Death threats and actual harassment are serious business and are a matter for law enforcement, but a great strategy for dealing with the casual climate denier, anti-vaxxer, or Q idiot, is to just laugh at them. Not with, at. They cling to these ridiculous theories because at some level they want to feel in control and relevant in a scary world that they either won’t or can’t understand.
Treating them like kooks and refusing to get aggravated hits them the hardest because it tickles that suspicion that they really don’t get it. On the other hand, getting frustrated and trying to debate them about whether Hillary eats children just fuels the internal narrative that they are heroic truth warriors holding out in a hostile world.
Either way, kooks are gonna kook. You are not going to change their mind anyway, so why let it destroy your mental health.
I recently read a letter by Dietrich Bonnhoefer, who was a German Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, who was imprisoned in 1943, hanged by Hitler's personal directive in April 1945.
His letter is titled "On Stupidity" and it explains A LOT.
(Stupidity is not meant as little mental capacity, but "people [who] are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them.")
We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability.
I work in healthcare and I've been so burnt out after working through COVID despite how politicized it was, not knowing if I was risking my life, my loved ones' lives, or my own permanent sense of smell and taste, all while getting told off by ignorant, selfish pieces of crap just for wearing a mask and taking an illness that I personally witnessed kill many people seriously, not to mention being overworked and understaffed for literally YEARS due to a combination of baby boomers retiring while simultaneously increasing the need for healthcare workers by needing more care as they age, coworkers finding other jobs because of their own burnout, and hospital administration trying to maximize profits at the expense of the workers and at the expense of patient care that I just up and resigned from my own job a week ago.
I don't even know what I'm going to do. I withdrew my retirement account early and I'm just taking some time to figure it out right now. Tbh though, the idea of going back to healthcare makes me feel physically ill. And that's really sad because I got into it to help people, but after the way people acted during the worst pandemic we've had in a century I don't want to help anyone anymore. I just want a normal 9 to 5 where I'll have weekends, evenings, and holidays off and very little to zero risk of bringing a contagious and deadly or debilitating virus home to my family.
Wife is a nurse that works at a hospital and when she'd come home from her shift, when Covid was raging, she'd derobe in the garage and run to the shower to wash. We had a 3 year old and 6 month old at the time. And she risked all our lives to help people that didn't take the issue seriously and some that even yelled at her that she faked their bloodwork because Covid wasn't real.
Thank you for trying to help others, even when they don't believe it's real.
That's rhetorical and I have a fair understanding about why this is happening. It's just so bloody frustrating not knowing how to turn this shit around and open the eyes of gen pop to this. People just don't want to accept that unless we do something right quick, we're fucked. We might be fucked even if we do everything right, starting tomorrow. And still, pretty much nothing, or token agreements that are cheap enough and not too disruptive to the almighty economy and doesn't disrupt availability of cheap crap from China and other low cost countries with little to no worker safety or even regard for human life. I'm not saying I'm not part of the problem myself, cuz I sure as hell am. I try to do the right things, but far from all the time and it's far, far from enough. This needs to come from the top to have an effect, but most, if not all, governments have their lips firmly between the cheeks of very large economic interests that need their diagrams to always be pointing up, no matter what.
I don't know. If they weren't such fascist autocratic ass kissers I'd be tempted to join lemmygrad. Revolution, baby. Seriously though, people here seem like an intelligent and rather handsome lot with their hearts in all the right places, so I ask you, what the fuck can we do?
I leave you with a pic of my cat to take the edge off.
We're pretty much in the "find out" phase at this point. It's not pointless to make an effort to improve the world, but the reality is more and more people are so focused on trying to survive that there's no energy left.
I turn 44 next month, and the most purchasing power I've had was on the first day of my first job a month after 9/11. Newspaper editing was in retrospect a poor industry to go into, but what we faced starting 15 years ago is now what everybody's facing: the industries willing to pay for experience are niche, those jobs are only available if you met the right people in college, and everyone else is expected to smile and pay more than half their wages to housing.
I know every generation thinks they have things uniquely bad, but for those younger than me, the '80s and '90s were an era where people still bought a house to live in, not as a way to make money in three years. Starter homes were still being built. That's what we were told to expect. Work your ass off in your 20s and 30s, fix your housing costs and enjoy the income experience nets you.
It's a farce. My annual raise this year vis-a-vis my rent increase has left me with a singularly shitty choice: food or rent. No, I shouldn't have to get a roommate decades into my career. No, I shouldn't need a side hustle. Those are the options people immediately jump to, which comes with a starting proposition of: you don't deserve the basics your landlord did.
Fuck that. I'm not renewing my apartment lease. I'll find a vehicle I can live in and deal with the hassles of that instead of the first $20K a year I make after taxes and after insurance going to someone who got into the property market while it was about places to live instead of gambling.
I relay all this because the answer I found is not participating in the parts of society that will never benefit me. The only way I've found to lessen the existential dread is to question more and more assumptions that were fed to me growing up.
I'm sorry to not have answered earlier, but I got tied up a bit and also lost a comment to this by being clumsy. Not that used to typing on the phone this much.
I feel you, I really do. It is not easy fending of the existential dread and you do almost anything to not feel it so much, just for a while. The society we live in do not help much and not playing by their rules anymore feels good. Not letting it turn destructive for yourself is the real trick though. Questioning what you've been fed your whole life is not an easy process. You've built your entire existence on one set of beliefs and realizing that you may have been wrong to do that, is not a small thing. It is very easy to reject everything and if you push it too far it is easy to succumb to some sort of nihilism. That's rarely helpful for yourself or the people around you. You need to find something else to replace those lies that you've been fed. What that is, you need to find out for yourself. Take your time, the world can take care of itself for a while. You seem to be the kind of person that likes to figure things out for yourself and that is a good thing. Don't lose that, and keep an eye out for all the other lies people are trying to sell. But be especially wary of what some dusty old know-it-all on the internet says. Find your own way and try not to lose hope.
It's not easy keeping it on the wagon, that's for sure. You think you're doing well, but a moment of weakness is all it takes sometimes. It gets easier and easier in time but you still need to be vigilant for ever. I fell of the wagon after being clean for three years. That sucked. I was so fucking disappointed with myself. Can't ever let your guard down. Thinking you're safe is often the one that gets you. Don't mean to preach, you know all this already of course. As I said before, you need to find your own way that works for you. Stay strong, I believe in you. If you need to talk, pm me. Now I need to get my beauty sleep. Hasn't improved my looks much so far, but I keep the hope alive. Cheers.
Save yourself. Be the example, even if you are only an example to your family or to your block. Know you are not alone. Join up with others and make a difference where you can. Be the good apple. Ration your energy and effort.
I’ve watched people I know burn out obsessively trying to change the world, I’ve watched others turn their back on the world and go whole-hog into selfishness.
There is a middle ground for each of us. Find it and occupy it. And have the courage to be kind.
Yeah, came on a bit strong, didn't I? But you are right of course. I'm not really such a grouch as this comment may have implied. Sad thing is, I'm old enough and lucky enough to probably be dead before the shit really hits the fan. It's the young that's gonna feel the brunt of it, and possibly sooner than they expect. I grew up in the 70s and we had hope and a feeling that pretty much anything was possible. The cold war was a bit of a bummer, but the feeling was that we could change things for the better if we tried hard enough. I don't see that anymore and I'm pretty sad about it.
I know I'll be ok. Probably. But it's not about me. I've had a pretty good life, all things considered. Ups and downs, sure, but it's the hopelessness of these times that worry me. We had hope for a better future and kids today won't have that. All because my generation and those before us are selfish fucks who only look to number one.
I don’t know that it will be ok, but I’m certain it will be different. I see the US emotionally and culturally sliding down the same slope that Russia is going down. I figure they’re 10-15 years ahead of us.
Remember how excited we all were when the Berlin Wall fell? We had that Jesus Jones song roaring in our souls.
There is a wave of negativity and helplessness being thrown at us. We are being driven to be passive, to shrug our shoulders and go buy something to give our lives meaning. Our helpless selfishness feeds profits for others.
We must disengage from that helpless/selfish/profit way of life. It will destroy us. It will eat us up from the inside and leave us hollow and empty.
That doesn’t mean we have to move off-grid and become self-sufficient hermits. It can be as simple as learning to mend our clothes so we don’t buy as many new ones, and not buying into the shame of wearing mended clothes. (Visible mending is punk as fuck.) It can be as simple as saying thank you to cashiers, holding the door for that overloaded mother at the doctor’s office, giving others the benefit of the doubt. (Kindness is punk as fuck, too.) It can be as fulfilling and challenging as joining or creating a knitting group or live music jam or walking club. (Community is also punk as fuck.)
Old punks unite! You're right. Kindness and trying to do our part as best we can is all we can do. Hope is so very essential to combat the hopelessness, as is kindness. It's easy to lose hope, but we must fight it however we can. Your comment does make me feel a bit better, thanks. You are wiser than I, which also is punk as fuck.
Lol. Being angry is also punk as fuck, and I still think you're wiser than I. Many wise people through history has preached kindness and regardless of their other sometimes silly ideas, kindness seem to be a bit of a common theme between many of them. It is a powerful force and we need it more than ever. It's the only thing that can stand against the hate we see too much of these days. The hate was always there, but it seem to have gained legitimacy as of late. That needs to be fought with kindness, not more hate. Kindness brings hope and we need more of that. See? Wise.
I was shocked to my core, angry, and fed up when everything in 2020 laid bare what our leadership truly stood for. I switched careers and went into renewable energy public policy to feel like I was doing something to curb carbon emissions. I started ebike commuting despite people wanting to run me off the road just for existing. I eliminated plastics in buying soap and all manner of cleaning products, eat mostly vegetarian, and root for the orcas. I channel that anger into motivation to educate people on my choices, and to be patient when I can't convince them all. It's exhausting, but the anger keeps me going!
Good for you! Wish more people would follow your example. Not everyone can, but there's always something to do. I must say that this community has made my day a lot better. It is easy to lose hope, but I have gained back a little faith in humanity today. Thanks.
Yeah he was right about that, but what many people don't get is that kindness in and of itself is actually all you need. All that other baggage that comes with the dude you're talking about has caused a lot of trouble and isn't necessary for kindness to work its magic. Love is all you need, to quote someone else who wasn't always on the money, but he was right about that.
I'm honestly super into this mentality, and love this thread -- Kindness in order to maintain the hope that remains in all of us that care about each other and our world!
The right is willing to resort to credible threats of violence to achieve their selfish ends, even if it results in the destruction of all life on Earth.
Meanwhile, otherwise decent people on the political left are too cowardly and comfortable to take the measures that are necessary to protect our world.
If you're implying what I think you're implying, violence is rarely the way to go. It feeds on itself and those who are best at it or most inclined to use it tend to rise to the top and those are not the kind of people you want running things when the smoke has cleared. Those people tend to continue using those same methods that worked to get them where they are. History has numerous examples of when well meaning movements that came to power through violence and turned to crap afterwords because the leaders continued using violence to stay in power. Be very wary of simple solutions to complex problems.
You are right in the sense that change is needed and change never comes easy. I think it is a mistake to blame the people, despite my click-baity first question above. People are just trying to get by and do not see a way to improve things. If you got a mortgage and a couple kids you gotta feed and the boss is on your back with ever more work and there's just not enough time in the day, it is bloody hard to let go of that responsibility and join the revolution. Most people just want to get by and are too tired to do anything else. They are also fed an endless stream of propaganda that you got to succeed and if you just work hard you're gonna get rich one day. It is all lies, of course, but it is not easy to see through all that massive indoctrination that you've been forcefed since you were born. The shitty schools does not help much either.
Yes, people are too comfortable. But if your life is anything like I described above, you're too bloody tired not to be. You just want to get a few hours to watch the TV or look through your Facebook feed before you crash into bed with a few beers to numb the pain. People are still believing in the rugged individualism and it must be their own fault if they don't succeed. (Or some scary minority's fault) It is a very compelling story. Letting go of all the things you've been told your whole life isn't easy and there are very powerful forces doing all they can to prevent people from realizing they've been had. It's much easier to lie to someone than convincing them they've been lied to. Do not blame the people, blame the system.
I'm saddened by this, but not surprised. The rationalist in me wants to think that at some point the red state attacks on science will have consequences in worse quality of life for their residents, but I'm not optimistic enough to believe that will happen before the whole culture collapses.
Problem is that the church leaders and politicians in the red states will point and scream at their opponents about how they are the cause of it all, god is punishing them, and their base is ignorant enough to lap it up and further entrench them against science and common fucking sense.
I live in an extremely backwards red area in the US and I see this every day.
Meanwhile in TX we are hitting record heat indexes after last year hitting "record # of days above 100" and coming off another once a century drought lol
people are so dumb it's painful to watch. This particular guy seems to be up north. His watchers better prepare because everyone's moving that way. Entire contitnents are going to start migrating to them sooner than we realize.
The strangest thing I hear in NY is that people want to move to TX. I came from there and keep wondering how "informed" their views are to think TX is a better choice. Upstate is conservative af in a lot of places, so I don't know what they're missing.
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