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How do you be aware of major issues in the world and locally without becoming deeply depressed and cynical? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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As someone in the US it’s so easy to see so many depressing issues from the ravages of capitalism, to war, imperialism, and genocide. How can one care about these issues and hope for change without allowing themselves to be affected mentally?

I’ve been considering this for the past week, connecting it with Buddhist compassion towards the world and a need for mindfulness. But it’s so easy to fall into emotionlessness.

I’ve also thought through the world has always had issues and though some are getting much worse some are getting better.

I have gone to counseling before but they just make it an individual problem when it’s the world.

Edit: doesn’t have to be US centric. Just I’m writing from that pov

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Get involved in direct action in your community. Linking up with an org or group that does real community service and solidarity can help prevent you from feeling helpless and falling into that depressive spiral.

Help at a soup kitchen, provide homeless care kits, work a food/clothing drive, work with a crew to clean up gang tags from walls, pick up litter, build bird boxes, etc.

Seeing your community get a little better can do a lot for your mental health.

Remember that dispite the horrors of our species, we have accomplished some pretty incredible things. Just 200 years ago, we were still putting leaches on people and not washing our hands before performing medical procedures.

Now, we use microscopic lasers to correct blindness, cure certain types or deafness by implanting magnets into skulls, we can deliver and grow infants that are born several months too early to full term with minimal complications, and we can treat scores of diseases that would have been a death sentence just 200 years ago.

The Capitalist scum would have you believe that nobody would have done those things unless they made money doing it, but that's a lie and projection. They wouldn't have done that if it didn't make them money, because they are evil and without empathy.

But they don't represent the human spirit, what we are truly capable of when we work together for the common good.

The greatest accomplishments of our species aren't when we compete and fight each other. The greatest accomplishments happen when we cooperate with each other. Don't let the rich and powerful convince you otherwise.