Ask Lemmy

It does seem like a daily assault on our well being, doesn't it? But there is something that helps with this - read history broadly. It helps give you a deeper understanding of current events that lessens the impact of the current moment. And consider the quote "this too shall pass". It's attributed to Sufi poets about impermanence. If times are bad it gives you hope that those times will one day, eventually but certainly, be gone. If times are good it makes you relish the moment deeply and do what you can to make it last.

My answer has nothing to do with current events: what scares me the most about the future is the inevitable death of my parents. I am scared of never being able to talk to them ever again.

Every period of history has felt like the world was heading for certain disaster. The human race is shockingly resilient and has survived much more than we deserve to

Yes, absolutely, for many reasons.

But greater than the fear is the anger that we will just go on like nothing is wrong each and everyone of us in our personal cage dictated by the perfect system of capitalism where it is impossible to break out and meaningfully influence this.

We're fucked, I just hope I can get with the girl I like and not ride the storm alone. Trying to get a meaningful job that help people

Doesn't matter what i do i die. Can't help it

Yes, but I'm more scared for humanity itself than the system. We had the chance and the means to create a generous and free heaven, and instead we have created a greedy debt slave hell.

The system isn't the problem, it's us. And if we don't learn then we're heading for another repeat.

Did you know that we actually have the means to eradicate scarcity and poverty the world over?

More so just complacent, I don’t have the mental energy for fear anymore. I still try to do what I can, but I also feel like we’ve pulled the clathrate trigger on this one. I don’t have any hope that things will get better, at least not before they get a lot worse. Seems like the way we’re going to get through this point in history is that once the construct of fascism is achieved it will cannabalize itself, as that is how fascism works, and then in 100 years we will do it all over again.

You ever make soup? It’s super easy, just throw everything in a pot and ignore it for long enough. BAM! You got soup. You ever try to unmake soup?

At some point, once it’s done cooking, we’re going to have to figure out what the fuck to do with all of this soup, each and every one of us. Or we will peacefully fall into oblivion as white hot nuclear atonement cleanses this planet of humanity (and all other life) by our own hand, that will be the final chapter eventually. We’ve got nuclear armistice and enough bombs to glass the surface and destroy the atmosphere entirely, unless we disarm all the nukes (which we never will), that is our guarantee to ourselves, and it has almost happened just by accident (literally like a “Shit, didn’t mean to hit that button,” or “Whoops, bumped the trigger switch with my knee, again!”) so many times.

Techno robber barons pushing us toward ecological disaster? Why would anyone be afraid of that? /s

Although on a serious note, I don't despair; I'm taking action, and I hope plenty of others are as well.

Everyday, whenever I hear the hum of a combustion engine. It's the sound a group of people make when they're indirectly killing someone; however, as of yet that person likely isn't known to them and the death happens maybe in a few years so they can easily ignore these facts and continue to pretend that they are a good person.

The most prudent passage for me is the lyrics of the poem spoken in God Speed You! Black Emperor's song Dead Flag Blues:

We are trapped in the belly of this horrible machine, and the machine is bleeding to death.

What scares me is a humans ability to ignore things. To continue to behave in such a way, to maintain a lifestyle, that is excessively detrimental to themselves and everyone and everything they have ever known and loved and will come to know and love.

They can easily come up with excuses for their actions, exactly like an addict, and just like an addict you can't use logic with them. I am sure there are people reading this, if they got this far, that are thinking up thousands of excuses and reasons for why they continue to burn fossil fuel for their own convenience. How to dismiss this somehow, with an angry reply or whatever else. As if the chemical waste they themselves released into the atmosphere doesn't count, as if it somehow did not contribute to the catastrophic biosphere collapse that has already killed millions of people. Hundreds of millions. As if they can be forgiven for that small transgression. As if by being part of the group they can avoid blame for the groups actions and it's consequences.

They simply can't give a shit, because they're good people.

Being afraid puts one in shackles. There's no sense in being afraid of a situation you cannot change. So: no, I'm not afraid, but I'm pessimistic and I'm trying to adapt, and prepare myself with my kids for a possibly worse future and try to develop workaround strategies.

at this point i'm beyond being afraid. i just plain dont care anymore, maybe we even deserve what is coming for letting it happen

Just remember you’re going to die, eventually. So never be afraid of death. There are fates much worse than the inevitable. Like a poisoned future of musk clones.

Only when I think about it. Mostly I try my best to live in the moment.

Mostly I'm just really fucking sad.

There was such a potential for all of us to live brilliant, flourishing, fulfilling lives.

Instead, half the folks in my country decided to shit on everything and everyone. The remaining half of us are now too fucking busy cleaning up after those fuckwits to make forward progress. We can't even advocate for changes to things we know are bad because we're trying to defend the broken status quo from something worse.

It's going to take generations to unfuck the damage. More than my lifetime, at least.

Sure.

Overrun by enshittification, rent extracting corporations that have decided that this is cheaper and more profitable than R&D into actual new tech, billionaires using the world economy and geopolitical stability as their personal playthings, the rise of aggressively willful ignorance, massive social media disinformation campaigns on the State level, growing nationalism and fascism, and all that under the warming atmosphere that is destroying our food, water supplies, and lives.

And the only thing that could potentially at least hopefully mitigate the life-threatening issues is Fusion Power, but only if it actually works in time to help us discard the majority of fossil fuel use and maybe directly power carbon extraction from the atmosphere. But I doubt we’ll make that goal.

you're afraid because of uncertainty and because we fear the unknown.

what do you need in order to be assured? knowledge and confidence.

in a world that is increasingly hostile towards the "have-nots", how would you survive within your means?

no fear. ask questions. educate yourself. plan for tomorrow.

I'm old and this may not happen in my lifetime, but I fear the collapse of the ocean current systems. The resulting global weather chaos would have a drastic effect on my younger family members, some of whom are already struggling to make their way in the world.

The way governments everywhere are backing off green commitments and seems only interested in waging war and/or protecting the greedy makes me despair, but every single day I meet people with warm hearts and open minds, so I do have some hope.

You kidding? Is anyone not?

Climate change. Shit is going to get super real in the next 20 years. Like half the planet starving real.

I can't wait for it to happen and these billionaires aren't going to run away. Likely they will be taken care of before :)

What future?