The reality is setting in that people simply do not care about making the world a better place. It is breaking my heart, and I do not know how to reconcile my thoughts. I'm sorry to be such a downer here but I don't know where else to share.
Perhaps the climate catastrophe, human suffering, and inequality is so large and so much out of people's hands that even people who care have come to a state of learned helplessness. However, there are things within people's control that doesn't change. At work, I listen to a coworker frustrated about a simple problem. It would be a simple change to make this person's job much less painful, but he "just works here". It's just such a dumb problem to waste hours of someone's life on. To a certain extent, I can't blame him, because a lot of people just work to survive.
I want to make the world a better place. A world where people have all there basic needs met, live in balance with nature, and have a right to self determination. A world where humanity strives to be the best version of itself. I can't help but get sad or frustrated when I see something wrong. I can't help but feel like I'm a downer to my friends when I point these things out. They don't disagree with me, but it just seems like a depressing topic. People seem generally content to live their normal lives. In the same way, I can't blame them. It won't build a better future, but they deserve to be happy.
Maybe my coworkers are right, and that I'm too naïve. Maybe my friends are right, and that I'm too empathetic for my own good. I am envious that they can turn off the thing in their head that worries, or wants to make things better, and that they can just enjoy life. A more utopian future is generations away, or maybe never. If I can't effect change, maybe I should find an outlet, or stop caring, or something. idk, sorry for yapping. if you're reading this i hope you have a good day
This is a remarkable amount of main character syndrome, frankly. It doesn't read like excess empathy to me, it reads like privilege.
You're not saving the world. You'll never be saving the world. Your contribution either way is irrelevant. The big problems that you are frustrated about are about mass incentives, big numbers and geopolitics, not about people coming together for the common good because they care so much. It's not naïveté, it's arrogance. You get to vote on the big overall direction and, if you have the time, resources and disposition, to collaborate in activism with millions of others, assuming enough of them agree with you.
The small stuff? The "I could do this marginally better for mine or someone else's sake"? That's worth it. That you can do yourself. It still works on the same set of incentives and dynamics, but if it's something you personally can do to make something marginally better for someone, then... you know... go ahead? It's just much more valuable to do it in your own life than to get frustrated by someone else who you think should do it. Because, again, you aren't that important. Nobody is waiting for your command or judgement unless you're supposed to be giving it for some reason.
And let me be clear, I'm not mad about this. I'm not outraged at your worldview or anything. It's just that, honestly, in good faith, I think this sense of despair at everybody else refusing to fix things by acting as a hive mind with your same set of values and priorities is not a problem of ethics as much as a problem of narcissism and an inflated sense of one's own impact, and both that individual and their surroundings are better served by understanding the actual scale of their agency. Because... you know, that way you don't get discouraged when it comes to doing the small things you can do on the large scale, like voting or protesting, and you don't get angry about doing the big things you can do in the small scale, like not being an asshole or being too deflated to actually act in the spaces you control.
So no hard feelings but this is a get over yourself moment. In a constructive, positive, agency-filled, collaborative, collective action-driven way.
I don't really feel like talking about it, but I'm just going to note that I strongly disagree with your opinion in this post. I think it's natural to experience existential dread over how little our actions matter in the grand scheme of things, and wonder whether our fellow human beings - or ourselves - are worth the effort. I do not think it's arrogance, privilege or narcissism to feel that way. If someone had suggested that to me back when I was in OP's position, I would have slipped even deeper into despair. I'm not attacking you, I just want to point out that there is space for different perspectives here.
@girlthing @MudMan
I very much agree to your criticism. It is not that we expect everyone to not care about their problems and instead focus in the ones we deem big, it is about other people, who could have the power to change stuff, just ignore or counteract factually important things.
No one expects someone who is hungry to not try to get food. We expect other privileged to act rational. To protect their own, their families or the society they depend on interests. But they just do not.
I find it really sad that you're not attacking the person you replied to, when they are quite brutally attacking someone vulnerable.
Also sad that they have a multi-point-positive vote score.
Glad I'm not the only one to at least call them out at all, though.
I'm not attacking the OP.
I'm arguing the sense of despair they feel is a consequence of an inflated sense of their own individuality and relevance.
The problem with being stuck in that spiral is that if you parse being told you're not in charge of saving the world single-handedly as an attack you're locking yourself from getting out of that spiral, and if you don't break out of thinking you're in charge of saving the world single-handedly you also get stuck in that spiral.
So hey, is it a harsh thing to hear? Probably. But also, if you go on the Internet to ask about it, maybe hearing it isn't the worst thing that can happen to you as a result. It's likely better than some pity party about how the world is going to end because everybody is evil, which is, frankly, probably a terrible thing to do to a person coming at you from that perspective.
I think I'm the wrong person to try to gaslight
Why are you rage baiting in a place where people can get banned for giving you the kind of reply you deserve?
Rhetorical question, obviously.
See, the irony of this comment is that projecting some entirely made up narrative onto the motivations of other people is exactly the sort of self-destructive self-righteousness that seems to be harming the OP in the first place.
FWIW, I had in no way considered the moderation policy of this "place", whichever "place" you're referring to, at all.
But feel free to reach out to me privately to give me whatever reply you think I "deserve". Which is also some chilling degree of self-righteousness, frankly. You're not social media Batman doing justice by insulting people, along with the rest of world saving that's not on you or the OP.
Not reading this. Feel free to start this discussion with me on nostr, where there are no bans, if you have a spine
"A spine" as opposed to... being afraid that you're mean to me?
I mean, I've been around. I think I can picture worse than you can do by talking to me, going by our interaction so far.
Also, the idea of "meet me behind the gym" but with Nostr is just about the most hilarious thing I've read on social media. We live in the dumbest dystopia. OP may have been correct for the wrong reasons.
Happy for you or sorry that happened or whatever
A little bit harsh maybe but oh so truthful IMO for many many people (I don't know OP BTW, hang in there OP!).
Most people gets programmed for life in their young years; religion, must work hard my whole life, narcissism, ... And you can't really change that it seems. I mean you can't change them but we can change the system so that the future generations have a more open mind and can chose more for themselves.
Or so I believe.
It's very cultural, and not necessarily a deliberate impossition, either. I definitely see the whole main character thing more in Americans and some northern Europeans.
You can err on the other side, too. People can feel powerless enough to never take action against their own oppression, ro to the point where they find their own corruption doesn't matter because everybody does the same thing and their own principles will have no impact.
Both are disproportionate, though. You aren't in charge of saving the world, but you do have some agency and a responsibility about how you use it. It does take some distance to have some perspective on the battles where you're supposed to do your part even if you're not winning them.