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Seeing children today makes me feel a deep sense of despair. Watching them pushed as hard as possible into schoolwork and extracurriculars from elementary age s

Seeing children today makes me feel a deep sense of despair. Watching them pushed as hard as possible into schoolwork and extracurriculars from elementary age so that they might have some shot at a decent life; it feels like watching them being fed into a meat grinder (one that I myself went through and would not wish on anyone). And I didn't have to grow up watching the trees die as my local climate changes from a humid sub-tropic coastal plain into a desert; I couldn't imagine being a child looking ahead at decades of climate change - hell, I'm not that old and so it terrifies me as well. I agree that a world without children sounds sad, but with the way things are going, a world with them seems sadder to me.

bad_user 3y ago
My father was born into a world in which he had to practice subsistence farming if he didn't go to school. His was the first generation for which school was an option, and as a child he traveled 20 km by foot to the school and back, daily. My grandfather lost both parents since childhood, as back then hospitals were places where people went to die. He later fought in WW2, and lost his land to communists. During those years, he also witnessed the soviet-induced famine. We are literally living humanity’s best years. Children today basically get sad for not having enough time to play Roblox. How sad is it that they have schoolwork to do instead of subsistence farming? And we get sad over climate change while stuffing our faces with cheap and delicious food while the AC is on.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I’d say the very definition of depression (and trust me, I’m quite the authority on it) is stuffing your face full of cheap carbs while you never leave your house for fear of heatstroke. Sure gives you time to ponder the meaninglessness of it all though, so if that’s your thing, then the world may indeed be headed in your favorite direction. Just ignore the ever rising levels of depression/anxiety/suicide in teens.
  - bad_user 3y ago
    People dying from the elements is at an all time low! As a teenager, my grandfather lost a set of teeth due to the winter's cold, by sleeping in a cold barn, and he described it as a near-death experience. If anything, for many regions of the world, the weather getting hotter may be a relief for the poor that don't have heating in the winter. We have zero reasons to be more depressed than prior generations. If we are depressed, don't you think the constant fear porn from mass-media has more to do with it? PS: it's not just the carbs that are cheaper and more available. It's everything, including meat. Staples of any healthy vegan diet, like green peas, or lentils, weren't even available until ~1960, after industrial agriculture caught on. Never mind the availability of fresh fruits year-round. My grandparents basically lived on a diet of polenta, potatoes, milk, and eggs, as that's what they were able to grow.
    - hotpotamus 3y ago
      People are dying from heat stroke at higher rates than ever in my state. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/30/texas-heat-wave-deaths-illness/ https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/30/texas-heat-wave-deat... I didn't have to read about it on the news; I lived it. The heat this year was soul-crushing and we're not that far into the 21st century. Do you think countries with lower rates of depression do not have mass media?
      - bad_user 3y ago
        Again, people dying from the elements is at an all time low, and this is a fact: https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters Indeed, the number of people dying from extreme heat is going up, but that number was small to begin with. And you know what the solution will be? To install some air conditioning, much like how we survive winter by having indoor heating, and maybe to adjust our work schedule a little. "Soul crushing", no offence, but JFC.
        hotpotamus 3y ago
        [flagged]
mlhpdx 3y ago
I have a houseful of giggling, happy teens right now. The ones that are supposed to be suffering so awfully according to some. They aren’t. They have struggles and fears I know of, and many I don’t I’m sure. They are just as pragmatic about them as any generation between now and Plato (and longer) has been. Don’t believe what you read, and perhaps don’t judge anyone at their worst moments. Don’t stereotype based on the vocal and visible few.
- hotpotamus 3y ago
  I’m describing my own childhood and life. Not everyone was a happy, giggling teen. Some of us have lived with an existential fear of death (could never believe the happy stories of an afterlife that I was told) from a young age. Here’s a story written yesterday about a child who is already experiencing this in kindergarten. https://www.thecut.com/2023/09/do-kids-need-ambition.html https://www.thecut.com/2023/09/do-kids-need-ambition.html You may think that because you have not suffered, no one else does, but I assure you that is not correct.
  - mlhpdx 3y ago
    Take care. I can’t begin to know your experience. The fact is that I live with an unyielding fear of people. So even as I’m grateful for the joy in the house right now I’m deeply uncomfortable, bordering on panic. Im grateful that I can see the fear is unfounded but that doesn’t make it less real. That knowledge extends to knowing the fear is only impactful on others if I let it manifest in my actions. It always will, but insomuch as I choose my actions it doesn’t have to make much mark on the world. Reading that now it feels a little awful but I absolutely don’t mean it so. I hope you can find peace for yourself.

bad_user 3y ago

My father was born into a world in which he had to practice subsistence farming if he didn't go to school. His was the first generation for which school was an option, and as a child he traveled 20 km by foot to the school and back, daily. My grandfather lost both parents since childhood, as back then hospitals were places where people went to die. He later fought in WW2, and lost his land to communists. During those years, he also witnessed the soviet-induced famine. We are literally living humanity’s best years. Children today basically get sad for not having enough time to play Roblox. How sad is it that they have schoolwork to do instead of subsistence farming? And we get sad over climate change while stuffing our faces with cheap and delicious food while the AC is on.

hotpotamus 3y ago
I’d say the very definition of depression (and trust me, I’m quite the authority on it) is stuffing your face full of cheap carbs while you never leave your house for fear of heatstroke. Sure gives you time to ponder the meaninglessness of it all though, so if that’s your thing, then the world may indeed be headed in your favorite direction. Just ignore the ever rising levels of depression/anxiety/suicide in teens.
- bad_user 3y ago
  People dying from the elements is at an all time low! As a teenager, my grandfather lost a set of teeth due to the winter's cold, by sleeping in a cold barn, and he described it as a near-death experience. If anything, for many regions of the world, the weather getting hotter may be a relief for the poor that don't have heating in the winter. We have zero reasons to be more depressed than prior generations. If we are depressed, don't you think the constant fear porn from mass-media has more to do with it? PS: it's not just the carbs that are cheaper and more available. It's everything, including meat. Staples of any healthy vegan diet, like green peas, or lentils, weren't even available until ~1960, after industrial agriculture caught on. Never mind the availability of fresh fruits year-round. My grandparents basically lived on a diet of polenta, potatoes, milk, and eggs, as that's what they were able to grow.
  - hotpotamus 3y ago
    People are dying from heat stroke at higher rates than ever in my state. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/30/texas-heat-wave-deaths-illness/ https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/30/texas-heat-wave-deat... I didn't have to read about it on the news; I lived it. The heat this year was soul-crushing and we're not that far into the 21st century. Do you think countries with lower rates of depression do not have mass media?
    - bad_user 3y ago
      Again, people dying from the elements is at an all time low, and this is a fact: https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters https://ourworldindata.org/natural-disasters Indeed, the number of people dying from extreme heat is going up, but that number was small to begin with. And you know what the solution will be? To install some air conditioning, much like how we survive winter by having indoor heating, and maybe to adjust our work schedule a little. "Soul crushing", no offence, but JFC.
      - hotpotamus 3y ago
        [flagged]

mlhpdx 3y ago

I have a houseful of giggling, happy teens right now. The ones that are supposed to be suffering so awfully according to some. They aren’t. They have struggles and fears I know of, and many I don’t I’m sure. They are just as pragmatic about them as any generation between now and Plato (and longer) has been. Don’t believe what you read, and perhaps don’t judge anyone at their worst moments. Don’t stereotype based on the vocal and visible few.

hotpotamus 3y ago
I’m describing my own childhood and life. Not everyone was a happy, giggling teen. Some of us have lived with an existential fear of death (could never believe the happy stories of an afterlife that I was told) from a young age. Here’s a story written yesterday about a child who is already experiencing this in kindergarten. https://www.thecut.com/2023/09/do-kids-need-ambition.html https://www.thecut.com/2023/09/do-kids-need-ambition.html You may think that because you have not suffered, no one else does, but I assure you that is not correct.
- mlhpdx 3y ago
  Take care. I can’t begin to know your experience. The fact is that I live with an unyielding fear of people. So even as I’m grateful for the joy in the house right now I’m deeply uncomfortable, bordering on panic. Im grateful that I can see the fear is unfounded but that doesn’t make it less real. That knowledge extends to knowing the fear is only impactful on others if I let it manifest in my actions. It always will, but insomuch as I choose my actions it doesn’t have to make much mark on the world. Reading that now it feels a little awful but I absolutely don’t mean it so. I hope you can find peace for yourself.