Why Do We Do This? An Honest Examination.

So as the latest barrage of disasters, wars, riots and general clusterfornication has spewed out of the internet and assorted media; I have to admit, I was getting a little giddy. Don't get me wrong. I feel bad for the people losing their lives in the very real tragedies that are unfolding around the world---IF I take the time to think about them. But when I take a quiet moment to honestly examine the weird flickering feeling in my gut that causes me to keep clicking on links to the various S that is Hing TF, I have to be honest that it's a certain degree of excitement.

And I'm willing to bet that a lot of people here experience the exact same sensation.

Think about it. We make bug out and bug in plans. We research survival tactics. We make sure we are adequately armed. We research the myriad ways in which the universe/fate/"TPTB"/circumstances/natural disasters could lead to the imposition of "Interesting Times." Why?

Because, as much as we say that we "worry" about a SHTF scenario, the notion represents an offer of escape. Here we are in our mundane lives working our jobs, if we have them. We bust our butts and gigs that we can take or leave (admittedly, some have made careers doing what they love, but for the most part our guidance counselors lied to us), but we are trapped in them. We have bills to pay and mouths to feed, but there is nothing heroic or satisfying about the way in which we are forced to do these things. Because it's not just about feeding the family and providing the shelter and keeping them safe. It's about paying the cell phone bill, paying the internet bill, buying some shiny gadget, purchasing trinkets for the kids, keeping up appearances, fitting in.

We love watching conspiracies and speculating about apocalyptic disasters because we are locked into this hive of modern living where most jobs produce no meaningful product. There is no sense of achievement. You put food on your family's table? Big effing deal, so did the schmuck three cubicles down who's only half as proficient as you.

We imagine post-governmental collapse world as one where our work is rewarded in proportion to effort. Where those who work the best receive the best results because there is a direct link between your skill and the end product.

How many people here WANT to kick all this modern garbage to curb? Bug out without a disaster and just try living off the land? Who wants to test themselves and put themselves into a situation where they can feel a sense of fulfillment from a meaningful job well done? How much more delicious is the rabbit your caught yourself, roasted and served alongside green beans that your grew in your own garden?

Hell, how great was your first apartment? The crappy little one that you shared with roommates or your significant other. The one that you barely paid for when your career was just starting. Sure you hated the job that paid the bills, but there was still a wide horizon. If you were working in your field, you could still imagine the corporate ladder was not covered in axel grease. If you were just making a buck while you worked on your real passion, you could still envision a time when you would "make it" and become whatever it was you wanted to be.

Now, you may have a bigger and nicer house. You may be make two or three times what you used to make, but do you love what you do? Do you feel like your day's work makes an iota of difference in the world? Do you want your kids to know what you do for a living? Statistically speaking, the answer is "Probably Not." I'm not saying most people are ashamed of what they do. We just tolerate it.

And yet, something keeps up droning along.

We watch and wait for a disaster because it seems the only way to smash the hive and feel like we're doing something with meaning.

Of course, maybe I'm just projecting from a bit of a dark place. But look within. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm right. It doesn't especially matter. It's just an observation.

I agree, I completely understand where you are coming from. Except I still live in the crappy one room apartment and am an unemployed college grad who doesn't see much hope from escaping your syndrome, hence, the unspoken wish for calamity

They've made it practically illegal to operate outside the controlled slavery system. It's hard to find a spot of land with little to no land taxes due, and managing one's own plot of land to farm is no easy task, most people would rather do a 9 to 5 job and just pay for the farmers' efforts for them.
We are seriously mismanaging the system we have now, and the very top people are hoarding all the things that can advance us beyond the debt to income ratio ridiculousness we are currently under. A normal family has to earn X amount of dollars per month just to pay the basics, and it never goes down it only rises. Eventually you will not be able to hold on to the current illusion of ownership.

You are definitely NOT the only one that feels this way. Some days I wonder why am I so unhappy all the time..I have everything a person needs (a home, a great family, two beautiful healthy children, etc)but I am still feeling depressed and lost like I don't fit in anywhere...and don't really have purpose. I feel like a person just here waiting to grow old and die..I have absolutely no excitement (other than ATS and a few other sitesevery single day is the same and I am so TOTALLY BORED with it all.

I am almost at the point of going "mosquito coast" I want to sell it all and just "GO"........maybe I have a mental condition?? I don't know..I mean I seem quite normal just extremely freakin' bored with it all.

I know others feel this way too..because the other day I was following a link and somehow came across this on SLATE:

Q. General Malaise: I think I am just bored with life, although I find that I am generally happy and that I am doing everything a young, responsible woman should be doing. I recently got married, we have a great puppy, we own a home, we both work full time, we go on vacations, have friends. I am well-educated, I do volunteer work, give to charities, have faith in a higher power, have a wonderful set of parents and in-laws. So, what's wrong with me? Why do I find life so hum-drum? Believe me, I know things could be worse. But I am just finding myself going through the routine of life even though I "have it all." A: Maybe you became too responsible too young and are feeling you went from childhood to middle age without any of the crazy adventures your friends were having. If so, without chucking your existing life, think of ways to put more adventure into it. Maybe you want to do exotic travel on your vacation. Or maybe you can combine your volunteer work and vacation. You could also turn on the news, take a look at what people's lives are like in Japan or Libya, just for an example, and see if it doesn't help you feel that you are one of the truly fortunate people on this earth.

have it all but still feel bored with life.

You read my mind, but i would never be able to write it the way you just did.


We are all told to focus on the positiv, from the day we where born until we die.
The thing is, the negativ do not go away just because you think positiv.
You just start to ignore the negativ, and trust that someone else will make it go away.

You ignore the reality, and we all know reality will bite back.
People have been warned about the things going on at the moment, many times.
But it's negativ so people ignore it.

And BAM...Reality is back.
Then people start asking the question..How could this happen, and who will fix it, and why did my positiv thinking not make it go away?

They then hope , that the goverment and big company's will sort this out.
But...They can't, To many individual's to many thoughts, to much greed etc.

People would rather die, than lose the fake reality they have build.
It's a mass suicide..

If you think i am to negativ in what i say, just think positiv and i will go away.