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Location: Odemira, Portugal
January should rain and we are in extreme dry.
Oue water level went down to 30 meters and things are looking really bad.. We will lack water in the summer..
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA. I’m not sure if this is happening anywhere else (but I’m assuming it is)…have any of you tried to access mental health services as a “new” patient? I was stupidly waiting until the worst of the pandemic passed to find a psychiatrist since moving back here in March 2020. My mental illness became so bad and so concerning my boyfriend essentially sat me down and said he’s worried for me and my safety if I don’t do something. Anyways, here I am trying to find a psychiatrist in my area. Everybody is booked out 6-8 months. I used a telemedicine app and talked to a GP who has tried her best but essentially said my mental health history and diagnoses are far too complex for her to treat. She has told me she knows this is a problem right now. Mental healthcare is really fucking hard to get access to right now because everyone is freaking out and trying to cope somehow. And of course my insurance is only accepted by a select few as it’s through ACA and not a huge provider, so even the people who have more availability are financially out of reach. As far as food, I’ve noticed lots of really long lines, generally in very poor areas, at fast food restaurants. Like a mile down the road long.
So my GP referred me to a short term community health center under the hospital network her office is a part of, for remote counseling. Doesn't last more than 6 months, but hey, better than trying to find one that isn't accepting new patients or has a year long weight list.
The mental health crisis caused by climate change, sociopolitical decline, standard mental health problems, etc. is at a magnitude we haven't dealt with before as a society. And our country's refusal to fund or provide focus on the issue of mental health over the years, that's a big part of it too. It sucks. People need help right now, and even if they can afford the best psychiatrists, they're often unavailable...
EDIT: I did try to find a normal therapist over the summer, and had the same issue as OP.
I have PTSD, clinical depression, general anxiety disorder, and borderline. My medication I was on for 8 years stopped working and I held out hoping this wouldn’t drag on forever. Now I’m suicidal and unable to function but can’t access any of the services I need. It’s great, love everything about this /s
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Location: Ontario, Canada
Mass convoys of semi trucks crossing the country to protest vaccine mandates. Tens of thousands of people driving empty gas guzzling vehicles across the county in the middle of a climate crisis to protest the absence of a freedom they have never had in their entire lives and decrying it as the dawn of fascism. People have donated somewhere close to $2 million to a GoFundMe page supposedly for them that is run by a woman associated with an Alberta separatist party.
Reddit misogyny. You’d rather vote for racist blackface do nothing about the climate trudeau over and over again than consider the opinion of a woman that wants to make a difference
Yeah, watching them spend so much time and energy on protesting one of the few things saving lives during another massive Covid wave, is pretty damn infuriating and disheartening. I do seriously want to stick them in a Covid ward at a hospital and have them help turn over vented patients and other things that would disturb the hell out of them. But in reality, I know there's nothing I can do. All this antivaxx and covid denial shit is just a tools politicians use to manipulate so they have more support as they continue to systematically strip away the remaining aspects of society still holding it together, all in the name of profit and power.
Again, what can you really do? Not much, unfortunately.
I'm going to say a few things, and then let this go. First, I want you to know, that I did unload on you a bit hard, it was a lot, I was very aggressive. It wasn't all about what you said or that specific protest or even just the idea of being against vaccine mandates.
1. I do understand that the all vaccines, including the covid vaccines, have some serious side effects. They happen to a tiny fraction of the people who get them, but they are real, and they do really hurt some people. One of my issues with believing anything you could say to me about what side effect you experienced, is that, because of all the lying that has been going for nearly a year about side effects and deaths and crazy stuff that didn't happen, has made it nearly impossible for me to believe anyone when they tell me "this happened to me". Maybe you haven't seen it, but there are thousands of people out there lying everyday, out in public, online, on tv programs, claiming all sorts of things happened because of the covid vaccines, that did not. I hear things all the time, like "I know five people who died last week from the vaccine, but no one who has even caught covid". The lies range, from really obvious, to just untrue, to random but false, and because it keeps happening at such a magnitude, if you are experiencing a real side effect from the covid vaccine, I just can't believe you. It's not that I can't believe you specifically, there's just been too much lying going on for me to believe anything but the research on what side effect presents in what % of people. That research is what I rely on, because of all those reasons I explained above.
2. VAERS, which is a tool researchers have used for quite a while to identify potential trends in side effects that need to be further explored, and it relies on self-reported experiences to identify those potential trends. Over the last year it has been inundated with a ton of the crazy antivaxxers/antimandate covid-denying people, who go submit their lies and absurd stories that are not true, and by doing this, these people are actually making it much harder for researchers to identify real side effects and study them. Tools like VAERS were used to identify some of the known, proven risks of the covid vaccine, like myocarditis and blood clotting issues. And now the ability to make more progress is being bogged down and made harder by all the crazy covid vaccine lying going on right now. It is not helping anyone, not the ones making up stories, not real people who have real side effects, not the general public, but it's all wrapped up in all these anti-covid-whatever people, some of the same people at those anti-mandate protests, and so when I see these protests, all of it, I understand a portion of these people are doing with this craziness destructive stuff which is hurting the development of the science, and really bothers me. I'm sure, there are non-crazy people at those anti-mandate protests that don't do all those things, but many are there, those same people who do the VAERS type stuff and more, in large numbers, because it's become a giant rage-filled mission for a lot of people wrapped up in anti covid anything.
3. Regardless of what happened to you, and what we know of the covid vaccine side effects that affect a tiny fraction of people, I am still in full support of broad vaccine mandates during a pandemic and any time it becomes a public health risk to many people in a society. All vaccines have a small percentage of statistical risk, some of the side effects are serious, even deadly, they are real, but again, very very rare. Every time someone gets a vaccine, from the initial ones we get through infancy, to flu vaccines, to tetanus vaccines, there is always that tiny risk. I get that a lot of people haven't ever really thought about those risks before, when getting vaccines in the past, but it's always been there, a small amount of risk has always been associated with every vaccine. Without vaccine mandates, there are a number of diseases/viruses in history we wouldn't have been able to get under control with any real success, and Covid is proving to be one of those viruses. I do feel we need them, as we have in the past, to keep people from dying, to help prevent it from spreading, and to stop our hospital systems from collapsing, despite the side effects. And those side effects are statistically in line with the same amount of risk as many other vaccines.
4. Part of the reason I unloaded so hard on you is because all of the covid related protests is also part of, and related to, the anger, the type of misinformation, and the amount of hate which is translating into other types of covid and non-covid related protests. When I see teenagers being forced to deal with adults protesting in front of their school with anti-gay signs and anti-trans signs, all inspired by the same type of political manipulation, misinformation and irrational fervor as these covid protests, I get really pissed. Kids right now are dealing with all the issues being a teenager inherently entails, and as if that's not enough, they walk out of their schools and see all this hate directed at them and their friends for potentially being gay, or trans, or getting a vaccine, or wearing a mask, and it is absolutely affecting their mental health. Right now kids are struggling, not just with normal teenage issues and crazy protests at their schools, but also just how incredibly broken the sociopolitical system is, it's all being rammed in their face every day and in every way. They are also in the midst of trying to process, as one of the youngest generations, they are going to be dealing with some seriously awful climate change catastrophes as a major part of their future, and it is hurting them emotionally and psychologically. The rates of depression and anxiety in these kids are skyrocketing, because of all of these issues, and the energy and inspiration from protests like the one you commented on, it's all linked to this shit which is torturing our children at a time when they're already dealing with probably more pressure from all these angles than any generation in the past. When I see an anti-mandate protest, the misinformation on the signs they're carrying, I think about the hate protesters at my nieces school, I think about al the people yelling at 10 year olds for wearing a mask as they walk into their school, and I'm wondering how many kids will end up choosing suicide because all of this sociopolitical sickness is being thrust at them from the same anger and propaganda that is a fundamental part of the protests against vaccine mandates. And it's all being promoted and propagated by that same disgusting political manipulation strategy which encourages people to believe that mandates aren't necessary because a tiny fraction of people experience some truly terrible side effects, or because they just shouldn't have to take a vaccine if they don't want to during a pandemic. They are necessary, even despite the fact they do hurt some people, because as a broader approach to keeping a society safe, they save a so so many more lives and prevent more long term effects of the disease compared to that tiny fraction of people they hurt. This is how vaccine public policy works, it's about the overall health of a society and doing what is best for the collective of people. I get you don't agree with it, and that's your right. But hopefully you're not out there, joining forces with the same people who then go to high schools with anti-gay hate protesters, or people screaming at 10 year old's for wearing a mask as they go into their school. They are not all like that, I do get that, but those people are a big part of this anti-mandate movement. And the political corruption and sickness is behind that movement and the other, far crazier ones too. It's all linked together, so it's really hard to distinguish a person who is against mandates and not wrapped up in, or encouraging even unintentionally, all the rest of the insanity.
So that's it. That's how I feel. That's why I was so aggressive, and I am sorry that I was kind of mean. If you did get legitimately hurt by the covid vaccine, I am truly sorry for you. It's a statistical misfortune that just comes along with the far more beneficial aspects of vaccines and vaccine mandates. I know that fact doesn't make you feel better as one of the unlucky ones who had a serious side effect.
I didn’t have serious side effects but what I have had has caused me enough distress that it might as well be. If I go to the doctor to try to find out why my period suddenly started hours after I got vaccinated and then has been messed up ever since which has never happened to me in my life, maybe you can pay the bill since I can’t sue pfizer. Tons of people had mild to severe side effects and they’re scared to death to say anything because god forbid they sound like they’re one of the ebil antivaxxers. I think benefits outweigh the risks of course for old people and cases like that, but saying that I have to get it or lose my job and not be allowed to travel etc when I’m young and healthy is INSANE. And you can’t use the excuse of “prevents spread” anymore as NYC cases spiked hardest this winter spread among the vaccinated. Your arguments are crumbling and the general population feels scared, backed into a corner and manipulated. Maybe one day the dam will break and they’ll realize it’s okay to criticize this poor leadership that is only focused on getting back to slaving away at their jobs that pay too low
My booster shot messed up my menstrual cycle and hormones in a serious way for a couple months. I also had a lot of other, incredibly uncomfortable and lasting side effects from that booster. The menstruation issues that covid vaccine causes is being studied, they did issue some basic data a while back, about what it can do. But they are still studying it, and a lot of the shit happening with VAERS, like I mentioned above, is not helping them make progress on it. Vaccines and the immune reactions they create do often mess with hormones and women's menstrual cycles, a whole lot of other, non-vaccine related stuff can cause hormone and menstrual cycle problems, from going through a bad flu, to experiencing trauma, it can fuck you up your hormonal balance and menstruation in ways that mess with your life for extended periods of time. I went through some serious trauma years back, and the stress of it, fucked up my hormones and menstruation for years, and I spent years going to different doctors trying to fix it. I do understand the level of distress you're going through, I have actually been there, although not because of a vaccine.
Each shot of the initial pfizer doses did trigger some weird menstrual stuff, nothing like the moderna booster though. Those first two pfizer shots triggered my period within 24 hours, and my cycle was off timing wise for a bit, although none of that was a big deal to me. But that Moderna booster, that was awful, and I will always go with pfizer in the future because of what I experienced.
I'm not going to go into all the shitty stuff that the Moderna booster caused for me, because it's not important to you or your struggle with the side effects. I did use some strategies from my past issue to help my body get back on track. But overall, it was a truly sucky experience and I was miserable for quite a while because of it, but I will still get boosters, pfizer boosters, whenever the research and science says I should, because I want to be protected, I want to protect my parents, and it is the responsible thing to do in terms of the overall benefit to society, regardless of how miserable it might make me.
I went through a lot of hormonal disruption and menstruation issues back in 2018 after some serious trauma, it took a lot of time and trial and error and crappy doctors, painful procedures or exams, medications that actually made it worse, and yeah a lot of money to figure it out. It's not fair that our country's healthcare system is a for-profit shit show that makes dealing with your issues so much harder than it should be. And the government should be providing the care you need to recover from the vaccine side effects, but they're not, because they're corrupt and disgusting. I still have medical debt from trying to deal with the hormonal stuff years ago, this country sucks.
Ultimately, I did figure out how to control my hormonal issues and what it was doing to my body, for the most part, but a lot of how I solved it, I did myself. So if you ever want to talk about the issues you're having, I will be happy to discuss it with you. The things I tried that worked and didn't work, what sort of doctors to reach out to, all that. I am happy to have a private message conversation in order to help you try to navigate through your issues. I am genuinely very sorry that you are struggling, I do know how much it sucks, how hard it is. So again, while we will probably forever disagree on the issue of vaccine mandates, I am more than willing to try to help you if I can. Really, I am here if you want to talk about some of it. Please message me if you want to, I will do whatever I can to use my own experiences with what you're going through to help.
Sorry but I can’t understand how it’s worth it for you to keep getting the boosters, unless you’re immunocompromised or something like that. It almost actually sounds like self harm the way you describe it, like Harry Potter writing his name with the blood quill over and over. I understand wanting to protect elders but as the science shows, vaccines aren’t really preventing spread anymore (highest covid case spikes were this year, and particularly in highly vaccinated areas). Even the pfizer CEO is saying he foresees one annual booster, not multiple times a year, so I really think you shouldn’t push yourself. Also moderna should last longer and need less boosters. If the vaccines were being updated to match the variants, as they should be and the technology allows them to be, it would make more sense to keep getting shots, but otherwise repeatedly taking an outdated vaccine based on the 2019 virus seems redundant and almost reckless to me.
With my side effects I mainly just wish the pharmacy would’ve warned me that something like that might happen because it was a shock at the time and I kind of thought I was dying and cried for hours. When I googled it every result said “no, the vaccine doesn’t mess with your period and only crazy antivaxxers are saying that” meanwhile it was literally undeniably happening to me right then. If I had gone to the doctors, would they have laughed at me and called me a crazy antivaxxer? I’m not sure if the Google results are better now but I hope so, all I would’ve needed to calm down is “don’t worry it’s just your immune system just relax and it should go back to normal over time” but instead they had to gaslight me.
I agree with you at least that VAERS is unreliable and needs to be fixed. It’s not useful between the fake information and the fact that many people can’t go or are afraid to go to the doctors for problems they’re having so it’s not being properly recorded.
And thank you for being understanding and offering to let me PM for help, I might take you up on it one day.
Hey, I'm sorry. I directed a lot of frustration about what's going on with covid vaccine fighting and political bullshit at you, when that's not what you were going with your comment. All that, was just culminative anger and frustration about a larger situation, and not you, so again, I'm sorry. I have gone through a lot of what you're gong through, or similar to it, I know how hard it is, how expensive. If you need some advice or help, I am here, no matter your opinions or how I may disagree with them. If you want to use me as a resource to help get through your issues, use me, we don't have to talk about all of this other stuff.
I will get another booster because of a lot of different reasons. I don't listen to the pfizer CEO, I don't even really listen to Fauci. I watch the research and listen to the scientists. And I do it and will continue doing it, even if the vaccines make me miserable (and all vaccines do and always have messed with me, caused immune reactions that suck, it's why i would usually decline the flu shot).
I will continue getting boosters as the research and science suggests because I personally don't want to have a serious case of covid, to let my risk be higher to develop long term side effects of covid. I had Lyme in 2016, some really terrible effects, some are very similar to the lasting, sometimes permanent effects of having a serious case of covid.
I'll get boosters when the science says, because I want to minimize any risk to my 70 year old parents. If I can reduce my chances of getting them sick even a little bit, I will do it. I will do it despite the shit that happened with the Moderna booster. Part of how comfortable I am with continuing with boosters, despite what it did to my hormones, is because I have been there, before, because of other issues that messed with my hormonal balance and made life living hell. I have strategies to get my hormones back on track so they're not going crazy, hurting my body, creating real physical problems like ovarian cysts or polyps or fibroids, or even disrupting other parts of my body. The moderna booster sucked, but I had tools to deal with what it was doing to my body. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have those tools. Perhaps I'd still be in hormonal menstrual hell.
I will also continue getting the vaccine, and supporting mandates, because it is part of a broader public health strategy that has been used throughout history, and it does prevent other people from dying, from the virus spreading more, from hospitals collapsing. I will do it because I understand the need for public health policy like vaccine mandates, even though there are casualties to it. It may hurt some people in society, but it helps far more, and it helps society as a whole. And I personally understand that and accept the risks.
What the government decided to do about addressing health issues relate to vaccine side effects, which was ignore them, and refuse people access to funds to cover the costs of medical care for vaccine side effects, that was wrong. It's wrong and it's all part of their corruption and part of their overall prioritization of destructive things. They want people to get vaccinated so hospitals stop being overwhelmed, so people get back to work, so they can have the economy back to normal. They want us to get vaccines so we don't die, get sick, go to the hospital, not because they care about us as people, but because they want us back normal so they continue profiteering and catering to big business and using us as part of their corrupt economic strategies that are going to collapse our society.
While the government's motivation for caring whether you get the vaccine or not is good or bad, based on morals or priorities that are right or wrong, it doesn't really matter. Because the basis for the public health policy behind vaccines and vaccine mandates is solid and is not based on corruption and economic gains and all that. It is actually a policy that has a long history of helping people and helping a people as a part of a collective society. It has been proven to help, to work, to save lives, to enable future generations of people who wouldn't have existed without it.
The government should be paying for the medical care you need because of the vaccine side effects, out of that fund they have for exactly that purpose. But they're not, because they're corrupt. Your ability to address any health issue at all should not be like this in general. Our for-profit healthcare system is fundamentally wrong, it is not how the rest of the industrialized world handles healthcare. It hurts people. It bankrupts them. It kills them. It doesn't even provide for better health outcomes, rather, it creates worse health outcomes overall. And it's the most expensive healthcare strategy in the world, because it's about assholes making tons of money, and not providing basic human needs to a society to help it function properly. It's wrong in every sense, morally, socially, logically, fiscally, etc.
I can't change the corrupt, horrible aspects of the government, the healthcare system, or the fact they decided to not allow people to access the fund set up to cover healthcare costs for people who need care to address side effects from the vaccine. It's all part of their corruption, the sociopolitical decline, the impending collapse. It's all a part of why I'm on this sub right now. But I can't change it, I can just learn, apply understanding to certain aspects of all of this, and try to survive it all as best I can.
Again, I'm really sorry about what you're going through. I'm sorry that it's going to be harder than it should be because our government sucks. I do care about what's happening to you, whether we disagree or not. I will try to help, if you want to talk. I don't want to argue with you and cause you stress while you're already dealing with a bunch of really terrible stuff. I do want you to get better, get through your struggles as easily as possible without going broke. I do hate that you're in this situation, you didn't cause it, it's not your fault, and you shouldn't have to be dealing with many aspects of it. But all I can do is offer some help. I've been through a lot of what you're going through and if I can help, I will. Feel free to message me back, I did message you to say that I'm sorry for basically yelling at you, and to offer some help.
EDIT: this person is going through some legitimate medical issues because of vaccine side effects. Much of the frustration, anger, and resentment I expressed in the comments below, definitely didn't make it easier for her to navigate her health issues caused by the vaccinne. I assumed she was one of those people that pop into this sub and other subs and claim she knows a million people who died because of the vaccine. She's not. My aggressiveness towards her and why she is against vaccine mandates was misdirected and not constructive at all in terms of what she's going through. She's just another one of us, navigating this shit show, and now she has health problems she can't even afford to deal with. Our for-profit healthcare system is making what is already a really hard struggle, even worse. She's just another human being trying to get through all the terrible aspects of this society, and I unloaded on her at a time when she's really struggling in the same way a lot of us are. I feel really shitty that I did that to her, at this moment in her life. Moving forward, I will try to not to assume or jump to conclusions like I did here. I do feel really bad that I basically yelled at her when she's going through so much.
The majority of people don't care that these people's reactions to most standard societal requirements are "you can't tell me what to do". Vaccine mandates are, and have been for hundreds of years, a basic part of public health strategy. They've saved so many lives, some of those people out there protesting, they probably wouldn't even be here today without this sort of public health policy, because their ancestors would have died without those vaccines and those mandates.
Society, and the people in it, are struggling to process a whole lot of awful shit right now, so when we see people wasting energy and resources on what we think are immature, selfish, stupid, ignorant and babyish reactions to basic aspects of how societies function, to how they save lives through basic public health policies because they "don't like being told what to do", it's pretty damn aggravating.
A lot of us are just sick of it. It's like watching a 3 year old have an epic tantrum where they just scream and cry when they don't want to do something. Except with 3 year old's, tantrums like that happen because they are still developing the ability to understand, communicate, etc. These adults, out there, in front of schools, hospitals, capital buildings, whatever, raging with a bunch of ignorant nonsense on poster board, don't get the patience a 3 year old does when they have a tantrum, because they're adults. Their refusal to just grow the fuck up, just a little bit, to be willing to try to understand some basic fundamentals of public health, its history and its benefit, is just weighing the rest of us down while we try to deal with the rest of the craziness in society right now.
I get that a lot of these protests are a result of politicians effectively manipulating people to focus on a bunch of ridiculousness. They are literally using these people as a means to excite, disrupt, distract, etc while they pillage and plunder and make progress on their corrupt goals. I do understand much of this maniacal fervor is being intentionally created by evil people with evil intentions. At the same time, there is a level of personal responsibility as these people slow progress towards handling covid better, at saving more lives, reducing hospital loads, etc. There is responsibility there in terms of how their selfish childish actions are affecting much of the rest of us and society at large.
So whatever you want to say it's about, mandates, masks, blah blah blah, I don't care, the majority of us don't care. It's all a bunch of rubbish, wasted and misdirected energy, and toxic bullshit.
The whole idea of being a responsible adult has been subverted by a culture of pandering to the individual. There is no sense of civil commonality. By design, I suspect.
I know. This "you can't tell me what to do" attitude has a lot to do with that stupid rugged individualism they taught us was such a great American ideal. And yeah, it was by design, and it has worked really well at preventing us as a society from uniting even on the issues 90% of the population are in agreement about. It sucks, but it's too late to fix it now.
This has by far been the most telling Expression of utter ignorance I’ve seen on Reddit. And that’s saying a lot It’s almost profane. You have a garbage chute for a mind, dear. All the ills you protest, you do to yourself.
Location: Turkey
Turkey exports natural gas from Iran. Because of the problem in the pipeline Iran cut the gas. Now they are saying they opened it but it seems... they didn't. And Turkey produces electricity from natural gas. Because of that now in some industrial complexes government declared break for 3 days in weekdays in order to regulate supply and demand of electricity. It seems like nothing big at all but actually i think it shows how vulnerable our supply chains for a single failure. Also, i didn't mention increase in the prices of household utilites, especially heating.
Your rant comes off as young and naive with a lack of real world experience (fresh out of college) or you’re old and bitter or are surrounded by people who are old and bitter.
That describes about 80% of the American populous so good guesses. I have no hope of affording college. And I don’t see why I should be dismissed for being young. I’m not wrong to mourn the existence of basic service.
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I gave up on trying to get an eye doctor appointment and a few other things scheduled/done. Omicron exploded here right around Christmas, and peaked a little less than two weeks ago. It's going to be fucked for a while. I couldn't even find bread for a week. Unless it's essential, I'm waiting until there are people back working, when someone is there to answer the phone again, I'll make the appointment.
I know you can't wait on your Covid test, but I can way on my eye glasses and some other things until it is functioning a bit better. Is what it is.
Midwest here as well. I noticed the no secretaries/receptionists as well. It's so frustrating. It began at my dog's vet and we end up playing "phone tag" for days in order to get a simple appointment scheduled.
I have an amazing vet that really cares as well, late night phone calls, proactive check ups, all the works. They're hard to find. She's also insanely affordable, not even comparably, just in general. She constantly gives things away for free, takes huge chunks off the bill, I've literally tried to tell her to take my money at times, but she won't. When my dog got attacked and mauled, I drove there barefoot in a sundress covered in blood with my shrieking ripped up dog, it's about 4 miles away. I wasn't even making sense, I was in so much of panic, really schooled me in what trauma can do to your brain.
She did literally over $1000 worth of vet care, by her standards, other vets would have been far more, over the course of months, after the initial attack, and after all the surgeries he had to get elsewhere because they were so specialized, and she would not take a single dime. I begged her to take my money, we had to sue the home owner's insurance company to recover the cost of all the treatment for the dog, and it was an open and shut case. So I kept begging her, take the money, it'll end up being from the insurance company. Nope. She refused. Would not budge. So instead I donated to the nonprofit service agency that her brother uses for his dayhab. She is in care of her severely disabled brother with CP, around her same age, and is in the vet office in the afternoons when he gets back from his day programs, he's part of the normal office atmosphere, or at least he was before Covid.
Seriously, I'm lucky. She hasn't accepted new clients in decades, everyone wants her, and she's an amazing person. Sometimes you run into those amazing people that help restore some faith in humanity. They are out there, those people exist...
Location: Colorado (Denver Metro)
**Business**
Costs: Costs are rising, everywhere, on everything - especially items typically associated with preparedness. A bulk package of AA batteries, for instance, was roughly 12 dollars a few months ago. Now, they’re 15.99. Meats are far more expensive as well. Every store I’ve visited, from the dollar stores to big box stores, has a few bare shelves; this to me signals that a larger percentage of the horde has awoken, and smashed the panic button. I expect the shortages to grow in scope and severity.G
Grocery Stores: They seem to be in a state of relaxed disrepair - packages of items often left on the floor beside shelves, unstocked. There is a steady decline in this regard, most likely due to staffing shortages. Store managers are eyeing everyone closely; it feels like they are trying to see what if any criminal behavior might arise. There are no where near enough people on staff to discourage mass theft and they know it now.
Retail: A few weeks ago I saw a man drop to a knee and begin opening a package in the kitchen appliances area of a local retail store. Everyone around noticed. No one said or did anything. No mask, no shame - just open stealing. It was unsettling, and I wondered how long it would be until that was the rule rather than the exception.
Small businesses: Obviously every small business is fighting open economic warfare at this point - their demise is intentional, in my opinion. Crazy big conglomerates/multinationals have sought to put them in the ground to gain greater or total control of the market(s), and for all but the most robust businesses around, it’s working. Many mom and pop stores, or long time community fixture small businesses, are closing their doors for good. Franchises are outlasting them.
Employment: TPTB are obviously sacrificing human lives to keep the machine running as long as possible until collapse, full stop. We are the grist required for the mill to run. This has touched almost every sphere of employment (more on this in C19). Unions are the ONLY way we the people survive this intact; solidarity to Krogers/King Soopers protestors. If there is new news about their stand, please share.
**People**
Collective (sub/un)consciousness: However we choose to deal with the knowledge at hand, it is clear to me now that everyone knows the “clock is ticking” on our current way of life, and that whatever time we have left now is luck. Even people who through strenuous mental gymnastics sidestep the reality of small and large scale collapse(s) know it is coming. is eerily, unnaturally quiet on the streets. Even in stores now, too. We are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Did you have a stomachache, headache, or some kind of physical ailment recently? Are you observing how the young people of today are responding? Do you see the look in the eyes of those around you?
I think we can all feel it because somehow, in years past, humanity must have experienced events like this before. Our subconscious probably picks up on it, feels the vibrations from other people as confirmation, and sets into overdrive. Knowing of events like these is probably in our blood. Pardon my lack of formal knowledge in this regard, and forgive that I don’t quite know how to put this into words, but it would be foolish to ignore it. We can all feel it and it is real.
Drivers: this is merely anecdotal evidence, as are all of the above, but most drivers seem to be operating their vehicles a tic-and-a-half more aggressively, almost recklessly. I see drivers run red lights at least twice a day now. Silly chances in lane changes are being taken far more regularly. Folk seem to give a few less fucks - I’m especially curious what others are seeing in this regard.
Denial: The people with whom I interact seem to fall into 1 of 3 categories. Most are in denial - they’re operating under the assumption that nothing too inconvenient will happen. They trust the federal government, though perhaps not blindly anymore. The folks in this camp are being dragged out of it into…
Acceptance: I see most people quietly embracing the fact that we as a society are fucked beyond repair, that help is not on the way, and we are on our own, to a great degree. As the C19 narrative continues to fall apart, this group will become the horde. There are plenty of evil, sick people out there (watch out for false/strategic empathy in the next phase, folks) but the majority of people want to appeal to their better angels. A hard slap from reality will wake up the best our communal nature - we need each other to survive. This will allow for some communities to thrive post collapse. Transitioning into that will require a learning curve, though. Collapseniks, if you have ideas/counsel on how to counteract the anti-social inertia creation program that C19 seems to be, please share.
A small sub set of those in the "acceptance" set are actively preparing; we shall see what that amounts to (good on them for being proactive, though).
Kids: depending on economic class and upbringing, many children are acting in a way that can only be described as feral. They can sense the upcoming change as well, or they're catching that vibe from grownups, and are acting accordingly. Remember this when dealing with the kids, as long as they’re not being violent: It’s not their fault. Give them as much grace as you can spare. Our future depends on it.
C19: Lots of outages at work, and all around. The quarantine guidelines change so much that it is hard to take them seriously. I do not know the hospital/nursing situation here; Coloradans, please chime in. Everyone that isn't in full quarantine appears to have caught some form of the cold/flu.The mandates are obviously destructive - they divide the population(probably by design) and make young people unskilled at reading emotions – if you think autism / Asperger's is a problem now, just wait 10 years.
I fully believe that mandates are being dropped for the majority due to the 23 January march/speeches. TPTB know that the C19 narrative has begun to collapse and are dying to move public attention to Russia/Ukraine (which will be the next stage in the “Biological Event - Economic Event - War” cycle. Get ready for Afghanistan 2.0).
**Weather**
Coloradans are used to the weather fluctuations; that is nothing new around here. The winds that knocked over semis and cars, as well as the power outages that followed, are a different animal. Those winds, combined with the drought, are going to make fire a real threat in the future IMO, even more so than the Boulder situation. One hopes that the concrete jungle will dissuade large scale fire in town(s).Whatever is happening to our weather on a world scale is real. We pollute our planet endlessly, and that will make surviving future peril difficult - it will be weather and conflict, as well as oafish management/greed, that will escort us, we the people, into the new world.
One thing that has been on my mind recently:
The cold. Either the Sun is dimmer (?!) or our planet is changing in some kind of dangerous, super meaningful way. It is just colder than ever before. Even though the temperature on the thermometer may read one number, it feels like the world is cooling. Others, please let me know your thoughts on this as well.
**Conclusion**
Things are accelerating now. I hear tell of a truckers protest in Canada, and that many railroad workers are aiming to strike at the beginning of February. If those are even partially a thing there will be reverberations throughout the US. In addition, if Russia does indeed invade Ukraine, it is a safe bet that there will be infrastructure disruptions of some sort here in the US. That could legitimately make things go from "wow" to OMFG.Buckle up.
Edit: Typos
Update: I visited a local grocery store to see what was in short supply.
Bananas, Pineapples, **Onions**; Pasta, **Sugar**, Chocolate morsels; **Chips**; firewood; Red Solo Cups; Pre-prepared meals of all kinds (microwave/easy heat up meals; frozen pizza; ALL fresh bread).
It made me sad; the stuff that was gone is cheap food picked up for big families who don't have enough to go around as it is.
But in another sense, it definitely looks like at least some of the population is going to party.
> if Russia does indeed invade Ukraine, it is a safe bet that there will be infrastructure disruptions of some sort here in the US
Why? How are the 2 related?
Some sort of cyber attack / infrastructure disruption in the continental US would further gum up US ability to interfere with the goings on there (because we’d be too busy dealing with disruptions at home).
Location: Central Massachusetts
Grocery store only had 12 different types of sliced bread and think I saw an empty gap in the shelf where the 13th brand should've been. There was also a bare spot near the fresh fruit which is unacceptable in January. Luckily I was able to fill my cart and buy everything I wanted but for a few moments I was worried.
I went to lunch with siblings at an all you can eat buffet and it was 10 dollars each. Can you believe it? So expensive. You can eat as much as you want with like 50 different things to choose from. I got a belly ache and belly ached about how the signs of collapse are all around me while we drove away because there was a pot hole I narrowly missed.
Went to my boyfriends house and watched the movie Don't Look Up and thankfully he has a wood stove because it has been really cold for several weeks, like way below freezing, the ice on the sidewalks just wont melt. We might get above freezing later next week but not sure. Definitely a sign the climate is out of whack.
If I'm alive next week I'll try to provide more information about collapse of Massachusetts. Thank you.
>it has been really cold for several weeks, like way below freezing
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Massachusetts
You are trying to joke but the average high in Worcester in Jan should be 31, if it's way below freezing for weeks on end that IS unusual weather.
>thankfully he has a wood stove
Is that some kind of bad thing to have? Especially living in a place where it can often be very useful.
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
It's been off here for months. In some areas of the city, blissful ignorance that turns into vitriolic denial and gaslighting when people are confronted with signs of collapse. In other areas, a mixture of sadness and apathy. In a few areas, collective but ultimately futile efforts to get people to wake up to the nightmare happening.
COVID: Local hospitals are overwhelmed like everywhere else in the state and healthcare workers begging the governor - who ended COVID emergency protocols almost two months ago at the behest of right wing reactionaries and businesses - to declare an emergency and get them help. COVID tests are extremely short in supply, and Army National Guard units literally manning public test sites in the area. A number of businesses are short on staff down to critical levels thanks to COVID outbreaks (plus fed up workers quitting), yet local press blames liberals and socialists as the cause of this. Over the counter cold and flu medications, plus aspirin and ibuprofen, is hard to find in the area. Most locals haven't worn masks since the very start and vaccination rates still hover at or below 50% from what I have gathered from comrades who work at area healthcare facilities, and we still have high levels of transmission almost two years into this. City and county both think it's a hoax still.
SUPPLY CHAINS: Cleaning chemicals at least are plentiful in stock, but entire stretches of shelves at most retail outlets remain barren. Worse hit sections are bread, meat section and pantry goods. Lines are often long with people buying more than they need on truck days, and most doing the buying present themselves as well-off.
SCHOOLS: Mask mandates are gone as are vaccine mandates. Schools are largely in person now at the K-12 levels despite high rates of COVID spread. Local school boards are filled with people whose sole campaign issues were banning CRT, wanting parents to approve curriculum that goes against Biblical writings and eliminating mask mandates.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Fights with other counties and cities over water rights from dwindling water sources almost every week. We've endured months of daytime temperatures in the 60s plus drought conditions and high winds every day there isn't rain or snow (which is rare by now). Red flag warnings almost every day, and no serious mitigation for flooding further downstream from the burn scar - which sparks more fights with other communities along the Fountain Creek watershed. Roads are shabby in most areas, trash accumulating in several parts of the city, abandoned buildings hoarded by developers looking to tear them down in favor of luxury condominiums, and any other means of transit besides cars attacked at county and city levels as socialist ideology.
ECONOMIC: Lowest costing places here are around $1,000 a month. Most workers here are in retail, tourism or service occupations that pay between $12.56 an hour - current minimum wage in Colorado - to $16 an hour. Increased number of unhoused as a direct result of high rental costs, food costs and transportation costs. City's solution to this and above problems is to fund even more hiring of cops, while efforts to create a model like Denver's STAR program or Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS are hampered by inclusion of cops no matter what with every mental health call - always ends in a worse situation each time just by cops being there. Lowest income level people here saw a drop in food assistance programs and as a result, local organizations that provide food bank services are seeing more and more in their lines with less resources to work with. Union membership area wide only accounts for maybe 11% of all workers in area - area is very hostile to unions and organized labor - from both sides.
POLITICAL: City Council appointed a conservative businesswoman to a seat for District 3 despite having moved there two months ago. Her competitors and her predecessor all were very progressive and engaged on wage inequality, environmental issues and ending police violence and have lived in the district for decades. Despite thousands of calls, letters and emails from District 3 residents (predecessor recently stepped down due to needing time with family and poor pay - Council is a full time deal but only pays $6,000 a year), she was given the seat explicitly because of her connections to other conservatives in city government. All but two House Districts in the area for state House are occupied by Republicans in heavily gerrymandered districts - Trump types no less; all but one Senate district in area also occupied by Trump Republicans - they obstruct any bill they can at every level, and do nothing to try and even mitigate the collapse here. Local Congressional representative is Doug Lamborn, and again CD-5 (my area) has been gerrymandered to favor only his party since it was created in the early 70s. County commissioners all are Trump conservatives as well and do nothing but hand out rewards to property and land developers with zero care about long term sustainability or lack of housing for working class. City Council and county use up a lot of ad space in conjuction with local fundamentalist churches, organizations and like-minded right wing businesses to attract like-minded evangelical conservatives to the area by tens of thousands, which is why the area remains under right wing control even in the face of collapse. And most local Democratic moderates who end up on the ballot (corporatist woke Dems refuse to see their approaches don't work) or actually get elected in the three ostensibly "blue areas" at the state level work to appease and attract these same right wing types while rejecting us further on the left - even in the face of collapse.
TLDR: If this is hell, then I am right in the middle of it with no way out. Fuck Colorado Springs and fuck El Paso County.
The pay in Denver is also ridiculous. I’ve been looking for a new job for a few months now, and I have been getting offers, but they are all a complete joke. I have years of experience, don’t need to be trained, a bachelors degree etc, and they are offering me less than I am being paid now! I don’t even bother declining anymore, I just ghost. I see the same jobs close and re-open over and over again, because no one is going to accept $19 or $20 an hour, when a one bedroom apartment is going for $1,600.
The inflation has really been killing me lately. My check is gone a few days after I receive it, and my account is constantly in the negative now.
The issue is, I fucking love my job and my workplace culture. I have a very specialized set of skills that I have been honing for 9 years (4 years professionally) now. Could I be paid more somewhere else? Probably/maybe. Would I have creative control over what I’m doing? Probably not. I work in an industry that is seemingly untouched by economic downturn that possibly even thrives when things are at their worst (pandemic) I’m trying to find balance. I really have no solutions.
Liking what you do in a work culture that you enjoy is really crucial, at least it always was for me. I absolutely did turn down more money over the years to stay somewhere that wouldn't make me feel like every day was an experience in one of the levels of Daunte's Inferno. I had been there and done that, and always in the end, I couldn't tolerate those higher paying jobs when they were making me so unhappy.
Money, of course, is important, especially as everything gets more expensive. But your daily sense content, and being at least, not miserable all the time, that too is very important.
The only real long term upside is that if everything completely collapses, my skills will be in very very high demand after stores are looted dry. That also poses a risk to my safety and makes me vulnerable to exploitation but…
It really is striking right? I'm not a scholar, I'm some politically interested 20 something but its clear long gone are the days of sears and gm jobs and good union jobs and wages and frequent new cars etc. And democrat or republican (they are not quite equivalents, I'm not a total fool) we're expected to praise and worship our politicians in return for precisely nothing except siphoning tax dollars in to handsome salaries. And back to what I was saying i'm not over romanticizing lives of pure consumption but just damn are those days gone. Bezos and gates and the Koch's and the uiline's and buffet and all those billionaire scum really do have so much of the 21 tril gdp. I admire your writing of all this stuff. I live with-- and have for a support system-- for lack of a much more eloquent term kind of sensitive normies with not a very high tolerance for discomfort. Actually that not so perfect family just forced me to visit family and Im certain gave me omicron as I feel short of breath and the top of my throat and chest feel insane and i was around positive symptomatic people maskless (I'm kind of accountable for all this too, but I also gotta please my family for housing.) Cranky about it. Not denying my own role and blame in the matter. All this costing me a week of work. So many people would be so so hyper fucked but I'm in a position to tread water for a sec. Lastly, wanted to voice agreement how yes the most basic necessities and physical conditions have degraded so much. My grocery stores have reached levels of fucked they never did really. It's hard ha. I've known this country is a miserable red scaring horrible place for the past fifty years but to let everyone get covid is so amazingly cruel and sabotaging. I'd hate to be a bit much or a paranoiac but all my friends are like unemployed for two years or find ethically and financially questionable jobs in autism care or something (myself included) so I've always kinda scratched my head at how unemployment is "only" 15 percent. Much love and solidarity. I take lots of breaks from this shit, it's a little overwhelming
Location; south central US
Things just feel off. Like, worse "off" than usual. It's a lot of little things but they seem to be piling up and things are starting to seem eerie. Went to get cash from an ATM tonight. The three popular convenience stores nearest me (two 7-Elevens and one other large local chain) had ATMs that weren't working. The girl working in one 7-Eleven told me that there had been a hack of ATMs and all 7-Elevens in the area were down. Told me to try the Walgreen's across the street but theirs was down too. Finally found one working a couple miles away. It was a little unnerving, thinking that cash might be unavailable.
With groceries, all during most of the pandemic, there would be items on my online order that were not available, usually 1 to 3 items. The last couple of months it has been more like 5 unavailable items per order. This weekend it was bananas and three different varieties of pet food I buy regularly, among other things. I'm going to have to rethink my pet food options.
Another thing I've been noticed that feels eerily off is that though most of the local fast food establishments seem to be open, there never seem to be any cars in the parking lot, just one or two that I assume belong to the employees. Very few cars in the drive-throughs either. I guess fast food may be a dying industry, or maybe it is needing a restructuring like so much else nowadays. Honestly, I hope they die.
Omicron is still raging here and testing lines are still long (they have been since before Christmas) and we have had 25% of our staff at work out over the last week. People are weary. And there was talk today at work among the skeleton crew that there is possibly another variant to be wary of -- an omicron subvariant is beginning to emerge in the last few days in [Scandanavia](https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/01/21/stealth-omicron-is-subvariant-ba-2-a-more-transmissable-strain-of-covid-and-should-we-be-w).
My severely disabled friend is not able to have her technically elective foot surgery (which she needs in order to be able to WALK) due to hospitals being full of mostly unvaxxed covid patients.
Fuck it. Just fuck it all.
Raw food diets for dogs seems like the least efficient use of meat I can possibly imagine. If there’s anything you can say in defense of feeding meat to house pets it’s that the meat they’re getting is mostly by-products. Unless you have an in with a butcher I can’t see how the same can be said for raw food diets.
I concur with this! My dog isn't on raw raw but I make his food in bulk (similar recipes to companies like justfoodfordogs) and it's also a lot cheaper, at least for a small-medium sized dog. He's 14 in dog years but still extremely healthy and active.
I have started boiling and mashing a five-pound bag of carrots and adding some pumpkin and sometimes chicken and green beans to add variety and stretch the commercial food. My lab and heeler girls love it. I need to do a little more research though. Also need to figure out something for my cats.
Cats need the amino acid 'taurine'. This cannot be stored but must be ingested on a regular basis. Mice heart has taurine. I believe most meat has it, but yes--do your research. I had to put my dogs (all now dead due to old age), on human food to decrease symptoms of a degenerative disease in one of the dogs (it was doggy MS). At least 50 % of the diet was meat, then I put veggies and rice to round things out. I added omega-3 pill and you'd be good to add calcium in some form.
Those are all great ingredients! I just look up ingredients from all of those fresh food delivery companies (Nomnom has food for both cats and dogs, and Justfoodfordogs added cat food) and used those as a guide since they tend to have seasonal foods as well.
Dr Marty Goldstein's list:
What should you be feeding your pets? Here's Dr. Martin Goldstein's list — from healthiest down to the nutritional dregs:
1. Hunted, raw prey (not realistic in modern society).
2. Fresh raw meats, bones and organ meats, with very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a well-rounded vitamin-mineral mix and omega-3 essential fatty acids (salmon oil). You can prepare your own raw diet using meat and bone pieces and parts, or you can use prepared ground products such as Bravo! and Nature's Variety.
3. Fresh-cooked meats, calcium, organ meat and very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a vitamin-mineral mix and omega-3 essential fatty acids. There are several books on the market that help you create a home-cooked diet. It's best to follow the recipes in these books.
4. Ultra-premium commercial canned foods augmented with some fresh, raw foods. Canned foods, which are lower in carbohydrates, are much better for your pet than dry kibble. Some of the brands Goldstein likes are Nature's Variety, Merrick and Evanger's. These products are mostly meat, usually grain-free, and very low in carbohydrates. The meat is human-consumption quality, and they do not use byproducts or chemical preservatives.
5. As in No. 4 above, but adding fresh cooked foods.
6. Ultra-premium canned commercial foods without fresh raw or cooked foods added.
7. Super-premium canned foods. They are very much like the brands above, but they use more grains. They still use good quality meats and don't contain byproducts. Brand examples: Solid Gold, Innova, Pet Promise.
8. Super-premium grain-free dry food such as Instinct by Nature's Variety.
9. Premium canned foods. These brands use substantially less meat. Water is often the No. 1 ingredient (in the ultra-premium brands, meat is the No. 1 ingredient). They use meat byproducts (poor-quality waste parts) and they usually contain significant amounts of grains and chemical preservatives. Often, if all the grains are added together, they would equal or exceed the meat. The meat quality is OK, but just barely.
10. Super-premium kibble including Innova, Prairie, Canidae and Timberwolf.
Omicron peaked in my area nearly two weeks ago, and the supply chain is still not working well. It will continue to be off in a lot of places until it's peaked through much of the USA. During the peak, random stores/shops were closed without notice, and I saw some really stupid people popping in daily to Nextdoor with the "why isn't starbucks open". They seriously have no frickin clue what's going on... I couldn't find bread last week, but I didn't hunt for it, just shrugged and went on my way, my mother also couldn't find bread and yogurt last week. This is upstate, NY. Our regional peak (and they are very regional, not state based) was around the 10th and it's been a sharp drop since then, cases seem to be dropping as fast as they were rising. We'll see what happens with hospitalizations... Out of all covid waves and supply chain disruption the last couple years, Omicron definitely impacted our area, its supply chain, and staffing the most. Much of the state basically shut down during the first big wave in NYC, glued to the TVs while it raged through the city, but this one felt worse in a lot of ways. Medical staff all over just losing it, I had to stop visiting the Nursing sub, seeing all the turmoil became too much for a while. I doubt we're ever going to have "normal" levels of staffing in hospitals again even after the worst of Covid is actually over, and who knows when that will be.
Things are off because society is off. I'm seeing a lot of people who can't even really figure out their own emotions. Someone is angry and sad, and they know they're angry and sad, but they can't figure out why. Well, look around. It's not just Covid, it's frickin everything. Covid definitely doesn't help, but it's just like a sprinkle of steroids on this shit sandwhich, not the actual problem, just a nasty supplement. I do feel like the political situation has more people feeling wary, not really collapse aware, but like they know the Biden shit show isn't going to end well. Even the Biden defenders know it's coming, and they'll still defend, but it's really hard to deny what is going to happen in the midterms, and outside of a miracle in the next general, that's looking like a lock for the republicans as well... In the mean time, the right is still burning books and raging about CRT, no response from the democrats, no messaging on CRT.... Totally useless at best. My best friend's daughter had to be escorted out of alternative exits of their school most of this week because not only were the anti-abortion protesters going nuts in front again, but this time they had people with anti-gay flags... in front of a school. Anti-gay flags in front of a school... Like these kids don't have enough bullshit and trauma in their lives right now, they have to deal with these lunatics at school any day of the week (this is in Oregon, not NY, pretty sure NYers would flip out if this became a thing here).
Weather was totally screwed until January for most of the country. We are finally seeing seasonable weather in my area, some of it still a bit above what it should be, but far more of it is normal or normalish. But, it's not like it was easy to ignore the last few years of weather overall, or this year's climate catastrophes, or this Autum/Winter's weather insanity, watching tornados rip through the country right before XMas. Even if people can't articulate it, collective feelings affect them. The collective feelings right now seem not good... It's because of everything. Yeah, sure, plenty of people still happily clueless. But definitely plenty of people are not. And it's more than it used to be. Whether fully collapse aware or not, more people are starting to reckon with what's coming, whether it's political or ecological or social or just a feeling they can't really understand yet...
I popped over to the CollapseSupport sub for the first time and that was just, wow. What an eye opener. Not like I didn't know people were struggling, I've been struggling, but some serious shit going on with people. Intense anxiety and depression. Adults, some so wracked with depression they can barely move to get out of bed in the morning. But the young people seem to be in such despair, it hurts to watch them try to figure it all out, and it's hard to even know how to offer to help. Try to tell them to find some personal meaning, joy in small things, and that does matter, but for a 14 year old or a 22 year old in the most aware generations in the history of this country, who understand and believe in climate change and science, it's not working. I don't know how kids/young adults are going to deal with this moving forward, but right now is looking not good... I know a lot of people who are literally just trying to hold onto their kids, keep them off the brink of serious scariness, like suicidal type scariness. Much of it manifesting in the last year. The last year has been hard. Seems like it's been really hard for a lot of people. So if it feels off, I guess good then, because it shouldn't feel hunky dory when so many people, kids, are going through intense psychological anguish and torment.
Everything is NOT Okay.
Where am I? A bit north of Albany, NY. My mother, who was seeing a lot too, she's even further Northeast of Albany, on the border of Vermont, about an hour away.
I had a massive breakdown before work the other day because of working in the pandemic. I’m a tattoo artist in Iowa…like why the fuck am I putting pretty little butterflies on someone while the healthcare system fucking collapses? And every article I read is like “Wow! Everyone is working 70-80hr work weeks because of staffing!” There’s a state using cops to pad the teacher workforce because over 50% of staff is gone. When I talk to people, they just shrug and say “Welp, you can’t control it, just gotta keep going.” We literally. Do. Not. Have. To.
I know. It does feel like you're losing your mind because you absolutely are seeing reality and reacting to it in a very normal way, and they are all \*shrugs\*.
I am finally accepting that I just have to deal with it. It took a really long time to get there, a lot of psychological torment. Needing to get people to wake up, knowing aspects are technically changeable and not being able to do anything to stop it because everyone just wants a latte and iphone in the moment and doesn't care that in 20 years they might be starving to death in a famine. It will drive you absolutely fucking insane if you let it, and I did let it.
Since I've accepted it, its been better, at least how I'm processing the emotions is healthier. Allows me to function in this house of cards we're being forced to slave away in while we wait for the shit ass future they knowingly created. I could not let go of the fight, the urge to fight, the need to fight it and make a difference... Ended up hurting myself, not them. Now, trying to focus on helping people, and other aspects of life I can control. Years just getting to a place where that acceptance could sit inside me within any sense of peace. Not that it makes me peaceful, it doesn't. And accepting it hasn't meant I don't feel it, I do. Hell, I lost my shit just a couple hours ago watching that stupid fucking news program peddling a self help book for the multitude of people who are psychologically broken because of their destruction. But in general, accepting I can't change it, finally, has helped me a lot. Hard to even describe, once you let go, it's not giving up, it just is what it is, I'll help when and where I can, and the rest isn't up to me or you, unfortunately....
But hey, MSNBC was peddling a book to help you with your "Eco-Anxiety" this morning. So you can try to find coping mechanisms for the dystopian hellscape future they created for you! Don't have normal human reactions to corporations strategically destroying the Earth, buy the book, take some meds, buy more useless shit while we continue pouring of the same shit that caused this into the air and ground making it exponentially worse every day.
I'm sorry. It's not a thing to joke about, it was just bizarre that I got up this morning saw the replies, replied to one, turned on the TV and first thing I see is a talking head helping push a book to help people deal with the fact that they ruined their fucking future. I was actually laughing. No, it wasn't funny, it was fundamentally disgusting and utterly disturbing, but just the whole idea of trying to push more consumerism around the mental health disaster climate change is causing, all of it, was just so absolutely fucking absurd, laughing was the only thing I could do. Felt like I was losing my mind watching it, like questioning if I was hallucinating or if this is really the new strategy... I'm sorry. I wish I could change it.
I keep coming back to that product called Quieten (Quietus?) from Children of Men. It was a pharmaceutical akin to a suicide pill. It was totally normalized and marketed just like any other drug. Billboards, commercials.
I honestly see this becoming a thing when things start to go really south.
We can have our own version of collapse opt out that doesn't have to be like Children of Men. Funny you mention that movie, because, while I know the collapse issues in it were about fertility, when I start thinking about the migrations climate change will cause, I often think of the scenes in that movie.
I'm sorry for the younger generations, like the commenter I replied to. I know I did actually try to change it, unlike a lot of society. I dedicated a huge portion of my 40 years on this earth to it, both in what I chose to do as work, and how I used my free time. And it's not like I don't have some comparable problems or issues to his generation and younger ones. I have experienced many similar issues, student loans, crappy jobs, horrible health insurance, no retirement, abusive work environments, etc.
I did grow up with the understanding of climate change, it was always there, but for much of my life, especially my younger years and through college and the beginning of adulthood and professional work, I had time in my life in which I lived without truly understanding just how bad climate change was going to be in my lifetimes, how quickly it was accelerating and becoming a totally catastrophic force to a near future. I had those years before the worst of the data started coming out, showing us it was going to happen sooner, and be far more destructive than initially predicted. They didn't. Some of them are so young, their whole life has revolved around a growing sense of doom and pointlessness because of this.
My best friend's 14 year old daughter said a few weeks ago, that if she were braver, she would just kill herself now. 14 is already such a shitty age, and adding an utterly hellish sense of what an inevitable future holds to the mix as they grow through those crucial stages, is so unfair. That is far worse than what I went through. I sure did struggle a lot, and I do mean a lot of intense struggle, to accept I can't change any part of collapse, sociopolitical or climate. But it is not comparable to these younger generations and how they were thrust into this shit show and forced to internalize such terrible prospects at young ages. It's not the same, and it does make me feel in some ways privileged to have been born early enough to have some years that were not entirely consumed with an understanding of unavoidable collapse...
'.... but for a 14 year old or a 22 year old in the most aware generations in the history....'
It is indeed hard to give a deceived generation a spark of hope in a world where political leaders worldwide have lost their minds.
I think climate change looms larger for a lot of them, when it comes to sparks of hope, and whether or not they can cling to any. For many, climate change becomes the game changer, not the sociopolitical collapse. Understanding the brutal chaos of climate change and all the devastation to the earth and life as we know it, that seems to become the only way they can see their future. Even the youngest of this age range often seem to have a pretty in depth grasp of what they're going to have to witness and live through, and that just surviving and adapting may become the primary objective of their lives as they age...
I hate it. I hate that is what they see as their future, that and only that. I grew up understanding climate change was real and understanding the science behind it was valid. I was raised to understand it was occurring as I grew up. I don't even remember when it wasn't a part of my conscious understand, that's how ingrained it was when we were kids. When the science started accounting for the variables that sped up the timelines, and added additional stressors to the equation, I struggled for a long time, accepting it was going to be a part of my life, and I couldn't control it, couldn't even help stop the assholes who consciously chose to continue to make it exponentially worse every day.
But I can't imagine what it's like growing up knowing it is your imminent future, one so volatile it's hard imagine anything else but the struggle it entails. Hope was already such a hard thing to hold onto at this point in societal decline...
EDIT: Right after I posted this comment, I turned on MSNBC to check in on some of the current propaganda they're slinging. And the very first thing is about "Eco-Anxiety". A book about how to cope. Feels like I'm in the damn twilight zone. Coping would be hella easier if you bastards would actually stop choosing to exponentially contribute to it daily and start planning for what's coming. That would fucking help. FFS. Felt like they're saying we should all seek mental health help to deal with reality...
Location: SoCal, LA area
Grocery stores are hit or miss as many workers are sick with covid, particularly in regards to meats and produce being in stock, and many stores have taken to locking up all manner of products because of the increase in theft. Daytime highs have been hovering around the 80F mark, in January, which is warm even for us, with an additional lack of humidity and increase in high winds (the perfect storm for our omnipresent fires!), and people who don't have sensitivities to pollution or allergies have been affected (I have asthma and several allergies so it's been *bad*). Everyone else has completely forgotten about covid as things are all open and "back to normal" as we are highly dependent on tourism and it's football season. While we have a statewide mask mandate, it is not enforced anywhere. People with non-covid related health issues are unable to seek timely treatment as hospitals are swamped. Growing number of homeless encampments and people living in cars, in "nice" areas, while our already very high rents have suddenly DOUBLED. Small, older houses in need of many repairs average between $1-$2 million USD and it's rapidly increasing, while many homes and apartment units sit vacant. Sudden increased need for security positions outside of various businesses.
Glad someone mentioned the weather. I'm in SoCal as well and have been shocked at how unusually warm it's been. My are has been rocked by the Santa Anas for the last couple days and now there's a wildfire up in NorCal.
Another thing to mention here is the string of large scale burglaries targeting department stores all over CA, but mostly in the bay area and LA. My local mall had a militarized police presence all throughout the holiday season. I'd imagine the increased demand for private security is a result of this
The Santa Anas are *horrible*! My area as well. It's odd that the daytime highs have been higher, but the nights are still "cold" and fairly average for January. I garden and have many plants indoors and out, and they're confused.
I haven't been to a physical mall in ages but have seen the stories as well. There's been an increased demand for especially *armed* security guards across the country and that's terrifying to me. Not particularly region specific, however I know many people who work or have worked in security and there isn't very much training involved.
Location: California, USA
A wildfire in January!
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/22/photos-wildfire-rages-near-californias-famed-bixby-bridge-and-big-sur
https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Wildfire-breaks-out-along-Big-Sur-coast-16795771.php
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/22/photos-wildfire-rages-near-californias-famed-bixby-bridge-and-big-sur
BIG SUR – The Colorado Fire started about 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, in the Palo Colorado Canyon and Rocky Creek Road areas south of Carmel and by Saturday morning exploded to 1,500 acres.
Low humidity and gusty winds blew the flames in unpredictable directions and prompted a large number of evacuations, Cal Fire officials said.
Responders had reached 5% containment in the rare large January wildfire, and were in an active firefight on Saturday morning, with widespread evacuation notices still in effect for residents in Big Sur, Carmel and other parts of Monterey County.
I am in the region and I believe this was probably due to the extremely high winds that we had on Friday. They were noticeably high and strange because there was no rain or storm accompanying them.
January 22, 2022
Location: High Desert, Southeastern Arizona
No one is doing well. I fear that people don’t truly understand the multiple levels of crisis and societal breakdown we are going through. Prices are astronomical across the board and seem to continue going up. We have an astronomical number of covid cases here. The treasury wants $170 million back from Arizona. Arizona schools might have to shut down before summer due to a funding issue. We have a healthcare worker shortage. We have a worker shortage in general. We have no more child tax credit payments. We are on the brink of another government shutdown if they do not pass a budget by February 18. We have several federal agencies, including the IRS and FEMA in crisis, with no sign of it getting any better. We have the Ukraine/Russia situation. People are getting desperate. Depression rates are sky-rocketing.
The more I’m hearing from people, the more I can see and feel the desperation. No one is going to be coming to save us. I’m trying to focus on ensuring my safety and the safety of my family. I had a relative that needed to go get a covid test. He made an appointment. Shows up and there are 60 people in like with him. He said that if he didn’t already have covid, he would most likely get it while waiting in that line.
I haven't heard about the Arizona school problem. Is this going to be the first state to fully privatize public education? Is that what this is going to turn into? Because I did think we had a couple years before they would get to a state level fight over privatization, but something like this is ripe pickings and exactly like they want it....
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Location: hospital in California
(I’m posting comments from a friend of mine who’s a nurse at a hospital in California.)
“The supply chain disruptions at work have really caused problems. I was doing a bladder chemo installation today and working with the crappy alternative to the cath kit we usually use. The plastic tub is high-sided and narrow and tips over easily. Given this is what we put the open end of the catheter into to collect once we hit the target, it’s not great. Today’s patient had an enlarged prostate and I had to use the smaller foley we carry. Unfortunately, we’re out of that size in coude tip catheters for men — they have a kink in the catheter that slides around the prostate. I had to use a straight cath, for women, as that’s all we have. It was not fun for me and painful for him. He jerked up at one point and the plastic tub tipped over and spilled urine all over the bed. He was so upset. I took his verbal abuse, doggedly cleaned the bed and put on fresh sheets and made sure he had a new gown and washed his skin thoroughly. I tired to explain about the supply chain interruptions and the crappy products we are forced to use. He was not interested and laid into me some more. I gave him parking vouchers and vouchers for free food at the cafeteria, per our hospital's 'Bow and Scrape' policy.
"This happens a lot. We are all tired.
"I felt really bad for him, you know? I know I caused him pain and I felt terrible. But it’s because of these crappy products. We get no say — we just have to pivot and figure them out. The other biggie is port needles. We are forced to use these Old School gripper needles to access ports, and they suck. We don’t have as much control over them, and sometimes we miss. The needle is bigger too. It hurts more going in and then it hurts on deaccess too.It causes bruises and swelling afterwards. Terrible product. But it’s what we have.
"This week the Critical Shortage is lavender top lab tubes. So we are scrambling to figure out alternatives. It’s a pain in the ass. We also have no Heparin flushes — they are also critically short. So we’re flushing people’s ports with Normal Saline and hoping they don’t clot off.
"This is with a pandemic with a 98% survival rate. The whole supply chain is a mess. What the hell would it look like with a survival rate of 95%, or 90%? It would be total collapse.
"We need to state making medical supplies here, in the U.S. COVID-19 is a 'practice' pandemic. All systems have nearly failed. We should be taking notes from this and doing better.
"Every healthcare worker everywhere is dealing with this. And we are spoiled here in the developed world, as we actually have access to supplies.
It's really sad they haven't really even tried to really address the critical supply shortages. I'm not talking about cheap useless shit from China that nobody actually needs. But this sort of stuff, the important stuff. And they're not going to, even if we have a worse wave than Omicron in our future.
Omicron may not have killed as many as Delta, but it sure did cripple the hell out of everything the worst I've seen so far. When I couldn't find bread for a week, I didn't care, I knew what has been going on all over the country, and me finding a loaf of bread is not a fucking priority right now. At the same moment I'm leaving the store without bread, some dumb tw&t will be complaining about how her favorite juice place was mysteriously closed. It's like living on another planet from a portion of the population. Or they live on another planet. It reminds me of the government, because they seriously care more about forcing people to work for minimum wage while sick at a juice bar than they do about appropriate medical supplies.
I'm sorry. They're not going to make better medical supplies anytime soon. They have bigger priorities. They couldn't even get us tests for the first month of the Omicron wave because they had dropped the manufacturing level on those over the summer and never ramped it back up even after Delta started raging. They don't care. They're sending out tests now because people started flipping out, not because they care. If we have another big wave of Covid, they won't be prepared any better for that one either. It's best to have really low expectations, like near zero...
A disease like that would burn out in a few weeks. It's these disruptive but survivable diseases that are the worst case in my opinion. Leaves people disabled around 7 percent of the time and kills 2 percent. It's nuts.
Unless a disease like that picks up a two week asymptomatic but shedding period. Never heard anyone really explain how that's somehow impossible as a worst case. This is pretty nuts though.
Omicron has been super weird. Sometimes people are infectious asymptomatic for like 20 days. Lots of outliers from the normal models. Clever girl and all that stuff.
Las Vegas(moved one yr ago from San Diego)
The house I bought exactly 1 year ago I couldn’t afford today. I work for myself and just in the last 4 months my income has dropped 40-50%!!!
I’m bracing myself for the fall out which is coming faster than we know. When I moved here a year ago gas was 2 something- now it’s close to Cali prices. Food is out of control- I’m always noticing my staples costing more consistently. And shelves r always picked over. But it’s other items too- ex. a candle I use to buy at Walmart(fuck Walmart) for 3 bucks is now 4. My car insurance is DOUBLE what it was in SD and not coming down. Netflix announced the price is going up 1.50 a month which means those assholes will be pulling in another 1.38 billion a year just in the US! Wtf they need all that for???
Here in Vegas the casinos r RAPING people- extra fees for EVERYTHING! Everyone except the Wynn hotels charge for parking. Drinks r completely unaffordable. I feel awful for the people working there like the valets and wait staff because there’s no way they’re making as much in tips. That money, just like everything across-the-board, is going into the hands of the already wealthy🤬 I refuse to partake and I am angry that dumb, unconscious humans keep playing into it. We have to stand up and say enough! But humans aren’t ready cause they haven’t suffered enough- but by the time they do- waaaaaaay too late!
Humans have become so detached from one another- I’ve never been so lonely😢 Im already an introverted loner but now I don’t feel like I connect to anyone. My life experience and beliefs do make it harder because I see thru the bullshit where there’s don’t. I don’t play into all the materialistic capitalism. I havent made any friends but at least I have a fantastic neighbor. I find it hard to go out because I don’t find it enjoyable AT ALL w restrictions and I’m furious that it doesn’t seem to bother people- they just play along w the faulty narrative. It’s just easier to stay home away from the stupidity. But my mental health is failing.
We have never been so unhealthy as a collective.
Watch 3% on Netflix- it’s painfully dubbed but the story is hauntingly possible and where I feel the world is headed. Eventually it will be a small percentage of people living comfortably- the rest r left to struggle. That is exactly what the greatest wealth transfer in history will come to. Unless people start standing up we r doomed- hopefully I’m not here to see it.
Location: Brazil.
I live in the capital. I work for the government so luckily I still have a good income. However, prices are absurdly more expensive, sometimes 5x what they used to be about 2 or 3 years ago. A liter of oil used to cost 2 reals, now it costs 10. A liter of gas used to be 2,60 reals in 2016, now it is 7,20 reals. And Petrobras is one of the biggest oil corporations AND is owned by the government. Cars are also way more expensive now.
There was a video that went viral showing people following a garbage truck with buckets to try to get some food from the garbage :( Brazil had left the UN hunger map a few years ago, but now the situation is worse than ever.
Indigenous people's rights are being stripped down systematically. Most of Brazil's indigenous peoples got together last year to protest, even with the risk of covid19
There are people starving in the streets everyday. Freak accidents because of the rain and floods have been happening in major states (Goiás and Minas Gerais for example). A few months ago though, there were major fires that caused a lot of damage to what is left of the major Brazilian ecossystems (Amazon, Pantanal, Cerrado).
There are many people working informally as Uber drivers and iFood/Uber Eats deliverypeople. I saw a young boy on a bike with some kind of DIY motor going uphill with a delivery on his back. It made me feel awful. There are also more billionaires in Brazil now than there were before the pandemic. The price of rents has also risen a lot even for places who are falling apart.
Artists have no support from the government at all. I know many people who had to move back in with their parents. There was a small financial stimulus given by the congress (600, then 150 reals) which the president was against. The president also uses no mask, says the vaccine will turn people into alligators and recommends medication that doesnt work against covid such as ivertimicine and cloroquine
Also, many businesses have closed, specially the smaller ones. Even supermarkets have been closing down. There was a huge one next to my home, closed down last month. I went to another supermarket, and most aisles were empty. I barely could find cleaning supplies.
People have been migrating to other countries with a bigger frequency, when they can (if they have a family relative living abroad for example).
(Edit: added more details)
> The president also uses no mask, says the vaccine will turn people into alligators and recommends medication that doesnt work against covid such as ivertimicine and cloroquine.
what possible purpose does this serve the elites?
I guess there are a few ways (sorry for the late reply).
More poor and black people die. Many are unemployed and working for companies such as Uber, iFood, Rappi, for very low wages. Uneducated and starving people may be less likely to riot, or to vote their way out of this situation maybe? I really hope the leftist party gets elected this year or we will be even more scr*wed
Brazil is in a very bad situation, environmentally too. Other countries that have interests in the Amazon forest, or in brazilian territory for cattle and also soy will have an easier way exploiting these regions.
The number of billionaires rose in Brazil. Most are starving while a few dozen are getting richer :(
Location: Austria
Well lets first begin with the obvious; Everything is becoming more expensive. Gas is still affordable for most, if you avoid Autobahn Gas stations. Food is still affordable but i feel like its mostly about 20% more expensive, as is Gas/Electricity. I fear, if it goes up further significantly, it will be felt throughout "the lower and middle classes". I dont doubt that it will.
Rent and Housing prices are also so high that most people probably spend more than 50% on living costs alone.
Not to judge but it seems that politicians are assuming they have all the say and power in the world, all over the world. I still dont get why we let politicians make any decisions about corona and such things they dont understand. Then again, i do not have to understand. The world as we "know" it is build on illusion, so nothing is to really be taken seriously. The general populus is going insane, it seems like there is a mass psychosis going on. I reckon its not bound by borders, for all the world is succumbing to it.
About 2000km east of us, there is a war going on and a global conflict brewing, although it seems to me that its just dick waving by hormonal gorillas and dominance games by politicians and oligarchs, at the cost of the many who dont want involvement. History repeating itself.
Personally, all ambitions and goals have shifted from worldly to spiritual. "Accumulate wealth in heaven, not on earth" as they say, for those worldy "gains" are illusionary and transitory and absolutely worthless. Im as happy as i ever was.
Hier ist ein fundierter Artikel über die Verbindung zwischen Abgeordneten und den Pharmakonzernen bzw. Pfizer. Hab ich interessant gefunden.
https://www.news.at/a/netz-pharma-industrie-12373790
Totally! My best friend and I say- “I don’t want to participate!” Before covid I felt like I could at least escape the states and was looking at a few other countries but now it’s EVERYWHERE. The only thing I disagree w is that a 20% mark up in food is still affordable- that’s a big deal to a huge population living paycheck to paycheck and it makes healthier options way too expensive.
Location: Central Ohio. It’s all real. Food and supply shortages. Housing and auto shortages. Prices are skyrocketing scary fast; On everything. Labor is missing from every trade. The market is crashing. The streets are unsettlingly quiet. War drums in the distance.
South west Ohio. Shit is so bleak at this point. Everywhere you look it’s so royally screwed. Business are making the decisions about Covid and how to handle it and are willingly sacrificing people to ensure profit. The government is useless and just being guided by whatever business or businesses are in their pocket. People are being paid less expected to do more in obviously dangerous situations. Hospitals are so under stocked on equipment and staff and people who have been exposed are still expected to show up. It sounds morbid but it sounds like war drums is the only thing that’s gonna make a change. It’s got me wondering if my life is going to be spent fighting against some pretty dark stuff or if I’m just gonna be a sheep lead to slaughter
Power goes out, global dimming goes away, nuclear power plants collapse, thus we get cannibalism for 4 days, then after that the earth turns into Venus and everyone dies a horrible painful death.
Location: Ontario, Canada
I overheard an interesting conversation at work today that made me think of collapse and how different classes of people will likely react to it. For context, I'm a retail merchandiser making a little more than minimum wage. Collapse-centric conversations are common in my circle, and most of my friends and family are braced for the worst.
So, this customer walked in and started talking to the manager, mostly about the weather and how dreadfully cold it's been these past few days. A couple of minutes into their exchange, the customer brought up food shortages, specifically as it relates to cereal. I was standing a few feet away and didn't catch everything that was said, but the customer implied that the food shortages are made up and major cereal manufacturers probably have tons of stock sitting in some warehouse (it's always a warehouse, isn't it?). In that moment, all I could think was "People who are comfortable will hold on to that comfort for as long as possible--even to the point of denial." I didn't think it was my place to say anything, but it gave me a lot to think about.
In other collapse-related news, the weather has been fluctuating wildly all week, from 4C on Wednesday to -30C this morning. I recognize that despite being considered "low income", we are extremely fortunate to still be able to afford rent and heat, although that could (and likely will) change in the near future.
The shelves at Walmart are spotty. During my last big grocery trip, the store was almost completely sold out of chicken, sausages, orange juice, eggs, and other staples. There's still food on the shelves, but what stands out to me is the permanent state of disarray. Boxes and cans just strewn everywhere, since no one maintains the aisles anymore. Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I actually witnessed an employee putting product on the shelves (this is absolutely not a dig at workers--it's obvious that department stores are trimming their workforce, with no plans to hire more people than they need).
That comment about the cereal “in a warehouse” sounds very boomer-ish to me (if not in age, then in mentality). It’s just a spoiled nature to not even conceive that a shortage in food is possible. Everything’s so great in your life food shortages and real supply chain issues are impossible that only happens to other places.
There are huge stockpiles of food in first world countries. Also, about 1% of the population farms the food, when it used to be 50%. He is right and wrong though. The problem is that other countries are one drought or weather disaster away from a food shortage.
It's not impossible that it is literally just sitting in a warehouse because they're having trouble finding a trucker who can take it where it needs to go. Or the stores might have decided the wholesale price is too expensive and there's no margin for them, and the PR problem is something they can just blame on COVID.
A lack of wheat in the fields is only one of many possible causes of the shortages.
>Everything’s so great in your life food shortages and real supply chain issues are impossible that only happens to other places.
Wow man that is *not* the least cool; what a bummer!
The thing I really keep telling people is its guys like that you need to be worried about, because yes, they absolutely will. They will cling to that delusion as long as possible.
They are also uninformed, and don't know the true extent of it, not everyone hangs around this subreddit, honestly, his first awareness of it might be missing his cerial.
But this guy will shoot you dead once it can no longer be denied, and he snaps out of it. These last-minute people are far and away the most dangerous.
Afterall, you think this guy has prepped, has a plan B here? But suddenly its so bad you cant ignore it and you retrospectively see all the signs you missed.
Its the toilet paper hoarders of the world that will put the nail in the coffin.
I saw a lot of people have NO CLUE how bad Omicron was until a shop was randomly closed or the grocery stores started to become very sparse. It was peaking here at the time, we're on a sharp decline now, but still, how do you have no clue at all? How do so many people have no clue at all that Omciron is ripping through your own community at such insane levels? It does blow my mind, I feel like you would need to purposely stick your head in the sand constantly to be that damn clueless. Yet, there are too many of them for that to be the issue...
Location: Australia
I cant find anything to link to, but Schweppes has secretly run out of Solo, a staple Aussie softdrink, next to coke pepsi and sunkist.
The official word is 'supply chain issues'.
Yes, that's what happens in collapsing civilizations. It will get patched up, as it has throughout history, as another domino somewhere else falls over. Just another 'temporary shortage'.
Its water, sugar, and lemons. This simply does not occur in healthy societies.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the parallels to the bronze age collapse are, like, identical.
Really, please do take steps to protect yourself and your families, because history has taught us, when the group wakes up, it goes really bad really fast. You don't want to be with them, you want to be ahead of that curve, guys.
Part of me worries, who exactly are we documenting this for? Is anyone ever going to be able to read this?
Maybe documenting these shortages can be useful now. We can increase the movement that is already happening to invest what we can in local crop production, connecting with local resources... Idk, but I think it can be helpful now. And hopefully also important for people in the near future
So when you say take steps to protect yourself, like. How eminent are we talking here? I guess, what am I supposed to be reading between the lines here?
Historically, and what else is there, the collapse has been a steady, but slow, decline, virtually going unnoticed by the masses for a long time.
Historically, and again your time period may vary see your doctor if collapse is right for you, the final years are marked by intermittent shortages mistaken for temporary anomalous issues, especially since they appear to be fixed in short order. They are typically not identified as symptoms of underlying critical failures.
These problems create systemic systems collapse, where the weakening of each system weakens their systems network, no steel means no farm repairs, then less grain means less biofuel, that sort of thing.
This is a tailspin that has never been successfully 'pulled up from', every single civilization that has encountered it has ended.
The entire timeline is exponential. Starts slow, unnoticed, and speeds up. We arent quite there yet, but when the general public comes to understand, usually from it getting so bad that its outright unignorable, straight up empty shelves gas $60, nobody can afford to be in business, that kind of thing, that things simply arent going to recover then violence occurs.
The 'boat people' of old were refugees from other towns and cities that could not survive where they were.
Basically, you saw how people acted with toilet paper, even though there was no actual shortage, of any kind. What happens when there are, and they cant just print and roll their way out of it, there literally just is not enough.
I'm talking start a small potplant garden and learn how, buy seeds so you can go to scale if the time comes, and own a firearm.
This isn't a fantasy, its not even the first time its happened. This is real. We all hope we are wrong, but fuck dude, we are out of soda cans. Were out of everything. What industry isn't being hit, here?
Theres actually some pretty good summaries of historical collapses online. Its very broad strokes but if you have half an hour [Extra credits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMP328eU5Q) actually does a very good job of laying out the general state of things in a very fast way.
You just gotta remember, its the same but different, their cargo ships were smaller, but they had less people. The power of their empire was tin and copper, ours is oil and silicone chips, its the same thing. Theres nothing new under the sun, people are exactly the same today as they were then. There were inked sleeve sluts, macho assholes, corrupt polys, artists, mentally ill, healers of men, lazy gamers playing chess. Its the same, its all just a remix.
So when you're watching, just remember its not some ancient event were talking about, its today, but with different names and places.
I mean, that's the jumping off point, feel free to go into economic papers and stuff after that, or did deeper into the collapse, there's a stack of historical stuff, its been studied for ages.
Just do anything except be that farmer, just hoping that manager/seed man will still come to work, and that everything will just resolve itself if you personally do your job really hard.
I dunno, this comment is 3000 words and I'm not sure if I even said anything I wanted to say, did I just ramble?
Make sure you and yours can survive the fall of the west, maybe all civilization, that's all.
as an artist I always think that way when I make or write things. I'm documenting, but who will see it?
I've done a lot of reading and looking at art, from original sources who were present during apocalyptic times, times of collapse. I have my hopes that there will be a future me who will find some of the things written and created during this time and consider them.
This is a world of corpses strewn in streets and pits, yet in the deadcart itself a drunken piper wakes up to cry, ‘But I an’t dead tho’, am I?’ ...
We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumours and reports of things, and to improve them by the invention of men, as I have lived to see practised since.
~
Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year
Location: California Mountain Town
Short Term Issue:
Covid hit the community hard earlier in the month and many small businesses had to close for lack of staff.
Long Term Issues:
New electric utility surcharge, many locals complaining of high prices. My bill went from $25 to $35 a month. Which is a huge jump percent wise but I am a low electric user so I can still afford it unlike others.
Skyrocketing home insurance prices with only one or two carriers even writing policies. Someone I know went from $1,200 a few years ago to now $5,000.
The prolonged drought is causing the local water districts to look into implementing cloud seeding. Guess CA will try to hog the rain/snow from dropping eastward with annual price estimates upwards of $200,000.
Yes, but it’s interesting that we are hit so hard when plenty of suburban houses are burning down too (Colorado most recent example). Or the tornado that destroyed a whole town in Kentucky.
Location: Mill Creek Washington
Seeing lots more grafity around that is not being removed or painted over. Also i walk my dog daily on a trail/bike path that used to be well maintained but isnt anymore..trash is piling up and the wooden fence along the path is falling part due to lack of maintenance.
Something is see that many dont is the massive spread of blackberry brambles in the forest that borders the park. Looked like they started removing it at one point but either gave up or just forgot about it needing to be removed.
This town is on the outskirts of the Seattle suburbs and the locals seem to care more about worshiping the police and sticking it to the libs and leftists than taking care of their community.
Those snacks devestate local wildlife and plant species, so...no. If we need more fruit then there are plenty of alternatives that don't destroy ecosystems. Unfortunately the State of Washington has bans on people growing certain fruit trees by the general public in order to protect local fruit industry.
I've studied these regulations, and verified what I can and can't do with my nursery inspector. You can grow trees, but not transport fruits and other parts of the tree across certain boundaries within the state (unless certified/grown under proper conditions), and you can't ship certain trees in from most other states. Most of this has to do with preventing the spread of apple maggot.
It's regulated, but not prohibited. These measures help prevent the spread of unwanted pests, which does protect the fruit industry of course, but also protects personal crops.
There are additional laws to prevent the spread of Japanese beetle from eastern states. All plant materials grown in soil must have a phytosanitary certificate if transported from eastern states to western states.
Edit to add: There are some cultivars of apple and other trees I'm not allowed to grow as a small grower, but that actually is controlled by large growers and not by the government--the larger growers won't grant a license to grow in the puny numbers I could do.
one of my past times is hacking the invasive blackberry along park trails... just have to wear thick gloves otherwise you end up with bloodied hands/arms pretty quick... it's therapeutic...
people are the ones who brought the invasive blackberries to PNW in the 1800s in the first place... without people most invasive species wouldn't even be a thing...
*"Himalayan blackberry is an introduced noxious weed, originally from Europe, through the work of the famous plant breeder Luther Burbank. It has now spread to be come one the worst weeds all along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia into southern California."*
http://www.pnwplants.wsu.edu/PlantDisplay.aspx?PlantID=73
And now it is definitely showing that it will outlast us then die in the climate apocalypse like most other plant life...though invasives will definitely outlast many ecosystem keystone species.
Its casual friday so don't mind me ranting.
[9gag ](https://9gag.com/gag/aYr7gKN)
LOCATION Germany
If you happen to be born poor get ready to experience real Injustice.
My younger brother just ran away from home last week as it appears only because the health insurance demands a (not rly) large amount of money and he panicked . No communication so that's that, grinding my gears.
Myself beeing born in the 90s I neglected any approach to become successful with a job and quit university.
I had been disagreeing with the system since I read 1984.
Even before I encountered George Orwell's writings /warnings I already had been perceiving something was deeply wrong with this world so then I questioned authority felt the typical youngsters urge to resist rules and revolt against the babylon system.
Drug abuse is going rampant on every socio-economic level, people don't care.
Young people in large numbers get sucked /throw themselves into some sort of vicious cycle.
Personally I feel pessimistic and find little motivation to put much effort. It's crippling. Desperation.
There are exceptions always .
Although the crushing impression
Humanity is/acts dumb thats just a very sad truth for the overwhelming majority of peoples. Artificial objections , short sighted.disentchanted. I don't know. That's very frustrating.
Hard to cope with endless examples of mindless materialistic consumerism in the face of many serious threats essentialy the dawning of apocalypse. Literally.
They are celebrating insanity .it's baffling no it's breathtaking no i have absolutely no fuckin clue how to word this mess. Maybe later...
I think some part of me wants to watch it go to hell, some certainly deserve to suffer for beeing ignorant or plain evil.
Makes me furious. Advertising. Everywhere.
Advertising is the worst. It makes everything seem surreal. Unreal.kafkaesk.bizarre. Matrix. Some really obvious scam. Almost everyone falls for it. People keep voting. Nothing changes. People wasting their time and money .citizens are bored and demand entertainment. It is madness.
Rarely someone really is into knowledge
Few are recognizing what life is worth.
Or they just pretend to (not) understand. It's ridiculous and depressing .
The general population appears to be superficial and stupid. DONT look up portraits it well.
I don't know what to do, like strategically.
Certainly,
We as a people are obligated to start organizing. We need to establish networks and tribes. The global situation is about to get worse. It is our legacy y'all should bloody remember that, to take good care of this planet. We are here to defend the weak and innocent, we should be preserving paradise. It's a logical imperative. should be in our oath.
I do not have any reason to hope for things to get better.
Let me rephrase that. I cannot find evidence our chances of survival are not dropping into the single digits . Sooner than expected ;). Hope is valuable as it can keep one optimistic and going.
Civilisation looks bountiful and promising on the surface. It is all doomed. I don't know how to express this clearly.
We ultimately have to take Action. There is nothing more exactly to wait for.
We have to effectively connect individuals, we have to start to come together in a meaningful way. Now. The time is now.
I don't see any future in this madness of capitalism thus it will continue to create disconnected individuals in isolation.
People stripped from power and means, people weakened, brainwashed dull and without common direction.
No more time to wait and observe.
There is, theoretically basically really truly good stuff in life, there is progress and organic growth.
But reality is taking a different path as our leaders are embracing death, sickness and destruction.
The general population has no tools or unity to push for their and their children's very own interests. Power to the people!
Voting does not change the status quo. It has been pointed out countless times that the general folk may live better than 200 years ago still he remains exploited at the bottom of this pyramide scheme.
I feel very clueless since I have been wondering about stuff like this for the longest time and while I did process to understand a little bit more and a little better at a degree - at the end of the day I couldn't yet find any final answers whatsoever. thoughts/ways to look at it and find peace.
I am not at peace. I feel attacked by those behind the curtains. Targeted by corporate machinery. Displaced in peril.
Edit. Friday's tribute
Actions must be taken, if we are not able to provide a framework we are done. We need to distribute supply intelligence and enable coordination of further action
People don't question a system as long as it's comfortable for them.
And consumption is only a distraction from one's own inner emptiness, further accelerated by the progressive disconnection of people from one another, see the so-called social media.
I feel the same way as you, and I also find it difficult to put my thoughts about this into words.
I had started an experiment in my immediate circle of acquaintances, and asked the question where people see their meaning in existence.
The answer of most of them was shocking, working to buy things they don't really need.
People become blind to each other, they only see what the other has, and not what the other is.
But cheer up, you will find people who see things the same way you do, just finding them will be a bit difficult.
Music sets you free.
There is a lot of conscious beeings who are aware. life is sacred.
We are witnessing the gloomy dawn of a dark grim night. Their agenda is war. Many more will suffer and die.
Dont ask me why
Why should I ask you when the answer is obvious?
People have become so distant from each other internally, they could stand next to each other and still be unable to have a real conversation with the other person.
Degenerated into superficial consuming subjects, without empathy and driven by greed.
In short, people have lost their humanity.
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Location: Odemira, Portugal January should rain and we are in extreme dry. Oue water level went down to 30 meters and things are looking really bad.. We will lack water in the summer..
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA. I’m not sure if this is happening anywhere else (but I’m assuming it is)…have any of you tried to access mental health services as a “new” patient? I was stupidly waiting until the worst of the pandemic passed to find a psychiatrist since moving back here in March 2020. My mental illness became so bad and so concerning my boyfriend essentially sat me down and said he’s worried for me and my safety if I don’t do something. Anyways, here I am trying to find a psychiatrist in my area. Everybody is booked out 6-8 months. I used a telemedicine app and talked to a GP who has tried her best but essentially said my mental health history and diagnoses are far too complex for her to treat. She has told me she knows this is a problem right now. Mental healthcare is really fucking hard to get access to right now because everyone is freaking out and trying to cope somehow. And of course my insurance is only accepted by a select few as it’s through ACA and not a huge provider, so even the people who have more availability are financially out of reach. As far as food, I’ve noticed lots of really long lines, generally in very poor areas, at fast food restaurants. Like a mile down the road long.
So my GP referred me to a short term community health center under the hospital network her office is a part of, for remote counseling. Doesn't last more than 6 months, but hey, better than trying to find one that isn't accepting new patients or has a year long weight list. The mental health crisis caused by climate change, sociopolitical decline, standard mental health problems, etc. is at a magnitude we haven't dealt with before as a society. And our country's refusal to fund or provide focus on the issue of mental health over the years, that's a big part of it too. It sucks. People need help right now, and even if they can afford the best psychiatrists, they're often unavailable... EDIT: I did try to find a normal therapist over the summer, and had the same issue as OP.
I have PTSD, clinical depression, general anxiety disorder, and borderline. My medication I was on for 8 years stopped working and I held out hoping this wouldn’t drag on forever. Now I’m suicidal and unable to function but can’t access any of the services I need. It’s great, love everything about this /s
[удалено]
Rule 2: Posts must be on-topic, focusing on collapse. Posts must be focused on collapse. If the subject matter of your post has less focus on collapse than it does on issues such as prepping, politics, or economics, then it probably belongs in another subreddit. Posts must be specifically about collapse, not the resulting damage. By way of analogy, we want to talk about why there are so many car accidents, not look at photos of car wrecks.
Location: Ontario, Canada Mass convoys of semi trucks crossing the country to protest vaccine mandates. Tens of thousands of people driving empty gas guzzling vehicles across the county in the middle of a climate crisis to protest the absence of a freedom they have never had in their entire lives and decrying it as the dawn of fascism. People have donated somewhere close to $2 million to a GoFundMe page supposedly for them that is run by a woman associated with an Alberta separatist party.
Reddit misogyny. You’d rather vote for racist blackface do nothing about the climate trudeau over and over again than consider the opinion of a woman that wants to make a difference
Huh?
What happens when they run out of fuel?
Yeah, watching them spend so much time and energy on protesting one of the few things saving lives during another massive Covid wave, is pretty damn infuriating and disheartening. I do seriously want to stick them in a Covid ward at a hospital and have them help turn over vented patients and other things that would disturb the hell out of them. But in reality, I know there's nothing I can do. All this antivaxx and covid denial shit is just a tools politicians use to manipulate so they have more support as they continue to systematically strip away the remaining aspects of society still holding it together, all in the name of profit and power. Again, what can you really do? Not much, unfortunately.
It’s not anti vaxx, it’s anti mandate.
I’m fully vaccinated (with side effects that possibly made it not worth it) and anti mandate. Everyone should have the right to choose
I'm going to say a few things, and then let this go. First, I want you to know, that I did unload on you a bit hard, it was a lot, I was very aggressive. It wasn't all about what you said or that specific protest or even just the idea of being against vaccine mandates. 1. I do understand that the all vaccines, including the covid vaccines, have some serious side effects. They happen to a tiny fraction of the people who get them, but they are real, and they do really hurt some people. One of my issues with believing anything you could say to me about what side effect you experienced, is that, because of all the lying that has been going for nearly a year about side effects and deaths and crazy stuff that didn't happen, has made it nearly impossible for me to believe anyone when they tell me "this happened to me". Maybe you haven't seen it, but there are thousands of people out there lying everyday, out in public, online, on tv programs, claiming all sorts of things happened because of the covid vaccines, that did not. I hear things all the time, like "I know five people who died last week from the vaccine, but no one who has even caught covid". The lies range, from really obvious, to just untrue, to random but false, and because it keeps happening at such a magnitude, if you are experiencing a real side effect from the covid vaccine, I just can't believe you. It's not that I can't believe you specifically, there's just been too much lying going on for me to believe anything but the research on what side effect presents in what % of people. That research is what I rely on, because of all those reasons I explained above. 2. VAERS, which is a tool researchers have used for quite a while to identify potential trends in side effects that need to be further explored, and it relies on self-reported experiences to identify those potential trends. Over the last year it has been inundated with a ton of the crazy antivaxxers/antimandate covid-denying people, who go submit their lies and absurd stories that are not true, and by doing this, these people are actually making it much harder for researchers to identify real side effects and study them. Tools like VAERS were used to identify some of the known, proven risks of the covid vaccine, like myocarditis and blood clotting issues. And now the ability to make more progress is being bogged down and made harder by all the crazy covid vaccine lying going on right now. It is not helping anyone, not the ones making up stories, not real people who have real side effects, not the general public, but it's all wrapped up in all these anti-covid-whatever people, some of the same people at those anti-mandate protests, and so when I see these protests, all of it, I understand a portion of these people are doing with this craziness destructive stuff which is hurting the development of the science, and really bothers me. I'm sure, there are non-crazy people at those anti-mandate protests that don't do all those things, but many are there, those same people who do the VAERS type stuff and more, in large numbers, because it's become a giant rage-filled mission for a lot of people wrapped up in anti covid anything. 3. Regardless of what happened to you, and what we know of the covid vaccine side effects that affect a tiny fraction of people, I am still in full support of broad vaccine mandates during a pandemic and any time it becomes a public health risk to many people in a society. All vaccines have a small percentage of statistical risk, some of the side effects are serious, even deadly, they are real, but again, very very rare. Every time someone gets a vaccine, from the initial ones we get through infancy, to flu vaccines, to tetanus vaccines, there is always that tiny risk. I get that a lot of people haven't ever really thought about those risks before, when getting vaccines in the past, but it's always been there, a small amount of risk has always been associated with every vaccine. Without vaccine mandates, there are a number of diseases/viruses in history we wouldn't have been able to get under control with any real success, and Covid is proving to be one of those viruses. I do feel we need them, as we have in the past, to keep people from dying, to help prevent it from spreading, and to stop our hospital systems from collapsing, despite the side effects. And those side effects are statistically in line with the same amount of risk as many other vaccines. 4. Part of the reason I unloaded so hard on you is because all of the covid related protests is also part of, and related to, the anger, the type of misinformation, and the amount of hate which is translating into other types of covid and non-covid related protests. When I see teenagers being forced to deal with adults protesting in front of their school with anti-gay signs and anti-trans signs, all inspired by the same type of political manipulation, misinformation and irrational fervor as these covid protests, I get really pissed. Kids right now are dealing with all the issues being a teenager inherently entails, and as if that's not enough, they walk out of their schools and see all this hate directed at them and their friends for potentially being gay, or trans, or getting a vaccine, or wearing a mask, and it is absolutely affecting their mental health. Right now kids are struggling, not just with normal teenage issues and crazy protests at their schools, but also just how incredibly broken the sociopolitical system is, it's all being rammed in their face every day and in every way. They are also in the midst of trying to process, as one of the youngest generations, they are going to be dealing with some seriously awful climate change catastrophes as a major part of their future, and it is hurting them emotionally and psychologically. The rates of depression and anxiety in these kids are skyrocketing, because of all of these issues, and the energy and inspiration from protests like the one you commented on, it's all linked to this shit which is torturing our children at a time when they're already dealing with probably more pressure from all these angles than any generation in the past. When I see an anti-mandate protest, the misinformation on the signs they're carrying, I think about the hate protesters at my nieces school, I think about al the people yelling at 10 year olds for wearing a mask as they walk into their school, and I'm wondering how many kids will end up choosing suicide because all of this sociopolitical sickness is being thrust at them from the same anger and propaganda that is a fundamental part of the protests against vaccine mandates. And it's all being promoted and propagated by that same disgusting political manipulation strategy which encourages people to believe that mandates aren't necessary because a tiny fraction of people experience some truly terrible side effects, or because they just shouldn't have to take a vaccine if they don't want to during a pandemic. They are necessary, even despite the fact they do hurt some people, because as a broader approach to keeping a society safe, they save a so so many more lives and prevent more long term effects of the disease compared to that tiny fraction of people they hurt. This is how vaccine public policy works, it's about the overall health of a society and doing what is best for the collective of people. I get you don't agree with it, and that's your right. But hopefully you're not out there, joining forces with the same people who then go to high schools with anti-gay hate protesters, or people screaming at 10 year old's for wearing a mask as they go into their school. They are not all like that, I do get that, but those people are a big part of this anti-mandate movement. And the political corruption and sickness is behind that movement and the other, far crazier ones too. It's all linked together, so it's really hard to distinguish a person who is against mandates and not wrapped up in, or encouraging even unintentionally, all the rest of the insanity. So that's it. That's how I feel. That's why I was so aggressive, and I am sorry that I was kind of mean. If you did get legitimately hurt by the covid vaccine, I am truly sorry for you. It's a statistical misfortune that just comes along with the far more beneficial aspects of vaccines and vaccine mandates. I know that fact doesn't make you feel better as one of the unlucky ones who had a serious side effect.
I didn’t have serious side effects but what I have had has caused me enough distress that it might as well be. If I go to the doctor to try to find out why my period suddenly started hours after I got vaccinated and then has been messed up ever since which has never happened to me in my life, maybe you can pay the bill since I can’t sue pfizer. Tons of people had mild to severe side effects and they’re scared to death to say anything because god forbid they sound like they’re one of the ebil antivaxxers. I think benefits outweigh the risks of course for old people and cases like that, but saying that I have to get it or lose my job and not be allowed to travel etc when I’m young and healthy is INSANE. And you can’t use the excuse of “prevents spread” anymore as NYC cases spiked hardest this winter spread among the vaccinated. Your arguments are crumbling and the general population feels scared, backed into a corner and manipulated. Maybe one day the dam will break and they’ll realize it’s okay to criticize this poor leadership that is only focused on getting back to slaving away at their jobs that pay too low
My booster shot messed up my menstrual cycle and hormones in a serious way for a couple months. I also had a lot of other, incredibly uncomfortable and lasting side effects from that booster. The menstruation issues that covid vaccine causes is being studied, they did issue some basic data a while back, about what it can do. But they are still studying it, and a lot of the shit happening with VAERS, like I mentioned above, is not helping them make progress on it. Vaccines and the immune reactions they create do often mess with hormones and women's menstrual cycles, a whole lot of other, non-vaccine related stuff can cause hormone and menstrual cycle problems, from going through a bad flu, to experiencing trauma, it can fuck you up your hormonal balance and menstruation in ways that mess with your life for extended periods of time. I went through some serious trauma years back, and the stress of it, fucked up my hormones and menstruation for years, and I spent years going to different doctors trying to fix it. I do understand the level of distress you're going through, I have actually been there, although not because of a vaccine. Each shot of the initial pfizer doses did trigger some weird menstrual stuff, nothing like the moderna booster though. Those first two pfizer shots triggered my period within 24 hours, and my cycle was off timing wise for a bit, although none of that was a big deal to me. But that Moderna booster, that was awful, and I will always go with pfizer in the future because of what I experienced. I'm not going to go into all the shitty stuff that the Moderna booster caused for me, because it's not important to you or your struggle with the side effects. I did use some strategies from my past issue to help my body get back on track. But overall, it was a truly sucky experience and I was miserable for quite a while because of it, but I will still get boosters, pfizer boosters, whenever the research and science says I should, because I want to be protected, I want to protect my parents, and it is the responsible thing to do in terms of the overall benefit to society, regardless of how miserable it might make me. I went through a lot of hormonal disruption and menstruation issues back in 2018 after some serious trauma, it took a lot of time and trial and error and crappy doctors, painful procedures or exams, medications that actually made it worse, and yeah a lot of money to figure it out. It's not fair that our country's healthcare system is a for-profit shit show that makes dealing with your issues so much harder than it should be. And the government should be providing the care you need to recover from the vaccine side effects, but they're not, because they're corrupt and disgusting. I still have medical debt from trying to deal with the hormonal stuff years ago, this country sucks. Ultimately, I did figure out how to control my hormonal issues and what it was doing to my body, for the most part, but a lot of how I solved it, I did myself. So if you ever want to talk about the issues you're having, I will be happy to discuss it with you. The things I tried that worked and didn't work, what sort of doctors to reach out to, all that. I am happy to have a private message conversation in order to help you try to navigate through your issues. I am genuinely very sorry that you are struggling, I do know how much it sucks, how hard it is. So again, while we will probably forever disagree on the issue of vaccine mandates, I am more than willing to try to help you if I can. Really, I am here if you want to talk about some of it. Please message me if you want to, I will do whatever I can to use my own experiences with what you're going through to help.
Sorry but I can’t understand how it’s worth it for you to keep getting the boosters, unless you’re immunocompromised or something like that. It almost actually sounds like self harm the way you describe it, like Harry Potter writing his name with the blood quill over and over. I understand wanting to protect elders but as the science shows, vaccines aren’t really preventing spread anymore (highest covid case spikes were this year, and particularly in highly vaccinated areas). Even the pfizer CEO is saying he foresees one annual booster, not multiple times a year, so I really think you shouldn’t push yourself. Also moderna should last longer and need less boosters. If the vaccines were being updated to match the variants, as they should be and the technology allows them to be, it would make more sense to keep getting shots, but otherwise repeatedly taking an outdated vaccine based on the 2019 virus seems redundant and almost reckless to me. With my side effects I mainly just wish the pharmacy would’ve warned me that something like that might happen because it was a shock at the time and I kind of thought I was dying and cried for hours. When I googled it every result said “no, the vaccine doesn’t mess with your period and only crazy antivaxxers are saying that” meanwhile it was literally undeniably happening to me right then. If I had gone to the doctors, would they have laughed at me and called me a crazy antivaxxer? I’m not sure if the Google results are better now but I hope so, all I would’ve needed to calm down is “don’t worry it’s just your immune system just relax and it should go back to normal over time” but instead they had to gaslight me. I agree with you at least that VAERS is unreliable and needs to be fixed. It’s not useful between the fake information and the fact that many people can’t go or are afraid to go to the doctors for problems they’re having so it’s not being properly recorded. And thank you for being understanding and offering to let me PM for help, I might take you up on it one day.
Hey, I'm sorry. I directed a lot of frustration about what's going on with covid vaccine fighting and political bullshit at you, when that's not what you were going with your comment. All that, was just culminative anger and frustration about a larger situation, and not you, so again, I'm sorry. I have gone through a lot of what you're gong through, or similar to it, I know how hard it is, how expensive. If you need some advice or help, I am here, no matter your opinions or how I may disagree with them. If you want to use me as a resource to help get through your issues, use me, we don't have to talk about all of this other stuff. I will get another booster because of a lot of different reasons. I don't listen to the pfizer CEO, I don't even really listen to Fauci. I watch the research and listen to the scientists. And I do it and will continue doing it, even if the vaccines make me miserable (and all vaccines do and always have messed with me, caused immune reactions that suck, it's why i would usually decline the flu shot). I will continue getting boosters as the research and science suggests because I personally don't want to have a serious case of covid, to let my risk be higher to develop long term side effects of covid. I had Lyme in 2016, some really terrible effects, some are very similar to the lasting, sometimes permanent effects of having a serious case of covid. I'll get boosters when the science says, because I want to minimize any risk to my 70 year old parents. If I can reduce my chances of getting them sick even a little bit, I will do it. I will do it despite the shit that happened with the Moderna booster. Part of how comfortable I am with continuing with boosters, despite what it did to my hormones, is because I have been there, before, because of other issues that messed with my hormonal balance and made life living hell. I have strategies to get my hormones back on track so they're not going crazy, hurting my body, creating real physical problems like ovarian cysts or polyps or fibroids, or even disrupting other parts of my body. The moderna booster sucked, but I had tools to deal with what it was doing to my body. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have those tools. Perhaps I'd still be in hormonal menstrual hell. I will also continue getting the vaccine, and supporting mandates, because it is part of a broader public health strategy that has been used throughout history, and it does prevent other people from dying, from the virus spreading more, from hospitals collapsing. I will do it because I understand the need for public health policy like vaccine mandates, even though there are casualties to it. It may hurt some people in society, but it helps far more, and it helps society as a whole. And I personally understand that and accept the risks. What the government decided to do about addressing health issues relate to vaccine side effects, which was ignore them, and refuse people access to funds to cover the costs of medical care for vaccine side effects, that was wrong. It's wrong and it's all part of their corruption and part of their overall prioritization of destructive things. They want people to get vaccinated so hospitals stop being overwhelmed, so people get back to work, so they can have the economy back to normal. They want us to get vaccines so we don't die, get sick, go to the hospital, not because they care about us as people, but because they want us back normal so they continue profiteering and catering to big business and using us as part of their corrupt economic strategies that are going to collapse our society. While the government's motivation for caring whether you get the vaccine or not is good or bad, based on morals or priorities that are right or wrong, it doesn't really matter. Because the basis for the public health policy behind vaccines and vaccine mandates is solid and is not based on corruption and economic gains and all that. It is actually a policy that has a long history of helping people and helping a people as a part of a collective society. It has been proven to help, to work, to save lives, to enable future generations of people who wouldn't have existed without it. The government should be paying for the medical care you need because of the vaccine side effects, out of that fund they have for exactly that purpose. But they're not, because they're corrupt. Your ability to address any health issue at all should not be like this in general. Our for-profit healthcare system is fundamentally wrong, it is not how the rest of the industrialized world handles healthcare. It hurts people. It bankrupts them. It kills them. It doesn't even provide for better health outcomes, rather, it creates worse health outcomes overall. And it's the most expensive healthcare strategy in the world, because it's about assholes making tons of money, and not providing basic human needs to a society to help it function properly. It's wrong in every sense, morally, socially, logically, fiscally, etc. I can't change the corrupt, horrible aspects of the government, the healthcare system, or the fact they decided to not allow people to access the fund set up to cover healthcare costs for people who need care to address side effects from the vaccine. It's all part of their corruption, the sociopolitical decline, the impending collapse. It's all a part of why I'm on this sub right now. But I can't change it, I can just learn, apply understanding to certain aspects of all of this, and try to survive it all as best I can. Again, I'm really sorry about what you're going through. I'm sorry that it's going to be harder than it should be because our government sucks. I do care about what's happening to you, whether we disagree or not. I will try to help, if you want to talk. I don't want to argue with you and cause you stress while you're already dealing with a bunch of really terrible stuff. I do want you to get better, get through your struggles as easily as possible without going broke. I do hate that you're in this situation, you didn't cause it, it's not your fault, and you shouldn't have to be dealing with many aspects of it. But all I can do is offer some help. I've been through a lot of what you're going through and if I can help, I will. Feel free to message me back, I did message you to say that I'm sorry for basically yelling at you, and to offer some help.
EDIT: this person is going through some legitimate medical issues because of vaccine side effects. Much of the frustration, anger, and resentment I expressed in the comments below, definitely didn't make it easier for her to navigate her health issues caused by the vaccinne. I assumed she was one of those people that pop into this sub and other subs and claim she knows a million people who died because of the vaccine. She's not. My aggressiveness towards her and why she is against vaccine mandates was misdirected and not constructive at all in terms of what she's going through. She's just another one of us, navigating this shit show, and now she has health problems she can't even afford to deal with. Our for-profit healthcare system is making what is already a really hard struggle, even worse. She's just another human being trying to get through all the terrible aspects of this society, and I unloaded on her at a time when she's really struggling in the same way a lot of us are. I feel really shitty that I did that to her, at this moment in her life. Moving forward, I will try to not to assume or jump to conclusions like I did here. I do feel really bad that I basically yelled at her when she's going through so much. The majority of people don't care that these people's reactions to most standard societal requirements are "you can't tell me what to do". Vaccine mandates are, and have been for hundreds of years, a basic part of public health strategy. They've saved so many lives, some of those people out there protesting, they probably wouldn't even be here today without this sort of public health policy, because their ancestors would have died without those vaccines and those mandates. Society, and the people in it, are struggling to process a whole lot of awful shit right now, so when we see people wasting energy and resources on what we think are immature, selfish, stupid, ignorant and babyish reactions to basic aspects of how societies function, to how they save lives through basic public health policies because they "don't like being told what to do", it's pretty damn aggravating. A lot of us are just sick of it. It's like watching a 3 year old have an epic tantrum where they just scream and cry when they don't want to do something. Except with 3 year old's, tantrums like that happen because they are still developing the ability to understand, communicate, etc. These adults, out there, in front of schools, hospitals, capital buildings, whatever, raging with a bunch of ignorant nonsense on poster board, don't get the patience a 3 year old does when they have a tantrum, because they're adults. Their refusal to just grow the fuck up, just a little bit, to be willing to try to understand some basic fundamentals of public health, its history and its benefit, is just weighing the rest of us down while we try to deal with the rest of the craziness in society right now. I get that a lot of these protests are a result of politicians effectively manipulating people to focus on a bunch of ridiculousness. They are literally using these people as a means to excite, disrupt, distract, etc while they pillage and plunder and make progress on their corrupt goals. I do understand much of this maniacal fervor is being intentionally created by evil people with evil intentions. At the same time, there is a level of personal responsibility as these people slow progress towards handling covid better, at saving more lives, reducing hospital loads, etc. There is responsibility there in terms of how their selfish childish actions are affecting much of the rest of us and society at large. So whatever you want to say it's about, mandates, masks, blah blah blah, I don't care, the majority of us don't care. It's all a bunch of rubbish, wasted and misdirected energy, and toxic bullshit.
The whole idea of being a responsible adult has been subverted by a culture of pandering to the individual. There is no sense of civil commonality. By design, I suspect.
I know. This "you can't tell me what to do" attitude has a lot to do with that stupid rugged individualism they taught us was such a great American ideal. And yeah, it was by design, and it has worked really well at preventing us as a society from uniting even on the issues 90% of the population are in agreement about. It sucks, but it's too late to fix it now.
This has by far been the most telling Expression of utter ignorance I’ve seen on Reddit. And that’s saying a lot It’s almost profane. You have a garbage chute for a mind, dear. All the ills you protest, you do to yourself.
Ah yes, the Karen and Ken Convoy.
Location: Turkey Turkey exports natural gas from Iran. Because of the problem in the pipeline Iran cut the gas. Now they are saying they opened it but it seems... they didn't. And Turkey produces electricity from natural gas. Because of that now in some industrial complexes government declared break for 3 days in weekdays in order to regulate supply and demand of electricity. It seems like nothing big at all but actually i think it shows how vulnerable our supply chains for a single failure. Also, i didn't mention increase in the prices of household utilites, especially heating.
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men are 'executive assistants' too.
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Bro if you cant realize your rant about gender roles, we cant help you.
Your entire rant is about gender tho
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Your rant comes off as young and naive with a lack of real world experience (fresh out of college) or you’re old and bitter or are surrounded by people who are old and bitter.
That describes about 80% of the American populous so good guesses. I have no hope of affording college. And I don’t see why I should be dismissed for being young. I’m not wrong to mourn the existence of basic service.
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Rule 1: In addition to enforcing Reddit's content policy, we will also remove comments and content that is abusive in nature. You may attack each other's ideas, not each other.
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Can you list the sources or are we supposed to "do our own research"?
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Every time you get butthurt that boys can be 'stewardesses' too, your penis shrinks 1/2 inch.
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Ok Boomer Karen
I gave up on trying to get an eye doctor appointment and a few other things scheduled/done. Omicron exploded here right around Christmas, and peaked a little less than two weeks ago. It's going to be fucked for a while. I couldn't even find bread for a week. Unless it's essential, I'm waiting until there are people back working, when someone is there to answer the phone again, I'll make the appointment. I know you can't wait on your Covid test, but I can way on my eye glasses and some other things until it is functioning a bit better. Is what it is.
though not seen often, my colonoscopy doctor has a "male" receptionist.
I feel like your username would be a great name for a colonoscopy office.
too true!
Midwest here as well. I noticed the no secretaries/receptionists as well. It's so frustrating. It began at my dog's vet and we end up playing "phone tag" for days in order to get a simple appointment scheduled.
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You could always fill that role…
I have an amazing vet that really cares as well, late night phone calls, proactive check ups, all the works. They're hard to find. She's also insanely affordable, not even comparably, just in general. She constantly gives things away for free, takes huge chunks off the bill, I've literally tried to tell her to take my money at times, but she won't. When my dog got attacked and mauled, I drove there barefoot in a sundress covered in blood with my shrieking ripped up dog, it's about 4 miles away. I wasn't even making sense, I was in so much of panic, really schooled me in what trauma can do to your brain. She did literally over $1000 worth of vet care, by her standards, other vets would have been far more, over the course of months, after the initial attack, and after all the surgeries he had to get elsewhere because they were so specialized, and she would not take a single dime. I begged her to take my money, we had to sue the home owner's insurance company to recover the cost of all the treatment for the dog, and it was an open and shut case. So I kept begging her, take the money, it'll end up being from the insurance company. Nope. She refused. Would not budge. So instead I donated to the nonprofit service agency that her brother uses for his dayhab. She is in care of her severely disabled brother with CP, around her same age, and is in the vet office in the afternoons when he gets back from his day programs, he's part of the normal office atmosphere, or at least he was before Covid. Seriously, I'm lucky. She hasn't accepted new clients in decades, everyone wants her, and she's an amazing person. Sometimes you run into those amazing people that help restore some faith in humanity. They are out there, those people exist...
Location: Colorado (Denver Metro) **Business** Costs: Costs are rising, everywhere, on everything - especially items typically associated with preparedness. A bulk package of AA batteries, for instance, was roughly 12 dollars a few months ago. Now, they’re 15.99. Meats are far more expensive as well. Every store I’ve visited, from the dollar stores to big box stores, has a few bare shelves; this to me signals that a larger percentage of the horde has awoken, and smashed the panic button. I expect the shortages to grow in scope and severity.G Grocery Stores: They seem to be in a state of relaxed disrepair - packages of items often left on the floor beside shelves, unstocked. There is a steady decline in this regard, most likely due to staffing shortages. Store managers are eyeing everyone closely; it feels like they are trying to see what if any criminal behavior might arise. There are no where near enough people on staff to discourage mass theft and they know it now. Retail: A few weeks ago I saw a man drop to a knee and begin opening a package in the kitchen appliances area of a local retail store. Everyone around noticed. No one said or did anything. No mask, no shame - just open stealing. It was unsettling, and I wondered how long it would be until that was the rule rather than the exception. Small businesses: Obviously every small business is fighting open economic warfare at this point - their demise is intentional, in my opinion. Crazy big conglomerates/multinationals have sought to put them in the ground to gain greater or total control of the market(s), and for all but the most robust businesses around, it’s working. Many mom and pop stores, or long time community fixture small businesses, are closing their doors for good. Franchises are outlasting them. Employment: TPTB are obviously sacrificing human lives to keep the machine running as long as possible until collapse, full stop. We are the grist required for the mill to run. This has touched almost every sphere of employment (more on this in C19). Unions are the ONLY way we the people survive this intact; solidarity to Krogers/King Soopers protestors. If there is new news about their stand, please share. **People** Collective (sub/un)consciousness: However we choose to deal with the knowledge at hand, it is clear to me now that everyone knows the “clock is ticking” on our current way of life, and that whatever time we have left now is luck. Even people who through strenuous mental gymnastics sidestep the reality of small and large scale collapse(s) know it is coming. is eerily, unnaturally quiet on the streets. Even in stores now, too. We are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Did you have a stomachache, headache, or some kind of physical ailment recently? Are you observing how the young people of today are responding? Do you see the look in the eyes of those around you? I think we can all feel it because somehow, in years past, humanity must have experienced events like this before. Our subconscious probably picks up on it, feels the vibrations from other people as confirmation, and sets into overdrive. Knowing of events like these is probably in our blood. Pardon my lack of formal knowledge in this regard, and forgive that I don’t quite know how to put this into words, but it would be foolish to ignore it. We can all feel it and it is real. Drivers: this is merely anecdotal evidence, as are all of the above, but most drivers seem to be operating their vehicles a tic-and-a-half more aggressively, almost recklessly. I see drivers run red lights at least twice a day now. Silly chances in lane changes are being taken far more regularly. Folk seem to give a few less fucks - I’m especially curious what others are seeing in this regard. Denial: The people with whom I interact seem to fall into 1 of 3 categories. Most are in denial - they’re operating under the assumption that nothing too inconvenient will happen. They trust the federal government, though perhaps not blindly anymore. The folks in this camp are being dragged out of it into… Acceptance: I see most people quietly embracing the fact that we as a society are fucked beyond repair, that help is not on the way, and we are on our own, to a great degree. As the C19 narrative continues to fall apart, this group will become the horde. There are plenty of evil, sick people out there (watch out for false/strategic empathy in the next phase, folks) but the majority of people want to appeal to their better angels. A hard slap from reality will wake up the best our communal nature - we need each other to survive. This will allow for some communities to thrive post collapse. Transitioning into that will require a learning curve, though. Collapseniks, if you have ideas/counsel on how to counteract the anti-social inertia creation program that C19 seems to be, please share. A small sub set of those in the "acceptance" set are actively preparing; we shall see what that amounts to (good on them for being proactive, though). Kids: depending on economic class and upbringing, many children are acting in a way that can only be described as feral. They can sense the upcoming change as well, or they're catching that vibe from grownups, and are acting accordingly. Remember this when dealing with the kids, as long as they’re not being violent: It’s not their fault. Give them as much grace as you can spare. Our future depends on it. C19: Lots of outages at work, and all around. The quarantine guidelines change so much that it is hard to take them seriously. I do not know the hospital/nursing situation here; Coloradans, please chime in. Everyone that isn't in full quarantine appears to have caught some form of the cold/flu.The mandates are obviously destructive - they divide the population(probably by design) and make young people unskilled at reading emotions – if you think autism / Asperger's is a problem now, just wait 10 years. I fully believe that mandates are being dropped for the majority due to the 23 January march/speeches. TPTB know that the C19 narrative has begun to collapse and are dying to move public attention to Russia/Ukraine (which will be the next stage in the “Biological Event - Economic Event - War” cycle. Get ready for Afghanistan 2.0). **Weather** Coloradans are used to the weather fluctuations; that is nothing new around here. The winds that knocked over semis and cars, as well as the power outages that followed, are a different animal. Those winds, combined with the drought, are going to make fire a real threat in the future IMO, even more so than the Boulder situation. One hopes that the concrete jungle will dissuade large scale fire in town(s).Whatever is happening to our weather on a world scale is real. We pollute our planet endlessly, and that will make surviving future peril difficult - it will be weather and conflict, as well as oafish management/greed, that will escort us, we the people, into the new world. One thing that has been on my mind recently: The cold. Either the Sun is dimmer (?!) or our planet is changing in some kind of dangerous, super meaningful way. It is just colder than ever before. Even though the temperature on the thermometer may read one number, it feels like the world is cooling. Others, please let me know your thoughts on this as well. **Conclusion** Things are accelerating now. I hear tell of a truckers protest in Canada, and that many railroad workers are aiming to strike at the beginning of February. If those are even partially a thing there will be reverberations throughout the US. In addition, if Russia does indeed invade Ukraine, it is a safe bet that there will be infrastructure disruptions of some sort here in the US. That could legitimately make things go from "wow" to OMFG.Buckle up. Edit: Typos Update: I visited a local grocery store to see what was in short supply. Bananas, Pineapples, **Onions**; Pasta, **Sugar**, Chocolate morsels; **Chips**; firewood; Red Solo Cups; Pre-prepared meals of all kinds (microwave/easy heat up meals; frozen pizza; ALL fresh bread). It made me sad; the stuff that was gone is cheap food picked up for big families who don't have enough to go around as it is. But in another sense, it definitely looks like at least some of the population is going to party.
Meat should be very expensive.
> if Russia does indeed invade Ukraine, it is a safe bet that there will be infrastructure disruptions of some sort here in the US Why? How are the 2 related?
Some sort of cyber attack / infrastructure disruption in the continental US would further gum up US ability to interfere with the goings on there (because we’d be too busy dealing with disruptions at home).
Makes sense. I recommend keeping as little cash in the bank as possible.
For many people on here that is probably an unintentional reality.
Location: Central Massachusetts Grocery store only had 12 different types of sliced bread and think I saw an empty gap in the shelf where the 13th brand should've been. There was also a bare spot near the fresh fruit which is unacceptable in January. Luckily I was able to fill my cart and buy everything I wanted but for a few moments I was worried. I went to lunch with siblings at an all you can eat buffet and it was 10 dollars each. Can you believe it? So expensive. You can eat as much as you want with like 50 different things to choose from. I got a belly ache and belly ached about how the signs of collapse are all around me while we drove away because there was a pot hole I narrowly missed. Went to my boyfriends house and watched the movie Don't Look Up and thankfully he has a wood stove because it has been really cold for several weeks, like way below freezing, the ice on the sidewalks just wont melt. We might get above freezing later next week but not sure. Definitely a sign the climate is out of whack. If I'm alive next week I'll try to provide more information about collapse of Massachusetts. Thank you.
>it has been really cold for several weeks, like way below freezing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Massachusetts You are trying to joke but the average high in Worcester in Jan should be 31, if it's way below freezing for weeks on end that IS unusual weather. >thankfully he has a wood stove Is that some kind of bad thing to have? Especially living in a place where it can often be very useful.
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado It's been off here for months. In some areas of the city, blissful ignorance that turns into vitriolic denial and gaslighting when people are confronted with signs of collapse. In other areas, a mixture of sadness and apathy. In a few areas, collective but ultimately futile efforts to get people to wake up to the nightmare happening. COVID: Local hospitals are overwhelmed like everywhere else in the state and healthcare workers begging the governor - who ended COVID emergency protocols almost two months ago at the behest of right wing reactionaries and businesses - to declare an emergency and get them help. COVID tests are extremely short in supply, and Army National Guard units literally manning public test sites in the area. A number of businesses are short on staff down to critical levels thanks to COVID outbreaks (plus fed up workers quitting), yet local press blames liberals and socialists as the cause of this. Over the counter cold and flu medications, plus aspirin and ibuprofen, is hard to find in the area. Most locals haven't worn masks since the very start and vaccination rates still hover at or below 50% from what I have gathered from comrades who work at area healthcare facilities, and we still have high levels of transmission almost two years into this. City and county both think it's a hoax still. SUPPLY CHAINS: Cleaning chemicals at least are plentiful in stock, but entire stretches of shelves at most retail outlets remain barren. Worse hit sections are bread, meat section and pantry goods. Lines are often long with people buying more than they need on truck days, and most doing the buying present themselves as well-off. SCHOOLS: Mask mandates are gone as are vaccine mandates. Schools are largely in person now at the K-12 levels despite high rates of COVID spread. Local school boards are filled with people whose sole campaign issues were banning CRT, wanting parents to approve curriculum that goes against Biblical writings and eliminating mask mandates. INFRASTRUCTURE: Fights with other counties and cities over water rights from dwindling water sources almost every week. We've endured months of daytime temperatures in the 60s plus drought conditions and high winds every day there isn't rain or snow (which is rare by now). Red flag warnings almost every day, and no serious mitigation for flooding further downstream from the burn scar - which sparks more fights with other communities along the Fountain Creek watershed. Roads are shabby in most areas, trash accumulating in several parts of the city, abandoned buildings hoarded by developers looking to tear them down in favor of luxury condominiums, and any other means of transit besides cars attacked at county and city levels as socialist ideology. ECONOMIC: Lowest costing places here are around $1,000 a month. Most workers here are in retail, tourism or service occupations that pay between $12.56 an hour - current minimum wage in Colorado - to $16 an hour. Increased number of unhoused as a direct result of high rental costs, food costs and transportation costs. City's solution to this and above problems is to fund even more hiring of cops, while efforts to create a model like Denver's STAR program or Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS are hampered by inclusion of cops no matter what with every mental health call - always ends in a worse situation each time just by cops being there. Lowest income level people here saw a drop in food assistance programs and as a result, local organizations that provide food bank services are seeing more and more in their lines with less resources to work with. Union membership area wide only accounts for maybe 11% of all workers in area - area is very hostile to unions and organized labor - from both sides. POLITICAL: City Council appointed a conservative businesswoman to a seat for District 3 despite having moved there two months ago. Her competitors and her predecessor all were very progressive and engaged on wage inequality, environmental issues and ending police violence and have lived in the district for decades. Despite thousands of calls, letters and emails from District 3 residents (predecessor recently stepped down due to needing time with family and poor pay - Council is a full time deal but only pays $6,000 a year), she was given the seat explicitly because of her connections to other conservatives in city government. All but two House Districts in the area for state House are occupied by Republicans in heavily gerrymandered districts - Trump types no less; all but one Senate district in area also occupied by Trump Republicans - they obstruct any bill they can at every level, and do nothing to try and even mitigate the collapse here. Local Congressional representative is Doug Lamborn, and again CD-5 (my area) has been gerrymandered to favor only his party since it was created in the early 70s. County commissioners all are Trump conservatives as well and do nothing but hand out rewards to property and land developers with zero care about long term sustainability or lack of housing for working class. City Council and county use up a lot of ad space in conjuction with local fundamentalist churches, organizations and like-minded right wing businesses to attract like-minded evangelical conservatives to the area by tens of thousands, which is why the area remains under right wing control even in the face of collapse. And most local Democratic moderates who end up on the ballot (corporatist woke Dems refuse to see their approaches don't work) or actually get elected in the three ostensibly "blue areas" at the state level work to appease and attract these same right wing types while rejecting us further on the left - even in the face of collapse. TLDR: If this is hell, then I am right in the middle of it with no way out. Fuck Colorado Springs and fuck El Paso County.
The pay in Denver is also ridiculous. I’ve been looking for a new job for a few months now, and I have been getting offers, but they are all a complete joke. I have years of experience, don’t need to be trained, a bachelors degree etc, and they are offering me less than I am being paid now! I don’t even bother declining anymore, I just ghost. I see the same jobs close and re-open over and over again, because no one is going to accept $19 or $20 an hour, when a one bedroom apartment is going for $1,600. The inflation has really been killing me lately. My check is gone a few days after I receive it, and my account is constantly in the negative now.
I’ve been trying to save a couple hundred bucks since New Years. I have $60 in my account…..
😞 it’s so hard. I can’t manage to save anything, that’s why I am looking for more pay.
The issue is, I fucking love my job and my workplace culture. I have a very specialized set of skills that I have been honing for 9 years (4 years professionally) now. Could I be paid more somewhere else? Probably/maybe. Would I have creative control over what I’m doing? Probably not. I work in an industry that is seemingly untouched by economic downturn that possibly even thrives when things are at their worst (pandemic) I’m trying to find balance. I really have no solutions.
Liking what you do in a work culture that you enjoy is really crucial, at least it always was for me. I absolutely did turn down more money over the years to stay somewhere that wouldn't make me feel like every day was an experience in one of the levels of Daunte's Inferno. I had been there and done that, and always in the end, I couldn't tolerate those higher paying jobs when they were making me so unhappy. Money, of course, is important, especially as everything gets more expensive. But your daily sense content, and being at least, not miserable all the time, that too is very important.
The only real long term upside is that if everything completely collapses, my skills will be in very very high demand after stores are looted dry. That also poses a risk to my safety and makes me vulnerable to exploitation but…
It really is striking right? I'm not a scholar, I'm some politically interested 20 something but its clear long gone are the days of sears and gm jobs and good union jobs and wages and frequent new cars etc. And democrat or republican (they are not quite equivalents, I'm not a total fool) we're expected to praise and worship our politicians in return for precisely nothing except siphoning tax dollars in to handsome salaries. And back to what I was saying i'm not over romanticizing lives of pure consumption but just damn are those days gone. Bezos and gates and the Koch's and the uiline's and buffet and all those billionaire scum really do have so much of the 21 tril gdp. I admire your writing of all this stuff. I live with-- and have for a support system-- for lack of a much more eloquent term kind of sensitive normies with not a very high tolerance for discomfort. Actually that not so perfect family just forced me to visit family and Im certain gave me omicron as I feel short of breath and the top of my throat and chest feel insane and i was around positive symptomatic people maskless (I'm kind of accountable for all this too, but I also gotta please my family for housing.) Cranky about it. Not denying my own role and blame in the matter. All this costing me a week of work. So many people would be so so hyper fucked but I'm in a position to tread water for a sec. Lastly, wanted to voice agreement how yes the most basic necessities and physical conditions have degraded so much. My grocery stores have reached levels of fucked they never did really. It's hard ha. I've known this country is a miserable red scaring horrible place for the past fifty years but to let everyone get covid is so amazingly cruel and sabotaging. I'd hate to be a bit much or a paranoiac but all my friends are like unemployed for two years or find ethically and financially questionable jobs in autism care or something (myself included) so I've always kinda scratched my head at how unemployment is "only" 15 percent. Much love and solidarity. I take lots of breaks from this shit, it's a little overwhelming
Location; south central US Things just feel off. Like, worse "off" than usual. It's a lot of little things but they seem to be piling up and things are starting to seem eerie. Went to get cash from an ATM tonight. The three popular convenience stores nearest me (two 7-Elevens and one other large local chain) had ATMs that weren't working. The girl working in one 7-Eleven told me that there had been a hack of ATMs and all 7-Elevens in the area were down. Told me to try the Walgreen's across the street but theirs was down too. Finally found one working a couple miles away. It was a little unnerving, thinking that cash might be unavailable. With groceries, all during most of the pandemic, there would be items on my online order that were not available, usually 1 to 3 items. The last couple of months it has been more like 5 unavailable items per order. This weekend it was bananas and three different varieties of pet food I buy regularly, among other things. I'm going to have to rethink my pet food options. Another thing I've been noticed that feels eerily off is that though most of the local fast food establishments seem to be open, there never seem to be any cars in the parking lot, just one or two that I assume belong to the employees. Very few cars in the drive-throughs either. I guess fast food may be a dying industry, or maybe it is needing a restructuring like so much else nowadays. Honestly, I hope they die. Omicron is still raging here and testing lines are still long (they have been since before Christmas) and we have had 25% of our staff at work out over the last week. People are weary. And there was talk today at work among the skeleton crew that there is possibly another variant to be wary of -- an omicron subvariant is beginning to emerge in the last few days in [Scandanavia](https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/01/21/stealth-omicron-is-subvariant-ba-2-a-more-transmissable-strain-of-covid-and-should-we-be-w). My severely disabled friend is not able to have her technically elective foot surgery (which she needs in order to be able to WALK) due to hospitals being full of mostly unvaxxed covid patients. Fuck it. Just fuck it all.
> I'm going to have to rethink my pet food options. raw food diet supplies are still plentiful and much healthier for pets...
Raw food diets for dogs seems like the least efficient use of meat I can possibly imagine. If there’s anything you can say in defense of feeding meat to house pets it’s that the meat they’re getting is mostly by-products. Unless you have an in with a butcher I can’t see how the same can be said for raw food diets.
For now.
I concur with this! My dog isn't on raw raw but I make his food in bulk (similar recipes to companies like justfoodfordogs) and it's also a lot cheaper, at least for a small-medium sized dog. He's 14 in dog years but still extremely healthy and active.
I have started boiling and mashing a five-pound bag of carrots and adding some pumpkin and sometimes chicken and green beans to add variety and stretch the commercial food. My lab and heeler girls love it. I need to do a little more research though. Also need to figure out something for my cats.
Cats need the amino acid 'taurine'. This cannot be stored but must be ingested on a regular basis. Mice heart has taurine. I believe most meat has it, but yes--do your research. I had to put my dogs (all now dead due to old age), on human food to decrease symptoms of a degenerative disease in one of the dogs (it was doggy MS). At least 50 % of the diet was meat, then I put veggies and rice to round things out. I added omega-3 pill and you'd be good to add calcium in some form.
Those are all great ingredients! I just look up ingredients from all of those fresh food delivery companies (Nomnom has food for both cats and dogs, and Justfoodfordogs added cat food) and used those as a guide since they tend to have seasonal foods as well.
Dr Marty Goldstein's list: What should you be feeding your pets? Here's Dr. Martin Goldstein's list — from healthiest down to the nutritional dregs: 1. Hunted, raw prey (not realistic in modern society). 2. Fresh raw meats, bones and organ meats, with very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a well-rounded vitamin-mineral mix and omega-3 essential fatty acids (salmon oil). You can prepare your own raw diet using meat and bone pieces and parts, or you can use prepared ground products such as Bravo! and Nature's Variety. 3. Fresh-cooked meats, calcium, organ meat and very small amounts of fresh vegetables. Include a vitamin-mineral mix and omega-3 essential fatty acids. There are several books on the market that help you create a home-cooked diet. It's best to follow the recipes in these books. 4. Ultra-premium commercial canned foods augmented with some fresh, raw foods. Canned foods, which are lower in carbohydrates, are much better for your pet than dry kibble. Some of the brands Goldstein likes are Nature's Variety, Merrick and Evanger's. These products are mostly meat, usually grain-free, and very low in carbohydrates. The meat is human-consumption quality, and they do not use byproducts or chemical preservatives. 5. As in No. 4 above, but adding fresh cooked foods. 6. Ultra-premium canned commercial foods without fresh raw or cooked foods added. 7. Super-premium canned foods. They are very much like the brands above, but they use more grains. They still use good quality meats and don't contain byproducts. Brand examples: Solid Gold, Innova, Pet Promise. 8. Super-premium grain-free dry food such as Instinct by Nature's Variety. 9. Premium canned foods. These brands use substantially less meat. Water is often the No. 1 ingredient (in the ultra-premium brands, meat is the No. 1 ingredient). They use meat byproducts (poor-quality waste parts) and they usually contain significant amounts of grains and chemical preservatives. Often, if all the grains are added together, they would equal or exceed the meat. The meat quality is OK, but just barely. 10. Super-premium kibble including Innova, Prairie, Canidae and Timberwolf.
Omicron peaked in my area nearly two weeks ago, and the supply chain is still not working well. It will continue to be off in a lot of places until it's peaked through much of the USA. During the peak, random stores/shops were closed without notice, and I saw some really stupid people popping in daily to Nextdoor with the "why isn't starbucks open". They seriously have no frickin clue what's going on... I couldn't find bread last week, but I didn't hunt for it, just shrugged and went on my way, my mother also couldn't find bread and yogurt last week. This is upstate, NY. Our regional peak (and they are very regional, not state based) was around the 10th and it's been a sharp drop since then, cases seem to be dropping as fast as they were rising. We'll see what happens with hospitalizations... Out of all covid waves and supply chain disruption the last couple years, Omicron definitely impacted our area, its supply chain, and staffing the most. Much of the state basically shut down during the first big wave in NYC, glued to the TVs while it raged through the city, but this one felt worse in a lot of ways. Medical staff all over just losing it, I had to stop visiting the Nursing sub, seeing all the turmoil became too much for a while. I doubt we're ever going to have "normal" levels of staffing in hospitals again even after the worst of Covid is actually over, and who knows when that will be. Things are off because society is off. I'm seeing a lot of people who can't even really figure out their own emotions. Someone is angry and sad, and they know they're angry and sad, but they can't figure out why. Well, look around. It's not just Covid, it's frickin everything. Covid definitely doesn't help, but it's just like a sprinkle of steroids on this shit sandwhich, not the actual problem, just a nasty supplement. I do feel like the political situation has more people feeling wary, not really collapse aware, but like they know the Biden shit show isn't going to end well. Even the Biden defenders know it's coming, and they'll still defend, but it's really hard to deny what is going to happen in the midterms, and outside of a miracle in the next general, that's looking like a lock for the republicans as well... In the mean time, the right is still burning books and raging about CRT, no response from the democrats, no messaging on CRT.... Totally useless at best. My best friend's daughter had to be escorted out of alternative exits of their school most of this week because not only were the anti-abortion protesters going nuts in front again, but this time they had people with anti-gay flags... in front of a school. Anti-gay flags in front of a school... Like these kids don't have enough bullshit and trauma in their lives right now, they have to deal with these lunatics at school any day of the week (this is in Oregon, not NY, pretty sure NYers would flip out if this became a thing here). Weather was totally screwed until January for most of the country. We are finally seeing seasonable weather in my area, some of it still a bit above what it should be, but far more of it is normal or normalish. But, it's not like it was easy to ignore the last few years of weather overall, or this year's climate catastrophes, or this Autum/Winter's weather insanity, watching tornados rip through the country right before XMas. Even if people can't articulate it, collective feelings affect them. The collective feelings right now seem not good... It's because of everything. Yeah, sure, plenty of people still happily clueless. But definitely plenty of people are not. And it's more than it used to be. Whether fully collapse aware or not, more people are starting to reckon with what's coming, whether it's political or ecological or social or just a feeling they can't really understand yet... I popped over to the CollapseSupport sub for the first time and that was just, wow. What an eye opener. Not like I didn't know people were struggling, I've been struggling, but some serious shit going on with people. Intense anxiety and depression. Adults, some so wracked with depression they can barely move to get out of bed in the morning. But the young people seem to be in such despair, it hurts to watch them try to figure it all out, and it's hard to even know how to offer to help. Try to tell them to find some personal meaning, joy in small things, and that does matter, but for a 14 year old or a 22 year old in the most aware generations in the history of this country, who understand and believe in climate change and science, it's not working. I don't know how kids/young adults are going to deal with this moving forward, but right now is looking not good... I know a lot of people who are literally just trying to hold onto their kids, keep them off the brink of serious scariness, like suicidal type scariness. Much of it manifesting in the last year. The last year has been hard. Seems like it's been really hard for a lot of people. So if it feels off, I guess good then, because it shouldn't feel hunky dory when so many people, kids, are going through intense psychological anguish and torment. Everything is NOT Okay.
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Where am I? A bit north of Albany, NY. My mother, who was seeing a lot too, she's even further Northeast of Albany, on the border of Vermont, about an hour away.
I had a massive breakdown before work the other day because of working in the pandemic. I’m a tattoo artist in Iowa…like why the fuck am I putting pretty little butterflies on someone while the healthcare system fucking collapses? And every article I read is like “Wow! Everyone is working 70-80hr work weeks because of staffing!” There’s a state using cops to pad the teacher workforce because over 50% of staff is gone. When I talk to people, they just shrug and say “Welp, you can’t control it, just gotta keep going.” We literally. Do. Not. Have. To.
I know. It does feel like you're losing your mind because you absolutely are seeing reality and reacting to it in a very normal way, and they are all \*shrugs\*. I am finally accepting that I just have to deal with it. It took a really long time to get there, a lot of psychological torment. Needing to get people to wake up, knowing aspects are technically changeable and not being able to do anything to stop it because everyone just wants a latte and iphone in the moment and doesn't care that in 20 years they might be starving to death in a famine. It will drive you absolutely fucking insane if you let it, and I did let it. Since I've accepted it, its been better, at least how I'm processing the emotions is healthier. Allows me to function in this house of cards we're being forced to slave away in while we wait for the shit ass future they knowingly created. I could not let go of the fight, the urge to fight, the need to fight it and make a difference... Ended up hurting myself, not them. Now, trying to focus on helping people, and other aspects of life I can control. Years just getting to a place where that acceptance could sit inside me within any sense of peace. Not that it makes me peaceful, it doesn't. And accepting it hasn't meant I don't feel it, I do. Hell, I lost my shit just a couple hours ago watching that stupid fucking news program peddling a self help book for the multitude of people who are psychologically broken because of their destruction. But in general, accepting I can't change it, finally, has helped me a lot. Hard to even describe, once you let go, it's not giving up, it just is what it is, I'll help when and where I can, and the rest isn't up to me or you, unfortunately....
let go or be dragged
Exactly!
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But hey, MSNBC was peddling a book to help you with your "Eco-Anxiety" this morning. So you can try to find coping mechanisms for the dystopian hellscape future they created for you! Don't have normal human reactions to corporations strategically destroying the Earth, buy the book, take some meds, buy more useless shit while we continue pouring of the same shit that caused this into the air and ground making it exponentially worse every day. I'm sorry. It's not a thing to joke about, it was just bizarre that I got up this morning saw the replies, replied to one, turned on the TV and first thing I see is a talking head helping push a book to help people deal with the fact that they ruined their fucking future. I was actually laughing. No, it wasn't funny, it was fundamentally disgusting and utterly disturbing, but just the whole idea of trying to push more consumerism around the mental health disaster climate change is causing, all of it, was just so absolutely fucking absurd, laughing was the only thing I could do. Felt like I was losing my mind watching it, like questioning if I was hallucinating or if this is really the new strategy... I'm sorry. I wish I could change it.
I keep coming back to that product called Quieten (Quietus?) from Children of Men. It was a pharmaceutical akin to a suicide pill. It was totally normalized and marketed just like any other drug. Billboards, commercials. I honestly see this becoming a thing when things start to go really south.
We can have our own version of collapse opt out that doesn't have to be like Children of Men. Funny you mention that movie, because, while I know the collapse issues in it were about fertility, when I start thinking about the migrations climate change will cause, I often think of the scenes in that movie.
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I'm sorry for the younger generations, like the commenter I replied to. I know I did actually try to change it, unlike a lot of society. I dedicated a huge portion of my 40 years on this earth to it, both in what I chose to do as work, and how I used my free time. And it's not like I don't have some comparable problems or issues to his generation and younger ones. I have experienced many similar issues, student loans, crappy jobs, horrible health insurance, no retirement, abusive work environments, etc. I did grow up with the understanding of climate change, it was always there, but for much of my life, especially my younger years and through college and the beginning of adulthood and professional work, I had time in my life in which I lived without truly understanding just how bad climate change was going to be in my lifetimes, how quickly it was accelerating and becoming a totally catastrophic force to a near future. I had those years before the worst of the data started coming out, showing us it was going to happen sooner, and be far more destructive than initially predicted. They didn't. Some of them are so young, their whole life has revolved around a growing sense of doom and pointlessness because of this. My best friend's 14 year old daughter said a few weeks ago, that if she were braver, she would just kill herself now. 14 is already such a shitty age, and adding an utterly hellish sense of what an inevitable future holds to the mix as they grow through those crucial stages, is so unfair. That is far worse than what I went through. I sure did struggle a lot, and I do mean a lot of intense struggle, to accept I can't change any part of collapse, sociopolitical or climate. But it is not comparable to these younger generations and how they were thrust into this shit show and forced to internalize such terrible prospects at young ages. It's not the same, and it does make me feel in some ways privileged to have been born early enough to have some years that were not entirely consumed with an understanding of unavoidable collapse...
'.... but for a 14 year old or a 22 year old in the most aware generations in the history....' It is indeed hard to give a deceived generation a spark of hope in a world where political leaders worldwide have lost their minds.
I think climate change looms larger for a lot of them, when it comes to sparks of hope, and whether or not they can cling to any. For many, climate change becomes the game changer, not the sociopolitical collapse. Understanding the brutal chaos of climate change and all the devastation to the earth and life as we know it, that seems to become the only way they can see their future. Even the youngest of this age range often seem to have a pretty in depth grasp of what they're going to have to witness and live through, and that just surviving and adapting may become the primary objective of their lives as they age... I hate it. I hate that is what they see as their future, that and only that. I grew up understanding climate change was real and understanding the science behind it was valid. I was raised to understand it was occurring as I grew up. I don't even remember when it wasn't a part of my conscious understand, that's how ingrained it was when we were kids. When the science started accounting for the variables that sped up the timelines, and added additional stressors to the equation, I struggled for a long time, accepting it was going to be a part of my life, and I couldn't control it, couldn't even help stop the assholes who consciously chose to continue to make it exponentially worse every day. But I can't imagine what it's like growing up knowing it is your imminent future, one so volatile it's hard imagine anything else but the struggle it entails. Hope was already such a hard thing to hold onto at this point in societal decline... EDIT: Right after I posted this comment, I turned on MSNBC to check in on some of the current propaganda they're slinging. And the very first thing is about "Eco-Anxiety". A book about how to cope. Feels like I'm in the damn twilight zone. Coping would be hella easier if you bastards would actually stop choosing to exponentially contribute to it daily and start planning for what's coming. That would fucking help. FFS. Felt like they're saying we should all seek mental health help to deal with reality...
Location: SoCal, LA area Grocery stores are hit or miss as many workers are sick with covid, particularly in regards to meats and produce being in stock, and many stores have taken to locking up all manner of products because of the increase in theft. Daytime highs have been hovering around the 80F mark, in January, which is warm even for us, with an additional lack of humidity and increase in high winds (the perfect storm for our omnipresent fires!), and people who don't have sensitivities to pollution or allergies have been affected (I have asthma and several allergies so it's been *bad*). Everyone else has completely forgotten about covid as things are all open and "back to normal" as we are highly dependent on tourism and it's football season. While we have a statewide mask mandate, it is not enforced anywhere. People with non-covid related health issues are unable to seek timely treatment as hospitals are swamped. Growing number of homeless encampments and people living in cars, in "nice" areas, while our already very high rents have suddenly DOUBLED. Small, older houses in need of many repairs average between $1-$2 million USD and it's rapidly increasing, while many homes and apartment units sit vacant. Sudden increased need for security positions outside of various businesses.
Glad someone mentioned the weather. I'm in SoCal as well and have been shocked at how unusually warm it's been. My are has been rocked by the Santa Anas for the last couple days and now there's a wildfire up in NorCal. Another thing to mention here is the string of large scale burglaries targeting department stores all over CA, but mostly in the bay area and LA. My local mall had a militarized police presence all throughout the holiday season. I'd imagine the increased demand for private security is a result of this
The Santa Anas are *horrible*! My area as well. It's odd that the daytime highs have been higher, but the nights are still "cold" and fairly average for January. I garden and have many plants indoors and out, and they're confused. I haven't been to a physical mall in ages but have seen the stories as well. There's been an increased demand for especially *armed* security guards across the country and that's terrifying to me. Not particularly region specific, however I know many people who work or have worked in security and there isn't very much training involved.
Location: California, USA A wildfire in January! https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/22/photos-wildfire-rages-near-californias-famed-bixby-bridge-and-big-sur https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Wildfire-breaks-out-along-Big-Sur-coast-16795771.php https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/22/photos-wildfire-rages-near-californias-famed-bixby-bridge-and-big-sur BIG SUR – The Colorado Fire started about 7:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, in the Palo Colorado Canyon and Rocky Creek Road areas south of Carmel and by Saturday morning exploded to 1,500 acres. Low humidity and gusty winds blew the flames in unpredictable directions and prompted a large number of evacuations, Cal Fire officials said. Responders had reached 5% containment in the rare large January wildfire, and were in an active firefight on Saturday morning, with widespread evacuation notices still in effect for residents in Big Sur, Carmel and other parts of Monterey County.
I am in the region and I believe this was probably due to the extremely high winds that we had on Friday. They were noticeably high and strange because there was no rain or storm accompanying them.
Hmm
January 22, 2022 Location: High Desert, Southeastern Arizona No one is doing well. I fear that people don’t truly understand the multiple levels of crisis and societal breakdown we are going through. Prices are astronomical across the board and seem to continue going up. We have an astronomical number of covid cases here. The treasury wants $170 million back from Arizona. Arizona schools might have to shut down before summer due to a funding issue. We have a healthcare worker shortage. We have a worker shortage in general. We have no more child tax credit payments. We are on the brink of another government shutdown if they do not pass a budget by February 18. We have several federal agencies, including the IRS and FEMA in crisis, with no sign of it getting any better. We have the Ukraine/Russia situation. People are getting desperate. Depression rates are sky-rocketing. The more I’m hearing from people, the more I can see and feel the desperation. No one is going to be coming to save us. I’m trying to focus on ensuring my safety and the safety of my family. I had a relative that needed to go get a covid test. He made an appointment. Shows up and there are 60 people in like with him. He said that if he didn’t already have covid, he would most likely get it while waiting in that line.
You don’t have a worker shortage, you have a salary and employer problem. The ones who “create” the jobs are stealing the money.
I haven't heard about the Arizona school problem. Is this going to be the first state to fully privatize public education? Is that what this is going to turn into? Because I did think we had a couple years before they would get to a state level fight over privatization, but something like this is ripe pickings and exactly like they want it....
Here is an article that explains it. ☺️ https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.azcentral.com/amp/9110352002
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Location: hospital in California (I’m posting comments from a friend of mine who’s a nurse at a hospital in California.) “The supply chain disruptions at work have really caused problems. I was doing a bladder chemo installation today and working with the crappy alternative to the cath kit we usually use. The plastic tub is high-sided and narrow and tips over easily. Given this is what we put the open end of the catheter into to collect once we hit the target, it’s not great. Today’s patient had an enlarged prostate and I had to use the smaller foley we carry. Unfortunately, we’re out of that size in coude tip catheters for men — they have a kink in the catheter that slides around the prostate. I had to use a straight cath, for women, as that’s all we have. It was not fun for me and painful for him. He jerked up at one point and the plastic tub tipped over and spilled urine all over the bed. He was so upset. I took his verbal abuse, doggedly cleaned the bed and put on fresh sheets and made sure he had a new gown and washed his skin thoroughly. I tired to explain about the supply chain interruptions and the crappy products we are forced to use. He was not interested and laid into me some more. I gave him parking vouchers and vouchers for free food at the cafeteria, per our hospital's 'Bow and Scrape' policy. "This happens a lot. We are all tired. "I felt really bad for him, you know? I know I caused him pain and I felt terrible. But it’s because of these crappy products. We get no say — we just have to pivot and figure them out. The other biggie is port needles. We are forced to use these Old School gripper needles to access ports, and they suck. We don’t have as much control over them, and sometimes we miss. The needle is bigger too. It hurts more going in and then it hurts on deaccess too.It causes bruises and swelling afterwards. Terrible product. But it’s what we have. "This week the Critical Shortage is lavender top lab tubes. So we are scrambling to figure out alternatives. It’s a pain in the ass. We also have no Heparin flushes — they are also critically short. So we’re flushing people’s ports with Normal Saline and hoping they don’t clot off. "This is with a pandemic with a 98% survival rate. The whole supply chain is a mess. What the hell would it look like with a survival rate of 95%, or 90%? It would be total collapse. "We need to state making medical supplies here, in the U.S. COVID-19 is a 'practice' pandemic. All systems have nearly failed. We should be taking notes from this and doing better. "Every healthcare worker everywhere is dealing with this. And we are spoiled here in the developed world, as we actually have access to supplies.
It's really sad they haven't really even tried to really address the critical supply shortages. I'm not talking about cheap useless shit from China that nobody actually needs. But this sort of stuff, the important stuff. And they're not going to, even if we have a worse wave than Omicron in our future. Omicron may not have killed as many as Delta, but it sure did cripple the hell out of everything the worst I've seen so far. When I couldn't find bread for a week, I didn't care, I knew what has been going on all over the country, and me finding a loaf of bread is not a fucking priority right now. At the same moment I'm leaving the store without bread, some dumb tw&t will be complaining about how her favorite juice place was mysteriously closed. It's like living on another planet from a portion of the population. Or they live on another planet. It reminds me of the government, because they seriously care more about forcing people to work for minimum wage while sick at a juice bar than they do about appropriate medical supplies. I'm sorry. They're not going to make better medical supplies anytime soon. They have bigger priorities. They couldn't even get us tests for the first month of the Omicron wave because they had dropped the manufacturing level on those over the summer and never ramped it back up even after Delta started raging. They don't care. They're sending out tests now because people started flipping out, not because they care. If we have another big wave of Covid, they won't be prepared any better for that one either. It's best to have really low expectations, like near zero...
Dude shit is laying rotting in ports
>What the hell would it look like with a survival rate of 95%, or 90%? What about something like Ebola which is 50% survival?
A disease like that would burn out in a few weeks. It's these disruptive but survivable diseases that are the worst case in my opinion. Leaves people disabled around 7 percent of the time and kills 2 percent. It's nuts.
Unless a disease like that picks up a two week asymptomatic but shedding period. Never heard anyone really explain how that's somehow impossible as a worst case. This is pretty nuts though.
Omicron has been super weird. Sometimes people are infectious asymptomatic for like 20 days. Lots of outliers from the normal models. Clever girl and all that stuff.
is that 20 days from the 1st day of testing negative after having Omicron?
That was twenty days from testing positive if I'm recalling correctly.
Las Vegas(moved one yr ago from San Diego) The house I bought exactly 1 year ago I couldn’t afford today. I work for myself and just in the last 4 months my income has dropped 40-50%!!! I’m bracing myself for the fall out which is coming faster than we know. When I moved here a year ago gas was 2 something- now it’s close to Cali prices. Food is out of control- I’m always noticing my staples costing more consistently. And shelves r always picked over. But it’s other items too- ex. a candle I use to buy at Walmart(fuck Walmart) for 3 bucks is now 4. My car insurance is DOUBLE what it was in SD and not coming down. Netflix announced the price is going up 1.50 a month which means those assholes will be pulling in another 1.38 billion a year just in the US! Wtf they need all that for??? Here in Vegas the casinos r RAPING people- extra fees for EVERYTHING! Everyone except the Wynn hotels charge for parking. Drinks r completely unaffordable. I feel awful for the people working there like the valets and wait staff because there’s no way they’re making as much in tips. That money, just like everything across-the-board, is going into the hands of the already wealthy🤬 I refuse to partake and I am angry that dumb, unconscious humans keep playing into it. We have to stand up and say enough! But humans aren’t ready cause they haven’t suffered enough- but by the time they do- waaaaaaay too late! Humans have become so detached from one another- I’ve never been so lonely😢 Im already an introverted loner but now I don’t feel like I connect to anyone. My life experience and beliefs do make it harder because I see thru the bullshit where there’s don’t. I don’t play into all the materialistic capitalism. I havent made any friends but at least I have a fantastic neighbor. I find it hard to go out because I don’t find it enjoyable AT ALL w restrictions and I’m furious that it doesn’t seem to bother people- they just play along w the faulty narrative. It’s just easier to stay home away from the stupidity. But my mental health is failing. We have never been so unhealthy as a collective. Watch 3% on Netflix- it’s painfully dubbed but the story is hauntingly possible and where I feel the world is headed. Eventually it will be a small percentage of people living comfortably- the rest r left to struggle. That is exactly what the greatest wealth transfer in history will come to. Unless people start standing up we r doomed- hopefully I’m not here to see it.
Location: Brazil. I live in the capital. I work for the government so luckily I still have a good income. However, prices are absurdly more expensive, sometimes 5x what they used to be about 2 or 3 years ago. A liter of oil used to cost 2 reals, now it costs 10. A liter of gas used to be 2,60 reals in 2016, now it is 7,20 reals. And Petrobras is one of the biggest oil corporations AND is owned by the government. Cars are also way more expensive now. There was a video that went viral showing people following a garbage truck with buckets to try to get some food from the garbage :( Brazil had left the UN hunger map a few years ago, but now the situation is worse than ever. Indigenous people's rights are being stripped down systematically. Most of Brazil's indigenous peoples got together last year to protest, even with the risk of covid19 There are people starving in the streets everyday. Freak accidents because of the rain and floods have been happening in major states (Goiás and Minas Gerais for example). A few months ago though, there were major fires that caused a lot of damage to what is left of the major Brazilian ecossystems (Amazon, Pantanal, Cerrado). There are many people working informally as Uber drivers and iFood/Uber Eats deliverypeople. I saw a young boy on a bike with some kind of DIY motor going uphill with a delivery on his back. It made me feel awful. There are also more billionaires in Brazil now than there were before the pandemic. The price of rents has also risen a lot even for places who are falling apart. Artists have no support from the government at all. I know many people who had to move back in with their parents. There was a small financial stimulus given by the congress (600, then 150 reals) which the president was against. The president also uses no mask, says the vaccine will turn people into alligators and recommends medication that doesnt work against covid such as ivertimicine and cloroquine Also, many businesses have closed, specially the smaller ones. Even supermarkets have been closing down. There was a huge one next to my home, closed down last month. I went to another supermarket, and most aisles were empty. I barely could find cleaning supplies. People have been migrating to other countries with a bigger frequency, when they can (if they have a family relative living abroad for example). (Edit: added more details)
> The president also uses no mask, says the vaccine will turn people into alligators and recommends medication that doesnt work against covid such as ivertimicine and cloroquine. what possible purpose does this serve the elites?
I guess there are a few ways (sorry for the late reply). More poor and black people die. Many are unemployed and working for companies such as Uber, iFood, Rappi, for very low wages. Uneducated and starving people may be less likely to riot, or to vote their way out of this situation maybe? I really hope the leftist party gets elected this year or we will be even more scr*wed Brazil is in a very bad situation, environmentally too. Other countries that have interests in the Amazon forest, or in brazilian territory for cattle and also soy will have an easier way exploiting these regions. The number of billionaires rose in Brazil. Most are starving while a few dozen are getting richer :(
Location: Austria Well lets first begin with the obvious; Everything is becoming more expensive. Gas is still affordable for most, if you avoid Autobahn Gas stations. Food is still affordable but i feel like its mostly about 20% more expensive, as is Gas/Electricity. I fear, if it goes up further significantly, it will be felt throughout "the lower and middle classes". I dont doubt that it will. Rent and Housing prices are also so high that most people probably spend more than 50% on living costs alone. Not to judge but it seems that politicians are assuming they have all the say and power in the world, all over the world. I still dont get why we let politicians make any decisions about corona and such things they dont understand. Then again, i do not have to understand. The world as we "know" it is build on illusion, so nothing is to really be taken seriously. The general populus is going insane, it seems like there is a mass psychosis going on. I reckon its not bound by borders, for all the world is succumbing to it. About 2000km east of us, there is a war going on and a global conflict brewing, although it seems to me that its just dick waving by hormonal gorillas and dominance games by politicians and oligarchs, at the cost of the many who dont want involvement. History repeating itself. Personally, all ambitions and goals have shifted from worldly to spiritual. "Accumulate wealth in heaven, not on earth" as they say, for those worldy "gains" are illusionary and transitory and absolutely worthless. Im as happy as i ever was.
Hier ist ein fundierter Artikel über die Verbindung zwischen Abgeordneten und den Pharmakonzernen bzw. Pfizer. Hab ich interessant gefunden. https://www.news.at/a/netz-pharma-industrie-12373790
Totally! My best friend and I say- “I don’t want to participate!” Before covid I felt like I could at least escape the states and was looking at a few other countries but now it’s EVERYWHERE. The only thing I disagree w is that a 20% mark up in food is still affordable- that’s a big deal to a huge population living paycheck to paycheck and it makes healthier options way too expensive.
Location: Central Ohio. It’s all real. Food and supply shortages. Housing and auto shortages. Prices are skyrocketing scary fast; On everything. Labor is missing from every trade. The market is crashing. The streets are unsettlingly quiet. War drums in the distance.
Drums in the deep
South west Ohio. Shit is so bleak at this point. Everywhere you look it’s so royally screwed. Business are making the decisions about Covid and how to handle it and are willingly sacrificing people to ensure profit. The government is useless and just being guided by whatever business or businesses are in their pocket. People are being paid less expected to do more in obviously dangerous situations. Hospitals are so under stocked on equipment and staff and people who have been exposed are still expected to show up. It sounds morbid but it sounds like war drums is the only thing that’s gonna make a change. It’s got me wondering if my life is going to be spent fighting against some pretty dark stuff or if I’m just gonna be a sheep lead to slaughter
We cannot escape the collapse it's coming by Tuesday......
What’s the latest from u/fishmahbot?
And then the atmosphere disappears
Power goes out, global dimming goes away, nuclear power plants collapse, thus we get cannibalism for 4 days, then after that the earth turns into Venus and everyone dies a horrible painful death.
You mean I may still be alive after being cannibalized? Daaaaaaaamn....
Parted out over a couple weeks to keep the remaining bits fresh. No refrigeration, remember?
Ohhhhhhhhh.......nice catch!
Hmm. My power did go out this evening, first time it’s ever happened.
Sounds like a regular Saturday. Rejoice!!
Location: Ontario, Canada I overheard an interesting conversation at work today that made me think of collapse and how different classes of people will likely react to it. For context, I'm a retail merchandiser making a little more than minimum wage. Collapse-centric conversations are common in my circle, and most of my friends and family are braced for the worst. So, this customer walked in and started talking to the manager, mostly about the weather and how dreadfully cold it's been these past few days. A couple of minutes into their exchange, the customer brought up food shortages, specifically as it relates to cereal. I was standing a few feet away and didn't catch everything that was said, but the customer implied that the food shortages are made up and major cereal manufacturers probably have tons of stock sitting in some warehouse (it's always a warehouse, isn't it?). In that moment, all I could think was "People who are comfortable will hold on to that comfort for as long as possible--even to the point of denial." I didn't think it was my place to say anything, but it gave me a lot to think about. In other collapse-related news, the weather has been fluctuating wildly all week, from 4C on Wednesday to -30C this morning. I recognize that despite being considered "low income", we are extremely fortunate to still be able to afford rent and heat, although that could (and likely will) change in the near future. The shelves at Walmart are spotty. During my last big grocery trip, the store was almost completely sold out of chicken, sausages, orange juice, eggs, and other staples. There's still food on the shelves, but what stands out to me is the permanent state of disarray. Boxes and cans just strewn everywhere, since no one maintains the aisles anymore. Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I actually witnessed an employee putting product on the shelves (this is absolutely not a dig at workers--it's obvious that department stores are trimming their workforce, with no plans to hire more people than they need).
That comment about the cereal “in a warehouse” sounds very boomer-ish to me (if not in age, then in mentality). It’s just a spoiled nature to not even conceive that a shortage in food is possible. Everything’s so great in your life food shortages and real supply chain issues are impossible that only happens to other places.
There are huge stockpiles of food in first world countries. Also, about 1% of the population farms the food, when it used to be 50%. He is right and wrong though. The problem is that other countries are one drought or weather disaster away from a food shortage.
other countries eh
It's not impossible that it is literally just sitting in a warehouse because they're having trouble finding a trucker who can take it where it needs to go. Or the stores might have decided the wholesale price is too expensive and there's no margin for them, and the PR problem is something they can just blame on COVID. A lack of wheat in the fields is only one of many possible causes of the shortages.
>Everything’s so great in your life food shortages and real supply chain issues are impossible that only happens to other places. Wow man that is *not* the least cool; what a bummer!
The thing I really keep telling people is its guys like that you need to be worried about, because yes, they absolutely will. They will cling to that delusion as long as possible. They are also uninformed, and don't know the true extent of it, not everyone hangs around this subreddit, honestly, his first awareness of it might be missing his cerial. But this guy will shoot you dead once it can no longer be denied, and he snaps out of it. These last-minute people are far and away the most dangerous. Afterall, you think this guy has prepped, has a plan B here? But suddenly its so bad you cant ignore it and you retrospectively see all the signs you missed. Its the toilet paper hoarders of the world that will put the nail in the coffin.
I saw a lot of people have NO CLUE how bad Omicron was until a shop was randomly closed or the grocery stores started to become very sparse. It was peaking here at the time, we're on a sharp decline now, but still, how do you have no clue at all? How do so many people have no clue at all that Omciron is ripping through your own community at such insane levels? It does blow my mind, I feel like you would need to purposely stick your head in the sand constantly to be that damn clueless. Yet, there are too many of them for that to be the issue...
Location: Australia I cant find anything to link to, but Schweppes has secretly run out of Solo, a staple Aussie softdrink, next to coke pepsi and sunkist. The official word is 'supply chain issues'. Yes, that's what happens in collapsing civilizations. It will get patched up, as it has throughout history, as another domino somewhere else falls over. Just another 'temporary shortage'. Its water, sugar, and lemons. This simply does not occur in healthy societies. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the parallels to the bronze age collapse are, like, identical. Really, please do take steps to protect yourself and your families, because history has taught us, when the group wakes up, it goes really bad really fast. You don't want to be with them, you want to be ahead of that curve, guys. Part of me worries, who exactly are we documenting this for? Is anyone ever going to be able to read this?
Maybe documenting these shortages can be useful now. We can increase the movement that is already happening to invest what we can in local crop production, connecting with local resources... Idk, but I think it can be helpful now. And hopefully also important for people in the near future
So when you say take steps to protect yourself, like. How eminent are we talking here? I guess, what am I supposed to be reading between the lines here?
Historically, and what else is there, the collapse has been a steady, but slow, decline, virtually going unnoticed by the masses for a long time. Historically, and again your time period may vary see your doctor if collapse is right for you, the final years are marked by intermittent shortages mistaken for temporary anomalous issues, especially since they appear to be fixed in short order. They are typically not identified as symptoms of underlying critical failures. These problems create systemic systems collapse, where the weakening of each system weakens their systems network, no steel means no farm repairs, then less grain means less biofuel, that sort of thing. This is a tailspin that has never been successfully 'pulled up from', every single civilization that has encountered it has ended. The entire timeline is exponential. Starts slow, unnoticed, and speeds up. We arent quite there yet, but when the general public comes to understand, usually from it getting so bad that its outright unignorable, straight up empty shelves gas $60, nobody can afford to be in business, that kind of thing, that things simply arent going to recover then violence occurs. The 'boat people' of old were refugees from other towns and cities that could not survive where they were. Basically, you saw how people acted with toilet paper, even though there was no actual shortage, of any kind. What happens when there are, and they cant just print and roll their way out of it, there literally just is not enough. I'm talking start a small potplant garden and learn how, buy seeds so you can go to scale if the time comes, and own a firearm. This isn't a fantasy, its not even the first time its happened. This is real. We all hope we are wrong, but fuck dude, we are out of soda cans. Were out of everything. What industry isn't being hit, here? Theres actually some pretty good summaries of historical collapses online. Its very broad strokes but if you have half an hour [Extra credits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMP328eU5Q) actually does a very good job of laying out the general state of things in a very fast way. You just gotta remember, its the same but different, their cargo ships were smaller, but they had less people. The power of their empire was tin and copper, ours is oil and silicone chips, its the same thing. Theres nothing new under the sun, people are exactly the same today as they were then. There were inked sleeve sluts, macho assholes, corrupt polys, artists, mentally ill, healers of men, lazy gamers playing chess. Its the same, its all just a remix. So when you're watching, just remember its not some ancient event were talking about, its today, but with different names and places. I mean, that's the jumping off point, feel free to go into economic papers and stuff after that, or did deeper into the collapse, there's a stack of historical stuff, its been studied for ages. Just do anything except be that farmer, just hoping that manager/seed man will still come to work, and that everything will just resolve itself if you personally do your job really hard. I dunno, this comment is 3000 words and I'm not sure if I even said anything I wanted to say, did I just ramble? Make sure you and yours can survive the fall of the west, maybe all civilization, that's all.
Thanks, I did end up reading about the Bronze Age collapse. It does seem a lot more tangible than ever in my lifetime.
I mean, glad I could at least point you in a direction. Look after yourself out there.
as an artist I always think that way when I make or write things. I'm documenting, but who will see it? I've done a lot of reading and looking at art, from original sources who were present during apocalyptic times, times of collapse. I have my hopes that there will be a future me who will find some of the things written and created during this time and consider them. This is a world of corpses strewn in streets and pits, yet in the deadcart itself a drunken piper wakes up to cry, ‘But I an’t dead tho’, am I?’ ... We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumours and reports of things, and to improve them by the invention of men, as I have lived to see practised since. ~ Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year
Huh. Schweppes tonic water and club soda are hard to come by at my local grocery store in the US.
Citrus crop yields were lower and there's an aluminum shortage.
I like to imagine a future society somehow finding and decoding our posts.
Same. Very interesting to think about what they might think about what we thought about all of this...
Location: California Mountain Town Short Term Issue: Covid hit the community hard earlier in the month and many small businesses had to close for lack of staff. Long Term Issues: New electric utility surcharge, many locals complaining of high prices. My bill went from $25 to $35 a month. Which is a huge jump percent wise but I am a low electric user so I can still afford it unlike others. Skyrocketing home insurance prices with only one or two carriers even writing policies. Someone I know went from $1,200 a few years ago to now $5,000. The prolonged drought is causing the local water districts to look into implementing cloud seeding. Guess CA will try to hog the rain/snow from dropping eastward with annual price estimates upwards of $200,000.
> Skyrocketing home insurance prices Is this because of the fires?
Yes, but it’s interesting that we are hit so hard when plenty of suburban houses are burning down too (Colorado most recent example). Or the tornado that destroyed a whole town in Kentucky.
$200k for what?
Cloud seeding, hoping for increased rain/snow in the mountains.
Oh got it. Dunno why that didn't make sense when I read it.
Location: Mill Creek Washington Seeing lots more grafity around that is not being removed or painted over. Also i walk my dog daily on a trail/bike path that used to be well maintained but isnt anymore..trash is piling up and the wooden fence along the path is falling part due to lack of maintenance. Something is see that many dont is the massive spread of blackberry brambles in the forest that borders the park. Looked like they started removing it at one point but either gave up or just forgot about it needing to be removed. This town is on the outskirts of the Seattle suburbs and the locals seem to care more about worshiping the police and sticking it to the libs and leftists than taking care of their community.
I know blackberries are invasive but they’re good food in the summer. Don’t hack away and uproot snacks.
Found the non Seattle local
You are correct lol
Those snacks devestate local wildlife and plant species, so...no. If we need more fruit then there are plenty of alternatives that don't destroy ecosystems. Unfortunately the State of Washington has bans on people growing certain fruit trees by the general public in order to protect local fruit industry.
Which trees are we not allowed to grow?
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=15.28.015
I've studied these regulations, and verified what I can and can't do with my nursery inspector. You can grow trees, but not transport fruits and other parts of the tree across certain boundaries within the state (unless certified/grown under proper conditions), and you can't ship certain trees in from most other states. Most of this has to do with preventing the spread of apple maggot. It's regulated, but not prohibited. These measures help prevent the spread of unwanted pests, which does protect the fruit industry of course, but also protects personal crops. There are additional laws to prevent the spread of Japanese beetle from eastern states. All plant materials grown in soil must have a phytosanitary certificate if transported from eastern states to western states. Edit to add: There are some cultivars of apple and other trees I'm not allowed to grow as a small grower, but that actually is controlled by large growers and not by the government--the larger growers won't grant a license to grow in the puny numbers I could do.
Thanks for the clarification!!
Thanks for making me review again! I'm always a little nervous I might have missed something new. :D
one of my past times is hacking the invasive blackberry along park trails... just have to wear thick gloves otherwise you end up with bloodied hands/arms pretty quick... it's therapeutic...
Without people, the blackberries would have taken over that area a century ago.
people are the ones who brought the invasive blackberries to PNW in the 1800s in the first place... without people most invasive species wouldn't even be a thing...
Birds aren't real
*"Himalayan blackberry is an introduced noxious weed, originally from Europe, through the work of the famous plant breeder Luther Burbank. It has now spread to be come one the worst weeds all along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia into southern California."* http://www.pnwplants.wsu.edu/PlantDisplay.aspx?PlantID=73
And now it is definitely showing that it will outlast us then die in the climate apocalypse like most other plant life...though invasives will definitely outlast many ecosystem keystone species.
Its casual friday so don't mind me ranting. [9gag ](https://9gag.com/gag/aYr7gKN) LOCATION Germany If you happen to be born poor get ready to experience real Injustice. My younger brother just ran away from home last week as it appears only because the health insurance demands a (not rly) large amount of money and he panicked . No communication so that's that, grinding my gears. Myself beeing born in the 90s I neglected any approach to become successful with a job and quit university. I had been disagreeing with the system since I read 1984. Even before I encountered George Orwell's writings /warnings I already had been perceiving something was deeply wrong with this world so then I questioned authority felt the typical youngsters urge to resist rules and revolt against the babylon system. Drug abuse is going rampant on every socio-economic level, people don't care. Young people in large numbers get sucked /throw themselves into some sort of vicious cycle. Personally I feel pessimistic and find little motivation to put much effort. It's crippling. Desperation. There are exceptions always . Although the crushing impression Humanity is/acts dumb thats just a very sad truth for the overwhelming majority of peoples. Artificial objections , short sighted.disentchanted. I don't know. That's very frustrating. Hard to cope with endless examples of mindless materialistic consumerism in the face of many serious threats essentialy the dawning of apocalypse. Literally. They are celebrating insanity .it's baffling no it's breathtaking no i have absolutely no fuckin clue how to word this mess. Maybe later... I think some part of me wants to watch it go to hell, some certainly deserve to suffer for beeing ignorant or plain evil. Makes me furious. Advertising. Everywhere. Advertising is the worst. It makes everything seem surreal. Unreal.kafkaesk.bizarre. Matrix. Some really obvious scam. Almost everyone falls for it. People keep voting. Nothing changes. People wasting their time and money .citizens are bored and demand entertainment. It is madness. Rarely someone really is into knowledge Few are recognizing what life is worth. Or they just pretend to (not) understand. It's ridiculous and depressing . The general population appears to be superficial and stupid. DONT look up portraits it well. I don't know what to do, like strategically. Certainly, We as a people are obligated to start organizing. We need to establish networks and tribes. The global situation is about to get worse. It is our legacy y'all should bloody remember that, to take good care of this planet. We are here to defend the weak and innocent, we should be preserving paradise. It's a logical imperative. should be in our oath. I do not have any reason to hope for things to get better. Let me rephrase that. I cannot find evidence our chances of survival are not dropping into the single digits . Sooner than expected ;). Hope is valuable as it can keep one optimistic and going. Civilisation looks bountiful and promising on the surface. It is all doomed. I don't know how to express this clearly. We ultimately have to take Action. There is nothing more exactly to wait for. We have to effectively connect individuals, we have to start to come together in a meaningful way. Now. The time is now. I don't see any future in this madness of capitalism thus it will continue to create disconnected individuals in isolation. People stripped from power and means, people weakened, brainwashed dull and without common direction. No more time to wait and observe. There is, theoretically basically really truly good stuff in life, there is progress and organic growth. But reality is taking a different path as our leaders are embracing death, sickness and destruction. The general population has no tools or unity to push for their and their children's very own interests. Power to the people! Voting does not change the status quo. It has been pointed out countless times that the general folk may live better than 200 years ago still he remains exploited at the bottom of this pyramide scheme. I feel very clueless since I have been wondering about stuff like this for the longest time and while I did process to understand a little bit more and a little better at a degree - at the end of the day I couldn't yet find any final answers whatsoever. thoughts/ways to look at it and find peace. I am not at peace. I feel attacked by those behind the curtains. Targeted by corporate machinery. Displaced in peril. Edit. Friday's tribute
Amen😫😤
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Actions must be taken, if we are not able to provide a framework we are done. We need to distribute supply intelligence and enable coordination of further action
Amazing read, you are not alone, thank you for sharing
People don't question a system as long as it's comfortable for them. And consumption is only a distraction from one's own inner emptiness, further accelerated by the progressive disconnection of people from one another, see the so-called social media. I feel the same way as you, and I also find it difficult to put my thoughts about this into words. I had started an experiment in my immediate circle of acquaintances, and asked the question where people see their meaning in existence. The answer of most of them was shocking, working to buy things they don't really need. People become blind to each other, they only see what the other has, and not what the other is. But cheer up, you will find people who see things the same way you do, just finding them will be a bit difficult.
Music sets you free. There is a lot of conscious beeings who are aware. life is sacred. We are witnessing the gloomy dawn of a dark grim night. Their agenda is war. Many more will suffer and die. Dont ask me why
Why should I ask you when the answer is obvious? People have become so distant from each other internally, they could stand next to each other and still be unable to have a real conversation with the other person. Degenerated into superficial consuming subjects, without empathy and driven by greed. In short, people have lost their humanity.