Talking about 'normal' day to day stuff is like trying to address the room inside the elephant. Living in the West it all comes back to climate collapse and the steady march of austerity, reaction and fascism.

I can't discuss polite 'neutral' topics without it eventually mentally circling back to those themes and having to cut myself off before launching into a depressing tirade, but not acknowledging them means practicing an untenable wilful ignorance. It's tiring.