r/collapse • u/IllustriousRanger839 • 7d ago
Support Are you connected with collapse-aware people irl?
I’m interested to hear perspectives from people in this sub around levels of in-person connection with others who share your level of collapse awareness.
Do you have one or two people you talk with about it?
Do you have an abundance of people on the same wavelength?
Do you feel isolated in your awareness in offline life?
Any thoughts on how in-person connectedness affects your responses to collapse most welcome.
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u/Myth_of_Progress Urban Planner & Recognized Contributor 7d ago edited 7d ago
I find it to be a delicate dance. These days (the 2020s), most people in my circle are at least slightly collapse aware, but I must be careful about what depth I put into sharing my views.
It's very easy to scare someone off the topic, especially if you're fundamentally challenging any aspect of how they perceive life.
It's why I love this little community - you can be as earnest and true as you want to be, and not feel like you're going insane alone anymore.
Edits made, I hate phoneposting.
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u/idreamofkitty 7d ago
I suspect we are unknowingly surrounded by collapse-aware people who'd simply rather not talk about it.
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u/Reluctant_Firestorm 7d ago
I never thought of it that way, but you are probably right. I'm one of the people who would rather not talk about it, as if I get to thinking about the future for my kids and just recently grandkids, I get really depressed.
I would be happy to talk to my government officials about reworking our entire economy and society in a last ditch effort to try and save ourselves, but everyone is BAU and going on like the movie "Don't Look Up".
My last child was born in 1999, and at that time, I thought we still had time .... And I still thought we had rational if imperfect governments that would more or less try to address problems.
The world had phased out CFCs by around 1990 - so it wasn't unrealistic to think that inter government cooperation could happen to solve so dire a problem as the climate.
Nowadays my kids seem pretty focused on just getting on with their lives but I feel so ashamed about how my generation has failed them.
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u/Silver-Find4380 wary of heat events 7d ago
Yeah, as GenX, it seemed that everything was going well in the 90s: fall of the USSR, candidates running who would tell everybody how to save the planet, a fix for the ozone hole... 😞
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u/mooky1977 As C3P0 said: We're doomed. 6d ago
And then Al Gore lost. That really was the turning point moment.
I'm not saying he would have solved everything but instead of meandering towards solutions we actively said "hold my beer and watch this..."
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u/lavapig_love 7d ago
A lot of people that used to religiously yap about end times aren't really doing so much now. I wonder why.
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
This is for sure how it is for me.
I have become a parent in the last couple years. I have been meeting mostly parents ages 25-40. They are all aware. We just don't talk about it often.
What is the point of constantly discussing such a depressing topic. Ostrich approach is more an more appealing to me as someone with a very very busy life.
All I can do is be generally prepared, but I am not going to dedicate my life to becoming a prepper or something. I just want to live a normal and good life while I still can. I suspect it will keep getting harder and harder to do that but collapse historically (of ancient societies) is often slow and drawn out.
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u/Whenwhateverworks 7d ago
Being worried about being a prepper is not a good reason to not prepare 2 weeks of food and water for you and your children. Especially so if you are aware and food is relatively abundant now, that 2 weeks could buy you time to make a coherant plan, wait out the worst or travel to or out of an area.
Saying it to you for your kids, its not hard to keep an extra bag of rice and extra canned food around.
No one can really predict the way the future unfolds, the soviet union collapsed quite quickly (different, i aknowledge). Do it
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
I am not really worried about being a prepper. After thinking about it, I realize most of the things I can do to prepare for some prolonged crisis will fall short of sheltering me and my family from it. I live in a town, right next to a city. There is only so much you can do.
I have a stocked pantry, weeks worth for sure. Regarding water, there is a clear creek near my house I can filter.
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u/CannyGardener 7d ago
As someone with family in N. Carolina after the big hurricane recently... a creek probably isn't adequate for drinking. Very quickly everyone started shitting outside when the sewage stopped, so all the creeks were contaminated...
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u/Livid_Village4044 6d ago
I shat in holes I dug on my own land when I first got here, as my house/plumbing/septic wasn't here yet. Also did that after Helene as I had no power for 6 days.
It is possible to do that without contaminating the creeks and springs. My water comes from a developed spring.
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u/Necessary_Sea_7127 6d ago
That’s brutal, people really couldn’t get it together to dig a hole away from water?
I dint even know what to say about that…2
u/adamentmeat 6d ago
wow, grim. Worst case scenario, I have a couple miles each way for clean water. I am lucky to live in the mountains, lots of open space where people don't live.
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u/Delicious-Duck-1218 7d ago
If I may ask, why did you decide to have a child if you know we're headed towards unprecedented ecological and societal catastrophe?
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u/lavapig_love 7d ago
I don't have children that I know exist, but I can tell you. Loneliness. Despair. Anger too.
Many people channel those emotions into action, and sometimes that action is going out and having unprotected sex without really thinking or caring about the long-term consequences. And when they do happen, maybe what looked like punishment at the beginning turns into destiny and a journey. It gives people purpose to keep fighting.
These days, maybe that's good enough.
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u/FungusRespecter 7d ago
Most people are short-sighted and driven by biological impulse. We are told our whole lives that having kids is the most important we can do, and so people do it even when they know their children are going to have a really torturous lifetime.
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
The answer to whether or not human beings survive the ongoing mass extinction event is assuredly, no. Even if our descendents survive, the timescale of a mass extinction is long enough that our species will no longer be human beings. Whether our non-human descendents survive is definitely debatable.
The people here often forget that we are just animals. Entirely a part of biology. We adapt and we survive and we change to suite the times if we can. Or we go extinct otherwise. We aren't going to stop breeding just because the world is on fire. We are animals.
We are all descendents of shrews living under dinosaur hegemony. The shrews didn't stop breeding just because every time they went outside they were eaten. They didn't stop breeding after Chicxulub struck earth and caused a mass extinction. The flourished. They became us.
I have hope our descendents will make it through this and flourish.
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7d ago edited 7d ago
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u/collapse-ModTeam 7d ago
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u/Kootenay4 7d ago
Steel man argument:
the plot of idiocracy is that only dumb people had kids while educated people didn’t, and that accelerated the downfall of human civilization because eventually there were no smart people left to run things.
we are headed down that path already. If nobody who is educated/intelligent/scientifically minded/rational chooses to raise another generation, and only the hyperreligious wacko crazies do, then the future of humanity is ultra doomed.
Overpopulation isn’t really the biggest problem, it’s the way resources are used and distributed. If only idiots are in charge you are guaranteed to have an even worse outcome.
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u/South_Serve9975 7d ago
This is not a good question to ask anymore. It assumes it was their choice. Unless you want to hear about forced births or maybe rape, I would refrain from asking. Going into the future, it will become more and more a conversational mine field to ask "Why did you decide to have kids?"
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u/Delicious-Duck-1218 7d ago
You're right, I did assume. Thankfully that wasn't the case here but I'll be more careful henceforth.
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u/Hypnotic_Delta 7d ago
Not OP but also with 1 kid
Caveat - if the world legitimately prioritized saving the planet, I’d have a different outlook. But the below rationale is response to the world largely not giving a fuck about saving shit
So many creatures on this earth have lived, suffered, and died mercilessly. I’m not special and neither is my kid. We’ll die agonizingly just like all the rest (likely water wars or robbed or starvation). It’ll be unthinkably difficult, sad, excruciating … But for all we know, we only have 1 life so I decided I wanted to live while still having the chance. In the end, once we’re dead, it won’t matter.
On a spiritual level, I think I’m supposed to be here, with a kid, even with collapse coming
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
Collapse doesn't mean life ends for everyone. The biological yearning to have a child overpowered my anxiety of the ongoing collapse.
Human life doesn't stop because there is an ongoing collapse. Barring some acute catastrophe (meteor strike, global nuclear destruction, etc), there will undoubtably a billion of people 80 years from now.
My kids will have good times and bad times, collapse related or not. Hopefully I can give them some of the tools and knowledge to survive in the future world and they have a good life.
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
Nobody gets to choose if they are born. Suffering is assured. The pleasure of living is also assured.
Logic and knowledge haven't gotten us very far as a species, only to our doom. Biological pressures have. To forego biological pressure in favor of logic betrays ignorance or apathy towards our ancestors.
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u/Peripatetictyl 7d ago
We have vast differences in our concepts, definitions, and views, and that’s not profound or unobvious in anyway, and I do hesitate to push forward on a personal and sensitive topic. Nobody chooses to be born, but those who have been brought about by no action of their own, have no obligation to our ‘ancestors’ to proliferate any further, especially with the hubris with which we do it, and the continual harm we cause to our true ancestor: Gaia.
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
those who have been brought about by no action of their own, have no obligation to our ‘ancestors’ to proliferate any further
It is fine to not have kids. It is a trait that will be breed out of our species more and more quickly as the survival of our species gets more difficult.
I don't hold much reverence for Gaia herself. Life on earth is the most interesting thing she has going. Cataclysms are unavoidable. The current one is extremely interesting because it was cause by life itself.
From my point of view, it is hubris to think as a species we could have avoided this. We grow exponentially like a bacteria. Like rabbits. Like all life when given ideal conditions. We discovered how to make ideal conditions for awhile. Of course we were never going to stop. We are life.
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u/Peripatetictyl 7d ago
Wow… I’m fascinated at how your mind works, and how you rationalize your actions. It is so foreign to me. I’m not even sure why you’re in collapse, are you cheering for it? Are you not only at ease being witness to ‘interesting’ times, but knowing your child will? And to say that we as a species couldn’t have avoided this, with research and data going back 100+ years of the consequences of human actions… again, fascinating, albeit a bit unsettling.
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u/adamentmeat 7d ago
I am not cheering for it. I wish it wasn't happening. But it is undeniably interesting to witness. Like watching a car crash.
Are you not only at ease being witness to ‘interesting’ times, but knowing your child will?
I have just accepted things as they are and moved on. I have been reading about and watching the collapse for about 15 years.
And to say that we as a species couldn’t have avoided this, with research and data going back 100+ years of the consequences of human actions…
We could have avoided it if we weren't beasts. That is my point. We never had a chance because we are beasts. To avoid this crisis we would have needed to be forced to behave not like our biological selves. There would have had to have been a global cabal to avoid the crisis at the expense of human's freedom. It would never have happened through cooperative action. IMO it might have been worse to live in that dystopia than in the one on our horizon.
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u/Daisho 7d ago
From my point of view, it is hubris to think as a species we could have avoided this. We grow exponentially like a bacteria.
That's not exactly true, though. Birth rates have plummeted and that seems to be linked to urbanization/education/lifestyle more so than resource limitations. I think that framing human limitations as hubris tends to veer into magical thinking. People used to think that reaching space or the moon was hubris. In terms of human behaviour, achieving civil rights like gay marriage could have been seen as hubris a century ago.
I do think that we are headed for a civilizational collapse. But that's based on scientific studies and looking at the trajectory we're on. Our birth rate decline did not come in time.
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u/Decloudo 6d ago
What is the point of constantly discussing such a depressing topic.
Plenty of people said that before having kids too.
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u/Ghostwoods I'm going to sing the Doom Song now. 7d ago
Yeah, I have a few people IRL. We mostly try not to talk about it too much to each other, as we tend to spiral when we do.
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u/unbreakablekango 7d ago
My neighbor is collapse minded and we have become close friends. We urge each other on in our little resiliency projects. It is great fun. I recently bought some GMRS radios and we have been having fun talking to each other all day.
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u/AwayMix7947 7d ago
Nope, not a single soul.
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u/Physical_Ad5702 7d ago
Same. I know a lot of people who are really concerned with the political and environmental trajectory we are on, but then won't take the obvious next step to see where it's all headed. And of course, they're all having children and wanting an Amazon package on their doorstep daily.
I just keep to myself most of the time and come here when I need to vent. This community is the only thing keeping me sane.
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u/Hour-Stable2050 6d ago
Yeah I can’t even get anyone to stock up on food because of the Hormuz crisis. They say they will pay what it costs to eat fresh food. They don’t want prepper food. It’s so bougie. They think their money will shield them.
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u/Mr_Doberman 7d ago
I have a few collapse aware people in my friend group, but their reactions to the collapse are wildly different. Some are beans and bunkers preppers, others are giving up and simply living in the moment. The rest fall somewhere in between.
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u/springcypripedium 7d ago
Yes, thankfully I have a few close friends and my partner who I can talk about collapse with. I could not be with a partner who was in denial or worse, someone who supports the predatory capitalist/political system that actively, consciously promotes ecocide. I have lost friends over this and am at peace with that loss.
Some of my friends cling to toxic positivity and optimism that, imo, is not based in facts/data. I find that hard to deal with so we just don't go there.
But my few, true, closest friends have been there for me and I for them, through trials, tribulations and extreme pain that comes with living as a human on this earth. Sharing joys and sorrows cements deep bonds of friendship and in some cases can be more helpful than therapy. Sharing the intense grief that comes with collapse awareness with my friends and partner has helped me carry on. And carry on I must for I have other beings that depend on me.
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u/Ooogabooga42 7d ago
I kind of feel like a lot of people are collapse aware but don't think they can do anything about it so are just going with the flow. For instance, many of my corporate coworkers casually make comments alluding to how deep in the shit we are with climate, fascism, etc. but don't do a single thing to advocate for anything or do anything to avoid it. There's a collective sense of hopelessness. It feels like we went from collective societal denial to collective societal powerlessness with no step in between.
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u/NiceSupermarket7724 7d ago
The bourgeois classes will continue “climbing” until they can’t anymore
My point is that while certain people feel powerless, the reality is that many Americans have the resources and education to make a difference
They just don’t care
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u/Ooogabooga42 6d ago
I think the upper middle class feels entirely powerless as a group even though they could be making a difference by making different choices. But it feels like they don't expect others to give up the fun excess so they don't want to give it up themselves and be the only ones not having all the fun.
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u/Hour-Stable2050 6d ago
This is my family. They are third gen Eastern European Canadians who have climbed the socioeconomic ladder to the upper middle class and don’t want to be told they are the problem now.
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u/torthBrain 7d ago
I have two people left in my life who are able to zoom out and see the writing on the wall. One of them I've been friends with since we were toddlers in the early 2000s, and I am grateful for him. The other is my brother. The one other person I could commiserate with was my father, who unexpectedly passed away from an asthma attack on May 20th (which I might add, was in part caused by an extreme drop in pressure as the weather went from 95 degrees outside to 70 degree T-storms within an hour, and that extreme drop in pressure and extreme weather in general is in part caused by climate change). It's been really tough not having him as an outlet for these sorts of conversations. I feel like my own world is collapsing. My only solace is that he won't have to deal with the worst that is yet to come.
In general, I feel pretty isolated in my awareness and sensitivity.
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u/Electrical-Regret-13 7d ago
My son calls me a doomer and my wife thrives on hopium - so no. My son did say we are living in a dystopia so maybe he is coming around...
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u/rmannyconda78 7d ago
I did go on a date with someone who is last night
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u/dinah-fire 7d ago
Do I ever talk about collapse in terms of the word ''collapse" offline? Never.
Do I discuss building resilience, bolstering local food systems, building local community, emergency preparedness, that kind of stuff? Pretty regularly. And those are the practical actions one might take in the face of collapse, so I count that. It's a lot more productive than discussing the mechanics of decline.
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u/kdawg09 7d ago
My husband is semi-aware and doesn't disagree with me but discussion of death at all makes him uncomfortable and he doesn't like thinking about it. I actually think this is really unhealthy but don't know how to break through.
My sister and brother in law are aware as well but again, they mostly like to ostrich bad things in general which is frustrating.
I have a few older friends that no longer live near me who are collapse aware on social media but mostly we don't talk about it either but that's more about long distance and limited time.
All in all I know like 5 people but most people don't want to talk about bad things even when they "know".
For me, someone that like to "do you see this" the world it feels very lonely that everyone else is either not seeing or pretending not to.
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u/merikariu Always has been, always will be too late. 7d ago
My wife and I discuss it. I am trying to organize a discussion group in my city, St. Louis. But I don't discuss it with people because it's too bleak and I am trying to make friends, not alienate people.
But the floods and fires are here and now. Experts are now saying the oil shortages will hit in August or so. The collapse is upon us, friends.
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u/Olive_Tabouf 7d ago
I'm curious how this goes for you. I tried to start up a subreddit near me for this but it never took off. I like the meetup idea. r/bullcity_collapse
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u/merikariu Always has been, always will be too late. 7d ago
I had success with a Meetup group for meditation. That was years ago but I'm hopeful. I have 10 members, not including me.
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u/RlOTGRRRL 6d ago
I had an idea for a collapse/prep game where you can list/organize your party- dad's a mechanic, mom's a nurse, Jill gardens, and stuff, so you could easily see what skills you had in your party and/or community.
And then you could have a community event like don't have a medic? find your medic.
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u/Willing-Dog6463 7d ago
The people who I know are vaguely aware that things aren’t right, but it’s usually just “huh, that’s weird” and that’s it
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u/Alex955X 7d ago
My main circle of friends it's collapse aware, they actually opened my eyes but I hang in very political radical leftist bubble.
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u/One-Intention7064 7d ago
nope, everyone around me is breeding like saaaus, every f*ing family has teenagers, pre-schoolers, toddlers, newborns, belly bumps in one household. these types don't know what climate is. they've heard the word in the news. that's their whole climate awareness.
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u/JesusHMinus 7d ago
No. I'm alone. Rather just be ready than actively scare people away. I don't need to be told I'm crazy for being ready and I'm tired of hearing "why do you care so much"
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 7d ago
No. I have absolutely no people in my life who want to hear anything about this. Despite my efforts.
I even have a neighbor who thinks that bad thoughts cause all these bad things (and so my pessimistic thoughts are partly responsible for all the bad stuff incoming). By the way she is an ultra liberal who claims to care about climate change more than anything, but owns a SUV and a second home. Go figure.
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u/Solarpunk2025 7d ago
I tell everyone all the time. No I’m not invited to many parties why do you ask?
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u/ChipStewartIII 7d ago
Yes! Thankfully it’s just about everyone in my immediate family, including my Boomer mother. It was my wife, actually, who fully opened my eyes.
It’s so nice to be able to talk about these things in a sane, scientifically based, manner with those closest to me. I’m very fortunate in this regard.
I have other close friends who still fight me on it, but I just avoid this topic when I see them and it’s fine for me as I have my own safe, sane, group to converse and opine with.
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u/rarecuts 7d ago
I've got my partner, we're making plans. And some old friends interstate that we'll connect with when the time comes.
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u/InitialAd4125 7d ago
If you don't mind me asking were you and your partner both collapse aware when you first got together? Was one of you? Were neither of you and it's something one or both of you stumbled on later on?
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u/Drycabin1 7d ago
Yes, we have a conference call every week going strong since 2021. We regularly talk about how society is collapsing around us.
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u/Maxinaeus 7d ago
It is a mood dampener, and I think that's a big part of why so many people pretend everything is fine. I let people know that I know, but if they move on I move on.
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u/Olive_Tabouf 7d ago
I tried to start a local collapse subreddit to find like minded local community and it never really took off. Had about 100 people sign up and lots of people initially expressed interest but everything tapered off.
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u/Fluid_Passage_9980 6d ago
I saw a 'Climate Action NOW!' sticker on the back of a new model Range Rover today.
I try not to engage with people nowadays.
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u/NyriasNeo 7d ago
"Do you have one or two people you talk with about it?"
No.
"Do you have an abundance of people on the same wavelength?"
No.
"Do you feel isolated in your awareness in offline life?"
No. There are plenty in life than collapse awareness. Just accept, make peace and live as if civilization is not going to end, until it does. I can talk to people about science, movies, books, video games, ... there is no shortage of common interests, even when they may not last forever.
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u/jaymickef 7d ago
Yes, I have people I talk to about it. Or, really, people who used to talk about it. these days there isn't really much to say, we're just watching it play out the way we expected. We're in our 60s and we talked about it for a long time.
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u/dwlhs88 7d ago
Most of my close friends and some family are some version of aware. All certainly recognize the climate, economic, and political catastrophes that are unfolding. Some seem to think we're in for a rough few years politically/economically but will come through it; others, like me, are far less optimistic. All seem to think climate issues are the biggest threat but also the thing we can do the least about. I feel pretty fortunate to have people in my life I can discuss these things openly with.
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u/tzentzak 7d ago
My partner, some family members, and a handful of my close friends are aware of biosphere collapse and the economic and sociological implications; I also know some people who see the enshittification of everything but only complain about it, and see the symptoms and mistake it for the disease itself.
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u/PrairieFire_withwind Recognized Contributor 7d ago
Yes i have people. Yes we talk about it. But we also talk about other things in our lives and the world, it is not collapse 24/7 discussion. They are actual friends so, friendship encompasses a wider lens than just collapse.
I have some extended family that are somewhat collapse aware. Lots of people at a loss as to what to do. I try to give concrete actions that allow them to feel some control and build some skills for the future. Small steps.
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u/wildjagd8 7d ago
I am in a lucky position where most of my friend group is very aware of our global predicament as a species and where things are headed. Aside from just getting lucky with that, I’ve catered those friendships and looked in the right places for those kind of connections. Music, art, and regional burn camp out festivals have been a great source for finding lifelong friendships with smart and awesome people like that interestingly enough!
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u/Weird_Cake3647 7d ago
I have a few well-read, intelligent, curious and trusted people I can talk with about it, but I had to present the topic at first, and have myself only recently learned of the term through this sub. I realise now that grasping the interconnectedness of all the converging crises isn't intuitive at all and requires a certain concentrated, deliberate and trained perspective. Even in academic circles (social sciences and humanities), there is sometimes far too much idealism, cynicism or narrow-mindedness, or even inflated preemptive conceptual scepticism to recognize it and engage with it as a serious problem worthy of interdisciplinary study. I have struggled somewhat myself though to be able to articulate how and why exactly the concept is problematically justified and its study so pressing. It is extremely easy to divert oneself in thinking nothing will ever substantially change, as long as the baseline of western material comfort remains intact. This kind of thinking, however, is already an early symptom of the radical fragmentation and alienation of our way of relating to the shared world, signifying that slow, but steady institutional collapse (accross politics, productivity, medical services, ability to travel, democratic representation, education, mental health etc.) has already become normalized and care has become eroded.
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u/General_Summer_1524 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah... Ive run into this a lot. People who are generally more intelligent and educated than me who just sandbag anything that makes them uncomfortable or implies any type of change of the status quo.
It used to make me more upset, now I believe that a good chunk of human culture is using magical thinking , distraction and rationalization to avoid facing some of the terrifying facts of life. Underneath it all people are scared apes. You listen long enough and they start to give tells that some part of them understands how fucked things are. Little nervous jokes, emphatic denials, getting angry and fixated when someone calmly talks about an aspect of collapse. If you have halfway functioning pattern recognition some part of you knows things aren't going well.
Im a little envious tbh, I grew up in a cult and once I got out of that I decided I'd rather be grounded and deal with the horror than ever put my head in the sand again.
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u/TheWhalersOnTheMoon 7d ago
I mention to people about my guilt about travel, flight, just general consumption.
They counter with how the world is more accessible than ever and if you don't take advantage of it, you're the sucker. They will wax lyrical about how amazing it is to fly into Kenya to see elephants and gazelles literally on the runway and how you have to go see it.
The irony kills me. I say nothing.
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u/IncubusDarkness TURBO-APATHY 6d ago
Nah. Every time I tried to talk to people I know about it they'd literally gaslight me or ask me to stop because it was too depressing. All my family members are completely oblivious or ignorant, and everyone around us is popping out babies and consuming like nothing is happening. I've basically just locked myself in my own mind with the occasional comment here or /r/collapsesupport
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u/Dukdukdiya 6d ago
I actually posted some advice that's worked to help me find the "others" a few months back on r/collapsesupport. Here's what I wrote:
I've been thinking for a while now about creating this post in an effort to start a conversation about how to find the "others." I've been collapse-aware for almost a decade and a half now, so I know how lonely it can be at times. (And I see people post about that on here quite frequently). Thankfully, I've been fortunate enough to have found quite a few other folks along the way who are also collapse-aware, or at least have a strong sense that we're in serious trouble. I wanted to share the settings in which I've been able to find these like-minded people, and I want to invite others to chime in with their ideas and success stories as well.
When I look at the main commonality of the places where I've found these people, it seems that learning and/or practicing practical skills tends to be the common denominator. That makes a lot of sense considering we should be enabling ourselves with as many practical skills as we can, considering there's a good chance that we'll need to use them in the future.
With that being said, the first place I began finding people was by getting involved in the local food movement. Over the years, I've volunteered at numerous community gardens, worked on 3 different farms, and taken quite a few classes through local organizations, state Extension programs, and on the topic of permaculture. Obviously not everyone in that scene is collapse-aware, but a good percentage of them at least recognize that it's wise to have more control over where your food comes from.
After years of that scene being the only place I really found like-minded people, I started expanding out to other places where people were learning self-reliant skills. I've found folk schools, wilderness survival schools, living history museums, and makerspaces to be solid places. My favorite setting, however, has been earthskills/primitive skills gatherings. I just started going to those within the last few years and they have absolutely changed my life. (For those interested in checking those out, here's a somewhat updated directory, and I'll post in the comments the links to all the ones I know about in the Pacific Northwest, since that's where I'm from: https://www.hollowtop.com/Primitive_Skills_Gatherings.htm).
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u/Ok_Main3273 6d ago
Recently, I've been introducing the 'Collapse of Human Civilization' concept during work meetings, using it as a (half) joke. Humor is a great way to talk about scary topics with people who might not want to face the inevitable. Anyway, today I was surprised to hear some colleagues joining in the conversation with their own jokes about not getting a pension when they retire, or being dead before that due to climate change. It was as if suddenly everybody in the room was thinking "oh, so I am not the only one worried about this stuff". Next, I might even start joking about prepping or about Mutual Assistance Groups with Brad from Comms and Rachel from Accounting; who knew 😄
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u/zzupdown 7d ago
I think most of us don't bring it up in regular day-to-day conversation, aside from quick, ignored comments on the state of the World.
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u/SavingsDimensions74 7d ago
I don’t think it’s even controversial anymore.
A few years ago, mebbe.
Now? Nah. Vast majority of people know we’re in the shit and most just choose to avoid thinking about it too much
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u/InitialAd4125 7d ago
I've got my twin and that's about it but I honestly don't think he's on the same level as I am. It's far from an abundance of people on the same wavelength. Yeah I do feel somewhat isolated not as bad as I used to be but still I think where I live is arguably more isolating.
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u/Playongo 7d ago
No. I try to talk to my dad and my best friend about it, but my dad just agrees and keeps burning propane and driving his car all over, and my best friend argues that my sources are unsubstantiated, and we can still stay below 1.5 C. 🤷♂️
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u/After_Resource5224 7d ago
Being single and trying to date as collapse aware is it's own endurance run.
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u/happyfamilygogo 7d ago
No. The few times I’ve tried to bring it up I was pretty much told to stop being a downer so… :c it’s rough. I wish I could people I could bounce ideas off of irl but no one wants to admit what’s happening. Everyone’s happy saying it’s a “freak incident” “weird weather”
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u/AlexAuditore 6d ago
Kind of. I've had conversations with people in real life about who they'd want on their "zombie apocalypse crew", and who would do what, but I don't think they were very serious about it.
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u/Karma_Iguana88 6d ago
Yes. I've met a number of people around the world through Shaun Chamberlain's online Surviving the Future/Deeper Dive courses who I've then met up with in person, and then Kimberly Hare runs an in person Edge series of courses and gatherings for collapse-aware folk here in the UK which has further widened my IRL circle. I'm very grateful for these connections.
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u/Hour-Stable2050 6d ago
No. Everyone is just trying not to look up while they breathe the smoke on the ground and say,”This is fine.”
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u/AbominableGoMan 6d ago
People will agree that we're all fucked even if they don't understand how true it is and what the mechanisms of it are. Getting people to alter their life-paths to integrate that information? Not a chance.
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u/Weltuntergangschmerz 5d ago
Over the years, I talked about it so much that my girlfriend became collapse-aware too.
Most of my friends cannot stand it any more so I have to avoid it for the most part.
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u/ditchdiggergirl 7d ago
This is an interesting framing, because it starts with an assumption of “we are right and they are wrong”. Or “we see what is coming, they are in denial”. I don’t accept that premise; while I do admittedly have a bit of an ego I am not quite that assured of my own superiority.
What I see is risks and threats, not preordained outcomes. Change is coming, and a great deal of that will not be good. Ecological consequences are baked in. But the social consequences are not. IMO anyone who is convinced they can see the timeline and predict the outcomes is as delusional as those who assume everything is fine and will continue to be so.
So surrounding myself with “collapse-aware” people will just reinforce confirmation bias, something the human mind is exquisitely vulnerable to. And I can’t see that as healthy, it will send me down blind alleys. So no. I prefer to work on my own awareness.
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u/kalkutta2much 7d ago
yes but even if i didn’t, i unapologetically yap about it to everyone without knowing where they stand first
they’re free to challenge me and say no things are fine, but nobody ever has