Social, political, and economic collapse — slow and silent though it may be — is a grinding affair. More supports propping up business as usual and more masks for the orphan-crushing machine that is "progress" make the process more palatable, acceptable, and forgettable.

Those orphaned parts of society, those being crushed, were once institutions. They are replaced with commodities. As Trevor Noah recently said, we are being forced to "buy back the village." Homes, carers, community events and spaces are all commodities now. Or, they are online where the data can be mined.

So, what to do? Fantasize about a future without an orphan-crushing machine. Complain online to an audience who already agrees. Recede from the world and watch it burn. I dont want a world that looks like Terry Gilliam's Brazil. It doesnt end well for Sam Lowry.

I have done/am doing all of these things. They're the options available. I'm also teaching a high school class that fights against this dismay in the next generation. I'm pushing them to be made of sterner stuff. It's not going well. There are a few who are building with me. There are a few more who seem like they were born giving in to the inevitable dreck. So, teaching keeps me going. Maybe, one day, I'll do something else.

I have a misguided belief that I will survive this churn and be the chronicle of the misanthropic present. No benefits in that post-apocalyptic role.

I content myself to think that there is light and hope and strength in the places where people suffer the most. In Gaza, in Guatemala, in Ukraine, in Bangladesh, and in Congo; there are people who are good to each other, who support each other, and who treat each other with kindness.

If my problems are rising food and living costs where they have no food and no place to live, I can bear this for a while longer. If my problems are environmental, political, and social malaise and corruption, I have a power to act they can't exercise — so I must.

The job of humanity is not pleasure — it is pain favouring own purposes. We find small jewels of pleasure along the way. If we're lucky, we find others who share their strengths with us and we can enjoy our jewels together. Maybe that's why I'm here, writing this, now.