I'm 43, almost 44, years old and went through a bought of alcoholism during the early part of the pandemic. I went through treatment and have been fine since. However, I can't help but feel that all the news in the last few months is just the worst. Between the AI bullshit, the wars, the effects of capitalism, and the political situation in general it's just the worst. Is it just me or have other folks noticed the same trend?
Edit: I should have also mentioned the enshitification of everything tech related.
Edit 2: Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. For some more context, yes I'm American and live in a state that's about to ban the wearing of masks in public. I haven't had a drink in over year and have been in therapy for 3 years. I don't watch any news sources and rarely read media websites. But yet, that information seeps into my life somehow. I donate blood, I make charitable donations, and try to live a good life. I have 2 amazing kids and a great wife. It's just hard to not end up in a doomer mindset at times. A Bitcoin company bought a power plant up here that has an existing lease to use a lake as cooling water, and it's heated up the lake to the point that it's killing fish.
Hello fellow 1980 baby. Have you ever seen a chicken hatch? It's a pretty destructive process. The chick is immediately exposed to a myriad of microorganisms, a sharp shell, embryonic fluid, and plenty of other potential hazards that it can easily kill itself on in the first 20 minutes of its life. However, if it can manage to make it through the hazards you end up with a cute fluffy yellow chick, for another day. They turn brown and dull way too quick for me, at least when I was 10. My point here is that humanity is also going through a transitory period currently. We have already technically reached post scarcity levels, and the proletariat is noticing that. There is bound to be a fair bit of bloodshed over the next couple decades as we strip the power from the ultra wealthy sociopaths that currently run the ship, but the upside is that fucktons of really smart people understand that the roadmap to world peace includes universal education for all, and the elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth.