I’m fairly convinced that society as a whole is highly likely to fully collapse in the near future, with no simple road to recovery if possible, and humans are moving to an average of being selfish bastards. I haven’t seen much to convince me otherwise, despite knowing plenty of decent people and knowing of many more, as this average definition of mine is calculated with those with truly evil intent pushing those who only look out for themselves and potentially their family, the majority of people, into more nefarious plans, therefore leaning the average more toward the selfish bastard angle instead of merely being a fair bit selfish, which is really what I’d expect the average of humanity to be. Despite this, I also try to not assume any stranger I encounter is only in it for themselves until I see direct proof in any direction. After all, I’ve had fairly decent luck in finding good people.
With a somewhat negative view on humanity currently, it’s no wonder I decided to stop using Twitter years ago, as I’ve mentioned many times, also having mentioned that website updates are posted through a bot on the account I used to use. I really don’t need more reinforcement toward that. I feel like this is one of the things that’s helped keep me from jumping off a bridge without a bungee cord. I don’t know that I know all the things that have helped keep me sane enough to manage, but I can pick out a few like that.
“Doomscrolling” is a term that’s come from the tendency of sites like Twitter, as well as the news media in general, to put such a lens on all the problems of the world that nothing seems to be going right at all. And then profit from it as well. Maybe that last part isn’t a direct contributor to the term, but it’s certainly a business, and anything that keeps people coming back to generate ad revenue is good for them even if it’s the worst thing possible for the world. I feel like those who run current event sites for profit are eager for World War III to finally get started, possibly even twisting facts for their motive to turn everyone against everyone, if not outright hiring operatives to plant false evidence or stage false flag operations.
If one wants to stay informed but not drawn to the impending end of the world taking over their thoughts, finding a news outlet that’s not super clickbait-y and speculative and isn’t running a billion ads all over the place can be difficult, but one may get lucky. And not everyone on Twitter is a terrible bastard spreading lies, but the algorithm will do its best to point users toward them. Also a lot of people are just very gullible online and may spread things regardless of how true or false they are unknowingly. If one can find someone positively reputable and informative there, then hopefully they stay that way. The hard truth can be hard to find, so anything reported by anyone should be cross-checked as much as possible.
In the scope of trying to be positive in the face of anything, I’ve picked up a mentality that any day could be the last to enjoy, something I’ve held more strongly to since the start of the decade. Something could happen the next day that puts one’s life in danger or ends it entirely, or turns it into an indefinite streak of suffering, but it’s also not worth obsessing over this possibility, because that means days get spent in misery that could very well be spent otherwise. For those lucky to not be facing impending death, it’s very important to recognize what fortune has been given to spend some time looking at memes or watching whatever sitcoms are reruns on TV rather than having to scrounge up enough to survive another day. Anyone who can take even a moment for themselves to do something they enjoy should do so. Even better would be also giving help toward those who can’t do this, but at the very least one should set aside time for themselves if possible. That can help put one in a better mood and shift work on problems to the subconscious, including considering giving help and following through with it. Perhaps that even brings enjoyment to the giver.
Preparation also helps. If one is better prepared to face the end of society, it’s less worry. The key is to be smart about it, to not just buy a bunch of random items at once that won’t be used, and to also store the supplies properly, as well as cycle out older stock for general daily use so it won’t be wasted. The hope of preparation is it’s there if needed, but it hopefully won’t be. The more likely use case for this is adverse weather rather than total societal collapse, but it can work for both. If one has time to prepare, they should do so, and know what to grab at a moment’s notice to the worst if they must evacuate or hide in place. A ready-to-carry secured container of supplies, also stored properly, can help with this.
I don’t know that this is the proper way to do things, or if this is even everything I’ve looked into to keep a sense of happiness within a society seeming to be more dire with each day, but it’s at least several things I know I’ve looked into to try to deal with things. Most importantly the thing about enjoying life while it lasts, since I feel the meaning of life is to just enjoy it the best ways possible without being harmful to everyone else as much as possible. I try to find a balance in that by not just buying just every new thing that comes out and discarding it the moment the next thing comes out, for one thing. I should also mention that I haven’t been trying to drown sorrows in alcohol and other drugs, and have saved expense by not doing that. If one feels that they must partake, though, I only ask they do so in moderation as going further than that can result in even more problems.
Though, if someone can manage to find a way to get people back on track and not ending up as total asswipes, and it works, that would be even better. For now, I just try to be nice to others and hope that promotes likewise behavior.