So we’re all just working as normal while the world burns? Sure doesn’t feel right. (TikTok screencap)
In the last job I had, I was a software developer. I worked for a company that contracted to utilities in order to improve their GIS systems for asset and workflow management - and yes, that is as boring as it sounds.
I didn't like the job. I sat in a gray cubical, interacting with boring people, working on projects that didn't mean anything to me. The morning standups were onerous, the proprietary software stacks we used were infuriating, and the coffee from the keurig machine was bad.
But I can't, in any honest way, condemn the company. Pretty much everyone there, from the owner (it was a startup that never had any intention of going public) to the managers, to the data entry clerks, were good, decent people doing honest work. The projects we worked on helped our clients have a better idea of where all their equipment and people were at any time, which meant they saved time and money, which meant delaying price increases to their customers as inflation pushed prices up and quicker responses to outagest to ensure everyone had consistent access to water and electricity in their homes.
I think most peoples' jobs are probably something like this. It can be difficult to see the forest for the trees sometimes, but most jobs, most of the time, are about seeing to the wants and needs of large numbers of other normal people. Sure, maybe you work at Killing Babies Inc in the Emmitting Maximal Carbon division. But most jobs are things like cooking food, caring for children or the elderly, building infrastructure or keeping it working, helping other people do all those other jobs better, or trying to make sense of the chaos by managing people and doing your best to make sure things get done on a reasonable timeframe.
Suppose the apocalypse happens. The nukes fly, climate change accelerates, governments collapse, most people on the planet die, etc. Give it 100, 200, 300 years. What does life look like? It probably looks like people living in improvized shelters, hunting some of the few remaining animals for protein, scavenging for the last bits of working technology, trying to pass on knowledge as best they can so it doesn't get lost forever, while defending themselves from violent raiding parties and trying to survive plagues and famines.
Here's the thing - this is a reasonable description of the vast majority of human existance. Premodern life was, for most people, nasty, brutish, and short. Yes, they had close relationships and lots of sunshine and at whole foods - great! You can do that today if you want! But they didn't have modern medicine, electricity, transportation, food production, or material supply chains. If you broke your leg, there was a decent chance you would be handicapped for life. If you hated your family, it didn't matter - you were stuck with them. In the same house. Possibly with no/few private bedrooms. Possibly for your whole life. Wanna have sex? Well guess what - your partner might not have washed their asshole for several months, depending on the time and place of your existance.
The fact is, people showing up every morning, bleary-eyed, sucking down coffee, and annoyed that their boss is taking too long with the morning meeting, are the only thing stopping the apocalypse from happening every day