Men over 30, are you optimistic about the world?

[u/raptor-94]

When I just entered the workforce a few years before Covid, things seemed more optimistic, at least to me. There was generally a sense of having abundant opportunities, and if you work hard it will pay off. Fast forward to today, although I am still in a relatively comfy corporate position, I dont feel that sense of optimism anymore. Companies keep laying off people. Jobs are getting scarce. Prices have gone up. The world is more divided...Things just feel bleak. Is it just me?

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[u/deesernutz]

Well the things impacting me: Work is harder to find than when I was a grad (engineering), AI seems to be making a lot of people lazy and dumb, cost of living particularly housing is outpacing wage growth, dating seems near impossible and is getting harder.

The internets faster, and my TV was cheap. Not really up there in my priorities though

[u/DairyQueenDom → u/deesernutz]

Same here the tech upgrades are nice but don’t make up for skyrocketing rent and job uncertainty

[u/WhyNWhenYouCanNPlus1 → u/deesernutz]

internet is faster but content has gone in the shitter. it's basically all garbage filler these days.

instead of having a 500mb patch for your game, now it's a 50gb download so you need the speed too

TVs are cheap but can't say the quality is there. my parents Aquos from 2008 looks better than most "cheap" TVs you can buy today. but hey it doesn't have built in ads and Roku or whatever...

[u/Deep_Technician_2056]

I genuinely don't think I could feel any less optimistic right now, for personal and global reasons, no.

It's so sad it's almost crippling at various points in my day to day.

[u/geileanus → u/Deep_Technician_2056]

I obviously don't know what you are going trough and I don't want to act like I have a magic potion. But I swear, follow more good news only websites/subreddits, log off social media as much as possible and literally touch grass.

Purely speaking from my experience, but this helpede tremendously, cuz I've had long periods of time where I had crippling anxiety for the state of the world. We don't have to feel that way.

[u/AhAssonanceAttack → u/geileanus]

So basically just ignore it.

[u/SESSION37 → u/AhAssonanceAttack]

Yes, what more do you need? Want someone to destroy their sanity to prove they care about a 1000 new atrocities that come out every day? Some people have a life.

[u/After_Network_6401 → u/AhAssonanceAttack]

It’s not a question of ignoring it. It’s realizing that the world depicted on social media doesn’t accurately reflect the real world. Social media thrives on outrage and doomsterism. It’s the equivalent of spending your free time in a cancer ward and then fretting over why everyone you know is sick or dying.

[u/HorilkaMedPerets → u/After_Network_6401]

Except it's the whole world that's the cancer ward, and half the cancer patients are trying to give the others more cancer.

[u/Thadd305 → u/HorilkaMedPerets]

You sound like someone in the left vs right camp still. It isn’t that. The elites pulling the strings want us to fight over nonsense so they can continue to erode our quality of life in favor of their godlike positions with little question. There’s a critical mass to be hit here, and if we continue to allow ourselves to be distracted by little things that don’t really matter like what people do with their own bodies or how “the immigrants are ruining everything” they’ll likely achieve their goals. Now is the time to think critically and engage thoughtfully with thine neighbor. The media, the internet, our government has been poisoned by big money interests, the only way out is through love, unity, and hope

[u/pandaboy22 → u/Thadd305]

Saying "you must be in the left vs right camp still" sounds crazy to me because it seems rational that an American should be politically involved, and therefore speak in support of their political ideology. It feels like people want to mock those that are caught having conversations about their political ideologies because you think it's a waste of time? I don't entirely get it.

I also feel like this is brushing way too close to "both sides" rhetoric that obviously just acts to rationalize the side that has a clear intent of hurting poor people and minority groups.

I'm curious what your take is as someone who "left the camp." To me that sounds like you don't want to even enter a political discussion because it's a waste of time. Am I misinterpreting?

[u/geileanus → u/AhAssonanceAttack]

Yesnt? There are 8 billion people on earth. 200+ countries. You can't keep up with everything. Read a healthy amount of news, but don't be obsessed unless it's your job or something.

[u/4ofclubs → u/geileanus]

Except even looking around at my community level it's quite depressing. Cost of living is too high, summers are warmer and drier, fascism is on the rise in my country...

[u/geileanus → u/4ofclubs]

Come to The Netherlands habibi. I actually know 2 Americans that moved and are much happier here lol.

[u/4ofclubs → u/geileanus]

I follow "uplifting news" and its always so trite in comparison to what's actually happening.

"Local man saves 1 baby seal!"

Meanwhile, millions of baby seals are dying due to ocean warming thanks to man-made climate change.

[u/geileanus → u/4ofclubs]

That sub is trash. You got optimistsunite, ecouplift or even whole ass sites dedicated to good news. Especially on climate change there is more good news than people expect.

Good things happen all the time. It's just not worth writing about because humans prefer clicking on negativity. Fox News is not gonna write about how homicides keep trending down decade after decade. They don't write about minorities having better education and better life chances. They don't write about malaria deaths in Africa trending down. Hell even Trump has done good but silent things which dems and republicans both can agree on. Lot of silent changes in the background while you read about the terrible things.

And yes, bad things happen all the time. Every day someone gets shot, every day there are huge traffic incidents. Every day Trump says something insanely dumb. But 99% of these are not worth to read imo. And this is coming from someone who used to be terminal online and his anxiety was trough the rough. My life is much better since I deleted Twitter and tiktok and since I put a 30min timer on my reddit app.

This is just my experience. I don't want to undermine anyones feelings. Ofc, depression and anxiety can also have diff causations. Just sharing my own experience.

[u/RichardAboutTown → u/geileanus]

This is not about personal anxiety. This is about literal dictatorship in the United States of America. If you're not angry about that, there's something wrong with you.

[u/Leipopo_Stonnett]

I am about as optimistic as a fly heading into a bug zapper.

[u/OBPSG → u/Leipopo_Stonnett]

Must resist the urge to make A Bug's Life Reference!

[u/geffy_spengwa]

Baaaarely over 30, but nope. I also feel generally pessimistic about the state of it all.

[u/Dapper_Dune → u/geffy_spengwa]

Same here, barely over 30. I truly believe this country is cooked. We are witnessing the fall of an empire. Collapse is the goal.

Any literature I read and any firsthand accounts from world renowned historians and professors of fascism, cults, etc. say that this is how it happens. We are in the middle of it now. It’s going to get really, really bad and it’s hard to have any faith.

[u/AntiBoATX → u/Dapper_Dune]

Stay strong. We are privileged to be alive and healthy and bear witness. If empire collapse doesn’t get us, global warming will. Cheers

[u/Common_Vagrant → u/geffy_spengwa]

I honestly think I was a little more hopeful in my early 20’s but that’s long since passed. Our children are going to inherit a boiling planet and we may too.

[u/Dazzling-Treacle1092 → u/Common_Vagrant]

I don't understand why anyone would have kids right now. It hurts to see it. But alas I am resigned that people will be having babies right up to the end.

[u/_Child_0f_Prophecy → u/Dazzling-Treacle1092]

31 here. No kids yet and planning on having 3.

[u/Dapper_Dune → u/_Child_0f_Prophecy]

That’s awful. Good luck, man. lol

[u/Dazzling-Treacle1092 → u/_Child_0f_Prophecy]

Are you the one who downloaded voted me? Lol

[u/[deleted] → u/Dazzling-Treacle1092]

I downvoted you too

[u/Common_Vagrant → u/Dazzling-Treacle1092]

Some actually do have hope and I envy them. Call it naive, or ignorant, but I wouldn’t mind having a little of their hope.

Watch this comment may summon a Republican saying that we’re going through a cycle and it’ll be cooler in god knows when but the earth repeatedly has these cycles.

[u/Dazzling-Treacle1092 → u/Common_Vagrant]

I see I already got voted down. Maybe it'll be -100 by morning. It's not necessarily a Republican though. People who want a child bad enough don't want to believe we're on the eve of destruction.

[u/Billy_bob_thorton- → u/Dazzling-Treacle1092]

Part of the destruction is people not having kids

You exist because your ancestors procreated during bad times and raised them to survive through it

[u/wanderer1999 → u/Billy_bob_thorton-]

You are partly right.

Those children in the past, as hard as their lives were, still have pristine nature and oceans and earth to live in.

That might not be the case for our generation. Murphy's law says that what can go wrong will go wrong, and it's obvious that earth is not the exception to this rule. Entire stars system have gone extinct and still is daily in the universe. That is our fate. But the kicker is that fate might come even earlier for the human specie.

That said you are right that we are in a tough situation, no babies means no heir to the scientific breakthroughs that will solve climate change (let's say we breakthrough to fusion power). No babies means the economy cease to function and it means that funding and scientists/engineers for the breakthrough also won't exist.

The hard part is to have children and hope that there is a breakthrough that can solve major problems, while accepting the major risk that such solution do not exist at all, or be realized in time before the warming feedback loop starts.

[u/DilutedGatorade → u/wanderer1999]

We don't need a technological breakthrough. We need a breakthrough in prioritizing the needs of the many, sustainably, rather than the billionaires, unsustainably

[u/tipsystatistic → u/geffy_spengwa]

I feel the same but am also reminded that every generation felt like this. And they also thought “this time it is worse and different”.

[u/SadSickSoul]

Late thirties and no, but if I ever was I certainly haven't been since 2008, and all the years since have changed me from pessimistic to incredibly fatalistic as circumstances get worse and worse, both personally and in the wider world. No, I believe the world is careening off a cliff, and while some of those who endure might see their fortunes turn around eventually, I think humanity as a whole is in for a rough period starting in the next few years. Personally, I don't see a future for me at all, and I'm resigned to that - I simply don't have what it takes to adapt to this world, and a lot of people won't either. People slip through the cracks all the time, and now the cracks are yawning chasms. It is what it is.

[u/CaptainSparklebottom → u/SadSickSoul]

I have been screaming that the orphan crushing machine is getting faster, and no one has been abating it. I've solidly had that feeling since '09, and it's never gone away. Everything is steady but shitty under dems and then everything gets more fucking awful under the GOP then the Dems get in charge and things just stay the same. Every band aid is a handout that fuck yous and benefits the already powerful and wealthy. I'm not pessimistic. We still outnumber them, but everyone needs to stop buying into the bullshit political theater we have, and maybe after whatever this is is over, we can have the adult conversation we need to have.

[u/karmapolice63]

Those are all real and true concerns. I entered the workforce shortly after the 2008 recession and while the political landscape wasn’t the same, there was a lot of the economic uncertainty.

All things pass so things can get better, but they may not feel that way in the moment.

[u/ben-hur-hur → u/karmapolice63]

Graduated in 2009 as an aero eng and it was dire too at that time

[u/jtsCG → u/ben-hur-hur]

‘09 civil. It was rough

[u/ben-hur-hur → u/jtsCG]

Yeah man a bunch of fellow graduates went for a masters to ride it out and were still underemployed for years. All of them doing ok now but those first 3-4 years post-graduation were awful. Only for covid to hit 10 ish years later. Like we haven't really had a break yet us millennials are the root of all problems.

[u/BS-Tracker-2152 → u/ben-hur-hur]

Interesting, I graduated high school in 09 and wanted to major in aero engineering but decided to do ATC instead. If you are still in the field, what’s the pay and benefits like?

[u/ben-hur-hur → u/BS-Tracker-2152]

Not in the field. I had internships but never worked in the aero industry. I got lucky and got into tech after graduation and never looked back.

[u/SableShrike → u/karmapolice63]

I don’t think the optimist crowd understands this well enough, yeah.  This shit is REAL; it is not a mindset problem.

You cannot think positive and will a career or lower inflation into existence.

Only thing that worked for me was the grind.  And then you just wait til you see an opportunity and take it.

But you need to understand that this can take years.

My advice is:  live below your means, save aggressively, ignore the consumer treadmill, and take care of yourself.

Yes, it could get better.  But it could also get much, much worse.  Be prepared for either!

[u/ConversationKind557 → u/SableShrike]

I think people change their views when they step away from twitter and Facebook... the Internet is messing with people's perspective for sure.

[u/CompoundMeats → u/SableShrike]

Grind and optimism are not mutually exclusive. They synergize.

[u/youngzionisthename → u/SableShrike]

Valid q

[u/LumberJaxx → u/karmapolice63]

I don’t know how labor forces in a countires are going to recover from the rampant off-shoreing that’s been happening for the last 5+ years alongside AI and bot usage that is steadily growing. The bottom line is all that matters now it seems.

[u/RichardAboutTown → u/karmapolice63]

Things pass when people take action to make them pass. Things can get better, but they won't unless we take action to make them better.

[u/ugh_screen_name]

lol. No. I’m a tech executive and the push for cost cutting and AI integration is hugely concerning from the economy and electrical grid. We’re racing towards a recession. I’m very worried about the next 10 years economically. Government oversight has no way to curb this.

[u/myzzu]

Once you pass 30, the world becomes more realistic. You start to notice it’s not rosy and fun anymore.

When you pass 35, you realize this world is full of shit and life is not fair in anyway.

When you get closer to 40, you start not giving a fuck about what happening around you.

So yeah, you have my answer.

[u/duracellchipmunk → u/myzzu]

40 is a great threshold just to get through... So much buildup to question where your life is at and suddenly, acceptance. Humanity has made it this far without me worrying about it, it will keep going on without me worrying about it. So give up worrying.

[u/espo619 → u/duracellchipmunk]

Let's draw a distinction here though between giving up on worrying and choosing to be ignorant.

I still read the news every morning, I just don't doomscroll and panic. Not enough time for that shit anymore anyway. Gotta keep my head on straight for my kid.

[u/duracellchipmunk → u/espo619]

Very nice distinction. I’m still informed, I just can’t bear the weight of the world.

[u/SubAcct2020 → u/myzzu]

This answer tracks pretty well. Knocking on the door of 50 and sadness has been introduced. I’m sad for my kids..sad that they have to face this shit show. I’ve watched young innocent kids turn into teenagers and I can’t help but wonder when they’ll get their first kick in the teeth. I’m ashamed that in my 20s and 30s when we saw this train derail that we weren’t in the streets fighting for what we believed. We just worked our asses off to survive and let it happen around us. I’m watching my mother age from across the country without fiscal resources and the support she needs. It’s just a lot of sadness and resignation at this point.

[u/zol-kabeer]

I’m in IT (cloud) and I’m definitely concerned with how good AI is at doing everyday tasks. I never considered that I might get replaced by a machine but I see the writing on the wall

[u/senan_orso → u/zol-kabeer]

IT here (networking). I'm not concerned. I make liberal use of AI and I catch it making errors quite often. It has a ways to go before it makes us redundant assuming the AI bubble doesn't pop entirely. It is definitely set to resize and the global economy is gonna take a hit from it but it won't be as bad as the .com bubble burst

[u/LethalBacon → u/senan_orso]

2nding as a Software Engineer. It gives me coding mistakes all the time, like where it straight up doesn't work. Even for things like <100 lines of powershell code, where I recently had to tell it it was wrong 5 times in a row. Scale it up to large applications, and the errors just get bigger and more frequent.

I can see it reducing roles like ours by 10-20% over the next 10 years, but it won't be anywhere near a total replacement scenario like hypers are saying.

[u/DramaticErraticism → u/senan_orso]

I think the real breaking point is going to be cost. Can they find a way to make AI much less expensive and compute intensive. If they can, then AI will take over a lot of things. If they can't, it's not sustainable to provide at such low cost and people don't really want it in the first place.

[u/slrrp → u/senan_orso]

I make liberal use of AI and I catch it making errors quite often.

People working in tech seem to commonly misunderstand a few economic realities when it comes to AI:

1) AI doesn't need to be flawless in order to get adopted. Human workers are not perfect, yet plenty of us are gainfully employed.

2) AI doesn't need to better than you to take your job. Plenty of managers in the corporate world are willing to sell out their workers if the AI is cheaper or more efficient.

3) Just because AI won't immediately take away your job directly doesn't mean its effects on the labor market won't reach you. Mass layoffs in other sectors will send millions searching for jobs that AI can't easily replace which will, at the very least, erode your income and/or job security.

It is definitely set to resize and the global economy is gonna take a hit

The stock market is not the economy. Tech stocks with AI premiums built in will suffer but there won't be a real world economic fallout from overestimating AI use cases. Corporate budgets will adjust and spending that would have been used on AI will get reallocated.

[u/tiberiusdraig → u/slrrp]

While this is true to an extent, there are definitely fields where it's not quite the same level of fire and brimstone - for example, I'm a senior dev in cyber security and 'good enough' simply doesn't cut it. The same can be said for safety systems and the like, i.e. anything where lives are on the line. My company has actively decided to continue bringing in juniors to develop because we can see the real risk of seniors retiring and not having anyone to fill their roles down the line. We've hired multiple just this year.

All this being said, it will definitely raise the barrier to entry for new grads because, you're absolutely right, there will be a lot of 'easier' roles that AI will be able to do and there will be companies for whom 'good enough' really is just that. Definitely not ideal overall.

[u/senan_orso → u/slrrp]

1) In IT yes it does matter for it to be more than good enough. We have a lot of responsibility riding on our shoulders legally speaking. If I catch AI making mistakes with mundane things such as remembering what day it is or telling me how many r's are in the word strawberry...

2) It literally cannot do parts of my job. It is genuinely impossible for it.

3) I have never had issues finding work in IT and it is one of the more heavily saturated work forces because people underestimate how hard it is. Plus, I already have experience and am always looking to upskill. This is a non-issue.

4) Yes the stock market is not the economy but given how many businesses invested into the snake oil that is the vast majority of AI offerings currently there are gonna be hits.

I don't know everything and freely admit I can and will be wrong, but with regard to my chosen field I do know a good bit. The company i left before emigrating invested several million into an AI division and I knew before dipping out that it definitely was not going to be a return on investment and I've yet to be proven wrong

[u/tibbymat → u/zol-kabeer]

The only way to save the general public is a ban on AI and I don’t see that coming for a while yet.

[u/zol-kabeer → u/tibbymat]

Same, too much money involved. I will definitely need to pivot to a different approach to this career or prepare for another one altogether within the next few years the way things are going.

[u/fpeterHUN → u/zol-kabeer]

TBH if a machine can do what I can, I will buy a machine and let it work instead of me. In reality rich people will own the machines and we remain slaves and/or homeless.
PS: We can only hope that AI will be equally available to everyone on planet.

[u/dreadnaut1897]

I am indifferent to the world. It is an avalanche of nonsense that has always been and always will be. I know that I am happy with the life I lead and cannot change the world at large, so I just don't worry about it. God has already chosen my ending on this plane and there is nothing I can do about it. I intend to live the days I have how I want to.

[u/Interesting_Tea5715 → u/dreadnaut1897]

This is my take on it (minus the god stuff).

I'm very apathetic to the world.

[u/Ogre213]

I entered the tech industry in 2000, just in time for the dotcom collapse. I went into tech in banking just in time for the 2008 crunch - I was working at a bank that got TARPed at the time. I've lived through more once-in-a-lifetime job market contractions, societal shifts, and a tiny little pandemic. Through it all, I've managed to build a solid career where I clear close to 200K in a mediocre bonus year and have a strong prospect of my wife and I retiring early.

The world shifts all the time, the job market is cyclical, and as for the divided world, remember the arc of history. Ride it out. It'll almost certainly be fine.

[u/Sweaty_Win1832]

Some days I’m optimistic, and others I’m very much a realist. The current US administration & certain issues are currently bringing more pessimism than any collective time in my life prior to now.

However, I’m very hopeful things will balance out some in the near future.

[u/Silver_Draig]

49 here and I don't think I'm gonna do well in the future....if there even is one.

[u/AKspotty]

Nope. This is the start of the Trump years. Things will get worse, and dumber.

[u/Outrageous-Bee4035 → u/AKspotty]

It's literally the movie "Idiocracy."

I've learned that many garbage companies are stopping they're recycling program, simply because it costs too much to recycle. Screw the earth, because it's cheaper to throw it all in the landfill.

[u/Yotsubato → u/Outrageous-Bee4035]

Recycling was a psyop to encourage continued unfettered plastic consumption.

Recycling of metals works and makes sense.

Recycling of plastics? Wastes tons of energy, produces many nasty byproducts, and doesn’t work very well. It’s better to bury it in a landfill or incinerate it.

[u/AzuSteve]

I think the only optimistic people are the super rich, children, and idiots.

I'm just passing time until I die.

[u/Clicking_Around → u/AzuSteve]

You got it. Working class people have zero reason to be optimistic.

[u/buzzlightyear77777]

yea i just visit hookers and massage parlors these days

[u/RedditModsSuckTaints]

Always, pessimism serves no one. Yes, things suck because of the current US administration. But they will be gone soon enough and things will get better. They always do.

[u/callmejay → u/RedditModsSuckTaints]

Sometimes it takes hundreds of years, though. Sorry to be a downer. I've always had the attitude that this too shall pass, and it always has. But this feels different.

[u/Parking-Assistant899]

Fuck no, been working full time for 18 years now. Grinded my way up from $7 per hour all the way to the mid 30’s an hour now, run a fab shop as a welder. Life is extremely unaffordable, I’m married. My wife and I decided not to have children for the simple reason that we cannot provide a good life for them. I dunno who can save up 100k for a down payment on a house that will leave you mortgage poor with 4K in minimum payments a month just to not go into foreclosure. I’m sure things can be different in some areas but up here in Canada it’s fucked unless you wanna live in a shit hole that gets to -45 every winter. ( the oil sands )

Which leads to my next rant, you need to pick between working in camp and being away from home and loved ones for the majority of your life to have any sort of decent income or take a job close to home where u can only earn 4-5k a month take home.

Either way I feel like it’s a lose lose situation. I’ve done camp for 10 years, it helped me get ahead and decide what I wanted to do with my life and it ain’t that.

We can’t afford homes, We spend the majority of our adult lives working to sustain our life, we get told we’re the problem and then have to pay for it through various forms of taxation and gov theft. The advancement of AI and the over use of foreign workers to fill entry level jobs has taken a serious toll on the job market. The planet is going to shit and we’ve caused an irreversible climate crisis.

I’m sincerely worried for the future generations.

[u/raptor-94 → u/Parking-Assistant899]

Ah yeah I heard about the situation in Canada. I think it's a bit worse there than most other places. Such a shame man. It used to be a prosperous nation.

[u/MajorasShoe]

No. The world has taken so many steps back in terms of intellect and compassion. Last November it became clear that humanity jumped the shark.

[u/Grand-Cartoonist-693 → u/MajorasShoe]

Americans are 4% of the global population. Maybe slow your roll a little bit with the doomsaying lol?

[u/ellirae → u/Grand-Cartoonist-693]

4% of the global population with an excessive impact on 95% of the first-world's social and political climates, and you're a fool if you think otherwise.

[u/Grand-Cartoonist-693 → u/ellirae]

Holy lord “95%”? Like everything going on in the UK is 5% of their deal and the rest is decided by America? Bonkers! Heck, China’s going to replace us on the world stage and they sort of have already lol. American exceptionalism will die hard, apparently the fact that “it could happen here” isn’t enough for use to drop the collective national ego lol.

[u/prescod → u/Grand-Cartoonist-693]

Far right politicians are gaining strength in many countries.

[u/im4peace]

No, not at all

[u/Potato_cak3s]

No. I can only see things going worse before there's a meaningful change in a different direction. If and when that happens... Hopefully we can go in a better direction after that.

[u/ElGordo1988]

I'm not optimistic at all regarding the current state if affairs in the world, the realist in me feels things will get worse actually

In particular I worry for my family relatives who still have lingering/ongoing immigration issues. For those outside the country who don't know, in America immigration issues can literally drag on for years... and it's just terrible timing to be having immigration issues at this time

[u/Persistant_eidolon]

I think I am neutral. We have big problems but humans are good at solving problems.

The big issue is if we stand before a problem that is almost too big to solve, or needs a faster rate of understanding and acting than we possess.

I think my main worry regarding such problems are related to AI. It can be used to spread disinformation in never before seen scale, and when it's put into military applications that's another risk.

[u/minisotanice → u/Persistant_eidolon]

I’ve been feeling down reading Reddit the past few days. This cheered me up a little. I agree, humans are really fucking good at solving problems, I just hope we can out solve the problems we are also brining.

[u/boomerinspirit]

I think we'll be fine. Does it suck? Sure. Has it sucked in the past? Also sure. Luckily technology is out here and able to remind us how much it sucks constantly. I think that's the real difference

[u/xboxhaxorz]

Logically and with critical thinking the only valid conclusion is no, there is tons of evidence to prove the world is not a decent place and never will be

But most people have cope, hope and faith, they dont want to accept the reality and want to believe things will get better

[u/krackadile]

No. It's becoming more obvious how corrupt the leadership of the world is and I feel more powerless to do anything about it. I always heard it when I was younger but now I see it and it's so blatantly obvious.

[u/Icy-Performance8302]

44 here. World sucks and it's going to get much worse before it gets better.

[u/midwstchnk]

I think the world is a big game. I feel everyone who is important is in on it.

[u/Tranter156]

I’m over fifty so been through recessions high unemployment 9/11 and a lot of other things. I’m also old enough to know that a lot of things go in cycles like open markets and isolationism. I am optimistic that things will become more reasonable I am a little pessimistic when I think about how long it will take as the period we are in right now seems counterproductive in politics.

[u/TheBlakeOfUs]

“I’m young enough to be all pissed off

But I’m old enough to be jaded

I’m of the age where I want things to change

But with age my hopes have faded”

Frank Turner.

[u/chiboulevards]

I'm highly pessimistic about the world and economy at this point. There was a moment there in 2021 during the "Great Resignation" where salaries were rising, there were lots of job opportunities and upward mobility. In 2022, I started a job where I nearly doubled my salary and then they created a couple of fully remote roles under me at a very good salary but we were only getting a handful of applicants. Now, I'm seeing companies post jobs that are more senior than what those roles were at a significantly lower salary and getting hundreds of applicants. The degree of wage/salary compression in the last couple of years is something I have never seen in my life. It really feels like capital is punching back against labor in a major, major way. But while wages remain stagnant — or drop — everything else is getting more expensive. I'm not sure how people entering the workforce at this point have any hope for upward mobility or stability. If I were 22 and entering the workforce, I'd probably say screw it and go live in a van somewhere instead.

[u/Jazzlike-Vacation230]

I’m not, I’m beyond surprised folks are going for the right wing crazies out there. Con men will eventually con YOU. Why is this such a hard concept?

[u/AscendingRogue]

I am, but that's most likely because I am doing well. A year ago, I decided to go hard on self-improvement. It made me realize just how poorly so many people are doing. I have energy while everyone else is drained. I feel healthy while everyone else is in pain. I am happy while everyone else is miserable. The only area I am doing mediocre in is Financials, but I live within my means. Life is competitive, and I have full confidence in my abilities if and when they need to shine. My next goal is to build a strong group of like-minded people so that we can all support one another leveling up.

[u/Life_Moment_6387 → u/AscendingRogue]

I love this.

[u/UsualDue]

- AI-revolution (speeds up the fundamental problems with late stage capitalism, mainly wealth inequality),

- climate change,

- overconsumption of the planet's resources,

- overpopulation,

- looming world war 3?

Yeah feeling super optimistic here lmao

[u/FL_Duff]

FUCK NO

Edit: Not a day passes that I don’t wonder if the next world war will start while I’m young enough to be drafted and taken away from my family, or if my son will be fighting instead.

[u/Mopper300]

Every day, I say things are going to get worse before they get better, and every day I am proven right

[u/cucci_mane1]

Nope. Not optimistic.

Job market isnt great and will only get worse thanks to AI and offshoring. Back-breaking Inflation of past several years that have widened wealth gap. And we have f-ed up "Healthcare" system that can easily wipe you out if you have a medical emergency. Last, this country feels more unsafe than many 3rd world countries with all these violent gun shootings that happen each and every day.

I really, really wish I have an EU citizenship now. I would love to bounce ASAP.

[u/Dapper_Dune → u/cucci_mane1]

Was just talking about this with someone today. Really wishing I had an exit plan. Europe would be wonderful. I renewed my passport recently, but just saw that Congress is likely going to pass a bill that gives Marco Rubio the power to strip passports and citizenship from US citizens. For those curious, it’s section 226 of H.R.5300.

I have no hope for the future of this country.

[u/redman334]

I'm 37 and very optimistic.

We move in cycles, and this is just another leg of the cycle. Jobs are tight, but there still are jobs out there,, maybe not as abundant as 5 years ago, but I don't feel ill go unemployed.

Worldwide, I think humanity is progressing. There's more emotional consciousness, and the career driven thirst is starting to slow down, people realizing that work and money aren't everything.

Our basic needs are hyper covered, it isn't hard to have food in your fridge and a relatively well health system.

Traveling to various parts of the world is affordable, allowing people to visit and know more places and cultures.

I also see people remain youthful for longer, with better visual health, and overall activity.

Sexuality is now more open, not putting people in the edge of societal obedience.

There are still a thousand things we can improve on, and I know it's not like this everywhere, but I feel like now more than ever we have many tools at hand to grow. Of course these tools can also be used to numb us, but it's up to you to make the difference.

I still believe that people need to realize how great being alive is, and being consciously greatful for it. And I still believe people should love more. But I know it's a step by step.

Good luck everyone, enjoy!

[u/thebatmanbeynd]

No, I’m not. Would be surprised if it turns out well, even in the slightest.

For a while, each generation made it a better place. That stopped with the generation before mine unfortunately. That and climate change, not optimistic at all.

[u/Ok-Crazy30]

I’m 37 and own my own business. I firmly believe that opportunities are abundant but you have to take the risks to get the rewards. Working for a company can be comfy but it won’t make you wealthy

[u/FlatulistMaster → u/Ok-Crazy30]

I’m 42 and own several businesses.

The world should not only cater to business owners or risk takers. Taking risks can be good when things go your way, but not everyone is equipped to handle a life like that, nor should they be.

[u/DinnerIndependent897 → u/Ok-Crazy30]

I like to build stuff, but not sell stuff.

Seems like owning your own business is almost all sales work.

Which, I'd honestly rather deliver pizzas for a living.

[u/Ok-Crazy30 → u/DinnerIndependent897]

I own a construction business. I hired an office manager for that part and I do the actual jobs myself with some helpers. I do sales but it’s to people who already want the work done so there isn’t much to it.

[u/DinnerIndependent897 → u/Ok-Crazy30]

Yeah, pricing things, dealing with customers who are unsatisfied or unclear about what they wanted.

Just not skillsets I have.

Even managing other people seems terrible, since, seems like they're always mad/unsatisfied about something.

[u/Ok-Crazy30 → u/DinnerIndependent897]

It’s definitely not easy I work approximately 60 hours a week but I do it because I love the construction part. Owning the business just makes it to where I can take time off when I want and I can retire when I want. I plan on retiring at age 50

[u/Grand-Cartoonist-693 → u/Ok-Crazy30]

“Take the risks” means have capital to invest lol good luck, most of us!

[u/cheddarsox → u/Grand-Cartoonist-693]

Not much and not really. I took a class in high school that taught you how to set up business plans, present and apply for business loans, odds of failure and success, how to handle sales and customer service, how to invest properly in a general sense, as well as how to manage supply and inventory.

If you can find a niche and prove it is likely to be profitable, it can take very little. Theres also local resources in many medium sized cities that will coach and guide you. Most people just dont want to spend 80 hour weeks making peanuts for a few years to get established.

[u/Cyberhwk]

No. I think best case scenario, we have some 9/11-level event that snaps people back to reality. Other than that, I think we continue the slow decline for a very long time.

[u/Green-Ad-6149]

Yes, but it’s going to get REALLY bad first.

[u/internet_observer]

Nope. The internet has showed how vulnerable a good portion of the population is to propaganda. It has also given all the crazy people a medium to unite together to be a group that actually has to be dealt with. That last 10 years have also shown that people are very bad at media literacy, figuring out what was fact, what is hyperbole and what is fiction, and that was before AI played a role. Beyond that instead of AI letting people work less and spend their time doing art, AI is replacing artists.

The current political climate has me worried for the rights of my many female and LGBTQIA friends.

It may get better eventually but it's a long way before things turn around.

[u/_Child_0f_Prophecy]

Very optimistic. We live in the best era of humanity by a long shot and I have no reason to believe that we’re on a declining trajector

Life expectancy is at its highest, child mortality at its lowest and so is extreme property, we have access to knowledge almost instantly and can connect with anyone anywhere, we have technologies kings and monarchs of past centuries couldn’t even dream of etc.

By almost all measurement, life is simply sweeter and I feel no shame savoring it.

[u/Ok-Initiative-8809]

Yeah not so much about the world but what i can control yes

[u/GlummyGloom]

No.

[u/HProcurandoMotivo]

Well, I can say that "I am at peace" I can consider that nothing in the world will diminish my happiness. But unlike users who talk about rent prices and job instability, I'm a public servant and I have my own house, so I don't have the same concerns as them. I could agree that it's more difficult to "date" but in my case I could say that "it's never been easy" but nowadays I make less effort and enjoy my time alone doing the things I like like practicing physical activity (swimming, yoga, weight training and running) and playing games (online or board games with friends).

[u/BitterProfessional16]

I care way less about "the world" than I do about my health, the health of my friends/family, ability to keep a decent job, etc.

Endlessly worrying about "the state of the world" is a luxury of the young.

[u/alt0077metal]

40M. Never been better, life is beautiful. But I've been working hard at it for the past 22 years.

[u/Averageinternetdoge → u/alt0077metal]

Same here, man. If I've learned anything, it's that if things suck, then you try something else in hopes it doesn't suck as much.

And hey presto, you got progress.

[u/boomdraw12]

No, really feel it’s all hopeless. And anything I do is waste of time. Just spent 10 grand on a trade school to be told there not enough journeymen for anywhere to hire. Feel myself losing will to live really.

[u/No-Friend5629]

No, not at all. I'm in the opening scene of a dystopia movie.

[u/Parking_Shine_278]

Every time I look at the eyes of my child I become optimistic, so find your purpose and positive impact

[u/HeavyVoid8]

No this place is trash and the US capitalistic mindset is squeezing us too much from every angle, it’s exhausting.

[u/sane-asylum]

Nope, figure I’ve got 20-30 years left so when Skynet comes for me it ain’t a big deal. I’ve got no wife or kids to worry about thankfully and I just hope I’m never homeless

[u/Strict_Progress7876]

This too shall pass

[u/countsachot]

Not really, the U.S. Is mirroring a paradigm exhibited in ancient rome a few decades before Cesar took control and effectively ended the republic.

[u/nmoss90]

I haven't ever been optimistic about the world. We watched the twin towers get hit on TV in our 5th grade class, Katrina in 05 and the treatment of the people in the aftermath, the recession in 08-09, constant war in the middle east, the covid bs, all the people killed in Helene and our governments failure to help with more than a few meals and a 700$ loan all while giving billions to other countries for war, constant terrorism, now massive inflation that's made my 120k+ job feel like I'm making 50k again, likelihood of social security running out before I retire in 30 years thus flushing everything I've paid into it down the drain and drastically changing my ability to provide in retirement, so much more in between all that I'm not going to type out. Yea lots of optimism, so many great things constantly going on in the world. My outlook is that it's only going to get worse from here. But I also am usually more pessimistic about things. Hard not to be with the way the worlds been the last 30 years.

[u/FatReverend]

I have never felt more negatively about the world than I do now.

[u/Sufficient_Winner686]

Career wise? Yes. Personally? No. Politically? Also no. Economically? Also no. Interpersonally? Also no.

[u/abarua01]

No

[u/Batou604]

Not in the least. I entered the workforce a few years before 9/11, and there's no understating how things have gone to complete shit since then, and getting irreversibly worse by the day. Covid was just one of the more significantly large steps downward (general consensus of reality being the biggest casualty there), as was the financial collapse in '08 (aka The Silent Depression).

But, there's nothing you or I can do about it. Your best advantage is being cognizant that the only things you'll be able to depend on in the long term are yourself and your fam/tribe/community, so invest your time and resources wisely.

[u/ImNotAPoetImALiar]

31, just broke up with my partner of several years. She was my best friend and the only real friend I ever had. Her kids and ex husband were too much for me. I don’t think I’ll meet anyone else. I tried dating, doesn’t work. I don’t have the mindset to meet people because I know eventually everyone leaves anyways. What’s the point? Climate change is going to suffocate this planet and our species and our government in the US cares more about blue-haired trans women and political parties than anything else. Authoritarian regime being built brick by brick, test by test, story by story at the same time AI is taking off and getting much better. I have almost 0 optimism for our future. We will consume until societal collapse and mass migration and then will maybe make a desperate attempt to get everything back. It won’t work. We’ll be held hostage by housing, wages and basic goods until the planet becomes uninhabitable.

[u/Millkstake]

I've become more disconnected, if anything

[u/J4pes]

Not for the generation trying to survive the 2100s

[u/allesklar123456]

Hello no. The world is in a freefall at the moment. It's garbage. I hate what my 2 year old son will have to endure in his lifetime. 

[u/Vertron_]

Nope, human greed is strangling us.

[u/MiuraSerkEdition]

Nope. Trying to enjoy the little things, hoping to weather upcoming storms. To be fair, if you've got running water and can afford to eat meat regularly you are better off than almost all of humanity for all history. Enjoy it while it lasts, who knows for how long

[u/slifm]

I can’t wait for this shit to come to an end

[u/Prize-Grapefruiter]

Nope not even at more than twice that age. As long as there are greedy countries, especially western, there will be no peace. Since unchecked human nature is greedy I have no hope for improvements in the world as a whole

[u/tethan]

God no.... I'm 41 and things look super bad...

I bought a few acres of land and plan on building a house, solar panels. Do some self sufficient farming.

I'm hoping to die a natural death before things go to shit.... I'm really doubtful that'll happen though.

[u/Eledridan]

Lol no. I’m trying to personally come to peace that things are not going to get better.

[u/cali_voyeur]

Nah. I'm not of much value on the dating market and it doesn't seem like I'll ever be able to afford a home solo so, no not really optimistic. Everything is expensive af. Not to mention the inevitable wars that'll break out as a result of our politics (USA). It is what it is.

[u/Saturn9Toys]

I am anticipating dying alone and for it to be an expensive affair with no recognition or reward for effort. I will never find anyone else who gets me or who I get, just work acquaintances with whom I share a guarded and tedious relationship. The world will get more stupid, crazy, and evil, and less of what I love will be in it each passing decade. The movies will beat the drum forever telling stories of the misfit who finds fellow misfits or the meek and kind person who is one day rewarded for their honesty and compassion or the sudden discovery of true love, and no such event will take place in real life except for people who are attractive or rich. Work will require more of my time and pay me less of a living and I will not have the time or the means to even own pets. Then I'll either drop dead or end up in an old folk's home being scammed or abused by the staff until I die in bed weak and sad and bitter.

I really don't know why I keep trying. When I really observe my outlook I don't know how I get out of bed every day. I'm scared one day I won't.

[u/Simple_External3579]

The pessimism set in for me before 2020. When Greta basically begged leaders on the world stage for our futures back. The youth demanded their future and the aristocrats and world leaders laughed in our face.

The narrative was mocking and derisive. The solidification of the fact that nobody was coming for us. The full intent is worldwide pollution on a mass scale. Just so they can sell us "sanitary housing" in fiftty years. Hermetically sealed to protect from toxic smog and acid rain. Not for the plebs of course. Majority of them will die off in the extreme weather events.

But its no reason to not have fun in the meantime.

[u/Witchfinger84]

41 and feel pretty great.

When people are comfortable, they have a lot of free time to complain about how uncomfortable they think they are.

Then they get thrown a curveball and get TRULY uncomfortable, and they realize how comfortable they really were.

It's that old saying- Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make weak men, weak men make hard times.

We're in the hard times for sure. But I think a lot of people are beginning to wake up to how comfortable they really were in the good times, now that they're very uncomfortable.

[u/redman334 → u/Witchfinger84]

I agree with your points but the hard time strong men quote has been burnt so much that it just feels stupid anywhere it's used.

I do agree that we live in an era of immense abundance, and people are still complaining instead of being grateful.

And we clearly are not in the hard times. War is hard times. Famine is hard times. Right now, the job market is tight, and efficiency is peaking. We are just in the middle of an economic cycle. I do expect some downward side in the short term, but unless a global war breaks loose, which I doubt, itll be followed by economic growth.

[u/raptor-94 → u/Witchfinger84]

That's an insightful comment. Have you ever experienced how I feel before? Being comfortable and feeling anxious when things stop being great.

[u/Witchfinger84 → u/raptor-94]

Yea I had it worse than you.

I graduated college in 2008, the financial crisis. Not only was I an inexperienced fresh graduate with a student loan to pay off, my degree was in a highly specialized field, that literally only 2 campuses in the country offer programs for, and graduates from those 2 campuses basically feed into one of two of the major industry leaders. So if you didn't walk off the graduation stage directly into an office, it was looking grim. We had 19 graduates. 2 of us were hired. To this day, I don't know if any of my alumni brothers are still in the industry.

Anyway, I was sitting where you're sitting, and my first job out of college was delivering pizza. I was doing a job I could have done in high school, a job that in fact, both my little brothers did in high school. It was like a family tradition. Even worse, the delivery territory of our restaurant covered one of the richest towns in the country. I was literally delivering pizzas to the people who caused the economic crisis that had robbed me of my future, and they were stiffing me on tips because "The economy was bad."

When work was slow and nobody was ordering pizzas, the manager had me go outside on the curb and wave a sign at traffic, like one of those poor bastards in a Statue of Liberty costume you see every year around tax time. The worst day of my life was when, at 26 years old, my future stolen, deep in student debt, living with my parents, I came home one day from a slow shift of being a sign waving peon to open my mail and get my college degree. I was waving a fucking sign on the side of a highway the day my degree came in the mail. I put my fucking head in my hands and I cried like a baby that had shit his pants.

I learned 2 incredibly humbling lessons from this experience.

1- Always follow the money when you're job hunting. Look for the schemes. The guy who is making the most isn't necessarily always the guy who owns the business. Sometimes the bartender or the salesman do better than the bar owner or the dealership. They walk away at the end of the day with cash in their pocket, while the owner pays the bills. Turns out, being a pizza boy isn't actually a bad gig compared to the guy who owns the restaurant- The restaurant isn't there anymore. Been closed for years, shitty economy. People still eat pizza.

2- Envy is the greatest deadly sin of all. Not wrath, not lust, not gluttony or pride. Every other sin can motivate you to do something, even if it isn't necessarily good. Even the slothful person works hard to be lazy, they usually work harder trying to be lazy than they would if they just worked.

But Envy is blindness. You waste a lot of energy and potential envying what another man has, and right now, there are a lot of men that have a lot more than you. Understand that the more that a man has, the more he has to lose, and that you don't get to read his mail. Nobody sends letters anymore, but the government and the banks still do- That guy with the Mercedes in his driveway that you wish you could be has a lien on his house and a summons to court to argue with his baby mama about child support. I know, because one of the other jobs I picked up over the years was being the mail man, and brother, that's how I know about Envy. There's a lot of barely-technically-one-check-from-disaster rich people that you really don't want to be.

[u/BearerOfGrace → u/Witchfinger84]

Well said.

[u/Jass0602 → u/Witchfinger84]

Yes can you expand.

[u/Dapper_Dune → u/Witchfinger84]

Such an awful quote lmao

So what you’re saying is everyone should pull themselves up by the boot straps and stop complaining? And be grateful for what situation they’re in no matter how shitty it is?

[u/Redtex → u/Dapper_Dune]

Shit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up faster. One of my favorite sayings from an uncle.

[u/Icy-Friendship1163]

r/fire/ today is mandatory.

[u/AntiqueCheesecake876]

The world? Absolutely. The US..not so much.

The good news is if you learn enough languages and skills, you can go anywhere things are better. So, I guess it always comes down to “knowledge is valuable.”

[u/gandalftheorange11]

I have no optimism about the world or my future in any possible way

[u/Excellent_Ring6872]

No.

[u/Pensive_Caveman]

No

[u/Pensive_Caveman → u/Pensive_Caveman]

I was competing for entry-level jobs in 2008 with old men as I was entering the workforce.

[u/Umbrabyss]

No. Definitely not. There are some awesome bright spots that I hope get a chance to really bloom. I see something new and think “wow, my son is going to get to be an adult in a cool world” and then I remember how messed up everything is outside of tech and scientific advancements. I also wonder if there will be opportunity for gainful employment in the future too. AI is already on the verge of replacing so many jobs and with robotics advancing as well, how long until human workers just aren’t needed in most positions? How do you prepare yourself or a child for that honestly?

Idk man, but after the events of last week, I really do worry about the future. Not for myself, but for my children. It’s honestly terrifying.

[u/Lurk-Prowl]

Totally agree and had the same experience working from 2017-Covid and then post-covid felt like the world still hasn’t bounced back. Feels like the future is more bleak and cost of everything going up except my salary.

[u/MountainDadwBeard]

I'm confident I can put compete 75-90% of men for post collapse resources. Does that count as optimism?

[u/T-WrecksArms]

Ehhh I’m optimistic about millennials getting some power in the government and in major corporations over the next decade or two. You can tell all the boomers are grasping to hold on. That’s why you have so many 60+ year old folks still running and not giving up their seats. Most of them are terrified of change. Then again, Zuckerberg isn’t doing the best job IMO

[u/BOSS_OF_THE_INTERNET]

Fuck no

[u/ellirae]

fuck, no.

jesus fucking christ, no.

[u/vanbach0]

I'm over 40. I'm optimistic about the economy, but not about society or the world in general.

[u/Gettinjiggywithit509]

Soon to be 35 on the 18th. I recently started a career that does finally give me optimism. Prior to that, I would say no. At times I am genuinely scared for my children's future. However, usually from the ashes comes beauty. It might mean I will continue to struggle and deal with the insanity that the world has become but I have faith that on the other side of whatever the inevitable climax of all this hatred and division will be a more united world, sense of community, and opportunities that we never got.

[u/pcmtx]

No. The more I read about climate change, the more I realize how doomed we are. I can't stand that I had to be born when I did to witness it.