# Powerful post on Reddit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580 "2019-10-10T06:54:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/1 "2019-10-10T06:54:20Z")
I thought this was a great perspective from a younger person: > [@Reddit Post](#): > > **BikeDoctor137** > I get that she’s highly efficient. My question was more on the lines of not fucking killing yourself while still understanding just how FUBARED everything is, and how preventable this current shit-show was. > > **WhyYouGottaBeSoRude9** > Oh, that’s easy > > First, start out by your first full memory being 9/11 > > Second, the next few years of your life are spent watching some of the younger but older than you members of your family go off to fight some goat farmers in a desert and watch them come back broken, mentally and physically (if they come back at all) > > Third, that college thing that everyone has been saying is the only way to make something of yourself? Well, the economy just shit itself worse than it has in decades, so it turns out that college isn’t going to be as big a help as anyone thought it would be. Also, owning a house? Not even in your dreams > > Fourth, you’re now old enough to actually go die in that same desert your older family members went to a decade ago, and you might actually get the chance to die in that very same desert because we never left! > > Fifth, you’re old enough now to realize how prohibitively expensive fucking everything is and that a single medical emergency can bankrupt you for life, so hopefully that pain on your left side isn’t actually anything important and will go away on its own > > Sixth, turns out that you’re just in time to witness the last time the planet can be saved if corporations would just stop trying to kill it, but they won’t because money! And there’s dick all you can do about it because you barely have enough energy to keep yourself alive on ramen, water, and that lamp that you convinced yourself is hot enough to keep you warm at night, let alone worry about the seven billion other people on the planet > > Seventh, by now, you’ve realized that your political leaders are basically all corrupt to varying degrees which is why most of them refuse to do anything that would actually fix any of our issues today. This is compounded by the fact that a racist rapist moron got elected to the most powerful office of the most powerful country in the world, despite openly bragging about assaulting women and mocking a disabled report on live television. > > I’m 25 years old. Every single day, the world has gone further down the shitter than it was the day before, and it was already pretty far down there to begin with. Every day, humanity as a whole reaches some new low. Every hour, some horrific act happens and gets splashed our collective consciousness. > > We only have one planet and we can’t even agree on just not killing it. Tell me, why the hell would I kill myself over this? Why would any of my generation? > > We’re used to the world being this shitty because as far as we’re all concerned, it’s always been this shitty. As far as I’m concerned, I’m here to go down with the ship, playing my violin all the way down to the bottom of the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/2 "2019-10-10T11:50:51Z")
Wow, that’s a…really real take on like, life man. Nobody ever thought of felt that way before, at least not from my pre-911 generation, where’d this dude like come up with this amazing insight man!!!@!! Sorry, I know thats the wrong way to post that, but, that quoted post is not powerful, or new or original in anyway that matters what so ever. Sure sure, the details differ from generation to generation and each has had its civilization ending existential crisis or so. Hell in my lifetime I can recall famine brought on by overpopulation, man made ice age, population crash by way of thirst as we were going to run out of potable water any day now and nuclear war. All of these were popular emergencies for humanity in the last 50ish years, several pushed by Carl Sagan Himself. Yeah the world is a shitty place, get over it. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/3 "2019-10-10T14:04:23Z")
I think **Darren** nailed it down fairly well. Having the perspective of time tends to do that to an extent. A quick read through Jared Diamond’s World Until Yesterday can give one a real understanding of just how good we actually have it overall. At least, until the next Dark Age anyway… ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/4 "2019-10-10T14:21:44Z")
After the routine savagery, brutality, and endless wars of the 20th century, we’re practically living in Shangri-La now. Sure, a lot of things are fucked, but when are they not? That poor, tormented Holden Caulfield on reddit should contemplate the rule of King Leopold in the Congo Free State. Hardship and adversity? Modern day America is a picnic. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/5 "2019-10-10T14:28:03Z")
Great, so as the world burns and our metropolises flood, we can all chant “at least we have it better than King Leopold’s Congonese subjects, amiright?” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/6 "2019-10-10T15:56:55Z")
I think it’s all relative. Daily life for me at least isn’t so bad compared to many people in the past or in less stable parts of the world. I don’t have to work in a mine, do back-breaking or dangerous labor, worry about getting shot at, or anything like that. I think corporations have enabled large numbers of middle class that aren’t rich but don’t have too many large complaints either. A steady stream of semi trucks brings gas, goods, and food into the Walmarts and McDonalds etc and we get by just fine. But is this sustainable? One hiccup in my income and I’m toast. One hiccup in the flow of food into my area and suddenly I have to drive 80 miles round trip for basic needs. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/7 "2019-10-10T16:06:31Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Great, so as the world burns and our metropolises flood, we can all chant “at least we have it better than King Leopold’s Congonese subjects, amiright?” The world is not burning. Most metropolises are not flooding. And while we have it better than King Leopold’s Congolese subjects, we also have it better than almost any subject of any ruler, ever. We are faced with real issues. But even if the Netherlands, Bangladesh, a bunch of islands and chunks of Ireland and England get flooded, in aggregate the world population will still be better off than it was 60 years ago. It doesn’t mean the problems aren’t real, or serious, it just puts them in perspective. Growing up in the Netherlands in the 70’s and 80’s the prevailing attitude of many younger people was that it was kinda silly to be too involved in school etc, since we were all going to die in WW3 anyway. This, in hindsight, was stupid. We didn’t die in WW3, and our lives were better than those of previous generations by almost any measure. Mid-20th century, global life expectancy was around 45 years. Now it’s over 70. That is a massive improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/8 "2019-10-10T16:36:19Z")
Sounds like an overly-entitled crybaby whining about world that is better than any time before now because he can’t buy a house when he is 22 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/9 "2019-10-10T18:53:52Z")
Fortunately, a significant number of people of his age are holding down jobs, collectively addressing many of the problems he’s moaning about. In ten years, one of them will be his landlord, while he bemoans his fate as a renter. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/10 "2019-10-10T18:55:44Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Sounds like an overly-entitled crybaby whining about world that is better than any time before now because he can’t buy a house when he is 22 years old. Buy a house in a prime spot in San Francisco when he is 22 years old. And you know what? Neither can I, at 47 with a pretty damned good salary. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/11 "2019-10-10T20:19:32Z")
hmmm…methinks the 25-year old needs to get laid. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/12 "2019-10-10T20:33:58Z")
Too late. The Chads already took all the Stacys. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/13 "2019-10-10T20:46:59Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I thought this was a great perspective from a younger person: My first memories predate 9/11/01, despite being a couple years younger than the redditor in question. I mean yes, all of those things actually happened and have importance in how I view the world. But compared to my parent’s generation… whose first fully formed memories were watching the assassination of the leader of the free world, or ducking under gradeschool desks in anticipation of a nuclear strike, or seeing your family members being shipped off across the world to murder despirate farmers in the jungle, getting your license and then not being allowed to drive because of gasoline rationing, being unable to marry your soulmate because of anti-miscegenation laws, first learning about politics when the President of the United States covers up for a political crime, etc. And don’t then there’s the generation before that… born into a world engulfed in the bloodiest war in history, growing up during the single greatest economic disaster in modern times, coming of age just in time to be shipped out for a _second_ world war, winning that war only to see the rise of communism… ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/14 "2019-10-10T21:47:28Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > I think **Darren** nailed it down fairly well. Are you…are you from the future? I hadn’t even read the thread yet when you posted this! (For the record, my reaction to the Reddit post is “What a Drama Llama!”) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/15 "2019-10-10T21:53:57Z")
Me, I see his post as the first step into…joining the 3%ers and setting off a bomb somewhere. Or shooting up something. Because if there’s nothing to live for, then why care? You can shoot yourself, or shoot someone else. Which is easier? And yes, I swear I read that post decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/16 "2019-10-10T22:02:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Are you…are you from the future? I hadn’t even read the thread yet when you posted this! > (For the record, my reaction to the Reddit post is “What a Drama Llama!”) I was a bit confused, too. **swampspruce** probably meant to write **DorkVader**. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/17 "2019-10-11T02:16:06Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > The world is not burning. Most metropolises are not flooding. And while we have it better than King Leopold’s Congolese subjects, we also have it better than almost any subject of any ruler, ever. > > We are faced with real issues. But even if the Netherlands, Bangladesh, a bunch of islands and chunks of Ireland and England get flooded, in aggregate the world population will still be better off than it was 60 years ago. It doesn’t mean the problems aren’t real, or serious, it just puts them in perspective. Growing up in the Netherlands in the 70’s and 80’s the prevailing attitude of many younger people was that it was kinda silly to be too involved in school etc, since we were all going to die in WW3 anyway. This, in hindsight, was stupid. We didn’t die in WW3, and our lives were better than those of previous generations by almost any measure. > Mid-20th century, global life expectancy was around 45 years. Now it’s over 70. That is a massive improvement. You can keep ignoring what the science says if you want, but as we have been told over and over again over the last two years, we have a very short window of time to prevent irreparable damage. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/18 "2019-10-11T03:19:44Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I was a bit confused, too. **swampspruce** probably meant to write **DorkVader**. > > ~Max It was my dorkside sith bunny powers clouding everyone’s vision, yeah, that’s the answer. Thats right, the Easter Bunny is a Sith Lord, think about it. Does that make the world better or worse? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/19 "2019-10-11T13:14:12Z")
I’m not sure why people are ridiculing the author, these are valid complaints. Maybe they’re not as bad as what people went through in ww2 but they exist. And what makes them so miserable is they are avoidable. We could have higher wages, universal health care, do something about climate change, do something about foreign investors driving up real estate prices. But we don’t do anything about it because we live in a plutocracy and the rich like our broken system. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580/20 "2019-10-11T13:46:37Z")
The reason for the ridicule is that there is nothing substantially new. The realizations in the complaints are the exact same ones every generation has had going back…forever maybe? And many of them really are not that different from the Boomers and GenXers [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/powerful-post-on-reddit/841580.md?page=2)