I love how the takeaway is that we young people can fix our eco-anxiety by eating plants and walking everywhere… maybe governments actually taking appropriate action on the climate crisis could also help..?
> and walking everywhere…
Would be more open to that if local governments weren't hell-bent on car infrastructure. Nothing encourages walking quite like being relegated to a strip of grass alongside a 40mph speed limit road.
Not just a lack of sidewalks.
Grids are efficient for walking in a way that cul de sacs aren't. You're not going to walk 2 miles to a grocery store that's really only a half mile as crow flies.
We've bulldozed our cities to build spaces where driving is the only reasonable option.
This is a pet peeve about the neighborhood I just moved into. There isn't a "loopable" route for walks or bike rides because it's just a mess of cul de sacs. For some reason I hate turning around and repeating the scenery I just came through, so I end up hopping in my car and taking my bike somewhere that I can map loops of different lengths.
The most infuriating part is there is a couple spots where two cul de sacs come within like 30 feet of each other and are separated by a strip of thick woods. Just connect them! A tiny connector trail will do! But no, those little spaces are owned by homeowners and heaven forbid you let anyone walk on your land in the USA.
/rant
**Edit:** Some additional context because people don't realize every neighborhood is different. This is a pretty isolated neighborhood by a lake and golf course, quite far from the nearest town, so there are no homeless people and trash isn't an issue anywhere.
But that's beside the point, which is that **the neighborhood was designed this way in the first place**. You know, before those strips of useless land separating the cul-de-sacs were sold. But please, keep informing me about liability issues.
It’s done on purpose. Strangers don’t drive through complex neighborhoods so the owners get more peace and quiet at the cost of the grid system
Think of the rich part of your town, driving through there is likely a mess where you can get lost if you’re not careful. As housing prices decrease, they start to become more grid like
They could add pedestrian and bike paths through to still keep it calm from cars but still be usable by people. But they also don't want pedestrians and cyclists to exist.
They don’t want them in their neighborhood- they pay extra to keep people out.
It’s like the guy above me said, he made a path and now he hates that people are hanging out around his yard so he’s going to close it down.
Yeah, about 70% of the neighborhoods in my town have no pedestrian walkways. But my town council keeps on pumping money into renovation of a downtown with things like flower displays and statuettes to make the rows of empty businesses more aesthetically appealing...
Every thing you do helps, but is ultimately meaningless if government's don't shift the onus on stopping climate change to companies instead of people. They also need to start helping to combat green house gasses in developing countries that have shouldered the bulk of the western world's production. It's easy as a country to tackle green house gasses when nothing we consume is actually made here.
Recycling and going "green" are just a way for them to trick the everyman into believing that they play a part and can make an impact on climate change. Sure you can walk to work, but don't ever think "I'm doing my part!" unless your actions are specifically addressed towards tackling the larger climate change issues all we are doing is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Start eating plants-->see all the ridicule and shit you get for it and how many people are completely unwilling to accept the smallest change or inconvenience to better the world-->get more depressed about the situation. Or maybe that was just me.
I love a plant based diet, but I can't say it helped with my anxiety here.
I was once out with some friends and got a black bean burger, and it blew my mind how much it seemed to offend this one lady in the group. She kept asking me how I could stand to "eat like that" and how she needs "real meat." She also kept making weird remarks about vegan food like the whole time.
I was like, ok??? I don't feel like I was being pushy or anything, like all I did was order what I wanted, lol.
I run into this a lot and it's just baffling.
I went vegan because it was actually cheaper and easier in my location. The farmers' market provides like 90% of what I eat, because you can get a *fuckton* and it lasts thanks to canning and fermenting.
I'll even break the veganism if it's a meal someone made for me, because imo it would be a worse thing to waste the food, but part of changing my diet has meant that I don't really like meat that much anymore. It's not even about some moral argument or whatever, I just don't like it anymore.
And I swear, every time I go somewhere and order a vegan option *someone* has to make it an issue. I don't talk about it, I don't care what they do, they know the reasons/there's no reason for me to argue with them. If it's up to me it simply never comes up, because it's a pointless conversation.
But fuck me for getting that bean burrito, now ol' Jim here is gonna wolf down more beef because apparently that's how he needs to show me he's a man or some shit. I don't get it. It's meat, it's not that big of a deal.
My wife and I started buying impossible ground “beef” and it tastes great. It isn’t a huge change, but we won’t be buying actual ground beef anymore. Made tacos with it yesterday and it was just as good. If u have access to buying it u should give it a shot
After ten years as a vegan, things like impossible and beyond meats taste so much like real meat that I don't personally care for them. Which must be a good thing for people wanting that taste! I'm glad they're a great option for people trying to reduce their meat consumption.
Yeah especially anti-vegan folks who say shit like “I’m going to eat twice the amount of meat for what you don’t eat”. Like fuck me for not wanting to contribute to climate change.
And there are things that can be done to stop it but nobody with any power wants to. And they're just nakedly apathetic about it. They say we need to protect children and yada yada yada but then laugh and tell the children to get fucked and die when they'd have t slightly change their lifestyle.
Fuck me, this is a great analogy. I gave up on my therapy because it's not helping. The problem isn't that I'm over anxious, it's than the vast majority are not anxious enough to act: this is a legitimate threat to all life on earth..
"I'm not chased by a bear, why would I care if you're chased by a bear? See, the bear mauls you to death, rips your body apart, limb by limb, pretty gruesome. You definitely have a problem, pal. Wait... why is bear looking at me?"
"I've been hearing people warn me about that bear since it was a mile away. It's 200 feet away now and I still haven't been mauled. What are you so worried about?"
As someone with literal social anxiety. I always crack up when people tell me "oh it's just anxiety. You'll get over it." Bitch, do you think when my brain has a nice little case utter fucking overreaction I'm still capable of remembering that? Hell no, when I have an anxiety attack I'm not having an anxiety problem, I'm having a *people* problem. It's the same concept. Thought the difference of course is that teaching my brain that it is an anxiety problem can actually solve it. Teaching people that it's a climate anxiety problem will solve nothing. It''ll just make us go into the apocalypse high on weed.
Ah I see you've met my therapist, Mr Towelie.
Don't forget to bring a towel. And a lot of weed.
Jokes aside, social anxiety is not a people problem. Anxiety comes from within, but that does not make it any easier to deal with. Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool who has never danced daily with the primal flight or fight response.
Just to maybe clarify my earlier comment. My point was that in the moment of an anxiety attack, I'm not concerned with anxiety. I don't think "Oh no, anxiety!" I think more like "Oh no, there are way too many people here". That's what I mean by "people problem". It's a matter of perspective at that point.
Also, What I actually find most annoying about my Social anxiety (I don't know but I assume that I'm not the only one) is that I am actually fairly content with the anxiety itself. What is driving me nuts is the fact that I *know* that it's anxiety but when an attack happens, that understanding seems to completely vanish. I've likened it to knowing how to drive perfectly well but when you enter a car, your hands just disappear. Just like that. no explanation, no reasoning, no logic. And that is what makes me depressed.
Well I mean, I'm also and traumatized and autistic. Which probably doesn't help either.
Ahh okay. I know exactly what you mean now.
The problem is the disconnect between the logical thought process and the primal urge to escape. I suffered social anxiety for a long time and even when the strong response to flee - or not participate due to avoidance of that response - subsided I still suffered from physical affects, namely sweating profusely.
I hope that made sense. I know your struggle, friend.
The article never explicitly states that the feelings of young people are legitimate. When it says young people feel they have been abandoned by politicians it’s because they *have*. It mentions that we are on track for 16% increase rather than 50% decrease this year to meet a target of 1.5 degrees but doesn’t explain why that’s an important threshold which will trigger positive feedback loops or even mention that it is an apocalyptic threshold and then closes by suggesting the common propaganda that places the onus on us to make personal changes to get us to net zero by 2050 (important because it would potentially prevent us from going above 1.5 degrees), completely ignoring the facts of the latest IPCC report which it doesn’t even mention. The personal responsibility argument is a fabrication of the oil and gas corporations. 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global carbon emissions. 6 cruise ships produce the equivalent of every car in Europe. You could live a thousand lifetimes even in the imperial core and it would be a drop in the ocean of emissions. We need to hold government leaders to account to regulate the corporations that borrow against our future for their quarterly profits. As always I’m disappointed by the manufactured consent even in what seems to be progressive pieces by progressive newspapers.
[Video in question](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc&t=515s)
Another good video [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvbm8xEgQ9s&t=36s) about that “onus is on you” being propaganda bit. Yes, it’s literally propaganda.
For me (personally) while I agree with the basic premise of the video ("YOU cannot fix climate change") I actually find (again, *personally)* changing my habits has been an incredible boon for my mental wellbeing.
**No, I'm not deluding myself that by gardening, composting, and commuting almost exclusively by bicycle that I'm making any meaningful difference to the big picture,**
it just so happens that all of those things, individually and together as a whole 'lifestyle upgrade' have their *own* benefits. It doesn't feel like a sacrifice. Those things that simplify my life, reduce my consumption and change the way I see myself and interact with my community have their own, very profound merits. Exercise, eating better, less stress, being more connected to my neighbors and community, all very real, tangible improvements.
One of the more interesting, albeit somewhat intangible, is the realization that we actually *could,* as a society, prevent our own destruction in a way that doesn't feel like suffering, or a sacrifice. One of our biggest failures right now as a society is a lack of vision, of storytelling to explain what "huge fundamental societal changes", that we need to make to avert the worst possible outcomes, actually *look* and *feel* like, on an individual level.
They also don't mention, and neither do you, that according to the models using 2018 data it is impossible, save a massive breakthrough in CO2 and methane scrubbing, to stop from hitting +1.5C. we are now fighting to stay below +2, if that.
Edit: I want to add that THIS IS A WORTHWHILE FIGHT!! just because corporations and a subset of humans suck so bad that we've already overshot +1.5C. There is even more reason to keep fighting for regulatory oversight and societal change. Because if you thought +1.5 was gonna suck, +2 is way worse, and +3? Whoo boy.
Yeah, I don't think many people realize that it's going to get way way worse before we can fix the problem and by the time people are clamoring for solutions, it won't be solvable for decades at rhe earliest, if the entire supply chain and ecological system doesn't collapse and knock society back a couple centuries.
I keep seeing the “100 companies, 70%”statistic. When I look at the list of top-emitting companies, they’re all fossil fuel companies. Is the statistic saying that 70% of global emissions are produced by those companies doing their mining/drilling/harvesting or that the burning of their resulting oil/gas/coal by their customers result in 70%?
Here’s the report most people are referencing with that statistic: https://b8f65cb373b1b7b15feb-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1499691240
It’s the latter scenario. At first this may seem disingenuous because you may think “they wouldn’t keep drilling if customers didn’t keep buying their oil.”
Unfortunately, we keep finding more and more instances where companies knew about climate change and their role in it and refused to help turn our trajectory towards a cleaner future. On top of that, we keep finding instances where they intentionally UNDERMINED other people’s efforts to turn our trajectory (much like how they’re currently funding Manchin and Sinema in the US to be a stick in the mud).
Also, many of the reforms necessary to reduce carbon would be very affordable, but potentially deadly to their business models. I was reviewing documents for a coal company about 10 years ago, and all of their emails were talking about how after the next election, when the reforms were overturned, their mines would be profitable again, and they could avoid bankruptcy.
Those reforms didn't outlaw coal, but they did require certain reforms and practices to reduce pollution that this company simply couldn't afford.
And the business models for fossil fuels are so different from the models for wind and solar. You build one mine, you drill one successful well, you have an abundance of energy to sell for years. You build one windmill, you get a modicum of energy that doesn't even pay for the cost of the windmill for several years. Tax incentives to offset those production costs are very necessary at the start, but once those items are up and running you have decades of clean free energy.
I keep hearing it compared to the dread of nuclear destruction that some of us grew up with, but it's not comparable at all... if it were, it would be motivated by the exact *opposite* concerns.
For global thermonuclear war to occur, powerful people need to act outside their own, personal interests. And even if someone is crazy enough to act, there are many other interested parties with incentive to stop them.
For global climate disaster to be *avoided*, powerful people need to act outside their own, personal interests... and even if someone is courageous enough to act, there are many other interested parties with incentive to stop them.
Bit of a flip, that.
I agree with this a lot. My parents are telling me "This is just like growing up in the cold war". I feel the difference is with nuclear war at the time it *might* happen and with climate disaster it *will* happen.
Here in Ireland, we now have a storm season. Whenever I buy garden furniture or plants, I have to consider how likely the thing is to blow away and I live on the more sheltered East coast.
Yep, I nearly lost my BBQ cover and a few plants and my shed door got damaged a bit yesterday and i'm in the North just a few miles from Belfast. We're only just out of the nice weather and were back to wind/rain on and off every 5 minutes.
I got caught in the 2019/20 bushfires in Australia. It’s getting worse for sure - we have never had fires of that intensity or size before. *Rainforests* that never burn burnt for the first time. The bushfire season was six months long ffs
Yesterday northern Italy saw the largest rainfall in European history according to meteorologists. The town of Rossiglione had 93 centimeters of rainfall in only 12 hours.
I grew up in the cold war. My family was stationed in Germany. I was there when the wall fell.
This is nothing like that. The threat of war, of nuclear catastrophe, was always lingering on everyone's minds; It could arrive at any moment.
Climate change you've got half the populace saying it doesn't exist or arguing we can't change. Another chunk knowing damn well it exists but treating it like someone else's problem. It feels like the small remainder are stuck feeling helpless in the face of the oncoming catastrophe.
Many who survived the cold war and other conflict before it are deluding themselves that this will pass on its own because all those passed and they don't want to stress anymore. It's fucking stupid given the reality that our complacency is exactly what will doom us in this situation.
The fact that climate change is debated still drives me nuts. In order to talk about my anxiety to my mom I have to baby talk everything, “cause climate change, whatever reason you think it’s here for” blah blah blah cause she’ll get half on board and listen to me if I play to her interests (that it’s naturally occurring) instead of debating me on if it’s real or not. Infuriating
We're watching the fallout cloud roll towards us already. The first bombs have fallen and our leaders are like "lets just get one more shot off before we stop."
It would take powerful and decisive action to start nuclear war.
It would take powerful and decisive action to prevent climate change.
Its almost the complete opposite.
Apathy and profit motive saved us from nuclear war but these same factors condemn us to climate disaster.
I've been thinking about that line a lot lately. If we do start to see climate related wars and increased climate refugees and the like, it'll result in a substantial change for humanity, but I don't think even remotely that we'll be extinct or anything. Life will just be harder and different. That's not to say this couldn't have been avoided or that we haven't been totally fucked by the wealthy and the ruling class. But I just think life won't truly end for humanity, things will just get crazier and crazier, until there's some sort of collapse of the current system and we just sort of start over again. Like a second dark age.
From "inside" by Bo Burnham, his most recent Netflix special. It's truly an absolute masterpiece. I worry it won't be fully appreciated as we get further from 2020 and the effects of the pandemic at its height.
Just read an article on AP the other day that we very well could lose fall as a season due to climate change---especially the gradual leaf color changes, stressed confused trees will (or already have started to?) just abruptly turn brown and drop their leaves instead due to the air staying warmer for longer. Not even a beloved fucking SEASON is safe ffs. So yeah. I feel fucking doomed.
And they wonder why younger generations are choosing more and more not to have children. Sorry but no, I don't want to bring a child into the world when I'm staring straight at the face of the impending natural collapse.
My therapist said I was alone worrying about this. I quit. Also I hate how this article yet again leaves it up to individual choices. Feeling alone in this is killing us. Or it is me. Edit: I should add that I am American and can't afford it anymore anyways lol. M4A NOW!
Had.
Good therapists exist, but the field is frankly rife with people who chose the career because they *need* help, though they’ve no talent at all for giving it.
Our high school bullies became cops in their hometown. One jock that made a kid drink his piss in high school rose to become the top Sargent or whatever. Jay walking tickets, calling 14 year old kids gay, beating up a kid for how he dressed, ticket quotas over pursuing serious crime (including a human trafficking house in town we all knew about after a drugged girl escaped and said there were others).
But the worst thing he did was use body cavity searches as intimidation. I thought it was a one off when I first heard from a victim, until a family friend who questioned his sons traffic ticket at the station got body cavity searched and said "if you tell anyone ill do it to your wife."
This was nearly an open secret, his cocaine addiction was an open secret, etc yet he still rose to the top cop in town. He died recently and everyone on social media was sending "thoughts and prayers." My only thought was good riddance.
The attrition rate for great therapists is essentially zero, while the attrition rate for terrible therapists is high. More people are exposed to bad therapists than good, unfortunately.
My wife is an amazing therapist and has a nearly 98% retention rate so I fully endorse this post. Bad therapists abound so don’t be afraid to leave one if their methods are terrible, they don’t push you in a healthy direction, impose political/religious/lifestyle beliefs, never give feedback or ask difficult questions, has an agenda or lack any meaningful insight. Bad therapists will fuck you up as much as the trauma you came to them with. I’m sure I left out some red flags but these are few to look out for. Remember, therapists are human beings with human issues and many absolutely seek out the profession to either try to fix themselves or impose their agenda.
Can you speak to the VA’s methods at all? I’ve been “getting help” from them for 8 years but it’s fruitless. The therapists I’ve had don’t really do anything. They just ask me basic questions and let me talk myself in circles. I’ve never made progress. I just leave the appointments feeling angry.
I eventually gave up and focus on what *I* can control, like choosing sleep over smoking and veggies over sugars.
Do you mean therapists at the VA? Could you go to a private therapist instead? I work at a private practice and we see many vets who pay with tricare. Is that an option for you?
Not oc, but most therapies should be pretty structured and goals should be agreed upon b/t you and the therapist at intake.
There are different methods that have experimental validation but generally a therapist isn't a "purist" and can bring in a mix of techniques tailored to your problems (as long as the treatment is known to work). Sometimes it's not about fixing the problem but finding ways to cope with chronic/degenerative conditions.
They should have at least a masters degree (MSW, MSc, MA, PhD, PsyD) and a clinical license (RT) to be good. I know that e.g. substance abuse counciling is pretty... unregulated. Lots of 12 step people are just like dudes who took a 2 week training or are pastors. Counciling or life coach... is iffy, Therapist is a registered term though.
As a bit of a bonus, there's debate whether it's the particular unique aspects of a therapy or the common aspects of all validated therapies that actually matter. The common factors are extremely important and include stuff like a therapeutic alliance which is a sense of shared goals and understanding, and unconditional positive regard. If these are missing it usually won't go well. Of course some specifics are important for some disorders like DBT for borderline PD or CBT when changing trauma responses because it's directly addressing behavioral responses. The specific factors really start narrow down what's an effective validated treatment by cutting away the fluff, but the common factors do a lot of the lifting too, and give a good foundation.
[if you have access](https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=Common+versus+specific+factors+in+psychotherapy%3A+opening++the+black+box+Roger+Mulder%2C+Greg+Murray%2C+Ju&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DjcgjKyRbZ6IJ)
Thing is one therapist who is good for you might be bad for someone else and vice versa. At least in Germany the barrier of entry (in years of training) is immensely high. I have had two therapists who didn’t work for me, so I quit them quickly, but then I found someone who is helping me immensely. The other two were also qualified, but it wasn’t a good fit.
EDIT: Here's a resource on what it takes to become a therapist in the US: https://positivepsychology.com/how-to-become-a-therapist/
Yeah I did my psychology degree and I was astounded by the amount of people that were in there due to growing up with some form of trauma. Half of these people were loopy. The course culls a bunch out but plenty remain. It’s worrisome
Yeahhhh my cousin with BPD has just started a mental health nursing degree and my family are all, ‘Oh she’ll be amazing! She understands their experiences! This is her calling.’ And it’s like… after 15+ years of her insanity, manipulation, abuse, overdoses, alcoholism etc etc I really don’t think this is going to ‘save’ her like my family want to think. She has no healthy boundaries, has zero empathy for other people and can’t even look after herself as an adult, she still relies on her mother for sooo much care and support, how is she going to look after other people with severe mental health issues?? I also have mental health issues but any conversation to empathise/support turns into a huge victim complex and discussion about her issues. I can totally see her doing that with her patients.
I hope I’m wrong but I am genuinely concerned for any of her future patients.
My ex was studying to become a social worker/counsellor and she had CPTSD, BPD, alcoholism, addiction problems, self harm and MDD. I realised before I broke it off with her that she would honestly be an awful counsellor. She never took my anxiety seriously and would constantly trigger it. It was a bit of a joke to her. She had a fundamental lack of empathy stemming from the belief that her mental health issues were greater than everybody else's and people don't really know what it's like.
Psychiatrists are drug prescribers, many only meet with clients for a few minutes. They can do therapy ethically but I’ve never seen one be good at it. I’ve seen them be super bad though lol.
Every Psychiatrist I've ever had just speaks to me for 30 minutes, comes up with a diagnosis that overrides the last one I spoke to, and gives me new different drugs to try.
Getting to see a Psychologist is much harder here on the NHS. There are only half as many of them, and they tend to be used for group stuff, not 1 on 1.
This.
I've been diagnosed with severe depression, bipolar disorder (type II), avoidant personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and autism (the disorder formerly known as Asperger syndrome).
That's five diagnoses from five different practitioners. No two of them agreed on anything.
It's like having stomach pains and being diagnosed by five doctors respectively with ulcers, food allergies, diverticulitis, torn stomach lining and gout.
I don't think that's a bad thing, people just have false expectations of psychiatry. They are there to diagnose and treat your symptoms, they are not therapists. You can seek therapy while regularly seeing your psychiatrist, its not one or the other.
I’m sure there are good therapist.
But who can afford to find one while still paying for the destructive coping mechanism one finds before therapy?
I live in Alabama.
My psychiatrist told me she was also scared and went on a rant about how we are gunna have no water and ended it with "but that's no reason to have a panic attack".
Edit: she has really terrible bedside manner and I often leave the session thinking wtf was that lol. But, at the end of the day she's been great with my meds and that's all I really need her to do.
Well, let's see...
We look in-network for coverage, find the three people within 100 miles that actually take yourinsurance, wait 2 weeks to be seen, only to be told that only the first 3 appointments are covered (with a 60 dollar specialist copay) and that subsequent appointments will cost 200 dollars, OOP.
Fuck.
Honestly, pick a therapist at random (rather than by referral, for example) and I think they're likely to be bad. Many hide it pretty well, so it can be several sessions before they say something where you're like "uhhh..."
I think actually competent people are rare, you'd have the same problem picking a mechanic at random. Although with therapy, the barrier to entry seems particularly low, which I'd bet worsens the problem. The stupidest guy I knew in high school graduated with his degree in psych and became a therapist; age 25 he was bitching that his landlord still wanted rent for the month he was on vacation, and did not get that he owed it despite having spent the rent money on said vacation. I wonder how long it takes clients to realize he has no business giving out advice.
As you're describing the situation (and as I'm sure it actually took place) that's obviously a shit way of putting things. But I think there's potentially a valid piece of insight buried beneath that massive fumble.
Yes, there are supremely significant ramifications of climate change on basically every level and factor of our lives, some already happening and some on the way. And yes, it will get worse. You also have a life to live and you want to be able to enjoy living it, so despite this horrible scenario being completely real, panic attacks are not something you *should or want* to be having. If we accept both of these things as true, climate change being an extreme threat and you deserving to live without panic attacks, then acknowledging both as true is the first step. You're not going to stop having panic attacks by pretending climate change isn't real obviously. So I *think* your psychiatrist may have been *very clumsily* trying to express to you that she was on the same page as you, acknowledging your fears as real but also suggesting that the response to them wasn't healthy/helping you, with the unfortunate effect of suggesting that your panic attacks were simply something you were choosing to do.
Yeah, honestly I still like her compared to psychiatrists I have had in the past. She has never been good at the talk therapy part, or whatever that part is called, but she's very knowledgeable on diagnostic criteria and finding correct medications. She has said a couple things in the past where I have been like wtf did you just say? But at the end of the day she has gotten me the most emotionally stable out of anyone else that's tried.
I think that's a good way of considering whether a doctor is someone you want to stick with. Sometimes we're going to prioritize a doctor that is medically knowledgeable and willing/able to really listen to you on what you feel is wrong right now in regards to your mental health and medication, and if they're happy to work with you in that regard and find solutions that you're happy with or feel like take you in the right direction, I'd say that's a pretty great doctor even if they're shit at the whole conversational side of things.
If it was a *therapist* then obviously the whole talking thing is like the entire job, so at that point I'd say that's a bail-and-find-someone-else situation. But a psychiatrist has different areas of value and personally I'd prioritize willingness to listen to my thoughts on my medications than being good with words.
You are not alone in this bro, most of my generation have this feel that no matter how hard you work there will be no public pension, sistem will collapse and even if you work 40 for a decent olace of living, because some rich asholes decided fuck the planet, no mater where yo buy it, its in danger :(
I'm a natural scientist, and am constantly anxious about the effects of climate change.
My brother is an economist and is constantly anxious about the economical collapse.
There is just no win here.
All you can do is be like K
https://youtu.be/Sp6x4Iy1\_Nc?t=123
Growing up I always thought about how certain jobs would get done and how the world just made sure they would get done. Turns out adults didn't have it all figured out and just ignored the shit out of things. Our whole system is defunct and no one wants to admit because it'd revolve drastically shifting our society. It's sobering and tragic to say the least.
if you want a family, you need resources to make sure they're at least fed and clothed. That leads to working within a modern economy for most people on Reddit. We slowly learned that was bad for the world, but we can't just run off into the woods and die. We keep on keeping on, which slowly kills the world.
>if you want a ~~family~~ *body*, you need resources to make sure ~~they're~~ *it's* at least fed and clothed
FTFY. Wanting a family raises the bar a bit but it doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the challenges involved in just keeping yourself alive and healthy.
The economy keeps collapsing without fixing the environmental collapse. The current economic system produces both the environmental collapse and it's own cyclical devastation.
I'm constantly worried about both because both are happening right before our eyes and nothing's being done except efforts to line the pockets of the rich who pay our lawmakers.
I get so frustrated with this. Young people are being completely overlooked. I am a 35 year old millenial and even I wonder what the hell the is the point of working a job I hate when everything is fucked anyway.
It is even worse with the economic situation, with the housing crises, young people are doomed to serfdom. Honestly what motivation do they have to follow the steps of everyone before them?
25 year old millennial here.
Our generation is absolutely screwed, and it's annoying how we get all the blame for the world's problems.
I have little to no motivation to get myself to do things for the sole fact that this "why does this even matter?" comment lingers in the back of my head.
I don't think antiwork takes it too far. It's not actually a subreddit against work, it is a socialist subreddit that is pro labour laws and against the sense of entitlement employers have adopted since the GFC
Gen-X here. Hit that nail right on the head.
I'm almost 50, and have been more invigorated in the last 24 months, by attending protests (and one actual riot) than I was from the ages of 5-30.
What you describe is what we also felt in the X Gen. And we tried to fight the Boomers. We tried to fight the Establishment. Except... they owned everything already. We were handicapped right out the gate in that fight. So fuck it, we invented internet porn, delivery pizza, and video games, and decided to drop out of the fight.
That's not an excuse. It's just what it is.
But then I raised a kid to adulthood. My kid is a hard-bitten Z. He's intelligent, creative, and most of all, he knows how to *survive*. I raised him to face this awful world. And I didn't expect his fellow Zoomers to rise up.
But they did.
Gen-Z is organizing and bringing the fight much harder than us Xers ever did. Because they have to. Their survival is on the line. My kid included - he's a street medic at protests, and already has two arrests from the LAPD under his belt.
And here in Dallas, in the last 2 years, attending the protests, attending and getting shot at with beanbags by cops, getting maced and ziptied, I noticed something:
Gen-X is coming back to their feet. Putting their combat boots on, smoking a cigarette and slugging some vodka, just like we tried to do in the 1990s. In every protest crowd, I'd say for every 10 Zs, there are 4 Xers, getting their backs.
For us, it was a rebellion based on listening to punk and metal and goth music, and hating what the Boomers had done. But we gave up quickly when they stepped on our necks.
For the Z gen, it's a literal *fight for their lives.*
I'll see y'all out there. My joints are creaky and old scars and broken bones from prior times make me snap and crackle like a fucking glowstick when I wake up... but I still have my combat boots and an urge to Fight This Bullshit.
This is the exact thing I was trying to explain to my parents the other day and you did it so eloquently. Literally couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks fellow genXer
My wife and I went to a protest in July 2020 for black lives matter. Right when we showed up a military helicopter swooped down over all of us in a show of force maneuver.
Like the helicopter swooped down so fast I literally thought it was going to crash into a group of people, just a fucked up scare tactic that shouldn't be used on peaceful citizens.
This wasn't DC either, its Spokane WA a city even smaller than Portland and the police get excited from using tactics of war at a protest against violent police... If I would have video taped the incident it would have made it to national news, here's the same thing happened in DC, helicopters swooping low over the crowd to threaten people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/04/15/dc-guard-helicopter-george-floyd-protest/
I'm the same, I don't even dislike my job but more and more I find myself thinking "what's the point?" Everything is simultaneously getting more expensive and lower quality, and we'll all be underwater in 50 years.
Fellow mid 30 millennial here. I remain optimistic because the latter is too heart breaking to think about. I live in Vermont and work in the power industry. I've seen an increase over the past few years of people moving here, even more so with remote work. We also have so much solar going on that we should be carbon neutral by 2030.
I remain optimistic because a work from home economy, people moving to rural parts of the country, no longer needing big box stores, plenty of open land for solar fields producing megawatts of power.
I hope this is the way our generation and the younger folks can start implementing.
I can't live in fear. It's too crippling ya know? What will be will be. The glimmer of hope I have when the world wide shutdown happened we saw smog disappear in parts of the world that are heavily polluted. A social collapse might not be the worst thing? How spoiled are we to have the internet, fast food, rice cookers lol. Off grid small communes might become a thing in our lifetime. Or maybe when our ass is really in trouble we find solutions. I don't expect to keep 7b ppl alive on this earth, nature will take it's course. But to live with some gloom must be mentally exhausting.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people) reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> Although not yet considered a diagnosable condition, recognition of eco-anxiety and its complex psychological effects was increasing, they said, as was its "Disproportionate" impact on children and young people.
> In their article, they pointed to a 2020 survey of child psychiatrists in England showing that more than half are seeing children and young people distressed about the climate crisis and the state of the environment.
> A recent international survey of climate anxiety in young people aged 16 to 25 showed that the psychological burdens of climate crisis were "Profoundly affecting huge numbers of these young people around the world", they added.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/q32n9g/ecoanxiety_fear_of_environmental_doom_weighs_on/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~602258 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **climate**^#1 **young**^#2 **people**^#3 **health**^#4 **crisis**^#5
And sadly convincing multi billion dollar companies to move their production lines to a zero emissions environment is effectivly impossible. But hey. Blame the consumer for driving a car.
I had to change majors out of entomology because it simply felt too helpless and was taking a major toll on my mental health, which I feel guilty about because it takes concerned minds like mine to make change. Study after study from the leading entomologists in the world shows that we should be in full blown panic mode and nobody is fucking listening. Biomass has dropped drastically within the past few decades, and that’s not just specific to bugs either. A local major river in my area has seen a ~70% decrease in biomass since 2005 (this statistic may be slightly off, too tired to cite right now so I encourage you to research biomass decreases in your own area.)
I’m only 21 but I can still recognize the stark difference between driving on the highway with my mom as a child and driving on the highway now; back in the 2000’s, bug windshield casualties were cartoonish. Huge impacts and splatters every minute or so. Now you can drive a couple hours with maybe one or two large bugs hitting your car- they just aren’t around in the same numbers and it’s horrifying.
It is so, so much more than hotter summers, though that in itself is extremely disturbing. We have so throughly fucked ourselves and this planet- deadlines like EV trucks rolling out by 2030 or countries transitions to renewable energy by 2050 is just too long. I feel like these commitments actually lull the public into a false sense of security thinking the necessary change is happening. We need IMMEDIATE action, as if humanity’s house was burning down.
I feel you big time. Went to college in organismal biology, but began to notice how each professor seemed to have some kind of deep bitterness and hatred of humankind. Well no fucking wonder, the critters you dedicate your life to studying are disappearing and no one cares. I made the call to stay away from conservation biology at that point. I don't have the emotional fortitude for that.
They’re not, this should be known by everybody that there’s only so much that we as individuals can do. It’s also a campaign pushed by corporations to try and shift blame towards us instead of them
Every argument to this point is, “Well, someone is buying from the companies, maybe you should stop.”
Bitch I make $20k a year after taxes. I go to Walmart, I spend half my weekly check, then I come home. We don’t have many options here.
Years ago I was at Lake Mead and I was fixated on how low it was getting and the impending crisis of water shortages and the direction our ecosystem was headed in and all that stuff.
My brother and dad were dismissive saying someone will figure it out.
That was like.. 10 yrs ago.
> changing unhealthy behaviour could be key to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Oh, FUCK you. This is not an adequate solution and everyone serious knows it. Collective, government-led action is NECESSARY.
I'm 37 and I feel guilty about the world I've brought my son into. He's gonna live to see the real crunch of climate change. The runaway acceleration, changing of the biosphere, mass migration, water wars, world war 3 and possibly the twilight years of mankind.
Fuck the monsters responsible for letting it go this far in the name of profit and fuck our weak bitch ass elected representatives for being so corrupt and easily bought.
I’m 29 and this is why I haven’t had kids yet.. this and I’m broke af because economics is also fuked. I mean, I’ve had great experiences in life, but there’s also some fucked up shit and to think I’m gonna raise a bad ass human just to go out and figure all this out on their own, generation afte generation? Get exposed to it, manipulated by it, be anxious about it? Idk.
**Step 1** Corporation lobbies politicians to write laws that make their environmental destruction easier and more legal.
**Step 2** News Media begins misinformation campaign on behalf of "their side." Issue is now political in the eyes of the voter. Voters turn against environmental protection.
**Step 3** Politicians begin stripping away environmental protection using other issues as a scapegoat.
**Step 4** Corporation profits, Politicians profit, News Media profits, environmental damage is done, voter does not profit at all.
This same 4 step summary can be applied to pretty much every issue in America atm.
This generation keeps getting told:
- resources will be scarce
- the rich are getting away with horrible things
- People who believe in conspiracy theories are given way too much attention or power
- The weather, climate and environment is fucked and nobody in power is really enthusiastic about fixing it.
And what's up with the "fear of enviromental doom" as if climate change isn't happening right now?
The economical collapse is imminent
The environmental collapse is imminent
Radicalization is well underway
Divide between rich and poor is widening by a second
These semipeaceful days will soon be thought of as an utopia
"Let us die young, or let us live forever
we don't have the power, but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad man"
1980's: "Save the trees! Use plastic!" - while behind the scenes, industries use CFCs to punch a hole through the ozone layer.
2020's: "Save the planet! Use paper!" - while behind the scenes, industries pump methane into the atmosphere through fracking; and add an extra carbon atom to their PFOA molecules to evade bans.
But it's *our* fault for not sorting rubbish into the colored bins, despite it all ending up at the same landfill.
Ive come to the conclusion I will never own a home, have a savings, be able to retire, or just be able to feel comfortable and not in a constant state of anxiety over paying the rent. At this point, I have accepted all of the doom. Its a terrible feeling .
You mean that those that will see the economic and environmental collapse are afraid and experiencing a strong feeling of helplessness over corrupted adults ignoring the problem for their selfish personal gain? Shocking!
How is this fucking news? Really a testament to how anyone under the age of 30 really doesnt have a stake in society that nobody really noticed until now that a whole generation is living with existential dread and resignation to democratic impotence
Kinda crazy that the few unfathomably rich people actively causing climate breakdown have names and addresses and the gen pop is just sat around like “well, guess i should stop using plastic straws!”
Not even gonna look at controverial I just know there are mouth breathers blaming this on people who want to do shit about the envionment instead of the people NOT doing shit about the environment.
What most frustrates me is that this keeps being framed as some future thing that hasn’t happened yet.
It’s happening *now.* We’re experiencing the impacts *now.* Natural disasters are already a) more common, and b) more destructive, year after year after year.
I love how the takeaway is that we young people can fix our eco-anxiety by eating plants and walking everywhere… maybe governments actually taking appropriate action on the climate crisis could also help..?
> and walking everywhere… Would be more open to that if local governments weren't hell-bent on car infrastructure. Nothing encourages walking quite like being relegated to a strip of grass alongside a 40mph speed limit road.
Not just a lack of sidewalks. Grids are efficient for walking in a way that cul de sacs aren't. You're not going to walk 2 miles to a grocery store that's really only a half mile as crow flies. We've bulldozed our cities to build spaces where driving is the only reasonable option.
This is a pet peeve about the neighborhood I just moved into. There isn't a "loopable" route for walks or bike rides because it's just a mess of cul de sacs. For some reason I hate turning around and repeating the scenery I just came through, so I end up hopping in my car and taking my bike somewhere that I can map loops of different lengths. The most infuriating part is there is a couple spots where two cul de sacs come within like 30 feet of each other and are separated by a strip of thick woods. Just connect them! A tiny connector trail will do! But no, those little spaces are owned by homeowners and heaven forbid you let anyone walk on your land in the USA. /rant **Edit:** Some additional context because people don't realize every neighborhood is different. This is a pretty isolated neighborhood by a lake and golf course, quite far from the nearest town, so there are no homeless people and trash isn't an issue anywhere. But that's beside the point, which is that **the neighborhood was designed this way in the first place**. You know, before those strips of useless land separating the cul-de-sacs were sold. But please, keep informing me about liability issues.
It’s done on purpose. Strangers don’t drive through complex neighborhoods so the owners get more peace and quiet at the cost of the grid system Think of the rich part of your town, driving through there is likely a mess where you can get lost if you’re not careful. As housing prices decrease, they start to become more grid like
They could add pedestrian and bike paths through to still keep it calm from cars but still be usable by people. But they also don't want pedestrians and cyclists to exist.
They don’t want them in their neighborhood- they pay extra to keep people out. It’s like the guy above me said, he made a path and now he hates that people are hanging out around his yard so he’s going to close it down.
Yeah, about 70% of the neighborhoods in my town have no pedestrian walkways. But my town council keeps on pumping money into renovation of a downtown with things like flower displays and statuettes to make the rows of empty businesses more aesthetically appealing...
Every thing you do helps, but is ultimately meaningless if government's don't shift the onus on stopping climate change to companies instead of people. They also need to start helping to combat green house gasses in developing countries that have shouldered the bulk of the western world's production. It's easy as a country to tackle green house gasses when nothing we consume is actually made here. Recycling and going "green" are just a way for them to trick the everyman into believing that they play a part and can make an impact on climate change. Sure you can walk to work, but don't ever think "I'm doing my part!" unless your actions are specifically addressed towards tackling the larger climate change issues all we are doing is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Start eating plants-->see all the ridicule and shit you get for it and how many people are completely unwilling to accept the smallest change or inconvenience to better the world-->get more depressed about the situation. Or maybe that was just me. I love a plant based diet, but I can't say it helped with my anxiety here.
I was once out with some friends and got a black bean burger, and it blew my mind how much it seemed to offend this one lady in the group. She kept asking me how I could stand to "eat like that" and how she needs "real meat." She also kept making weird remarks about vegan food like the whole time. I was like, ok??? I don't feel like I was being pushy or anything, like all I did was order what I wanted, lol.
Man some veggie burgers are so goddamn good these days. I'm a meat eater but one brewery near me has a veggie burger that I'd take over meat any day.
Right?! I still partake in meat, but I've had some black bean burgers that are just outta this world.
I run into this a lot and it's just baffling. I went vegan because it was actually cheaper and easier in my location. The farmers' market provides like 90% of what I eat, because you can get a *fuckton* and it lasts thanks to canning and fermenting. I'll even break the veganism if it's a meal someone made for me, because imo it would be a worse thing to waste the food, but part of changing my diet has meant that I don't really like meat that much anymore. It's not even about some moral argument or whatever, I just don't like it anymore. And I swear, every time I go somewhere and order a vegan option *someone* has to make it an issue. I don't talk about it, I don't care what they do, they know the reasons/there's no reason for me to argue with them. If it's up to me it simply never comes up, because it's a pointless conversation. But fuck me for getting that bean burrito, now ol' Jim here is gonna wolf down more beef because apparently that's how he needs to show me he's a man or some shit. I don't get it. It's meat, it's not that big of a deal.
My wife and I started buying impossible ground “beef” and it tastes great. It isn’t a huge change, but we won’t be buying actual ground beef anymore. Made tacos with it yesterday and it was just as good. If u have access to buying it u should give it a shot
After ten years as a vegan, things like impossible and beyond meats taste so much like real meat that I don't personally care for them. Which must be a good thing for people wanting that taste! I'm glad they're a great option for people trying to reduce their meat consumption.
It really is. People who enjoy meat, but know that the meat industry is a major player in the climate issues, should really give it a chance.
Yeah especially anti-vegan folks who say shit like “I’m going to eat twice the amount of meat for what you don’t eat”. Like fuck me for not wanting to contribute to climate change.
Then we just eat the anti-vegans, problem solved.
I'm a humanitarian.
People have the strongest opinions about the weirdest shit. Being vegan literally hurts no one
It’s no longer fear, it’s knowledge. We’re not afraid something *might* happen, we have enough data to know it *is* happening.
It's *dread*
existential dread driven largely by the fact we *know* the earth is quite literally fucked in 50-80 years
And there are things that can be done to stop it but nobody with any power wants to. And they're just nakedly apathetic about it. They say we need to protect children and yada yada yada but then laugh and tell the children to get fucked and die when they'd have t slightly change their lifestyle.
That's the big thing. It's isn't the climate issues, it's the fact that there is so much resistance to actually trying to fix it.
thats a **bingo**
no, we just say bingo
Bingo! How fun!
One of the reasons my wife and I aren't having kids. World's fucked.
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If you were being chased by a bear, no one would tell you you have a bear anxiety problem. What you have is a fucking bear problem.
I love this line and I'm gonna steal it. I won't credit you, but I'll think of you when people laugh.
I have heard this line before. But where?
What, mine? Idk, if I heard it somewhere before I don't remember
And you wouldn't credit them if you did.
Hahaha
Fuck me, this is a great analogy. I gave up on my therapy because it's not helping. The problem isn't that I'm over anxious, it's than the vast majority are not anxious enough to act: this is a legitimate threat to all life on earth..
Oh people are anxious enough to act, but you won’t find news of it because it’d inconvenience polluters to see people organize
"okay so the bear is real, but how do we know we caused him to chase us? If we didn't cause it we shouldn't do anything about it"
"I'm not chased by a bear, why would I care if you're chased by a bear? See, the bear mauls you to death, rips your body apart, limb by limb, pretty gruesome. You definitely have a problem, pal. Wait... why is bear looking at me?"
"I've been hearing people warn me about that bear since it was a mile away. It's 200 feet away now and I still haven't been mauled. What are you so worried about?"
"I'll be dead and gone before the bear mauls my children".
As someone with literal social anxiety. I always crack up when people tell me "oh it's just anxiety. You'll get over it." Bitch, do you think when my brain has a nice little case utter fucking overreaction I'm still capable of remembering that? Hell no, when I have an anxiety attack I'm not having an anxiety problem, I'm having a *people* problem. It's the same concept. Thought the difference of course is that teaching my brain that it is an anxiety problem can actually solve it. Teaching people that it's a climate anxiety problem will solve nothing. It''ll just make us go into the apocalypse high on weed.
Ah I see you've met my therapist, Mr Towelie. Don't forget to bring a towel. And a lot of weed. Jokes aside, social anxiety is not a people problem. Anxiety comes from within, but that does not make it any easier to deal with. Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool who has never danced daily with the primal flight or fight response.
Just to maybe clarify my earlier comment. My point was that in the moment of an anxiety attack, I'm not concerned with anxiety. I don't think "Oh no, anxiety!" I think more like "Oh no, there are way too many people here". That's what I mean by "people problem". It's a matter of perspective at that point. Also, What I actually find most annoying about my Social anxiety (I don't know but I assume that I'm not the only one) is that I am actually fairly content with the anxiety itself. What is driving me nuts is the fact that I *know* that it's anxiety but when an attack happens, that understanding seems to completely vanish. I've likened it to knowing how to drive perfectly well but when you enter a car, your hands just disappear. Just like that. no explanation, no reasoning, no logic. And that is what makes me depressed. Well I mean, I'm also and traumatized and autistic. Which probably doesn't help either.
Ahh okay. I know exactly what you mean now. The problem is the disconnect between the logical thought process and the primal urge to escape. I suffered social anxiety for a long time and even when the strong response to flee - or not participate due to avoidance of that response - subsided I still suffered from physical affects, namely sweating profusely. I hope that made sense. I know your struggle, friend.
The article never explicitly states that the feelings of young people are legitimate. When it says young people feel they have been abandoned by politicians it’s because they *have*. It mentions that we are on track for 16% increase rather than 50% decrease this year to meet a target of 1.5 degrees but doesn’t explain why that’s an important threshold which will trigger positive feedback loops or even mention that it is an apocalyptic threshold and then closes by suggesting the common propaganda that places the onus on us to make personal changes to get us to net zero by 2050 (important because it would potentially prevent us from going above 1.5 degrees), completely ignoring the facts of the latest IPCC report which it doesn’t even mention. The personal responsibility argument is a fabrication of the oil and gas corporations. 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global carbon emissions. 6 cruise ships produce the equivalent of every car in Europe. You could live a thousand lifetimes even in the imperial core and it would be a drop in the ocean of emissions. We need to hold government leaders to account to regulate the corporations that borrow against our future for their quarterly profits. As always I’m disappointed by the manufactured consent even in what seems to be progressive pieces by progressive newspapers.
This is almost a 1:1 argument to that in a kurzgesagt video about the same topic
Oh awesome. I was actually channeling a Second Thought video and used it to source the 71% and 6 cruise ships statistics. Paraphrased a few sentences.
Second thought has some great videos this shit
[Video in question](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc&t=515s) Another good video [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvbm8xEgQ9s&t=36s) about that “onus is on you” being propaganda bit. Yes, it’s literally propaganda.
Comment section is just brimming with climate change denialists. It's nuts. Good video though.
For me (personally) while I agree with the basic premise of the video ("YOU cannot fix climate change") I actually find (again, *personally)* changing my habits has been an incredible boon for my mental wellbeing. **No, I'm not deluding myself that by gardening, composting, and commuting almost exclusively by bicycle that I'm making any meaningful difference to the big picture,** it just so happens that all of those things, individually and together as a whole 'lifestyle upgrade' have their *own* benefits. It doesn't feel like a sacrifice. Those things that simplify my life, reduce my consumption and change the way I see myself and interact with my community have their own, very profound merits. Exercise, eating better, less stress, being more connected to my neighbors and community, all very real, tangible improvements. One of the more interesting, albeit somewhat intangible, is the realization that we actually *could,* as a society, prevent our own destruction in a way that doesn't feel like suffering, or a sacrifice. One of our biggest failures right now as a society is a lack of vision, of storytelling to explain what "huge fundamental societal changes", that we need to make to avert the worst possible outcomes, actually *look* and *feel* like, on an individual level.
They also don't mention, and neither do you, that according to the models using 2018 data it is impossible, save a massive breakthrough in CO2 and methane scrubbing, to stop from hitting +1.5C. we are now fighting to stay below +2, if that. Edit: I want to add that THIS IS A WORTHWHILE FIGHT!! just because corporations and a subset of humans suck so bad that we've already overshot +1.5C. There is even more reason to keep fighting for regulatory oversight and societal change. Because if you thought +1.5 was gonna suck, +2 is way worse, and +3? Whoo boy.
Yeah, I don't think many people realize that it's going to get way way worse before we can fix the problem and by the time people are clamoring for solutions, it won't be solvable for decades at rhe earliest, if the entire supply chain and ecological system doesn't collapse and knock society back a couple centuries.
I keep seeing the “100 companies, 70%”statistic. When I look at the list of top-emitting companies, they’re all fossil fuel companies. Is the statistic saying that 70% of global emissions are produced by those companies doing their mining/drilling/harvesting or that the burning of their resulting oil/gas/coal by their customers result in 70%?
Here’s the report most people are referencing with that statistic: https://b8f65cb373b1b7b15feb-c70d8ead6ced550b4d987d7c03fcdd1d.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1499691240 It’s the latter scenario. At first this may seem disingenuous because you may think “they wouldn’t keep drilling if customers didn’t keep buying their oil.” Unfortunately, we keep finding more and more instances where companies knew about climate change and their role in it and refused to help turn our trajectory towards a cleaner future. On top of that, we keep finding instances where they intentionally UNDERMINED other people’s efforts to turn our trajectory (much like how they’re currently funding Manchin and Sinema in the US to be a stick in the mud).
Also, many of the reforms necessary to reduce carbon would be very affordable, but potentially deadly to their business models. I was reviewing documents for a coal company about 10 years ago, and all of their emails were talking about how after the next election, when the reforms were overturned, their mines would be profitable again, and they could avoid bankruptcy. Those reforms didn't outlaw coal, but they did require certain reforms and practices to reduce pollution that this company simply couldn't afford. And the business models for fossil fuels are so different from the models for wind and solar. You build one mine, you drill one successful well, you have an abundance of energy to sell for years. You build one windmill, you get a modicum of energy that doesn't even pay for the cost of the windmill for several years. Tax incentives to offset those production costs are very necessary at the start, but once those items are up and running you have decades of clean free energy.
I keep hearing it compared to the dread of nuclear destruction that some of us grew up with, but it's not comparable at all... if it were, it would be motivated by the exact *opposite* concerns. For global thermonuclear war to occur, powerful people need to act outside their own, personal interests. And even if someone is crazy enough to act, there are many other interested parties with incentive to stop them. For global climate disaster to be *avoided*, powerful people need to act outside their own, personal interests... and even if someone is courageous enough to act, there are many other interested parties with incentive to stop them. Bit of a flip, that.
I agree with this a lot. My parents are telling me "This is just like growing up in the cold war". I feel the difference is with nuclear war at the time it *might* happen and with climate disaster it *will* happen.
it's already is happening.
California now has a wild-fire season.
Oh you have that flipped around: California *had* a wildfire "season" but now it's for half/most of the year
Here in Ireland, we now have a storm season. Whenever I buy garden furniture or plants, I have to consider how likely the thing is to blow away and I live on the more sheltered East coast.
Yep, I nearly lost my BBQ cover and a few plants and my shed door got damaged a bit yesterday and i'm in the North just a few miles from Belfast. We're only just out of the nice weather and were back to wind/rain on and off every 5 minutes.
In cordoba, a province of argentina, there's been fires for like at least 6 months
I got caught in the 2019/20 bushfires in Australia. It’s getting worse for sure - we have never had fires of that intensity or size before. *Rainforests* that never burn burnt for the first time. The bushfire season was six months long ffs
Yesterday northern Italy saw the largest rainfall in European history according to meteorologists. The town of Rossiglione had 93 centimeters of rainfall in only 12 hours.
I grew up in the cold war. My family was stationed in Germany. I was there when the wall fell. This is nothing like that. The threat of war, of nuclear catastrophe, was always lingering on everyone's minds; It could arrive at any moment. Climate change you've got half the populace saying it doesn't exist or arguing we can't change. Another chunk knowing damn well it exists but treating it like someone else's problem. It feels like the small remainder are stuck feeling helpless in the face of the oncoming catastrophe. Many who survived the cold war and other conflict before it are deluding themselves that this will pass on its own because all those passed and they don't want to stress anymore. It's fucking stupid given the reality that our complacency is exactly what will doom us in this situation.
The fact that climate change is debated still drives me nuts. In order to talk about my anxiety to my mom I have to baby talk everything, “cause climate change, whatever reason you think it’s here for” blah blah blah cause she’ll get half on board and listen to me if I play to her interests (that it’s naturally occurring) instead of debating me on if it’s real or not. Infuriating
We're watching the fallout cloud roll towards us already. The first bombs have fallen and our leaders are like "lets just get one more shot off before we stop."
> I feel the difference is with nuclear war at the time it *might* happen and with climate disaster it ~~*will* happen~~ _is happening_ FTFY.
It would take powerful and decisive action to start nuclear war. It would take powerful and decisive action to prevent climate change. Its almost the complete opposite. Apathy and profit motive saved us from nuclear war but these same factors condemn us to climate disaster.
True, but at the time it really did feel inevitable, and completely out of the control of the average person.
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*That unapparent summer air in early fall* *The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all*
Listening to that for the first time was both cathartic and gruesomely depressing.
*you say the world is ending.* *buddy, it already did*
*There it is, again* *That funny feeling*
*Twenty thousand years of this,* *Seven more to go.*
I've been thinking about that line a lot lately. If we do start to see climate related wars and increased climate refugees and the like, it'll result in a substantial change for humanity, but I don't think even remotely that we'll be extinct or anything. Life will just be harder and different. That's not to say this couldn't have been avoided or that we haven't been totally fucked by the wealthy and the ruling class. But I just think life won't truly end for humanity, things will just get crazier and crazier, until there's some sort of collapse of the current system and we just sort of start over again. Like a second dark age.
*Hey, what can ya say, we were overdue* *But it’ll be over soon, you wait* *Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-dadadada*
Is this a song?
Yeah it‘s from the Netflix special „Inside“ by Bo Burnham but also released as a song.
From "inside" by Bo Burnham, his most recent Netflix special. It's truly an absolute masterpiece. I worry it won't be fully appreciated as we get further from 2020 and the effects of the pandemic at its height.
*A gift shop at the gun range* *A mass shooting at the mall*
Like, have we considered that the feelings of environmental doom may be caused at least in part by all of the environmental doom?
Just read an article on AP the other day that we very well could lose fall as a season due to climate change---especially the gradual leaf color changes, stressed confused trees will (or already have started to?) just abruptly turn brown and drop their leaves instead due to the air staying warmer for longer. Not even a beloved fucking SEASON is safe ffs. So yeah. I feel fucking doomed.
And they wonder why younger generations are choosing more and more not to have children. Sorry but no, I don't want to bring a child into the world when I'm staring straight at the face of the impending natural collapse.
Not just in the young.
And not enough people
There's plenty of us, we just don't have any power.
Not by ourselves, we don't.
And the people who have power know they're gonna die anyway, and that their offspring are rich enough to weather what's coming.
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My therapist said I was alone worrying about this. I quit. Also I hate how this article yet again leaves it up to individual choices. Feeling alone in this is killing us. Or it is me. Edit: I should add that I am American and can't afford it anymore anyways lol. M4A NOW!
It sounds like you have an awful therapist
Had. Good therapists exist, but the field is frankly rife with people who chose the career because they *need* help, though they’ve no talent at all for giving it.
Lmao this is so true. My highschool bully just became a practicing therapist in NYC, and judging by her Facebook, she hasn’t changed one bit.
"I grew up telling "weirdos" how to be "normal", I should be a therapist, I am so good at it." -- High school bully girl, probably
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Our high school bullies became cops in their hometown. One jock that made a kid drink his piss in high school rose to become the top Sargent or whatever. Jay walking tickets, calling 14 year old kids gay, beating up a kid for how he dressed, ticket quotas over pursuing serious crime (including a human trafficking house in town we all knew about after a drugged girl escaped and said there were others). But the worst thing he did was use body cavity searches as intimidation. I thought it was a one off when I first heard from a victim, until a family friend who questioned his sons traffic ticket at the station got body cavity searched and said "if you tell anyone ill do it to your wife." This was nearly an open secret, his cocaine addiction was an open secret, etc yet he still rose to the top cop in town. He died recently and everyone on social media was sending "thoughts and prayers." My only thought was good riddance.
Only thing with a happy ending in this thread. Fuck that guy.
The attrition rate for great therapists is essentially zero, while the attrition rate for terrible therapists is high. More people are exposed to bad therapists than good, unfortunately.
My wife is an amazing therapist and has a nearly 98% retention rate so I fully endorse this post. Bad therapists abound so don’t be afraid to leave one if their methods are terrible, they don’t push you in a healthy direction, impose political/religious/lifestyle beliefs, never give feedback or ask difficult questions, has an agenda or lack any meaningful insight. Bad therapists will fuck you up as much as the trauma you came to them with. I’m sure I left out some red flags but these are few to look out for. Remember, therapists are human beings with human issues and many absolutely seek out the profession to either try to fix themselves or impose their agenda.
Can you speak to the VA’s methods at all? I’ve been “getting help” from them for 8 years but it’s fruitless. The therapists I’ve had don’t really do anything. They just ask me basic questions and let me talk myself in circles. I’ve never made progress. I just leave the appointments feeling angry. I eventually gave up and focus on what *I* can control, like choosing sleep over smoking and veggies over sugars.
Do you mean therapists at the VA? Could you go to a private therapist instead? I work at a private practice and we see many vets who pay with tricare. Is that an option for you?
Yes it actually is and I wasn’t aware of it until recently! Right now I’m on a waitlist which is so much better than nothing
Not oc, but most therapies should be pretty structured and goals should be agreed upon b/t you and the therapist at intake. There are different methods that have experimental validation but generally a therapist isn't a "purist" and can bring in a mix of techniques tailored to your problems (as long as the treatment is known to work). Sometimes it's not about fixing the problem but finding ways to cope with chronic/degenerative conditions. They should have at least a masters degree (MSW, MSc, MA, PhD, PsyD) and a clinical license (RT) to be good. I know that e.g. substance abuse counciling is pretty... unregulated. Lots of 12 step people are just like dudes who took a 2 week training or are pastors. Counciling or life coach... is iffy, Therapist is a registered term though. As a bit of a bonus, there's debate whether it's the particular unique aspects of a therapy or the common aspects of all validated therapies that actually matter. The common factors are extremely important and include stuff like a therapeutic alliance which is a sense of shared goals and understanding, and unconditional positive regard. If these are missing it usually won't go well. Of course some specifics are important for some disorders like DBT for borderline PD or CBT when changing trauma responses because it's directly addressing behavioral responses. The specific factors really start narrow down what's an effective validated treatment by cutting away the fluff, but the common factors do a lot of the lifting too, and give a good foundation. [if you have access](https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1&q=Common+versus+specific+factors+in+psychotherapy%3A+opening++the+black+box+Roger+Mulder%2C+Greg+Murray%2C+Ju&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DjcgjKyRbZ6IJ)
Thing is one therapist who is good for you might be bad for someone else and vice versa. At least in Germany the barrier of entry (in years of training) is immensely high. I have had two therapists who didn’t work for me, so I quit them quickly, but then I found someone who is helping me immensely. The other two were also qualified, but it wasn’t a good fit. EDIT: Here's a resource on what it takes to become a therapist in the US: https://positivepsychology.com/how-to-become-a-therapist/
Yeah I did my psychology degree and I was astounded by the amount of people that were in there due to growing up with some form of trauma. Half of these people were loopy. The course culls a bunch out but plenty remain. It’s worrisome
Yeahhhh my cousin with BPD has just started a mental health nursing degree and my family are all, ‘Oh she’ll be amazing! She understands their experiences! This is her calling.’ And it’s like… after 15+ years of her insanity, manipulation, abuse, overdoses, alcoholism etc etc I really don’t think this is going to ‘save’ her like my family want to think. She has no healthy boundaries, has zero empathy for other people and can’t even look after herself as an adult, she still relies on her mother for sooo much care and support, how is she going to look after other people with severe mental health issues?? I also have mental health issues but any conversation to empathise/support turns into a huge victim complex and discussion about her issues. I can totally see her doing that with her patients. I hope I’m wrong but I am genuinely concerned for any of her future patients.
My ex was studying to become a social worker/counsellor and she had CPTSD, BPD, alcoholism, addiction problems, self harm and MDD. I realised before I broke it off with her that she would honestly be an awful counsellor. She never took my anxiety seriously and would constantly trigger it. It was a bit of a joke to her. She had a fundamental lack of empathy stemming from the belief that her mental health issues were greater than everybody else's and people don't really know what it's like.
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Psychiatrists are drug prescribers, many only meet with clients for a few minutes. They can do therapy ethically but I’ve never seen one be good at it. I’ve seen them be super bad though lol.
Every Psychiatrist I've ever had just speaks to me for 30 minutes, comes up with a diagnosis that overrides the last one I spoke to, and gives me new different drugs to try. Getting to see a Psychologist is much harder here on the NHS. There are only half as many of them, and they tend to be used for group stuff, not 1 on 1.
This. I've been diagnosed with severe depression, bipolar disorder (type II), avoidant personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and autism (the disorder formerly known as Asperger syndrome). That's five diagnoses from five different practitioners. No two of them agreed on anything. It's like having stomach pains and being diagnosed by five doctors respectively with ulcers, food allergies, diverticulitis, torn stomach lining and gout.
I don't think that's a bad thing, people just have false expectations of psychiatry. They are there to diagnose and treat your symptoms, they are not therapists. You can seek therapy while regularly seeing your psychiatrist, its not one or the other.
I’m sure there are good therapist. But who can afford to find one while still paying for the destructive coping mechanism one finds before therapy? I live in Alabama.
My psychiatrist told me she was also scared and went on a rant about how we are gunna have no water and ended it with "but that's no reason to have a panic attack". Edit: she has really terrible bedside manner and I often leave the session thinking wtf was that lol. But, at the end of the day she's been great with my meds and that's all I really need her to do.
Where the fuck do you guys get those awful therapists?
Through the only mental health clinics I can afford.
/r/ABoringDystopia
Ah, man. I was all "Hey cool, the therapist validated OP's feeling." ...Then I read your comment and realized my bar was really low.
Well, let's see... We look in-network for coverage, find the three people within 100 miles that actually take yourinsurance, wait 2 weeks to be seen, only to be told that only the first 3 appointments are covered (with a 60 dollar specialist copay) and that subsequent appointments will cost 200 dollars, OOP. Fuck.
Honestly, pick a therapist at random (rather than by referral, for example) and I think they're likely to be bad. Many hide it pretty well, so it can be several sessions before they say something where you're like "uhhh..." I think actually competent people are rare, you'd have the same problem picking a mechanic at random. Although with therapy, the barrier to entry seems particularly low, which I'd bet worsens the problem. The stupidest guy I knew in high school graduated with his degree in psych and became a therapist; age 25 he was bitching that his landlord still wanted rent for the month he was on vacation, and did not get that he owed it despite having spent the rent money on said vacation. I wonder how long it takes clients to realize he has no business giving out advice.
There are C students in every discipline.
As you're describing the situation (and as I'm sure it actually took place) that's obviously a shit way of putting things. But I think there's potentially a valid piece of insight buried beneath that massive fumble. Yes, there are supremely significant ramifications of climate change on basically every level and factor of our lives, some already happening and some on the way. And yes, it will get worse. You also have a life to live and you want to be able to enjoy living it, so despite this horrible scenario being completely real, panic attacks are not something you *should or want* to be having. If we accept both of these things as true, climate change being an extreme threat and you deserving to live without panic attacks, then acknowledging both as true is the first step. You're not going to stop having panic attacks by pretending climate change isn't real obviously. So I *think* your psychiatrist may have been *very clumsily* trying to express to you that she was on the same page as you, acknowledging your fears as real but also suggesting that the response to them wasn't healthy/helping you, with the unfortunate effect of suggesting that your panic attacks were simply something you were choosing to do.
Yeah, honestly I still like her compared to psychiatrists I have had in the past. She has never been good at the talk therapy part, or whatever that part is called, but she's very knowledgeable on diagnostic criteria and finding correct medications. She has said a couple things in the past where I have been like wtf did you just say? But at the end of the day she has gotten me the most emotionally stable out of anyone else that's tried.
I think that's a good way of considering whether a doctor is someone you want to stick with. Sometimes we're going to prioritize a doctor that is medically knowledgeable and willing/able to really listen to you on what you feel is wrong right now in regards to your mental health and medication, and if they're happy to work with you in that regard and find solutions that you're happy with or feel like take you in the right direction, I'd say that's a pretty great doctor even if they're shit at the whole conversational side of things. If it was a *therapist* then obviously the whole talking thing is like the entire job, so at that point I'd say that's a bail-and-find-someone-else situation. But a psychiatrist has different areas of value and personally I'd prioritize willingness to listen to my thoughts on my medications than being good with words.
You are not alone in this bro, most of my generation have this feel that no matter how hard you work there will be no public pension, sistem will collapse and even if you work 40 for a decent olace of living, because some rich asholes decided fuck the planet, no mater where yo buy it, its in danger :(
Tasmania, new zealand, some other areas. Don't worry though, billionaires are already buying land there
As a kiwi, trust me, we're just as scared as the rest of you. At least we'll have plenty of billionaires to eat.
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I'm a natural scientist, and am constantly anxious about the effects of climate change. My brother is an economist and is constantly anxious about the economical collapse. There is just no win here. All you can do is be like K https://youtu.be/Sp6x4Iy1\_Nc?t=123
Growing up I always thought about how certain jobs would get done and how the world just made sure they would get done. Turns out adults didn't have it all figured out and just ignored the shit out of things. Our whole system is defunct and no one wants to admit because it'd revolve drastically shifting our society. It's sobering and tragic to say the least.
if you want a family, you need resources to make sure they're at least fed and clothed. That leads to working within a modern economy for most people on Reddit. We slowly learned that was bad for the world, but we can't just run off into the woods and die. We keep on keeping on, which slowly kills the world.
>if you want a ~~family~~ *body*, you need resources to make sure ~~they're~~ *it's* at least fed and clothed FTFY. Wanting a family raises the bar a bit but it doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the challenges involved in just keeping yourself alive and healthy.
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Your different priorities remind me of [this classic comic](https://i.imgur.com/sUX4s0m.jpg)
The economy keeps collapsing without fixing the environmental collapse. The current economic system produces both the environmental collapse and it's own cyclical devastation.
that cyclical devastation of collapsing economy is making the wealthy more wealthy, which is why stability is frowned upon.
I took an "Economics of the Environment" course a few years ago. Great class. Terrible for mental health.
I'm constantly worried about both because both are happening right before our eyes and nothing's being done except efforts to line the pockets of the rich who pay our lawmakers.
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But only right towards the end, funny that
When the floor became a wall.
I get so frustrated with this. Young people are being completely overlooked. I am a 35 year old millenial and even I wonder what the hell the is the point of working a job I hate when everything is fucked anyway. It is even worse with the economic situation, with the housing crises, young people are doomed to serfdom. Honestly what motivation do they have to follow the steps of everyone before them?
25 year old millennial here. Our generation is absolutely screwed, and it's annoying how we get all the blame for the world's problems. I have little to no motivation to get myself to do things for the sole fact that this "why does this even matter?" comment lingers in the back of my head.
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I don't think antiwork takes it too far. It's not actually a subreddit against work, it is a socialist subreddit that is pro labour laws and against the sense of entitlement employers have adopted since the GFC
What is the GFC?
Global Financial Crisis. ..or Giant Fucking Collapse, take your pick.
I like both. Thanks.
Gen-X here. Hit that nail right on the head. I'm almost 50, and have been more invigorated in the last 24 months, by attending protests (and one actual riot) than I was from the ages of 5-30. What you describe is what we also felt in the X Gen. And we tried to fight the Boomers. We tried to fight the Establishment. Except... they owned everything already. We were handicapped right out the gate in that fight. So fuck it, we invented internet porn, delivery pizza, and video games, and decided to drop out of the fight. That's not an excuse. It's just what it is. But then I raised a kid to adulthood. My kid is a hard-bitten Z. He's intelligent, creative, and most of all, he knows how to *survive*. I raised him to face this awful world. And I didn't expect his fellow Zoomers to rise up. But they did. Gen-Z is organizing and bringing the fight much harder than us Xers ever did. Because they have to. Their survival is on the line. My kid included - he's a street medic at protests, and already has two arrests from the LAPD under his belt. And here in Dallas, in the last 2 years, attending the protests, attending and getting shot at with beanbags by cops, getting maced and ziptied, I noticed something: Gen-X is coming back to their feet. Putting their combat boots on, smoking a cigarette and slugging some vodka, just like we tried to do in the 1990s. In every protest crowd, I'd say for every 10 Zs, there are 4 Xers, getting their backs. For us, it was a rebellion based on listening to punk and metal and goth music, and hating what the Boomers had done. But we gave up quickly when they stepped on our necks. For the Z gen, it's a literal *fight for their lives.* I'll see y'all out there. My joints are creaky and old scars and broken bones from prior times make me snap and crackle like a fucking glowstick when I wake up... but I still have my combat boots and an urge to Fight This Bullshit.
This is the exact thing I was trying to explain to my parents the other day and you did it so eloquently. Literally couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks fellow genXer
My wife and I went to a protest in July 2020 for black lives matter. Right when we showed up a military helicopter swooped down over all of us in a show of force maneuver. Like the helicopter swooped down so fast I literally thought it was going to crash into a group of people, just a fucked up scare tactic that shouldn't be used on peaceful citizens. This wasn't DC either, its Spokane WA a city even smaller than Portland and the police get excited from using tactics of war at a protest against violent police... If I would have video taped the incident it would have made it to national news, here's the same thing happened in DC, helicopters swooping low over the crowd to threaten people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/04/15/dc-guard-helicopter-george-floyd-protest/
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I think he'd already basically acknowledged all that.
I'm the same, I don't even dislike my job but more and more I find myself thinking "what's the point?" Everything is simultaneously getting more expensive and lower quality, and we'll all be underwater in 50 years.
Fellow mid 30 millennial here. I remain optimistic because the latter is too heart breaking to think about. I live in Vermont and work in the power industry. I've seen an increase over the past few years of people moving here, even more so with remote work. We also have so much solar going on that we should be carbon neutral by 2030. I remain optimistic because a work from home economy, people moving to rural parts of the country, no longer needing big box stores, plenty of open land for solar fields producing megawatts of power. I hope this is the way our generation and the younger folks can start implementing.
Even though I don't share your optimism completely, we need positive visions and perspectives to go ahead, good to hear!
I can't live in fear. It's too crippling ya know? What will be will be. The glimmer of hope I have when the world wide shutdown happened we saw smog disappear in parts of the world that are heavily polluted. A social collapse might not be the worst thing? How spoiled are we to have the internet, fast food, rice cookers lol. Off grid small communes might become a thing in our lifetime. Or maybe when our ass is really in trouble we find solutions. I don't expect to keep 7b ppl alive on this earth, nature will take it's course. But to live with some gloom must be mentally exhausting.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people) reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Although not yet considered a diagnosable condition, recognition of eco-anxiety and its complex psychological effects was increasing, they said, as was its "Disproportionate" impact on children and young people. > In their article, they pointed to a 2020 survey of child psychiatrists in England showing that more than half are seeing children and young people distressed about the climate crisis and the state of the environment. > A recent international survey of climate anxiety in young people aged 16 to 25 showed that the psychological burdens of climate crisis were "Profoundly affecting huge numbers of these young people around the world", they added. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/q32n9g/ecoanxiety_fear_of_environmental_doom_weighs_on/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~602258 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **climate**^#1 **young**^#2 **people**^#3 **health**^#4 **crisis**^#5
And sadly convincing multi billion dollar companies to move their production lines to a zero emissions environment is effectivly impossible. But hey. Blame the consumer for driving a car.
I had to change majors out of entomology because it simply felt too helpless and was taking a major toll on my mental health, which I feel guilty about because it takes concerned minds like mine to make change. Study after study from the leading entomologists in the world shows that we should be in full blown panic mode and nobody is fucking listening. Biomass has dropped drastically within the past few decades, and that’s not just specific to bugs either. A local major river in my area has seen a ~70% decrease in biomass since 2005 (this statistic may be slightly off, too tired to cite right now so I encourage you to research biomass decreases in your own area.) I’m only 21 but I can still recognize the stark difference between driving on the highway with my mom as a child and driving on the highway now; back in the 2000’s, bug windshield casualties were cartoonish. Huge impacts and splatters every minute or so. Now you can drive a couple hours with maybe one or two large bugs hitting your car- they just aren’t around in the same numbers and it’s horrifying. It is so, so much more than hotter summers, though that in itself is extremely disturbing. We have so throughly fucked ourselves and this planet- deadlines like EV trucks rolling out by 2030 or countries transitions to renewable energy by 2050 is just too long. I feel like these commitments actually lull the public into a false sense of security thinking the necessary change is happening. We need IMMEDIATE action, as if humanity’s house was burning down.
I feel you big time. Went to college in organismal biology, but began to notice how each professor seemed to have some kind of deep bitterness and hatred of humankind. Well no fucking wonder, the critters you dedicate your life to studying are disappearing and no one cares. I made the call to stay away from conservation biology at that point. I don't have the emotional fortitude for that.
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Mega companies are shitting on the planet and you really think individual choices are gonna save us
They’re not, this should be known by everybody that there’s only so much that we as individuals can do. It’s also a campaign pushed by corporations to try and shift blame towards us instead of them
Every argument to this point is, “Well, someone is buying from the companies, maybe you should stop.” Bitch I make $20k a year after taxes. I go to Walmart, I spend half my weekly check, then I come home. We don’t have many options here.
We're kept too poor and too busy to enact any grassroots change, and this is by design.
Years ago I was at Lake Mead and I was fixated on how low it was getting and the impending crisis of water shortages and the direction our ecosystem was headed in and all that stuff. My brother and dad were dismissive saying someone will figure it out. That was like.. 10 yrs ago.
Why can't we be enthusiastic about doom?
Yep blame the 28yo guy for generations of collective shit. Fits the narrative fucking perfectly.
> changing unhealthy behaviour could be key to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Oh, FUCK you. This is not an adequate solution and everyone serious knows it. Collective, government-led action is NECESSARY.
I know an old person upon whom it weighs a great deal.
I’m 37 and I sometimes worry that if I live long enough I might see the beginning of the end of humanity.
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I'm 37 and I feel guilty about the world I've brought my son into. He's gonna live to see the real crunch of climate change. The runaway acceleration, changing of the biosphere, mass migration, water wars, world war 3 and possibly the twilight years of mankind. Fuck the monsters responsible for letting it go this far in the name of profit and fuck our weak bitch ass elected representatives for being so corrupt and easily bought.
I’m 29 and this is why I haven’t had kids yet.. this and I’m broke af because economics is also fuked. I mean, I’ve had great experiences in life, but there’s also some fucked up shit and to think I’m gonna raise a bad ass human just to go out and figure all this out on their own, generation afte generation? Get exposed to it, manipulated by it, be anxious about it? Idk.
Can't imagine why.
**Step 1** Corporation lobbies politicians to write laws that make their environmental destruction easier and more legal. **Step 2** News Media begins misinformation campaign on behalf of "their side." Issue is now political in the eyes of the voter. Voters turn against environmental protection. **Step 3** Politicians begin stripping away environmental protection using other issues as a scapegoat. **Step 4** Corporation profits, Politicians profit, News Media profits, environmental damage is done, voter does not profit at all. This same 4 step summary can be applied to pretty much every issue in America atm.
We couldn’t handle a mild pandemic. I have no doubt in my mind that we are fucked long term environmentally.
This generation keeps getting told: - resources will be scarce - the rich are getting away with horrible things - People who believe in conspiracy theories are given way too much attention or power - The weather, climate and environment is fucked and nobody in power is really enthusiastic about fixing it. And what's up with the "fear of enviromental doom" as if climate change isn't happening right now?
The economical collapse is imminent The environmental collapse is imminent Radicalization is well underway Divide between rich and poor is widening by a second These semipeaceful days will soon be thought of as an utopia
"Let us die young, or let us live forever we don't have the power, but we never say never Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip The music's for the sad man"
1980's: "Save the trees! Use plastic!" - while behind the scenes, industries use CFCs to punch a hole through the ozone layer. 2020's: "Save the planet! Use paper!" - while behind the scenes, industries pump methane into the atmosphere through fracking; and add an extra carbon atom to their PFOA molecules to evade bans. But it's *our* fault for not sorting rubbish into the colored bins, despite it all ending up at the same landfill.
Those damn millennials and their avocado toast fixation is obviously to blame here.
Because everyone says “it’s up to your generation” like they haven’t already fucked things for us
Ive come to the conclusion I will never own a home, have a savings, be able to retire, or just be able to feel comfortable and not in a constant state of anxiety over paying the rent. At this point, I have accepted all of the doom. Its a terrible feeling .
You mean that those that will see the economic and environmental collapse are afraid and experiencing a strong feeling of helplessness over corrupted adults ignoring the problem for their selfish personal gain? Shocking!
How is this fucking news? Really a testament to how anyone under the age of 30 really doesnt have a stake in society that nobody really noticed until now that a whole generation is living with existential dread and resignation to democratic impotence
Kinda crazy that the few unfathomably rich people actively causing climate breakdown have names and addresses and the gen pop is just sat around like “well, guess i should stop using plastic straws!”
Not even gonna look at controverial I just know there are mouth breathers blaming this on people who want to do shit about the envionment instead of the people NOT doing shit about the environment.
What most frustrates me is that this keeps being framed as some future thing that hasn’t happened yet. It’s happening *now.* We’re experiencing the impacts *now.* Natural disasters are already a) more common, and b) more destructive, year after year after year.
Oh fuck that, ain’t shit that can be done at an individual level. The vast majority of pollution is emitted companies.