Sincerely, do not read this if your mental stability is tenuous. Basically details the numerous factors, environmental and otherwise, that are all pointing to societal collapse by the 2040s. I could barely get through it without feeling nauseous. There's some minor liberalism regarding China but it's more of a footnote than major focus.
We should expect chaos. Shit hitting the fan. I'm in a similar boat, I'm doing a degree in environmental science to get a job that doesn't exist.
The mental health answer is the grill pill, the psychotic answer is to do what you can to prepare but acknowledge there is no escape, as the wheels of catastrophe have been in motion for decades.
Why is that psychotic?
Because there's only so much you can do to prepare. You can grow shit if you have a backyard, you can buy a gun, you can put together illegal rain-collecting barrels, but at the end of the day we don't know what collapse will look like, particularly in the States. You'll be preparing, sure, but half the time you'll be paranoid and thought-looping about the myriad bullshit that you just can't prepare for. A cursed existence, perhaps no more cursed than we are now, but cursed nonetheless.
You don't need to let prepper paranoia take over your life to have at least some basics covered, get a month or so worth of long life food and rotate it occasionally. Get some water filters or something to make water safe. Get a cheap gun and a small stock of ammo. If you did all this you should hopefully at least be able to weather any short term issues.
If you have a garden dig it up and try growing food, it's a fun hobby and can save you money so it's worth doing anyway. This and some water collection capability and you will be very resilient to a lot of issues.
:kalish: :grillman: :M16: