I try to be an optimistic person. I really do. I really, really do. But it's hard to be optimistic when every day it seems that the rock bottom I percieve the world to have reached is not actually rock bottom, and is in fact worse.
Okay so first a bit of could-be-worse news. Apparently the ban the UK government was going to put on VPNs is not going to be a total ban. I still hate it, but I much prefer 'give my ID to a single VPN company (and I get to pick which one)' to 'give my ID to every website I use'. It's still fucked, it's still dystopian, but, I personally believe this solution is at least better than an outright ban on VPNs they were considering before. (Source)
The ban on under 16s using social media they're planning to introduce is probably going to get more children killed than it'll ever actually protect, isolating children with the people who are statistically most likely to hurt and abuse them. But it's not like childrens' lives matter to the UK government except where they can pretend it matters in order to implement rules that harm them. What will teenagers do with themselves? Go out? Can't loiter, and a lot of places you used to be able to go to for free don't exist anymore and places you have to pay to go are expensive now. Plus - a lot of parents don't let their kids and teens wander the streets anymore.
Anyway. The main reason for this blog post: The climate. The government released a report earlier this month which downplays the catastophe we're heading towards. (Source) Even with the risks downplayed the picture painted by this report is grim. We're headed towards total collapse and rather than slam on the brakes to do something about it, those with the means to do so are accellerating, racing towards this future as fast as they can.
I don't know what to do about any of this really. As I say, I try to be optimistic, and there's some good, and being defeatist helps no one and nothing. But it's difficult to be optimistic when the world is literally crumbling around you. Is it worth doing anything? (It is, it is, it's so worth it. But lately it's harder to remember that). The future can be better, can be brighter, but not if we all lie down and let the people at the top tear it away from us. Little things add up. If all you can do is something small, do something small.