this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
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Off My Chest

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Financially I’m really well off, I have a pension, Social Security and amble savings. Health wise, not doing so great. Bone marrow slowing dying, arthritis and asthmas.

I have to give myself a couple of injections every week, it’s unpleasant to put a needle deep into your thigh.

Yet, at the same time, I’m not doing that bad. I went for 13 miles ebike ride in 90 degree heat yesterday, and it didn’t even phase me.

The slow decline of red blood cell count from the bone marrow is the most disturbing part. I try not to think about because it really crushes me. But my 6 month visit to the oncology is coming up, so I have to think about it. I probably have another 7 to 10 years left, maybe.

It’s really hard to look at your own death approaching. But oddly I’m not looking for sympathy. In fact I’d prefer you keep your condolences and well wishes to yourselves. They mean nothing to someone in my situation.

You’d think I’m writing about my health problems but I’m not. That was just background. With all that is happening, the thing that haunts my days is Trump, the death of American democracy, Israel’s genocidal action, the wars in the Ukraine and Iran.

The evil that is consuming our world really upsets me. Even thought it has no really measurable effect on my life. I live in a nice house in Florida. Access to food, medicine and health care is not a problem. Okay, it’s Florida level health care, which is way lower quality than up north, but still I’m doing okay.

Yet all this evil haunts my dreams, without in any way directly affecting me. Okay, gas is a bit more expensive, and so is food, but it’s not big deal. I’ll be dead before the money runs out.

And yet it seems all I can think about is how evil my country has become and how bad the world is.

Then there are these stupid fucking data centers. Draining resources and making peoples lives hell for no useful reason. A creeping mindless blight that is the exact opposite of sustainable living. While supporting a product that doesn’t even work.

I’ve tested all the big ai models. They are crap! Lying, manipulative, intentionally deceptive, censorship crap. Honestly WTF is the fuss about? It’s like having a conversation with a sycophantic sociopath who’s trying to get you to harm yourself.

I don’t understand my reaction to world events. I should be indifferent or uncaring. Lord knows my neighbors are. This is a deeply maga area called the Villages. I thought I was retiring to a quiet community of caring grandparents, but these people are really self centered selfish drunks, who are off their meds and carrying a gun. All while reveling in the violent brutality that is trump.

Anyway, I wish I didn’t care so much. I wish this didn’t bother me. I wish I understood why it bothers me. I mean I’ll be lucky to live another 10 years. I guess it would bother me less if I knew that we had a president and congress trying to make the world a better place. Bad things always happen, and the best you can do is try fighting against them. But now we, the USA, have become the bad things. We have become the source of evil in the world.

I spent my life working for the army, GS, not a green suit. I thought I was doing the right thing defending the country from its enemies. But now we are the bad guys. I guess I didn’t want to leave this world knowing my life was just a waste of time. That nothing I’ve done has had any meaning, as it all gets washed away in a flood of vile people doing evil things.

It really depresses me more than it probably should. So I decided to post this and get it all off my chest.

Also, no, I'm not clinically depressed, I'm just unhappy with the world.

In a couple of weeks I'll get on a train and go visit my brother in NJ. I'm fine. It's just that these thoughts build up and I find posting them gets them out of my head. Much like keeping a diary helps people in troubling times.

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[–] tburkhol@slrpnk.net 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Similar boat: I am fine; everyone else seems fucked.

I suspect this is why those old robber barons had such elaborate social circuits: to keep themselves distracted from the shit going on around them and any role they played in creating said shit.

There's not much an individual can do about the systemic decline. I mean, vote for people who seem like they'll work against it, but that's kind of tears-in-the-sea.

You spent your working years trying to do the right thing & help your country/people on a large scale; you can do that in retirement on a small scale. Look for a mutual aid group, help your neighbors, look for local NPOs who could use your skills. When the system sucks, we have to help each other outside of the system. Remind each other that people are actually, usually, pretty decent, and that our perceptions get twisted by a handful of ragin psychoaths who have somehow gotten to be in charge.

[–] Retiredtoflorida@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I am fine; everyone else seems fucked.

That seems like a good way to summarize things.

I try to help people as the situation arises. My nephew, my brother, some of my neighbors. Always good to lend a hand, makes me feel better. There were a lot more opportunities to help during covid. Not so much now.

The problem becomes there is less and less stamina every day. Don't get me wrong, I'm getting by, no where near having to go into assisted living. But I don't think I could do any kind of organized volunteer work. On the good days I do long bike rides, on the bad day I just want to sleep.

Really I should be doing my rehab exercises for the arthritis in my back right now. After a while maintaining an aging body is like owning a late model car. I spend a good part of the day just trying to keep it running.

[–] tburkhol@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I spend a good part of the day just trying to keep it running.

True that. When I stopped working, I added regular exercise, hoping to stave off the decay as long as possible. Working OK so far, but I know that it's inevitable for doctor visits to become part of the routine. Just the next phase of life, and I'm going to have to figure out how to make the most of it. Keep the brain sharp - the modern world has a lot more opportunities to share my brain than the old world.

[–] Retiredtoflorida@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Big thumbs up to regular exercise. It helps more than any meds. "Motion is the best lotion", the doctors always say to me.

On the other hand, since this is a retirement community, with so many exercise options, new arrival always do the same thing. They think they are 18 and do all the sports they did as a kid. Their next stop is the orthopedic surgeon to put things back together again. So don't over do it. I think half the people on my street have had a shoulder, hip or knee replaced.

That is the beauty of the ebike. You can adjust the torque setting and preserve your knees, while still getting some exercise. When you get tired, you use the throttle to get home. One nice thing about the Villages, tons of places to bike.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Myelodysplastic syndrome, or something similar? Not my business, I know, but I have family dealing with it and your description rang a bell in my head. It's made me think about how I'd deal with a similar fate, and I suspect I'd end up in a similar frame of mind to you.

Hell, I'm pretty close even without a diagnosis like that

Anyway, hope shit goes as well as it can go for you

[–] Retiredtoflorida@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Yup. Good guess.

[–] Franconian_Nomad@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago

Yeah, everything is fucked. It’s important to know and to acknowledge this. So many people running around and thinking everything is fine, or at least pretending.

But it’s also important not to give in to the doom. Don’t be like Denethor who sees in the palantir what really happens, but who gets only shown the negative stuff to break his mind. If you aren’t satisfied with the current situation: fight! Vote the bad guys out, campaign against data centers. Bad times ahead, friend, but you are not alone.

[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I feel this so very much. Sending good thoughts your way.

[–] discocactus@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Do yourself a favor and go travel. If you like biking start in Europe, Switzerland is great and has amazing infrastructure. It helps me a lot to realize that the whole world isn't America, and us failing so hard, while bad and embarrassing, isn't literally the end of the world. Also a huge number of Americans are awake to the fact that we are (and have been for centuries) the bad guys, and are trying to find a way to change that. You just happen to have chosen to surround yourself with a huge number of people who aren't. Realistically if money isn't an issue I'd consider moving somewhere like Santa Fe or Austin or southern California (or even Phoenix) where you can get better medical care and surround yourself with more like minded people who can help you suck the marrow (hah-sorry) from these years you have ahead of you still. There's a lot of great stuff out there. Get the hell out of Florida.

[–] Retiredtoflorida@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not really an option any more, use to do that a lot, when I first retired.

I'm on some really expensive meds that require refrigeration. They don't travel well. Plus all the medical equipment I have to haul around with me.

I make one trip a year now up to NJ in the summer, to visit my brother then spend a couple of months there. Come October or so he comes down here and bring Harley the wonder dog with him. It's a GSP and just such a happy destructive puppy.

[–] discocactus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

That's fair. Family is a great thing too, not to mention dogs. And logistics are hard.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Here's a book that might help you put it in perspective.

"The Third Wave" by Alvin Toffler.

He wrote it back in the 1970s and accurately predicted most of what is happening now.

His thesis is that the change from the Industrial Age to the Digital Era is going to leave a lot of people stuck. They can't/won't change with the times, and will try desperately to cling to a dead past.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

I kinda get it. Physically im alright but my wife isn't and financially we are effed. Still she is not likely to die in the next decade although when you get to a certain age if you die its no longer like a massive tragedy. I often think about like man even if I was rich and my wife was in good health it would be hard to be happy because the state of the world, my country the us in particular. If you were just a bit rich maybe you could try to support some stuff but its like what direction do you go. canidates, protests (water, snacks, signage), environmental groups, local groups, do you try running yourself (and look like just another rich trumphole running for office). You basically need to be soros or higher to have a chance of funding enough stuff and look how they demonize him. Im not clinically depressed because im not diagnosed but man. Could be age to. I keep saying we sorta hit a height in the 70's and then someone is like. there was all kinda bad things back then and its like yeah but the trajectory was improvement. I mean if I got Isekaied into another world it would be great for me but I would wonder how badly this one was going to end and the crap people I know would have to deal with.