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We are now in the "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic" stage of humanity. So, roughly around step 5 to 6.
But to answer your question at the moment, nihilism. The sad reality is we’re an animal that thinks itself as the divinely chosen species on the planet, thus absolving us from any sense of responsibility for destroying others and setting it on fire.
By doing things that make me happy.
2023 has been a calamity for my health, both physical and mental. The state of things doesn't help. I'm better now. Touching wood.
Be the change you want to see man
I think about how things actually were 50 years ago, and how every generation since the dawn of written history has the same exact end times mythology and then correctly conclude that I am merely suffering from the same delusion as nearly every human prior to me.
Also I own a glock and three bullets.
Have a read of Factfulness. It'll provide, amongst other things, lovely visualizations to demonstrate that's not actually true.
There is a fallacy named after this I'm pretty sure too! The bottom of page 3 of this paper gives a brief explanation as to why humans believe things are getting worse when they aren't.
A way of life is ending, but life will go on. Frankly I'm rooting for gas to be more expensive.
Drugs...
By taking what limited steps I can, and by not criticizing others if I don’t think their efforts are thorough, effective, or sincere enough (nobody likes a smug, judgmental, pedantic asshole). By recognizing that people cope in their own ways, and keeping an open mind. By generally trying to be considerate of others.
The only things worth worrying about are the things that you can control. Don’t worry about who wins the election, just worry about your vote. Don’t worry about what you don’t have, take joy in the things you do have.
Find your village, whether that’s the community of your favorite hobby, a group of local friends, or your family and invest in them and not a politician, celebrity, or athlete.
There is always a reason to find joy.
I've been reading about increasing unionization and strike activity, leading to better deals for large groups of workers. The industry-level negotiations we're already seeing are helpful in isolation; but that's also the kind of energy that can lead to economic reforms that have a real impact on quality of life. Workers seem like the little guys, until a lot of them are pulling in the same direction, and then suddenly their demands become existentially important.
About a century-ish ago Americans were worse off than they are now. That led to desire for change, which led to decades of trust-busting, unionization, and regulation. We got things like weekends off, and a livable minimum wage. And not entirely unrelated, we also got national parks, the EPA, and endangered species preservation. We've back-slid a lot since those advances. But we can get them back, and push the needle even further next time. We did it before, we can do it again.
Anger, I simply want to out live my enemies and shit talk them when they die. I'm waiting on Bill oriley, Glen beck, bezos, Bill gates, Rupert murdoch and the other koch brother to croak simply to shit talk them to oblivion and pass this information too my children.
I have several ways I cope:
Satisfaction that the rich are going to get fucked by climate catastrophe and ecosystem collapse just as much as everyone else. The climate change deniers will starve just like the rest of us.
It's been billions of years before I existed, and potentially trillions of years afterwards. I'm incredibly lucky to be aware and thinking, so why should I complain about stuff happening after my spark of awareness has faded?
Earth will continue without humans just fine, eventually getting swallowed by the Sun. Nothing humanity has done will survive.
Celebrate being alive to experience the universe.
Satisfaction that the rich are going to get fucked by climate catastrophe and ecosystem collapse just as much as everyone else. The climate change deniers will starve just like the rest of us.
They will eventually... but in the mean time it definitely doesn't affect them the same as the rest of us. When some places start becoming unlivable, they can just move to the ones that will last longer. When food and water becomes scarce they'll hoard what's left. When the air becomes unhealthy to breathe they'll have filters. It's gonna be a long time before they see any actual consequences they can't buy their way out of.
It's been billions of years before I existed, and potentially trillions of years afterwards. I'm incredibly lucky to be aware and thinking, so why should I complain about stuff happening after my spark of awareness has faded?
This is exactly how I do it. In the long run, none of this shit matters, and nothing will be remembered. The planet has rebooted several times in its history, what are the odds that this particular sentient being would be here to witness it? Enjoy the ride while it lasts, make sure any survivors of the collapse remember who the guilty parties are.
Nothing humanity has done will survive.
I wouldn't say nothing, after all we've sent a bunch of stuff speeding out of the Solar System and will probably send more in the future.
Lot of good things in here. A couple thoughts. One: Because Lemmy is nice to be on/use. The community generally 'slaps' as the generations below me call it. Two: Also white male USA and have also been deeply concerned for the past several years. I chose to focus on community directly around me while acknowledging the crappy situation everywhere due to asshats abusing power/status/wealth. I take solace that the people I choose to spend time around are generally reasonable people and try to help eachother out when we can and always when needed.
I strive to improve it, at least that way I did all I could