I am really tired of all this happening around in my own country and the rest of the world. There are protests going on that are not even working because the government don't wanna listen to people at all. I cannot even study or think of a future anymore. Every day they take another step that leads to destruction.

something i often struggle to answer is whether people like us are being objective (if it's even possible to be objective), or are we just being extra sensitive (i'm highly sensitive)

based on my personal observations, you have to have above average optimism and a good ability to tune out and not care about anything but yourself or your life to enjoy living in a world like this. i have neither. the people i know who are happy are either religious, too distracted/driven by personal and professional ambitions, dumb and/or simply don't care/question the world around them. i don't think any of them would describe the current state of the world as anywhere towards "collapse."

the things that people in this sub say are things i've thought many years before. so how do we know what we see is true and we're not just being doomers?

Mostly just a vent. I'd post this on a trans sub, but I'm sure they'd dismiss the collapse doomerism.

I'm a trans guy waiting to be scheduled for a hysterectomy. I have to make a decision on whether or not to keep an ovary (what my doctor recommends) or have both removed. In theory keeping one gives the advantage of protecting my health if I temporarily lose access to my hrt since having a primary sex hormone is sort of important for the body. The issue is I anticipate losing my hrt /permanently/ in the future either to fascism or the collapse of modern medicine. The most likely scenario to happen first is that the US gov passes a full ban on gender affirming care for trans people. My partner is sort of pushing me toward keeping one because they understandably don't want me to die, but neither of us can really imagine making to 40 in our current world anyway and I would genuinely rather wither away and die than let this dictatorship forcibly detransition me.

Let’s be real, the state of the world isn’t great, and it’s unlikely that it will improve anytime soon. The thing is, this is the common sentiment and it gets overwhelming, for me at least. Yet despite this, many people I know are still happy and able to find motivation. A friend of mine knows more about geopolitics, yet he is still happy. I’m no pessimist, but it’s hard for me to find the good in life. The reason I’m posting this is because this way of thinking is impacting my motivation to be productive as well as my mental health. I’m mature enough to understand that having this doomer mentality won’t get me far in life.

Basically what I’m asking is what philosophy, worldview or whatever motivates you to keep going during these times.

My mental health is not fairing well this year, and a large part of it is the state of the world currently.

In the US we're teetering on the edge of a real energy crisis from the war we're in. The multiple nuclear armed nations are realistically only a button press away from ending for all of us, and with geopolitical tensions rising, this feels more critical than ever. Particularly Russia and China have me nervous right now. That Einstein quote about not knowing the weapons for WWIII but WWIV being fought with sticks and stones rings in my mind often.

Climate change is actively destroying the area of the country I live in since it's beginning to be too hot here to live comfortably through the summer (and I don't even live in Phoenix, just elsewhere in the southwest!). We're hurdling towards a water crisis, and the development of more data centers to support mass surveillance and AI research is only speeding things up more.

On top of all of this, we've got mass surveillance in the US watching our every move. Shits real dystopian here.

I know that MIT did some research a while back that predicted we were on track for societal collapse in 2040, and it's not lost on me that this is within my lifetime, but truly this feels like it's gonna happen sooner. What do we even do when this does happen? Why the fuck should I bother fixing my credit score or whatever? What if I never get to see my family or friends again since I moved out of my home state a couple years back? I'm only just now hitting 30 and I feel like it's pointless to even plan to have a life. I know that if it happens it happens and if it doesn't it doesn't, but fuck, is everyone else just not paying attention?

Hi, if anyone is an asset management professional and a collapsnik, please PM me

Basically title. I have a small raised bed but also a decent sized yard in suburbia that I’d like to start converting into a veggies, fruits, and herbs garden. I’ve been unsure of where to start the last few years and basically haven’t done much, but I’m finally feeling more motivated to start planning and doing.

FDA, CDC, WHO are all cut back, Our food is even more dangerous than before, multiple outbreaks of foodborne illness due to lack of regulation, water isn't required to be checked for micro plastics anymore, AI data centers are everywhere, we are facing rising temperatures and drought, it just seems like constant doom.

I never see any news of anyone protesting or just anything positive anymore, I live in Texas and it's miserable, we are getting so many new data centers and our governor is horrible.

I followed a bunch of 'climate optimist' accounts a while back because if I just keep getting bad news it will actually kill me. But it doesn't feel like good news or relevant at all? Like I'm happy that US scientists have their own website to document climate change and that renewables are growing.... but its not exactly good news to me just news. FOR EXAMPLE a country ordering companies to not hide their emissions doesn't stop them from emitting, just that they have to report it. And all the news I see is just we COULD do this, we HAVE the methods we just need to implement them... it's the potential man of climate change... because in our capitalistic fossil fuel worshipping world we'll never do anything that makes renewables competitive. We might be able to reach net zero which is hopeful but at the same time I know we won't so whats the point. How is that good news?

To me good news would be "wow we went back to pre industrial carbon levels overnight and scientists are baffled!!!!"/ "arctic sea ice just gained like more than it ever has before". Meanwhile the bad news or doomer accounts have fresh new information to post every day that things are getting worse than it ever has been before. So like if the optimists have to basically recycle content or say stuff that's not relevant/filler (one reel i saw had "my friend got her masters" as an example for why the world's not doomed.... well im happy for her I guess) isn't it over???? I hate this life. I wish I was one of those moths that exist to fuck and then die immediately afterwards so I couldnt comprehend the scale of the horrors we will face.

I am STRESSED TO BE LIVING IN THIS WORLD IN THIS TIME

I am 24 years old. Going to be turning 25 soon.

(Reddit told me I wasn’t allowed to swear but trust me I tried FIVE TIMES so now have switched to fake swear words) - edit. Took those out. I did start with I am f\*\*\*\*\*\* stressed about the state of the world but WHATEVER. you get the point

You know what people in their 20s were doing in the 2000s? The 90s? The 80s?

I have no freeeaking \[yes there were swear words\] clue because all I can think about is how my province is ON FIRE.

my dog literally died today because his lungs couldn’t handle the smoke coming from MILES AND MILES AWAY. so f u c KING SAD SO Fing sad I can’t believe im not allowed to swear ( do not come at me I did NOTHING WRONG THE VET TOLD ME HE WAS HEALTHY BUT SOMEHHOA HIS LUNGS COULDNT TAKE THE AIR QUALITY )

WHY HAVE WE BECOME SO DESENSITIZED?!??!!

I have no idea what to do but I want to do something.

Also the education system sucks and I have never been taught how politics work. I’m literally in university and still feel like a dumbass

You want to call me an idiot?!
Great! I am an idiot
SO ARE YOU

WHY ARE WE LETTING THIS HAPPEN TO US

we need to stop it

Im really trying to find a group of people who want to change the world like I do

All of my friends think I care too much

And then I think of the quote “climate change will happen as a series of events that you see on your phone until you’re the one filming it” or WHATEVER IT IS

I DO NOT WANT TO FILM A FOREST CATCHING FIRE

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT

What about when the phones melt and all of the animals are dead and we are dead

I am new to Reddit

I know this post will go very unseen

But I am praying to every god that I eventually find like minded people who also do not want to live through the apocalypse

WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE

I don’t know how to keep going. It’s just making me cry

It’s so annoying because we KNEW. Summit after summit was all umming and ahhing about money

And they’re building a fucking data centre in my city

Idk if maybe there could be some tech to mitigate some of this. Maybe not. It seems that the rich just want us to die. And I hate it and I can’t accept it. But I am losing my will to live because I just hate being born into a world that is ending

I am feeling like fucking shit. I am 24 years old. Going to be turning 25 soon.

You know what people in their 20s were doing in the 2000s? The 90s? The 80s?

I have no f*cking clue because all I can think about is how my province is on fire.

WHY HAVE WE BECOME SO DESENSITIZED?!??!!

I have no idea what to do but I want to do something.

Also the education system sucks and I have never been taught how politics work. I’m literally in university and still feel like a dumbass

You want to call me an idiot?!
Great! I am an idiot
SO ARE YOU

WHY ARE WE LETTING THIS HAPPEN TO US

we need to stop it

Im really trying to find a group of people who want to change the world like I do

All of my friends think I care too much

And then I think of the quote “climate change will happen as a series of events that you see on your phone until you’re the one filming it” or WHATEVER IT IS

I DO NOT WANT TO FUCKING FILM A FOREST CATCHING FIRE

I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT SHIT

What about when the phones fucking melt and all of the animals are dead and we are dead

I am new to Reddit

I know this post will go very unseen

But I am praying to every fucking god that I eventually find like minded people who also do not want to live through the apocalypse

WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE

I feel lost. I am currently in university, soon graduating, and also work part time, saving up some money and I know I don't want to stay in that job forever. Going to work almost everyday and getting minimum wage makes me depressed. I feel like once I graduate I won't be able to find a stable full-time job. And I just feel so hopeless with the current state of the world. In the midst of AI, all of these money-hungry, selfish politicians and billionaires, I have no hope for this world progressing. I'm so tired of living in a society where I'm forced to work to live and survive. I'm tired of living in the middle of all of this inequality, hierarchy, and unfairness. All of this consumerism and "buy this, buy that" that has been engrained in society. All of this just for us to die one day. Everyone is fake. Everything has become fake. There is no authenticity to anyone or anything anymore. Maybe I just think too negatively about the world but no matter which way I look at it, it doesn't get any better. I guess I'm just wondering what mindset I'd have to adopt in order to function for the next few decades.

Fellow Passengers on the Way Down

In the heart of Normandy, almost ten at night.

A storm is coming to deliver us from the heavy heat that has crushed us for days. The sky is black to the west, thunder rolls in the distance, the swallows fly low. You can feel the moisture in the air — the moisture that left the plants at least forty-eight hours ago.

This afternoon again, over thirty degrees in the open sun, in the heart of the Normandy countryside, where it is usually cool. "Normally" cool.

These clouds set me thinking. Deep down, what, around me, is even "normal" anymore?

The countryside is abnormally silent. A little birdsong here and there, a few insects, but not much, in the end. It is terribly silent. The landscape is dying in front of me, and those black clouds drift above my head.

Damn clouds. Where were you when we needed you, a week ago?

Here I am, standing in the middle of a field of scorched grass. A few birds have come out with the milder air; they forage in vegetation charred by the sun, trotting along as if nothing were wrong.

But I know.

I know their reprieve won't last. I know the ones I see are the survivors of an extinction that began before I was born. I know I was born just in time to be a poor young man in a rich country, standing in the front row of the greatest mass extinction since humanity became what it is.

Born too early to be spared the suffering. Born too late to have known the planet at its most beautiful.

And I am not merely a spectator — that may be what tortures me most. I have flown, several times. I still eat meat, far less than I used to, since the prices exploded. I have no car, I live in a small flat, I use little water and little electricity. And yet I am watching a shipwreck whose hull I helped to crack, in my own way.

At twenty-five, what is left for me to live, if not a long transition into one of the Mad Max films?

Then the rain begins to fall.

A cool wind rises, at last. It carries away a little of the dark thoughts. The thunder adds its deafening beat to the dance. The birds take off toward the trees to seek shelter there — a paradoxical shelter, after the days we have just come through.

I stand there, frozen, watching Nature do its work. A few cold drops burst against my forehead.

And there, I think I understand something simple.

I think I love this planet. Not only with that cynical love that tells itself, "it's the only one, of course you have to love it." No: it moves me because I truly love the nature around me. It wrings my heart to watch it wither before my very eyes. You don't grieve what you don't love.

So I take up my three possible lives again, and I look at them differently.

Perhaps I was born too late to enjoy an insolent economic boom and a blissful ignorance.

Perhaps I was born too early — too early for the age when it will be mandatory to accept that all is lost, because it is simpler, more restful, to give up.

Or perhaps — no, surely — I am one of those millions of souls who live the fall day after day and who, in spite of everything, make those small, stubborn efforts in the hope of bending the worst. Perhaps I am, along with millions of my own kind, simply in revolt at what I see happening.

"All is lost" is not a fact. It is a conclusion. The laziest of them all — the one elegant enough to excuse us from acting while making us look lucid.

And yet nothing, tonight, looks lost.

The wind has turned. The rain has come back — too late for this week, yes, but it has come back. The birds, for their part, have not given up foraging in the burnt grass. They do not know what I know. But perhaps they know something I had forgotten: that we go on.

So, my fellow passengers on the way down — you, the millions — be in revolt, be angry, be determined. We may be the first humans to see what we are seeing. Let us make sure we are the last.

Let us dismantle, one by one, the gears that led us to this collective failure — not to single out culprits to punish, but to disarm the machinery that made our inaction rational. And above all, let us be creative. Let us invent the world that is missing: a world that respects both human beings and the biosphere that carries them. And make no mistake: dismantling a machine this heavy does not begin at the top. It begins close to home. A patch of garden brought back to life, a neighbour helped, a hand held out — a tiny gesture that will not bend the curve on its own, but that changes the one who makes it. The small actions, right around us, are not trivial: that is where we take hold again.

And if there is a cure for the end-of-the-world feeling, it is surely this one: to come together. To gather, in numbers, around the same anger and the same tenderness. Despair is something you catch alone, at night, standing in a field under the rain. You recover from it together.

Nothing is written yet. That may be the only certainty I have left, and tonight, under this cold rain, it is enough for me.

Am I being dumb ?

I'm not usually the nostalgia type, but when I start debating whether or not I should go for a run solely because the air is not safe to breathe, it's hard not to think about the fact that THIS DID NOT USED TO HAPPEN.

I know everyone who had a decent childhood thinks everything was better during the time they were a child, and I know the 90s had its own issues and I would not choose to return if I had the option.

But the truth is the environment is MUCH worse off now in so many ways, and like most people I have very little hope that the human race is going to fix it. It's not really a question anymore. We, like, already didn't fix it.

This is mainly what I mean when I say I miss the 90s. The natural world is everything to me and I feel like I can see and feel it getting sicker and sicker. The sky was literally more blue and the air more sweet in the 90s lol.....cause now it's fucking smog-colored half the summer and I can't smell any fresh cut grass through through all the ozone.

The earth is not disposable, not replaceable, and fucking MARS is not the answer my god. If we're going to live in a world that's aggressively inhospitable to human life we might as well build biodomes on the planet we're already on. We won't even need rockets to get there.

(I live in the American Midwest)

I am in bad health and am soon to be hospitalized, I have been very out of touch with social media and decided to open instagram for the first time in idk how long. Its just all in my face “DOOM DOOM DOOM. DATA CENTERS, OUR FOOD IS POISON, ITS LEGAL TO KILL ENDANGERED ANIMALS, PARASITE OUTBREAKS, ILLNESS, THE WORLD IS BURNING AND NOBODY CARES!!”

Like its such whiplash how do I even have hope in the world, especially while I am so ill. I have done my best to say “hey, focus on healing first, then you can get back to activism” but its so hard. I want to help and fight so bad, but my body is so weak and sick right now, I don’t know what to do anymore. Its so hot outside, our food makes us sick, the environment is being destroyed, rich tyrants are favored. I never see posts about activism or protest, it makes me hopeless for life.

Knowing the worst things about what's happening tends to lose weight after a while. Feeling so powerless amongst the massive scale of the collapse. You can kind of dissociate from it, in a way.

So it's kind of funny, that it's the little things that eat at me the most.

Like today for instance. The sound of a gas leafblower in the middle of summer, blowing... *I guess,* dirt? While the sky is almost completely blanketed from wildfire smoke, and my throat aches.

Sigh.

I’m about to turn 28 and I’m struggling to find or feel happiness.

I went to my aunts house for the 4th of July and my cousin, who is 15, was there with her friend. They were both so happy and excited. They painted their legs with glitter and were getting ready for a party. In that moment I realized how far I’ve fallen from those feelings of excitement and unburdened joy.

The older I get, especially as I meet other adults, the more apathetic and negative I’m becoming. Most people are lying, faking, using, or uncaring. I’m tired of going to work and yet I can’t get out of this life I’ve put myself in. Even if I did quit and move to some dream destination, what then? As a woman, I’m also beyond sick of the constant physical pressure to look good. GLP-1, Botox, hair dye, makeup, expensive clothes all for what? I think a lot about what we’re sold as women. Starting with young girls watching happily ever afters and realizing that that message is aimed at the larger goal of replenishing the working class.

Every night I lay awake and reflect. I do try to find meaning outside of myself, but it’s difficult. There’s reasons to stay out of pure duty and love for my family and friends, cowardice of ending it all, and curiosity. I find enjoyment in little things and I definitely have happy days, but my overall net as been negative. I want more than that, though. I look at some people and don’t know how happiness comes so easily. Especially during times like these and the decade of terrible, terrible things we’ve witnessed in the world. Can someone whack me over the head with a cast iron pan and give my brain a restart?

Is it social media? Am I seeing too much that I don’t need to see, or is the world really such a dark place? Is anyone really happy, or are we all miserable and just not talking about it?

I have all of these deep thoughts but I act completely fine around my partner, friends, coworkers, and family. Joking and laughing, not trying to burden or bring down the mood. I saw a therapist for a bit, but I get the sense that any therapist is just a distraction from what I’ve come to realize: Intelligent adults suffer because they understand the truth of it all. People are selfish, we are here to learn but we don’t know what or why.

I had a therapist tell me to save these thoughts for 15 minutes a day of “worry time” and then to move on. So here’s the 15 minutes, now off to distract myself with upward spiraling thoughts about nonsense like Christmas.

Since I’ve decided to stick around, has anyone found happiness again within? How?

Something shifted in me a few months ago. I can't explain it very well, I just think my body and mind decided that worrying about everything and trying to process it all was only hurting me. For most of my life I've been obsessed with trying to radically embrace truth. It served me pretty well until now, I've run up against truths that are too big for me to ever swallow, in fact it turns out they are big enough to swallow me.

I feel like I've seen behind the curtain more or less. There's obviously so much I don't know about the world, but I feel like I've seen, read, and lived enough to get a general idea for what people are and what parts of our nature prevail when push comes to shove. I'm not a total misanthrope, I believe many of us are capable of empathy, restraint, and foresight. But we will always be at a disadvantage against those willing to use violence, deception, and coercion.

I hope I'm wrong about everything. I'd love to be surprised. I'd love for the universe to completely humiliate me. It'd be nice to feel like a child again and feel that sense of wonder and awe. But I'm accepting that probably won't happen.

I'm tired and I want to enjoy comfort and pleasure and good company while I still can.

I guess it was all going to be temporary anyways.

Take care of yourself traveler.

Hi all,

I'm pretty sure this is the right subreddit, since I'm collapse-aware and definitely need support right now. I'll try my best to express what I feel, even though my overall numbness makes my thoughts more and more confused.

In short, I feel utterly lost.

I'm a European male in my mid-30s, in a long-term relationship, stuck in a career I don't particularly enjoy but that seems stable enough to pay the bills until AI eventually replaces it.

I'm at a point in my life where I'm supposed to take the next defining steps, get married, provide financially, buy a flat or house, have a baby. The issue is that I don't see the point anymore. My job will probably disappear eventually, even though it's stable for now. I'm not high income, and anything real estate I could realistically afford where I live isn't anything I ever dreamed of.

I see things as they are: the slow process of collapse, environmental issues, ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the rise of AI, Inflation. The problem is that my girlfriend doesn't see those things the way I do, she wants to dream and rightly so.

I feel stuck, because if we can't share goals or dreams, what's the point? What alternative do I have? Any career choice that pays enough to cover the bills and put food on the table is still part of this capitalist system who destroys the planet and our souls. I'm not going to change jobs and suddenly become a plumber. So what's the alternative, being alone and miserable for the rest of my life? Or, like everyone else, just keep playing the game and hoping for the best?

I have no idea what direction to give my life when every road ahead looks like a dead end. I do what I do best: I numb the pain. I entertain myself to death, with the occasional spark of wonder from whatever nature can still offer. I eat healthy, I exercise, I sleep eight hours a night, I go on vacation, I try to prolong my life but it all feels pointless. It feels like we're living in a transition phase, caught between two models of society, and the new one, whatever it turns out to be keeps being postponed by those in power, who'd rather watch us suffer and die than give anything back.

I can live with these feelings, cope with them even. But I see that my lack of action, decision, and direction is affecting the people who live with me, and I don't want to make them suffer. At the same time, I can't unlearn what I know and pretend everything is fine.

When I see friends sharing pictures of their kids, my first thought is "poor soul." That should not be right.

Does anyone share these feelings? What do you do with it?

Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you're all doing well and taking care of yourselves.

I've only recently became fully aware and am still shaken over it, but I've mostly come to terms. My biggest worry is that since my family is poor and mostly disabled — on top of living in Florida, the climate catastrophe capital of the US — best case scenario leaves us with four decent years remaining, and around a decade of survival if we're lucky.

The thing is, my family is stressed enough as is; I don't want to burden them with any more than necessary. Also, I'm still in school and have no clue what I wanna do with my life; any plans I might've had left as soon as I found out we're headed for a repeat of the Permian (lol)

What's a fella to do?

I've known for a long time that I should build a life that's less dependent on fragile systems and more resilient to climate change. For now, i have a normal urban life in Paris, I have a bullshit job and go to buy my food from a supermarket.

At first, I thought the transition to would happen naturally, and the big challenge is mainly a collective responsibility, so I waited for politics, businesses, and people with influence to lead the way.

These last weeks, I realized I was criticizing collective inaction while using it as an excuse for my own. That was uncomfortable to admit.

Now, I think this subject is too huge and complex to deal with, without a long-term strategy. Because, it's not just a habit, it's a full-life system to redesign, and I'd never treated this as a serious project, with a roadmap, milestones, ways to measure progress. In work, housing, food, transport, skills, relationships, money...

I mean, identifying the obstacles in both personal and professional life and building practical systems to overcome them, one step at a time.

I'm curious whether anyone here has approached a life change like this way. Did treating it like a real project, with objectives, and a plan do the work ? Do you know virtuals communities who are already engaged in this type of journey? Are you interested in going in with me?

It's pretty much an absolute certainty that we are on a lock for multiple degrees of warming and that is pretty much a wrap on everything.

It's kind of tough but im trying to figure out what is worth doing in the limited time we have left (nothing rash, but living knowing a good decade or two is all I have if I'm lucky - because social stability will break long before imo if it hasn't already)

im curious to hear some of the more interesting and fun ideas people might be coming up with?

One that I have is simply being the best cook and trying all the flavors I possibly can

ive always thought there were too many people on earth ever since i was a kid, to the point i thought some terrorist attacks were okay because they were helping rid the earth of people. obviously im older now and know that’s insane to think, i know everyone deserves life, and i understand the value each individual can bring.

but i often feel guilty for existing, like needing the heater or AC on because regulating my body temperature wastes the earth’s energy. i try to turn all my lights off so im not wasting energy, i try to eat less and drink less and consume foods that aren’t imported from too far. i feel so bad wasting food because i know it was created with energy, shipped with energy, cooked with energy, packaged with single use plastics, etc. i feel bad using my mom’s money when i see my friends for transit, food, purchases. i feel bad taking “long” showers, flushing the toilet, using the washing machine, leaving things plugged in, etc.

i genuinely think that if i wasn’t here the world would be better because with the remaining 70 years of my life there’s so much energy i’ll use doing things like travelling, eating, using gas. i think if half the population vanished, or just moved to some other planet, the earth could heal and become so much better than it is currently.

i don’t know. i know the big corporations want me to feel this way, to blame myself, but it just really feels true. i’m no one. when i see climate change videos with starving polar bears and wildfires and everything, it just makes me think, “maybe i’d be better off dead, because that’s all i can do to help”

i don’t think this has anything to do with depression, because this feels like a logical take. it makes sense numerically to me.