I feel like the world is at a fork in the road

[Perkilator]

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I’ve become more acutely aware of who’s a terrible person and throughout this whole decade, I’ve grown up to realize we live in a society run by old, decrepit demons who only know bloodshed. For a recent example, genocide is happening in Palestine right now and the US government isn’t just doing nothing to stop it: they’re funding and encouraging it as we speak.

This brings me to believe that the fate of the world is at a tipping point. On one hand, the younger generation who has become just as acutely aware and empathic of the oppressed can reverse the damage caused for generations, no matter how long it takes. On the other hand, we’re mere seconds away from having that opportunity taken away from us as the genocide occurring in Palestine slowly spreads all over the world…and for what? The powers that be are slaughtering everything and reducing civilization to a hellish wasteland for the illusion of an eternal status quo. I believe the younger generation can prevent all of this, but I also don’t know if it’s possible to do so.

I guess what I’m saying is…I fear for our future as much as I have faith in it. I’m in a point in my life where I look for the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario simultaneously. Will we truly, one day, have peace on Earth, or will the powers that be tear the Earth to pieces?

 

[Janx_uwu]

Young people have always been an invaluable resource when it comes to finding peace. The documentary Promises is a perfect example of that. It interviews several Israeli and Palestinian children before having them meet and just be kids together, while also acknowledging the divide in their people. It's a scary thing to watch - Palestinians are stopped at the border for no reason other than suspicions of terrorism. And one of the Israeli boys is told by his Palestinian friend not to speak Hebrew in Gaza/West Bank, or else be lynched on sight.

I can't speak any more than this comfortably - I fear I don't know enough, nor have enough stake to state my peace - but I do think young people are the biggest bridge between Israel and Palestine. Then again, given how kids in Gaza, the West Bank, and the Israeli WB settlements are indoctrinated from birth to hate one another, it's hard to say whether that bridge can ever be used meaningfully.

 

[StoicPhantom]

We're witnessing a shift in the balance of power from the dying West to the rising East. They call it the Thucydides' Trap, which essentially means that the old power structure will take measures that are ultimately self-destructive to try and stifle the new power. The West is trying to institute an economic corridor similar to China's Belt and Road initiative that runs through Gaza and that's part of why the current genocide is taking place.

And while I don't have any real basis, my instinct is that this isn't going to go any bigger than a regional war. The West simply no longer has the resources or manufacturing capabilities to fight a war that large. They can't even keep support for both Israel and Ukraine going, which is why they're pulling the plug on Ukraine. They blew most of their stockpile on Ukraine and domestic support for Israel just isn't there like it was for Ukraine. I just don't see how a world war will break out when neither the resources nor the desire to enlist are there. As mentioned, young people don't seem to buy into the usual bull**** and old people are, well, old and can't fight anymore.

Things look ****ing horrible but Israel will eventually burn out and Ukraine is winding down. There are other flashpoints but it seems like most of the rest of the world are looking to cooperate with each other rather than devolve into mass warfare. The fact that so few countries took the bait when the West was trying to rally sanctions on Russia says a lot about how the world feels about more senseless conflict.

To me the biggest problem is climate change that has taken a backseat with this genocide but is accelerating beyond any predictions that have been made. Things that were supposed to happen in like 50 years are happening now and humanity is nowhere near addressing it in the way it needs.