Asklemmy

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.

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.

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

It is, though. The US isn't the only place, nor is the Middle East. "African farmer can send kids to high school for first time" isn't a splashy headline but it happens a lot.

I got a vasectomy as a way of dealing with it.

Doomerism is very in right now, but lots of things are getting better. It's hard to see through all the social media, but if you curate your feeds to things like science and educational information, you can see all the wonderful things people are learning and making.

Sure, there are a lot of selfish, shitty people out there making a lot of noise, but in the background, there's the same great people just chugging along making things better.

Just chug along with them and vote for the people that align with your values, and do the best you can.

Like Mr. Rogers used to say, when you see bad things happen, just look for the helpers. The first thing that always happens after a tragedy, is people line up to help. It's our natural instinct.

Not have children.

Ignore it until it becomes an immediate problem. I'm honestly praying for a position at some place like Duke energy.

Well my small part of it is, which is something. I guess it is because I am a fatalist. One day I will be dead and there is no afterlife. So yeah things as a whole are going to shit but they were always destined to. Our job is palliative. It's going to die, try to make things comfortable before the end.

My primary coping mechanism is woodworking. I'm getting pretty good at building guillotines.

Weaponized Apathy.

Why care about the world when it doesn't care about me? I'll stick to caring about my small circle that I can actually do something for and rather hands off with the rest.

Nihilism. Nothing matters therefore I am free to do anything. If I choose to make a positive impact in my tiny part of the world, no matter how small it is a net positive compared to if I decide to do nothing. I tried apathy for a while and it served no-one, not even me.

If the best you can do is vote against fascism then that is OK. If the best you can do is show up to local town/village meetings and have your voice be heard that is OK. If the best you can do is vague-post online about the state of America, that's OK.

The only bad thing you can do is be silent. As long as you are willing to speak up about the issues that are important to you and the problems you see that need fixing, you are doing more than 90% of this country.

Live your life according to your values, and on those be uncompromising. Vote your conscience, and hold your elected officials to a higher standard. Realize that change comes slowly, and some things are simply out of your control.

You are not responsible for the things outside your power. You are not to blame for the failings of your nation. Have the greatest effect where you can and learn to recognize where you can't.

We're all in this together, and we're all pulling for ya.

The weather lately has been depressing and angering. I keep trying to get people around angry about it too, but just like everyone else it's hard to feel like it's possible to get anything done. That's why we need to band together

That's the neat part, I don't!

https://youtu.be/MBRqu0YOH14?si=9wm-dzC5zcntoM70