All of this will pass. You won't necessarily be able to control any of the variables outside of your own life, but living a virtuous life isn't about becoming the leader of a country or amassing gigantic wealth. It's about doing the right thing, for yourself and others, when it's time to make decisions. I take solace in that. I may not always make the perfectly right decision, but as long as I'm generally guided by what's right, especially when it's a difficult path to take, I will have lived a good life.

Renewables keep taking off like a massive rocketship, with batteries following the same trajectory. There's no stopping them at this point.

Generally speaking, the world just keeps getting better in ways that matter.

Despite all the wars going on, this is probably the most peaceful time in human history; we just see every single conflict thanks to modern telecommunication.

There has always been terrible stuff going on in the world. Very little of the terrible things in the modern day are really new, it's just a new form. And usually the new form is a bit friendlier than the last one.

Frankly, how bad the past was makes it hard to be anything but optimistic about the future. Overall, the best time to be alive in all of history is right now. There's no reason to think that trend won't continue.

We'll defeat diseases, and get more efficient at producing the things we need, and develop technologies to solve problems. Sure, a lot of that will be expensive for a while if capitalism persists, but going into debt for cancer treatment beats dying of cancer.

And it's never been easier to coordinate with such a huge number of people. We have the tools at our disposal to actively make the future better. We have to use them, but we do have them. And it really seems like people are starting to get interested in using those tools, and they're only getting easier to use, which means with a little elbow grease we could progress from "better, year over year" to "actually good".

The boomers are dying, the techbro bubble is almost ready to pop, the kids are organizing. I feel privileged to get to witness the next 50 years.

Organising stuff! I'm pulling together a couple friends to a bar and holding a privacy workshop For anyone who feels like practicing privacy is boring and wants do it over a drink.

There's one thing that's happened this year that inspired actual hope in me. (I am generally a cynic, having read too many history books.)

I made a video about Flock buying out their employees and, in researching it, learned that Flock (as of a month ago) had lost nearly 400 contracts in 36 states. An independent outfit is tracking it because, obviously, major media outlets don't want to talk about the unpopularity of fascism.

Thing is, this accelerated last summer, which means a lot of people who are otherwise apolitical are learning about Flock, going to city council meetings and doing boring, pedestrian and effective political organizing for a good cause.

That is objectively a good thing.

Got invited to do Halloween with some folks, excited for that.

The future was never easy. But as long as there’s a cup of coffee, a piece of nature and a bit of love left, it’s ok.

There's a quote from HBO's Chernobyl series:

To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for the truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants, it doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: What is the cost of lies?

All these fucking guys who've made monsters of themselves to pretend they're our masters - they'll all fail. Their lies are a patchwork of tapestries meant to hide from reality. The bigger it gets, the more it wants to fall. Pull a thread, watch it unravel.

I know that there are good people everywhere who will keep trying. It will take some time, but the pendulum will swing back the other way. People will always keep trying.

Anthony Scaramoochi (or however he spells his name... yes, that guy) said it best. To paraphrase:

"Young people. The boomer generation (my generation), and all the losers associated with it wasted all their power and political capital in ruinous ways, and only emboldened the next generations in their political convictions and you already see a lot of them pointing correctly at where the faults lie, and how the geritocracy serves nobody"

Of all people to give an interesting interview lately, I really did not expect it to be him. You can find it pretty easily on youtube. It was called "38 minutes with..." or something like that. Maybe it was 28 minutes.

In other words, below a certain age, there is overwhelming support in working together for a better future for everyone. The current political class will die out with no heritage beyond everyone knowing how badly they fucked up.

EDIT: Found the interview. Also, it's Scaramucci.

All of this push for global fascism and tightening of chains across the world is actually an extinction burst that's happening precisely because the world is waking up. The oligarchs see one last chance to hold onto power before the common people flip the board.

Three Thoughts:

1. In the long run, things have steadily improved for the majority of the world’s population. That doesn’t mean there can’t be setbacks along the way in the form of dictatorship and mass murder… but viewed over the long term, we’ve all become wealthier, healthier, and lived longer. Of course, this isn’t a sure thing, but it gives us hope that things will eventually be even better than they are now.
2. Billionaires aren’t superhumans, even if they think they are. The fact is, capital doesn’t create anything. WE create value through the work of our hands and minds. Without us, these people are nothing, and even with the stochastic parrot currently being hailed as “AI,” they’re just fooling themselves. It follows that even the biggest narcissists don’t stand a chance when we work together… and if there’s one thing humans are good at, it’s that.
3. People are much better than their reputation. If someone falls in a pedestrian zone, someone helps them up. If a traffic jam forms on the road, a rescue lane opens up. If you ask a stranger for help, you’re usually not let down. Far too many people believe that humans are “just animals with a thin veneer of civilization,” yet the vast majority are clearly more social and altruistic than is generally assumed. The narrative that “all people are bad” is, in my opinion, merely a self-serving narrative propagated by the ruling egoists to justify their own authority, and it’s passed on based on the assumption that we’re all just as selfish as our leaders.

Are these points open to criticism? Sure. Still, there’s at least a spark of truth in them, and that gives me hope.

Trump will die soon.

I think Gen X and younger are, overall, better at dealing with emotional issues than their parents and grandparents. Granted, there's definitely still room for improvement.

But it's no longer considered socially acceptable (much less preferable) to use your kids as a piñata to vent your anger on instead of seeking therapy. It's also far more common for parents to show physical and verbal affection toward their kids. Something my (boomer) parents virtually never did. Probably because that's the dynamic they were taught.

I dont have any firm evidence to back this claim up, but conversations with parents that are relatively close to me in age has shown that I'm not the only one who has observed this trend.

History.

No really looking at all the crazy stuff that happened in the past, you realize these aren't unprecedented times, at least as far as tragedy goes, but the truly unprecedented part is how much less shitty things are in comparison. Not even with technology but with social progress.

It doesn't feel like it but when you think that within the lifetime of people alive we had segregated bathrooms and pools and that seems insane now, that's at least some hope.

The idea that the people wrecking the world are playing 5d chess and only pretending to be delusional idiots becomes less believable by the day. Things may get worse, but their plans are going to blow up in their faces, because they don't contend with reality and that makes for bad plans.

Costco hot dog is still $1.50

Trump is old and sick. Putin is old and sick. Xi is at least old. Most troublemakers are way beyond. It's just a question of waiting them out.

Lula!

Developments in green technology.

The most obvious is, of course, solar power (it ABSOLUTELY ROCKS) and new, eco-friendly batteries, but there's so much more:

• Organisms that eat plastic
• Novel recyclable materials
• Reusing industrial waste to produce tons of useful products (personally working on that!)
• Novel eco-friendly fertilizers
• Actually nutritious plant meat and milk substitutes

And so, so much more!

Also, there are a lot of organizational changes that help:

• Recycling is getting more widespread
• FOSS and hacky folks allow electronic devices to live way longer than they otherwise would
• Bans on petroleum-based plastics in many applications propel cleaner alternatives (including clean, renewable plastics like PLA)
• And more again!

We have all it takes to build a sustainable, almost solarpunk world. With enough political will, we can make it happen. It's not "futurism" anymore - it's a reality we can forge here and now.

People have been prophesying the end of the world for about as long as we have written records.

Yet the world never ends. It changes.

Often suddenly, violently, and without warning - but it does not end.

What we are experiencing is the beginnings of a violent change, one in which most of our familiar world can be ripped away from us at any time.

But it is not an end. It's evolutionary pressure. And if you look at speed of human ingenuity and advancement within the course of just a century, we're on course to keep up and survive this change.

Not all of us, of course, but as a species, absolutely - although we'll likely look very different as a species once the change we're going through is complete.

Now I'm not talking out my ass here. I'm an early climate refugee - wildfire took my family home five years ago, and I've seen the forests I've walked through as a child burnt to ash. The entire neighborhood was erased.

It's now regrowing. Not the same, but the lilies my mother planted still bloom in the empty lot where the house used to be. There are young oaks sprouting that are now 7' tall, and along with the lilies, my mother's rosebush survived. People have started to rebuild, and in another 5 years the neighborhood and surrounding forest will be thriving again.

I don't believe in endings anymore. I believe in change. And this gives me hope for the future because I know that no matter how bad things get, they will eventually change for the better.

Of course, this also means that no matter how good things get, they'll eventually change for the worse - so you may as well savor and appreciate the good things in your life while they're here.

Or as the Buddhists like to say:

"This too shall pass"

Or as I like to sing:

"Wabababa!"

I've taken over the community event association in my village. Soon we have a free community-wide garage sale, several workshops (food fermenting, then bread baking, basket weaving, and bike repairs), and a Linux install party.

Kids are nicer now.

I am more listened to at work (as a woman) than in the past.

We did clean up Tampa Bay, and at least the clean energy tech is growing so fast.

So, so so much less violent here than when I was a kid

People I like. I meet so many cool people, and that makes me think that we, the people, can build a better future, in spite of the power hungry oligarchy.

History gives me hope. It's funny/not-funny seeing people on Western social media freak out like this is the end of all things. Human history is cyclic, and America in particular is on a monster downswing. Consider Europe in 1940 vs. 1960 vs. 1990 vs. 2020. Pretty radical changes for the better! China's up to bat to run the 21st century. Let's see how that plays.

Global warming is the only new thing in the room. But humans are the AR-15s of the animal world. Not the best at anything, but multi-purpose and wildly adaptable for whatever use case is required. Humans now live in places where even insects can't hang! We'll be fine. Eventually.

An optimist and pessimist are in a horrible situation. The pessimist says, “this can’t possibly get any worse”. And the optimist replies, “oh yes it can!”

In France, high-schoolers are launching a revolution, new generation rocks!!

Everything nobody talks about because it usually does it's job perfectly.

Election in 9 days

Like the superbowl but it's real and I enjoy the participation

Been doing phone banking and putting up signs

I do believe that most things will get better in the end. Maybe not everything, and maybe not as quickly as you like. Maybe some things get worse before they get better. But for every one thing that gets worse, two things do get better.

Consider where humanity was 100, 200, 300, 400 years ago. Every generation ends up being better off than the last.

two things

1. one day he'll die
2. one day I'll die

that's about it.

The bullshit with Putin and Ukraine as well as Trump and Iran is heavily incentivizing the adoption of EVs.

Belief in my own capacity to manifest positive outcomes in it.

Getting some historical perspective is amazing. We live in one of the best times on earth, possibly the best ever. Most people just don't realise it because we don't have the lifespan to experience the difference ourselves.

There are so many good things that are happening.

I realise that humanity seems to be on the brink of some truly terrible changes. But you have to cast a wider view than what is broadcast.

Most of the good things are happening all the time in so many places, but simple good works don't generate clicks and engagement.

A huge part of the good in the world is coming through kids; we are teaching them to care for each other and the planet. It is working, there is pushback in some sections of society, there is serious backsliding in some countries. But overall we are moving forward toward a fairer and cleaner world.

I'm a techno-optimist, I think humanity has the capability to solve any challenge before us. It would be nice if we didn't need a crisis to spur the change we need; but we solve problems....that is what we do.

The old ways die slowly; the victories are hard won sometimes, but they are won. Even Trump, as much as I hate all the terrible things he is doing; seems to be the last gasp of a failed philosophy. They won't let go without a fight, but there are far more of us than there are of them.

One day trump will be dead.

My kids absolutely love life and are majorly excited about everything.

Seeing all the people in demonstrations - kids, unionists, elders, families, farmers, nurses, students, punks, artists, ... It stops the feeling of loneliness. And seeing so much young people is the part that gives me faith for the future, that there will be solidarity to overcome anything this depressing world will throw at us.

This is a bit trite, but there are a lot of delicious foods to eat, and so many cats to give scritches to. Concerts to hear. Songs to sing.

I was at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix and they had a violin made out of literal trash. It's a testament to people's resilience and yearning to create. There are so many wonderfully creative people out there, I'll never have the time to consume the every good bit, especially when I feel well enough to create stuff of my own. I love seeing the things people, especially people I care about, create.

I've been really struggling at work lately. I'm not ready to retire but it sucks so bad and I'm super stressed over it. I spent yesterday cleaning out 95% of my 15k emails. Seeing so many messages from longtimers that have moved on made me realize that we all come and go and maybe it's time for me to go- and it doesn't have to be in an "I'm outta here!" way; just looking for a change.

We're getting to see how bad things get before people change their minds. And people are, it's slow and there are holdouts as well as people that just do not want good things for anyone besides themselves/their tribe.

I think the global right is pulling all the cards they have to try and pull the world into war and chaos and even as bad as it is it's not going their way. The more authoritarianism is pushed the more people wake up to their delusions.

In the states you have DSA members actually getting seats, you have people caring about flock and privacy that would have a few years ago brought the story that it's for their own protection. You have Generals and officials resigning in droves because they refuse to be apart of another forever war. You have a whole generation being aware the the US/Israel colonialism and even things like police violence.

If we as a species are going to build a world that's built for peaceful coexistence we have to wake up to what is not working. All of the bad things that are happening are cycles and patterns that have been going on for longer than any of us have been alive and I think there's a good chance we will see old cycles finally break in our life time

Humans will inevitably do the right thing when they have exhausted all the wrong things to do.

I'm more interested in what the people on the street have to say. They are closer to keeping or abandoning hope than keyboardists could ever be. Whether federated or not. That being said, the elections in eastern Europe and South America turning leftwards gives me hope that the North American elections, soon to come, will turn the same way. The whole world needs a bit of a breather and way less noise.