Is the world ending?
February 20, 2025 1:44 PM Subscribe
I’m beside myself with worry about the state of the US and the world. I need some help keeping my anxieties in check. Can anyone give me reasons to be optimistic?
I’m not in the US but watching with sadness and fear at everything happening. And now I’m worried that World War III is going to break out.
My question is - is there room for optimism or hope that our world will be ok? Are we headed for another World War? What are the signs that are pointing to better days ahead? What is giving you geopolitical hope during these times?
I’m not in the US but watching with sadness and fear at everything happening. And now I’m worried that World War III is going to break out.
My question is - is there room for optimism or hope that our world will be ok? Are we headed for another World War? What are the signs that are pointing to better days ahead? What is giving you geopolitical hope during these times?
A few friends and I decided on a whim to go to a monster truck rally in a couple weeks. I'm trying to find joy in the stupid things and only pay high level attention to the news, only a few times a week. I've had all notifications on my phone turned off for years.
I got big depresso after the first Trump election and I can't do that again. I can't give you anything to be optimistic about, but I can try to encourage you to go do pointless dumb shit with people you enjoy while you can.
posted by phunniemee at 1:52 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
I got big depresso after the first Trump election and I can't do that again. I can't give you anything to be optimistic about, but I can try to encourage you to go do pointless dumb shit with people you enjoy while you can.
posted by phunniemee at 1:52 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
It would take a lot for the world to actually end. Ways of life are probably ending and most people in the current developed world will probably end up being serfs in all but name within a generation but that's almost a reversion to the historical mean. Even with climate change, the world won't end, just large swaths of it will be less comfortably inhabitable by people and the plants and animals that currently live there. In the big picture we're probably fucked, but that's always been true.
I think the room for optimism is that life will still go on and at an individual level it will still be filled with the small joys and pains that we have now. Knowing that things are shit can also make it easier for people to actually mobilize and do something about it. Here in Canada we're seeing an upsurge in patriotism since Trump made his tariff threat. Before that much of the talk was some pretty racist discourse around Indian immigrants but those complaints have seemingly been forgotten now that we have an actual problem to deal with.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:59 PM on February 20 [11 favorites]
I think the room for optimism is that life will still go on and at an individual level it will still be filled with the small joys and pains that we have now. Knowing that things are shit can also make it easier for people to actually mobilize and do something about it. Here in Canada we're seeing an upsurge in patriotism since Trump made his tariff threat. Before that much of the talk was some pretty racist discourse around Indian immigrants but those complaints have seemingly been forgotten now that we have an actual problem to deal with.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:59 PM on February 20 [11 favorites]
What you're seeing is governments arguing with each other, largely. Things tend to get very different when it comes down to the level of individual people.
This is not to say that people won't get hurt, mind you - but there are still many, many steps for things to go through before we are at Defcon 5/All-Out War/Mass Hysteria. And at each one of those steps, there are chances for people to throw a wrench in the gears, chicken out, or change their mind.
Two things that give me hope:
1. We had several very close calls during the Cold War in which someone could very well have initiated a First Strike. But each time, someone stopped and thought and realized "you know what, this isn't passing the smell test" and stopped. The best-known example is Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Defense force. He was a duty officer in a missle center in 1983, and got a computer alert that the US had just fired a missile at Russia. His orders required him to have immediately returned fire - but he didn't, because he thought something felt "off" about the situation. He still stuck to his guns even when the system said that two more missles went off; he hadn't seen any escalation in hostility between the US and the USSR, and this would have been an attack out of nowhere and that didn't make sense, so he thought maybe something was wrong with the warnng system itself. And it turns out that's exactly what was going on.
His orders were to fire immediately when the alarm went off, but he ignored it and used his brain instead. And he's not the only one who did that.
2. I've done some traveling both inside the USA and out - and the thing I love most about it is that it reminds me that no matter where I go, for the most part, people want to be good and want to help me. I'm a stranger and in some cases I don't speak their language, but I have many stories of people trying to help me when I'm lost, when I'm confused about something, or having some other misfortune. Strangers have pitched in to get me reorient myself in an unfamiliar city, explain a menu item when neither of us spoke the same language, or help me recover from a theft with advice, a price break when replacing some of my things, a shot of whiskey and a chance to vent. It reminds me that no matter what the governments are doing, people themselves want to do good.
The unfortunate thing is that some people need to have a situation "personalized" for them to actually step forward and help - they find it easier to give a few bucks to a stranded traveler who's actually standing in front of them than giving a check to a non-profit who's helping refugees. But I guarantee you that the more a government oversteps, the more likely it is that people will know someone personally affected and will stand up and say "wait a minute, stop."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:02 PM on February 20 [22 favorites]
This is not to say that people won't get hurt, mind you - but there are still many, many steps for things to go through before we are at Defcon 5/All-Out War/Mass Hysteria. And at each one of those steps, there are chances for people to throw a wrench in the gears, chicken out, or change their mind.
Two things that give me hope:
1. We had several very close calls during the Cold War in which someone could very well have initiated a First Strike. But each time, someone stopped and thought and realized "you know what, this isn't passing the smell test" and stopped. The best-known example is Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Defense force. He was a duty officer in a missle center in 1983, and got a computer alert that the US had just fired a missile at Russia. His orders required him to have immediately returned fire - but he didn't, because he thought something felt "off" about the situation. He still stuck to his guns even when the system said that two more missles went off; he hadn't seen any escalation in hostility between the US and the USSR, and this would have been an attack out of nowhere and that didn't make sense, so he thought maybe something was wrong with the warnng system itself. And it turns out that's exactly what was going on.
His orders were to fire immediately when the alarm went off, but he ignored it and used his brain instead. And he's not the only one who did that.
2. I've done some traveling both inside the USA and out - and the thing I love most about it is that it reminds me that no matter where I go, for the most part, people want to be good and want to help me. I'm a stranger and in some cases I don't speak their language, but I have many stories of people trying to help me when I'm lost, when I'm confused about something, or having some other misfortune. Strangers have pitched in to get me reorient myself in an unfamiliar city, explain a menu item when neither of us spoke the same language, or help me recover from a theft with advice, a price break when replacing some of my things, a shot of whiskey and a chance to vent. It reminds me that no matter what the governments are doing, people themselves want to do good.
The unfortunate thing is that some people need to have a situation "personalized" for them to actually step forward and help - they find it easier to give a few bucks to a stranded traveler who's actually standing in front of them than giving a check to a non-profit who's helping refugees. But I guarantee you that the more a government oversteps, the more likely it is that people will know someone personally affected and will stand up and say "wait a minute, stop."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:02 PM on February 20 [22 favorites]
I take comfort in the fact that for the vast majority of human history, things were worse. We had worse rulers. We had worse health, worse prospects, worse beliefs. Yet humans beings lived, loved, and created art for thousands of years. Even today there are billions of people living under political systems as bad or worse than the one I'm living under - and I can talk to many of them.
That's not to say it was rosy in the past, that people aren't suffering now, or things can't get worse and there's no reason to worry (or importantly, fight back).
But the existence of all of that suffering never succeeded in erasing every good moment, and it never succeeded in erasing the chance of a better future. I think if you've gotten to the point where fears of WWIII breaking out are keeping you up at night, you are probably in a doom spiral that you need to break out of.
I would start by not spending a lot of time on social media or, honestly, websites like this one, where you will find a lot of people posting about various terrible futures they imagine us heading towards. There is a lot of catastrophizing going on right now, a lot of reacting to things that could "possibly" happen instead of things that are actually happening, or that could "plausibly" happen. Instead, I would find positive and helpful ways to resist - volunteering with charity organizations, getting involved with mutual aid or other similar groups, becoming more politically active and engaged with helping those who are especially vulnerable right now. Channeling that anxiety into action will not only help your mental health, it might actually help the world a little bit!
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 2:05 PM on February 20 [43 favorites]
That's not to say it was rosy in the past, that people aren't suffering now, or things can't get worse and there's no reason to worry (or importantly, fight back).
But the existence of all of that suffering never succeeded in erasing every good moment, and it never succeeded in erasing the chance of a better future. I think if you've gotten to the point where fears of WWIII breaking out are keeping you up at night, you are probably in a doom spiral that you need to break out of.
I would start by not spending a lot of time on social media or, honestly, websites like this one, where you will find a lot of people posting about various terrible futures they imagine us heading towards. There is a lot of catastrophizing going on right now, a lot of reacting to things that could "possibly" happen instead of things that are actually happening, or that could "plausibly" happen. Instead, I would find positive and helpful ways to resist - volunteering with charity organizations, getting involved with mutual aid or other similar groups, becoming more politically active and engaged with helping those who are especially vulnerable right now. Channeling that anxiety into action will not only help your mental health, it might actually help the world a little bit!
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 2:05 PM on February 20 [43 favorites]
My question is - is there room for optimism or hope that our world will be ok? Are we headed for another World War?
It's clear that the billionaires have gotten tired of playing Monopoly and are moving on to Risk, but I doubt we're headed for a world war.
Among other things the "world" part of World War 2 was mostly driven by European countries having colonies all over the place and the war spreading to them. Otherwise it would have been a European war happening at the same time as a Pacific war. Very few colonies these days.
I expect there will be a lot of regional wars fueled by expansionist countries (the US among them), but I don't see a general conflict developing.
One good thing is that 90% of the world's nuclear weapons are under the control of the U.S. (if they can find the briefcase) and Russia. Both countries have a lot of local invading to do so at the moment there's no reason for them to clash.
So, is it going to get ugly? I'm pretty sure it is. Is the world going to end? I don't think so.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:55 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
It's clear that the billionaires have gotten tired of playing Monopoly and are moving on to Risk, but I doubt we're headed for a world war.
Among other things the "world" part of World War 2 was mostly driven by European countries having colonies all over the place and the war spreading to them. Otherwise it would have been a European war happening at the same time as a Pacific war. Very few colonies these days.
I expect there will be a lot of regional wars fueled by expansionist countries (the US among them), but I don't see a general conflict developing.
One good thing is that 90% of the world's nuclear weapons are under the control of the U.S. (if they can find the briefcase) and Russia. Both countries have a lot of local invading to do so at the moment there's no reason for them to clash.
So, is it going to get ugly? I'm pretty sure it is. Is the world going to end? I don't think so.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:55 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
Here is what I do:
Cut way, way back on news/social media intake. I take in enough to keep up, but I don't dive deep anymore.
Start to try to formulate plans, along with local Democrat groups, to organize, to come together, to turn the tide next election. It will be a long four years. But to try to change course, it will take an election on the order of FDR margins, both President and Congress. That is a big lift. But it gives me something to work on.
posted by jtexman1 at 2:58 PM on February 20 [5 favorites]
Cut way, way back on news/social media intake. I take in enough to keep up, but I don't dive deep anymore.
Start to try to formulate plans, along with local Democrat groups, to organize, to come together, to turn the tide next election. It will be a long four years. But to try to change course, it will take an election on the order of FDR margins, both President and Congress. That is a big lift. But it gives me something to work on.
posted by jtexman1 at 2:58 PM on February 20 [5 favorites]
The thought that keeps me going, that I come back to, is that this is the time I have—this is my life, and these are the years I've planned to make art and music and put that out into the world. I could easily despair and say it sucks that this is all happening to us now. Some things haven't worked out the way I've hoped, given these circumstances we've found ourselves in during the past few years. But I've been lucky enough to be able to make art and music and find a partner and community in that. So until and unless someone is physically attacking me, violating my space, or otherwise making it impossible to do what I want to do, that's what I'll be doing. People need creative expression, and maybe I can work through my own thoughts and feelings and support others as well. My best work is still ahead of me.
It's like I wrote in a song recently: "I always figured if I don't like the life I'm living, I might as well give something else a shot." We can't know where exactly our lives will take us in the next few years, or what we might need to compromise. Bad things can happen to us even in peaceful times—likewise, good things can find their way to us in the worst of times. At every point, we do our best to plan, to find fallback positions, and to build connections and community. This is a time to clarify what matters to you.
You may or may not be creative in artistic or musical ways, but there are likely things you have planned or hoped to do. So do them! Don't sit there paralyzed, and try to find joy. As much as possible, don't let them take away what gives you joy. Until and unless someone literally stops you from doing the things you want to do, keep doing them, in as safe a way as possible. Don't compromise in advance. I know: That's easier said than done. But make your plans, adjust them for safety if necessary, and keep doing and experiencing things you love to the extent that you can, while you can. Sorry if that last part sounds ominous, but I guess that's the point—yes, it's ominous out there. We don't do ourselves any favors by pretending otherwise. But that's exactly why you can't stay in a headspace of despair, because that's what they want—our repressive regime wants us and you to be joyless and overwhelmed, focused on their plans, not your own. They want you to agree that they're big and scary and impossible to resist. I've internalized a lot of what Sarah Kendzior writes in this regard.
Keep caring about the things you care about, but save your time, money, and energy for when it really counts. Keep an eye on what's going on to the extent that you can stand it, and act to protect yourself and others. But really assess how much info you need and what's within your control—from afar, that might not be much beyond your immediate circles of influence.
Like I can't control the geopolitical stuff. I can talk to people about it, though, and write songs and make art about it—that's what I'm actually good at doing. So where do your talents lie? Think about that and where you might be able to help.
I would love to hear some people say some hopeful things about the geopolitical situation, because I was never the best-educated in geography or world affairs. But even in the absence of hopeful specifics—even in the absence of a government that cares about me, values my identity, or will listen to me—I can have a joyful, fulfilling life, and do my best to stay in mental and physical spaces that are safe and good for me. I can find community and connect with people who care about the things I care about and practice things I practice. I'll do that until I can't—hopefully that point never comes, but if it does, then I'll figure it out. So will you. So say we all.
posted by limeonaire at 3:03 PM on February 20 [16 favorites]
It's like I wrote in a song recently: "I always figured if I don't like the life I'm living, I might as well give something else a shot." We can't know where exactly our lives will take us in the next few years, or what we might need to compromise. Bad things can happen to us even in peaceful times—likewise, good things can find their way to us in the worst of times. At every point, we do our best to plan, to find fallback positions, and to build connections and community. This is a time to clarify what matters to you.
You may or may not be creative in artistic or musical ways, but there are likely things you have planned or hoped to do. So do them! Don't sit there paralyzed, and try to find joy. As much as possible, don't let them take away what gives you joy. Until and unless someone literally stops you from doing the things you want to do, keep doing them, in as safe a way as possible. Don't compromise in advance. I know: That's easier said than done. But make your plans, adjust them for safety if necessary, and keep doing and experiencing things you love to the extent that you can, while you can. Sorry if that last part sounds ominous, but I guess that's the point—yes, it's ominous out there. We don't do ourselves any favors by pretending otherwise. But that's exactly why you can't stay in a headspace of despair, because that's what they want—our repressive regime wants us and you to be joyless and overwhelmed, focused on their plans, not your own. They want you to agree that they're big and scary and impossible to resist. I've internalized a lot of what Sarah Kendzior writes in this regard.
Keep caring about the things you care about, but save your time, money, and energy for when it really counts. Keep an eye on what's going on to the extent that you can stand it, and act to protect yourself and others. But really assess how much info you need and what's within your control—from afar, that might not be much beyond your immediate circles of influence.
Like I can't control the geopolitical stuff. I can talk to people about it, though, and write songs and make art about it—that's what I'm actually good at doing. So where do your talents lie? Think about that and where you might be able to help.
I would love to hear some people say some hopeful things about the geopolitical situation, because I was never the best-educated in geography or world affairs. But even in the absence of hopeful specifics—even in the absence of a government that cares about me, values my identity, or will listen to me—I can have a joyful, fulfilling life, and do my best to stay in mental and physical spaces that are safe and good for me. I can find community and connect with people who care about the things I care about and practice things I practice. I'll do that until I can't—hopefully that point never comes, but if it does, then I'll figure it out. So will you. So say we all.
posted by limeonaire at 3:03 PM on February 20 [16 favorites]
I don't know about you OP, but I found many of these answers so helpful!
I made a Meta about your post in hopes of sharing it with more people. And, we'll probably get even more good answers over there. (I hope you don't mind!)
posted by Glinn at 4:06 PM on February 20 [4 favorites]
I made a Meta about your post in hopes of sharing it with more people. And, we'll probably get even more good answers over there. (I hope you don't mind!)
posted by Glinn at 4:06 PM on February 20 [4 favorites]
What are you going to do differently if it is? Mutate? Sprout wings?
Assume that you only have this one wild and precious life. Go do things that bring you joy, things that bring other people joy. Build community. Thrive out of spite. If all this directly comes for you personally, take a Nazi with you if you get the chance.
The Collective We has come back from some pretty bad shit. Plagues. Ice ages. Massive wars. Unspeakable violence and cruelty. And yet, at the same time, babies got born and crops grew and stories got written or told or sung about the heroes and the cleverness of folk. Love kept existing.
Don't give up. Do what you can, but also turn it off on a regular basis. Keep making time for joy.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:36 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
Assume that you only have this one wild and precious life. Go do things that bring you joy, things that bring other people joy. Build community. Thrive out of spite. If all this directly comes for you personally, take a Nazi with you if you get the chance.
The Collective We has come back from some pretty bad shit. Plagues. Ice ages. Massive wars. Unspeakable violence and cruelty. And yet, at the same time, babies got born and crops grew and stories got written or told or sung about the heroes and the cleverness of folk. Love kept existing.
Don't give up. Do what you can, but also turn it off on a regular basis. Keep making time for joy.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:36 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
One, try not to catastrophize. Since WWII the big fear has always been another world war, but that doesn't seem likely. I mean, cynically, the Repubs are cozying up to the other major military powers, China and Russia, why would they fight?
This may come from the scant comfort department, but it helps me: it's been worse. Really. Look at maps of Europe and East Asia in 1942: it looked like the Axis had already won. The US had only just entered the war and would take two years to be effective. For that matter, before about 1800 the majority of humans were pretty miserable.
Mr Rogers liked to say, look for the helpers. I'd add, look for the fighters. People are resisting the fascists worldwide. Just today I saw a post on Mastodon: "Trump was planning to shutter Covidtests.gov with 160M tests in inventory & had planned to destroy the tests until 2 officials shared details of the plans on the condition of anonymity. So, Trump was forced to reverse course." Also from today's news: 70 lawsuits have been filed against the Republicans' executive orders; two dozen have resulted in pauses.
As many have pointed out, despair is what the fash want us to feel; don't give them the satisfaction.
posted by zompist at 4:42 PM on February 20 [8 favorites]
This may come from the scant comfort department, but it helps me: it's been worse. Really. Look at maps of Europe and East Asia in 1942: it looked like the Axis had already won. The US had only just entered the war and would take two years to be effective. For that matter, before about 1800 the majority of humans were pretty miserable.
Mr Rogers liked to say, look for the helpers. I'd add, look for the fighters. People are resisting the fascists worldwide. Just today I saw a post on Mastodon: "Trump was planning to shutter Covidtests.gov with 160M tests in inventory & had planned to destroy the tests until 2 officials shared details of the plans on the condition of anonymity. So, Trump was forced to reverse course." Also from today's news: 70 lawsuits have been filed against the Republicans' executive orders; two dozen have resulted in pauses.
As many have pointed out, despair is what the fash want us to feel; don't give them the satisfaction.
posted by zompist at 4:42 PM on February 20 [8 favorites]
Nothing turns children into lil fighters like seeing injustice up close.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:44 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:44 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
Also - my meditation teachers have told me that while we are in what the Buddha calls “degenerate times” there is a corresponding vast increase in people with profound spiritual experiences, sort of like an earthly spiritual immune system kicking in and ramping up on white blood cells. So so many people are “waking up, growing up, cleaning up, showing up.”
That is to say, right now there are many many people having profound experiences of Awakening and related increase in unconditional love and compassion, and they are every day people not monks in caves, sprinkled about in the west, little pockets of refuge and support for the rest of us to rely on.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:57 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
That is to say, right now there are many many people having profound experiences of Awakening and related increase in unconditional love and compassion, and they are every day people not monks in caves, sprinkled about in the west, little pockets of refuge and support for the rest of us to rely on.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:57 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]
One thing that gives me hope is looking at the overall success of progressive ideas over time. Once a progressive idea starts to take hold, it basically always ends up winning. No one now would ever suggest that we bring back segregation or take away the right of women to vote. (I mean, obviously it's not literally no one, but the average person simply accepts without question that those changes were for the better.) Project 2025 is full of horrible ideas, but it doesn't even suggest trying to take away gay marriage. Can you imagine a radically conservative agenda from even 20 years ago that didn't make countering "the gay agenda" a major focus? Even conservatives have mostly come to see gay marriage as okay or at least as not worth fighting about anymore. Their attitude towards trans people is terrible, but it's a response to widespread acceptance of trans people that couldn't even have been imagined 50 years ago. That acceptance didn't simply disappear when Trump became president.
Look at where we are right now compared to where we were around the time I was born. The Democratic candidate for president was a Black and South Asian woman. We've had a Black president. Eight of Trump's confirmed Cabinet picks are women, one is Black and one is gay. Whether openly gay people can serve in the military is a settled question no one cares about anymore. There are thousands of trans people in the military and the majority of Americans are in favor of allowing them to serve. There's a trans woman in Congress. Until January, US citizens could choose a non-binary gender option on their passports. The N word is far, far more taboo than the F word. It's completely normal and unremarkable for couples to live together without being married. Forty percent of children in the US are born to unmarried parents. Recreational cannabis is legal in almost half the country. Imagine how that all would have sounded to people in 1960!
It's easy to get discouraged when you look at all the ways these societal changes are incomplete or haven't gone far enough, but I think it's important to recognize how much change has happened and remember that things are going to keep changing, most likely in the direction of more and more acceptance of progressive ideas. Things may be slipping backwards right now, but the overall trend for the last 200 years has been for the conservative position to lose to the liberal position over and over and over again. I don't think Trump or Musk have the power to keep that from continuing to happen in the long run. I really don't.
posted by Redstart at 7:06 PM on February 20 [15 favorites]
Look at where we are right now compared to where we were around the time I was born. The Democratic candidate for president was a Black and South Asian woman. We've had a Black president. Eight of Trump's confirmed Cabinet picks are women, one is Black and one is gay. Whether openly gay people can serve in the military is a settled question no one cares about anymore. There are thousands of trans people in the military and the majority of Americans are in favor of allowing them to serve. There's a trans woman in Congress. Until January, US citizens could choose a non-binary gender option on their passports. The N word is far, far more taboo than the F word. It's completely normal and unremarkable for couples to live together without being married. Forty percent of children in the US are born to unmarried parents. Recreational cannabis is legal in almost half the country. Imagine how that all would have sounded to people in 1960!
It's easy to get discouraged when you look at all the ways these societal changes are incomplete or haven't gone far enough, but I think it's important to recognize how much change has happened and remember that things are going to keep changing, most likely in the direction of more and more acceptance of progressive ideas. Things may be slipping backwards right now, but the overall trend for the last 200 years has been for the conservative position to lose to the liberal position over and over and over again. I don't think Trump or Musk have the power to keep that from continuing to happen in the long run. I really don't.
posted by Redstart at 7:06 PM on February 20 [15 favorites]
I think the room for optimism is that life will still go on and at an individual level it will still be filled with the small joys and pains that we have now.
People will still laugh with their friends. People will still cuddle their pets. People will still fall in love.
posted by Lemkin at 7:50 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
People will still laugh with their friends. People will still cuddle their pets. People will still fall in love.
posted by Lemkin at 7:50 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
The only thing I can add is history is not really under human control in any coherent way. Change is a constant, new and unanticipated things emerge and those provide opportunities for progress and loss in equal measure. Sometimes we stick the landing, sometimes we don't, but there is no telos toward everything going to shit. There's a bad momentum but it's not a momentum written in the stars.
posted by kensington314 at 7:58 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
posted by kensington314 at 7:58 PM on February 20 [3 favorites]
Our lives were built on the hope and optimism of those who came before us. We owe it to the world to pay it pay forward.
Optimism is not something you have, it is something you do. Optimism is a political act.
The other side feeds on fear and works to instill fear. Focus on today, be grateful for the water you have to drink, the food you have to eat, the people you spend time with. Tomorrow there will also be things to be thankful for.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:00 PM on February 20 [9 favorites]
Optimism is not something you have, it is something you do. Optimism is a political act.
The other side feeds on fear and works to instill fear. Focus on today, be grateful for the water you have to drink, the food you have to eat, the people you spend time with. Tomorrow there will also be things to be thankful for.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:00 PM on February 20 [9 favorites]
I’m beside myself with worry about the state of the US and the world. I need some help keeping my anxieties in check. Can anyone give me reasons to be optimistic?
As anxiety medication, I am a big fan of Melodysheep's two videos: "Timelapse of the entire universe - in 10 minutes" and "Timelapse of the future" - ironically, these do remind us that the world will indeed end - but things have been going for an unimaginably long time before Donald Trump and they will continue for an even more unimaginably long time.
posted by rongorongo at 12:05 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
As anxiety medication, I am a big fan of Melodysheep's two videos: "Timelapse of the entire universe - in 10 minutes" and "Timelapse of the future" - ironically, these do remind us that the world will indeed end - but things have been going for an unimaginably long time before Donald Trump and they will continue for an even more unimaginably long time.
posted by rongorongo at 12:05 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
People will still laugh with their friends. People will still cuddle their pets. People will still fall in love.
This has reminded me of some music that may help; two songs in particular, especially if you hear the stories behind them.
Bruce Cockburn released 2 songs in the 80s, in the midst of the Cold War, that are actually really hopeful. One of them you may have heard - Wondering Where The Lions Are. He wrote that song after having dinner with a relative in the Canadian state department; the relative warned him that tensions between the Soviet Union and China were high right then, and warned him that "It's possible we could wake up tomorrow and be in the middle of a nuclear war."
That night, Cockburn had a dream he'd had before - that he was trapped inside his house while a pride of lions was circling outside. However, for some reason that night he wasn't scared by this dream - he was fascinated, watching the lions outside his house in his dream. He thought about that a lot when he woke up the next day, trying to puzzle over why this dream that had scared him in the past wasn't scary. It was an especially beautiful morning and he was also enjoying that. And after a couple of hours of puzzling over "why didn't that dream scare me" and thinking "gosh it's gorgeous today", it suddenly hit him that he'd woken up in the morning and there WASN'T a nuclear war. "Wondering Where The Lions Are" is about that kind of "it looks like there's some hope we might be okay after all" feeling he had.
Another song, "Lovers In A Dangerous Time," was inspired by watching his teenage daughters navigate their first crushes even with the Cold War going on. They weren't ignorant of the larger issues of the world - they knew how dangerous politics were - but they were still embracing the idea of hope and trying to pursue love all the same. The last verse is especially hopeful:
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:06 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
This has reminded me of some music that may help; two songs in particular, especially if you hear the stories behind them.
Bruce Cockburn released 2 songs in the 80s, in the midst of the Cold War, that are actually really hopeful. One of them you may have heard - Wondering Where The Lions Are. He wrote that song after having dinner with a relative in the Canadian state department; the relative warned him that tensions between the Soviet Union and China were high right then, and warned him that "It's possible we could wake up tomorrow and be in the middle of a nuclear war."
That night, Cockburn had a dream he'd had before - that he was trapped inside his house while a pride of lions was circling outside. However, for some reason that night he wasn't scared by this dream - he was fascinated, watching the lions outside his house in his dream. He thought about that a lot when he woke up the next day, trying to puzzle over why this dream that had scared him in the past wasn't scary. It was an especially beautiful morning and he was also enjoying that. And after a couple of hours of puzzling over "why didn't that dream scare me" and thinking "gosh it's gorgeous today", it suddenly hit him that he'd woken up in the morning and there WASN'T a nuclear war. "Wondering Where The Lions Are" is about that kind of "it looks like there's some hope we might be okay after all" feeling he had.
Another song, "Lovers In A Dangerous Time," was inspired by watching his teenage daughters navigate their first crushes even with the Cold War going on. They weren't ignorant of the larger issues of the world - they knew how dangerous politics were - but they were still embracing the idea of hope and trying to pursue love all the same. The last verse is especially hopeful:
When you're lovers in a dangerous timeHis own version came out in the early 1980s, but these days a cover by Barenaked Ladies is probably better known (I actually prefer it).
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
You've got to kick at the darkness 'till it bleeds daylight.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:06 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
His own version came out in the early 1980s, but these days a cover by Barenaked Ladies is probably better known (I actually prefer it).
Both, being Canadian content, get played all the time here in Canada.
I think the key is to get away from the news and focus on the small personal world. For me that's owning a dog, walking to work, disentangling from nearly all social media, having no data on my phone, focusing on personal projects that bring joy and distraction. I don't know what corner of Canada you're in rodneyaug but I find it reassuring that though we have the rise the right here (Poilievre's total majority looks less likely everyday) and various externals threats, those real and immediate and those vague and nebulous, we still live in a relatively safe place here in Canada. And as a long time reader of ancient history, I find it is always reassuring that your very real concerns are something that humans of every time period have always felt about the times they live in. For much of the 80s, when I was a teen, I felt like the world was ready to pop at any moment. My parents felt the same in the 60s. But here we are... Humans endure for better or worse. And I find that hopeful personally.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:45 AM on February 21 [3 favorites]
Both, being Canadian content, get played all the time here in Canada.
I think the key is to get away from the news and focus on the small personal world. For me that's owning a dog, walking to work, disentangling from nearly all social media, having no data on my phone, focusing on personal projects that bring joy and distraction. I don't know what corner of Canada you're in rodneyaug but I find it reassuring that though we have the rise the right here (Poilievre's total majority looks less likely everyday) and various externals threats, those real and immediate and those vague and nebulous, we still live in a relatively safe place here in Canada. And as a long time reader of ancient history, I find it is always reassuring that your very real concerns are something that humans of every time period have always felt about the times they live in. For much of the 80s, when I was a teen, I felt like the world was ready to pop at any moment. My parents felt the same in the 60s. But here we are... Humans endure for better or worse. And I find that hopeful personally.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:45 AM on February 21 [3 favorites]
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Kelly Hayes writes content called broadly, Organizing My Thoughts. I think you might do well to read a recent entry, "Managing Overwhelm Amid Trump's Chaos."
posted by bluedaisy at 1:52 PM on February 20 [13 favorites]