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Asklemmy @lemmy.ml

1y ago

Are we all fucked?

I'm worried for the world. All I've been thinking about is WW3 and this shit makes me want to vomit. I can't even smoke weed anymore without having a near panic attack. I feel unmotivated. I wake up and immediately just want to go back to bed. I'm not trying to spread fear but the Doomsday clock is 90 seconds till midnight, during the Cuban missile crisis, it was 7 minutes before midnight. Can we just have one day of fucking peace? Can everyone just stop for one day and enjoy one day of peace?

180 comments

Do yourself a favor and disconnect from news feeds, notifications and social media for 2 weeks and see how you feel.
Edit: also take a break from Lemmy. I swear I think the doomsaying here is worse than Reddit.
- Damn. I thought it was me, but scrolling through Everything & Top Day is just filled with rage bait and doom news. I rarely find something uplifting. And I usually find myself more anxious after reading through them.
  I really want Lemmy to thrive, that's why I am here, but I used to be able to filter all that shit in reddit and still have a bunch of funny dumb simple happy posts. If I do that here I get no posts back..
  
  If you ever find a good solution for filtering out those posts, please update us.
  I tend to only view my subscribed community feed, but it would be nice to look at “All” to find new communities.
  
  Beehaw
- Yep. To expand on this if people still want to use social media, here’s what helped me. The constant doom scrolling is unhealthy and unhelpful.
  Block or mute news/doomsday communities/people on social media. Link aggregators and algorithm-driven social media just sucks for news across the board. Use Lemmy (or Reddit, etc) for memes, interesting discussions, cool pictures, whatever, but not news.
  Collect a list of news sources you trust and add them to an RSS reader. Ideally in a separate folder from other feeds so you can easily filter them out when you aren’t interested in world news. You only get one “post” per article, rather than seeing the same “everything sucks now” article reposted to 20 different communities, and it’s buried in good ol’ boring news. Everything is less exciting in this format, it’s great.
- Amen. OP, I promise the news still finds a way in, even if you swear it off. You won't be able to escape it completely, but shutting it out by choice makes a huge and positive impact. You don't need to be constantly pummeled with every bad thing that happens every day in order to still be plugged-in to what's going on in the world.
- Ignoring problems rarely works...
  
  Ignoring problems you have literally no control over works indeed

Don't worry about WW3. The more inevitable thing that will destroy us is climate change.
But seriously, why worry about stuff you can't change? If they launch the nukes, then you'll be dead and so it won't matter if you worried about it or not. So you might as well just not worry.
- Activism would help very little, but at least it isn't fatalism.
  
  I don't think parent poster meant to espouse nihilism. Rather just acceptance. You can still find meaning in living day to day if worrying about the future becomes debilitating.
- Because it will hurt the entire time you are dying lol
  
  Worrying about it in advance doesn't change how much it will hurt.

I've been here before and I literally solved it by forest walking
https://vancouversun.com/health/local-health/forest-bathing-can-ease-stress-boost-cognitive-function-ubc-scientist/wcm/1abe8869-2ace-4f7d-a055-935680422d3b/amp/
We're all fucked regardless so learn mindfulness and enjoy every fleeting moment
- I agree whole heartedly. We spend too much time in our own heads. And most humans today have never experienced the wild. I mean the true wild, where you most certainly will die by the environment or animal if you're not careful. You don't need to go that far outside our fence to gain the benefits of connection but it's an experience that is both humbling and healing.
- Forests are being chopped up for investment properties
  
  Yup, I also do the opposite of forest bathing, I also have a morbid curiosity which is visiting clearcuts. Most people have seen a clearcut on TV but to see one from the ground will leave you speechless. It's a total disregard for all life on earth. Entire forests gone in the span of an afternoon. There's no sound, no birds or anything. Scorching hot because there's no moisture or shade. Hundreds of years ago, it might take a team of men all day to fall a single old growth cedar. Now there are air conditioned machines that can do it in a fraction of the time. Every time I visit the north island and I see a semi truck loaded with a single thousand year old tree I basically just cry.
  Look at BC on satellite view, it's an absolute disaster. I am one of those people who defends old growth with their life, I was recently at the fairy creek blockades
  Though its not for investment... Its to necessitate human life. Where do you think Europe gets its wood? UK's entire power grid is powered by BC woodchips. The entire pnw but most notably BC is just the world's tree farm and, call me an eco fascist if you want, but there are too many people on earth plain and simple. Overpopulation isn't a conspiracy. Come see the tree farm for yourself, it's apocalyptic.
  
  And mining
  
  We plant more trees than we chop down every year.

- If all you follow are news communities (kinda like me) then you're gonna see a lot of horrible shit.
  Tbh I should probably unsub from a couple of them myself.

I think the weed might be more of the problem than the clock
- Yeah cant believe I had to scroll this far down.
  Weed is like putting a sticker over the check engine light. It hides the issue/anxiety temporarily but by doing that consistently without dealing with the underlying issues the problem only gets worse.
  Something I do every work day is go to a patch of grass, put on calming music and just stare at the sky and clouds. Let your mind wander, it may bring up bad thoughts and feelings but its better to understand how your mind works. Dont look at your phone either, just disconnect and watch the world go by.
  I often think about early humans and their lives. Previously our ancestors had time to reflect and process thoughts, feelings and emotions. That is lost in our technological world and our obsession with consumption and distraction.
  These exposures and patterns are relatively new to the human mind. Develop behaviours that allow you to cope with the external stimulus
  
  I will say from experience it will get worse before it gets better. But then it will get better.
  
  I think very few people realise how unnatural our present lives are. For example, before industrialistation, lateness for a meeting was measured in days, with just one often being deemed acceptable. At least one of the ancient Greek philosophers wrote against schedules as a concept. Now we schedule to the minute, or even second if you're a silicon valley jerkoff.
  Medical care, lots of food, and the opportunity to do things like fly or understand the universe seems worth it, though.

Disconnect and seek therapy.
- I would have simply said touch grass lol.
  People are becoming far too invested with everything.
  
  You're not wrong, but so many people have disingenuously used "touch grass" in a condescending and flippant way that it actually just feels like trolling. The way people live in 2024, it isn't such a simple thing for some people to put their devices away, go outside to a park or whatever, and just be mindful of existing in the moment in just the amount of universe within sight. I'm not sure humans were ready to be tuned into this amount of the planet and numbers that are this big. Ape together strong, but maybe just at the community level with basic technology to survive and enjoy life a little bit. We could've just fought off predators together, did a little hunting and gathering, maybe start and maintain a community garden, and otherwise just chill out and eat fruit and swim and fuck and make up games to play and shit. We didn't need to synergize or circle back or ensure 8% growth year over year or commute. We clear time in our schedules to recenter with the nature we abandoned in favor of a system we feel imprisoned by. It's fucking ridiculous.
  But at least we have plumbing and climate control and electricity and Wi-Fi and a comfy bed in our shelters we barely get to spend time in because we spend so much time elsewhere to afford to sleep there.

You live in the most peaceful time in our species history (ignoring some flareups lately). The vast, vast majority of humanity lives in peace. Turn of the news and go touch some grass my dude.
- It's true, but that makes it even more unsettling. Every petty crime gets blown up by media, every time something happens people start screaming that we need camera's and more cops on the streets. I used to work in the bar scene in our city twenty years ago. There were bar fights on a regular base. Now one bar fight in a year makes the national news.
- You live in the most peaceful time in our species history (ignoring some flareups lately).
  And every single flareup has been the West's fault if you were to trace the thread back to origin. You can't just plant your head in the sand and "go touch some grass" when your taxes fund the Empire of Genocide.
- The difference is that we're at a point in time with humanity where just one or two rogue humans could end it all.
- This is Bill Hicks he was talking about in in the 80's
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  Bill Hicks
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
- Great! Peace right before we all die to fucking climate change. That's nice.
- Total BS. It is very clear that the world is moving to another world war, which will be more world than ever.
  
  That is not "very clear", no. The Cold war did not end in another world war even though everybody built up their militaries. If the power distributions are about even, then most likely nations will stand around waving their missile dicks around until someone goes bankrupt or everybody collectively finds out that keeping that level of military on standby is fucking expensive and slowly powers down again.

Also applies to nuclear wars and other forms of apocalypse
- I feel like there should be a "do it" step after the second "yes". People miss that way, way too often. It's why we evolved fear in the first place.

No more than ever before.
All I’ve been thinking about is WW3 and this shit makes me want to vomit.
We lived through WW2, most of us anyhow. Some times are harder than others, but let me tell you something. One of favorite cartoons of all time has a fairly flat character, who's catch phrase is, "We're all gonna die." It's her custom version of yolo before yolo was a thing. No matter the choices, precautions or risks, we all have to die eventually. It'll happen regardless of how much we stress about it. Or how little.
I can’t even smoke weed anymore without having a near panic attack.
Ah, that makes sense. Pot tends to heighten anxiety over time. Talk to any of the old guard, and ask if the ever struggle with anxiety since stopping, or when they are clear.
the Doomsday clock is
Is someone else's crystal ball. It doesn't hold any power over your future.
just stop for one day and enjoy one day of peace?
Turn your phone off for 24 hours, take a stroll outside when it's daylight, and forget about anything but real life for a day. Step away from the news. Don't talk to people about politics. Get some distance while focusing solely on the moments that come your way. That will be your day of peace, and whenever you need another, you know what to do.
- Excellent post. Thank you!

Nope.
I think people who worry about things outside their control might be missing out on things that really matter most in their lives.
I grew up during the Cold War era. It was pretty tense and, at least from my personal perspective, it seemed much worse then than it does today. The days after 9/11 were even worse. It really all depends on your geographic location though (I'm between NY and DC). If you're in Gaza right now, yeah, you should be worried. If you're in Oklahoma, go play in the mud and enjoy your life.
Things will get worse. They always have. Humanity deals with it. It's not a good formula but it's what we've got. I'd be much more worried about the population of the planet exceeding its natural resources and the continued loss of jobs to automation and slave labor (the unrelenting promotion of consumerism) than I would WWIII.
Not to dismiss the legitimate atrocities that are taking place across the world but I think your issue might be too much media consumption. The media is getting worse faster than the world is. Everything is rage bait to garner viewership and ad revenue and attention and profits for stock holders. Limit your media consumption to your passions and hobbies and to neutral journalism like AP and PBS. I mean, I can't tell you how many articles I read from formerly-legit news outlets that have little to do with a click bait headline now. It's so frustrating that even the news has a bias now - even when it's biased towards my preference.
With all the energy you're putting towards worrying about the entire planet, I'm sure your immediate community would benefit from a fraction of that concern.
Edit: Invest some time is setting up an RSS reader. Use it as a filter for the news you want and trust. Fill it with things you’re interested in, blogs, local news, world news, neutral news outlets, newsletters, etc. I’m in the Apple system and have been using Big News for about a year. I like that it gives you an email address to subscribe to newsletters so they don’t fill up your inbox.

Stop watching the news and get off of social media. They are literally designed to make you anxious so you’ll keep paying attention to them. Go find some local clubs and meetups to go to.

Get off the news cycle.
- 2nded.
  Find your own source for information about the things you can understand, apply, and for which you can create solutions.
  Then, build your strength.

You think that you are already dead? Well that just gives you the freedom to do everything you are scared of.
There is no consequence anymore so do whatever you want. Just don't make life worse for people that haven't wronged you. That would just be bad manners.
Often a change of perspective is all you need to see that a piece of shit can be the groundwork for a beautiful flower.

Log out. Find something you can do in physical space. I found that organizing with some people doing mutual aid really helped me feel better. Just refocusing away from things you can't really do anything about, and towards things you can. In my case, it was helping feed and clothe vulnerable neighbors.

I personally don’t thing we’re all fucked. I just take in life day by day and appreciate what I have. Let’s make today a day of peace. I’m probably gonna go for a walk and try to do something nice for someone.

If we are all fucked, whatever, then why bother worrying? - you can’t change anything and it makes you feel worse. Enjoy what you’ve got left.

I went to therapy for almost this exact reason. I will tell you what my therapist told me. Just because these terrible things are happening, doesn't mean you can't have meaning and joy in your life. It can be hard to feel grateful, it can be hard to feel happy, during such times, but it's possible. I would suggest reaching out to a professional if you can afford it.
- Meh, therapists are paid to say that shit. Reality is objectively awful in so many ways. I agree you can choose to ignore it and be happy if you want, but it's also perfectly rational to look at the train wreck and feel anxious.

You need to check out from the news, if reading what is happening in the world has that big of an impact on your mental health then you’re better off staying ignorant.
As long as I have been a live there has been multiple threats to the world, this is nothing new. The world is always on the brink of destruction, worry about what you can control in your life, not what is happening on the other side of the world that you can’t control.

Stop smoking weed, maybe it'll help.

I grew up during the Cold War, I had zero expectation that I'd live to adulthood, and I'm still unconvinced the world after 2000 exists. The way to cope is nihilism and/or activism.
Nuclear war, global warming makes the Earth uninhabitable, new plagues wipe out everyone, AI poisons us or creates nanotech grey goo, fascists take over and gas everyone who isn't them, a dinosaur-killer meteor hits the Earth again, eventually the Sun expands and fries the planet. You personally are going to die, probably long before any of those.
So you can either say "fuck it" and do your usual stuff anyway, or get involved in trying to stop or delay one of the disasters. Have fun with it.
Or as Morty says: "Everybody's going to die. Come watch TV."
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  "Everybody's going to die. Come watch TV."
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
- LOL, imagine was summr felt when Morty "opened up" 🤣

All I know is Stardew Valley has a big update today, and there's few better places to hang out when you're feeling stressed.
- Times like these, I have a 195-unit sized modpack stuffed into Minecraft to be the 100% green-powered, fully-automatic gay luxury dimensional factory owner I once dreamed of being before I learned what profit actually was

The old world is dying. The new world is struggling to be born. Now is the time of monsters.

Doomsday clock is mostly bullshit.the news only shows the worst of the world with the most sour spin.
The world will go on and for your own mental health you should take a break from the noise of world news and focus on finding enjoyment in your day to day life.

This sounds like you are depressed. My suggestion, stop consuming the type of information that is affecting your mental health. This is out of your control so stressing about it will only hurt you. You cannot control what is out of your control. Second, see a therapist and meditate. The world will go on for better or for worse.

I've noticed over the last few decades that every time I start worrying about WW3, climate change, solar flares, super volcanos, giant meteors etc. that there's something going on in my personal life that's causing me stress. Something I feel like I have no control over.
I guess my brain doesn't want to admit/deal with my own issues, so I focus on something else, something that feels just as overwhelming.
Working on taming the anxiety itself is quite useful, especially if you can't help the situation you're currently in.
The things that have helped me the most are: meditating (chakra and mindfulness) which has been great at helping me calm down; finding activities that feel meaningful to me; spending time with the people I care about (making the time); and finding beauty and/or amusement in everyday life.
All of these things take practice and time, which might seem useless if you think that the world will end tomorrow. But even if all you can do is one meaningful/fulfilling thing today, then it will improve your day and help make your last day on earth a little better.
Of course chances are good you'll wake up tomorrow, and the next day etc., which means you have even more time to live an even happier life.
Good luck my dude.
- In the words of my mother, who:
  survived a brutal civil war in her home country
  survived a husband who didn't let her work and made her entirely dependent on him before ditching her
  survived all her kids turning on her during a messy divorce (read: the kids were brainwashed)
  survived supporting her own mother get steadily weaker and insane before she died
  survived a thankless job in daycare watching her less experienced colleagues get promoted over her
  survived no pension
  "All you have is your health, and these tender moments. Everything else is just extra."
  
  Your mother sounds like an amazing woman. I'm sorry to hear everything she (and you and your siblings) had to go through. It takes incredible resolve to survive all that.
  As someone who's had poor health their entire life, I can absolutely agree that the 'tender moments' really make life what it is.
  Thanks for sharing.

The doomsday clock is very misleading. People assume that, because it is managed by scientists and is widely credited by different agencies, that it is quantifiably measured.
The truth is that the clock is entirely subjective and basically based off of the scientist's vibes. Of course a subjective measurement system, spanning over dozens of scientists for damn near 100 years is going to be extremely inaccurate.
Due to human psychology, negative emotions such as fear, anger, shame and anxiety are much stronger than positive emotions. All news outlets heavily abuse this fact, since it gains most traction. Many people use this too, to gain traction to their posts, or gain more influence.
I would recommend you unplug, and focus on hobbies or work that aren't related to the internet. Over time the internet has become increasingly hostile in a bid to capture more attention than competitors. Personally I like to avoid it when I can these days, despite working in tech.

Can everyone just stop for one day and enjoy one day of peace?
No. But maybe you can. It sounds like you might need some help though.
YOLO. Literally. So does everyone else. Everyone dies. Why live in dread of the inevitable at the expense of enjoying your short time in this world?

No, we're not all fucked. It's actually a pretty good time to be alive.
War and the threat of escalation are in the news, but so far this century has had far less warfare than the last.
Crime is in the news, but crime rates are falling, and the 2020-21 peak did not reach the levels of the 1990s.
Global warming is likely to cause significant harms, but if you're in a relatively wealthy country, you'll almost certainly be OK. Most people who aren't will also be OK, but their risk exposure is higher.
I'm genuinely concerned about rising far-right extremism, but structural protections against fascist dictatorship have held up pretty well in democratic countries.
"Things are mostly OK, but we should work on a few problems" doesn't drive engagement. Nobody's going to click your headline, vote on your post, or watch your video if you say that, so people saying it don't get much visibility.

Play this game to understand more about the mindset of today and how people are losing trust in each other and how to solve it: https://ncase.me/trust/

You just need to do one thing - disconnect from news and politics. Those things will poison your mind and make you afraid, angry or worried constantly. Also all shitty social media that makes you feel bad.
You have no impact on what's happening in the world, so it makes no sense to worry about it.
Whatever will happen will happen weather you worry or not. So stop worrying. Focus on your life and your friends and family. Or your hobbies. Exercise. Feeling good.
I've done this for over 15 years now. No idea what is in the news. Feels great. I will find out about actually important things. It was impossible to miss covid or the Ukraine war for example.
But the circus, as I call it.... No need to watch that. You can safely ignore it all.
- But don't you feel a responsibility to the rest of the world?
  Say if, for example, your tax dollars were funding an ongoing genocide and starvation campaign, wouldnt you feel a bit responsible to change that?
  
  I wouldn't feel responsible to change it. It's not me deciding to fund the genocide. I would like to change it, but we are all powerless to change most of the evil things going on every day. What are we gonna do, vote? There are no good people to vote for. Good people are not interested in making a career in politics and they get eaten by evil sharks.
  But do what you can as long as it doesn't consume you. Examples of being consumed is living around people who make you feel awful about yourself, or staying with someone who hurts you.
  
  Not paying taxes isn't an option. OP's point is that the average person can't affect any of that change, and this is one of those situations. Also, why would I or any other citizen feel responsible that the government used tax dollars for bad things? I don't like that my taxes are used for something I don't think is good, but the reality is I don't have any control over that, and if the timelines were different and someone else were in power making decisions, odds are that it would be worse than it is, assuming we're referring to the US and Israel/Palestine. Anyone that's paid any attention to politics forever knows that one person could scream until they're blue in the face about where their tax money is going, but it won't change anything.
- I checked out of the news during the Trump presidency, it was just constant crazy negativity. I feel much better for it. Anything important enough I hear about somewhere, and I vote responsibly and act responsively.
  
  How can you vote responsibly if you don't know what the politicians and parties are doing and saying?
  
  Yeah. You can feel yourself hurting inside when watching that stuff. People think they need to pay attention to it, but they don't. Its all manufactured negativity and they are really good at making it feel bad.
  Sometimes I wonder if there are evil spirits and if they consume this negative energy being created in people. It would explain a lot, why our world is so evil.
  Maybe human beings are being fed on spiritually, just like we consume other physical beings for food.
  Who knows.

I think the bigger threat to our lives is the creeping/ crawling/ walking/ running fascism and authoritarianism people have become complacent about and have come to accept.
World war, nukes, climate change, etc.. Those are big bads. But they aren't every day bads.
Its the every day bads that grind you down, and the world seems to have forgotten that that a good society to live in requires the commitment and work of its people to maintain it. I blame consumerism for training people to believe they can just shop for the things they want in life and don't have to build them. You can't shop for a better society; you can only build it. This lack of civic duty to me is the real problem beleaguering us, and these other ills extend from it. Individuals need to recognize themselves as responsible for the state of things and to take responsibility for making it better. The government is not some third party to you; its an extension of your-self and if it isn't functioning well, its on you to get involved and fix it.
I blame consumerism and the lack of personal responsibility it seeks to create in its patrons. People seem to have gotten caught in a mist that they are subject to the forces of this world, rather than recognizing themselves as the force that moves the world. Its a convenient thing for authoritarian leaders to take advantage of. Modern political leadership doesn't want voters involved except in the occasional, minimal interaction that implies consent to be governed.
We really need to figure out a way to get out of this frog-march into authoritarianism and fascism, because we can't address any of the other issues if that's the direction the whole ship is going.
- This is really well put. Consumerism necessitates passivity

The reality of life is that we will all die. Some will die quietly, peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. Some will die messily, painfully, alone and afraid. This is the reality we must all live in and accept.
It’s very possible that our species will die out. That is not an inherently bad or evil thing. Countless species have come and gone from Earth. Whether we destroy ourselves through war and ignorance, or we continue to thrive, doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is you.
You describe symptoms of depression and anxiety. You are sad and scared, and this is in part due to feeling powerless to fix the world. However, the only thing you have power over is yourself. Focus on helping yourself before you try to help the world. Try to find peace within yourself before seeking it in the world. The world is not, and has never been, a place of peace.
If you’d like practical advice, then I’d say stay away from weed and THC if it’s making you anxious. Keep away from alcohol as it will just exacerbate your depressed feelings. If you haven’t already, please discuss your feelings with a therapist and see a psychiatrist for mental health diagnoses and treatment. If either of these hasn’t worked for you before, I’d urge you to seek second opinions.

I’m not trying to spread fear but the Doomsday clock is 90 seconds till midnight, during the Cuban missile crisis, it was 7 minutes before midnight.
That's because they thought history was over in the 90's, and effectively changed the scale. The CMC was so much worse. People thought of nukes as normal weapons and if an extra officer hadn't been on a particular Soviet sub it 100% would have gone hot.
I have no idea what our chances are, long term. Unavoidable success and unavoidable failure are both possible scenarios. Short term, the Middle East could blow up and millions there could die, but I can't see it spiraling into a nuclear world war on it's own. MAD is strong and the rest can survive without them. Medium term it all depends on American politics, as well as AI if that actually happens.

If WW3 will happen, there's nothing you can do about it anyway except keep going and make your living better.

Maybe we're f-ed maybe not. Feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to do shit though, is it?
You're just spiralling into a depression at this point. All the while most of the things are completely outside of your control. You want to turn into the 'old man shaking fist at clouds' meme? Stop it.
Chances of a ww3 are incredibly low. Why? Because of the dependency on the global supply chain. Stuff is made from stuff shipped from all over the planet. Food, electronics, clothes, etc. We cannot just turn that off, and set up the infrastructure at home....build factories, have workers, have the raw materials... It's incredibly complicated. We are already a global society.
Consider all the shit that is happening 'ironing out the kinks', we all know that the perfect future is fully automated gay space communism. Just try and be on the right side of history when you can help it.
- i'd join the gay space communists... i'd even join the straight ones, although that's a little gay of me, I know.

Nah dude, we were all fucked from jump thats what a lot of people can't face. We're a slime mold on a mote of dust stuck to a spark flying through a cloud.
Just be glad you ever existed, selfishly existing to prolong your own existence is spitting in the face of everyone who ever died for something and dancing on the not even grave of all the people who were never born. You better go out there and live your life to the fullest, because it's not coming around again, there is no next time, no do over. Just love and be honest, especially when it hurts.

First:
You are dying. Let that in; dwell on it.
Being alive can be pretty amazing; the world, people, life… But the price of entry is that your time is limited, and will end. oh, and you have no idea when. :)
So “being alive” is, by definition, to be actively dying.
Second:
Anxiety (worry, dread, etc) is always and only ever based on an imagined future. This is where you are right now, imagining outcomes you have no way of knowing. Sadness (regret, self doubt, etc) is entirely focused on a remembered past. We all experience both.
Right now is all you really ever have. Learning to put (and keep) your attention there takes work, but it’s worth it!

The best cure for this is to read more news about people. A healthy dislike for people in general makes you worry less about the future of humanity ;-)

As another commenter already mentioned:
There is a technique I call circles of influence.
You have „close“ things you can directly influence like things in your home, „near“ things which you can indirectly influence like your friends, family and local politics. Then you have the weather which you cant influence in any significant way.
The best approach I‘ve seen myself, friends and even clients do was prioritizing close over near and forgetting about the weather.
In other words: go ahead rn and change something in a positive way which you can absolutely influence. You will feel less anxious and more in control. If you have done enough in your immediate vicinity, you will feel a lot better. Then start influencing friends and family to do the same. Dont let up. Just repeat yourself and dont bother about the weather.
I‘m doing the exact same rn with you, stranger. Have a good one.

There are problems in the world, but it's important to remember that both news and social media get way more engagement when showing you doom and outrage, so the most extreme takes rise to the top.
It's good to be informed, but don't let the doomsaying scare you out of living your life.

I'm enjoying peace everyday ol shaky ass dude 😎

I'd suggest getting therapy. Perhaps explore anxiety medication. Having anxiety over conflict across the world that you have no control over and have little effect on you is not healthy.
Getting high is not effective self-medication.
- Some places are. I looked around until I found a community care clinic for people who don't have insurance. It's free. The university near me also offers free/low cost therapy. Years ago before we were married, my wife and I found couples counseling from an intern who was gaining experience at no cost to us.
  I know everyone doesn't have the same resources, but just wanted to point out that if someone gives up because they assume it's expensive, they may not find the affordable options available to them.
  
  If you have money to self-medicate, you have money for therapy and to get medication from a professional

When ever I get like that, with my dad being into conspiracy theories, I just drive out into the country for a while. No matter what happens, it will always be there. You may just need to drive farther, but the grass and trees will always be there. (Im sorry for spelling)

I’m more worried about global warming, personally.
- Humans are amazing, I know it's cool to be edgy but we're doing great and looking good doing it.

Yes, and no. It will likely continue to get worse before it gets better, but as things ramp up, eventually the band will snap and change will happen.
It's up to us to work towards that change being positive, rather than negative.

I can’t even smoke weed anymore
Good. That shit isn't good for you.
- You mean #legalizeit was about being able to legally profit from it and not about mental health???
  
  it sure wasn't about shutting down a black market, or even competing with it; looks more like colluding to keep prices high
  
  Stoners and pharma-bros; who knew that'd be a functional combo.
- It depends. It's a bit like alcohol, but better.
  For most folks, weed makes them chill out and think more clearer.

Not sure if you can switch your Facebook to Canada but because of a recent law Facebook stopped serving Canadian all news. I swear it's less anxiety inducing.

Look I'm not saying you're wrong in your assessment of global affairs, but believe me when I say that there is more to life than that. I'd advise you to spend some time each day looking at the world at a different scale than that, for example the life of insects, or the world of classical music or mathematics. Perhaps pick up an interest from your childhood. We're not dead yet! It may also be advisable to see a doctor and tell them about your wanting to spend all your time in bed and your panic attacks while smoking. Hope you feel better.

Rest assured If it happens, it'll be over in a flash.

Only worry about the things you can change right now. Everything else is a waste of energy.
You can't fix stupid in anyone else no matter how hard you try or how much you want it.

I think it's largely just news that is sensationalized to get additional advertising revenue. It's there to get you worried so you constantly check for updates. IIRC this concept was started by CNN back in the 80s or 90s, when 24/7 news became a thing. Now that the Internet is around fear mongering is everywhere. It's what makes money. And if you don't pay for the news, you are the commodity. Frequently a conduit for advertising.

Yes

I can’t even smoke weed anymore without having a near panic attack.
Funny, it's the exact opposite for me. I get panic attacks when I run out.

Live your life and enjoy what you can.
Be glad that you got to experience what you did.
If you have the funds, go tour things we know are vanishing, so that you at least have a living memory of them.

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