Is it just me, or do others feel this too?

This hit home to me as far back as 9/11. I was pregnant at the time with my one and only child A very late in life baby after a few miscarriages but that’s another story for another time.
As I watched the aeroplanes crashing into the trade centre buildings I can remember experiencing a feeling of such dread that for an instant I regretted being pregnant wondering what kind of a world was I bringing my child into because I realised very prophetically at the time that the world as we knew it had gone and nothing was ever going to be the same again!

I'm the same! I think I've got more reflective as I've got older. I'm sociable but an introvert. I can't bear watching the news live.

I check the news on my phone a few times a day. I can then decide what to read or not.

I do voluntary work mainly from home as I'm disabled though mobile. I expect those I volunteer with doesn't help as I work with people with chaotic loves.

Here the cases of the children killed this year, like Arthur and Star, have really affected me.

Worldwide obviously Ukraine. The last 6 years especially the world has been in so much chaos.

Brexit, Trump, populist governments, Covid19 and now Ukraine I just feel really resigned and sad (in the old fashioned way) to life not changing. I see it as the same vicious circle. In the words of Solomon "there is nothing new under the sun"

The story changes by the generation but nothing else. Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands weep.

I could have written your post myself. I live in the U.S. and after the 2016 election I started watching all the television news programs and took a serious interest in politics as I was afraid that our democracy was crumbling. After the 2020 election I just stopped. It had all become too stressful and frustrating and it was affecting me in negative ways. I started watching again when the war in Ukraine began, but I still steer clear of politics. Too many dishonest people talking nonsense and too many ignorant followers. I’m much happier now.

The rest of the World is balancing on a fine line as far as Ukraine is concerned. If they go too far it will just give Putin an excuse to do something worse. He can say he was defending his country and its possible other non NATO countries would side with him. That would certainly cause even more concern.

I have always taken notice of world affairs even when a child. My father probably had a great deal to do with it as he was keenly interested and would discuss the news with anyone who would listen-often me, although as I grew older we often disagreed! I find geopolitics fascinating and am a keen reader. However, I finally found my ongoing great passion about fifteen years ago which is Russian history. The parallels from the past which run with what is unfolding so terribly before our eyes today are all too evident. It has made me realise that the world and human life has always been precarious. We in the UK, blessedly an island, have been insulated a great deal from the tragedies that have unfolded in Europe, let alone the rest of the world. We have not been invaded or conquered in recent times. We have not been forced to leave our homes as refugees in a foreign land. We have not seen our country overrun with enemy soldiers or our every major city flattened, our children murdered, our women brutalised. We are very fortunate. It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, which seems applicable right now. Sometimes I admit that I do feel we will tear ourselves apart, especially when I have seen such awful things on TV; war, famine, genocide and the devilish creation and proliferation of unimaginable weapons of destruction. We can only hope that, having teetered at the brink, future generations will be wiser and kinder than we are. And meanwhile, although we must condemn the evils around us now, and they will have a profound and ongoing effect on us, we perhaps should also try to live our lives in humility, gratitude and tolerance. To paraphrase EM Forster “Love may not save the world but tolerance just might”. If only world leaders embraced that thought!

I agree with the OP. So many are struggling in Ukraine or on the move to find a safe place to live as are many other countries. It puts in context out problems at home with the cost of living raising and covid etc. we should all be thinking that if we have a roof over our heads food to eat, we are lucky.
I’m a bit of an escapist and bury my head in a book most days. As others I fear for my granddaughters future

Completely the same as you @Rameses. Anyone who brings a child into the world now is bonkers imo!

From the bottom of my heart, I wish there were paddyanne.

I urge you all to read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.

Of course its wishful thing Urm but surely there must be a better way than killing innocents .

It’s a simple fact of life that no one can talk to Putin.

I agree with the feeling of being overwhelmed by global news events. The 24/7 access to media and news fuels the worries. I noticed during the very first lockdown in March 2020 I became obsessed with numbers, data and statistics - fretting over the pandemic and becoming frightened of people. I spoke with a friend, over the phone obviously, and she recommended I reduced my media access to help with the anxiety. It worked. There's so much to worry about thesedays and it can really affect your mental health.

paddyanne if thugs bashed their way into your house with sticks and threatened to beat up your family I’m sure as eggs are eggs you’d defend them by fighting back. If this were to happen you would know by that stage there’d be no point in talking it over.

I agree Urmstongran. Putin means to crush Ukraine.

I think it is wishful thinking to say if we stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine the war would cease. Putin wants total control. He won’t negotiate (Macron tried). Without means to defend themselves the Ukrainian people are literally lambs to the slaughter.

The events in Ukraine have been so appalling, and are on our screens and therefore in our minds all day; people of my Grandparents generation scarcely knew what was going on in the next street, or the other side of the town. I agree with you; I see the face of a stricken child in the newspaper and it makes me cry. The weeping soldiers are heartbreaking, and on it goes. Violence towards each other, unspeakable cruelty to the poor anmals who share this earth with us, and careless destruction of the planet by people who might one day come to realise you can't eat money, when of course it will be too late. It is depressing - but I refuse to be bowed. I have a life, I thank God I live in this country, and I try to do what I can to help the less fortunate. What else can we do?

@paddyann54

‘I watched a Nato or UN meeting yesterday ,not sure which as I came in half way through it .A young Irish woman was berating the room of well dressed ,well fed .mainly men .’

Clare Daley, MEP for Dublin

Too many sticky hands gunning for all-out war in Ukraine.

I think with the formation of NATO and the UN, many in the West hoped we were seeking a more peaceful future.
We have since been "at war" in one form and another almost continuously however. For most people in the UK, it has not perhaps seemed an immediate threat except for those whose friends or family members have been caught up in terrorist acts or serve in the armed forces.
It does, sadly, seem that there will always be wars.
I definitely thought in the 60s and 70s that life in the UK was getting better and we were seeing more equality and opportunities. I assumed we would keep going in that direction and that if I had children, life would be better, safer, and more full of opportunities for them and that, somehow, the world would be a more peaceful, cooperative place by now.
In the last few years in particular, I have felt that we are galloping backwards to the dark ages with poverty, deprivation and inequality increasing massively in what should be a rich, prosperous and fair country.
I now worry about what the future holds for my grandchildren.
It is tragic that by working together across the globe we could eradicate war, poverty and most diseases and probably bring climate change under control; yet greed for money and power, corruption and apathy continue to cause untold harm to individuals, nations and the whole planet. So, so sad.

Totally agree we appear to be in a dreadful period in time I'm so scared for the future

I've always been a political person ,took interest in what was happening and marched with CND since I was 13 ,marched in support of the Palestinian people for decades ,anti war protests ,local protests against Labour closing our hospital 20 odd years ago and much more.I've always been aware that the Nuclear base over the hill from me is a major target in the event of war .
.I'm pleased that young people are more interested in politics nowadays and I think that we (Scotland) have the most politically aware younger generations in Europe ,in fact I know we do its well documented .
I watched a Nato or UN meeting yesterday ,not sure which as I came in half way through it .A young Irish woman was berating the room of well dressed ,well fed .mainly men .
Her take on Ukraine or any war was that nobody really wants it to stop ...otherwise they would stop supplying the arms to feed the conflicts .Take the weapons out of the equation and make people talk .Sounds simplistic but theres a lot of truth in it ..The UN has applied resolutions on Israel for decades that are just ignored ,weapons are being supplied to both Ukraine and Russia innocents are being killed daily .
Surely in the 21st century wars that kill innocents should be banned worldwide.....if the leaders want to fight let them and their sons do it and leave the rest of us who want a peaceful life get on with it .

I feel similarly to you Rameses. I have been active in politics and social justice all my adult life. The present turmoil of the bravery and sadness of Ukraine, the poverty of life conditions that the energy crisis will bring, the low quality ethics of our present government. I could go on but feel powerless at the moment.

No I feel exactly the same 2 kids mid 30s, 1 grandchild...what's the point in being caring and nice anymore?

There’s no argument with that Hannah but it wasn’t what we were talking about.

Bossyrossy

Maddyone, I didn't say Thatcher started a war, I said that she went to war.

And it restored her popularity at a time when it was waning.

I agree Rameses. The horrors unfolding now in Ukraine make me sick to my stomach and I feel utterly powerless to make any difference to the mess we have made of our world. I will be glad to be out of it all - I have never wanted to live to be old, and I already feel that at 60. If fate plays a dirty trick on me and keeps me alive for a long time then I am determined to at least keep telling my grandchildren that they shouldn’t have children. We are all so coy about talking about the (many) negative things about having kids. It is somehow seen as wrong to tell your kids ‘I wish I hadn’t had you’. (It doesn’t mean you don’t love THEM - it’s just that maybe kids stopped you from doing many things, and you, and the world, would have been better without adding another generation to the mix?)
I have been careful not to to pass this message to my own children, but I am going to do whatever I can to encourage the grandkids to stay child free!!