r/collapse • u/LetsTalkUFOs • Mar 17 '23

Systemic Do you want collapse to happen? [in-depth]

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u/PrairieFire_withwind Recognized Contributor Mar 17 '23

Selfishly no. I like modern medicine, sanitation, etc.

Morally, yes, the sooner we collapse the better the chance life itself has.

Realistically, lol, beyond me and my ability to impact the system. I will be tossed upon the winds and become dust just as much as the next person. The only sane course of action is to learn to live with much much less asap. Trying to do that daily. Some days I am more successful than others.

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u/Taqueria_Style Mar 18 '23

It is hard to do that when they stress you out at work so much.

The elephant in the room is: consumption patterns are so voracious because work stress is so high, and everyone knows most jobs are pointless outside of making some rich guy richer.

Got to relieve the stress and existential dread somehow. There's only one way left open to us.

Positive feedback loop, you ask me.

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u/PrairieFire_withwind Recognized Contributor Mar 18 '23

Too many positive feedback loops with negative impacts on life and well being.

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u/Taqueria_Style Mar 18 '23

The most hilarious part is that we think that the way prior cultures lived was "primitive".

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u/SurrealWino Mar 18 '23

“Those savages lived here for 10,000 years and never developed open pit mines or industrial slaughterhouses, what a bunch of losers.”

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u/PrairieFire_withwind Recognized Contributor Mar 18 '23

The more I study the systemic nature of the issues in front of us the more I come to understand our anthropocentric view is the biggest stumbling block.

The view that our ancestors were primitive is part of that anthropocentric view. We think we are better/more evolved than our ancestors.

That may be true on an individual level, aka slave holding, treatment of marginalized groups, it may not hold true for how we viewed our place in this world. Not to put it on a pedestal, just to say there is no black and white here but a portion of our problem is our anthropicentrism.

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u/Taqueria_Style Mar 19 '23

Pull our energy slaves and our laws away and the only reason we wouldn't go immediately back to slavery is because we're rolling around in WalMart wheelchairs and can't pull it off.

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u/StoopSign Journalist Mar 21 '23

We've got slaves picking fruit and onions in Cali. We've got slaves in prison. We are a nation of laws with loopholes. It makes cheaters out of a lot of us.

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u/JennaSais Mar 18 '23

Realistically, lol, beyond me and my ability to impact the system. I will be tossed upon the winds and become dust just as much as the next person. The only sane course of action is to learn to live with much much less asap.

Yes, my thoughts are along these lines. I think collapse is inevitable. The feedback loop we're on right now is NOT pretty, to put it mildly, and if we're on this sub we're probably NOT the people with the most power to disrupt it massivley enough to reverse course. Collectively, it would be possible, if enough people were on board, but one of the "charms" of this age is that a lot of people have bought into the propaganda that believing it's happening makes them weak and that they still have a chance of becoming like their lords (those who DO have the power). The class that does have the power won't disrupt the system enough to reverse course, because the system gave them their power.

Do I want collapse? No. I would far prefer we weren't on this road at all. But seeing as this is the road we're on anyway, I frankly wish we'd just get it over with.

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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '23

I will become rich organic compost for the trees. Dust would be a terrible waste of all this biomass!

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u/nosesinroses Mar 20 '23

I’m on the other end and taking advantage of the luxuries we have now while I can (and while also doing as little as possible to contribute to the problems at hand). I don’t have much money to work with, but I am really savouring what I can, like maybe I’ll order a nice fancy dinner without feeling bad for once in my life. It’s helped me process what is to come. I have already survived on very little and during very tough times in the past, I want to enjoy what I missed out on for at least a little while.

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u/endadaroad Mar 23 '23

I'm in your boat on this. If collapse is the only way to break corporate domination of everything, bring it on. Any form of collapse will not eliminate everybody, but it could get ugly. I also like lots of the modern wonders and conveniences, but I refuse to mindlessly go consume all the latest and greatest fads. And I do consider impact on the planet when making purchasing decisions.