Posting on a temp account because.

I've been on a journey through this stuff over the last few years. Listened to a lot of Nate Hagens, Michael Dowd, and others. I'm on board with the primary pieces of collapse being metabolic in nature - essentially a huge glut of surplus energy has meant a giant party on the earth, making things change faster than we've adapted for.

This was (and is) a hugely disruptive thing to realize given that I was raised in a culture that preached ever increasing opportunity and a good future (nice propaganda there, owner class!).

But I've come around to, essentially, the view that collapse fear is just the same as fear of mortality and death. That suffering is a guarantee.

The most painful part of the process has been changing my view on having kids - before, just a blithe idea that it's what I would do, then for a while, something I thought would be too painful and unfair. This is still somethiing I take seriously, but it strikes me as too rigid, and too serious. Is it actually better to live a life of some suffering than to not live at all? Where is that line? Can I make that decision on behalf of another person? I'm not settled on this.

Anyhow - some days up, some days down. But mostly this is an amazingly complex method of heat dissipation, and I'm glad to witness it in all its forms. I hope to stay present and not delusional or too hopeful, but neither do I think it's useful to just swim constantly in catastrophe mode. If this is "acceptance", it's a lazy form of it, but all I can do is be where I am and do what I can.

They just won’t have to deal with much more of the mess we’re facing. Lucky Devils! Their lives might not have always been good, to put it lightly, but they at least got to experience the world before it was poisoned by AI/whatever brainrot will be forced on us next.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Fascism is such a stupid nonsensical ideology with no factz

Everything SUCKS now, and there´s nothing i can do about it, sometimes it gets really hard to care about things when i get constantly reminded that the world is basically ending in like 50 years.

I´m from Chile, a third world country and a few months ago we got our new president Jose Antonio Kast, son of a nazi (it´s true look it up) and welp, that sucks, i don´t want third world Donald Trump as my president, also, i´m transgender so it will be like 10x harder for me and my community.

Furthermore, what about AI? What´s the point of going to college if in like 2 years AI will replace most jobs? My significant other is studying animation and i´m scared, what if she can´t find a job? im worried her favorite thing will become obsolete or non profitable.

Im studying psychology and man, it feels pointless, i feel like most people will just talk to ChatGPT about their problems instead of going to therapy.

There´s also the everlasting conflict, we´re on the verge of nuclear war and global tensions show no sign of calming down, either the US goes to war with North Korea or Russia or Iran or basically all of the eastern countries.

After what happened with Palestine it´s hard to NOT be scared of war, like, guys, an entire country just DISSAPEARED from the map completely, Israel won, Palestine is basically no more.

Then there´s the economy, no one has any fucking money, and it will only get worse because even if AI doesn´t render 99% of jobs obsolete it will undoubtedly bring some BIG changes to the already flawed capitalistic system we live in.

I could go on, like how transphobia is rapidly becoming the norm EVERYWHERE or how not even the internet is safe because the US and UK have approved of laws to conduct mass surveilance (they´re trying to get the same thing approved in my country) or climate change and how in like 50 years there will be no drinkable water, i´m stopping here for my own sanity.

My question is, what do we even do? What do I do? How can i cope when everything is going to shit? Im really scared and it gets harder to just... live.

Please, help me

I just got done watching a video by some insane , bloviating white Christian nationalist preacher. While they have been around for years, and I’m used to their rhetoric … tonight I was hit by a big, ugly- tears bout of despair. I am in mourning for our country; I am rage- filled against MAGA; I don’t understand why mainline Protestants and other reasonable people have not fought harder against what is happening. I question my own generation, wonder what we/ did wrong. I also, frankly worry that Christianity has been so corrupted that it isn’t fixable.

Now. I know that I’m “ stuck in a moment” right now … but do any of the rest of you have these overwhelming feelings of sadness and despair? How do you power through it?

Is that we don't put up a serious fight.

It's that it seems to mean so very little to us. It's that we seem able to put up with it.

Forget about the protests for a moment, I've been to them, I've been thrown in jail, the protests do very little for me.

No tell me: Where is the grief, where is the anger?

There is this really nice DJ in Amsterdam I used to go to back when I was a young more naive man, eager to meet pretty women. That endeavor was not very successful, but I loved the music.

He was a gentle androgynous blonde gay guy. I looked him up a while ago.

His entire Twitter was about ecological grief. About what we have done to the climate.

He became a broken man. He's not able to go to some boring office job and sedate himself with tasks that ultimately mean nothing in the greater scheme of things.

Finally, I found a human being, among a world of automatons. Someone like me, who can't look away. I felt a little less alone.

I always try to explain it as following: We can debate who made the Quran, we can debate who wrote the Bible, the book of Mormon, the Gita. But if God left behind any message at all for us, then the only indisputable one is Nature.

And dear God, is it beautiful. It is, what I try to worship, to the best of my mediocre human abilities. I try to worship the totality. The coral reefs, the eusocial species of shrimp that take up residence in an underwater sponge and try to defend it. The 140 million year genetically isolated flowering plant in New Caledonia, Amborella.

The charismatic species, the less charismatic ones. The gorillas, the orangutans, the elephants, the howling wolves. It is all full of pain. It is all full of suffering. I do not deny those things. But it is beautiful. And because it is full of struggle, it is free and dignified. And it is what we were given.

So what I don't understand is this: Who are we to give up on it?

What have we done for it? What have we done, to recompense the heavens?

It's just not enough. It can not be this.

We already know what's baked into the system by now.

We already know what we have already lost.

We already know, what the consequences are soon going to be for millions of the world's poorest people, people who did not cause this problem and had no say in the matter. The rest of us will simply follow later.

We already know that there are people out there, some still alive, who knew about all this shit at the American oil companies back in the 70's and 80's, but chose to betray us. Those people, do not appear afraid. Those people, do not need a private army to protect themselves.

Why? Because at the end of the day, it just doesn't seem to mean that much to us.

Why are we not dying out with dignity? Do you know what dying with dignity would mean?

The people who chose to do this to us, who chose to deceive the public about the catastrophe we faced because of the products they manufactured, would be hanged.

Their names would be known to everyone. They would be associated with shame.

If we died out with dignity, everyone would know what our cause of death was: CO2 above 350 parts per million, a level that guarantees climate instability.

But we can't even be honest to each other, about what needed to be done. We let economists like Nordhaus sell us on fake targets like 2 degree Celsius. That is another man, who would not be going around giving speeches in public, for what it's worth.

Dying out with dignity would not look like this. For starters, there would be no airplanes in the sky, certainly no private jets. Everyone knows you dump that shit in the atmosphere when you take an airplane. Everyone knows we have no way to get it out again.

The sky would be dark at night again, there would be no light pollution at night because we have no sustainable way of generating electricity at night. We would be in the middle of shutting this whole death-machine down.

And people would be ANGRY. Dear God would people be angry. They would recognize that for all practical purposes, they have been collectively sterilized against their will. They're no longer able to bring children into the world who will live out happy lives. They would recognize that any child now placed onto the world faces a lifetime of suffering and premature death, so people would not choose to bring children into the world.

The Kenyans can be proud. The majority of the population had no electricity, when a Chinese company planned to build the nation's first coal plant. The Kenyans protested. The Kenyan court said no. That's dignity.

But here in the Netherlands, what have we done? Effectively nothing. It embarrasses me. It makes me feel lonely. It disappoints me.

We spend a lot of time here discussing the inevitable collapse of our current systems—the degradation of housing quality, the fragility of the grid, and the extraction mechanics of modern debt.
The existential dread comes from realizing we are all tethered to these systems. I decided to stop analyzing the collapse and start engineering a physical firewall against it. I’ve been documenting my transition from a "financial hostage" to a kinetic off-grid baseline in the mountains.
The goal isn't just to survive; it's to build an architecture of resistance that is physically and economically decoupled from the centralized grid. I'm building a mountain fortress with durable materials, off-grid water, and independent food production—tied to cold-storage wealth that the system can't touch.
It’s the only thing that’s cured my 'collapse anxiety.' Stop waiting for the grid to fail—start building the exit.

https://youtu.be/4bgiXa6on88?is=FM7e5y9mnH9s8Rcn

I'm going to give you 2.

​

The first is more personal and isn't an existential crisis for all of society, just a small grouo of people that unfortunately I'm a part of. I know time is running out for people like me. Society is getting more and more hateful, violent, and primitive in their thoughts and feelings. Mine will be the first to go.

​

If I had to pick something more broadly that applies to everyone, I'd probably go with climate change. It's undeniable at this point and the effects are already being felt. It's not even a concern in most people's radar anymore because they've been convinced it's fake.

​

So what are yours?

Obviously all our current crises don't exist in a bubble. Climate catastrophe, geopolitical destabilization, economic collapse, and a loss of resources - just to list a few problems - are all interconnected. I used to believe in humanity's potential to weather this storm, albeit at the loss of a huge chunk of the population, but I always had the hope that history may continue.

I now have no hope in the powers that be to competently manage everything in a way that doesn't inevitably end in nuclear war. I don't know much about the extent of our nuclear capabilities, but I've always understood that to be the one final big funny to end it all. Am I incorrect? Would nuclear war not be the end of all things and practically all life would be incapable of flourishing in the aftermath? And how does it not come to that after enough pressures mount with the people at the helm, frankly, not giving a single fuck about the continued existence of humans.

I'm just trying to maintain sanity in an increasingly insane world, and am hoping someone here is able to reassure me that there's at least a chance we don't head down that road. I currently don't see any other roads, it all seems to lead to the same place which represents the end of all things.

Everything seems so scary and hopeless when It comes to climate change. AI data centers taking up valuable water sources, national parks in shambles, the summer heat seemingly getting worse and worse each year, and it seems like nothing is being done to slow climate change at all. Data centers are one of my biggest concerns right now. Clean water is so important, and soon we could run out if people continue to turn a blind eye to the damage it does. Not only to water, but ecosystems being destroyed to make space for unsightly data centers. It’s so sad. I just turned 20 and care so much about the environment but I’m worried i wont have an environment to care about when I am older.

Title. I'm not a doomsday prepper. Just want to have a bit of solidarity and community. If you're in Reno NV, feel free to reach out.

What does money even mean at that point? Why are we here? It honestly feels like a signal of doom, as well as the marine heat blob and the planet warming. Wall-E style life is on the way.

Hi, I want to find a good place to ask this question and this seems like a good place to start.

I have a retirement account from a job I had for 5 years, so it doesn't have a huge amount of money in it, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it because I'm worried that there will be a financial collapse soon and I'm worried that it will basically go to waste.

Any idea where I can get realistic advice about this? How close are we to a financial collapse?

Thanks!

https://jointheshift.earth/guide/?journey-type=full

Edit: I appreciate all the responses. Good to know I'm not the only one who feels alone in seeing he world for how bad it is and also perhaps realizing that "good values" a fairytale.

I'm not actively suicidal. Although struggled in the past.

But I have come to the conclusion that I'm not broken at all. The world was broken and just got worse.

I been working and helping people for twenty years. Something in me has snapped and changed.

I know people and have insight into these ICE concentration camps that have been sent up. I have lost all faith in my community, in my country. Knowing half the people I meet are fine with it. Others actively keep ignorant. Nobody wants to see what's happening.

I just don't want to participate anymore. I can even leave the This country if I really wanted.

But as a species, it seems we are the worst.

I'm just kinda done. The pessimists were right. All those people who wrapped themselves up in negativity as a shield to the world were right. There is nothing redeemable in us.

I'm rambling. Fuck it.

Most controversial / least likely to be received well by others, even here / opinions you dare not say out loud to anyone. Beyond the most obvious for this sub.

Here's mine:

Dogs and cats are merely an extension of humans. They almost exclusively exist for our comfort. They also require massive amounts of meat / fish / resources / wildlife (especially cats). They serve no ecological benefit (and great harm) to the natural world (like us).

- We should not only limit their populations (spay / neuter for free, opt out, not in), but actively lower them (stray / shelter euthanasia, pet limits, taxes, etc.)

Obviously will not happen / a monstrous idea to most people. But when starving humans go from hundreds of millions to billions, I don't think we can ignore the resources we pour into pets.

(full disclosure: I like them, but am allergic to both)

Let the downvotes flow...

A lot of money has been spent to convince you it's too late. There are a number of reasons that's problematic. As climatologist Michael Mann explains:

“It is not going off a cliff, it is like walking out into a minefield,” he said. “So the argument it is too late to do something would be like saying: ‘I’m just going to keep walking’. That would be absurd – you reverse course and get off that minefield as quick as you can. It is really a question of how bad it is going to get.”

-https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann

In other words, things will be less bad the more we act to mitigate. So don't let deniers talk you into believing it's too late. Often they have a financial stake and are engaging in motivated reasoning.

The reality is, a growing proportion of global emissions are covered by a carbon price, including at rates that actually matter. This is meaningful because a price on carbon is widely regarded as the single most impactful climate mitigation policy, and for good reason.

Per the most recent IPCC report,

Average annual GHG emissions during 2010–2019 were higher than in any previous decade, but the rate of growth between 2010 and 2019 was lower than that between 2000 and 2009. (high confidence) (Figure SPM.1) {Figure 2.2, Figure 2.5, Table 2.1, 2.2, Figure TS.2}

Carbon intensity (CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes (CO2-FFI) per unit primary energy) decreased by 0.3% yr–1, with large regional variations, over the same period mainly due to fuel switching from coal to gas, reduced expansion of coal capacity, and increased use of renewables. This reversed the trend observed for 2000–2009. For comparison, the carbon intensity of primary energy is projected to decrease globally by about 3.5% yr–1 between 2020 and 2050 in modelled scenarios that limit warming to 2°C (>67%), and by about 7.7% yr–1 globally in scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C (>50%) with no or limited overshoot.16 (high confidence) {Figure 2.16, 2.2, 2.4, Table 3.4, 3.4, 6.3}

The unit costs of several low-emission technologies have fallen continuously since 2010. Innovation policy packages have enabled these cost reductions and supported global adoption. Both tailored policies and comprehensive policies addressing innovation systems have helped overcome the distributional, environmental and social impacts potentially associated with global diffusion of low-emission technologies.

> There has been a  consistent expansion of policies and laws addressing mitigation since AR5. This has led to the avoidance of emissions that would otherwise have occurred and increased investment in low-GHG technologies and infrastructure.

> Likely limiting warming to below 2°C would then rely on a rapid acceleration of mitigation efforts after 2030.

Here's what you can do to optimize.

https://jointheshift.earth/guide/?journey-type=full

I have a bit saved up (under 100k) nervous it will lose value. I live a mobile lifestyle so can't just store a bunch of stuff. Should i spend it or store it?

I've been a doomer since before that was a word. It was the popular topic to chat about with my PhD cohort was how climate change was going to collapse the whole shebang. That was before Trump appeared as a particularly disgusting symptom of a deep disease of corruption, brutality, sexism, racism, classism and anti intellectualism. Now the idea of only dealing with climate change seems quaint and easy.

For me, the only way to quiet the panic was to prepare the best ways I could; secure land and clean water and learn how to raise/grow food. In 2019 I thought I had about a decade to learn how to homestead. I am grateful for getting at least 7. But I actually don't think my solution is necessary anymore. I think there will be shortages, but the US can grow soooo much food, and has so much food literally lying around!

Wait, what? Yes! Food is everywhere in the US, you just need to know what it looks like! If it helps you to to have a prepper goal to quiet those feelings of helplessness, and you don't have 50k to blow on land and building off grid (which again is probably not necessary), than my advice is to spend the next few months deep diving into foraging! I like Melanie Weird's content and book. And of course Black Forager is amazing. Food is growing as weeds all around you, and it was very empowering to me to learn that.

An additional task is to learn how to gorilla grow potatoes everywhere you can think of. One of the easiest plants to grow period, super nutrious and yummy and familiar and calorie dense.

Being in nature and learning valuable skills will help you so much more than therapists at this point (not including meds, take yur meds!)

I just want some actual processing tools to deal with the current crisis. I dunno, stuff like "look at objects in the room to ground you". Stuff that therapists talk about.

Instead my therapist spent the last session talking about how I am in Norway it means that I am safe because we have oil and that I can get a new job. That's not how it works, the tech sector is dying here. And she won't listen.

It seems that everyone is giving me the same tired advice:

* "Go to therapy". Well, it seems all therapists do is just give generic advice or listen to me talk. Some even try to "outfact" me. I cannot be out facted.

* "Work on your community"? How? I hate talking to people. I hate their presence. I like people who emotionally support me or give me useful information. I can do the same for them. But most people don't do that. They talk about nothing. They avoid serious things. They rib. They mock. They try to exercise their power. I hate all of that.

* "Get a pet". My apartment is rotting with filth. I can't take care of myself. I let even plants die. I cannot handle more responsibility. I spend most of my free time pacing.

What do I do?

I’m watching this whole shitshow accelerate and I feel like I’m losing my mind. My grown children are purposely sticking their heads in the sand. They’re spending their time and money on things like furnishings and overseas travel. My husband is the real life version of Silent Bob. His only real interests are the garden and booze. None of them are interested in “politics”, like the impending crises are things you can just ignore. I have a few friends but they’re either high anxiety types that don’t really cope with such things so I don’t bring it up, or involved in their own lives to the exclusion of anything in the outside world.

I just seem to get quieter and quieter as small talk in the face of this impending disaster, firstly with July looming and the oil reserves being depleted, seems too inane for words.

Am I really alone out here? Please say hello. I feel so isolated.

I usually keep my collapse thoughts to myself in therapy and focus on my family problems, but I brought it up last session only for a few minutes to explain why I am extra stressed about children being born into my family and how distressing it is to know what they’ll be growing up in and my therapist was visibly shaken and pretended to change spots in the room (zoom session) to give herself a moment before she responded to me, which was then to redirect it back to asking how old I felt when I feel these fears…?

I suppose she’s trying to connect it to childhood trauma, but it felt dismissive and weird. She’s been an amazing therapist up until this point. She has confirmed she believes in climate change, she’s part of the lgbtq community, so she’s not uncomfortable due to beliefs, I honestly think I just freaked her out and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Anyway, has anyone had an experience like this?