Weekly Observations: What signs of collapse do you see in your region? [in-depth] July 07
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Hartless_One@reddit
Wow, these weekly threads are really dying down, just over 200 comments in a week. That in itself is probably a sign of collapse.
Anyway. Location: South Florida. The amount of Indeed job postings are increasing even though its the slow season, 3 guesses as to why that is dundundun
Lord_Vesuvius2020@reddit
It’s hard to know what to report in Weekly Observations. Many of us are witness to weather events but it’s always hard to tell if there are evidence of collapse. A slo mo erosion of a regional economy is gradual over years. Outrageous political statements by some official can be offensive or stupid but not necessarily a sign of collapse. And we don’t hear from people in collapsed countries like Haiti. A few years ago I recall there were WO from a guy in a homeless encampment and those were both mundane and horrific. But I haven’t seen anything from him in years. Maybe it’s hard to say exactly what we see around us that is collapse when it’s part of everything at once?
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Was that a man in Las Vegas?
Lord_Vesuvius2020@reddit
Thanks for reminding me about the guy in LV. I had forgotten about him. I understand he ended up joining a group of preppers and is no longer homeless. His reports were always interesting. But I was thinking of another guy who was submitting reports a few years before him who was at an encampment near Santa Cruz, CA. He just disappeared afaik.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
FWIW I am glad that the man in Las Vegas is no longer homeless and is with, hopefully, like minded people.
I confess to not having been here to read the Santa Cruz man's posts.
roblewk@reddit
I keep looking for something to post. Here in upstate NY we have had six days over 90 (some kind of record in that) and unusually high humidity, but nothing compared to the rest of the world. Honestly, our gardens are loving it.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Same in Orange county NY. My untreated lawn grows. We also have had some rain mixed in with those above 90/32.2 degree days.
fdnyubergeek@reddit
Also in Orange County ny - it wasn't fun these last few days. I'm a night shift worker and trying to sleep without AC on sucks. I eventually had to give in - and I hate turning it on.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Stay strong my fellow Orange county NY resident. Sunday it was HOT. I don't work night shift and I utterly HEAR what you are saying about having to put that AC on. It's supposed to be hot again today (Tuesday 7/8).
ideknem0ar@reddit
In Vermont and yeah. As soon as the heat and humidity hit, my garden took off. It wasn't doing so great before with all that cold rain & 55 with lows flirting in the high 30s/low 40s in early June. Imagine that!
iamjustaguy@reddit
I remember when they were monthly threads.
boneyfingers@reddit
It was different 10 years ago. Then, we were looking for signs of what was to come; now we are seeing what is happening now. We used to hope we were wrong. Some of us hoped that sharing information would ripple out into the world, and we would see signs of a change of course, away from the cliff. That hasn't happened. I share less now than I did years ago, because I'm either preaching to the choir (here in this sub,) or speaking to a brick wall (everywhere else.)
Rossdxvx@reddit
It is collapse related fatigue. I don't want to say that people have given up, but a lot of people are just... tired. And you can only repeat yourself so many times. I think most of us know what the situation is here, realize that it is not going to get any better and only worse, and that human civilization is on a suicidal path.
What more can be said? The wise man will enjoy what little time we have left, but to fight battles that we cannot possibly win? Maybe it is defeatist, but the problems are so deeply entrenched, it will take a revolutionary and total reimagining of how we live our lives in order to make any sort of difference. And, truth be told, that difference is bandaging up the massive amounts of damage already done because, as others have pointed out, we drove off the cliff decades ago.
And yet, we are doing the complete opposite - doubling down on the damage. It's fucking over and the future is one of misery. Again, doomer or not, that is what it seems to me.
So, all we can do is bear witness, but many of us are tired. It seems pointless and almost self-indulgent to do this in the face of the sheer amount of destruction being wrought. Just get on with life, enjoy the little things while we still can, and don't have any children.
That's my advice, anyway.
BlackMassSmoker@reddit
Agreed. Perhaps I'm wrong but it appears to me there are less posts on here and a slight uptick over on r/CollapseSupport. Perhaps a sign people no longer need to debate or discuss whether collapse is happening - they've resigned themselves to the fact that it is here and happening right now.
I noticed it took awhile for a thread to start up on the Texas floods. Obviously what's going on there is awful but I think for collapse it was another day, another extreme weather event that unfortunately took peoples lives. We've seen it play out over and over.
ThisMattressIsTooBig@reddit
I stay away from r/collapsesupport because the vibe there feels like "oops! All panic attacks!" And I don't want to be my jaded funny man self where people are struggling not to crack.
Here, well... yeah, I've always posted here for validation. It's a place where I can say things out loud. And I think you're spot on - collapse is no longer tinfoil hats, chemtrails, and Al Gore inventing the internet. People don't need to whisper about it anymore.
It also feels a whole lot like the conversation has shifted from "we need to act before it's too late" to "it's too late". Less activism, less divisiveness, less engagement. All that's left is sociopolitical interactions and taking a shot every time something happens faster than expected.
DisingenuousGuy@reddit
Seconded. I only read but not post there since some of these threads can get absolutely concerning and I know I cannot mess around there when people are about to snap.
TuneGlum7903@reddit
"It also feels a whole lot like the conversation has shifted from "we need to act before it's too late" to "it's too late". Less activism, less divisiveness, less engagement"
Another way to SEE this is through the "Stages of Grief" lens.
It's people reaching "acceptance" that this is happening and moving on to dealing with the reality of our predicament. Once you reach that point, you have stopped needing to constantly convince yourself that "this is real".
Once you KNOW that Collapse has started, what's left to do but observation and commentary?
ThisMattressIsTooBig@reddit
I've got a few LEGO sets left to put together. It's not much of a bucket list but it's achievable.
GogOfEep@reddit
It is too late.
Rossdxvx@reddit
I notice that this place has been slowly fizzling out, too, since the beginning of the year. As collapse gains traction, this place might become a ghost town. I wouldn't be surprised. People who believe in collapse are already marginalized, it seems, on the fringes watching society slowly devour and destroy itself. In the past, select humans would take threads and fragments of past civilizations and try to preserve them (what they call the monastic option), but our collapse will dwarf anything that any past civilizations experienced.
TuneGlum7903@reddit
"It seems pointless and almost self-indulgent to do this in the face of the sheer amount of destruction being wrought."
I disagree, 75% of Americans 'believe' that the planet is warming up BUT only expect 'minor' consequences from that 'during their lifetime'. -PEW polling
The MAJORITY still don't see the danger we are in, they still don't realize the Climate Apocalypse has started. We HERE are a small minority that the 'others' think are CRAZY.
Bearing witness here helps many of us feel VALIDATED and HEARD.
ontrack@reddit
It was quite common to have over a thousand comments a week on the WO, though it was during covid and maybe people were just home more and had more time to ruminate.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
I agree with you about the amount of Weekly Observations we are seeing here. One of these days I should get up off my duff and write my own.
Ghost jobs on Indeed? I can't believe it! s/
_rihter@reddit
Location: Central Europe (Pannonian Basin)
I have one observation that's not related to climate, but is a sign of collapse.
People aren't meeting anymore. I've read many articles about the disappearance of third places in North America. However, the same thing is happening in "Eastern" Europe after 1989. Everything became commercialised, and many organisations, groups and activities that exist in Western Europe (and have existed for decades, or even centuries) are simply not present here. Our societies were reset to factory settings in 1989, and everything that was created before then was quickly dismantled since communism went out of fashion.
Nowadays, most people completely stop socialising after they start working. Even before then, things weren't great if you couldn't afford to visit other countries and engage in some activities there. You usually meet people in school or at university, and that's it. If you don't meet enough people during that time, chances are you'll end up alone later.
Things have deteriorated even more since 2020. I lurk in subreddits where youth are gathering, and loneliness is a major complaint. They are trying to meet people through social media and dating apps, but they started sucking so much it became unbearable. The goal of those platforms is to keep you dissatisfied and make money.
Everything is so commercialised and fake, it's starting to hurt. Like our societies have been a part of a weird neoliberal experiment for almost four decades. Fertility in Poland is 1.099. You can expect it to go below 1 very soon. Most kids being born right now are still from couples that met before 2020.
antikythera_mekanism@reddit
I remember being a teen in the 90s (northeast USA) and a HUGE and exciting part of regular life was meeting new people. Today it seems like a fantasy but there was a time…
We would go to the local open mic night and make friends with musicians. A school dance would be crashed by kids from another town, next thing you know we were visiting them and walking their town getting to know our new friends. I would take the train to south street in Philly and literally MAKE FRIENDS ON THE STREET! Just find a group playing hacky-sack and join in, start to chat. If you had an instrument you could break the ice with anyone.
Music festivals, things like that often resulted in new connections. I had so many friends and acquaintances, and the constant possibility of meeting someone new was very exciting, but also a normal part of life. And the kids were all able to socialize, our social graces were developed and an important part of our lives. We were present together, and had deep conversations but also days full of goofy laughter.
Today I don’t see kids approach other kids. I hear how teens have no friends and can’t find others. So much has changed!!! I’m only 42 but the youth I lived seems 1000 years ago, culturally. Kids today don’t even know the experience of showing up somewhere ALONE and getting to know some other kids.
My world was so big back then, even though there was no internet. There were so many people. So many experiences. It’s something I worry about, how generations behind me never got to have this normal part of human life.
Select_Subject_2241@reddit
My father told me that I should find a wife before finishing college otherwise it will impossible to find anyone later. I did not believe but later i found out he was right, there are no third places to.meet people anymore (in my fathers time there were alot of events and gallas), talking with people online is truly miserable and time consuming, talking with random people on the street it just as hard as they look at you weird, or are too tired or stressed to do this. Even making plan with my friends have become hard even though none of them are married or have kids. I also noticed that confort also ruined people. Making plans for holidays getaways (5-7 days either in the country somewhere or oitside of country) has become impossible and met with comments like: i dont have the money, i dont have the time and other excuses. -mind you that I announce this with atleast 3 months before, sometimes even a full year.
ThisMattressIsTooBig@reddit
Can confirm. I don't know how to make connections to hang out offline and I can't trust anyone online. You know how unemployment rates are low because they don't count people who have "exited the workforce", a.k.a. have been unable to find a job for long enough? Yeah, I went and got a dog. I love my dog.
DenTwann@reddit
Started a beekeepers course. Learn a skill you would love to obtain. You will find like minded people easily. In my case, I was just intrigued and wanted to do something actual good for this world. Instead of the daily routine. The people you meet in those courses, are the ones with the same thought process and you will get along with them.
ThisMattressIsTooBig@reddit
Hrm. On the one hand I have tried and failed many hobbies and meetups. On the other I do like and appreciate bees. Food for thought...
DenTwann@reddit
I started with reading Collins beekeeper Bible. And am now in my 4th lesson. Eyes went open. And I’m loving it. Will have to see if it stays a hobby. But bought my first hive and am super exited. They give some meaning. Something that all of us need.
ThisMattressIsTooBig@reddit
I'll take a look. Good rec, thanks!
Mission-Notice7820@reddit
Location: Mid-Atlantic
Well, we finally have an actual concentration camp on US soil. Thanks to the ongoing collapse of society and our biosphere, nothing will be done about it. If the only real problem we had was the authoritarians, we could probably solve it, but since we're all racing towards a short term future where nobody has any food or water and are dying in wildfires and wet bulb temps, amongst other disasters, it's probably going to just be what it is.
Humanity has been around in some form or fashion for millions of years now. We had a great run, we went from living in caves to landing on the moon and erasing the majority of all biomass from the planet in service of our unchecked greed and need to have constant dopamine hits.
This place has shrunk. People are more aware now. The only real response we are capable of is still denial though.
ICE now has a budget that allows it to accelerate the disappearing of people. People even like us here talking about it will start vanishing probably. There's no point in even trying to sanitize yourself anymore. Peter has all the information and they probably have detailed profiles of every single citizen at this point. Kick the wrong hornets nest and you get black bagged in the middle of the night.
7-8C+ of warming this century is becoming more and more a real thing on the table staring at us. Mostly, we'll just go down murdering one another and stealing each other's shit as that seems to be about the extent of our evolution and our capacity for dealing with reality.
Good luck.
too-much-noise@reddit
Location: NY state
We moved last year and have been making friends in town. Of the six couples we have met who are of childbearing age, one is childfree, one is still on the fence, and four are undergoing IVF. That seems crazy to me. And they aren't that old - these are couple in their early or mid-30s, which I realize is past peak fertility but still. It seems like too many to be a coincidence. I suspect all the PFAS and microplastics in our bodies are playing a role.
The couples I've spoken with about it are using insurance to cover most of the cost, which of course is a privilege not everyone can access. I wonder how many couples who don't have good private health insurance could afford IVF treatments, and what role this is playing in the ongoing decline of birth rates. My best friend had her son 13 years ago and she and her husband have wanted and been trying for another child since and it's never happened.
JHandey2021@reddit
Holy shit! That seems extremely improbable. Is there something about the town itself?
Collapse_is_underway@reddit
People want to keep ignoring that the accumulation of different pollution is "under control". It's not.
We lost 50% of our sperm count in 50 years : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_infertility_crisis
But we'd prefer to imagine it's something localized.
Now, you add other factors in there, like COVID, food that's lacking nutrients, pesticides and similar trash, etc.
Now add the fact that this is just about sperm and not taking into account the impacts of pollution on women fertility (that has an impact, obviously).
too-much-noise@reddit
I don't think so, they all moved here during the pandemic, within the last 3-4 years. They came from NYC so it could be something related to city living...?
christophlc6@reddit
That and theyre old. Human beings are supposed to start having babies in their teens... waiting till your 30's is responsible but your body thinks you lost interest. Millions of years of evolution can't just be ignored because of the economy.
GridDown55@reddit
And COVID and they may not eat well
christophlc6@reddit
And birth control for years and years probably isn't great either.
A-Supurb-Owl@reddit
People don’t realize that early 30s is on the edge of fertility and there’s a steep drop off. It’s pretty normal.
Dry-Secret-3686@reddit
My niece had IVF to have her 2 children she has PCOS and was unable to conceive on her own. I also have two kids they are trans male and have PCOS. Not me or my siblings had fertility problems, and no relatives that I know of ever had PCOS. So in my family a lot of fertility issues occurred in this last generation.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
I believe you.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
As a former NYS worker, I know for a fact that NYS health insurance covers some IVF treatments. I am not sure about GIF, embryo transfer, etc. or what exact IVF treatments are covered. The only reason I know this is because at least five of my former co-workers became parents through IVF.
From personal experience, when I first got the job (1997) I was 28. I went to the gyno to ask about conception and what my husband and my options were. She immediately said, "If you don't conceive after trying for X amount of time" [I can't recall what X amount of time was] "you can try IVF since your insurance covers it."
I can't vouch for the couples you know trying to conceive through IVF treatments, what sort of insurance they have or do not have.
WilleMoe@reddit
Covid infections are often affecting hormone balance - causing low sperm count and early menopause.
PrairieFire_withwind@reddit
Yes, without expensive or employer offered health insurance ivf is out of reach for many.
And it is not talked about in public. Call it a quiet epidemic.
JHandey2021@reddit
Location: United States of America.
Just noting that we are about a month out from the politically-motivated assassination of high-ranking Democratic elected officials in Minnesota by a militant Trumpist, and after the manhunt was over, there has been.... crickets. Nothing. Silence. Biden and Harris both attended the funeral in state, but Trump, on whose behalf the murders were committed, has been completely silent, as has been virtually the entire American news media. Mere decades ago, the idea that a presidential candidate smoked marijuana became an occasion for years of recriminations and criticism, but now, assassinations of the opposition party's leaders seem A-OK.
I mention this because I spent some time with fomerly politically-active people from Minnesota this weekend, the kind who virtually lived on Internet politics message boards and travelled to volunteer for forgotten presidential candidates. Not a word from them, either. One of the eeriest things I have seen in a long, long time.
Normalcy bias will be what ultimately kills us all. Another great example was the recent research on climate impacts to the Southern Meridianal Ocean Current, the Antarctic counterpart to AMOC - on Bluesky right now, the usual celebrity climate scientists appear to be engaged in a campaign to calm everyone down and shit on anyone who may be a little freaked out. Remember, kids, the numbers are bad, things are really, really bad, you should be nervous, but if you do anything but support your national center-left political party's anemic climate response, YOU ARE WORSE THAN THE TRUMPISTS!
I can keep going - ICE swooping in around the country (but hey, you have nothing to worry about if you're ~~white~~ not illegal, right?), more and more AI-inspired job cuts, LinkedIn feeds still filled with Open To Work banners... but don't talk too much about it. Don't be a downer. Don't look up.
Agreeable_Ocelot@reddit
What’s crazy to me is that amidst the severely declining stability of society, to the point we are seeing political assassination, the liberals in my state still maintain banning private gun ownership as their top political priority.
I don’t get it; it seems like a death wish. I still vote for them because healthcare, labor, environment, but it’s like they’re stuck in the distant past. I guess they think law enforcement will protect them from the bad people. Never mind that ICE just became the most well-funded law enforcement agency in US history, at 3x the budget of the Marine Corps.
Nay, none of that matters. It is still 1996. Ban assault weapons now!!!
Outside_Bed5673@reddit
recent research on climate impacts to the Southern Meridianal Ocean Current, the Antarctic counterpart to AMOC - on Bluesky right now,
Can you link the mainstream climate scientists?
I want to rain on the optimism parade. I have not had schadenfreude since Herman Cain Award during COVID. I want to bet that we are going to see 1.7C (if we are already at 1.5C) by the next El Nino. I want to ask when was the last time we had a La Nina with temperatures lower than the previous El Nino? Or two consecutive years colder than the previous (I think its been 20 years.)
JHandey2021@reddit
Can’t right now but Gavin Schmidt was one and Brad Johnson - who I think may be more of a reporter/communications guy - was another.
springcypripedium@reddit
This ⬆️ 100%!!!!!
It is so surreal and dystopian. Zombie apocalypse-ish. I do not want to succumb to this, how to live with these insights and not zone out like so many?
rematar@reddit
I was thinking how silent that assassination and attempted one are. It is creepy.
notanipplebandit@reddit
Their silence one those atrocities vs their demonizing of democrats after the ice agent was shot is making me feel uneasy.
96-62@reddit
They've gone full war. Their enemies should die and the killers be praised, in their minds.
ardilla_rara@reddit
We’re at the stage where people are being disappeared. I suspect that the silence is due to the accumulation of bad things happening for which there are never any consequences combined with the heavy amounts of denial that we are all operating under.
How can you feel that anything you do makes any difference in a context where we have all been forced to play pretend?
Pretend that climate change is not accelerating. Pretend that the COVID pandemic is over. Pretend that there is something called "public health." Pretend that there isn’t a genocide happening. Pretend that there is something called a “rules-based international order.” Pretend that the Germans haven’t deported people for protesting against genocide. Pretend that there are still rules or laws that apply to everyone. Pretend that ICE is not kidnapping people off the street. Pretend that the US hasn’t just speed built a concentration camp. Pretend that fascism isn’t rising throughout the western world.
How much of this can anyone take? We have become accustomed to mass death and zero consequences for those in power. Trump’s administration is based on might = right. In other words, it’s legal because Trump says so and it’s not legal because Trump says so. In order to cope in such a context, it takes incredible amounts of effort just to fight the denial.
-Thizza-@reddit
Location: Catalonia, Spain
There are fires in the hills behind my house. They won't be able to put it out today. The two air tankers went home and hopefully will return tomorrow. The ground crews are afraid for their safety from the increasing night winds coming from the Pyrenees. So far 480 ha or 1200 acres have been burned.
Outside_Bed5673@reddit
Large parts of the northeastern Spanish region (autonomous community) of Catalonia are suffering their worst drought on record, leading authorities in the region to declare a drought emergency. I looked up the Kerr County (the Texas Hill Country flood) and they were in a drought. Everywhere is in a drought or is flooded. Team The Heat Will Kill You First is losing to drought/flood/drought/wildfire/landslide/drought/flood vicious cycle. Well, at least until we get to August temperatures that could beat previous Tmax and Tmin certainly by over 3C in some areas. I noticed Tmin at high elevation records were blown out of the water in 2025.
"As of mid-May 2025, more than half, or 53%, of the land in Europe and the Mediterranean basin was impacted by drought" - and that was before the Mediterranean saw 115F at the Artic Circle and said hold my beer - I saw temperatures 6C, 7C, even 14.5F Freedom Units above normal in the Mediterranean. That is a 9 sigma event (six sigma is one in a billion.) My jaw is still on the ground from the temperatures as reported by "at-sign" Extremetemps on Twitter or may I suggest Bluesky. Prof Elliott is saying, "CODE FUBAR" or "YIKES" because the possibility this is happening is a once in a lifetime event - and "at-sign" leonsimons8 is saying wow we just had another reduction in sulfur aerosols in shipping in the mediterranean - imagine that we underestimated how much dirty bunker fuels reflect sunlight. This means that we are truly cooking - we underestimated CO2 CH4 and SF6 because NOx sulfates masked 1C heat but that is now gone. It is going to get worse before it gets worse.
By the way - when the sulfur is taken out of the fossil fuels so that it causes less cancer from benzene or other volatile organic compounds found in crude oil - it forms swiss cheese like bundles of sulfur. Have we found any good use for that sulfur? Or is that sulfur going to be shot out of a future aircraft way above the highest altitude jets fly at in a last ditch attempt to cool the earth so we do not pass 1.6C then next El Nino and we pass 1.6C by a large margin. Anyone have access on how to buy the sulfur? I figure the fossil fuel companies are swimming in it because of all the aerosols taken out of fossil fuels, and lately extra sulfur now from bunker fuel.
Back to breathing - I was talking about my right to breathe without having sick people cough on you in crowded areas - but now you can wear N95 masks to prevent forest fire 2.5PM molecule pollution. I do not wish COVID on anyone. My roommate died (before the vaccine was released) because of a weak immune system. I get claustrophobia five years later from COVID and I am the first to admit I am wary of crowds.
See_You_Space_Coyote@reddit
Location: USA, Lower 48 States, East of the Mississippi River
Covid cases continue to rise, which, while not surprising, is still an enormous clusterfuck with consequences that are almost certainly to be downplayed and/or ignored.
https://x.com/CyFi10/status/1942250788082069565
https://x.com/michael_hoerger/status/1941357823331545116
https://pmc19.com/data/index.php#states
Covid data has been spotty at best lately due to our government being, well, itself, but regardless of the trouble it takes to hunt down accurate covid data, the facts remain the same as they have for the last five years. Covid is dangerous, it can kill people, and it can leave people with long-lasting, possibly permanent health problems, that, as of now, have no proven treatments or cures. For those who are starting at zero, long covid, which is distinct from just testing positive for covid for a long time, can cause a variety of symptoms, some of which can be so severe that sufferers are housebound or even bed-bound, and there are no proven, FDA-approved treatments or cures for long covid.
If you like clicking on links, I've got links for you. If you're not so much into clicking on things, scroll on down for other stuff.
What Covid Does To The Body (updated June 2025): https://www.panaccindex.info/p/what-covid-19-does-to-the-body-eighth
How Covid-19 Can Cause Premature Cognitive Impairment: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04166-2
Rebuttals To Common Myths About Covid-19: https://youhavetoliveyour.life/
Long Covid Fact Sheet: https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/fact-sheets/item/post-covid-19-condition
Why Is Everyone More Sick (a video about how covid-19 can damage your immune system): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HGi81LsXtA&t=1s
Why Covid-19 Isn't Just A Problem For The Vulnerable: https://johnsnowproject.org/fact/everyone-is-vulnerable/
How To Use Masks To Reduce The Spread Of Covid: https://cleanaircrew.org/masks/
How To Find The Right Mask: https://www.projectn95.org/find-the-right-mask/
Brief Guide To Cleaning The Air To Reduce The Spread Of Covid: https://www.covidisairborne.org/resources/ventilate
On the bird flu front, some horrifying but unsurprising news ahead: Robert F Kennedy plans to let the virus spread unchecked and just sit back and see how many birds (and other animals) survive: https://www.livescience.com/health/flu/rfks-proposal-to-let-bird-flu-spread-through-poultry-could-set-us-up-for-a-pandemic-experts-warn
Trump's been blustering about ending the pause on his disastrous tariffs, though make no mistake, regardless of what happens after this, he's already fucked up our relationship with many other countries, possibly for good, and the downstream consequences of that will be kicking all of our asses for a good long while. The price of food continues to creep upwards, and though I eat less than many people do, as I'm just not that hungry that days and I find myself feeling nauseated, bloated, or overly full a lot of the time and I find that the more I eat, the worse I tend to feel.
On a more personal note, my eczema's been a pain in the ass and I'm due for a dental cleaning, though ever since covid started, I try to avoid seeking medical care unless absolutely necessary since going to a medical facility for anything is basically rolling the dice with covid nowadays. That said, I never skip dental cleanings since I don't want to wind up with cavities, as getting cavities would make me have to go to the dentist more often, which would just compound the problem and also cost me more time and money.
The discord servers I'm in are all pretty dead, and if I try to reach out to people, they're either very slow to respond or they don't respond at all. I haven't lost any of my inherent desire for human connection since before the pandemic, quite the opposite, in fact, but the pandemic also gave people the opportunity they were waiting for to show me how they really feel about me, so I sort of wound up inside a real-life Robert Frost poem, although with less mysterious paths to choose from and more ghosting. It might just be me, but I feel like social norms in general have decayed over the last several years to the point where society is icing out all but the most neurotypical, socially competent people, and people who, before, would have been able to carve out a niche for themselves with enough hard work are now just left to fall through the cracks and drown by the callous, power-hungry ghouls who have the most social, professional, and political influence now.
The weather in my area has been extremely humid, to the point where going outside for even a few minutes leaves you drenched in sweat, and I'm the sort of person who sweats a lot less than normal regardless of how much time I spend outside or how much I work out. When I do sweat, though, it usually tends to be weird night sweats that hit me at some random time in the middle of the night-always between the hours of 12 am and 6 am-and leave me feeling dizzy and kind of sick afterwards.
Positive news stories have been even more scarce than usual lately, and there's been a lot of political angst just about everywhere. There's also a lot of road work and construction in my area, with new highway lanes being opened up seemingly every time I turn around, and lately, there have been a ton of bats in my area around sunset, even though before this year, I've never seen bats in my area.
With climate change causing more frequent and more severe weather events, hotter summers, and weirder weather patterns in general, covid running amok with an uncaring government not even trying to control it, political tensions increasing, geopolitical conflict continuing to ramp up, basic human rights of millions of people being violated in new and ghoulish ways, and society in general becoming more polarized, isolated, and jaded from day to day, it feels hard to cling onto hope sometimes. While I'm not looking to get high off of hopium or drown myself in toxic positivity, I still think it's important to do what we can (meaning without any undue physical or financial strain,) to improve the world and make it a better place. Even if humanity doesn't have a lot of time left, that's no reason to let our remaining time suck ass, at least that's my motto and I'm sticking to it.
Anyways, here's to the beginning of another month and the (approximate) halfway point of the year, now we find ourselves with more of 2025 in the rear view mirror than in front of us, which feels incredibly weird to type out, but here we are regardless. If the weather allows at all, my plan is to enjoy as much of the beauty of nature as my body (and my available transportation,) will allow me to, and if the weather doesn't allow, I'll be off to work on adding some more strange and unhinged fanfiction to the internet, and maybe even some memes. I should also probably organize my room, as I've been trying to stock up on essentials to beat Trump's tariffs but I also don't want to ruin whatever aesthetic appeal I can generate from my room either by going full hoarding mode-I've seen first hand what hoarding can do to a perfectly suitable living space and it's not pretty. Stay safe, stay healthy, and if you can find even one situation in public where you can wear a mask, throw on a mask while you're there-in the fight to mitigate the damage covid is wreaking on everyone and everything, every little bit helps, and perfection is not required to make a positive difference. Look out for yourselves, your loved ones, and all the other people and things you care about, this year's been a bumpy ride so far but even in a clusterfuck of roiling, blistering, bombastic proportions like the one we find ourselves embroiled in now, there's still ways we can make things better instead of worse and that's always worth celebrating.
delusionalbillsfan@reddit
The discord thing is funny, it's the same for me, the same few servers I was always super active in are in the process of dying. I chalk it up to age & COVID...the servers were born during COVID, everyone is 5 years older now, and I figure most of those people have put together lives beyond the online realm lol. But it's interesting to hear someone else experience the same thing.
See_You_Space_Coyote@reddit
Most of the servers I'm in were around before covid, but either way, it seems like a lot of people are either losing interest in socializing or else just don't have time for it anymore.
Outside_Bed5673@reddit
Discord is great for stock trading chat rooms. I bring up how stocks are correlated with global warming - you too can buy a closet of beans and a low cost stock ETF and a low cost gold future ETF. Diversifying for the SHTF or a protracted grind of another decade of having to report to work - at least until the crops start to fail.
Outside_Bed5673@reddit
I read the new variant is giving "throat razor blade" hoarse throat - its not normal it is painful.
Why COVID 'Razor Blade' Sore Throat Hurts So Bad
If you simply look up COVID and razor blade you will find it. I have my cloth and KN95 mask in my back left pocket ready to go tomorrow morning when I get on the bus to go to work.
The bus is not crowded until I get to US1/Biscayne Blvd - and then you have to wear a mask.
Poor lady was hacking up a lung - the bus driver did not have extra masks - I gave her mine. Nobody is paying people that are on commission to stay home if sick. I cannot afford to get sick so I am vaccinated and going to seek out more vaccine it has been six months.
See_You_Space_Coyote@reddit
Yeah, I've heard that a lot of people are mistaking it for strep throat because it causes such severe throat pain. I have a hiatal hernia that already gives me difficulty/pain when swallowing so I definitely don't want to add anything else on top of that to give me even more trouble with swallowing in general.
Gator_farmer@reddit
Location: Florida, United States, world?
Topic: war and prep
It’s hurricane season so I’ve been going over my preps. Part of that isn’t supplies but plans. When to leave, routes, what if the storm turns etc etc.
In doing this I also do some more drastic situation plan preps. For me, since we live within 10 miles of a major US military base, and the largest port in the State with phosphate being one of our biggest products. So, what do I do if the base or port is attacked? Big enough nuke, well I just fry especially if I’m at work. But still, getting home from the office, how long do I wait for my fiancée who works at a hospital close to the base, etc, etc, etc.
All of this to say, the war in Ukraine concerns me for future conflicts. We are so so close to the world of Slaughterbots. Frankly, besides the face recognition/targeting software, we’re already there. I don’t think we as a public have grappled with how this could change things. The military certainly has.
So now instead of a nuke, I’m more concerned about drones. How hard would it truly be for a country to load a few cargo containers with drones, have a ship dock at port, and then unleash hell on the port, city, and base? Candidly, I think decently easy. Certainly easier than sneaking a missile through detection systems. How do I prep for it? Treat it more as a standard terror attack? Avoid leaving any building.
I know it’s not the most coherent thought, but I really really don’t like it and if you use just a bit of imagination you can see a world where they use them like in the book, The Ministry for the Future: crash planes, spread disease, target specific groups of people.
Milkbagistani@reddit
Ukrainians did that just a few weeks ago with drones hidden inside mobile homes. Operation Spiderweb wiped out a sizable portion of russia's bomber fleet ... and every NATO air force base pooped a little.
Hartless_One@reddit
You are right to fear the drones. They are the future of oppression. I expect ICE to be utilizing them soon enough. Its more likely drone patrols will assume the role surveillance towers/poles do and we wont have those(hopefully not both...). Especially now that people are resisting them, they are going to start scoping out areas with a drone 1st, etc.
The US is just sitting back and watching the drone warfare in Ukraine and learning. We have robots dancing and playing soccer now. Future is looking grim.
hectorbrydan@reddit
You fear the foreign others but the danger is coming from inside. Remember those big drones over new jersey that the feds refused to acknowledge then when state polits asked disavowed any knowledge of while assuring us it was not a threat?
Not only was that likely a test run of new automated security drones, it is likely operated by a private contractor, with someone like peter thiel owning the ai programming.
All the fed government and courts and lawyers already see the republic as dead and an unaccountable plutocracy running the nation going forward and sooner than later we will have drones unleashed on us by our own governments. NJ was a test run of one such project I fear, and that was under the former prez, the establishment will be even more capricious now with the backing of our kakistocracy. They are just waiting for an excuse.
Gator_farmer@reddit
Well I’m not really too locked in on the source of the threat. It’s just a framework for “okay what do I do based on where I am. How do I get home? How long do I wait for my fiancée to get home? Do I attempt to go to her? How do I get to my parents’ place?”
theCaitiff@reddit
This is something I'm keenly aware of and have been closely following for several years now. Isis pioneered the "off the shelf drone with a grenade tied to it" strategy more than a decade ago, and we still don't have a really good answer for it beyond Jimbo with a shotgun constantly scanning the skies. By the time the Ukraine war kicked off drones were a key part of the strategy. We eventually reached the point where signal jamming made commercial drones less relevant and the current drones swarming the battlefield are guided by long spools of fiber optic thread, but the answer to these new fiber optic drones is still "throw enough lead in the air that you manage to hit the tiny moving target that's just barely on the edge of shotgun range".
And the scary part is, this isn't really locked behind the "big government only" paywall. You can do this. Your angry racist neighbor can do this. You can buy, off the shelf as a ready made product, a quad copter drone that will carry up to 7lbs to a GPS coordinate, release it's payload, return to base autonomously, and film the whole trip for you in 4K. Don't worry though, it's sold for fishing, to carry your bait far out beyond the breakers. If you're willing to DIY it just a little bit instead of buying the fishing drone that's basically an off the shelf bomber, you could easily build a small air force for a few thousand bucks. Twenty drones with drop mechanisms for under five grand is pretty easy to price out, munitions for them to drop are more difficult but frankly not nearly as hard as you might expect.
I haven't bothered to go shopping for fiber optic drones lately, because at the moment american cities are still vulnerable to the commercial variants, as evidenced by kids playing with little FPV tiny-whoops in the park.
hectorbrydan@reddit
Just imagine what these billionaires have at their compounds and bunkers in the way of drones too.
It seems to me we need to dust off Tesla's ideas, and make and share the tech to take down drones with rf waves somehow. Lead is a poor defense from drones, laser type weapons are line of sight, it is possible.
HousesRoadsAvenues@reddit
Well, your thoughts have me thinking this morning. Look what Ukraine did to Russia with some souped up drones a few weeks ago. And those "unexplained" drone sightings this past fall in NYS and NJ were, IMO, a flash forward of how drones will be used against citizens.
I hope I am wrong, since I live close to a US Air base.
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
As far as I know, those drone attacks in Russia were done locally to avoid the excellent Russian radar jamming.
In your own personal case, it's quite simple really. You only need to wear an electronic communications scrambling device on your head with a face changing mask for the rest of your life. This simple method has excellent drone defeat.
You can never be too safe.
blo442@reddit
Location: Upper Midwest US
My company announced today that everyone is expected to be integrating AI use into their day to day workflow. "It's going to be the biggest revolution in our industry this century and if you don't learn to use it, you'll be left behind." The AI enthusiasts in management set up a chat for people to share their "favorite AI use cases", and the first two examples shared were both using AI to write appeals to get insurance claims approved. America, fuck yeah!
Weather up here is pretty "normal" right now. Canadian wildfire smoke has been knocked back by recent rains, and the heat dome has moved on to Europe apparently. Someone posted to a local subreddit recently asking "it's been so rainy lately, but according to this graph we are a bit below average rainfall for summer? what's up with that?". The answer being recency bias, after three or four consecutive summers of flash drought, it feels weird to have thunderstorms and miserable rainy days in July again. But I'll enjoy every bit of reasonable weather we get.
_rihter@reddit
Location: Central Europe (Pannonian Basin)
I have one observation that's not related to climate, but is a sign of collapse.
People aren't meeting anymore. I've read many articles about the disappearance of third places in North America. However, the same thing is happening in "Eastern" Europe after 1989. Everything became commercialised, and many organisations, groups and activities that exist in Western Europe (and have existed for decades, or even centuries) are simply not present here. Our societies were reset to factory settings in 1989, and everything that was created before then was quickly dismantled since communism went out of fashion.
Nowadays, most people completely stop socialising after they start working. Even before then, things weren't great if you couldn't afford to visit other countries and engage in some activities there. You usually meet people in school or at university, and that's it. If you don't meet enough people during that time, chances are you'll end up alone later.
Things have deteriorated even more since 2020. I lurk in subreddits where youth are gathering, and loneliness is a major complaint. They are trying to meet people through social media and dating apps, but they started sucking so much it became unbearable. The goal of those platforms is to keep you dissatisfied and make money.
Everything is so commercialised and fake, it's starting to hurt. Like our societies have been a part of a weird neoliberal experiment for almost four decades. Fertility in Poland is 1.099. You can expect it to go below 1 very soon. Most kids being born right now are still from couples that met before 2020.
PorcelinaMagpie@reddit
Location: Indiana
When in the ever living hell will people start to wake up and see that this current administration doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone but themselves? As the floods raged in Texas, Trump was golfing (once again) and doing his pathetic dance to YMCA. Never once mentioned visiting the state to survey the area. How are people okay with this? And why is our country being briefed on Truth Social now and not via direct press conferences/live speeches? How is all of this happening?
The FBI recently came out and said Epstein never had a client list, etc. Seriously? Pretty suspicious isn't it?
ABSOLUTE MADNESS
JHandey2021@reddit
"Everything's fucked up, and no one goes to jail".
Funny how the QAnon insane-o conspiracy freaks were actually kind of correct - there was a massive conspiracy to prey on children. The only thing is that their hero, their messiah, Donald Trump was part of it. And now here we are.
Remember Craig Spence? People should look him up - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_J._Spence
This has all happened before, and it will all happen again. So many monsters leading us who will all just get away with it in the end.
GogOfEep@reddit
Don’t feel bad for me and my countrymen at this point. Haven’t for some time. I get near-constant schadenfreude from watching us suffer as a result of our Qing mindset.
lavapig_love@reddit
This may not be accurate, but my sense of humor's been off lately.
Physical_Ad5702@reddit
Just know that every denial and accusation is an admission of guilt with this lot of charlatans.
Of course there was a client list and TACO was implicated, so make it disappear; problem solved.
Making things disappear is this administration's specialty; climate data, brown people, COVID-19 infections, the Constitution.
It's a pretty well established pattern at this point.
WernerHerzogWasRight@reddit
It is their go to playbook, accuse others of exactly what they are doing. Reaction formation writ large? From the fascist playbook? I don’t know.
LuciusMiximus@reddit
location: Poland, Europe
Water level at Warsaw-Bulwary dropped to 13 cm, Warsaw-Nadwilanówka was at 40 cm for a while earlier today. No lower value has ever been observed at both stations. The latter is operational since 1967. Lows are typically observed further into the summer.
All-time high temperature for July was observed in Warsaw-Okęcie meteorological station on July 3. 36.5 degrees Celsius is 0.6 above the previous record.
The metro was broken more often than it worked the previous week because of two separate fires and luggage left unattended. We are lucky it didn't happen during school and university exams in May or June.
Maj0r-DeCoverley@reddit
Location: Aquitaine, France
r/collapse, 07 Juillet 2025
Coastal Aquitaine entered the humid tropical zone. I've been to the Caribbeans and Polynesia, I know the feeling: that damp smell indoor even after opening every windows all day, uncomfortable ocean temperature, typical evening rains, increased air humidity... Leave few place for doubt. The chikungunya virus is colonizing France, and many other tropical species are probably on their way. The köppen climate classification for my area has changed over 30 years, I can feel it.
That was for the coast. The hinterland experienced hail, heatwave, followed by larger hail balls, and now exits a longer heatwave. Compared to this 1983 weather bulletin, this is biblical. Back then they announced 42°C (108°TU) as a once in a century event. Today, I live in one of the only areas that didn't go above 40°C (104°TU) last week.
Hail and heatwave wreaked havoc in the strawberries and kiwi fields. Apparently it will be a hard time for wheat too. But once again mass medias will explain it's only a "temporary" price increase. And on a philosophical standpoint, they're right: wheat and kiwis are temporary.
Pictured below: magical rituals performed by the savage tribes of Europoors "still refusing to use AC" (still insisting to implement meaningful actions towards degrowth). Smart insulation ; white paint ; venitian blinds ; opening windows at dawn ; siesta ; no activities at noon ; creating and maximizing wind flow ; low-energy no-coolant-liquid ceiling fan ; ~~insulate the dog in beach sand~~. It works. And would continue to work fine during a blackout.
I hope you're doing okay. Especially those of you living under heat domes right now !
antikythera_mekanism@reddit
You don’t deserve to die while trying to take “meaningful action” towards de growth. I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. But we are beyond that now. Our goose is cooked.
I don’t mean to say that all action is pointless. But for the individual such as yourself… you didn’t create this and you can’t fix it by sweating to death during a catastrophic, unprecedented heatwave this year or next.
I hope you can implement all of the cautionary steps you listed here, but also have one single AC to cool just one room, just in case. Because the likelihood is getting higher of a heat so un-survivable that all of these methods will fail you. AC and a solar panel… if you can do it please do. Sincerely, someone living in the Caribbean who is no stranger to heat!
Maj0r-DeCoverley@reddit
I agree to a certain degree, and you bring good points.
I know those are systemic issues and that little actions won't change things. But I still do those actions because that's the right thing to do, that's all. I see too many people using AC in incredibly useless ways, far from "tool for survival". Don't mistake me for a Luddite: AC is a great invention. I just think it should be reserved for specific cases (infants, seniors, certain environments and works, etc). I think the same about cars.
Solar panels are great, but they don't remove the fact AC requires all a petrochemistry in the production part. Including gases absolutely wreaking our atmosphere.
Yeah if you live in the Caribbeans, depending on your age I can totally understand. I still remember that feeling that I wasn't even breathing, when I arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe). The humidity index was that high !
antikythera_mekanism@reddit
We’re on the same page. I still do what I can, also. Good for you for making informed decisions in how you treat this earth. I do things as mundane as walking the beach with my trash picker, even though there is far far more trash than I could even make a dent in. But each piece of plastic that is kept out of the ocean feels like a win for me and I do believe it’s worth the effort to make even one bit of change. It’s the right thing to do.
Yes people rely on AC to a crazy degree. At this point I also would love for it to be seen as an emergency measure and not a daily luxury or necessity. People do adjust to heat. The older people here use the AC the least, because constant use of a luxury item that kills the atmosphere wasn’t normalized until more recently. They drink a lot of water and iced tea, stay in the shade, limit activity in the heat of the day, ventilate and keep dark the house, all as just a way of life. It’s definitely possible, even in the tropics. But we have the AC for when it gets dangerous. I would be very nervous without it, here.
Best wishes to you.
intergalactictactoe@reddit
I'm glad little Sauciflette is having a good time burrowing, at least!
Maj0r-DeCoverley@reddit
She's preparing a bunker. Now she's sawing wood
intergalactictactoe@reddit
What an industrious little pup! I look forward to your updates every week, moreso now that I have a name to associate with sweet puppy pictures. Be well!
bristlybits@reddit
ah nice. and the dog!
here we have 110F+ (43-45C) for around a month in late summer, and it is very dry. not quite so bad as in a humid place but still, a white building and hiding through the midday in the basement, insulation, all- it's still 40+
and so, a heat pump, a mini split, a window AC. the basement will stay at or below 35-37C so it is possible to get by there but we've got to work, use the restroom, live in the house generally. and things get ruined in that heat.
I wish I was near enough to the coast for my dog to have such nice sand insulation
Maj0r-DeCoverley@reddit
Indeed, yes
That's what worries me the most with the heat and humidity: how it ruins materials, even concrete etc
Honestly I was trying to get rid of the dog by burying her. She remained unfazed though
SecretPassage1@reddit
wooden walls?
In france most walls are at least 20cm of concrete thick if not up to a meter of solid stone thick in houses over 150 years old, that comes into factor to keep the inside air cool.
During the first over 35°c heatwave of the season, we were able to keep the air inside at 26°c max while it was 35°c outside. No AC, just shaded windows, with the shutters almost closed during the day, airflow when it's cooler, a wash of water on the ground to help refresh it in the morning and evening, no unnecessary warm electrical devices on (no TV or PC, podcasts on the phone instead). It works!
But we did roll out the mobile AC when the temps didn't drop under 25°c inside for the night and we needed a truly resting night of sleep.
hectorbrydan@reddit
Running pipes deep underground can be used as a cooling and warming system. Draw air through the deep and pull out the cooled air for nothing other than the cost of the fan.
Here in michigan it is 50 f year round past 6 feet. I am myself building a cellar of sorts and it is cool down there even without an airtight strucure yet, and keep stuff frim freezing in winter.
There are ways to do it with well water too, quite a few possibilities without needing an expensive machine that will break in time.
Maj0r-DeCoverley@reddit
Yes ! They're called puits Canadiens here (Canadian wells). Good system for all seasons
Ok_Main3273@reddit
The picture of your cat got me puzzled for a while: at first, I thought it had been badly photoshopped into the image LOL.
Here, in the South Pacific, the tree outside my front door — that had already lost all its leaves due to winter starting weeks ago — is now sprouting some spring flowers! "il n'y a plus de saisons".
SimpleAsEndOf@reddit
Couple of years ago the Collapsniks from Alberta Canada were talking about the unusual warmth of mid winter (20-25 ⁰C for 3 weeks) so the grass started growing, trees began to bloom and insects/hibernators woke up.
And then it dropped to -25 ⁰C for 2 weeks so it decimated everything.
They now say that Climate Whiplash is worse than the extreme individual weather events.
Don't be surprised if mid Texas (flood deaths) now gets absolute drought for 1-2 years.