It Feels Like There is Less and Less Good in the World

And honestly? It’s really depressing.

I was browsing my list of writing ideas and unfinished pieces just now, and I was struck by how many of them are absolutely terrible. There is so much awful stuff happening in the world right now that it kinda feels like everything is hopeless and we are rapidly hurtling toward the end of mankind as we know it.

Climate change; the rise of fascism (again); racism, bigotry, and misogyny (still); and just a general lack of empathy and caring in the world are kinda making me feel hopeless right now. On top of that, a bunch of personal stuff going on in my life right now is contributing to that sense of hopelessness and helplessness.

Logically, I know that the stuff in my life will probably resolve itself just fine, but the world at large feels like it’s been on fire for the past 20 years and things have only gotten worse. The more things change for the better, the more it feels like people are trying to shove the world back decades or centuries to a point where only the elite had power. You know the worst part? It seems like they’ve already succeeded.

The Supreme Court made a choice that actually removed rights from a whole class of people for the first time in a long, long time. This is a country that prides itself on ensuring that its citizens have as many rights as possible and yet continues to fail in that aspect. Unless you’re a white guy who wants a gun or twelve, good luck getting anywhere in America right now.

Look, I know that one of the biggest culprits here is the 24-hour news cycle that I keep railing against since bad news gets views and that sweet, sweet ad revenue. Still, I can’t stop that any more than I can stop Mitch McConnel from being an absolute garbage person. These are things that are more powerful than me, a middle-class guy in the midwest with a keyboard and a very, very small platform.

All the bad stuff going on in the world today just makes me feel like an absolutely useless piece of trash who can’t do anything to stop the powers that be. It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to wonder why I bother with any of this. Nothing I do or say will likely help in any conceivable way, so why exert the effort? Why not just give up and resign myself to a life of struggle and strife where nothing I do will ever matter when compared to all of the awful stuff going on in the world today?

I want to try to end this on an optimistic note, but I don’t really feel optimistic right now. Everything feels terrible, the world is burning down in front of everyone, and anyone who wants to try to stop it is being stymied by the people who are profiting from the flames. I just don’t feel good today, and I think that’s just how it’s going to be.

Good things are going on in the world right now, and I do know that. I just wish they were more evident, that more places would report on them, and that more people would focus on those good things.

I wish I had something nicer for you to read today, but I don’t. Life feels like a perpetual dumpster fire and I can’t be arsed to do anything about it today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have the energy to fight the powers that be, but not today. Today is a day for resting and not overthinking all of the everything going on in the world right now.

If you have the energy to fight the power today, please do so, and know that I’ll be joining you again when I’ve recharged a bit. Right now, though, I simply can’t, and I’ll have to be okay with that.

Be well out there.

If you appreciate my work, why not join Medium as a paying member, which allows you access to unlimited stories (not just three free stories per month), using my referral link. You could also hit me up on KoFi if you’re feeling nice, or send a tip using the button below.

If you liked this, please subscribe to my publication, Thing a Day. I publish something every day on a variety of topics, so you never know what you’re going to see! You can also follow me on Facebook.