Yeah. Especially living in a society actively sliding towards some of the worst features described in some of the fictional worlds I enjoyed in novels coupled with a police state. It was never perfect, ever, but the amplification of the awful parts is really depressing.

I mean, let's be real.

It's gonna get a whole lot worse.

Even when things aren't all fascist, we're still disposable wage slaves for the elite. And somehow that's what we're supposed to be working to maintain.

It's nearly dissociative. It's utterly unreal.

The weird thing is it's kind of more bizarre than a dystopian society. In dystopia, you know resources are scarce and that you have to defend yourself with violence. But in this actual dystopia, I can still get up and go play disc golf, pretty much without incident. There could come a day when I'm pulled over by some Nazi cop who decides to make an example of me, which face it, has been the case for some time now, but until then for little things like that, it's pretty much business as usual despite the plummet into fascism. Very weird.

Alexei Yurchak who was a professor of anthropology coined a term for this: Hypernormalisation.

From Wikipedia: "He introduced the word in his book 'Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation', which describes paradoxes of Soviet life during the 1970s and 1980s. He says everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend."

I used to read through history and so frequently I would wonder things like "how did these serfs just put up with this for so long?"

I no longer wonder these things.

Okay, sure, the Faro plague has consumed all of Eurasia, but have you considered seeing a therapist?

Yeah I've been feeling bizarre as the US falls into fascism and ill just be at work like any other day

Isn't "everyone acting like it's normal" a dystopian nightmare trope?

Well people aren't having kids anymore so I guess we're doing what we can

I feel like it’s always been? I read a lot of history and there’s not many instances of peace and prosperity for all. Things considered im happy i live in the modern world, wish I could live in the pre 9/11 sweet spot, shit wasn’t off the deep end as far as it is now, and homes were affordable

"We should boycott Amazon for firing all their workers in my province."

"Why bother, boycotts do nothing."

How is that the default response and not "FUCK THIS COMPANY"

This weekend I built a shed in my back yard, which was a nice bit of father-son bonding, and stockpiled ammo in case civil unrest causes widespread violence to break out in our neighborhood.

Definitely a strange vibe.

Society has a lot of inertia.

I felt this feeling as we were finding out we invaded Iraq under false pretenses to make money for blackrock. We never did anything. I figured people would change but after voting in same clown after the shitshow he did last time…..

All day everyday

The word hypernormalisation was coined by Alexei Yurchak a professor of anthropology who was born in Leningrad. He introduced the word which describes paradoxes of life during the 1970s and 1980s in the USSR. He says everyone in the Soviet Union knew the system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend.

I see the housing bubbles all over the world and am glad I wasn't born 10 years later. I'm also screwed for not being born 10 years earlier.

I spend a lot of money of booze and weed for this reason.

Nice username

When the weight of the world feels overwhelming, remember this: Everything humans have ever done, every building, road, machine, and moment, makes up only a tiny fraction of this planet’s mass. We are small creatures, clinging to the surface of a vast, ancient, quietly turning sphere. The Earth itself is not in crisis. It simply is. Steady, silent, and endlessly patient. If human noise becomes too much, just place your hand on the ground. Feel the stillness. Let it remind you that you are connected to something far older, far larger, and far more enduring than any headline or heartbreak. The Earth will hold you.

Do you ever statement framed as a question?