It feels like no matter where I turn some septuagenarian, or older, is making life miserable for myself and others. Usually these are older white Christian conservatives, obsessed with a delusional sense of reality that no longer has a basis in fact, or perhaps never did.
There is a disproportionate amount of wealth concentrated in the older generation and those who will inherit it will probably be even worse with that money than the last generation. Certainly we see evidence of that already, anyone in their 30’s who has parents who help them out VS those who don’t have that have radically different outcomes. For some reason those lucky enough to come from good families ascribe laziness and bad attitude to those who don’t have the family support, as if they are somehow enjoying “self made success” while mummy does their laundry for them.
No generation previous needed this kind of assistance well into adulthood, but this infantilisation of working adults has happened because of the hoarding of wealth, refusing to pass on the torch in workplaces and just blocking change for the sake of stoking petty politics. Most of us will never own our own home but all the politicians want to talk about is whether it’s OK to dehumanise trans people or not.
I’m 36 this year. For most of my teens I thought there’d be some kind of tipping point where the conservative boomers would fuck off or at least let the next generation step in, but that hasn’t happened. Back in the 1990’s you could be a girl and wear jeans and be empowered, now this is considered some kind of woke statement. As if we recently invented this idea of women and men being equal.
The faces of my two dogs, my cat and my husband are all that keep me going. Knowing they need me gives me just enough to get out of bed in the morning and start moving… but I’m struggling to do even that without having a breakdown. My husband and I have medical expenses we can’t afford and are borrowing money to survive right now. I run my own business and just feel this immense pressure on my shoulders, that again is compounded by how unfair the world is right now.
Anyone got any advice for coping with this late stage capitalist hellscape?
Stop reading the news.
I’m serious. Just stop. It’s ALL biased to one side or the other so whether you’re on the left, or the right- you’re going to get hate and negativity thrown at you. Also, know that it has ALWAYS been this way. It’s just that it’s difficult to not see it all happening because of the internet- which brings me back to my original point.
STOP READING THE NEWS. Nothing good comes from it and your mental health isn’t a fair trade for staying up to date with the current dumbassery in politics.
Sticking your head in the sand is a great strategy for never helping to enact change. Knowledge is power, learn what you can.
There’s a reasonable compromise to be had here.
To OP:
Take a temporary break from reading the news, for as long as you need. Your mental health is what’s most important.
When starting the news again, choose your sources carefully. Skip stories that will only serve to make you angry or sad. You’re not obligated to finish a story (or even a paragraph) if you sense it’s only contributing to your feelings of hopelessness. Remember that most publications are deliberately trying to cause a strong emotional response. Read stories that will provide useful information, and relate to things you can act on.
https://sturlabragason.github.io/blog/2023/06/15/Curated-News.html
I got tired of reading news which is just reposted Instagram stories from garbage people.
Holy cow this is the worst advice. If everyone did this we would be way worse off than we already are.
I have historically spent a lot of time online reading articles and comments (formerly reddit, now Lemmy/kbin of course). There have been a couple of times I just stopped keeping up with politics and current events and I found I did feel less stressed as that stuff doesn’t have a direct impact on my life compared to things happening with people I actually know - news is stressful often and I can’t do anything about those events. However when I’d start following it again I’d find that I missed a fair amount of things that would have been good to know about - neutral or positive things like scientific telescope launches, positive political events, and so on.
My husband and I have medical expenses we can’t afford and are borrowing money to survive right now. I run my own business and just feel this immense pressure on my shoulders
Sounds like this is the actual problem in your life. You may be using the state of the world as an emotional scapegoat.
I would see a doctor.
Find a hobby besides reading bad news on the internet, it’s not that hard
| Find a hobby besides reading bad news on the internet, it’s not that hard
Actually it can be, when the same world that generates that news has commoditified every aspect of your existence to a transaction. Transactions you can’t afford.
You’re conflating debbie-downers with a generation of humans living a worse life than their parents. When a damn is cracked, overflowing with water, drowning people, the solution is not, “Hey just like, don’t pay attention, man! Life is good!”
That type of advice doesn’t go very far with starving, unhealthy (unable to afford health) people.
Some of us in the United States (me for example) can give you a list of people we know who have died because they were unable to afford insulin (first died in high school twenty years ago, most recent died last year), we know what our country has become because we cannot escape the damage it is inflicting on a generation, a generation poorer than the ones before.
You’re overcomplicating it and making this far more harder than it needs to be. You hobby can be going out on walks, drawing, playing very cheap sports, etc. No more no less. There is barely an economical factor for finding a cheap enjoyable hobby.
And I’m not advocating toxic positivity or being blissfully ignorant. All I’m saying is finding something enjoyable to do in the fleeting life you have is better than being miserable all day by going out of your way to read bad news on the internet.
Have you considered moving? The capitalist hellscape is mostly an internet meme real in few places. Most places around the world are growing.
