"We are afraid of the uncharted territory that we have now entered.”
    • RiderExMachina@lemmy.mlEnglish
      719·
      11 months ago

      Even without capitalism, we’re seeing the end of the Breton-Woods agreement, which was why we’ve been living in a relatively peaceful period.

      A lot of this is because the Boomers are dying out, which was the largest population group across all major countries. Before you cheer, the Boomers were the reason why most economies were mostly stable. No other generation comes even close to the size of the Boomers… Except the American Millenials.

      So every country is going to absolutely nosedive to practically preindustrial times. Everyone who could survive in that environment is long dead, and people who are used to the existing comforts (including myself) are going to face challenges we haven’t seen in over 100 years.

      I hope we’re ready for pain because there’s a shit ton of it in our future.

        • thrawn@lemmy.worldEnglish
          4·
          11 months ago

          I know better than most that talking someone out of it is nigh impossible. I still hope you don’t regardless, and that things get better. Second chances or spontaneous improvement in brain chemistry are unlikely but possible, and sometimes it is worth sticking around.

            • thrawn@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              11 months ago

              You could be right. I know I’m not supposed to say that but there are cases where things really never do get better.

              Thing is, we will all die someday. I don’t know what you’re going through so I can’t say whether you should keep suffering through it for the chance of a better life someday. I can’t say whether a better life even is enough to make up for the suffering you must be feeling now. But I know with certainty that someday the suffering will end.

              If it will end anyway, maybe it’s worth seeing a little bit more. Life changes so fast, even if just because we as a species are constantly making changes. And while you could save what seems like unbearable anguish… it all ends eventually anyway, and in death you won’t remember the extra pain. Objectively it’s better to try.

              Waiting and seeing isn’t a permanent decision either. I wouldn’t want you to suffer for nothing just because I don’t think you should do this. I just genuinely think there may be more for you, and since you are guaranteed to escape the suffering, it might be worth it to do so in life.

              I won’t pretend I know what you feel. My life is what most would consider privileged and I have never known pain like the type you’re exuding. But I have often felt the pull towards escape— like I said, we all die someday. It’s not that I want to die, simply that in a thousand years none of us will have mattered and I’ve had things I don’t want to really live through as well. In the least suicidal way possible, I have wondered why I should keep going when so many bad things could happen and it wouldn’t really matter if I lived or died anyway.

              This thinking is all I have. A vague desire to see the future and what becomes of it, since it doesn’t matter either way. I find happiness where I can and that’s enough. For me, that’s hobbies like pens or food or travel. I’m not saying to do those, or that you even have the resources to, but more to try things until you find something you do like. You have nothing to lose. If you’re about to die, none of your non-mental problems can touch you anymore. Unless you’re facing jail time or other confinement.

              Whatever you bought, maybe you can use it for something more fun. Could help. Helium? Fill some balloons and hand them to strangers. Who cares if they think you’re weird, you have nothing to lose. Then go live like nothing matters and see if you can find something that will leave you in a happier place for when you do eventually come to a close. Why not?

              I can’t make this decision for you, though I wish I could. I just hope you see it my way for now, as unhelpful as this likely was. Sadly I don’t have the positivity of the typical “don’t do it” response and no one else is saying anything, so I’ll try in whatever way I can while you’re still on this site. Feel free to hit me up and talk about what you’re dealing with, I’m clearly not helpful but sometimes discussion alone alleviates some of the burden.

            • NaoPb@eviltoast.orgEnglish
              1·
              11 months ago

              The person who replied to you cares. And likely others too.

              I care too. But I’m in my own version of hell so I’m likely not much help to you.

            • Rawdogg@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              11 months ago

              I was in a hopeless situation like yours a few years ago, prison homelessness, parents dead alcohol problems and 2 suicide attempts but they didn’t work and I stayed alive, my life is pretty sweet now and sometimes I think of what might not have been, I know its hard but keep on trying, if for nothing else your living in crazy historical times

  • sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net
    328·
    11 months ago

    Of all the reasons society could collapse this century, climate isn’t one of them.

    Not saying climate won’t eventually be an issue that can cause society to collapse, but the histrionics we’re seeing are going to be counter-productive. It’s the same sales tactic a sleazy used car salesman would use.

    “It’s a crisis! Everything is terrible! BUY NOW! BUY NOW! BUY NOW! OR YOU’LL BE DEAD FOREVER!!!”

    The demographic cliff we’re seeing 20 years from now is far more likely to cause society to collapse. China is projected to see its population drop in half. Most western countries are going to have more than one retiree for every working age person.

    Ironically, once the demographic bomb goes off, climate will be a much easier to solve problem since we’ll have all these solar panels and virtually nobody to use all the power.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      22·
      11 months ago

      You do realize we are reliant on the climate to grow the food we eat and get the water we drink… right?

      What do you think will happen when those things come under strain?

      • sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net
        212·
        11 months ago

        There’s a lot of dangers to our civilization right now. The global debt bomb set to go off is going to be a problem in the next 10 years, but nobody seems to care about that despite the imminent and long lasting consequences.

        Despite that, the threats people seem most concerned about are important but not imminent. There’s a reason people are particularly worried about this thing among all the threats out there.

        • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          7·
          11 months ago

          The economy is a social construct. We could change the whole system if we really wanted to.

          Our climate is a real, physical, thing. Just like the food we eat or the houses we live in. Destroying those things are far more irreversible, with far more consequences, than an economy that can be fixed.

          It’s like worrying about the economy while chopping down the last tree on an island.

    • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      11 months ago

      I think you are missing a few key external inputs with your theory. Yes populations in Western and Asian societies are predicted to drop, however African populations are still predicted to rise and that will blunt the level of population decline overall.

      We may not be able to adapt our agriculture and industry to climate change fast enough. Once these industries suffer catastrophic setbacks or supply chain disruption they may never come back on line especially if we live in a world of constant crisis and change.

      Finally there are external inputs that humanity doesn’t control that may take the place of industrial emissions which could create a feedback loop that humanity can’t break even if we set our emissions to zero. Google methane release from permafrost melting of you want a good example. There are also large stores of methane deep within the ocean that could be released if sea temperature rise as well.

      There is a very good chance that if humanity enters a climate change induced “dark age” that we may never recover as a species. Most of the easily accessed resources that underpin our society were exhausted early on in our industrialization. A society trying to rebuild in the aftermath of a complete collapse may not be able to rebuild as there are no easy resource inputs to harvest to jump start the process. We may not get a second chance to correct our mistakes as a species.

      • deus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        11 months ago

        Your last point is something I’ve never thought about but makes a lot of sense. Humans living in the aftermath of our collapse probably won’t be able to go through another industrial revolution without easy access to resources like coal, oil or peat. Guess it’s for the better though, since a collapse likely means we’ll have already fully screwed the environment once.

        • meyotch@slrpnk.netEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          The second Industrial Revolution could be built upon the garbage of the first, perhaps? It’s not like all that metal and solar capacity will just disappear.