23 June 2022

Gloom

In recent months, commenters on this humble Yorkshire blog have come from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Greece, France, Canada, The United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and The Isle of Man. I think that's everybody but I apologise if I have overlooked somewhere.

I wanted to ask you all about gloom. What is the current reading on your gloom-ometer? I was wondering if it was a similar reading to what we are getting in this neck of the woods.

Here, significant factors that seem to have caused the needle of gloom to rise higher include:-

  • The war in Ukraine
  • Rising prices in supermarkets
  • The rising costs of fuel and energy
  • The ongoing effects of the pandemic
  • Global warming and continuing environmental disasters
  • Having a shameless egotistical liar as our prime minister
  • The Big Brexit Mistake
The Big Brexit Mistake was pushed over the line by that same shameless prime minister and by malicious Russian interference in social media ahead of the Brexit referendum in June 2016. 

I have yet to see any benefits accruing from Brexit. So far any effects have been negative and detrimental to Britain's economic future. By the way, it is worth noting in retrospect that at the time of the vote Britain had 46 million registered voters. Only 17.4 million voted to leave The European Union. It was not as decisive by any means as Johnson and his Brexit gang have frequently suggested.

I guess I have just been on a British sidetrack but every nation has its issues - including America with its social divisions and the bitter after effects of Trump's  four years in The White House.

Perhaps my memory is faulty but looking back upon my adult life, I cannot recall a time when things felt gloomier than they are right now.  Of course I am thinking about the socio-political and socio-economic atmosphere - not about domestic life. Is my gloom-ometer faulty? 

What do you think?

50 comments:

  1. I do feel gloom. I also feel intense anger at politicians who are misguided and also evil narcissists and also at their supporters. I feel despair- often, that we have let things go too far with our planet to ever come back from disaster. I struggle with resignation in response to it all. It is a hard time.

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  2. I am trying not to feel gloom at the moment. It is not that I am unaware of the woes of the world and I do understand the horrors going on all over. I do not want to let myself be overwhelmed by it all so for now at least I am just trying to be thankful that my loved ones are still safe and well and that I am hopefully going to be around for a little while longer. Selfish of me probably but that is how I feel.

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    1. If one can manage to turn a blind eye to it all it is surely better for mental health.

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  3. Definitely a lot of doom and gloom, bother personally and globally. I'm in a funk.

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  4. Your gloomometer is on point. Mine would be very similar. I'm also with Ms. Moon about anger and terror about the attitudes and actions of some of our politicians and their crazy followers. This is not the country or world I recognize.

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    1. I do think that it is the world out there rather than we the perceivers.

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  5. I don't feel gloom but then, I'm somewhat of an optimist. From studying past history, there are always things to feel down about and lots of things to feel happy about too. I just tend to focus on the ones that make me happy.

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    1. This is the most upbeat comment from all who responded.

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  6. We're in Yorkshire, for goodness sake. We don't need any other reason to max out the gloom-ometer.

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    1. I understand that your gloom-ometer was made by Gloom and Sons Ltd in Goole.

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  7. It is quite gloomy in the US with the Supreme Court decided guns are okay anywhere and everywhere and yet a woman cannot choose her own healthcare options; mass shootings; racists abound.
    I try to remain hopeful.

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    1. Trump made the Supreme Court in his image.

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    2. Sadly, yers, and it could take decades to get it right again.

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  8. I think your gloom-ometer is right on. And it's not just our generation that's feeling it. Millenials are desperate -- they see so much out of their reach due to low wages and ever-rising prices; they see a climate that will affect them long after we, their parents, are gone; they see war and unrest in all corners of the globe -- and their globe is smaller than ours because the internet and easy travel mean that many of them have friends around the world and are familiar with places beyond their home countries, perhaps even having settled far from home. I am sad and in despair for my kids and grandkids as well as for myself. Honestly, the thing that keeps me from becoming more entrenched in it than I otherwise would be is that my mother's condition demands so much from me that I don't have as much time to dwell on it. And maybe that's one cure for it -- not peoples' parents getting dementia, of course, but people getting involved in doing everything possible to help others, to make their wishes known to their political representatives and to big business, and to improve their corner of the planet. It's harder than being gloomy, but it's more productive.

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    1. Psychologically, humans need to earn brownie points to feel happy and worthwhile. It is indeed a perfect distraction.

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    2. I still have some hope that consistent pressure on political representatives and big business can have a real effect, not just be a distraction.

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  9. I feel the gloom in Canada too, and I'm thinking multiple factors are at play: pandemic after-effects, definitely Ukraine, and the ongoing slow-motion de-evolution (accelerated by Trump) of the US next door...yet science reminds me that our brains are trained to identify threats (for good reason) even though we many never face some of those threats. That helps me, sometimes. What helps me more is my granddaughter.

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    1. How can we not smile and feel uplifted by the loveliness of a granddaughter?

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  10. Well we got rid of our liar so things are a bit better there- Rona is still roaming - prices of everything are shooting sky high - maybe it’s a head in the sand attitude but I do what I can…..if I worried about things too much I’d be dead in my grave - and I wouldn’t like that at all.

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    1. We do what we can to stay sane and happy.

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  11. Replies
    1. I was not thinking about mists rolling in from the ocean Susan!

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    2. LOL - yes we get that type too. But that I actually rather like!

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  12. Anonymous12:14 am

    Oh, this requires thought! I don't like.

    There is a sense of optimism here about the environment after the recent federal election and a new party came to power, perhaps partly media created. Still, I think some environmental good will come from this government.

    I have gloomy thoughts about Afghanistan. We don't want to indirectly fund the Taliban, but the ordinary everyday citizens are terribly affected by the recent earthquake and need help.

    I also have gloomy thoughts about the US. How come the richest and arguably smartest country in the world can have as Jenny stated, 30 percent of the population who believe Trump won the election? That is one third. Amazing and hard to believe. The US people who I interact with on the net are kind, caring, amusing, sensible and smart people. Yet one third of the population are absolute...tossers.

    Anyway, save your gloomy thoughts for the winter. It is your summer. Enjoy it (almost) care free and have faith in young people, who will do a whole lot better than we did.

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    1. We are leaving young people a lot of manure. As for Trumpians - yes, tossers the lot of them.

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  13. I try to avoid feeling gloomy but I do feel worried. I am hoping that enough evidence being presented in the US about the Jan. 6th plots will stop the former president and his allies. There are more people that believe in the truth and I hope we can turn things around. It has gotten scary, tho.
    I am sorry for the troubles in your own country. I keep thinking about how your country survived the terrible World Wars so I can't believe you can be ruined by a doofus like your PM seems to be. Let's be hopeful, Neil.

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  14. We have things to be concerned about. We are headed in the wrong direction on some very crucial issues. I have always been a very optimistic person but my gloom meter is high or low or what ever?

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    1. Yes. You have always come across as sunny Red - naturally looking out for positives.

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  15. There is so much going on right now that I have absolutely no control over. My focus just sort of naturally shifts to doing good where and when I have a chance to do it. My focus naturally seems to narrow down to the things I do have an opportunity to change. It's a defensive mechanism I suppose.

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    1. To avoid over-stressing and mental ill-health, I think it is a natural human reaction to turn inwards.

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  16. My gloom-o-meter is currently focused on my cat Lola. And money. I have had her for almost five years now and she's a lovely girl, but she has so many issues that require visiting the vet. Anxiety to begin with but that stabilised once she got used to me, that took a couple of years, she also gets migraines, hayfever and some sort of allergy that has her scratching great weeping raw patches into her skin around the neck and chin area. So today we are off to the vet again, I have to carry her since I don't drive, but the vet is just around the corner and up the street so it's no great hardship. The rising prices have me worried though, how much longer can I afford this? I have her at the vet several times per year.

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    1. Sorry to hear that Lola has had so many issues River. Lots of cats never have to visit a vet.

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  17. Last nights by election Tory defeats removed the gloom a bit YP.

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    1. I was up at 4am to see the Tory drubbing Dave. Of course Johnson will bat it away like a wasp.

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  18. Yes, I am gloomy about the future, however with rather different reasons than you I suspect. Brexit was (and still is) a wasted opportunity to break free from the one-size-fits-all Brussels bureaucracy and return to our shared Anglosphere heritage in the Commonwealth, where our cultural and legal norms are a much better fit.
    Climate change and the Net Zero nonsense is a religion of paranoia about a non-event - a look at the real temperatures over time makes a complete nonsense of the zealots hysterical claims, and will condem us all to a much poorer future . It is a religion based on fantasy models - look at how well they served us over the past couple of years - remember Ferguson and his half million dead?
    What drives my despair is the complete lack of any talent amongst either main political party's MPs.

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    1. Regarding EU membership and Brexit, sometimes you get so far down the road that it is impossible to turn back. Brexit visions were all pipe dreams and now we are left high and dry. I wish that someone would ask Johnson what benefits he believes Ukraine will gain by joining the EU.

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  19. Things went terribly wrong, and how can we make them right again? CAN we make them right again? Can WE make them right again?
    I try to be a decent human being in my little sphere of influence. And most of the time, I succeed in remaining inside my happy bubble. Not always, though.

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    1. The quest for contentment and survival drive many of us to live inside bubbles but bubbles are transparent.

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  20. I think you are right. I've never known so much doom and gloom.
    Maybe we are more aware due to these are of obtaining information?

    I try not to get too bogged down. I do what I can regarding charity and making a difference in my own small world.

    I'm often reminded of my Grandad's side words. "Whatever's going on, the sun will still come up tomorrow" .

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    1. Sure that's not an advertising line for "The Sun"?

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  21. Sadness spiked with optimism, not gloom. For if we sink into a depression than what or who can save the whole terrible situation.
    My first thoughts are with the Ukraine people as they live under the bombard of bombs engineered by a sick leader. There are tragedies happening in Afghanistan at the moment and in other parts of the world. Our problems in this country are small compared to people who are forced to be refugees from war, famine and environmental disasters.
    And the optimism - the young. They still can see through the fog of corruption that surrounds our governments. My grandchildren are very socialist, even more than me ;)

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    1. So pleased to hear that your grandchildren have a strong socialist outlook. My daughter is the same. The young could save the world though those in power right now are not creating a helpful legacy.

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  22. Yes, gloom here in north Wales too. Keith and I have become somewhat addicted to following politics since the advent of lockdowns, but at times, we do feel the need to take a break and we now have a worthy distraction in the form of our house move. Overwhelmingly, I feel that, although there have been many governments in the past who had policies that I didn't agree with, I always felt I could assume that they were adopting them for the benefit of the country as they saw it (even if they may have been wildly out of kilter!) The difference with this government, however, is that I just don't feel they have the good of the country at heart at all in anything they do. A fairly simplistic view, I know and there have been and still are other influencing forces at work, world wide, not just here, but you don't really want me to carry on ad infinitum, do you ...? :)

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    1. Well I hope you live a good few years more Jenny! Not "ad infinitum" but a decade at least! Johnson is worse than COVID19.

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  23. The whole world is suffering from doom and gloom - each day we read about yet another catastrophe of gigantic proportions.
    For us in Europe, in the background the Ukraine war rumbles on, begun and fuelled by the first of this century's land grabbing delusional megalomaniac madmen. If you know your history, each century has at least one.
    Personally, I don't feel gloomy and prefer to view things optimistically, but there are times when I feel uneasy about the future for mankind. I'm saddened that future generations may not enjoy the same benefits and freedoms that earlier generations enjoyed - pre mobile phones and computers. Life was so much simpler then, and we could admit to ignorance - not because we buried our heads in the sand but because we genuinely didn't know.
    Surely though YP., this isn't something new? Each century has had to endure turbulent times, be it war, famine, pestilence or invasion. It's just that everything is now at our fingertips and relayed as it happens.

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  24. I make a determined effort not to think too much about the state of the world or I'll never be able to function. I don't think I'm ignorant though, I just try to do what I can and not think about the rest.
    My son is consumed by angst about climate catastrophe and it breaks my heart to see. He is into activism and so on, trying to do what he can to remedy the issues but he carries the weight of it as though it was all his to carry. I am glad he is doing what he can but it's not sustainable and thats why I try not to think

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  25. It's pretty darn gloomy. I'm STILL depressed about Brexit and I find the Ukraine/Russia situation horrifying, as well as the turn toward theocracy that we're seeing in the United States at the hands of evangelicals. I try to manage my news intake, reading just enough to stay informed, and balancing it with lots of activity and fun recreational reading, and that helps a lot.

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