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Is it my impression or are things devolving?

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Is it my impression or are things devolving?

#1

Post by throwawaycfg »

Looking at the news it's ever harder to not get depressed. At least for me. A loud voice in my head is saying that everything is devolving as far as humans societies are concerned. Crisis after crisis and news showing that everyday people are just breaking up causing havoc around them. And an ever increasing pile of problems waiting to turn into crisis.

Under that light my job (marketing analytics sw) seems pointless if not detrimental. But any direction I looked to kind of help out with the things that matter seemed a dead end. There are just no jobs about climate change or school violence. No startups addressing these issues. It seems to me that it is almost impossible to put any effort in what matter which increases the sense of me living in a bubble about to burst at first contact with reality.

Dunno. How do feel about all these and bow do you deal with it?

Re: Is it my impression or are things devolving?

#2

Post by dane-pgp »

Climate change is definitely a cause for concern, but the world is doing more and more to solve it (albeit it not quickly enough to prevent large numbers of unnecessary fatalities throughout this century).

As for violence, it's worth noting that "The USA has lower violent crime rates than the average of industrialized countries."[0] That's not to say it doesn't have severe problems that absolutely should be fixed with better policies, and it doesn't disprove your belief that things are devolving, but it maybe shows that things can be a lot worse and still be okay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying complex civilization has a good chance of getting through this century, but I think the problems are more subtle than current news stories suggest, so we need to think carefully about what actions we can take as individuals that will have the best chance of improving things.

[0] https://safeatlast.co/blog/gun-violence-statistics/

Re: Is it my impression or are things devolving?

#4

Post by Minor49er »

The news exists to sell you gloom and doom. Yeah, bad things are out there, but the major networks blow up relatively smaller things into huge ordeals. It serves to keep you watching, to engage with what they're saying rather than engaging with the things that are around you. I'd suggest picking up a local community paper and see where you can apply yourself to make an impact

Re: Is it my impression or are things devolving?

#8

Post by puranjay »

Minor49er wrote: post #4

The news exists to sell you gloom and doom. Yeah, bad things are out there, but the major networks blow up relatively smaller things into huge ordeals. It serves to keep you watching, to engage with what they're saying rather than engaging with the things that are around you. I'd suggest picking up a local community paper and see where you can apply yourself to make an impact

You’re not wrong but the last few years definitely feel worse than the years before it.

Re: Is it my impression or are things devolving?

#10

Post by NonNefarious »

For the first time since I started caring about the news, I've started to avoid it.

Yes, news programming sells itself with hysteria. But some things have unquestionably regressed, notably U.S. politics and the dignity and respectability of those who hold office in the USA. And, for that matter, the Supreme Court.

But all of that goes back to the deliberate, belligerent ignorance championed by millions of people in this country. The tragedy is that the Internet, once a conduit for scientific knowledge and research, has been turned into a clearinghouse for retrograde "thought," allowing stupidity to reach the critical mass required to bring down entire societies.

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