Enjoying a life not spent working 24/7

[karengodsgirlk2]

I'm kinda piggybacking off that one post that got big lately, about Australian youth giving up on the rat race.

Say this sentiment gets bigger over the years. More and more people choose to work the bare minimum and instead spend their time enjoying life.

But they can't fully enjoy it, because climate change disrupts everything. Do you think people would start to use their extra time to start preparing for climate change and taking action as it becomes more of a near-term threat?

I know this is a very specific question but as a Gen Z myself, I see climate change as a bigger near term stress than getting a good job rn... like, if we're going with the carrot and stick, isn't the potential gains for stopping climate change way better and the stick a thousand times worse?

 

[ima_believer]

@karengodsgirlk2 You need to get off social media the dooms scrolling about the climate is messing up your head.

If you want to do your part for the climate get a good job and commute by walking or cycling and work on making your life carbon neutral.

Id see someone about the anxiety but id start with dropping social media or doing a digital detox.

 

[benz_iris]

@karengodsgirlk2 Lost my job during covid and wasn't able to find a new one until the international students returned

Certainly wasn't enjoying the depression, loss of income and lack of social interaction

 

[karengodsgirlk2]

@benz_iris I'm sorry you struggled during covid, it sounds like you went through a difficult time. For me personally, climate is a bigger stress. Eco anxiety involves a lot of derealization, panic attacks, I sincerely hope you never have to experience it. But if you're wondering why climate people seem a bit intense, it's probably due to eco anxiety If your stress of losing your job comes from that experience you had, I can't judge.

 

[yole]

@karengodsgirlk2 You need to talk to someone about this.

 

[karengodsgirlk2]

@yole I have, it's a normal response to climate change. Kids, people working in climate fields, young adults etc tend to get it. I'm doing a lot better now, if that's what you're asking.

 

[nonkululeko]

@karengodsgirlk2 You can only stress about climate change when you come from an angle of having food and a roof over your head. Without that safety net (the vast majority of the world) longer term problems become a far less important concern

 

[karengodsgirlk2]

@nonkululeko Yeah that's the logical answer, but eco anxiety doesn't care. It's pretty much just my survival instincts screaming "You're going to die!!!"

 

[dewguru]

@karengodsgirlk2 That's exactly what this person was saying though. If you didn't have shelter or food (which you need a job to pay for unless you have a very kind family) then your survival instincts would be wayyy more focused on the fact that you had no food and were stuck in the freezing cold/searing heat.

 

[karengodsgirlk2]

@dewguru Yeah that's kinda how anxiety works. Same if I got into a car accident or something. Same level of anxiety, different threat.

 

[ethnosax]

@karengodsgirlk2 Do you think Bill Gates has "eco anxiety" when he flies about in his private jet? He also wrote a book about climate change. You see the hypocrisy?

 

[fshepherd23]

@karengodsgirlk2 I think the “giving up” problem relates specifically to children growing up within a wealthy country. Pound for pound we’re living the dream in comparison to the vast majority of the world.

Sure we have problems and we need to work through viable solutions via active politics but to think anyone migrating isn’t going to break their back trying to take your place and be happy to deal with your interpretation of a ‘poor current state’ is foolish, you’re only damning yourself.

 

[nonkululeko]

@fshepherd23 Technically the best thing you can do to limit climate change is work hard in the west and export that cash effectively to the third world to rapidly improve global economic equity and skip the fossil duel stage of economic growth

 

[bible_follower]

@nonkululeko Yeah too many people focus on China and third world countries output of emissions without realising the West had a 200 year headstart and it’s unfair to cap their growth stage because we suddenly had a change of heart after we got 200 years of rapid growth using those fuels before we got an environmental conscious

 

[fudgetusk]

@fshepherd23 Except it actually isn't wealthy country specific. Google the 'lie flat' generation/ movement.

 

[fshepherd23]

@fudgetusk Thanks for the reference, looks like good research for my Sunday night reading. I do think the problem is still far more pronounced in wealthier countries though as there is a higher risk of ‘lying flat’ due to a far larger pool of candidates willing to suffer / work harder for the opportunities that come with being in a wealthy country. But take my opinion into account after only a surface level reading of what you brought up.

 

[barbaravaill]

@fshepherd23 What does this have to do with climate change?

 

[fshepherd23]

@barbaravaill Reference not only the first half of the post but the original post OP is piggybacking, I thought I was pretty concise no? Happy to clarify. My concern is the original behaviour, I thought the second half of the post wasn’t as important because I really can’t see that happening (in my uneducated opinion).

 

[barbaravaill]

@fshepherd23 Climate change is coming though, and it's going to change things in ways we aren't able to fully predict or understand yet.

In the face of such a thing, it's hard for someone age 20 just starting out to be confident following the same strategy for financial stability that old people used.

Personally I felt something similar back in 08. At that time I was in uni in the Midwestern US (where I grew up) and nearly everyone I knew in my hometown suffered in some way. People lost their homes, their businesses, everything. Some even lost their lives ('deaths of despair' they called it). After seeing that, it was very hard for me and others my age to continue ahead with the same old plan of 'finish degree, get job at company in town or make your own business, buy a house, live and work in this way forever, etc. It sounds obvious now but at the time people really thought that was the easy and normal thing to do. We knew better, and pretty much most of my friend group left and did something completely different.

It's not an exact comparison, but my point is that for kids starting out now and seeing the disasters ahead, putting all your eggs in the property and EFT baskets feels too risky. It makes sense for them to work instead in a way that allows them to survive now and prep for the future via mobility, practical skills, etc, as the markets don't seem likely to remain stable with the changes coming.

The future is going to be much more difficult than the last few decades, and I don't think the kids are wrong to be worried and to question paradigms that don't seem suited to crises.

 

[fshepherd23]

@barbaravaill Yeah I see where you are going and I can appreciate your point particularly with your background. I think we are just opposed as to the extent of the impact climate change will bring, I’m by no means denying its existence and that its impact will be felt but I am optimistic about our ability to adapt.

As for young people going into the situation, I would give the same opinion to them that I bring to you now. Things will change, like how technology changed us. But I wouldn’t want them to straight up eject from any effort into their life and to fall into hedonism, that’s a slippery slope.