Ask Lemmy

Any day now, Donald Trump will die.

A few weeks ago I ramdomly found myself in a demonstration against imperialism mostly judging the US involvement in Cuba, Venezuela and Israels Genozide. This made me realize that I'm not alone. These people I didn't even know existed,felt thr same way as me. No even more so, they put a whole event together and I got to intrract with this people. It was was by surprise that I

We're currently living in one of the calmest most peaceful times in human history. Humanity has solved a lot of problems and challenges already, and life is considerably easier for the vast majority of people in the developed world compared to any time previously.

With that in mind, the key really is to not sweat the stuff out of your control.

Only think about and care about what you can affect. Who you spend your time with, what you choose to do. Simple things like hobbies, work and education. These are the things that matter and actually should affect your mood.

It's hard to ignore the news, but try not to get wrapped up in it, yes there is bad shit going on, but since the dawn of time bad stuff has always been happening.

The global population is united in revulsion at the genocide and neverending war carried out by Israel, even if the politicians are owned. That gives me hope that justice will prevail.

Renewables and EVs!

Despite humongous efforts by us politicians and their corporate owners, adoption of renewable energy and electric vehicles is speeding up.

Even further, the basic idea that the poster child for anti-future, Trump, may be doing irreparable harm to the US in many ways but is unintentionally key to speeding up the transition in the rest of the world.

Mango Mussolini has cemented his place in history as the worst ever President, the most corrupt, the most damaging to the country’s position, the most harm to the citizens, the worst so far in running up the debt. However history will also talk about his inadvertent role in other positive changes

Cosmically, we’re nothing. Like, not even insignificant. None of this shit really matters. Yes, nihilism, but we can’t even comprehend how little we matter in the scale of the cosmos. Mote of dust and all that. Use your time wisely.

On a long enough timescale humanity will almost certainly go extinct, ending human suffering and the threat of human violence against any peace loving intelligent species in the cosmos.

I take joy imagining a slightly more balanced universe once our ignorant, violent species isn't part of it anymore.

I'm really happy with how my body is looking, I thought I would have a skinnyfat belly forever but I've been working that off and my back fat too, from sitting so much. I have a natural waist now and my legs look great if I do say so myself

I saw a child hug and comfort another after they tripped and fell. Pretty cute. The kids are alright.

My neighbour got back from hospital and is up and about again. Health declining isn't fun, but we'll have several more weeks of summer to sit out and chat in the sun.

I frequently trade smiles with random people on the street! No words, just smiles!

Twice a week I play disc golf with some good friends. We get some good walking in, support each other when someone makes a great shot, joke around, insult as necessary. And it's all free.

Afterward we get a bite to eat, then go to our favorite coffee shop for some dessert. Then sometimes I head to my sister's house to go for a swim to finish things off. It's truly wonderful.

Because not EVERYTHING is a total dumpsterfire. The news cycle usually focuses on the negative, while I can see a lot of positive out my window.

When global news is too depressing, I find something positive on a local level. There's always something. No matter how small, and how limited in scope, there's always something bright to be found. I could give you plenty of examples, but it'd be highly anecdotal and probably not applicable to you.

But look outside: There's probably a park being opened somewhere. A volunteer group is probably making a difference somewhere. There are always someone making am effort. There's always someone being concerned with the wellbeing of others.

Look for the helpers. (Yes, I stole that from Dungeon Crawler Carl). They may not be the most visible aspect of your surroundings, but they're definitely there.

And since you asked for examples from my life:

• The rose park close to my house is getting an upgrade
• I visited my childhood home today. It was nice seeing that the ones who bought it take well care of it. Seeing the inside was refreshing and new, without being unfamiliar. My dad built that house shortly after I was born, and while it is showing its age, the loadbearing timber was sourced from our property, and overkill for what they were supposed to handle. Some regular renovations will ensure that house stands for another 43 years at least.
• The tiny town O gew up in (even though "town" is an overstatement) has gotten a major face-lift over the past few decades. Local politicians are actually doing a stellar job when it comes to funding nice things.

Personally, I'm terrified that the massive, oligarch-sponsored, far-right propaganda machine that dominates US social media and television viewership, in fact, has the United States public by the balls, and is going to have unassailable influence on elections in the US from now on.

(And if the technology, borrowing techniques from marketing and industrial psychology, is not dominating the will of the lumpenproletariat already, it's still being developed and eventually will.)

However, there are a lot of people whose opinions I respect, including historians like Heather Cox Richardson and Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie (who is well studied in US history) who are optimistic about the future of the United States, and even think we can seize the country back from the oligarchy and restore free and fair elections in short order. (Albeit, for now, we'll still be stuck with the two-party system we have. It'll take a revolution of the people to change that.)

Meanwhile, Daniella Mestyanek Young aka Knitting Cult Lady is an experts on cults, including authoritarian cults of personality, and was an intelligence officer for the US Army, and according to her, cults of personality that are focused on a single person rarely survive the demise of the cult leader. They can if they create a doctrine of transition to a new leader (see North Korea) or from CoP to a cult of idea, but without preparation by the charismatic leader, they collapse.

And Young seems to know what she's talking about.

She observes that Trump is entirely not cooperative about facilitating a transition, even to the point of publicly humiliating his natural heirs (that is J D Vance and Marco Rubio). It seems even that Trump may want MAGA and the Republican party to collapse once he is gone.

Work will still need to be done after Trump dies (or faces accountability and is imprisoned) and/or SCOTUS is banished like a demon possessing a child and free and fair elections are restored. We'll need to confront what happened here in the United States, that we've been under the yoke of the ultra-wealthy, and of big conglomerate corporations, and need to ironclad our election processes and our regulatory bodies so that they cannot be subverted or captured.

Can we do this? I don't know. Historically, the US has failed to follow through every step of the way, from quitting reconstruction to failing to try Nixon after Watergate to failing to address mistreatment of blacks, of the First Nations folk, of children, of immigrants, of every group we've exploited for labor and suppressed. But this time, people can get their information from the internet rather than merely through school curricula and published news. Maybe there will be enough voices to pressure change.

When you talk to people IRL outside of work, some of them are pretty cool and helpful for no other reason than because they want to be.

When I see what wonders NASA does (with their ever shrinking budget), it gives me hope and makes me want to stay alive to be there for their new discoveries and breakthroughs.

Also another thing is this... the Fediverse and the broader FOSS community, we (self insert, lol) do things for the community bec we want to help, not because we are paid to or forced to, we try to make the world we live in a better place by fighting big tech and monopolies, it is truly fascinating to think about.

I've lost 80 pounds in the last 18-ish months! I still have a long way to go, but 80 is further than I ever thought I'd get.

Unrelated, but if you want a little bit of positivity each week, I highly recommend the We're Here newsletter. It's a nice Friday pick-me-up from Hank and John Green (they're the Crash Course guys, if you've ever seen a Crash Vourse video) that focuses on positive news that often gets overlooked for one reason or another.

Imperialism and neocolonialism are gradually dying, while the global south and socialist countries are rising. The old world is dying and the new is struggling to be born, but the process is moving forward.

Our transition mtf is doing really well, but tight in money but still kicking living off our position of art with our significant other!

We’re also working on building ideas and assets for a small shop/company rn and it’s been letting us and our partner closer with idea sharing.

every time i come home, it two cats are waiting at the door.

first they try to sneak out of the flat, afterwards they brush around and roll on the floor, demanding belly scratches.

yeah, i think as well they got the wrong software ;)

Just started learning the bass guitar and having a blast with it.

"This too shall pass"

There is something "good" all the time, but that doesn't make me less depressed. I'm re-reading a great manga at the moment, work is going well, I go to the gym maybe once a week, I'm making progress in programming (hobby) and I eat blueberry pie almost everyday at a café. These things are good and they are ongoing. But

I can only see so much future so I guess I'd have to say I'm glad trump is so old. I just want to get this shit over with already so we can all go back to living simply again, without all the angsty bullshit always floating around everywhere, causing a rancid stink. Divisiveness is an old tool that is used against the populace, we need to recognize that for what it is.

at some point in the not so distant future I'll be too dead to care about any of this shit.

before that time I plan on making the world a little better for my kids.

Playing guitar & clarinet, and never going back to the mental health system again.

Nsfw youtube link

Life goes on! There are always bright moments.

I'm simplifying things, and have been somewhat lucky in my interests.

I want nature, minimalism and space, and not having money doesn't really hinder that. I'm finding that people can carve their own havens out of the ashes of the world, no matter how bleak it tends to get.

So you can't have X or Y, what can you have? What can you do? Go meet people, attend store openings, local concerts, fairs, farmer's markets. Stop off the side of the road and photograph that sick moonshot you saw. Shake that homeless guy's hand and let him know he's seen. Make trophies out of small victories.

Feeling powerless in the face of authoritarianism and inequality is a mental game. When you don't let anyone stop you from your happiness and goals, and reach them regardless, that's rebellion.

There are billions more people that have access to water and electricity compared to 40 years ago. Crime is down across the board worldwide and so was war until just recently.

On a personal note, after renting for thirty years I finally bought a house where my two adult daughters and their partners live. We are all currently in decent health , we all get along, and I just got my second grandchild. The first baby boy in our family which is nice because my son past away 9 months old, stillbirth.

Only two years left before I can flee the suburbs and actually see stars.

People stop using Facebook, Google, and Amazon and people rebel against mandated car cameras. When you apply for a job you no longer need to agree to a privacy policy that allows your info to be used for robo calls and spam email. It also becomes illegal to require people to agree to those policies to see their medical labwork online.

Fines for these violations of law become meaningful, and companies start taking privacy seriously.