this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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How can you look around at the world we are living in and have any hope for the long-term future. I am 39 and had already ditched the notions of children or retirement. But now I am rethinking pets as they can't be guaranteed food and comfort for the next 10+years. We are so screwed. I feel horrible for the younger generations and I believe whatever society exists after the climate reckoning will look back on us as hedonistic monsters.
As someone about the same age, I do understand your concerns, at least in part. And while things look bad, to be frank I think there's also a lot of good to see in the current world.
Traditional values and desires have little place nowadays and are becoming impossible to achieve (though I think a lot of that was true for the boomers as well, they just pretend it's not), but new things are appearing that's good. We're healthier overall than previous generations. We're surrounded with luxuries that previous generations would've considered impossible for the average person to have. We have opportunities abound to find careers, livelihoods, passions, and any number of other worthwhile pursuits that weren't possible even two decades ago.
If you let go of the preconceptions of previous generations, I believe there is a countless number of things that are good now that didn't exist even one generation ago. Maybe having a traditional career, getting married, having children, and owning a home are becoming more and more impossible, but that doesn't mean friendships, hobbies, and any number of other things of value are out of reach.
I don't make a lot of money. I've given up the idea of marrying and having kids. I will never own a single detached house. I don't even see a future where I will ever retire. But I don't think those are reasons to say I am unhappy. I enjoy each and every day, find value in my work, enjoy my hobbies, and have friends, even if some of us argue constantly about our conflicting political leanings. The world now, despite climate change, dictatorships, rich assholes hoarding everything they can, political apathy, insane and transparent corruption, and any number of other horrible things in the world or even in my own city, I think the world now is better than it has been in the past, and will continue to become better.
You just...need to let go of what drove your parents, and find new things to bring you joy that wasn't possible for them. Because there are countless things that are possible now that wasn't even when you were a child.
Do you mean looking around the world with the naked eye? There is nothing visible in that spectrum that should diminish hope for the future. Life only continues to look better and better.
Or do you mean through the lens of precise measuring tools and mathematical models? If that's the case, then yeah, things look distressingly bleak.
I mean I never saw smoke in the sky and at eye level like I've seen this summer and a lot of trees are dead, the ones that aren't are visibly stressed. It's very visible.
So, seeing something for the first time signals the end of the world? You must have had an interesting childhood.
Your reasoning is too black and white and lacks nuance.
No, seeing something that is damn well known to never have happened before causing massive damage while walking from home to my brother's workplace is what gave me that impression.
My hometown flooded in 2017 and then 2018 and again this year. My current city of residence hasn't seen a summer this cold since it was founded not in spite of but because the cities of Kelowna and Yellowknife are on-fucking-fire and the smoke is temporarily shielding this city from record-high heat waves. This isn't normal, and the global average temperature, despite the common misconception, has never been this warm since the beginning of life on Earth.
My childhood wasn't a conservative one, I'm not fearing this because it's new. I fear it because it's deadly.
Stay safe out there, friend. The fires are insane this year. :(
The price of housing that my eyes see from text in the visible spectrum doesn't agree. Or the lack of water during intense heatwaves. Or the lack of snow in winter.
Unfortunately we are hitting the spongebob-diaper-meme phase of things where wildfires and atmospheric rivers are just all around the globe with increasing frequency and intensity. Count yourself lucky if you aren't viewing it personally yet. Nowhere will be safe forever.
We've been able to see wildfires for eons. Scary, but nothing that suggests there is no hope for the long-term future. We've equally recovered from wildfires for eons.
Yes, precise measuring tools indicate that they are becoming more frequent, which is concerning, but there is nothing to the naked eye that would allow one to recognize that. Our eyes are just not that sensitive.
Some fancy politician talk you have there, in what way does life look better and better?