#hope for humanity

[reasonsforhope]

If the world wasn't a dystopia when half of all people died before the age of 15 (aka all of human history until the past 250 years x, x), it's definitely not a dystopia now

[writingwithfolklore]

In case you need a reason to believe in humanity just for a little bit today, I was waiting for the bus in the pouring rain and a girl I didn't know silently held up her umbrella over both of our heads until the bus arrived.

It would be easy to say that I met an angel, but really she was just another human in this world that noticed I was standing in the rain and chose empathy and kindness. We are all capable of it.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[mxmorbidmidnight]

I write this as I sit in the nature near my home. When I was young my friends and I played here, climbing over the rocks, occasionally falling into the water (heavily polluted). In recent times I have become acquainted with this place.

I see the families with their small children come by to feed the ducks, I know the kinds of rubbish that collects here, what rocks disappear beneath the water when it rains, when the birds get loud in the trees, the cracks in the rocks the lizards run off too, the parts of the creek the different water birds prefer.

I encourage thee, come to know the creatures you share a home with, the plants they eat, when they breed, when do they come out, when do they sleep? Take your friends, take your children. Watch as the land changes, teach them these things.

What plagues the nature near you? Pollution, habitat distraction, invasive species. Get in touch with local councils, read their reports, join local groups, cleaning up rubbish and invasive weeds. If you live in a city, come to know what plagues it. Start with your home. I think of there is one thing people know it is how to build a home.

There is no greater blessing than understanding the creatures. As long as you live in this place, the same place as they do, you are their kin. If you do not care for one another then nobody else will.

We are not politicians, we are not the CEO’s of companies. We are simply animals in our home, that we must protect with all our might.

[agir1ukn0w]

I absolutely refuse to believe that you can believe in science and feel deeply about the catastrophe our environment is currently under and not STILL…still even with all of that terrible knowledge, still absolutely, adamantly REFUSE to give in, REFUSE to let the greedy genocidal fuckers running our world win, REFUSE to let our world and the lands belonging to indigenous peoples be destroyed. I’m so fucking sick and tired of people talking as if our world is already lost. How can you fucking say that shit. How can you go about your lives in a state of surrender. How can you give up all that we are blessed with, all that our descendants deserve, without a goddamn fight.

[mckitterick]

so I was within 200 feet of a shooting in my town today. didn't even know about it until after I got home, though I'd wondered why all the emergency vehicles were blocking the road as we left this burger joint

right after that but before I got home, I ran into an old student and met his fiancée who'd been sitting at the bar waiting for him. had no idea that she'd wanted to meet up with him here because she needed to talk, but hadn't said why

she'd been sitting at a bus stop beside the victim, and after he was shot she tried to give him CPR while waiting for the EMTs to show up. but that couldn't save him

I'd thought her eyes were red because she'd just taken a shot at the bar. had no idea she was going through that, she was all smiles and friendly hello and even asking questions before we went to separate tables and she told her fiancée why she needed to talk

what kindness of heart

at the same time, what horrors

[positivitypeeps]

Whoever you are

Wherever you are.

Whatever it is.

Never lose hope.

Keep on fighting.

Take down the oppressors.

Build a better future.

[robynqueenofstuff]

The Acceptable News Project 2024

Shall i list off the cherry on top of the sundae that is the crap that is this year? Whether you’re giving into the lies of anti-trans activists, stabbing someone 108 times and getting community service, beating nonbinary people to death in the bathroom. Molesting 21 kids, getting bailed out of prison after RAPING AN INFANT, a police officer shooting people that called for help, sticking by a…

[socialanxietybegone]

Okay before you decide not to wear that thing you wanna wear, if someone really was to laugh would you really respect that person’s opinion? If you saw someone being laughed at for an outfit you’d probably at the least find it rude right? Would you take advice from a jerk like that? A good person would find you brave for wearing it whether it’s their style or not. So get out there and enjoy life in the clothes that make you happiest!

[stupidity-incorperated]

Regarding my last post I told myself that to feel better about the election even though I can't do anything about it. I decided to post it in case anyone was feeling worried about this like I do. if you have ways to cheer up and give me a SLIVER of hope that things will turn out well next year, please tell me🙏🏼. Or give me some good this happening next year to cheer me and the people reading about this up.

[reasonsforhope]

I’m sorry to come to you like this since you probably wanted someone to come in for a reason for hope but I’m freaking out and have no one to talk to about this rn. A music artist I follow put this stuff in their story on instagram..how are things getting better??? I’m so confused and scared. I’m terrified to be alive. I should’ve died in election night. Idk if I can do this anymore. I don’t want the world to end nor live in an apocalypse/dystopia. I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. I’m going to die before I even reach the age of 25 or 30 instead of dying of old age😥😥😥😥😥

First, breathe.

Second:

Go read these links. Keep going down the list until you feel better:

Read:

this article* on why the doomers are wrong

everything in Fix the News's awesome year-end roundup* of good news

everything in my masterpost on why we're going to beat climate change

everything from my masterpost on net negative carbon emissions

everything in Fix the News's archives, until you feel better

*it's a fantastic article in many ways but warning for (brief but serious) fatphobia and some annoying Western-centrism. Warning for fatphobia also applies to (one point on the) Fix the News roundup.

You should not have died on election night. Absolutely not. Yes, there are great injustices in the world. But this too shall pass. Literally everything does.

Some notes:

This isn't the end of the world. It's not about to be an apocalypse. And, if the world wasn't a dystopia when half of all people died before the age of 15 (aka all of history until the past 250 years), it's definitely not a dystopia now, imho. (x, x)

Literally every single week on Fix the News, I see the news that some country has ended some disease! Usually I see multiple stories about that each week! We're making real progress that has saved billions of lives!

In 1900, 120 years ago, there were 5 full liberal democracies in the entire world. Now, about 97 countries (out of approximately 195, depending on how you count) are democracies. That's almost half the countries in the world! This is actually, writ large, a time of massive expansion of human rights, hard as it is to believe from looking at the news. (x, x)

Also Imho the most likely explanation to the Fermi Paradox is that we're only 0.13% of the way through expected lifespan of the universe (x, x). Very little time for life to evolve, comparatively.

Finally:

Unfollow this person. Unfollow everyone who posts something that makes you feel suicidal - literally and ongoingly, every time you see a post that makes you spiral, immediately unfollow that person.

It's not about sticking your head in the sand. If you want, you can calendar time to check ACTUAL news sources (NOT social media) a couple times a week to make sure you're staying up on things.

But you know what? The number one priority is keeping yourself alive.

How are things actually getting better? To quote the first article I linked:

"I could tell you that a little more than 200 years ago, nearly half of all children born died before they reached their 15th birthday, and that today it’s less than 5 percent globally. I could tell you that in pre-industrial times, starvation was a constant specter and life expectancy was in the 30s at best. I could tell you that at the dawn of the 19th century, barely more than one person in 10 was literate, while today that ratio has been nearly reversed. I could tell you that today is, on average, the best time to be alive in human history."

Stay alive. And do what you need to do to keep yourself that way.

[thequeenofsastiel]

I've always wanted to go see the beauty of Thailand but honestly, after fully reading up on the horrific conditions of Thai prisons and how the police are extremely corrupt and will frame you if you don't bribe them, I think I'll give it a pass. No amount of beauty is enough to risk such horror. Truthfully, one of the reasons I want to leave the US is because of how awful our prisons are(though admittedly nothing compared to Thai prisons). Hell, there isn't even a/c in Texas where I live. No a/c. In TEXAS. Where we'll regularly have several months of 100° weather daily. Which I personally enjoy because I'm apparently a lizard and adore the heat. But I can escape into a/c if needed. The worst part is that when prisons got sued over it, the amount of money they spent on lawyers fighting to not have to install a/c was higher than the amount that they'd have had to spend installing a/c in all prisons. Yep, all of them.

Essentially prison in too many places is inhumane. Still, despite the problems the world is facing, in many countries prison has become extremely humane. My hope is that there's going to be a general trend towards treating everyone, prisoners included, in a humane fashion.

This was supposed to be about how sad I am that I'll never visit Thailand because of its horrific human rights abuses, but then it became about humanity as a whole. I'm not sorry.

[mxmorbidmidnight]

The thing about walking around how I do, corpse paint, spiked hair, black corsets and stupidly long black gowns, is that you receive numerous reactions. Most of which unfriendly however they mean little in comparison to those who seem genuinely excited to see a person like me. The people who smile at the grocery store, those who run up to me so excited with rapid fire questions and compliments, the kids who see something they only ever see in their imagination. The fascination of those children with how I get my hair to be that big and why I look like Wednesday Addams. Then there’s the surprises, when an older person says I look gorgeous when I was preparing myself for an insult as they approached. Seeing for a moment someone’s face light up, is so very wonderful. I dress this way for myself, but the joy of others just happens to be an added bonus.

[thealmightybiscuit]

Do I find the phenomenon of tumblr's booping to be overwhelmingly endearing and heartwarming?

Yes.

Have I failed to receive a single boop from any of my *checks notes* three whole followers and/or any kindhearted passerby?

Also yes.

Does this diminish the joy of seeing thousands of excitable humans boop friends and strangers alike with reckless abandon?

Never.

Spread boops. Spread love.