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The Fatal Flaws of the Futureless Left | The rise in antinatalist sentiments signals a collective loss of faith in the future (jacobin.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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The rise of doomers, preppers, and antinatalists on the Left reveals something deeper than the hollow posture of rebellion: a collapse of belief in tomorrow. A Left that chants “No future” isn’t just demoralized — it’s unserious, misanthropic, and bound to lose.

Tldr: How do you inspire people to work for a better tomorrow if you don't believe tomorrow can be better? Trump and the American right have a vision of a future America that they claim will be great and glorious. The American left - and the global left - have lost sight of the future entirely. Instead of promising a bright future, they merely seek to endure the crises of the present - and some on the left have given up even that.

The article speaks to the desperate need for hope - for a clear, compelling, leftist vision of the future to serve as a guiding light for left-wing activists and politicians.

And hey, what political slash environmental slash aesthetic movement focused on a hopeful future just got its instance back up?

(Welcome back, everybody!)

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[–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Great article. I agree with most of the author's points. I find doomers very annoying and problematic. Why even argue that position? Why try to convince people to join you wallowing in misery? I think they just want to confirm to themselves that nothing can be done so they can continue doing nothing.

One other question: It's hard to deny that this problem is hitting the West and Western influenced countries quite hard. What's it like in China? They're building for the future and talking about and working on tech that could help everyone. Are people in China largely optimistic?

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

    Nope. China is very pessimistic at the moment.

    Lots of... not wanting kids even if not actual antinatalism. Due to no free time, competition for resources, and people having no ability to live for themselves before 24 or so. High costs as the assumption of 2 parents 1 child is baked into the costs of everything, from kids' activities to the education system.

    The place seems to be aware something big is coming, and no one seems optimistic. All the chatter about growth, new tech, hasn't been felt in people's lives or incomes yet, in fact the inverse as businesses close up and everyone becomes a Didi driver (滴滴司机) or a Meituan deliverer (外卖哥/姐) and that's the same gig economy rubbish we have, only with fewer rights and protections.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Ugh, that's a bummer, but thanks for the insight

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago

    You're welcome. It's a big place and never gets a fair voice in Anglophone media. Alas, it's still no utopia or shining beacon.

    But all the same, for a country that has spent its whole existence staring down the barrel of the USA, the PRC has done well for itself. Raised living standards according to UN/World Bank metrics. Drastically reduced unintended (wording due to one child policy) deaths of children.

    But the Cultural Revolution did a number on society that helped shape it into the nation of alienated neoliberal subjects it is today.

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