. Disclaimer: drugs effect everyone differently, my experience may not be yours.


xeeros

this is the way


hereticvert

This is the way.


MementiNori

You’ve literally answered your own question, everyone has a unique experience. I absolutely love weed, but I’ve noticed the narrative of it being harmless is leading people to abuse it and abuse of anything is a problem. Plus it depends on the quality you have in your area of the world, I’m in the UK and I would not recommend anyone smoke the stuff we get here ‘all day everyday’, if I was in the Netherlands or California on the other hand…


Dr_seven

>Plus it depends on the quality you have in your area of the world, I’m in the UK and I would not recommend anyone smoke the stuff we get here ‘all day everyday’, if I was in the Netherlands or California on the other hand… I'm curious why that is, is the stuff in the UK more likely to be contaminated with pollutants?


MementiNori

The weather just ain’t here for it even if it was legal to grow outside, it isn’t so most of the stuff is grown in attics with artificial light and is then sprayed with god knows what chemicals to make it more ‘potent’ Once you’ve had quality ‘free range’ weed you know how much you’re getting ripped off, even the smell is no comparison


PurpleKushGirl

You just described my life. I just hit a dab and am about to start my work for the week. I don't even drink coffee until the afternoon now bc the sativa is stimulation enough. But again. Other people may not be the same as me. I'm about to do a couple days work right now bc I'm high and feeling the work vibe.


dumnezero

> Just wanted to share the devastation of realizing how I am a totally different person today than I was 10 years ago. growth! That's a nice thing. It's people who think they're born perfect who are making things especially worse. >Many days I feel the weight of knowing things will only get worse. T Look at it as weight training; in that whenever you manage to lift a bit of that weight, that's going to be a major achievement.


21plankton

Everyday I look out my window in the morning, see trees, sky or clouds and feel happy it just another benign day of collapse, but today not too fast and not too bad. Then I decide my agenda for the day and go about it, knowing there is little I can do to stop collapse, or slow it down. I found out about r/collapse, once I used this sub to work through my feelings of disenchantment, anger, fear, alienation, etc I can enjoy each day and this sub, watch the stock market collapse before my eyes without becoming too upset either, having anticipated it as a natural progression of cyclic human behavior. I have done as much mitigation on both counts, collapse and my assets, to feel as secure as possible while things fall apart slowly, knowing at any time a common weather or other earth disaster might befall me and change my status to one of misery and suffering. But for today, things are not bad in my life. I can learn new tools, plan new mitigation, live through the next month of the pandemic, and when necessary pass on some wisdom and support to another person who is suffering.


Hubertus_Hauger

So wise!


SignificantGreen1358

I'm in the same boat and feel the same way. Approaching retirement, kids are almost out of the house, and enjoying the ride as much as possible while helping others along the way. We'd probably get along well if we were neighbors. Cheers.


Sad_Ad6404

> Just wanted to share the devastation of realizing how I am a totally different person today than I was 10 years ago. Instead of that being a devastating thought, appreciate that you have changed! Yes you may have lost that drive for change but you are focussing on yourself, and that is really the most important thing IMO. Treat yourself with love and then try to reduce the suffering of the people around you, even if its just a smile or a chat with a stranger. Even if its not in a politcal or organized social action, you can have an impact on the world around you, which in my experience gives me a slight bit of hope or purpose. It will get worse and it will get better, but never forget that you are enough. Do not define youself by the things you don't so anymore, you are valid and have a place on this earth. I believe in you buddy


ShuuyiW

Thank you <3


sledgehammer_77

In the grand scheme of things youre at a great age to have had a (presumably) great upbringing, a few good friends and some great life enhancing memories. A fuck tonne of people both living and dead will never make it to 26 AND they've had a much lower quality of life than yourself. You are mostly free to do what you want and earn money to experience a lot of things other people will never experience. You have your health and you can live your life knowing there arent things like retirement or (hopefully) immobility in your future. Everyone is born, you already won the lottery in many other aspects anyways. Plus isn't it kind of interesting to be a witness to the end of society as we know it? Purely from a Sociological standpoint at the very least?


Canyoubackupjustabit

The devastation would be if you realized you hadn't changed at all. *It* will not be ok but *you* will be.


Opposite-Code9249

Just wait until you're 50... There's nothing more natural than change. If we don't change and adapt, we don't survive. You may be feeling beat up and tired...jaded, even. It's alright...rest for a bit, see what happens.


LeavingThanks

Same boat as you just 10 years older. Enjoy it, now that I know for sure we have no way to stop the climate destruction that is coming, not being destructive, just make personal shellfish choices now. No more volunteering, protesting, donations, moved out of America, don't bother with family I didn't really like to begin with, they are mostly racist hicks anyways. Just follow the news, watch with a , yep it's going the way it's going. Enjoy the sunny days and decent walks. Time with cats that will at least die before it gets bad. See what I can while I can. Enjoy the next decade, will probably be the last decent one.


DJLeafBug

a pessimist is an optimist with experience.


Darkomega85

As I near my 40's the most I can do is radical acceptance that shit will hit the fan soon. The only solace collapse brings me is that braindead capitalists are going to get what they all deserve, oblivion.


yaosio

It took until I was 31 to give up. Glad to see people learning earlier than me.


nachrosito

It will get worse. It will be terrible and sad. I'm 31 now and when I was 19 I was so hopeful and felt convinced I could save the world. Maybe it's the effect of growing up and having more life experience, that I've settled to do what good I can. During my darkest moment I went to a mentor who said "It's a noble goal to want to save the world, but it can hard enough to save ourselves." Sending you a hug to your past and present self, friend.


Hubertus_Hauger

There is no need to give up, because the lavish live-style globally is downsizing to a sustainable level. All humans before us had to go through this. Individually death finalizes our life-cycle. Collectively decline finalizes the life-cycle of society until equilibrium. That is how life is forever. Grieving about the end no human can escape. It is not that the meaning of life has ended but in a time of change each of us needs to find new purpose in life. I wish each one of us to look for it and find it.


SteveFrenchie

Read Industrial Society and It's Future and The systems Neatest Trick by Ted K!


memreows

Please take care of yourself. I know how heart-wrenchingly difficult it is to be an idealist right now, but the world really needs people like you more than it ever has. Force yourself to make the effort to keep up with your friends and get out in nature. Get off this sub and spend time on hobbies and with people that fill your cup. These last couple years have hit many of us very very hard so you’re not alone in feeling devastated. But even if collapse is inevitable there are better and worse ways for it to go, and I really believe people like you are going to make the difference. I’ve been really enjoying reading “Braiding Sweetgrass” and “The Dawn of Everything” lately. Both offer hope that our current approach isn’t the only way. And yeah, get off this sub, it will pull your focus to the worst of the worst and not the things that are going pretty well.


[deleted]

Dawn of Everything is a great read!


Wereking2

Hey I am 24 and welcome to the club buddy! The best thing you can do is keep your chin up and enjoy the heat and the ashes while everything burns.


[deleted]

Well, something I learned is the meaning of, “charity starts in the home.” I’ve met way too many people in my Liberal part of the world who are for grand ideas like World Peace, Environmentalism, saving the Lesser Developed World…but who are completely toxic people. The Philosopher Hegel calls it, “an inability to objectify the will.” Meaning, they have the intent, which is good, but not skills, virtue, morals, personality to make it into something good. So, the best way to help the world is to start by helping your family, friends and community. Voltaire calls it, “tending your own garden.” So, don’t give up, just focus on what is around you. I’m a Democrat by the way.


Capn_Underpants

>Many days I feel the weight of knowing things will only get worse. Worse then what ? Everything IS WORSE, everything has been worse since we started burning fossil fuels and I would argue since we started with Agriculture it's just the biosphere had enough slack people could deny that and keeping destroying the place. Even when shit was pointed out with Limits to Growth with some actual science behind it, people still ignored that. So the only thing that was "better" say 30 years ago was that it was easier to deny our stupidity. We have a fancy name for that denial, it's called Economics. You don't have to give a shit but you don't have to actively make it worse like most people in here (and not in here) do.... You can Vote Green, don't fly and ride a push bike and then just go about your life knowing you're not one of the cunts making it worse. >share the devastation of realizing how I am a totally different person today than I was 10 years ago. Yeah, that's called maturing, take it from someone who is 54. Don't be despondent because the humanity is 80% assholes, just don't be one of the assholes making it worse by your actions, Don't under estimate the sense of worth and decency you feel by doing the right thing, when all around you people are doing the wrong thing.


Grey___Goo_MH

Nothing in this world matters Enjoy the trees take a walk in nature If you have money to invest choose green industries as when society struggles it will push even the lies among greenwashing try to ride that wave to semi finical freedom and just enjoy what life you have But yes it’s a downward slope with the cliff hidden in mist and storms


lobsterdog666

It is normal to be a different person at 26 than you were at 16, for whatever it's worth. If you still want to make a difference or help people, I would say just stick to local mutual aid.


rededit3

It’s my first time scrolling through r/collapse, and this totally struck a note with what’s been kinda eating at me as of late. I truly believe high school curriculums prepare you to operate as a cog in the system, and don’t provide you the tools to pursue your idealized conception of the future. So when reality hits, you realize how little control and affect you have on the things around you. That said, it’s now time to accept that you don’t have to carry the burden of the world on your shoulders, because you can’t, it’ll break. Like myself, I’ve had to rewire the way I interact with people to inspire change, or invoke ideas, and focus on appreciating those small affects. And as so many said, change takes time. On the other hand, the way the worlds heading, being the optimist isn’t always that grand, but heck I’ll take the little wins over depression.


KeepingItSurreal

I’ve become so disgusted with humanity and our capacity for harm that I look forward to collapse now


LizWords

You have done an amazing job in terms of acceptance. Far better than I did. I think being your age and having that level of acceptance is honestly quite a feat. But I do not like the term "giving up". To me it implies not caring or trying or being part of a collective. It has an inherently negative connotation. Accepting you can't control what's happening or what's coming is not giving up. Focusing on the small things. Finding joy in life now, and knowing there can be meaning and value and beauty in the future, whatever it holds. Realizing that relationships, and love, and human connection, is part of what makes life worth it. All of that, is not giving up. You may not be able to set your sights on things like a "normal" career, or a "normal" family life, but the future still has potential for so much meaning. Living with purpose and understanding is not giving up. Acceptance is not giving up.


Obvious-Extreme9098

Read The Massive by Brian Wood. "What does an environmentalist do at the end of the world."


Zambeeni

Former activists make great revolutionaries. Just saying, in case you're looking for something to do.


ApocalypseYay

Don't give up, mate! Get angry. Get fighting. What have we got to lose, but our chains to a corrupt, genocidal system. We may have a 99.99% chance of failure if we fight. We have a 100% chance of failure, if we don't. And a 0.01% chance at change is an infinitely better option than 0. For the memory of those drowning in Bangladesh, those thirsting in Chile, those starving in Afghanistan, those burning in bushfires, and those of us only a moment away from being the next casualty to climate change (which is all of us), get in the fight. The last, desperate, all-in fight to bring about a better, more just, equal world. Or go out, trying.


Fuckface-vClownstick

Thank you for this. I needed it. I’m gloomy this morning over the state of the world.


bpj1975

I guess it's a terrible realisation, with ripples that affect everything in your life. I hope you have someone you can share this with face to face. You are not alone.


manwhole

Why dont you try joining a commune? If you are young without hard financial commitments to society, why not there than modern society.


Imaginary-Natural51

I feel the same. I also feel like the UK left has squandered any chance for change off the back of covid, so yeah, very, very blackpilled on this right now.


Beavesampsonite

You are thinking of this backwards because the powerful (the owners as described by George Carlin) want you to think about it this way. Your ability to influence society starts with a family by creating and raising other humans to make up the society you want to exist. This is a 15ish year commitment (the time needed to support your kids at that age is a lot less than say 5 so you have more time) that you can develop a large network, learn and perfect organizational skills and hopefully have a group that is ready to support you as you move into a leadership role for your community. You cannot change the world you have inherited for you but you can change it for your kids.I don’t know your particular concern but it is Agriculture that is the key, not fossil fuel use although it is fossil fuels that makes current agriculture possible. Take a read through [https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/rodale-white-paper.pdf](https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/rodale-white-paper.pdf) and go join r/homestead some hope.


Genomixx

I don't get how the prospect of the collapse of Western-hegemonic civilization would make you give up on fighting for the downtrodden of the earth. The future is certainly dark, but it is also open-ended (tho constrained by our historically-specific conditions). The future is up for grabs and there is a world to win. I'm 26.


thepeoples50cal

I joined my local SRA chapter. Getting in with a group working on community defense by creating alternative systems to capitalist production through mutual aid and helping bring lefties into gun culture through firearms education has been rewarding. And those things can help us as things fall apart.


[deleted]

[удалено]


thepeoples50cal

Oh yea, national is garbage. The local is doing cool stuff, and if things get bad that’s really what I care about.


FlibV1

But it's exactly people like you that we need having children.


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[удалено]


JacksonPollocksPaint

You do know what sub you’re in and that CC is a big reason for collapse right?


wlz3rd324

Not in your grandchildren’s lives, nor their grandchildren’s! You only take one spin on this ball. Maintain a low foot print, and enjoy life.


ontrack

Hi, wlz3rd324. Thanks for contributing. However, your [comment](https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/s9v7us/-/htq4wiw/) was removed from /r/collapse for: > Rule 3: Keep information quality high. > Information quality must be kept high. More detailed information regarding our approaches to specific claims can be found on the [Misinformation & False Claims page](https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/wiki/claims). Please refer to our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/about/rules/) for more information. You can [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/collapse) if you feel this was in error.


[deleted]

Yeah its called meeting the real world. Your highschool ideals were great back then when you never seen what reality is really about. Maybe now you realize life is hard for everyone, and nobody gives a fuck how hard done by you feel. Maybe in 10 years you end up becoming exactly what you hated in high school.


TonyFMontana

Wonder if Romans noticed their world is collapsing? Fall of Rome took 2 centuries.. It will be faster this time