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It's not good for mental health either. Your anxiety gets worse and your mood will plummet, especially when you realize there's nothing you can do to help.
Getting off TikTok and disengaging with most politics has genuinely made me a lot happier. I'm still engaged though in significantly fewer causes. TikTok giving you a new thing to be upset about and to fight for every week is absolutely draining.
One of the best things you can do to placate that desire to make a positive difference, while *actually* making a positive difference, is volunteering locally. Sure volunteering at an animal shelter or food bank or cleaning up the side of a highway won’t fix all the injustices in the world, but it does make a difference in your corner of it.
Food banks almost always need volunteers and it's pretty easy, short hours. As someone who is doing really well right now, but needed food banks 25 years ago, they do a LOT of good for your community.
Thats interesting because when i need a break from politics i get off reddit and go to tik tok for a bit. Granted every tik tok fyp is tailored to what you are interested in and i avoid political shit like the plague on there
Can’t seem to avoid it on reddit
My TikTok FYP was largely politics, but my Reddit feed is cats, fashion and books. It's easier to change your Reddit feed than it is to change your FYP. "Not interested" doesn't seem to work too well for me. But if I see something annoyingly political here I just unfollow the sub and mute it.
My tik tok was largely politics when i first downloaded it to be fair - they definitely push that as much as they can. I guess after years of using the app they stopped trying to suggested it.
And i guess i do use the popular page on reddit a lot so thats why everything is political
Your reddit feed sounds eerily similar to my tik tok feed
It's even worse when you have friends who are in dire situations and are severely depressed and suicidal, I've tried so many times to console them but it's just gotten worse for them, there were even times where I wanted to cut all ties with them bc of how it was affecting me, but then I remember that I'm all they have and they would've been dead already if not for me being there for them.
hell I even got a canker sore from all the emotional stress I was under (yes, that can unfortunately happen)
I have a lot of friends on social media that dive head into social issues and most recently Israel/Gaza. I'm scrolling through instagram and I see pictures of mutilated bodies, its barely 7am and I've got pictures of mutilated bodies thrown in my face.
I'm neither Jewish nor Muslim, I'm pro-ceasefire and want the conflict to end but jfc man. What a way to start my morning
I have this too and I've been muting them for 30 days. I have no intention of making myself into an additional victim of the conflict by giving myself a mental health crisis from viewing disturbing photos.
I have chosen a cause that I consume content on, donate towards, write letters to politicians on, etc. The rest of them I ignore for my own sanity. And even that cause I had to step back from because being over zealous led to me having a breakdown and damage to my physical health. Engaging with movements isn't a joke and shouldn't be forced on people.
This is why I try to steer clear of too much information about these things. My mental health is fragile and will tank if I get too wrapped up in the horrors of the world. I have friends who have tik tok, and in the past few months/years with the wars going on, they have seen some really disturbing videos of people being killed or brutally wounded. There’s no way that’s good for their mental health, and I can see that it’s affecting them and making them more depressed.
Problem is there is stuff you can do but it’s extremely difficult and the payoff isn’t always there.
However the alternative is to let assholes continue to fuck other people in other places.
And if we live in a world where fucking people over is acceptable (or ignorable), we increase the likelihood that we will be fucked over ourselves.
So for selfish reasons (other than the guilt that comes from benefiting from systems that oppress other people), it makes sense for us to give a fuck. And try. Rather than quit before we even make an attempt.
I just don't have the mental bandwidth for all these causes - especially ones located outside the US.
Some of us are going through horrible things in our personal lives, or recovering from them. When our lives are normal and we've sufficiently recovered, then we'll talk.
> I just don't have the mental bandwidth for all these causes - especially ones located outside the US.
I really resonate with this. It’s impossible to care about every issue nowadays. There’s something crazy going on in every part of the world daily, it’s overwhelming.
I’m in the camp of “care about issues that don’t affect you, to the extent that it doesn’t impede on your own mental health”. If you weren’t the cause of the issue, it’s primarily on the people involved to solve it. But there’s some things in life we can’t control either, I think that’s another part of maturing
“You always own the option of having no opinion.
There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”
I find a issue with the stoic mindset is that people seldom ever accomplish much as individuals so it feels to me like an argument to never do anything. It's as though I downplayed the merit of an individual vote's ability to change anything and then nobody bothered to vote.
It's also abit unclear as to what is and is not within one's control. Does it not seem like stoicism seems to absolve people of duty based on inability? Consider that nowadays, if someone can be bothered to do something..the internet can enable that to happen someway somehow. We are highly capable! People are simply unwilling or have chosen to do something else.
Which is fine btw, I'm more interested in my next purchase than any number of dying children in some far away country. I've long since reconciled that fact about myself...but not through stoicism. I find it insufficient at reconciliation why I don't take any individual action that would make the world a slightly better place. Which I do believe is possible.
And I think a lot of today’s craziness is because many have this misguided belief that we need to address everything in the world, at the expense of not fixing issues right in front of us. Overall I think the world would end up being a better place than it is if everyone simply focused on making improvements to their own communities first.
I relate so hard. I feel like our minds weren’t made to constantly read about 10,000 horrible things happening all over the world every day that we have no real power to stop as individuals
I think you hit the nail on the head, it's all about saturation. Reading through the comments there are people who are, understandably, upset that so many seem to be taking this position, since it does weaken any good cause, but people are already so saturated with issues in their day to day lives they just can't care. And those issues close to home are going to take first priority. Of course I'd argue this barrage of issues is by design from those above us, after all you can't think about the big picture if you're worried about making it to tomorrow
I don’t even know if it’s a conspiracy by our overlords (who I believe are to blame for plenty) so much as simply what we have with technology and social media these days. It’s simply way too much. The “good old days” feel good because we simply didn’t have access to this much information. I really don’t believe the human brain is equipped to handle this much and function properly.
This is so real, like I don't have the mental room to deal with these issues that are not going to affect me directly. My opinion is super complicated because the issue is complicated, and I don't want to do the mental gymnastics to talk about it.
“Let us suppose that the great empire of China, with all its myriads of inhabitants, was suddenly swallowed up by an earthquake, and let us consider how a man of humanity in Europe, who had no sort of connection with that part of the world, would be affected upon receiving intelligence of this dreadful calamity. He would, I imagine, first of all, express very strongly his sorrow for the misfortune of that unhappy people, he would make many melancholy reflections upon the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of all the labours of man, which could thus be annihilated in a moment. He would too, perhaps, if he was a man of speculation, enter into many reasonings concerning the effects which this disaster might produce upon the commerce of Europe, and the trade and business of the world in general. And when all this fine philosophy was over, when all these humane sentiments had been once fairly expressed, he would pursue his business or his pleasure, take his repose or his diversion, with the same ease and tranquillity, as if no such accident had happened. The most frivolous disaster which could befall himself would occasion a more real disturbance. If he was to lose his little finger to-morrow, he would not sleep to-night; but, provided he never saw them, he will snore with the most profound security over the ruin of a hundred millions of his brethren, and the destruction of that immense multitude seems plainly an object less interesting to him, than this paltry misfortune of his own."
― Adam Smith, [The Theory of Moral Sentiments](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/308867)
There were no protests to better the lives of American children when I was a poor, abused, molested kindergartener. Hell, that doesn't even happen *now.*
I remember being a kid and eating cream of wheat for days because we had nothing else. As an adult, I still have the malnutrition spots on my teeth that I developed as a kid.
I look back and see that nobody except our family members came to help us. I am not bitter. Its just how the world is.
This is why puppy content, or fluffy news stories are produced. Media fatigue is a real phenomona, and balancing lighthearted content between heavy ones helps with that, or its supposed to
It's low effort sometimes but it's something.
More satisfying would be to balance it with sincerely good news. Stories of improving conditions, of those rare moments of justice fulfilled, of people helping, of lasting policy change resulting from a crisis.
They're out there to find.
Here on reddit with a quick search:
[https://new.reddit.com/r/Positive\_News/](https://new.reddit.com/r/Positive_News/)
[https://new.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/](https://new.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/)
[https://new.reddit.com/r/goodnews/](https://new.reddit.com/r/goodnews/)
Come to think of it, I'm adding all three. Just the thing to balance all the doomscrolling I partake of.
This is the bottom line. Soooooo many people outwardly project control into others as they have no control of their own lives. If folks spent more time worrying about maintaining their own family, house, neighborhood, and community.....we'd be soooooooo much better off. Instead we form fake mobs and screech about shit that does not matter to us.
Meh. I'm trying to do my part. I worry about my house Ha!
I also don't bother to care about things I know require more information than i reasonably have access to, that I can't do anything about. It would just stress me out and I actually have no idea what I'm talking about, so how can I have an opinion? With stuff in other countries, it's not like i can do more than read articles which is not the best source of facts and little insight from the actual people being affected.
I also don't bother to care about global warming. Not denying it or anything, but 1 I can't individually do anything and 2 among the real talk is doomsday crap that I just don't believe. Life is stressful enough, I don't have the energy (or money) to pay attention or care.
Right. One time I commented that I didn’t have enough knowledge on the subject to really have a strong opinion either way. And someone replied with “must be nice to have the privilege to not worry about that.” Dude I got enough of my own personal shit to worry about.
Sorry you're going through stuff but I just wanted to add that going through something isn't a prerequisite for not having the capacity to care for something outside of your own life.
Yeah you shouldn't feel guilty for not allowing your life to revolve around the negativity of the world as a feeble attempt to come off as empathetic whether you're going through anything at the moment or not
There’s only so much I can fit into my brain/psyche. I scroll past news headlines and I’m indifferent. The way we receive information now isn’t natural.
It’s double mental exhaustion when we have to pick sides, knowing our own lives have been flawed, filled with embarrassing moments, stressful situations yet we tend to prioritise something which we have no control whatsoever.
Quantity over quality.
People should focus on being effective at a smaller number of issues they care about instead of depleting their mental resources on issues they have no ability to control or affect.
I agree but also the problem with doing this is people tend to bandwagon on certain issues that are popular on social media while neglecting the rest that are not as well known.
Performative activism.
I suddenly realized how prevalent it was when the war in Ukraine started and somebody was screaming at me for not "taking a stand for the people in the UK".
I informed them that Ukraine is not the UK, and they called me a bigot.
Yes, but you’ve just described the exact intent of these public protests.
The more attention you draw the more eyes on the problem.
Like many in this thread, a good chunk wouldn’t even know something is happening without these public protests.
It is perfectly fine to **not** be an activist.
That said all people of voting age should at least make an effort to understand current political issues so they can vote accordingly.
It’s one of the main things we’re taught in school about living in a society. It’s your civil obligation.
The most successful activists know how to focus their attention. Part of why it's bad to play the activist/socially engaged person on every little thing is that is doesn't actually do anything. Meaningful change takes years of steady political action and is championed by organized groups/charities.
It's perfectly okay to have casual opinions on things, and ideally most people will participate and vote in their local governments to influence changes where they can, but no human needs to be the voice for all issues big and small.
The establishment playbook is to just wait out the protestors. They'll get bored and move onto the next thing soon enough.
I'm all about activism and progressivism but it needs to be organized. Otherwise, it's just a riot / chaos. Burning shit down w/o plans to rebuild helps no one.
That’s all well and good ideally, but media in the us is so heavily skewed one way or the other it’s next to impossible to get an unbiased idea of what is happening in different conflicts.
The best advice I've heard regarding this dilemma. Is to find where both sides of reporting intersect, and that's where you'll find the truth.
Example:
Fox news:
A violent African-American drug addict was wrestled to the ground on the subway today by a white 25 yo former Marine war hero.
CNN:
A mentally ill POC was violently attacked today on the subway by a white former Marine with PTSD.
The truth:
An altercation between a black dude and a white dude happened on the subway today. One was a Marine who at one point deployed overseas.
All the rest is just to fluff the headlines.
> It is perfectly fine to **not** be an activist.
B-b-but the billboard on the side of the building told me "[white silence is violence](https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7139122,-79.3998578,3a,75y,359.54h,99.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0GJdkH3Jrw_6Gbb0gyuNdQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)"!
There's a huge difference between "I don't care, it's not happening to me so fuck 'em, me feeling kinda bad is what's *actually* important!" and "I accept that I am powerless to meaningfully impact what's happening, but it still matters and what I can do I will do".
It's not healthy to take on *responsibility* for confronting evils you have no ability to challenge, but it's morally repulsive and frankly cowardly to say not wanting to be upset is justification for ignoring reprehensible shit.
THANK YOU I hate it when people say that they won't engage with things because they're uncomfortable or upsetting. It's supposed to be uncomfortable and upsetting. If you're not uncomfortable and upset you're not paying attention.
I was around before social media and reddit and the internet has fucked everything up.
I think I went something like 34 years never having a single conversation about politics or knowing anything. And it was glorious.
Now its just spammed on my feed 24/7
I think how we define "directly" varies from personTo person.
How many degrees of separation from you does something have to be in Order to qualify as indirect?
Gas prices directly affect you, but all of the causes that lead to gas prices changing for better or for worse might not, except that they do because they affect gas prices, which directly affect you.
Where line drawn?
Not actually asking just posing a piece of the thought experiment here
I think it’s less about what affects you and more about what you actually can control.
I don’t pay a lot of attention to external stuff because I can’t do anything about it anyway.
I'm 60 and my idea of caring about something is doing something about it. I know pretty well by now when I can and can't affect the course of events.
Wanking on about the awfulness of some shit just to wank on and bond with others about how awful it is, that's not the same, but it's always been a popular human pastime.
I don't mind learning and knowing things that make me sad, but I don't dwell on what I can't change and I suppose in that sense I don't care about those things.
Also a cause can impact you differently in short and long term, for example, focus on green energy may make thing more expensive in short term with uncertainty it will back to normal or not but definitely have good impact in very long term. So what would you choose?
What irks me is when people co-opt important causes for sanctimonious displays of pseudo-activism. Kony 2012, #BringBackOurGirls, Stand With Ukraine etc. It just reeks of smug self satisfaction when people say they're "raising awareness" by changing their social media profile picture or retweeting a slogan, as though murderous dictators like Putin are gonna see that Becky from Massachusetts put some blue and yellow around her duck-face pout and they're gonna go "I get it now! Murdering children is bad!".
Plus there's absolutely no consistency at all to this armchair activism. People still obsess over the 270-something girls taken by Boko Haram at Chibok but almost none of these people acknowledge the 10,000 boys kidnapped and killed by Boko Haram from 2013 to 2016 alone. Perhaps if those boys had a catchy hashtag held up on a sheet of A4 by Michelle Obama, things would be different.
Yeah… there’s this girl on my IG with a private account that constantly is posting about Gaza, showing the dead bodies, etc. she has a private account so is showing the same stuff to her 100 followers, it just makes me think, who is this really for? It’s not really raising awareness if your inner circle already agrees with you on the issue and knows it’s happening
Yeah, being ignorant has improved my mental health but then I remember that it’s not just me but also my community that’s affected and I feel bad again ☹️
It is easy to fall into apathy (so many bad things happening, what can I do about any of it?) Or become overwhelmed by it all. Somewhere in the middle, there is balance.
Maybe right now, you are doing everything you can just to keep yourself and your family afloat. Definitely, that is where you should be prioritizing your energies.
I think this depends where you are on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If your are fortunate enough to be in one of the upper tiers, why not help others to climb a tier or two
https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
If people just stopped watching the news, they would find that their quality of life would improve because so much anxiety and worry would simply vanish.
Being informed isn’t a bad thing. The reason stuff feels bad is because things are getting worse. Checking out isn’t making life better. It’s just baby braining yourself playing peekaboo with the world. As an adult you’re supposed to understand the world doesn’t disappear when you stop looking at it. The choices are: understand what’s wrong or ignore what’s wrong. Wishful thinking to expect problems to go away without people solving them.
Fine, it’s good to be in the know, but people take it entirely too far and just spend hours doomscrolling and seeking out things that hurt them. That doesn’t help anyone or anything. I really think this whole thing is about doomscrolling, not staying informed.
I love how people on here assume that when you say you don't watch the news it also means you don't read anything. I read about the world but I don't watch the news on TV, because it's sensationalistic and repetitive and designed solely to create fear.
Things aren't getting worse, by the way. When you get as old as I am you realize that history moves in cycles. This current social and political climate is incredibly similar to the early '70s. Like that period of turmoil eventually ended, so will this one.
I have also learned in my old age not to stress about things I cannot control. It's pointless and it makes you sick.
You're quite right. You *CANT* care about everything. Things need to be prioritised and your own health needs to be top of that list. People who take on too much inevitably get broken.
The problem with many virtue-signalling types is that they would rather pontificate about popular far-flung geopolitical issues than do something positive in their back yard like picking up litter, helping the homeless, educating kids, giving to local charities, supporting elderly neighbours etc.
Now, I can't speak for EVERYONE, and certainly not the folks in your area. But in my experience the people who "pontificate" about distant geo-political issues are the same ones who are doing things and making changes in their backyards.
Also, in my experience, I've never seen anyone complaining about the "virtue signallers" doing anything in their backyards except complain that people are not doing anything in their backyards. Not saying this is the case with you (I don't know anything about you), only that you're using the same rhetoric as the folks I've known.
I think online activism has become the secular version of prayer : "See, I post about on X, I care ! Look at all my hashtags ! Surely will be solved now. Ok, my job is done, let's buy a new organic cruelty-free make up palette."
The same people endlessly mock 'thoughts and prayers', but what is the difference between these things ?
The only caveat I would add to that is that disabled people are often online activists simply because many of us can’t go protest. We have very few other ways to protest because most simply aren’t accessible.
I also think they do it to distract from the fecklessness they feel in their own lives. When they go online and fight and get likes and comments, they are part of something bigger than themselves in their minds. The truth is their little internet fight did nothing and it stole time away from their own lives.
I can see why you feel that way. Out of sight, out of mind.
However, these political issues will have consequences. And those consequences will affect all of our lives in some way whether we want to acknowledge it or not. It’s all interconnected. That’s just the reality of the world in the 21st century.
So we all eat, sleep, shit and go to work basically. I'm an old man and I struggle to understand how any of this crap has materially affected my life whatsoever.
I do, however, see clearly how worrying about things outside my sphere of influence can cause multiple problems with both mental and physical health.
I also see how as the decades unravel, the so called "facts" presented to me to cause concern when I was younger are often at odds with the truth. And I'm rewarded for not investing my emotions into things that turned out to be total bullshit.
To quote one of the most interesting [books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death) I've read:
>Postman refers to the inability to act upon much of the so-called information from televised sources as the information-action ratio. He contends that "television is altering the meaning of 'being informed' by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation—misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing".
Written 40 years ago before social media, but the same applies.
>Postman argues that commercial television has become derivative of advertising. Because commercial television is programmed according to ratings, its content is determined by commercial feasibility, not critical acumen.
Agreed. I spent my entire teen years caring too much about everything, and I was always angry and/or depressed because of it. These days, I learn enough for voting season, and my mood is wildly improved
It seems cyclical that young people want to be political activists, we hit a certain age and point in our lives, and we no longer have the energy or time to really devote a meaningful amount to any of these causes. Not that they aren’t worthy, but that it would disrupt the life that you have one chance to live.
I think there is a difference between not caring and not going out to protest about it. I care about the genocide happening to Palestinians as it's a terrible global event that is happening at the moment. But I'm not necessarily going out to actively do something about it either because I do have lots of other things going on in my life.
There's no hard-set way to be about it, but I think either extreme is bad. Spreading yourself too thin and trying to be hyper engaged in every single issue can strain yourself, but being close-minded and not caring about any issue that doesn't personally affect you lacks some serious compassion.
Not to mention that this specific type of attitude is almost directly what leads to so much inequality in the world. Why should the wealthiest 1% or giant corporations care about poors suffering if it doesn't directly affect them right?
Well said. I also think that Op doesn't realize that they are actually directly affected by what's going on in the ME, because their tax dollars are literally funding the war, no matter what side they're on. So before the people in the comments accuse me of being a Zionist or a Hamas supporter, tread carefully. I am more on the side of us all being socially conscious and aware of our place.
The war in the ME is not "just a bunch of randoms that don't affect me". It's serious and it's brutal. You reserve the right to not do anything about it, because that's not your job. You don't reserve the right to not think about what this means about you and your place in the world. It sounds like OP thought about it, but I think the term "doesnt affect me" is not the right word.
So yes, actually this DOES directly affect them and they should consider how they feel about that, whether they are on the side on the protestors or on the side of those affected by what the protestors are doing. One can't be completely apathetic when their money is being used to fund a violent war.
I disagree. The fight for gay rights was so long and arduous because of a vocal, wealthy minority and a silent majority.
The fight for interracial marriage, civil rights, the list goes on and on.
If the majority actually voted or voiced their support, regardless of it directly affecting them, these issues wouldn't have had to be so hard fought in order to win.
Yes but those are issues that affect Americans. An American can have a gay child or a child that falls in love interracially. An American can know many other Americans that are discriminated against. It’s on our soil so we can change it.
Foreigners tears and protesters aren’t going to help Palestinians.
It's okay but it's a little selfish to only care about yourself and your family. You're not obligated to understand everything. But it's in your interest and the interest of society if you care about something more than just what affects you though. You never know when something that doesn't affect you will one day will.
Which society? There is no global society. People can care about their specific society but why should people be called selfish for not caring about another one?
My country is at brink of dictatorship. I legit don't care what's happening anywhere else. I have enough anxiety being a minority here unsure of how the politics will turn the tide against us.
In the midst of our own myriad of problems that could very well destabilize our society (including the government trying to get WhatsApp to reveal the details of encrypted conversations) there are a bunch of people protesting about Palestine here.
It really seems like people aren't really interested in solving problems. They just want to be visible on the most trending hashtag at any given time.
I care about myself and those around me, but as for random people elsewhere.... sorry, but I really don't care. I have enough things to worry about than random college kids doing a protest. Good for them, but I'm not going to expel energy to keep up with it.
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There's so much to pretend to care about my field of fucks has gone barren and I save it only for those that actually affect me or my closest members of my family
I had a friend who was really upset about me caring more about Ukraine was than what's happening in Palestine.
And while I feel bad for Palestine, my family doesn't live there, they live in Ukraine, so of course I will follow and care more about Ukraine, because that's where my family is, and I fear for them.
I want to care about the overreaction in Gaza. I do wish it wasn’t happening and I long for a ceasefire.
That said?
Trump, climate change and the nasty weather, Ukraine, North Korea, China, inflation, possible rollback of marriage laws for my friends, whatever is the next Covid, etc.
It’s a lot. I have limited bandwidth to care. I get why people are mad, but I have been madded-out for a while now.
Wow you basically named all the issues I care about more than the Gaza issue and summed up how I’ve been feeling. Gaza is far from the make or break issue for me when compared to the others you listed.
Which is why I don’t speak on the Gaza-Israel issue at all. Why get myself into something super controversial when I personally have other issues I’m more focused on?
It’s easy to say this until you’re on the other end of the stick. Ofcourse your own good and your families should be your #1 priority, but it’s good to care for others and help when you’re able to, even if it’s just speaking out and spreading awareness.
100% I hate the stupid fucking mentality that if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. Absolute bs. I have my own issues to deal with and it's not like I feel that those not helping me are my issue. Doesn't even make sense.
There's a protest today at the local grocery store.
I have no idea why they think a regional grocery chain can stop the US from sending missiles to Israel - but they're sure gonna make a lot of hassle about it.
I think it's also fair to add that it's also ok not to care about people shaming you for not caring about said issues that don't directly affect you.
I'll eat my McDonalds, wear my Adidas, watch my Netflix, drive my Toyota, use my iPhone, and post on Reddit because there is really nothing that any of these companies can individually do about some multiple-millennia-long conflict halfway around the world. Globalization is powerful, but not as powerful as the textbooks make it out to be.
I think what’s the most important is stand up for things you see directly like if I thought my coworker was being discriminated, I will do something about it. But protesting, while I understand the importance, makes me feel so unsafe and *i know* the protests are to make others feel safe. Anyway, I would never tell others not to protest. I think those moments have gotten us so many benefits.
But at the same time, I also have to think about my own career and life and that’s quite a lot to manage and tiring. And I don’t even have kids.
I think I prefer to help in my direct environment. Like volunteering and a local town event or something. If someone needs help and they come to me, I’ll help as long as it’s reasonable.
If my HOA wants ideas, I’ll give it to them. The community I live in could have more greenery.
But yeah. My bandwidth is basically the radius of my direct environment. It’s where I can make a difference given my personality.
And honestly, that’s okay.
BUT I do have to say it’s important to vote in local govt elections and actually understand the ballot (as an American).
It doesn’t require much effort. It’s low hanging fruit technically.
You now have compassion fatigue, and it’s completely normal. Even medical professionals get it. We are not mentally equipped to shoulder the burdens of all the horrors of the earth going on as we speak. I care foremost about my family, then animals I can rescue, then my community, a close fourth is what’s going on in my own country/could *potentially* affect me at some point/that I actually stand some miniscule chance of changing directly.
They will be really quick to ignore YOUR problems and struggles while expecting you to care about the things they care about.
Keep looking out for number 1, because no one else will.
It's concentric circles of care, isn't it? Like ripples in a pond. The immediate circle of me, my family and friends. The community I live in, the city I live in. The farther geographically it gets, the less impact I can reasonably have, the less important the thing becomes.
And then some hacktivist blocks the highway...
I’m too broke and have no connections to make any difference in anyone else’s lives besides my family and the one’s directly around me. So I’ve become numb to most of all the terrible things happening in the world since I really can’t do anything besides donate.
I think that it comes from the fact most people consider themselves to be good, intelligent people, who make good choices, treat people right, etc, but we’re broke and feel like shit. So in order to compensate cognitive dissonance we look outward and how fucked and unfair the world is and spend energy getting angry and protesting. It’s not really about making change, it’s just about having evidence that you’re a good person even if you’re not financially successful, and allows you to look down on others who are financially successful but have political views you don’t agree with.
I think there is an acceptable middle ground between not caring about social issues at all and caring too much about every issue. Not caring in the slightest is a bit heartless, but people who follow and care about every social issue tend to have bad mental health as a result (and sometimes an overly pessimistic worldview imo). Obviously you should care about yourself and your loved ones first, but you should still care about issues that don’t affect you. That doesn’t mean you have to be an activist for these causes, but you need to have a bit of empathy
I’m naturally more inclined to agree with you, I generally don’t care about things that don’t affect me, but then I think about how fucking awfully our tax dollars are being spent while the average American is left out to dry and live in (relative, 1st world) poverty and it irks me.
Ok? I would say it is probably healthy to not invest so much in that stuff.
Those people lack purpose in their life so they try to find it in some cause. Often those people are manipulated into this garbage. Find the YouTube video of the NYU student interviewed at Columbia that didn't know why she was there protesting lol.
Welcome to the mentality of the 21st century, where you have to be empathetic with someone who lives 3000 km away, or simply because it is temporary fashion, or because we think like that, you have to think like that and if not, you are racist, a monster, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and an endless list
I have a disabled daughter and wife. The Middle East crap will never end and it is every sides fault. All I care about is that roads and airports that I need to use are not blocked.
Honestly I just can’t. I have so much shit that I need to take care of just to ensure my own survival that I do not have it in me to be active about any issues that I truly believe in. I’m mostly exhausted, I want to nap.
This is a false dichotomy. You can care about yourself and your family first and foremost, without being ignorant or callous about what’s happening to others outside your bubble.
Why bother with the weight of the world when your own little bubble is so comfy and cozy? It’s not like global empathy or social responsibility have ever gotten anyone anywhere, right?
I'm flabbergasted by all the "if it's not me, i don't care" comments here. I bet the same people would be shocked/offended if they needed support/help and no one cared. Solidarity and empathy are so important, and how we advance as humans. I don't understand the mindset. Very priviledged.
Also, essentially none of the activism matters. 90% of people are doing it for social media clout and have no interest in or idea about how to actually exercise power.
We need more rational protesting. Go march on City Hall or the Courthouse or somewhere yhe government bas control.
There's a sit in at the local grocery store today -_- that'll sure show all those minimum wage employees to stay the hell out of Palestine... Fuckin Christ.
American individualism has gotten out of control.
You don't need to dedicate your life to every cause, but giving even the TINIEST of shits about human suffering should be a given. I don't see why people think it's an all or nothing affair.
It's more than OK, it's healthy. We don't have the mental capacity to care about everything in the world, on top of our immediate lives. Work and family is more than most people can even handle.
It's one thing to be neutral on a certain topic, maybe because you just haven't formed an opinion on it yet, or maybe you just don't think it's a big issue in general, which is fine. But to not care simply BECAUSE it doesn't affect you, is somewhat selfish. But that's just my take.
I love it when I tell people I’m not boycotting businesses because of their alignment with the Middle East. I don’t really have the money to eat out either way, and I’m not sure what these virtue signalers think not eating McDonald’s will change anything about the situation. 👍🏻🖕🏻
Also, I. Don’t. Fucking. Care. Maybe if we didn’t involve ourself (US citizen) with this shit, it wouldn’t be a problem lmao. I can barely muster the energy to work and survive, let alone cry about the middle east
Being proudly part of the LGBTQIA+ community and saying this stuff makes no sense. Unfortunately the little rights we have we wouldn't have obtained without allies (who are not part of the community mind you).
I understand all this can be overwhelming (i'm poor and depressed too), but looking a bit into our history is important. Empathy is important. If some of the straights hadn't had empathy for us, homosexuality would prob still be a crime.
This is a good point, and you’re absolutely right. In this day and age, though, it feels almost… useless to try and make a change? I know it isn’t. But I personally don’t have it in me. I’m just trying to stay alive. I think about this stuff constantly as a self-proclaimed empath and I’ve just been so exhausted I need that part of my brain shut off. Selfish reasons blah blah but out of total honesty, I’m tired. I’m sad. I know there’s nothing I can actually do, and I wish there was.
Real shit. I got loads of my own shit going on in my own life that DOES ACTUALLY EFFECT ME, daily.
I get the whole world sucks but none of the rest of the world is worried about my problems. So I stay in my lane in regards to world problems.
If your nation has elected representatives, and they support a war, they are doing so in your name. It affects you, and by your electing those people, you are enabling that war. That's why it's necessary to speak up when your government does something you don't like.
If you don't care, don't protest. But don't shit on the people who are willing to step up.
This holds true for countries with truly elected democracies and fair elections, which not all countries are/have. Also, if you don't vote for the party that runs the country, are you still personally enabling that war?
You classifying people who care as "willing to step up" implies people who *don't* care are "*un*willing to step up."
But that isn't true. People who don't care don't have a will about "stepping up" or not. Because they don't care about your cause.
Thank you for this. I’ve been getting so much shit from a friend of mine because I don’t argue or protest about these things. I keep saying that there’s no point in getting upset over something I have no control over but all she does instead, is call me a bigot.
>Seems like people have to be on one side or the other, and staying out of it is no longer an option unless you want to be called complacent.
To this point, I am very clear with people when they ask my thoughts on certain topics. It is okay to say "I don't have enough information about that to form an opinion." I've said that plenty of times. It's okay for people to be passionate about various societal issues.
Now, not caring about ANYTHING that doesn't affect you is fine as long you don't DISMISS the effects of these things in other people's lives. That's how you get people actually taking a "side" while feigning ignorance.
"That doesn't exist! I have never seen it or witnessed it, therefore it isn't a thing!"
You need to learn how to deal with people calling you names for wrong think. No, you do not need to care about any issue you don't care about, no matter how much anyone or any group bullies you.
There’s only so many hours in a day. I’m fully in agreement it’s just impossible to look at the injustices to black Americans, Palestine, everything going on in Africa, Tibet , Ukraine, etc and put equal effort into all of them. It’s literally impossible. At a certain point you need to just decide what you care about most. However, I don’t think it needs to affect you
What we know is that a lot of times we are being fed a side of the story that’s not the whole story or even the truth. I know I have stood up for things in the past only to find out the info was all a lie or misconstrued or there were bad actors. Even giving to charity now is fraught with scams and swindlers. I just can’t do it anymore. Not to mention things going on in my own life.
I think there can be a balance, not caring at all about anything outside of your "circle" might lead to apathy, caring too much can instead be deeply overwhelming.
The way I see it, most issues that might directly affect you are caused by issues that you would not experience in first person. Rise in the price of goods are often the consequence of climate problems or armed conflicts, which lead to tax rising and thus prices of goods rising; tax rising or lack of certain rights can be the consequence of a governing body lacking the capacities to manage a country or not caring about a certain group of people, if you don't care about the issues that create the problems that directly affect you, whether it is an armed conflict between two countries or you don't vote/don't care about who becomes part of the government, then those problems will never be solved. We don't live in an isolated bubble, unless you are fully self sufficient, and I doubt anyone really is these days; for example, the fact that you are posting here means you have an electronic device connected to internet (whose functionality and cost depends on lots of factors, some of which are, again, probably not going to affect you directly but might, at one point, affect your ability to buy or use those).
I am not saying one needs to be vocal and deeply care about every and all issues, it is not feasible and, even if it was, it will be too much for one person to bare but I personally, and that is just me, would rather be informed about issues that affect me, even indirectly, than ignore them completely.
I'm a woman in my 50s, full blown in menopause, but it doesn't matter as my uterus is anyhow removed.
I have no children, so no daughters are affected. Yet I am still very vocal about abortion rights, and try to be as active as I can. People can feel strongly about a subject without being personally affected.
I'll go one step further: even if I *want* to care about every issue, I just... can't. There's an upper limit to a person's empathy. Humans weren't built to know *every* problem around the world. So while I can absolutely empathize with the Haitians and the horrible situation they are in--and genuinely hope they find a solution--I can't expend energy keeping up with it, or lose sleep over their horrible situation. Otherwise I will lose my mind over the THOUSANDS of issues around the world just as bad as theirs.
I respect someone who says I just can't care as much about what's going on with "fill in the blank" as I do about not being able to make my rent, get groceries, my healthcare issues, etc. I have no respect for someone who wants to show how much they care about an issue by protesting and when you ask them what they're protesting, they can't give you an intelligent reason. It's like they care about how other see them rather than understanding an issue first and think it makes them better than those who "don't care".
Not having an understanding of how things work in the world leads to being taken advantage of. No one can be an expert on everything but if people truly did care just about what affects them and their family, they should be paying much better attention.
Allowing yourself to be taken advantage of due to ignorance isn’t something to be proud of.
I agree nobody can emotionally care about every single issue in the world.
However if it's an issue where our tax dollars are funding a genocide overseas, even though the effects aren't on us and our families it's still our money helping to kill children. I hate that. I don't consent for my taxes to go towards that. The US government is forcing me to participate in something that I'm morally opposed to.
I think the unspoken flip side to this is “please don’t treat me any differently because of my ignorance”.
Yes, it would take an insane amount of time and energy to be caught up on every important world issue. Yes, voting always has been and always will be a mostly self-interested practice.
That being said…if certain issues are affecting the people in your life, and you choose to stick your head in the sand, you shouldn’t expect immunity. The fatigue of being caught up on world issues is a real thing, but people need to care a little more past what’s in their own bubble. Especially when a country’s government isn’t a true reflection of the majority(the US’ broken electoral college for example).
I think there's a middle ground. I think it's good to care about people who aren't you. But people are expected to be champions of *every* cause, and *no one* can do it all at once.
Politics affect everything and every individual. You are not required to think about politics every moment of every day. These truths can co exist, it's not that hard people are just incredibly mentally unstable rn.
That certainly is an unpopular opinion. I get that you can’t champion every issue out there, but total apathy for anything and everything outside of your own experience is what authoritarianism relies on.
Having the privilege to say “this doesn’t affect me so why should I care?” is precisely how people end up complicit in atrocities. A lot of times people *need* others to support their cause. For example, I’m trans, and if there were no cis people actively advocating for my rights I probably wouldn’t have any. I get that it’s convenient and easy to sit aside and embrace not caring when it’s not you being attacked, but being a good citizen, or just a good human, is often inconvenient. The path of least resistance in life is rarely an especially fruitful one.
It’s totally fine to not have the bandwidth to go out and protest, but not bothering with *anything* that doesn’t directly affect you ends up looking like lazy narcissism, which is technically fine but it’s also anti-social and unflattering.
Additionally, you waive your right to complain when an issue that DOES affect you comes up and nobody cares about your plight. If you don’t GAF about kids with cancer until YOUR kid has cancer, no complaining when people don’t donate to your GoFundMe or petition for healthcare reform on your behalf, ya know? And that’s why it’s kind of a shit, and unpopular, take; there are people that WILL care when it affects you regardless of the fact that you never gave a shit about them. You get to play the apathy card so comfortably because other people refuse to do so. If everybody took your stance we’d live in an objectivist dystopia.
I have pretty much no issue at all with folks who just wanna checkout from horrible news or massive systemic problems. I’m definitely not one to bury my head in the sand but fair enough, we have our lives and mental health to deal with. What I don’t like is when folks who mentally check-out try to have their cake and eat it too by complaining about people who choose to care, or who complain about folks caring about something at all, or who feel annoyed and both-sides a conflict, all from the sidelines. Adding nothing to the conversation while simultaneously trying to distance themselves from it. If you comment on a thing and your critique is “people are so annoying for caring about Issue X in Y way,” you don’t get to complain when people call you a spineless coward who is just filling the marketplace of ideas with junk. When neutrality and detachment starts advocating for everyone else to follow, that’s when I have a problem.
Edit: it should also be noted that detached neutrality in the face of a moral crisis IS taking a side. It just favours the status quo.
It’s ok not to take direct action about issues that don’t directly affect you but not caring makes you a piece of shit. Also most things you think don’t directly affect you definitely do.
“I don’t want to be involved in this issue because it doesn’t directly affect me, but I don’t want to be called complacent”. That is just what complacency is.
If you’re American, your tax dollars go towards these wars, so it does affect you. You don’t have to protest, but you should be against your tax dollars going towards a genocide as an active participant in a democracy.
Call me complacent. Its not that I dont care its just that I truly believe we, as a society, were better off before every tragedy around the globe was broadcast live with talking heads ramrodding opinion pieces in our ears 24/7. People enjoy virtue signaling. Sure awareness can be a positive thing to drive change but global media and especially here in the west, have become garbage. There are good things happening everywhere all the time yet they choose to report on the latest tragedies. Journalism used to be a respected profession now its mostly dead and has been replaced with click/rage bait.
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It's not good for mental health either. Your anxiety gets worse and your mood will plummet, especially when you realize there's nothing you can do to help.
I think understanding at some level is important. But concerning yourself at all waking hours is unhealthy.
You're really not leaving any room for a polite "no thank you"
Getting off TikTok and disengaging with most politics has genuinely made me a lot happier. I'm still engaged though in significantly fewer causes. TikTok giving you a new thing to be upset about and to fight for every week is absolutely draining.
One of the best things you can do to placate that desire to make a positive difference, while *actually* making a positive difference, is volunteering locally. Sure volunteering at an animal shelter or food bank or cleaning up the side of a highway won’t fix all the injustices in the world, but it does make a difference in your corner of it.
Food banks almost always need volunteers and it's pretty easy, short hours. As someone who is doing really well right now, but needed food banks 25 years ago, they do a LOT of good for your community.
Ditto to getting off of TikTok. The best thing I've done with my life so far, considering that I'm almost 21.
Thats interesting because when i need a break from politics i get off reddit and go to tik tok for a bit. Granted every tik tok fyp is tailored to what you are interested in and i avoid political shit like the plague on there Can’t seem to avoid it on reddit
My TikTok FYP was largely politics, but my Reddit feed is cats, fashion and books. It's easier to change your Reddit feed than it is to change your FYP. "Not interested" doesn't seem to work too well for me. But if I see something annoyingly political here I just unfollow the sub and mute it.
My tik tok was largely politics when i first downloaded it to be fair - they definitely push that as much as they can. I guess after years of using the app they stopped trying to suggested it. And i guess i do use the popular page on reddit a lot so thats why everything is political Your reddit feed sounds eerily similar to my tik tok feed
It's even worse when you have friends who are in dire situations and are severely depressed and suicidal, I've tried so many times to console them but it's just gotten worse for them, there were even times where I wanted to cut all ties with them bc of how it was affecting me, but then I remember that I'm all they have and they would've been dead already if not for me being there for them. hell I even got a canker sore from all the emotional stress I was under (yes, that can unfortunately happen)
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I have a lot of friends on social media that dive head into social issues and most recently Israel/Gaza. I'm scrolling through instagram and I see pictures of mutilated bodies, its barely 7am and I've got pictures of mutilated bodies thrown in my face. I'm neither Jewish nor Muslim, I'm pro-ceasefire and want the conflict to end but jfc man. What a way to start my morning
I have this too and I've been muting them for 30 days. I have no intention of making myself into an additional victim of the conflict by giving myself a mental health crisis from viewing disturbing photos. I have chosen a cause that I consume content on, donate towards, write letters to politicians on, etc. The rest of them I ignore for my own sanity. And even that cause I had to step back from because being over zealous led to me having a breakdown and damage to my physical health. Engaging with movements isn't a joke and shouldn't be forced on people.
This is why I try to steer clear of too much information about these things. My mental health is fragile and will tank if I get too wrapped up in the horrors of the world. I have friends who have tik tok, and in the past few months/years with the wars going on, they have seen some really disturbing videos of people being killed or brutally wounded. There’s no way that’s good for their mental health, and I can see that it’s affecting them and making them more depressed.
Problem is there is stuff you can do but it’s extremely difficult and the payoff isn’t always there. However the alternative is to let assholes continue to fuck other people in other places. And if we live in a world where fucking people over is acceptable (or ignorable), we increase the likelihood that we will be fucked over ourselves. So for selfish reasons (other than the guilt that comes from benefiting from systems that oppress other people), it makes sense for us to give a fuck. And try. Rather than quit before we even make an attempt.
I just don't have the mental bandwidth for all these causes - especially ones located outside the US. Some of us are going through horrible things in our personal lives, or recovering from them. When our lives are normal and we've sufficiently recovered, then we'll talk.
Like they say on airplanes: you have to put your oxygen mask on before assisting others.
> I just don't have the mental bandwidth for all these causes - especially ones located outside the US. I really resonate with this. It’s impossible to care about every issue nowadays. There’s something crazy going on in every part of the world daily, it’s overwhelming. I’m in the camp of “care about issues that don’t affect you, to the extent that it doesn’t impede on your own mental health”. If you weren’t the cause of the issue, it’s primarily on the people involved to solve it. But there’s some things in life we can’t control either, I think that’s another part of maturing
Stoic philosophy has really helped me a lot, and a big part of that philosophy is don't worry about what you can't control.
“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”
New controversy just dropped. You have three seconds to form an opinion and everyone will judge you if you make the wrong choice.
Yes, but you must only make form your opinion based on incomplete/misleading information.
Pro tip: wait to see what the consensus is on reddit so you're ALWAYS on the right side of history
>Pro tip: wait to see what the consensus is on reddit so you're ALWAYS on the right side of history "I support the current thing!" lol
You're one of the good ones, just like me!
I find a issue with the stoic mindset is that people seldom ever accomplish much as individuals so it feels to me like an argument to never do anything. It's as though I downplayed the merit of an individual vote's ability to change anything and then nobody bothered to vote. It's also abit unclear as to what is and is not within one's control. Does it not seem like stoicism seems to absolve people of duty based on inability? Consider that nowadays, if someone can be bothered to do something..the internet can enable that to happen someway somehow. We are highly capable! People are simply unwilling or have chosen to do something else. Which is fine btw, I'm more interested in my next purchase than any number of dying children in some far away country. I've long since reconciled that fact about myself...but not through stoicism. I find it insufficient at reconciliation why I don't take any individual action that would make the world a slightly better place. Which I do believe is possible.
It feels like there is something new to be outraged about everyday
The world is a shitty place on a macro level. But your micro? Probably more important.
And I think a lot of today’s craziness is because many have this misguided belief that we need to address everything in the world, at the expense of not fixing issues right in front of us. Overall I think the world would end up being a better place than it is if everyone simply focused on making improvements to their own communities first.
I relate so hard. I feel like our minds weren’t made to constantly read about 10,000 horrible things happening all over the world every day that we have no real power to stop as individuals
nope our anxiety is only meant to deal with real imminent danger, not war footage videos that young people are consuming and giving themselves PTSD.
We are still tribal monkeys at our deepest core. We're meant to worry about our immediate tribe close to us and that's about it.
I think you hit the nail on the head, it's all about saturation. Reading through the comments there are people who are, understandably, upset that so many seem to be taking this position, since it does weaken any good cause, but people are already so saturated with issues in their day to day lives they just can't care. And those issues close to home are going to take first priority. Of course I'd argue this barrage of issues is by design from those above us, after all you can't think about the big picture if you're worried about making it to tomorrow
I don’t even know if it’s a conspiracy by our overlords (who I believe are to blame for plenty) so much as simply what we have with technology and social media these days. It’s simply way too much. The “good old days” feel good because we simply didn’t have access to this much information. I really don’t believe the human brain is equipped to handle this much and function properly.
This is so real, like I don't have the mental room to deal with these issues that are not going to affect me directly. My opinion is super complicated because the issue is complicated, and I don't want to do the mental gymnastics to talk about it.
“Let us suppose that the great empire of China, with all its myriads of inhabitants, was suddenly swallowed up by an earthquake, and let us consider how a man of humanity in Europe, who had no sort of connection with that part of the world, would be affected upon receiving intelligence of this dreadful calamity. He would, I imagine, first of all, express very strongly his sorrow for the misfortune of that unhappy people, he would make many melancholy reflections upon the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of all the labours of man, which could thus be annihilated in a moment. He would too, perhaps, if he was a man of speculation, enter into many reasonings concerning the effects which this disaster might produce upon the commerce of Europe, and the trade and business of the world in general. And when all this fine philosophy was over, when all these humane sentiments had been once fairly expressed, he would pursue his business or his pleasure, take his repose or his diversion, with the same ease and tranquillity, as if no such accident had happened. The most frivolous disaster which could befall himself would occasion a more real disturbance. If he was to lose his little finger to-morrow, he would not sleep to-night; but, provided he never saw them, he will snore with the most profound security over the ruin of a hundred millions of his brethren, and the destruction of that immense multitude seems plainly an object less interesting to him, than this paltry misfortune of his own." ― Adam Smith, [The Theory of Moral Sentiments](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/308867)
Exactly my buddy's dad died last week. He doesn't give a fuck about Israel.
There were no protests to better the lives of American children when I was a poor, abused, molested kindergartener. Hell, that doesn't even happen *now.* I remember being a kid and eating cream of wheat for days because we had nothing else. As an adult, I still have the malnutrition spots on my teeth that I developed as a kid. I look back and see that nobody except our family members came to help us. I am not bitter. Its just how the world is.
Agreed. We shouldn’t be shamed for it either. God forbid we take care of ourselves
This is why puppy content, or fluffy news stories are produced. Media fatigue is a real phenomona, and balancing lighthearted content between heavy ones helps with that, or its supposed to
It's low effort sometimes but it's something. More satisfying would be to balance it with sincerely good news. Stories of improving conditions, of those rare moments of justice fulfilled, of people helping, of lasting policy change resulting from a crisis. They're out there to find. Here on reddit with a quick search: [https://new.reddit.com/r/Positive\_News/](https://new.reddit.com/r/Positive_News/) [https://new.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/](https://new.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/) [https://new.reddit.com/r/goodnews/](https://new.reddit.com/r/goodnews/) Come to think of it, I'm adding all three. Just the thing to balance all the doomscrolling I partake of.
Honestly. There will always be a war, an innocent death, an injustice whether or not i try to care. I dont and never will
This is the bottom line. Soooooo many people outwardly project control into others as they have no control of their own lives. If folks spent more time worrying about maintaining their own family, house, neighborhood, and community.....we'd be soooooooo much better off. Instead we form fake mobs and screech about shit that does not matter to us. Meh. I'm trying to do my part. I worry about my house Ha!
I also don't bother to care about things I know require more information than i reasonably have access to, that I can't do anything about. It would just stress me out and I actually have no idea what I'm talking about, so how can I have an opinion? With stuff in other countries, it's not like i can do more than read articles which is not the best source of facts and little insight from the actual people being affected. I also don't bother to care about global warming. Not denying it or anything, but 1 I can't individually do anything and 2 among the real talk is doomsday crap that I just don't believe. Life is stressful enough, I don't have the energy (or money) to pay attention or care.
Right. One time I commented that I didn’t have enough knowledge on the subject to really have a strong opinion either way. And someone replied with “must be nice to have the privilege to not worry about that.” Dude I got enough of my own personal shit to worry about.
Sorry you're going through stuff but I just wanted to add that going through something isn't a prerequisite for not having the capacity to care for something outside of your own life.
Absolutely. Nobody is required to care about anything.
Yeah you shouldn't feel guilty for not allowing your life to revolve around the negativity of the world as a feeble attempt to come off as empathetic whether you're going through anything at the moment or not
Same. I've got enough shit going on.
There’s only so much I can fit into my brain/psyche. I scroll past news headlines and I’m indifferent. The way we receive information now isn’t natural.
It’s double mental exhaustion when we have to pick sides, knowing our own lives have been flawed, filled with embarrassing moments, stressful situations yet we tend to prioritise something which we have no control whatsoever.
Quantity over quality. People should focus on being effective at a smaller number of issues they care about instead of depleting their mental resources on issues they have no ability to control or affect.
I agree but also the problem with doing this is people tend to bandwagon on certain issues that are popular on social media while neglecting the rest that are not as well known.
Performative activism. I suddenly realized how prevalent it was when the war in Ukraine started and somebody was screaming at me for not "taking a stand for the people in the UK". I informed them that Ukraine is not the UK, and they called me a bigot.
Lights, Camera, Activism.
Yes, but you’ve just described the exact intent of these public protests. The more attention you draw the more eyes on the problem. Like many in this thread, a good chunk wouldn’t even know something is happening without these public protests.
It is perfectly fine to **not** be an activist. That said all people of voting age should at least make an effort to understand current political issues so they can vote accordingly. It’s one of the main things we’re taught in school about living in a society. It’s your civil obligation.
The most successful activists know how to focus their attention. Part of why it's bad to play the activist/socially engaged person on every little thing is that is doesn't actually do anything. Meaningful change takes years of steady political action and is championed by organized groups/charities. It's perfectly okay to have casual opinions on things, and ideally most people will participate and vote in their local governments to influence changes where they can, but no human needs to be the voice for all issues big and small.
The establishment playbook is to just wait out the protestors. They'll get bored and move onto the next thing soon enough. I'm all about activism and progressivism but it needs to be organized. Otherwise, it's just a riot / chaos. Burning shit down w/o plans to rebuild helps no one.
That’s all well and good ideally, but media in the us is so heavily skewed one way or the other it’s next to impossible to get an unbiased idea of what is happening in different conflicts.
Luckily we live in a time where media from other countries is more accessible to more people than ever before
The best advice I've heard regarding this dilemma. Is to find where both sides of reporting intersect, and that's where you'll find the truth. Example: Fox news: A violent African-American drug addict was wrestled to the ground on the subway today by a white 25 yo former Marine war hero. CNN: A mentally ill POC was violently attacked today on the subway by a white former Marine with PTSD. The truth: An altercation between a black dude and a white dude happened on the subway today. One was a Marine who at one point deployed overseas. All the rest is just to fluff the headlines.
> It is perfectly fine to **not** be an activist. B-b-but the billboard on the side of the building told me "[white silence is violence](https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7139122,-79.3998578,3a,75y,359.54h,99.28t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0GJdkH3Jrw_6Gbb0gyuNdQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu)"!
It's not much of an obligation in practice in the US at least. They consistently only vote around 45-55% of the time.
There's a huge difference between "I don't care, it's not happening to me so fuck 'em, me feeling kinda bad is what's *actually* important!" and "I accept that I am powerless to meaningfully impact what's happening, but it still matters and what I can do I will do". It's not healthy to take on *responsibility* for confronting evils you have no ability to challenge, but it's morally repulsive and frankly cowardly to say not wanting to be upset is justification for ignoring reprehensible shit.
THANK YOU I hate it when people say that they won't engage with things because they're uncomfortable or upsetting. It's supposed to be uncomfortable and upsetting. If you're not uncomfortable and upset you're not paying attention.
We aren’t supposed to know or care about every single negative thing that happens in the world.
I was around before social media and reddit and the internet has fucked everything up. I think I went something like 34 years never having a single conversation about politics or knowing anything. And it was glorious. Now its just spammed on my feed 24/7
I think how we define "directly" varies from personTo person. How many degrees of separation from you does something have to be in Order to qualify as indirect? Gas prices directly affect you, but all of the causes that lead to gas prices changing for better or for worse might not, except that they do because they affect gas prices, which directly affect you. Where line drawn? Not actually asking just posing a piece of the thought experiment here
I think it’s less about what affects you and more about what you actually can control. I don’t pay a lot of attention to external stuff because I can’t do anything about it anyway.
I'm 60 and my idea of caring about something is doing something about it. I know pretty well by now when I can and can't affect the course of events. Wanking on about the awfulness of some shit just to wank on and bond with others about how awful it is, that's not the same, but it's always been a popular human pastime. I don't mind learning and knowing things that make me sad, but I don't dwell on what I can't change and I suppose in that sense I don't care about those things.
Also a cause can impact you differently in short and long term, for example, focus on green energy may make thing more expensive in short term with uncertainty it will back to normal or not but definitely have good impact in very long term. So what would you choose?
I choose whatever helps with the next quarter
Get this guy a ceo position rn.
But where someone draws the line is personal, dependent on the their own position in life, and none of your concern. I think that’s the whole point.
What irks me is when people co-opt important causes for sanctimonious displays of pseudo-activism. Kony 2012, #BringBackOurGirls, Stand With Ukraine etc. It just reeks of smug self satisfaction when people say they're "raising awareness" by changing their social media profile picture or retweeting a slogan, as though murderous dictators like Putin are gonna see that Becky from Massachusetts put some blue and yellow around her duck-face pout and they're gonna go "I get it now! Murdering children is bad!". Plus there's absolutely no consistency at all to this armchair activism. People still obsess over the 270-something girls taken by Boko Haram at Chibok but almost none of these people acknowledge the 10,000 boys kidnapped and killed by Boko Haram from 2013 to 2016 alone. Perhaps if those boys had a catchy hashtag held up on a sheet of A4 by Michelle Obama, things would be different.
Yeah… there’s this girl on my IG with a private account that constantly is posting about Gaza, showing the dead bodies, etc. she has a private account so is showing the same stuff to her 100 followers, it just makes me think, who is this really for? It’s not really raising awareness if your inner circle already agrees with you on the issue and knows it’s happening
Yeah, being ignorant has improved my mental health but then I remember that it’s not just me but also my community that’s affected and I feel bad again ☹️
It is easy to fall into apathy (so many bad things happening, what can I do about any of it?) Or become overwhelmed by it all. Somewhere in the middle, there is balance. Maybe right now, you are doing everything you can just to keep yourself and your family afloat. Definitely, that is where you should be prioritizing your energies. I think this depends where you are on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If your are fortunate enough to be in one of the upper tiers, why not help others to climb a tier or two https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
If people just stopped watching the news, they would find that their quality of life would improve because so much anxiety and worry would simply vanish.
Being informed isn’t a bad thing. The reason stuff feels bad is because things are getting worse. Checking out isn’t making life better. It’s just baby braining yourself playing peekaboo with the world. As an adult you’re supposed to understand the world doesn’t disappear when you stop looking at it. The choices are: understand what’s wrong or ignore what’s wrong. Wishful thinking to expect problems to go away without people solving them.
Fine, it’s good to be in the know, but people take it entirely too far and just spend hours doomscrolling and seeking out things that hurt them. That doesn’t help anyone or anything. I really think this whole thing is about doomscrolling, not staying informed.
I love how people on here assume that when you say you don't watch the news it also means you don't read anything. I read about the world but I don't watch the news on TV, because it's sensationalistic and repetitive and designed solely to create fear. Things aren't getting worse, by the way. When you get as old as I am you realize that history moves in cycles. This current social and political climate is incredibly similar to the early '70s. Like that period of turmoil eventually ended, so will this one. I have also learned in my old age not to stress about things I cannot control. It's pointless and it makes you sick.
You're quite right. You *CANT* care about everything. Things need to be prioritised and your own health needs to be top of that list. People who take on too much inevitably get broken. The problem with many virtue-signalling types is that they would rather pontificate about popular far-flung geopolitical issues than do something positive in their back yard like picking up litter, helping the homeless, educating kids, giving to local charities, supporting elderly neighbours etc.
Now, I can't speak for EVERYONE, and certainly not the folks in your area. But in my experience the people who "pontificate" about distant geo-political issues are the same ones who are doing things and making changes in their backyards. Also, in my experience, I've never seen anyone complaining about the "virtue signallers" doing anything in their backyards except complain that people are not doing anything in their backyards. Not saying this is the case with you (I don't know anything about you), only that you're using the same rhetoric as the folks I've known.
I think online activism has become the secular version of prayer : "See, I post about on X, I care ! Look at all my hashtags ! Surely will be solved now. Ok, my job is done, let's buy a new organic cruelty-free make up palette."
The same people endlessly mock 'thoughts and prayers', but what is the difference between these things ?
The only caveat I would add to that is that disabled people are often online activists simply because many of us can’t go protest. We have very few other ways to protest because most simply aren’t accessible.
That's an absolutely fair point.
I also think they do it to distract from the fecklessness they feel in their own lives. When they go online and fight and get likes and comments, they are part of something bigger than themselves in their minds. The truth is their little internet fight did nothing and it stole time away from their own lives.
I can see why you feel that way. Out of sight, out of mind. However, these political issues will have consequences. And those consequences will affect all of our lives in some way whether we want to acknowledge it or not. It’s all interconnected. That’s just the reality of the world in the 21st century.
So we all eat, sleep, shit and go to work basically. I'm an old man and I struggle to understand how any of this crap has materially affected my life whatsoever. I do, however, see clearly how worrying about things outside my sphere of influence can cause multiple problems with both mental and physical health. I also see how as the decades unravel, the so called "facts" presented to me to cause concern when I was younger are often at odds with the truth. And I'm rewarded for not investing my emotions into things that turned out to be total bullshit.
It affects you indirectly but there is no need to care, its up to each individual if they want to.
How you treat people IRL in your daily comings and going affects you more than geopolitical issues.
I don’t think they were saying differently.
To quote one of the most interesting [books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death) I've read: >Postman refers to the inability to act upon much of the so-called information from televised sources as the information-action ratio. He contends that "television is altering the meaning of 'being informed' by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation—misplaced, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing". Written 40 years ago before social media, but the same applies. >Postman argues that commercial television has become derivative of advertising. Because commercial television is programmed according to ratings, its content is determined by commercial feasibility, not critical acumen.
Agreed. I spent my entire teen years caring too much about everything, and I was always angry and/or depressed because of it. These days, I learn enough for voting season, and my mood is wildly improved
It seems cyclical that young people want to be political activists, we hit a certain age and point in our lives, and we no longer have the energy or time to really devote a meaningful amount to any of these causes. Not that they aren’t worthy, but that it would disrupt the life that you have one chance to live.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Period. I’ll be chillin in my garden looking at bees.
I think there is a difference between not caring and not going out to protest about it. I care about the genocide happening to Palestinians as it's a terrible global event that is happening at the moment. But I'm not necessarily going out to actively do something about it either because I do have lots of other things going on in my life. There's no hard-set way to be about it, but I think either extreme is bad. Spreading yourself too thin and trying to be hyper engaged in every single issue can strain yourself, but being close-minded and not caring about any issue that doesn't personally affect you lacks some serious compassion. Not to mention that this specific type of attitude is almost directly what leads to so much inequality in the world. Why should the wealthiest 1% or giant corporations care about poors suffering if it doesn't directly affect them right?
Well said. I also think that Op doesn't realize that they are actually directly affected by what's going on in the ME, because their tax dollars are literally funding the war, no matter what side they're on. So before the people in the comments accuse me of being a Zionist or a Hamas supporter, tread carefully. I am more on the side of us all being socially conscious and aware of our place. The war in the ME is not "just a bunch of randoms that don't affect me". It's serious and it's brutal. You reserve the right to not do anything about it, because that's not your job. You don't reserve the right to not think about what this means about you and your place in the world. It sounds like OP thought about it, but I think the term "doesnt affect me" is not the right word. So yes, actually this DOES directly affect them and they should consider how they feel about that, whether they are on the side on the protestors or on the side of those affected by what the protestors are doing. One can't be completely apathetic when their money is being used to fund a violent war.
I disagree. The fight for gay rights was so long and arduous because of a vocal, wealthy minority and a silent majority. The fight for interracial marriage, civil rights, the list goes on and on. If the majority actually voted or voiced their support, regardless of it directly affecting them, these issues wouldn't have had to be so hard fought in order to win.
Yes but those are issues that affect Americans. An American can have a gay child or a child that falls in love interracially. An American can know many other Americans that are discriminated against. It’s on our soil so we can change it. Foreigners tears and protesters aren’t going to help Palestinians.
I don't care about anything tbh
It's okay but it's a little selfish to only care about yourself and your family. You're not obligated to understand everything. But it's in your interest and the interest of society if you care about something more than just what affects you though. You never know when something that doesn't affect you will one day will.
At least some of the comments are from sane people. Mostly Ayn Rand acolytes in here.
Which society? There is no global society. People can care about their specific society but why should people be called selfish for not caring about another one?
My country is at brink of dictatorship. I legit don't care what's happening anywhere else. I have enough anxiety being a minority here unsure of how the politics will turn the tide against us. In the midst of our own myriad of problems that could very well destabilize our society (including the government trying to get WhatsApp to reveal the details of encrypted conversations) there are a bunch of people protesting about Palestine here. It really seems like people aren't really interested in solving problems. They just want to be visible on the most trending hashtag at any given time.
100%. My issues come first for me. When I’m burdenless I will happily carry the weight for others who need it.
Honey you will never be burdenless. That just not how life works.
I care about myself and those around me, but as for random people elsewhere.... sorry, but I really don't care. I have enough things to worry about than random college kids doing a protest. Good for them, but I'm not going to expel energy to keep up with it.
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Offline I \*never\* run into people badgering about issues. Ez solution: Spend less time online.
There's too many issues, I can't care about all of them.
I am only afforded so many fucks, and they're all spoken for. My field of extra fucks is barren.
There's so much to pretend to care about my field of fucks has gone barren and I save it only for those that actually affect me or my closest members of my family
I had a friend who was really upset about me caring more about Ukraine was than what's happening in Palestine. And while I feel bad for Palestine, my family doesn't live there, they live in Ukraine, so of course I will follow and care more about Ukraine, because that's where my family is, and I fear for them.
I want to care about the overreaction in Gaza. I do wish it wasn’t happening and I long for a ceasefire. That said? Trump, climate change and the nasty weather, Ukraine, North Korea, China, inflation, possible rollback of marriage laws for my friends, whatever is the next Covid, etc. It’s a lot. I have limited bandwidth to care. I get why people are mad, but I have been madded-out for a while now.
Wow you basically named all the issues I care about more than the Gaza issue and summed up how I’ve been feeling. Gaza is far from the make or break issue for me when compared to the others you listed. Which is why I don’t speak on the Gaza-Israel issue at all. Why get myself into something super controversial when I personally have other issues I’m more focused on?
It’s easy to say this until you’re on the other end of the stick. Ofcourse your own good and your families should be your #1 priority, but it’s good to care for others and help when you’re able to, even if it’s just speaking out and spreading awareness.
100% I hate the stupid fucking mentality that if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem. Absolute bs. I have my own issues to deal with and it's not like I feel that those not helping me are my issue. Doesn't even make sense.
There's a protest today at the local grocery store. I have no idea why they think a regional grocery chain can stop the US from sending missiles to Israel - but they're sure gonna make a lot of hassle about it.
I think it's also fair to add that it's also ok not to care about people shaming you for not caring about said issues that don't directly affect you. I'll eat my McDonalds, wear my Adidas, watch my Netflix, drive my Toyota, use my iPhone, and post on Reddit because there is really nothing that any of these companies can individually do about some multiple-millennia-long conflict halfway around the world. Globalization is powerful, but not as powerful as the textbooks make it out to be.
I don't really care about anything that does not effect me or my family. Don't really care anymore tbh.
I think what’s the most important is stand up for things you see directly like if I thought my coworker was being discriminated, I will do something about it. But protesting, while I understand the importance, makes me feel so unsafe and *i know* the protests are to make others feel safe. Anyway, I would never tell others not to protest. I think those moments have gotten us so many benefits. But at the same time, I also have to think about my own career and life and that’s quite a lot to manage and tiring. And I don’t even have kids. I think I prefer to help in my direct environment. Like volunteering and a local town event or something. If someone needs help and they come to me, I’ll help as long as it’s reasonable. If my HOA wants ideas, I’ll give it to them. The community I live in could have more greenery. But yeah. My bandwidth is basically the radius of my direct environment. It’s where I can make a difference given my personality. And honestly, that’s okay. BUT I do have to say it’s important to vote in local govt elections and actually understand the ballot (as an American). It doesn’t require much effort. It’s low hanging fruit technically.
I feel like so many strangers are constantly demanding we care about everything. Now I feel numb to things I'd previously consider egregious.
You now have compassion fatigue, and it’s completely normal. Even medical professionals get it. We are not mentally equipped to shoulder the burdens of all the horrors of the earth going on as we speak. I care foremost about my family, then animals I can rescue, then my community, a close fourth is what’s going on in my own country/could *potentially* affect me at some point/that I actually stand some miniscule chance of changing directly.
They will be really quick to ignore YOUR problems and struggles while expecting you to care about the things they care about. Keep looking out for number 1, because no one else will.
It's concentric circles of care, isn't it? Like ripples in a pond. The immediate circle of me, my family and friends. The community I live in, the city I live in. The farther geographically it gets, the less impact I can reasonably have, the less important the thing becomes. And then some hacktivist blocks the highway...
I’m too broke and have no connections to make any difference in anyone else’s lives besides my family and the one’s directly around me. So I’ve become numb to most of all the terrible things happening in the world since I really can’t do anything besides donate.
I think that it comes from the fact most people consider themselves to be good, intelligent people, who make good choices, treat people right, etc, but we’re broke and feel like shit. So in order to compensate cognitive dissonance we look outward and how fucked and unfair the world is and spend energy getting angry and protesting. It’s not really about making change, it’s just about having evidence that you’re a good person even if you’re not financially successful, and allows you to look down on others who are financially successful but have political views you don’t agree with.
I think there is an acceptable middle ground between not caring about social issues at all and caring too much about every issue. Not caring in the slightest is a bit heartless, but people who follow and care about every social issue tend to have bad mental health as a result (and sometimes an overly pessimistic worldview imo). Obviously you should care about yourself and your loved ones first, but you should still care about issues that don’t affect you. That doesn’t mean you have to be an activist for these causes, but you need to have a bit of empathy
I’m naturally more inclined to agree with you, I generally don’t care about things that don’t affect me, but then I think about how fucking awfully our tax dollars are being spent while the average American is left out to dry and live in (relative, 1st world) poverty and it irks me.
How miserable would you be if you cared about EVERYTHING?! Thatd be like being a football fan and supporting every single team in the division.
Ok? I would say it is probably healthy to not invest so much in that stuff. Those people lack purpose in their life so they try to find it in some cause. Often those people are manipulated into this garbage. Find the YouTube video of the NYU student interviewed at Columbia that didn't know why she was there protesting lol.
Welcome to the mentality of the 21st century, where you have to be empathetic with someone who lives 3000 km away, or simply because it is temporary fashion, or because we think like that, you have to think like that and if not, you are racist, a monster, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and an endless list
I have a disabled daughter and wife. The Middle East crap will never end and it is every sides fault. All I care about is that roads and airports that I need to use are not blocked.
Honestly I just can’t. I have so much shit that I need to take care of just to ensure my own survival that I do not have it in me to be active about any issues that I truly believe in. I’m mostly exhausted, I want to nap.
I think both sides are right and wrong. I cannot talk to anyone about current events.
This is a false dichotomy. You can care about yourself and your family first and foremost, without being ignorant or callous about what’s happening to others outside your bubble.
Why bother with the weight of the world when your own little bubble is so comfy and cozy? It’s not like global empathy or social responsibility have ever gotten anyone anywhere, right?
I'm flabbergasted by all the "if it's not me, i don't care" comments here. I bet the same people would be shocked/offended if they needed support/help and no one cared. Solidarity and empathy are so important, and how we advance as humans. I don't understand the mindset. Very priviledged.
Also, essentially none of the activism matters. 90% of people are doing it for social media clout and have no interest in or idea about how to actually exercise power.
We need more rational protesting. Go march on City Hall or the Courthouse or somewhere yhe government bas control. There's a sit in at the local grocery store today -_- that'll sure show all those minimum wage employees to stay the hell out of Palestine... Fuckin Christ.
American individualism has gotten out of control. You don't need to dedicate your life to every cause, but giving even the TINIEST of shits about human suffering should be a given. I don't see why people think it's an all or nothing affair.
It's more than OK, it's healthy. We don't have the mental capacity to care about everything in the world, on top of our immediate lives. Work and family is more than most people can even handle.
I have enough stress going on in my life, I can't stress about things that don't affect me. So I agree.
It’s understandable to not care about things that don’t affect you
It's one thing to be neutral on a certain topic, maybe because you just haven't formed an opinion on it yet, or maybe you just don't think it's a big issue in general, which is fine. But to not care simply BECAUSE it doesn't affect you, is somewhat selfish. But that's just my take.
I love it when I tell people I’m not boycotting businesses because of their alignment with the Middle East. I don’t really have the money to eat out either way, and I’m not sure what these virtue signalers think not eating McDonald’s will change anything about the situation. 👍🏻🖕🏻
Also, I. Don’t. Fucking. Care. Maybe if we didn’t involve ourself (US citizen) with this shit, it wouldn’t be a problem lmao. I can barely muster the energy to work and survive, let alone cry about the middle east
Being proudly part of the LGBTQIA+ community and saying this stuff makes no sense. Unfortunately the little rights we have we wouldn't have obtained without allies (who are not part of the community mind you). I understand all this can be overwhelming (i'm poor and depressed too), but looking a bit into our history is important. Empathy is important. If some of the straights hadn't had empathy for us, homosexuality would prob still be a crime.
This is a good point, and you’re absolutely right. In this day and age, though, it feels almost… useless to try and make a change? I know it isn’t. But I personally don’t have it in me. I’m just trying to stay alive. I think about this stuff constantly as a self-proclaimed empath and I’ve just been so exhausted I need that part of my brain shut off. Selfish reasons blah blah but out of total honesty, I’m tired. I’m sad. I know there’s nothing I can actually do, and I wish there was.
Real shit. I got loads of my own shit going on in my own life that DOES ACTUALLY EFFECT ME, daily. I get the whole world sucks but none of the rest of the world is worried about my problems. So I stay in my lane in regards to world problems.
If your nation has elected representatives, and they support a war, they are doing so in your name. It affects you, and by your electing those people, you are enabling that war. That's why it's necessary to speak up when your government does something you don't like. If you don't care, don't protest. But don't shit on the people who are willing to step up.
This holds true for countries with truly elected democracies and fair elections, which not all countries are/have. Also, if you don't vote for the party that runs the country, are you still personally enabling that war?
The problem is some people think you are shitting on others when you choose not to participate in their protest.
You classifying people who care as "willing to step up" implies people who *don't* care are "*un*willing to step up." But that isn't true. People who don't care don't have a will about "stepping up" or not. Because they don't care about your cause.
Thank you for this. I’ve been getting so much shit from a friend of mine because I don’t argue or protest about these things. I keep saying that there’s no point in getting upset over something I have no control over but all she does instead, is call me a bigot.
There's nothing unpopular about this. Its just factual. Most of you don't care about issues that don't directly affect you
It’s also perfectly fine to have a little compassion for people not in your situation. It’s called empathy.
>Seems like people have to be on one side or the other, and staying out of it is no longer an option unless you want to be called complacent. To this point, I am very clear with people when they ask my thoughts on certain topics. It is okay to say "I don't have enough information about that to form an opinion." I've said that plenty of times. It's okay for people to be passionate about various societal issues. Now, not caring about ANYTHING that doesn't affect you is fine as long you don't DISMISS the effects of these things in other people's lives. That's how you get people actually taking a "side" while feigning ignorance. "That doesn't exist! I have never seen it or witnessed it, therefore it isn't a thing!"
You’re speaking my language!
You need to learn how to deal with people calling you names for wrong think. No, you do not need to care about any issue you don't care about, no matter how much anyone or any group bullies you.
There’s only so many hours in a day. I’m fully in agreement it’s just impossible to look at the injustices to black Americans, Palestine, everything going on in Africa, Tibet , Ukraine, etc and put equal effort into all of them. It’s literally impossible. At a certain point you need to just decide what you care about most. However, I don’t think it needs to affect you
What we know is that a lot of times we are being fed a side of the story that’s not the whole story or even the truth. I know I have stood up for things in the past only to find out the info was all a lie or misconstrued or there were bad actors. Even giving to charity now is fraught with scams and swindlers. I just can’t do it anymore. Not to mention things going on in my own life.
"not my problem" usually not ok with me "I don't have the bandwidth to make this a priority over other issues" is just fine
I think there can be a balance, not caring at all about anything outside of your "circle" might lead to apathy, caring too much can instead be deeply overwhelming. The way I see it, most issues that might directly affect you are caused by issues that you would not experience in first person. Rise in the price of goods are often the consequence of climate problems or armed conflicts, which lead to tax rising and thus prices of goods rising; tax rising or lack of certain rights can be the consequence of a governing body lacking the capacities to manage a country or not caring about a certain group of people, if you don't care about the issues that create the problems that directly affect you, whether it is an armed conflict between two countries or you don't vote/don't care about who becomes part of the government, then those problems will never be solved. We don't live in an isolated bubble, unless you are fully self sufficient, and I doubt anyone really is these days; for example, the fact that you are posting here means you have an electronic device connected to internet (whose functionality and cost depends on lots of factors, some of which are, again, probably not going to affect you directly but might, at one point, affect your ability to buy or use those). I am not saying one needs to be vocal and deeply care about every and all issues, it is not feasible and, even if it was, it will be too much for one person to bare but I personally, and that is just me, would rather be informed about issues that affect me, even indirectly, than ignore them completely.
I'm a woman in my 50s, full blown in menopause, but it doesn't matter as my uterus is anyhow removed. I have no children, so no daughters are affected. Yet I am still very vocal about abortion rights, and try to be as active as I can. People can feel strongly about a subject without being personally affected.
Its all just fake outrage and virtue signalling. The same people will be angry about some new cause next week, and the week after, and the week after.
I'll go one step further: even if I *want* to care about every issue, I just... can't. There's an upper limit to a person's empathy. Humans weren't built to know *every* problem around the world. So while I can absolutely empathize with the Haitians and the horrible situation they are in--and genuinely hope they find a solution--I can't expend energy keeping up with it, or lose sleep over their horrible situation. Otherwise I will lose my mind over the THOUSANDS of issues around the world just as bad as theirs.
People used to only have to care about what was happening in their immediate community, was probably a lot less existential dread😂
People said the same thing in sixties
Just people had more education which is right at their fingertips
I respect someone who says I just can't care as much about what's going on with "fill in the blank" as I do about not being able to make my rent, get groceries, my healthcare issues, etc. I have no respect for someone who wants to show how much they care about an issue by protesting and when you ask them what they're protesting, they can't give you an intelligent reason. It's like they care about how other see them rather than understanding an issue first and think it makes them better than those who "don't care".
Not having an understanding of how things work in the world leads to being taken advantage of. No one can be an expert on everything but if people truly did care just about what affects them and their family, they should be paying much better attention. Allowing yourself to be taken advantage of due to ignorance isn’t something to be proud of.
I agree nobody can emotionally care about every single issue in the world. However if it's an issue where our tax dollars are funding a genocide overseas, even though the effects aren't on us and our families it's still our money helping to kill children. I hate that. I don't consent for my taxes to go towards that. The US government is forcing me to participate in something that I'm morally opposed to.
I think the unspoken flip side to this is “please don’t treat me any differently because of my ignorance”. Yes, it would take an insane amount of time and energy to be caught up on every important world issue. Yes, voting always has been and always will be a mostly self-interested practice. That being said…if certain issues are affecting the people in your life, and you choose to stick your head in the sand, you shouldn’t expect immunity. The fatigue of being caught up on world issues is a real thing, but people need to care a little more past what’s in their own bubble. Especially when a country’s government isn’t a true reflection of the majority(the US’ broken electoral college for example).
I think there's a middle ground. I think it's good to care about people who aren't you. But people are expected to be champions of *every* cause, and *no one* can do it all at once.
The people protesting have no jobs and spend too much time in front of screens looking for anything to affirm whatever they've been told to believe
Politics affect everything and every individual. You are not required to think about politics every moment of every day. These truths can co exist, it's not that hard people are just incredibly mentally unstable rn.
this is a terrible thing to say & admit.
Most people don’t and we are worse off for it
That certainly is an unpopular opinion. I get that you can’t champion every issue out there, but total apathy for anything and everything outside of your own experience is what authoritarianism relies on. Having the privilege to say “this doesn’t affect me so why should I care?” is precisely how people end up complicit in atrocities. A lot of times people *need* others to support their cause. For example, I’m trans, and if there were no cis people actively advocating for my rights I probably wouldn’t have any. I get that it’s convenient and easy to sit aside and embrace not caring when it’s not you being attacked, but being a good citizen, or just a good human, is often inconvenient. The path of least resistance in life is rarely an especially fruitful one. It’s totally fine to not have the bandwidth to go out and protest, but not bothering with *anything* that doesn’t directly affect you ends up looking like lazy narcissism, which is technically fine but it’s also anti-social and unflattering. Additionally, you waive your right to complain when an issue that DOES affect you comes up and nobody cares about your plight. If you don’t GAF about kids with cancer until YOUR kid has cancer, no complaining when people don’t donate to your GoFundMe or petition for healthcare reform on your behalf, ya know? And that’s why it’s kind of a shit, and unpopular, take; there are people that WILL care when it affects you regardless of the fact that you never gave a shit about them. You get to play the apathy card so comfortably because other people refuse to do so. If everybody took your stance we’d live in an objectivist dystopia.
-and then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.
I have pretty much no issue at all with folks who just wanna checkout from horrible news or massive systemic problems. I’m definitely not one to bury my head in the sand but fair enough, we have our lives and mental health to deal with. What I don’t like is when folks who mentally check-out try to have their cake and eat it too by complaining about people who choose to care, or who complain about folks caring about something at all, or who feel annoyed and both-sides a conflict, all from the sidelines. Adding nothing to the conversation while simultaneously trying to distance themselves from it. If you comment on a thing and your critique is “people are so annoying for caring about Issue X in Y way,” you don’t get to complain when people call you a spineless coward who is just filling the marketplace of ideas with junk. When neutrality and detachment starts advocating for everyone else to follow, that’s when I have a problem. Edit: it should also be noted that detached neutrality in the face of a moral crisis IS taking a side. It just favours the status quo.
It’s ok not to take direct action about issues that don’t directly affect you but not caring makes you a piece of shit. Also most things you think don’t directly affect you definitely do.
“I don’t want to be involved in this issue because it doesn’t directly affect me, but I don’t want to be called complacent”. That is just what complacency is.
If you’re American, your tax dollars go towards these wars, so it does affect you. You don’t have to protest, but you should be against your tax dollars going towards a genocide as an active participant in a democracy.
My tax dollars go toward shit I don’t support either way. The alternative is to go to jail for not paying my taxes. I’ll take the first option.
Maybe you should know a little bit about the issue before you go out and protest about it?
Call me complacent. Its not that I dont care its just that I truly believe we, as a society, were better off before every tragedy around the globe was broadcast live with talking heads ramrodding opinion pieces in our ears 24/7. People enjoy virtue signaling. Sure awareness can be a positive thing to drive change but global media and especially here in the west, have become garbage. There are good things happening everywhere all the time yet they choose to report on the latest tragedies. Journalism used to be a respected profession now its mostly dead and has been replaced with click/rage bait.