It seems to me that, in the last couple of years, the world has been taking some huge steps back. Not all the problems are new, but some of them have been getting worse or have been made more obvious due to Corona.
There are too many to mention, and it would be boring to expand on all of them, but just to name a few:
- Climate change. Even with the biggest possible help due to Corona, global emissions haven't fallen significantly. The general sentiment I get is that most people are not willing to give up anything from our modern lifestyles in the West, so I get this sinking feeling that we are headed straight for the cliff and, instead of slamming the breaks, we are accelerating. Moreover, it looks like climate change denial is still a thing.
- Inequality
- Growing nationalism & growing anti-EU sentiment. This is especially happening in Europe - see Hungary, Poland, UK, but it's more or less across the board.
- Trump. The upcoming election will be between Trump and Biden. This makes me terribly sad.
- Mass surveillance
- Growing division among generations, countries, ethnicities.
- Conspiracy theories seem to be on the rise
- We are addicted to smartphones, Facebook and Instagram
There are also countries where democracy is going downhill - just look at Turkey, Russia, Hong Kong, Brazil, China. I could even add the USA to this list, things are definitely not getting better.
The year is 2020, and we still have so many countries under oppressive regimes, women as second class citizens, ethnic cleansing and so on.
Why is the world so crazy? Has it always been like this? Is it better now than 10, 20, 50 years ago? Because it seems to me that the future is bleaker than ever.
I am currently sat looking into my garden listening to the sparrows chirping, and the sun shining down on it. This is identical to the garden 50, 20, 10 years ago.
Only if I turn my attention to the insanity in the human world does it seem bleak. Yes, many people do many stupid things and do things I disagree with but my concern about those issues won't change their behaviour. People will always do what they want to do, even if it is selfish/stupid. I do not follow political events.
Perhaps you need to focus on something different for a while, and "detach". This doesn't mean you don't care anymore, but worrying about the future won't change the future or stop it from happening - it'll just colour your current moment and lead to you not enjoying it.
Perhaps it is your awareness of the current affairs that is leading to your mental preoccupation with the situation. When you were a child you did not have these concerns because you were unaware of them. Your mind can only be preoccupied with what reaches it, so perhaps filter what reaches it. You not knowing about events will not stop them from happening; it'll just mean you won't need to be caught up in the furore surrounding them because you won't know about them (and by extension, won't overly worry or be peturbed by them).
Perhaps go find some sparrows to observe and see how happy they are in their moment.
I recommend the book Hate Inc by Matt Taibbi for a nice exploration of how the media profits from dividing us.
Also, obligatory Aaron Swartz: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews
The Arab spring uprisings were, imho, spurred by people complaining that things weren’t as good for them as they clearly were for people you could now see on the internet and cable tv.
The reactionary movement in the US is a combination of some people complaining about rights being extended to others (extending rights is a good thing) and people complaining “hey, the system isn’t working for me when it seems to be working for others”. Do I like the form this reaction has taken? Not in the slightest! But I recognize that it’s a reaction to good things.
In the 1960s and 1970s the US was subject to waves of assassinations and bombings. And in the 1870s they had an actual civil war! Things could be worse.
Mostly, yes. Crazy is easy to profit from. The media paints a bleak picture because it keeps them in business. Businesses keep crazy going because people spend money to escape from it. Wall Street keeps it going because complex financial instruments are a good earner.
Rich people are getting richer at the moment. They're the only ones with the power to change things but they have no will to do so.
2. Bad news sells and makes you keep watching.
3. Humanity has never been smarter or more advanced than right now. Therefore we are more likely to be right in our predictions. Even if this isn't true, it still scares people.
4. We're only just starting to track and measure problems. Even ones we can't feasibly fix (climate change), which is scary.
I saw an estimate a few weeks ago that said that we'd need to be in the equivalent of a COVID-19 lockdown for 7-8 full years to get the temp increase to a manageable level.
It's one thing to discuss action in the abstract. But now we've all had a taste of what is needed, I can't see any electorate voluntarily agreeing to that. I could be wrong but I doubt it.
Also, if by inequality you mean economic inequality, the global situation is a lot better than it was 10 years ago and vastly better than it was 50 years ago. This is primarily due to China and SE Asia generally catching up.
My theory is that these sorts of feelings come directly from feeling overwhelmed, moreso than any particular facts about the world itself. Ergo, avoid the sensationalist media and you'll avoid feeling pessimistic.
Don't fall for the media narrative. They relish in making you angry, anxious, and fearful that drives more clicks.
From Billy Joel:
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on and on and on and onThere is a phrase of history repeating itself right. I wonder if that happens in the cycle when our elders (not elderly) remember "how things used to be" and because they are in now positions of power, behave in ways that bring back the past?
I'm not stating all baby boomers are like this, just suggesting that maybe there is something about people in power and their behaviors reflecting their beliefs from their upbringing in various ways.
Progress is also linked into liberalism.
gray, the philosopher has written quite a lot about this. His summary is that the benefits of progress are to be continually fought for, it's not just something that happens .