This is my question too. I feel a sense of despair, uncertainty, and powerlessness reading these. Yes, awareness is important, but... what the actual hell am I supposed to do with this information?
Pfaf.org ic.org
This just further illustrates that a large segment of society is powerless against things like this. The headlines don't help, they just actively worsen my mental health.
Climate.careers might be worth a look (I'm not affiliated, just keeping an eye on it myself)
Fatalism and resignation are not good nor helpful for you as an individual, nor for society as a whole (they also forestall meaningful corrective action).
The fact is that large trends have mostly pointed in the right direction over the last century or so, on a worldwide scale. (Examples: [1]-[17])
Some literature I'd look at as counterpoints:
- Steve Pinker, Enlightenment Now [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_Now]
- Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rational_Optimist]
- Hans Rosling, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factfulness:_Ten_Reasons_We%27...]
- Julian Simon, The State of Humanity
Note: Some of these writers and arguments are co-opted by rabid libertarians or ideologues that argue that all is well, there is nothing to worry about, and nothing needs to be done (and certainly no government regulation of business) [N1]. That is nonsense, and not a position I advocate.
There are many worrisome trends, and we have to do something about them. But, there have been predictions of doom since the dawn of mankind (see: Malthus [D1], Ehrlich [D2]), and they have not panned out, either.
Conclusion/TL;DR: Things have largely gotten better for humanity over long timeframes. There are still many problems now (inequality, climate, etc.), but if we apply ourselves, there is a good chance we can tackle them.
Footnotes
[1] Life Expectancy [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy?tab=chart...]
[2] HDI [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-development-index-e...]
[3] Child Mortality [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality?tab=chart]
[4] Suicide rates (not improving, but not worsening) [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/suicide-rates-by-country]
[5] Air pollution [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-air-poll...]
[6] Polio [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-estimated-paral...]
[7] Cholera [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cholera-deaths-in-great-b...]
[8] Tuberculosis, Malaria, HIV/Aids [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/deaths-from-infections-of...]
[9] Anemia in children [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/prevalence-of-anemia-in-c...]
[10] Access to electricity [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-the-population-w...]
[11] Death from indoor air pollution [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rate-by-source-from...]
[12] Death from unsafe sanitation [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-deaths-unsafe-sanit...]
[https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-sanitation?ta...]
[13] Share of people who say they're happy [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-people-who-say-t...]
[14] Use of agricultural land per capita [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/agricultural-area-per-cap...]
[15] Forests [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/forest-area-as-share-of-l...]
[16] Famine [https://ourworldindata.org/famine-mortality-over-the-long-ru...]
[17] Child labour [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/various-measures-of-child...] [https://ourworldindata.org/child-labor#long-run-history-of-c...]
[N1] Julian Simon himself was one of those over-optimistic libertarians. But the data he collected is still eye-opening.
[D1] Malthus: "This constant effort as constantly tends to subject the lower classes of the society to distress and to prevent any great permanent amelioration of their condition." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_P...]
[D2] Ehrlich, in 1968: "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb] But a UN report in 2010: 'the percentage of the world's population who qualify as "undernourished" has fallen by more than half, from 33 percent to about 16 percent, since Ehrlich published The Population Bomb.'
You’re already seeing this in the younger millennials and Gen Z. We’re smart enough to see what’s coming and more of us are radicalizing every day.
Surveillance today is already more all-encompassing in democracies than it was in Eastern Germany. Just wait for an emergency that scares people enough, and that becomes weaponized.
Individual rights don't last in emergencies.