The Existential thread
 

My wife and I are expecting and in light of everything that’s going on I feel an added sense of fear and hopelessness for the future. From selfish and ignorant politicians pushing to claw back carbon pricing and any meaningful action on Climate Change, to alleged sexual predators potentially being seated in the highest courts, things feel pretty bleak. Populism is rearing its ugly head and bullies and assholes everywhere are coming out of the woodwork to spew hatred and bigotry.

On the one hand I’m so excited for the birth of my child and on the other I fear for the future.

Anyone else feel the same?

Isn't the very act of living in Calgary and caring about climate change an existential dilemma?

Firstly, turn off the news... especially American news.

Do it for a week. And look around what's going on in your life and really look towards your own community and see if they reflect what you are feeling now. Just un-plug for a bit and things should come together in a clearer view.

As for your soon to be child, all you will have to teach them to go through life with the economy that the current generation is giving them; that was half of the problem with the boomers is that they raised a generation based on the economy that they had.

Half the time, the news is just a conversation starter. You won't be able to protect your child from everything in the world but you can certainly guide them (when they're old enough) to be awakened individuals and to make informed choices.

Lol. We need an economy too.

Congratulations!

We went through a pregnancy during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and of course the fallout and hysteria from those attacks.

It's a bit disconcerting but my advice would be: don't sweat it.

Everything is gonna be alright. Seriously.

American media (and to a lesser extent Canadian media) and social media can be very harmful to one's mental health. They often both create false perceptions.

I was dog-sitting for my friend J. and a dragonfly got into the house from the veranda. It did one quick buzz around the kitchen, hit a window, and immediately dropped to the windowsill on its back, legs curled, motionless. It gave up, accepted its fate. Immediately.

I got a screwdriver (only thing I could find, and touched its legs with it, and it clung on - brought it outside, and it flew away best kind. But it just immediately gave up when the first way out it saw didn't work. I recognized myself in it, :haha:, and even telling J. about it - she interrupted as soon as I said what the dragonfly did and shouted, "THAT'S WHAT I FEEL ABOUT YOU SOMETIMES!"

So, a bit of fatalist. "So, I guess this is what's happening now." Absolutely zero desire to ever have kids, ever. I cannot tolerate more than 10 minutes or so around children. I'm not as bad as that missus from the meme ("It's ONE banana, how much could it cost? $10?), but kind of close to Homer ("I have three kids and no money, why can't I have no kids and three money?").

I think that makes it easier. I did end up either being an angry asshole or crying listening to Newfoundland folk music I despise basically every other night when I lived away. I was much more existentially challenged then.

But things are best kind now. I'm truly, deeply, completely contented. As for the world... everything ends eventually. Enjoy it while you can.

Beautiful story. :cheers:

Now quickly publish it with illustrations and you'll sell a lot of children's books :P.

You should probably buy land in the MacKenzie River Delta so your kid can retire to his cottage and enjoy pleasant, temperate weather.

It's weird (from my point of view) that you'd say this. Is Calgary in the 51st State already? If so I missed the news.

Does Brexit worry you as much as this Kavanaugh guy? How about the Rohingyas? The list is endless.

Brett Kavanaugh's likely impact on Canada, whether he becomes a U.S. Supreme Court justice or not:

ZERO

you know it's possible to believe in climate change and support the oil industry right? ridiculous comment.

Or believing in climate change and not immediately euthanizing yourself? Good job on attempting to ruin the thread from the get go.

Not exactly, people here are just as polarized about it, so it's driving a wedge between the small minded Trump people and progressives.

Polarized for no reason, which isn't existential. Hence the irony of this thread.

As a survivor of sexual abuse the nomination of an alleged sexual abuser to the Supreme Court (even if it's in the U.S.) is of great concern to me. The message his nomination sends to victims of abuse is that abusers can get away with it and that their victims don't matter. Not only are the perpetrators above the law, they can become the law. Furthermore the future ramifications of his judicial decisions are terrifying. How will he rule on cases of sexual abuse? Based on his track record of always ruling in favour of guilty parties such as murderous police officers and corporations that skirt the law, to say nothing of his own history as an alleged rapist, I can't help but feel that victims will be ignored and re-victimized by the very system meant to protect them. And that's before even addressing the fact that he is likely to overturn Roe V. Wade which will effectively force women impregnated by rape or incest to carry to term. The precedent this sets will impact victims of sexual abuse and rape for decades to come.

Beyond that his testimony was jarring. He basically promised to rule as a partisan with political reprisals on his mind. To say nothing of his troubling beliefs on Net Neutrality, environmental regulations, torture, spying, and on and on and on. He will set our closest ally and trading partner back 30 years and be on the bench for 30 more. Kavanaugh will be a malignant remnant of the Trump presidency that will continue to poison the well long after he's gone.

Untrue. His positions on cross border pollution for one will affect us. To say nothing of the impact it will have culturally on how society treats victims of sexual abuse.

In his case even if he did what he's accused of, it wouldn't be "above the law" for him to get his juvenile record expunged upon becoming an adult.

Out of curiosity, you don't think one of the morals of this story is "don't wait over 35 years before speaking up, because by then the evidence might have vanished and witnesses and testimonies may be less reliable"?

Much less than all the planet-destroying stuff currently going on in China, India, Africa, and everywhere else.

He hasn't been charged with anything.....yet. Also, sexual abuse cases are unlikely to involve the Supreme Court. Roe vs. Wade is a red herring. In over 40 years, Conservative judges haven't touched it.

If social media hadn't ramped up the Cuture Wars, the Republicans could have backed down from the nomination. Under open warfare, both sides have no incentive to compromise or reverse course.

What policies on cross border pollution? I assume you mean greenhouse gas emissions, which is not a cross border issue. The challenge with climate change is that any attempt to restrict emissions in one country simply shifts emissions to some other country.