This isn’t the world I want to live in.

BlueBelle

Brits have a very dry, self deprecating sense of humour often misjudged by many who simply don’t understand it at all
I do see misery and unhappiness in all countries depending on their standard of living and I do wonder when these lists are made out how they are judged.
I wonder if real native Australians have a ‘sense of humour’ at how they have been treated in their own country I wonder if they are included when these surveys are done I wonder what the sense of humour diffetences would be if the Native Australians had their own list ??
Getting away from your daughters experience I often wonder how the cold Nordic countries always top the tree my grandson worked in Norway for a bit, admitted out in the wilderness , but he hated it and said he’d never willingly go back the expense was off the roof I have a Finnish friend who much prefers over here It’s too individual to make any judgement

You cannot ever judge a whole country because those living in poor conditions will be unhappy those with more money and better conditions will be happy it’s not even down to how rich a country is it’s all far far too individual to make any assumptions
Just personal to me but I think winge is a horrible term

I wonder if real native Australians have a ‘sense of humour’ at how they have been treated in their own country I wonder if they are included when these surveys are done I wonder what the sense of humour diffetences would be if the Native Australians had their own list??

I don't know. I'll get my DD to ask her next door neighbour, shall I? They certainly all help one another out in times of crisis.

I agree!

Pre 2016 and 2020, I still had my faith that mostly people (politicians) were mostly trying to improve the world for mostly everyone.
A few still will be but, my faith in that has been utterly destroyed. And it has had profound and not good effects on my life as I look back at the last years.
How dare politicians behave like this? But they do, and we still vote for them so they get away with it.
The battles we fought in 70s about women's role in society,
I can't help thinking all that progress has just been squandered - not for all I know, but for many, many.
Inequality is growing and 'age discrimination' are more rife than ever.
I suspect this feeling is normal for every generation, but with the current leaders, surely this is worse, at least since WW2?

No wonder so many of us turn off the news as much as possible. Goodness we have been manipulated and abused by politicians - and whoever their puppet masters are.

I agree..this isn’t the world I want to live in either. But I do believe that we aren’t totally helpless. If everyone aims to live their ‘best lives’, collectively, the energy can change. I am not without hope but I think this is a challenging time for the world. Times of change are always difficult and we are definitely on the brink of big changes. We need to look for the good, always.

I feel exactly the same and I’m only 60yo. I think I can date the demise started during Trump’s first term. Most of the things I hold dear are being ripped apart at a speed of knots. Kindness, integrity and knowledge are now in short supply. AI is sucking the joy out of work life, tax paying jobs will disappear and public services will be more compromised as a consequence. Every time I venture out in a car I consider myself lucky to get home in one piece as the quality of driving is so dire. Apologies for such a downbeat post. I hope all my fears and predictions are incorrect for the sake of my dear daughter and granddaughter.

My Grandchildren thankfully are grow, my G.Grandchildren I don't know but my heart breaks for what they have now. Thank God I was lucky enough to have the best time for my children.

My own grandparents were teenagers and older during the first world war, and then parents of teenagers in the second. It's hard to imagine anything worse than that.
My mother was in her late teens and 20's during the second world war. I was a child during the Cuban missile crisis and the Cold War. I remember my parents and teachers going around with long faces, thinking we would all be blown to kingdom come.
Every generation has their own different worries.

To me the world I knew as a child, and as a young adult has long been gone. I was young in the 1970s and we really felt we could change the world. Well, we have lost some of the freedom of the hippy era, but we gained other freedoms.

As a teenager, I never expected that it would be possible to travel in "Eastern Europe" as after The Prague Spring I really expected the Berlin Wall to stand for the rest of my lifetime, and The Soviet Union to continue to dominate all of East Germany, Poland, The Balkans and the various countries, like Moldova and the Ukraine that managed to gain independence when the Soviet Union finally fell apart.

So, no, I am not as worried as many of you are. I never cared for the fact that many Britons and Europeans seemed to feel we could do nothing without the USA and I am GLAD to see that dependency weakening now.

We can manage very well without Trump's new America, thank you very much.

We still have the values we have had since the 1970 regarding the rights of the individual to chose to follow his or her sexual orientation, and a woman's right to chose an abortion , if that is what she sees as necessary,

We also have the values our parents and grandparents fought for: democracy, women's suffrage, free speech, public schooling, public health.

All right, our societies are not perfect, but they are a great deal better than the world's tolitarian states, and if we have done our work well, our children and grandchildren will be able and willing to preserve these values.

Don't turn off the news. Please don't. Keep engaged. Keep informed.
Just be careful where it is coming from. One of the ways Trump has gained power in the USA is by sowing mistrust of "mainstream media" and encouraging an already isolated and ignorant population to listen only to his fake news echo chamber, even to the point of denying he'd lost an election.
I see young people now very vulnerable to the same siren song about "the deep state" persuading them that only a handful of "strong men" are worth following.
As a generation, grandparents owe it to our grandchildren to say out loud what is wrong and to explain why. To explain what NATO is for, why it was formed and why democracy and elections are not necessarily "fake" or "over".

I feel the same fear and deep concern for my beautiful, innocent grandchildren. I worry for my children seeing what their children may have to go through. Climate change, geopolitics, the frightening globalisation of terrorism, and social media can feel overwhelmingly scary. I suspect that worry and fears for our families' future are also part of later life - but I think we face a different level of threat now than to any generation since WW2.

I try to focus on what I can change to deal with this. I am trying to teach grandchildren as many life and survival skills as possible and how to love - while I can. I understand why people don't want to have children currently, but I feel we need as many children and grandchildren of people who care to try to make a better world. I also find inspiration from the brave women of Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa and history. And please, don't lose heart. Hope is all we have.

I certainly do understand the comments regarding worry for our grandchildren. American permanent resident having been here for 27 years worked and raised my daughter. I now have a 15 month old granddaughter who is the light of my life and yes I have concerns but I have hope that there will come those who step up and make a difference and she might will be one of them who knows!

I have great concerns for America because I believe that a country can be destroyed from within. The US president preys on the negative side of folks the side that doesn’t see hope that only sees trouble and I certainly do not agree with that. I believe a leader should inspire be honest but be a leader! Set an example of hope! The information age has exploded and there is honest information there is information that is praying on folks looking for their deepest darkest side.

I will stick around as long as I can hoping to influence my granddaughter I do observe that she has the worlds best mama in my daughter!

I believe in my heart and in my experience that one person can make a difference so I do have hope!!

Each age has its problems and every generation longs for the past. Is it a better place ? Maybe, maybe not, but we can’t go back there. Stay optimistic for your children and grandchildren, don’t succumb to this sadness and despair at the ‘state of the world’ . Do what you can to change the things you can - the way you vote, shop, spend your money, holidays etc etc all have an impact . Be kind to yourself as you near the end of your particular journey on this wonderful planet and consider all the good things you have done in your live and how much you mean to other people. If you feel there is something you need to fight for then fight ! If you have something left to do or say - get on with it ! You’re a long time dead, enjoy what is left of your life . Don’t go gentle - ‘rage against the dying of the light ‘ .

A lovely post, marymary

AuntieE

To me the world I knew as a child, and as a young adult has long been gone. I was young in the 1970s and we really felt we could change the world. Well, we have lost some of the freedom of the hippy era, but we gained other freedoms.

As a teenager, I never expected that it would be possible to travel in "Eastern Europe" as after The Prague Spring I really expected the Berlin Wall to stand for the rest of my lifetime, and The Soviet Union to continue to dominate all of East Germany, Poland, The Balkans and the various countries, like Moldova and the Ukraine that managed to gain independence when the Soviet Union finally fell apart.

So, no, I am not as worried as many of you are. I never cared for the fact that many Britons and Europeans seemed to feel we could do nothing without the USA and I am GLAD to see that dependency weakening now.

We can manage very well without Trump's new America, thank you very much.

We still have the values we have had since the 1970 regarding the rights of the individual to chose to follow his or her sexual orientation, and a woman's right to chose an abortion , if that is what she sees as necessary,

We also have the values our parents and grandparents fought for: democracy, women's suffrage, free speech, public schooling, public health.

All right, our societies are not perfect, but they are a great deal better than the world's tolitarian states, and if we have done our work well, our children and grandchildren will be able and willing to preserve these values.

lovely Post...thank you AuntieE

I totally agree. I am glad that I am this old (69). I have even been wondering about emigrating. I can't remember a time when I felt so anxious about day to day life. It is frustrating that it seems that there is nothing we can do about it. Just plod on.

This is a world I want to live in. It may be different to what came before, but I can adapt. I have some great friends and relatives and I'm not ready to say goodbye to them yet. One thing I don't miss....Hay fever. Used to get it badly when I was younger, but as I got older it gradually disappeared until now when it has gone completely. One benefit of getting older. No more jackets stuffed full with snotty handkerchiefs

And to add to my previous post, of course, today is Commonwealth Day. (Great service on the tv) There must surely be hope.

When I see young mothers with a baby in the pushchair and a toddler running lose beside them but they are glued to their phones I feel a sense of despair.

Trump contributes to that feeling, and also this rotten rotten government.

Somehow we have to believe that things will be ok because the future is waiting for our beloved Grandchildren and we want it to be a bright, happy and safe one.

Stillness

And to add to my previous post, of course, today is Commonwealth Day. (Great service on the tv) There must surely be hope.

Yes, it was, wasn't it.

A family of nations.

Don't just sit back and accept things or moan that the world is in a bad way Get angry and get actively involved in makingbthevworld a better place for grandchildren and in my case great grandchildren Write to those we elected ,sign petitions join groups Make your voices heard An army of Grans cannot be ignored

Furret

And I’m not the only one. So many friends, of a similar age to me, voicing the same thoughts.

So depressing. The world we knew, the values we held deeply, the hope for the future of our grandchildren - all gone. Destroyed.

These aren’t suicidal thoughts being expressed, more a feeling that we are have perhaps outlived our time and would ‘go gentle that good night’ when the time comes.

... and sadly it has all been designed to make you feel that way. Everything that has happened in the last 5 years has been planned to confuse, stress and more importantly divide us so that the 99% do not unite to stop all the nonsense. The younger generation need to look up from their phones, and people of our generation need to stop using the usual media outlets like the papers, the BBC etc. and do your own research, as they are manipulating the truth.

The next big thing that I have been warning people about is food shortages - again, deliberate. The UK government is paying farmers to NOT produce food for 3 years, why might that be? I've also warned about 'bird flu', it has now appeared in the UK and the cull of chickens has begun. Bird farmers aren't allowed to restock their flock (the whole flock is culled regardless of health) for 12 months, so these farmers will lose their livelihoods, handy for government to step in and kindly buy their land off them to either build immigrant housing or put up solar farms - another scam in the government's playbook, net zero, doing things that just cost us a lot of money that aren't actually 'environmentally friendly' such as these solar farms and EV's.

Once the chickens have all gone, the next attack will be on cattle, as allegedly bird flu is being spread via milk, and obviously cows fart too much (rubbish - the best way to remove carbon in the air is by planting trees, millions of which have been removed to put in wind turbines and 'carbon capture' machines. So, no milk, no beef. Then I suspect a nasty case of 'foot and mouth' may ensue. Possibly little known is that government is paying a huge amount of money to a company that is researching into how they're going to encourage us to eat 'insect protein'. Under usual circumstances there would be no need to even do this, so why?

Remove the WFA, create a lack of healthcare, energy prices, cost of living increases, pensions being called 'benefits', an attack on the disabled by decreasing benefits (to come we think), food shortages, assisted dying, ads on daytime tv about paying for your funeral and not being a burden to your children .... WE are the carbon they want to reduce, and how you are feeling is exactly how they want you to feel.

I'm glad I'll be gone but I really fear for the lives of my grandchildren.

You seem to be a conspiracy theorist MadeinYorkshire. What a load of nonsense.

I have been away for a couple of days so have just seen this thread and could not disagree with it more. It is classic old generation thinking by every older generation since Adam was a boy.

I sometime wonder whether it is something our brains are programmed to do to help us long for death that cannot be far away.

My grandparents married and had children in the run up to WW1, where my grandfather died. Became grandparents during WW2 and lived into the Cold War and the constant fear of immediate destruction. Is life really any worse now?

The older of those among us were the 60s generation that tore up the rule box and went all out for sex, drugs and rock and roll, and oh, how the older generation hated it. Does nobody remember the torrent of horror and fear that filled the older generation then, the papers, TV, Any Questions on the radio? Just like the fears expressed by the OP and others on this thread.

As I said, every older generation has done this since time immemoriable. The generations younger than us face problems that we did not face, just as we faced problems that they do not face.

But there is good news too. Remember the ozone hole in the altmosphere? A hole through which ultra-violet rays were able to reach the earth and made sun bathing potentially lethal because it caused skin cancer. Well the substances that caused it are used no more but we were told it might be hundreds of years before the hole in the atmosphere closed. Well, it is nearly closed, it has closed briefly this year, by 2035 we could well have a year withoit it opening at all and by the end of the century, it will be permanent.

This opens up hope for global warming. Becuase if we get it under control it too may well be much easier and quicker to deal with than we fear.

So, yes, problems and difficulties face new generations that we have never faced, but they also face opportunities and hopes that we never had. I intend to remain a cock-eyed optomist until the day I am dragged screaming and shouting into the next world, if there is one.

Many older people say that they wouldn’t want to be born now
but we accept the world we grow up in just as it is .Yes , after a period of stability, the whole world is in a state of flux but there is nothing you can do . By that I don’t mean we should wash our hands of all issues, such as Ukraine, but we can help more by supporting groups in this country and sending things through supply chains rather than wringing our hands and getting depressed.
Not many young children would enjoy the constrictions of the world we knew . If you don’t allow your worries to affect them they will grow up attuned to their times and able to cope .

CariadAgain
This piece claims that if there is a ^worldly person* in the congregation at a JW wedding the service won’t go ahead

www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5190949793693696/jws-allowed-have-close-non-jw-friends