How do you guys cope with the fact that the world isn't getting any better?

I realize that it is materially better than it has ever been and it continues to improve, despite very obvious issues and inequalities.

I just don't expose myself to the 24h news cycle very much. My life is good, the life of the people around me is good, and nobody is helped by worrying about things I can't change.

get into areas like solarpunk that hold out hope against the dystopia

It's getting harder every year.

I remember well the constant fear of nuclear war in the 1980's.

I remember the wonder we felt when the Berlin Wall fell and Soviet Union collapsed. A hope of a tomorrow free of fear.

I remember the dreadful recession of the early 1990's and the steep economical rise that followed it.

I remember the amazing advancements in technology and the standard of living in the late 1990's. And at the same time, it felt like the world was coming to it's senses.

I was 21 in the year 2000. The world was full of promise, technological advancements were just pouring in, old mortal enemies were finding common ground and it seemed that we were slowly heading towards a Star Trek - like post scarcity utopia.

This age of hope eneded by the finance crisis of 2007-2008. Russia tried the waters with the war in Georgia. The general atmosphere of the world turned towards gloom again. And the downward spiral just seems to keeps going and going....

Yet I continue the work I started when I chose teaching as my profession in those golden years of hope. The kids are very different today, any class from 20 years ago would be a piece of cake compared with the problems they have now. But if a change for the better is to come, it will come from the kids. My generation is hopelessly lost in consumer greed and watching mindless "reality" shows that they somehow feel more important than real life.

I alone cannot be the change we need, but I CAN educate a few hundred kids and with good luck, maybe a dozen or few of them will have a some effect for a better future.

By realizing that it IS getting better. We live in a world now where information has exploded out of control. What this means is that we now know exactly what's going on everywhere, and it turns out that's a lot of shit.

That shit was still happening, but until fairly recently it was just out of the picture. The average person didn't know about any of it , couldn't do anything about it anyway, and thus it didn't really impact them.

Fast forward to today you hear of tragedies ALL THE TIME. Bad shit happening to good people for seemingly no reason. The difference here is that you just happen to know about it. The objective truth is that bad shit happens less today than it did at any other time in history. We just see every instance of it, not just our local community instances.

Many people in here arguing things "have never been better". It's true to an extent; things are pretty good in terms of poverty, liberties or world peace (for now). It's not great, it's never been great, but it's a decent bit better than it's been in the past. Overall.

We are, however, in an era of unstability and unrest, where it feels like things are constantly on the cusp of changing for the worse (and in some cases, are indeed already changing for the worse, like abortion or LGBT rights in the US, for example). Violence and discrimination are on the rise, global peace is being threatened, democracy is in jeopardy (not just in the US mind you), the 1% are getting WAY richer way faster than ever... To top it all off, climate change is objectively, unarguably as bad as it's ever been, and it's getting much much worse, much faster than even experts can keep up with. Like, we're headed straight for extinction and we keep accelerating toward it.

You have every right to be worried. Yes, it's easy to forget and take for granted the things we have now that we didn't even a mere 60 years ago, but many of them are very much under attack at the moment. Just because shit maybe hasn't quite yet hit the fan doesn't mean everything is fine.

And to answer your question, I've found some refuge in art, both experiencing and creating it. Reading books, watching movies, playing games, etc, especially those that echo that sentiment of fear and uncertainty for the future (or present). Trying to use all that as inspiration for my own work, I think it'd help to express my feelings this way. I am indeed doing very poorly still though, it's a lot to deal with, on top of my own personal problems.

A lot of weed

I'm going to address your question in two ways it may be read.

The world is worse than it was

I completely disagree, I think the world has never been better. Look back even 70 years and you have the threat of cold war, other wars (Korean War, conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Middle East, ...), much more poverty, starvation (China's Great Famine), illiteracy, a lot more nasty pollutants that we've since moved away from.

To go a bit more US-centric, although much of this is mirrored elsewhere to varying degrees, you had much, much higher crime rates (possibly due to lead in gasoline), women could be raped by their husbands and had minimal rights, gay people were persecuted, black people were killed for fun (lynchings) along with other deplorable treatment, etc.

Right now you live in a world where practically all information is available at your fingertips at minimal cost, where most people will at least tolerate your presence even if you don't fit neatly into their ideal world, where we've made a lot of progress on limiting and reversing environmental damage (ozone layer). We have more medical cures & treatments, longer lifespans, greater nutrition, more education, incredible entertainment options (Netflix, Steam, YouTube, etc.).

The world is better than it ever was, but the pace of improvement has slowed / gone stagnant

Yeah I get the anxiety, things do seem more unstable than they were 10 years ago. I'm super thankful to be living in our so-far-the-best age but I don't take for granted that it can stay wonderful. Much of the benefits we now enjoy were hard-won victories that required hard work, and I suspect that to keep making the world a better place it'll require us to pay it forward by also working hard. But don't take it for a given that we're due for pain and conflict; human events are too complex to follow simple narratives and it's possible in 5 years we'll all be relaxed and thankful that these current problems fizzled out.

I play videogames

I just accept our fate.

Humanity will probably realize we seriously fucked up around 2050 and near the end of the century mass migration will lead to a death count much bigger than WW2 or the chinese civil wars.

The only grace is that most of us reading this thread will die from various reason before the second stage.

I will still do my part by reducing my CO2 footprint but unless we find some miracle technology producing nuclear power plant levels of energy for the cost of a charcoal power plant, shitty world leaders and corporations will ruin everything for fake wealth.

Like so:

We can’t capitalism our way out of what we capitalismed ourselves into. It’s socialism or barbarism.

Try this: Don't Believe The Hype

(DarkMatter2525 - Is Society Collapsing)

TLDW: No, things are getting better, some things aren't, but it's not an easy answer because there are 8 billion perspectives to consider. We are living longer and enjoy more technology, so there's that.

Be the change you want to see. I switched things up and took a job where I work to feed hungry people. It's pretty great and I feel good about myself and what I do. I'm not gonna fix the whole world, but I am making a difference for those who I reach.

I feel like a spectator at this point. Fully aware of how the system operates and powerless to affect change without grave consequences. Materially, I'm secure. Not reproducing, so I don't have offspring to care about their future. Fuck this timeline, maybe I'll get to return at a cooler time.

Don't have kids, save for your retirement.

Fascists took over my country, and now they use a devestating attack as an excuse to start a total war that might evolve to world war, while the rest of the world sees our country as a "faschist genocide machine" our own citizens oppose it, and suffer from it, but still being fooled by propaganda.

I'm teriified. That's the truth.

I avoid the news, if it's important one of my friends or family will tell me. Also, if something is going on but isn't actionable (I can't do anything about it) I try not to let it occupy much of my headspace.

I don't cope, I go out of my way to *make it better: I volunteer my free time to hand out food at any of those food shelter events locally, I walk trails with a trash bag and collect trash, I care for my elderly neighbors by visiting them a few times a month without warning and insist they find me a job to help them around their house and refuse payments (but suggest I accept a piece of candy as compensation), I use my turn signals 100 meters before I make my turns when driving, I call my old friends who live abroad just to remind them I care about them if they aren't feeling good and they can always talk to me. Etc, etc.

Everyone should just ignore the eternal dumpster fires around them and try to make better as much as they can within their local vicinity.

I do communist things.

The world is getting better in a lot of ways but this is despite the US, the primary state agent of death and destruction. What we can do is organize together against that while also building local class consciousness and support structures so that as that violent apparatus turns more and more inwards, our neighbors will be (1) less horrible to one another and (2) safer overall.

Stoicism, move somewhere else, get active, make the small world around you better and stop reading national/world news.

Is it getting worse? How do we measure the goodness or badness?

One measure of economic indicators suggests we are relatively stable.

I'm sure there are a variety of measures that are up and down.

So yeah, the USA isn't the world but if the place you live in is falling apart its understandable to shrink your worldview down to the that which affects you most or that you witness the most often.

1. Don't feel like you have to stare into the abyss all the time. This is just self harm. Its like habitually looking at entries on the old rotten.com website. Nothing good will come of it.

2. Do something, anything, that you can do alone. Plant some flowers, pick up trash in the neighborhood, read a manual about combat first aid or small engine repair, pick a country at random as far away from the USA as you can point to on a map and start learning about its history and culture.

3. Find somewhere to do something, anything, with other people. Internet book club, see if any local groups/orgs need help feeding the hungry or helping the unhoused, probably some groups not too far away that exist to support one minority group or another that could use some help in research or outreach.

Also, the world is a complicated place with lots of different actors. China is doing some pretty cool and good things. There's a lot of scary situations that probably will lead to positive change in Africa and South America right now.

With some ways of looking at things, the world as a whole is getting better, rather than worse.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190111-seven-reasons-why-the-world-is-improving

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/09/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-goalkeepers-report-poverty/671415/

I'm pretty sure long covid and climate chaos will put a stop to that soon enough but we'll see. For now, some stuff is getting worse and some stuff is getting better.

Drugs, BDSM, and the smug satisfaction that I was always right.

Read the last paragraph on page 3. Things are not getting worse. Your perception of the world around you is cynical as a by product of our evolution and saturation of news/media.

I deliberately avoided having kids and I don't have any particular existential dread, so I'm just sort of sitting back and bemusedly watching it all play out. I just read the latest bit about one or another obscenely wealthy and/or powerful blatant psychopath doing or saying something gibberingly insane and I marvel yet again at the fact that the world is run by literal lunatics and nobody seems to even notice.

And when it stops being cynically amusing, I shut it off and go do something else.

The knowledge that it was always bad helps me. The only difference is that in generations past- we didn’t have such easy access to everyone on the internet screaming about all the different ways the world will end.

What do you mean "the world isn't getting better"? It definitely is. I mean, just look at, well, uhh... well uhhh... nevermind.

I look at the long arc of history and see that progress is not monotonic (always increasing or decreasing). We are experiencing setbacks to overcoming our challenges, as have those who came before us. But while we can read about years passing in a paragraph in a history book, we have to live and experience those years. And with all the challenges comes new technology and drive and awareness to solve problems. As unfortunate as it is trouble breeds innovation and commitment to change far better than comfort and easy times.

How do I cope? Poorly

Focus on the things you can control. My emotional state has significantly improved when I decided to do this.

I chose to leave after Trump got in office—& it took like two years of planning/saving. It’s had real ups & downs but overall the best major life decision I’ve made.

I mostly just pretend that thing's can get better, if I just communism hard enough. Also sex and drugs.

Some very good replies here. I share some of your worries, but with some recent issues I have also gotten a lot of practice seeing the good in things. Consider these 2 angles:

First is the Louis CK routine that includes “Everything is amazing and nobody is happy.” I think it comes down to humans getting used to things that work well and taking them for granted. Compared against most people who have ever lived, we are genius magical wizards who live in luxury. Unfortunately some of our magical technologies let us see the bad shit all around the world (and close to us) that our brains haven’t evolved to deal with.

Second is how absurdly unlikely and unique the existence of our consciousness seems. We are a collection of atoms forged in inconceivably massive exploding stars billions of years ago, aware of its own existence. We are literally the universe experiencing itself.

Being the history nerd I am, I tell myself that this has happened before. Think of the Bronze Age Collapse or the Fall of Rome. For people who lived back then, it probably felt like the end of the world. But after many generations, they still managed to rebuild. I must keep going in order to document as much history as possible for future generations in the case that humanity survives all this crazy shit that is going on.

I find great comfort in history personally. Dan Carlin (a favorite podcaster of mine) always says we must grade history on a curve. Sure, to us it looks like everything is falling apart and existence is pointless. But by very real measures things are better than they have ever been. My favorite is violence against children has been normalized as being bad.

Within living memory it has gone from being completely socially acceptable to beat children as being the preferred method of parenting to people getting thrown in jail for that behavior. What does it mean that previous to 100 years ago all of society could have been considered battered children? We are extremely aware of the negative effects of violence against children and for the very first time we are seeing a generation raised in an environment that kind of behavior has carrots and sticks motivating parents to behave properly. Of course all manner of horrid things still happen, but I call it progress that it have become widely condemnable to beat a child with a stick or take them to public hangings. It's a small victory, but it gives me hope for the future. That we may yet still build a better human being capable of taking on the heroic task of fixing this world.

Further, history has shown to me low points that I am glad to have missed. I never knew how ghastly WWI was. I am currently in a warm bed and not in a trench filled with mud, flys, dead body parts, with shells exploding constantly, seconds away from needing to charge out into near certain death. But my great grandfather knew that feeling. He watched as whole generations of young men were gassed to death and blown up uselessly. The numbers who die in war are less now. Still tragic, but less. Again, we must grade on a curve.

Death, despair, and hopelessness may be in 8K live streamed constantly now, but I assure you the analog version was something to behold. Not saying the horror of the past makes living any easier now. It is not to minimize your own pain. I just find hope that others managed to break the back of an unshakable world and hope for a better one while surviving a suffering I have not yet known. I am made of the same stuff. That gives me strength.

I fully embrace the fact and wonder what will be ruined next.

I'm doing good. I'm doing things that I enjoy, and I strive to improve. I believe we'll sort most of our shit out, it will never be even close to perfect, because we're dumb, materialistic, belligerent apes by nature, but it will be enough.

Not really having the option to not cope. Or not knowing how to actively choose to not cope. One of the two. For what it's worth, Tolkein genuinely was on to something with this one.

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Your perspective is distorted, things are incredible and getting better by most metrics.

• The average person today lives better than kings of old.
• We have abundant water, food, and sanitation. In America, food is so subsidized that it is ridiculously cheap by historical standards.
• Your odds of dying to violence or disease have never been lower in all of human history.
• You have all human knowledge at your fingertips, and technology is expected to keep improving our lives in novel ways.
• You can visit any place on Earth in a matter of hours and have access to cheap exotic foreign goods.
• Civil rights are protected a lot more today than they were in many/most civilizations of the past.
• Entertainment is abundant and cheap, and takes forms that people of the past could only dream about.

While we certainly have our challenges to overcome, like climate change, wealth inequality, and social problems, let's not forget how good we have it.

I just stopped caring. I just want a meal a day and do stuff to not be bored.

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I cope with the US falling further by not living in the US, unfortunately I'm just privileged like that, sorry.

I have a few friends over there, and the state of things absolutely breaks my heart.

Depends on perspective. Ask my grandma who lives through the second world war whether it is better or worse. Our modern problem seem trivial to her comparing having no non-bombed house, very little food and very little way of taking care of her family.

Sadly, I have taken moves to grow as much as I can, tend to chickens for eggs, and start just pulling back from my community because they are really terrible. Really, I should be building the community and mutual aid but the amount of people that care about nobody but themselves around here is just too high.

It is getting better though. We are all just facing the issues of our era's.

Tech keeps going up, we are slowly making progress on climate change, the space race is back on, and superpowers don't directly fight eachother anymore. Hell, we've proven to beat once in a century pandemics in a few years with relatively speaking barely any deaths. Life's good

Yes, we have squabbles in the middle east and Africa, but that's par for the course and not an indicator for human development. The only thing that has really gone backwards is that war has been brought back to europe

The world is getting better. There are some setbacks, yes. But there are lots of normal people making the world a better place, like the guy who figured out how to make artificial glaciers with river water in India, or the guy who recently built a forest on arid land by refining local techniques in Burkina Faso. Things will be okay!

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I take comfort in getting older and getting closer to being dead.

I can barely wait. The comfort of nothingness is a great help.

I just hope no wars will be started over here (western Europe) in the next ten years, so my sons won't get drafted.

Just trying to be a lamp in the darkness.

I just try to enjoy each day as I can without making the world any worse than I can help.

There are a lot of good news all the time. For example: I'm pro veganism and always heard that vegans make up about 2% of the population. Recently I heard that specifically in my city about 8% are vegans. That's amazing!

shrug and say that things will have to get worse before they get better

I've put an ocean between myself and the US.

Well I eat quite unhealthy, so I'm thinking I'll probably die earlier then most. Sooo I guess I got that going for me.

Life's pretty good here in Australia. No neighbours on the border causing problems, weather is generally good, lots of wide open empty nature to get out of the city, average salary is $93k and unemployment is low, crime is low. Inequality is a problem although our Gini coefficient has actually lowered recently. There's a lot of life to enjoy, and really the endless stream of negativity is only experienced through the media, not in real life, so I switched off the TV and just focus on what's going on around me, enjoying the people, places and activities that I like, and things feel quite positive.

Turn off the news, it's bad for the psyche.

Nihilism and cannabis

Pretty well. The resistance lives. We are all part of it.

Personally I am not really worried. Maybe I am in denial but I think a lot of the negative stuff is way over exposed with 24/7 news cycle and crazy social media.

Bad news and anger drive engagement metrics the best so that is all you will hear about.

So everything I hear I just automatically assume it is way over blown and I should lower the worry factor.

If it is getting overwhelming I would recommend you unplug yourself for a little while and do something you enjoy.

2023 has some amazing games come out maybe pick on of those up and give it a try?

I'm not in a position to affect change in a powerful way. So I try to stay educated and informed, I vote at the ballot box, I vote with my wallet, I donate what I reasonably can to places where I think it will help, and I speak out when it's appropriate to do so.

By trying to get involved with politics. I'm part of a political party, but want to be involved more though. I also participate in protests sometimes, but want to participate in direct actions as well.

Substance abuse :)

Got news for you, if you're working class, being white or male will not let you "coast right through" the inevitable boom/bust cycles that will befall the economies. You'll be under the boot like everyone else.

I like to think about the historical perspective. It's not much consolation but systems like these can't maintain themselves forever, cracks are showing and the US really is more vulnerable than people would like to admit.

Once things start changing there will likely be a lot of problems, things will probably get worse in some ways, but I think even if I don't survive to see what people come up with in the aftermath of the US I can get satisfaction from seeing it burn.

When you read history you learn humans are very resilient, humans will not end when the empire does. Maybe the failure of this place will be good for the world.

Understanding the historical circumstances I find myself in and devoting the majority of my effort in to things I can control.

I try my best to understand it better and change the little things I can. I know that won't change the world much so it isn't very fulfilling. Anyways I often think "at least it wasn't my fault and I tried".

In the same position as you, I'm quite privileged living here in Europe, if it all goes to shit I will be fine. I hope I can make the world more fair for everyone anyways.

Many good things have been said. I would add that what give me comfort is that in the present moment, it is really, really hard to tell signal from noise. You often don't know the impact of people or events until many years out. We often said in grad school that you can't write history until at least 30 years have passed from the event. So, it seems chaotic and confusing because it is hard to for us to understand what it important and what is not.

The other thing is that every generation often sees the sky as falling in. An ancient Greek philosophy lamented about his parents had it all figured out and his children where going to ruin everything. That same sense of doom is pretty pervasive.

That is not to dismiss any of the real terrible things out there. Climate change is the big problem on the horizon. Nuclear waste is another. But I think on the balance, we are going to muddle through fine. The great blessing of humanity is that we are adaptable. The curse of humanity is that we are adaptable.

I'm getting a vasectomy and I drink, cheers m8

i post

That in the grand scheme of things none of this really matters. In 100 or 1000 or 10,000 year’s time there will have been just as much horrible stuff happening in the world whether I fret about it or not. Just as much rape, mutilation, disease, and killing either way. Historically things have been trending towards better, so I have to assume that trend will hold (despite what the news or the internet makes it seem like).

The only thing I can control is what I personally do or don’t do, so I can at least reduce it by that small infinitesimal amount by not doing bad things. I can also try to make the world slightly more bearable by trying to make people laugh, or at least help them enjoy themselves some, that’s a little bit more help. I also have three kids I hope I can raise well enough that they too try to not do bad things and also try to help those around them. Or maybe one of us will stumble upon something that just completely changes everything and all our problems go away, or it wipes out humanity, or we’re just waiting for Godot.

And while in the grand scheme of things nothing matters too much, we can at least make life a bit more bearable to those around us in the here and now. Because for us, the here and now is what matters the most, that’s all we can really know, this eternal moment until we die.

By believing that eventually people will be so fed up with how bad things have gotten and start a revolution.

I'm not an accelerationist though.

I focus on the areas I can impact. So far that's going OK. As for the state of the world I tell myself that it's probably not as crazy as the media makes it out to be and most of the time that's true. I'm not American so it makes it easier to dismiss American issues.

I don't agree with the premise. The world on average is better than it has ever been and it just keeps getting better every year. It's understandable that heavy consumption of news might make it seem otherwise but virtually every metric you'd use to track this shows that things have been improving and keeps doing so.

Dedication to communism

The world is getting better in a lot of ways but the uplifting headlines don’t garner clicks and views. A lot of people only post the doom-and-gloom headlines.

Lemmy hasn’t been any better than Reddit in this regard.

There's tons of evidence that the world is getting better. Life expectancies are the highest they've ever been, disease is the lowest it's ever been, globalization is distributing opportunities for relative prosperity to previously ignored or neglected regions. The only thing that's not getting better right now is climate change but the youth care about that more than ever so it seems like we'll make headway on that once the old guard ends their watch. The youth are aldo much more progressive so with their ascent to power, I expect more power to return to the people and more scrutiny to befall the rich and powerful as it once was.

What sort of critical life and death issues are getting worse in your perspective?

Going fishing.

That’s a very relative and personal question. Because for me the world is getting better. Not everyone lives in the US, here we graduate university with money saved instead of being in debt

Can't change it, don't care about it.

You are tuning in to the Tragedy of the Week Show. Next week they'll have another to show you.

I moved to Arizona, where I can drive 0.2 miles to the weed store.

I focus on one thing at a time in my sphere of influence.

life is temporary.

im hangin on to the ride until i get thrown off. its my only shot, even if it sucks donkey balls

i guess my answer would be 'dont sweat the small stuff. its all small stuff'

I don't actually think it's that bad, once you shut out all the noise.

Stoicism. Is there something that I can do about it?No. Is it under my control to change this? No. Then I move on and do the best I can be a better person and be more empathetic.

I do what I can to just ignore it. Sure, I don't have a lot and my life is pretty shitty but I always remember that someone somewhere else probably has it significantly worse. Also, while I know it's morbid to think like this, I know that if things get really bad, there will always be a way out.

Using the Serenity Prayer as inspiration (though I'm an atheist and not an addict), I try to accept what I cannot change, and change the things I can.

I also try to keep busy with hobbies such as gardening and woodworking.

I suppose I should probably try to get into some type of activism or community type stuff, but I'm not at all an outgoing type of person.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Worry without action is of no tangible use. If you just worry, ACT!

Not the answer you are looking for, but I think the world is generally getting better. What is getting worse is life in the imperial core, which has been rotting for a long time now as western capitalists cannibalize their own states to keep profit growth up. There are dangers associated with this for the rest of the world, and other places where things are also definitely getting worse (western Ukraine, Argentina, etc.), but I think for most of the population, besides the mounting threat of the US starting World War II 2, things look okay.

I try to remind myself that, in the great scheme of things (i.e, evolution) a "step forward, two steps back" is a common thing in this chaotic universe of ours.

Meteors, dinosaurs, civil wars, capitalism issues, pandemics, murder, genocide, climatic changes... it's all accounted for.

Of course, the answer is different if you are suffering directly from these things (apart from the meteors and dinosaurs) I mentioned above, then things suddenly get VERY personal and provoke impulsive reactions from our end.

We are now in the "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" stage of humanity. So, roughly around step 5 to 6.

But to answer your question at the moment, nihilism. The sad reality is we’re an animal that thinks itself as the divinely chosen species on the planet, thus absolving us from any sense of responsibility for destroying others and setting it on fire.

A way of life is ending, but life will go on. Frankly I'm rooting for gas to be more expensive.

Not getting better?

What are you basing that belief on?

Alcohol and shitposting

the fact that the world isn't getting any better

I think you've beggared (begged) the question.

By doing things that make me happy.

I was sort of in the same boat, although in Canada. We had our own set of different, also serious issues that were not getting any better. I couldn't see any way to do anything about it myself, or even secure myself an OK life in the country.

So, I emigrated. Just like so many generations of my family before me, from their various home countries. I'm not sure if I'm up to the task of making the whole world better, but at least I can move somewhere where I can be productive enough to make things locally better (for myself and perhaps even a few others).

Drugs...

2023 has been a calamity for my health, both physical and mental. The state of things doesn't help. I'm better now. Touching wood.

By taking what limited steps I can, and by not criticizing others if I don’t think their efforts are thorough, effective, or sincere enough (nobody likes a smug, judgmental, pedantic asshole). By recognizing that people cope in their own ways, and keeping an open mind. By generally trying to be considerate of others.

The only things worth worrying about are the things that you can control. Don’t worry about who wins the election, just worry about your vote. Don’t worry about what you don’t have, take joy in the things you do have.

Find your village, whether that’s the community of your favorite hobby, a group of local friends, or your family and invest in them and not a politician, celebrity, or athlete.

There is always a reason to find joy.

Have a read of Factfulness. It'll provide, amongst other things, lovely visualizations to demonstrate that's not actually true.

The world is getting better though.

Be the change you want to see man

I think about how things actually were 50 years ago, and how every generation since the dawn of written history has the same exact end times mythology and then correctly conclude that I am merely suffering from the same delusion as nearly every human prior to me.

Also I own a glock and three bullets.

I have several ways I cope:

Satisfaction that the rich are going to get fucked by climate catastrophe and ecosystem collapse just as much as everyone else. The climate change deniers will starve just like the rest of us.

It's been billions of years before I existed, and potentially trillions of years afterwards. I'm incredibly lucky to be aware and thinking, so why should I complain about stuff happening after my spark of awareness has faded?

Earth will continue without humans just fine, eventually getting swallowed by the Sun. Nothing humanity has done will survive.

Celebrate being alive to experience the universe.

Anger, I simply want to out live my enemies and shit talk them when they die. I'm waiting on Bill oriley, Glen beck, bezos, Bill gates, Rupert murdoch and the other koch brother to croak simply to shit talk them to oblivion and pass this information too my children.

I pray that someone out there will identify the root of the weed and rip it out of the earth before we're allowed to strangle them, and then get devastatingly high afterwards.

I strive to improve it, at least that way I did all I could

I've been reading about increasing unionization and strike activity, leading to better deals for large groups of workers. The industry-level negotiations we're already seeing are helpful in isolation; but that's also the kind of energy that can lead to economic reforms that have a real impact on quality of life. Workers seem like the little guys, until a lot of them are pulling in the same direction, and then suddenly their demands become existentially important.

About a century-ish ago Americans were worse off than they are now. That led to desire for change, which led to decades of trust-busting, unionization, and regulation. We got things like weekends off, and a livable minimum wage. And not entirely unrelated, we also got national parks, the EPA, and endangered species preservation. We've back-slid a lot since those advances. But we can get them back, and push the needle even further next time. We did it before, we can do it again.

Lot of good things in here. A couple thoughts. One: Because Lemmy is nice to be on/use. The community generally 'slaps' as the generations below me call it. Two: Also white male USA and have also been deeply concerned for the past several years. I chose to focus on community directly around me while acknowledging the crappy situation everywhere due to asshats abusing power/status/wealth. I take solace that the people I choose to spend time around are generally reasonable people and try to help eachother out when we can and always when needed.

By reminding myself that unless some space rock suddenly hits us or the sun decides to explode super early, we're fine. And if you look at our history as a species, we'll continue to be fine. We've endured far worse things than this before and we'll do it again and again. We're good at that. Stupidly good. Whatever rough spots we're facing now is going to pass. It's always passed. Can't be bad all the time, after all. As for global warming causing a potential extinction event? It...more than likely won't happen in our life time, so, worry, but don't, like, believe it'll happen tomorrow or that we're already actually facing The Great Dying 2.0. We're maybe at the crossroads, but not there yet.

Other than that? I do as a few have already mentioned here and try and make the world just a slightly better place. Helping others in my community out, being kind and considerate to the people around me, trying to not get frustrated at drivers out on the road (this is tough NGL), that kinda thing.

I‘d highly recommend the follwoing book:

The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker https://books.apple.com/ch/book/the-better-angels-of-our-nature/id457552067?l=en-GB

While it might seem that the world is getting worse and worse, it’s actually quite the opposite. We have less war deaths than any centuries before, social justice is on the rise almost everywhere, poverty is at an all time low. For the last 50 or so years, almost every metric of human wellbeing increased, some significantly.

Doesn’t mean there aren’t any problems and we still have a lot of work to layed out for us. But to say that the world is getting worse and worse is just factually incorrect.

I focus on trying to improve my own little corner of the world, realizing that it may not make much of a difference in the grand scheme. But taking some small actions to help others, reduce my footprint, etc. does help allay some of the despair and dread. I know it's not much, but that's all I've got for you.

Son, I got comfortable with the fact it was only gonna get worse after '74 and Ford pardoned Nixon.

Sucks being right. points Pass those beer nuts?

Statistically people are happier and healthier than any time in history. Even if you don't like politics, the vast majority of policy passed in places like the USA and EU does improve life there. The dictators like Ji Xinping and Vladimir Putin are past their prime by a long shot. The children of the rich vocally hate their parents. People at the highest level of power are being held to high standards and made responsible for their crimes.

The one statistically noteworthy thing there is to worry about is Climate Change, sadly 2022 was a new high for total emissions in billion tons, but the next generation wants to do away with cars, with fossil fuels, with nonrecyclables entirely so if we can just survive that crisis it should be all good.

Even Gun Violence is just a rounding error probability that it would affect you at all. Something like ~0.00003125% of the total global population died from firearms in 2019, admittedly that percentage goes up in places like the USA, Mexico, and St Kitts, but it's pretty negligible for the everyday life of the average person. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm diminishing the problem here, but I think you can want to fix the problem without worrying how it affects you personally.

Well, I smoke weed on a daily basis. It's my main way of coping with the world.

I do a number of other things but nothing that is going to really change anything.

We're in one of the best times to be alive in history and the world is still getting better in many ways, I just try to feel grateful for that when I see something that's bad or getting worse.

I do things about it rather than sitting in the false comfort that I'll be unaffected as a straight, white, male.

I'm an unremitting optimist who was born in the abyss, and climbed out of it.

Will I one day go back there? Yes.

Will you? Also yes.

However, you'll go there depressed, screaming, full of sorrows, regrets, doubts, and pain, wishing you had just a little more time.

I go there, with a smile on my face, because I'll be going home. I've already lived that, I've had that experience. It doesn't get any worse than the rock bottom, of death's door itself - the murky black sea from which none emerge, king nor beggar.

Absolutely everything between now and then is just extra gravy. Being alive is a miracle.

I have lost all hope and am behaving as though we will all be dead within 25 years, and although that is not LITERALLY true, the actual reality is that billions will die in the coming decades and it won't be peacefully in their sleep. The famines, wars and plain savagery will be awe inspiring to witness. The die offs of all life in the oceans and the insects will doom us to a swift death.

I exist and nothing more. I have no feelings one way or the other at this point. If I get hit by a car on my way home, it would be just as enjoyable as if I watched a good movie, although if I were to die in the crash, it might be a bit better than the movie.

I only hope that I can exact some form of vengeance on those responsible before we all perish.

I watch Carol & The End of The World.

There's a lot of "statistically, things are better now than they've ever been so don't worry about it" posts in here, but that's cold comfort for the individual person. While accurate, you might as well be making a Tragedy Olympics comment. Things are better than they have ever been, but in the past 10-20 years, things have gotten worse for a lot of people in their daily lives. There are plenty of ways to cope such as alcohol, drugs, video games, and other addictions, but those only push the feeling away temporarily and do nothing to change your situation.

My suggestion is to look at the things that worry you, from least to greatest and from the ones you have the least ability to affect to the ones you can effectively change. And then look at the ones you can personally affect the easiest that would have the largest and most immediate impact on your life, and make a plan on how to work on those. Feeling like you are making some progress towards improving your life makes a huge difference. Maybe it's taking some time one day a week to prep a bunch of meals ahead of time so you don't have to worry about it after work during the week. Maybe it's making sure to walk every day to get some exercise. Maybe it's talking about the issues in your community right now with friends and neighbors, and working together on a way to help solve those. Whatever it is, even a small step is still a step forward towards the life you want.

As a bisexual trans woman who was in middle school when 9/11 happened, I spent my childhood and teenage years watching helplessly as the country around me became more and more openly hostile to anyone who didn't fit the mold of a cis white heterosexual Christian male. And the bigotry has only gotten worse from there. The first 6 months of this year alone, more than 1 anti-trans bill was proposed every single day. 4 out of 10 trans women in the US will be a victim of sexual assault. The average lifespan for a trans person is 30 years due to murder and suicide rates. However, I live in one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly states in the country and have elected officials at practically every level of government who have made it clear that they will fight tooth and nail to keep it that way, so I make sure to support those sorts of politicians at elections and avoid going to states that are currently a threat to my life while I focus on more immediate issues, like the high cost of living and poor wages/job prospects in my town. I spend some time every week just casually looking at jobs in places I would like to live and working on hobbies and skills I enjoy, as I've found that even if it's not related to a field, just showing that you are willing and able to learn a new skill can land you a job. A company will sometimes hire you more on if they like you as a person than on your actual qualifications. Almost landed myself a job on a government contract that way before a medical issue prevented me from working for several years; simply because the boss and others enjoyed talking to me when I would come to pick up their stuff and I did some due diligence to make sure they were taken care of even if the delivery company dropped the ball (and if I picked up extra hours from them? The delivery company got paid and so did I, so it was a win-win).

And when all else fails, there's always spite. Sheer spite has been a great motivator for me in life, because are you really gonna give up before you have a chance to grab that asshole from elementary school who bullied you and rub his nose in the dirt with how great the life you've created for yourself is? Becoming a happy person is the best way to give a giant middle finger to everybody who's ever called you a loser.

Just be depressed and try to distract myself. At one point I thought I could change things by getting involved in politics. I very quickly realized how pointless that was. Of course now even my distractions also keep getting ruined. So... idk.

by plotting to exterminate conservatives

I don't believe the world is getting worse. I believe our knowledge of the world's ills is getting better.

klonopin

Having kids helps, it's their problem now.

Title mentions the world.

Body worries about the US.

Nice US defaultism.

Serious answer? The serenity prayer. Recognize what is in your control and what's not. Accept what you can't change, change what you can.

Philosophy and learning to accept what you cannot control. It's an everyday struggle, but overtime you can form new, more positive, habits. Setting attainable goals for yourself can be one way to help you along this path.

There is great disorder under heaven; the situation is excellent.

I just keep in mind that the police won't likely get to violate me again before I kill myself. Everyone else can deal with the shit they wouldn't bother saving me from.

Permanently Deleted

I want to combat all the people saying "um, actually things are getting better"

What they mean to say is "The largely meaningless or deliberately misleading metrics the government uses to make its own report card say things are going great!"

Everybody keeps talking about how the "economy" is so strong. That just means the stock market is doing well and owners of capital are happy.

Meanwhile, the US has the highest rate of homelessness in its recorded history. Worth noting that the way numbers are reported for things like homelessness, unemployment, and the like are very intentionally designed to under-report.

Local, state, and federal government all have a long history of changing the method of reporting/calculating those metrics during a term in office so they can say "unemployment dropped 30% under my watch!" When all they really did was not count 30% of the people previously counted.

Yes, wages are finally rising, and it has nothing to do with the government. It's entirely the work of unions and organization of labor to raise wages, and it's still got a long way to go.

The best thing that anyone can do is vote for better representation at every opportunity.

The best thing that not everyone can do is talk to a doctor if you have signs of depression or other mental illness. Yes, it's possible to have those things brought on by circumstance, and no, that doesn't mean you don't have to do anything about it.

If you can't afford doctor's visits like that, look up non-profit health care organizations. You may be lucky enough to have real, free Healthcare options available through places like Good Samaritan.

And don't forget to let yourself acknowledge the REAL progress of the world. We're seeing rapid development and insight on treatments for cancers, dementia, new vaccines, renewable tech, and computational efficiency.

There are many broken systems to overcome, but even still there are incredible humans building the foundations for an incredible future if we keep working at it. Maybe we can help make sure Gen Alpha gets a fair shot.