How bad do you think things are?

From shadesong, who's answering an "ask me anything" meme:

How?

With all that has happened to you, with all that is happening to the world, with the ever-increasing death-spiral of greed and stupidity and selfishness and cupidity that has us all falling, nay driving, thrusting, nose down throttles wide open afterburners screaming blue flaming exclamation points from the overstressed engines blasting straight towards the rocks while the pilots are back partying with the first-class passengers...

How do you, can you, still have hope?

How?
Because I have to.

So many variants to that answer. Because I have to. Because someone has to. Because, as a parent, I have to.

Because I have to: Because I can't believe that this is all for nothing. And because I see good in the world, and lots of it, and I have to believe that it will overcome, or I will drown in despair. And I have overcome so much in my life that I cannot give up now.

Because someone has to: One candle kills the darkness. And when others see that one candle burning, they'll light their own, because they know it can be done. Does that makes sense? This ties back to the speaking-out-about-rape thing. One person standing there saying "You can survive this" and "You are not alone" makes a hell of a ripple effect. I do it because I can.

Because, as a parent, I have to: If I succumbed to the belief that we are all fucking doomed - that's the logic chain that leads to people shooting their loved ones in the head to save them from future pain. No. I have an amazing bright cantankerous creative loving almost-teenager, and I have to believe not only that there is a place for her in this world, but that she and her friends, her generation, will carry forth our torch and make this world better.

I have to have hope. So I do. I really do.

This is one hell of a call to arms, and shadesong is a very impressive person, but my first reaction is "Huh? As things do, they aren't that bad, and there are a lot of reasons for hope".

I might be foolishly complacent, though at least I'll have james_nicoll on my side. The US is going through a bad political period, but at least things got so bad so fast and with tools for institutional resistance in only somewhat damaged condition, that people are shoving back, and may well be able to do so effectively.

It's entirely appropriate to have fits over how detainees have been treated and oppose the government about it, but really bad governments just kill people by the million, and have secret police to stabilize the policy.

Part of why the world looks bad is that our standard have gotten higher, and we get more information.

Science and technology are advancing, and computers are making considerable improvements easier than they used to be.

Large areas of the third world are considerably better off than they used to be.

So, how bad do you think things are likely to get? Do you find you have work hard to hang on to any hope at all?

How bad do you think things are?

From shadesong, who's answering an "ask me anything" meme:

How?

With all that has happened to you, with all that is happening to the world, with the ever-increasing death-spiral of greed and stupidity and selfishness and cupidity that has us all falling, nay driving, thrusting, nose down throttles wide open afterburners screaming blue flaming exclamation points from the overstressed engines blasting straight towards the rocks while the pilots are back partying with the first-class passengers...

How do you, can you, still have hope?

How?
Because I have to.

So many variants to that answer. Because I have to. Because someone has to. Because, as a parent, I have to.

Because I have to: Because I can't believe that this is all for nothing. And because I see good in the world, and lots of it, and I have to believe that it will overcome, or I will drown in despair. And I have overcome so much in my life that I cannot give up now.

Because someone has to: One candle kills the darkness. And when others see that one candle burning, they'll light their own, because they know it can be done. Does that makes sense? This ties back to the speaking-out-about-rape thing. One person standing there saying "You can survive this" and "You are not alone" makes a hell of a ripple effect. I do it because I can.

Because, as a parent, I have to: If I succumbed to the belief that we are all fucking doomed - that's the logic chain that leads to people shooting their loved ones in the head to save them from future pain. No. I have an amazing bright cantankerous creative loving almost-teenager, and I have to believe not only that there is a place for her in this world, but that she and her friends, her generation, will carry forth our torch and make this world better.

I have to have hope. So I do. I really do.

This is one hell of a call to arms, and shadesong is a very impressive person, but my first reaction is "Huh? As things do, they aren't that bad, and there are a lot of reasons for hope".

I might be foolishly complacent, though at least I'll have james_nicoll on my side. The US is going through a bad political period, but at least things got so bad so fast and with tools for institutional resistance in only somewhat damaged condition, that people are shoving back, and may well be able to do so effectively.

It's entirely appropriate to have fits over how detainees have been treated and oppose the government about it, but really bad governments just kill people by the million, and have secret police to stabilize the policy.

Part of why the world looks bad is that our standard have gotten higher, and we get more information.

Science and technology are advancing, and computers are making considerable improvements easier than they used to be.

Large areas of the third world are considerably better off than they used to be.

So, how bad do you think things are likely to get? Do you find you have work hard to hang on to any hope at all?