deadangry wrote: Ruined by the ruthlessly selfish few - our planet's dying, our standard of living is even now going down, in this me-me-me society that I've rejected and feel completely alienated from.
I always love this. A person that wants to believe that they have rejected the “me-me-me” of society, yet their post is all about them and what they want for themselves.
And it is interesting to me as we exist in a global community that has the absolute highest standard of living for the greatest amount of people ever in history. There are fewer people in poverty globally than ever before. There are fewer people being killed by war, disease, or violence than ever in the history of mankind.
But I understand. It is relative. Another member posted recently how the #1 cause of death for males under the age of 45 in the UK is suicide as if it is a negative thing.
Negative? Heck no, it is a positive thing. Think about what it actually signifies. What does it actually mean when we ask ourselves, what was the #1 cause of death of men under the age of 45 previously? Oh, that’s right, it was war, violence, or industrial working conditions. But for such wonderful progress in reducing violence and improving working conditions, suicide would not be the #1 cause. Instead of young, healthy, vibrant men dying in factories or on the battlefield, we have improved so much that young men no longer need worry about these forms of death.
Now our focus and resources can now turn to preventing suicide, because these other forms of death have been reduced as our global community thrives. We live in good times.
Obviously if you buy into the fear producing media, the world is ending and we all live in crappy conditions. If you buy into the media, everyone should be entitled to free everything. From that standard the world is certainly a horrible, dark, miserable place to live. Instead of celebrating how far we have come, the media must thrive on what we have not yet achieved.
And unfortunately this constant 24/7 drumbeat of negativity is absorbed as truth by some and it actually contributes to depression and by extension suicide. Because some people lament what they think they should have or the way the world should be based on some BS narrative put out there to get clicks and generate views for advertisers, the blood and gore media is part of the problem.
If my psychiatrist doesn't achieve anything significant tomorrow, I don't know. I've been hanging on in the adult NHS mental health system for 20 years but you know what, life actually isn't worth living. I'm glad I didn't have kids - they'd only suffer!! I'm leaving a partner behind, and what makes me most angry is that I know this country would fail to look after her.
The fact a country even provides NHS is a modern marvel. Having drastically reduced poverty, disease and war, your country will look after her like no other time ever in global history. But, I understand that is not good enough.
This post is not to convince the OP of anything, but is for others that might read this and take time to reflect.
What is taking place with the OP is unfortunate. While things like poverty, disease, war, and famine are globally at the lowest point ever in the existence of mankind, there are people depressed because some utopian standard has not yet been achieved. The media thrives on painting a dark picture, the end of the world scenario, regardless of how good things actually are. Politicians need votes and they too contribute. They can’t point to the Black Plague or the threat of global war, so they need to create fear, they need to build up “problems” so they can then solve the problem.
If you feel that our global community is headed down some tragic path, I encourage you to check your premise. Turn off the television, disconnect from social media, and do some reading from sources that are not trying to get your vote or earn money from fear.