#022 - 05/22/2025

The End is Nigh!

Is it really an impending sense of doom or am I just doom-scrolling a little too hard?

So anyway, I’ve been getting into the whole “prepping” thing a little bit. I don’t think I’m being that paranoid, I’m not building a bunker, or anything like that, yet. I can’t go and buy a gun (legally) because of the country I live in. No, really all I’m doing is stocking up my pantry somewhat deeper than I’ve done so far. I’m trying to have some supplies, food and other things, to help out if there’s any kind of difficulty, be it a SHTF scenario like WW3; global-warming gets extreme and causes climactic havoc, food shortages and what-not; or civil unrest caused by my country’s shitty government; or maybe I loose my job because I get replaced by an AI bot that can do it for a fraction of the cost.

I think the latter is a real possibility in the near future. A few weeks ago my company sent out an email saying that they were introducing some AI tools “to help make our job more efficient”, or something to that effect, but they also casually mentioned that they were beginning to use fully automated interpretation on low-level, low-risk calls, which is not exactly what I do, but I’m just one or two steps up the ladder from that. On the other hand, the weather’s been real weird lately, it’s been raining more than normal for this time of year, and when it’s not raining, it’s hotter than ever.

Also, the war in Ukraine keeps escalating; other conflicts around the world are also getting hotter now with tensions and bombing between Israel and Iran, Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Yemen... India and Pakistan, China and Taiwan; many countries in Europe are taking steps to arm themselves to the teeth now that the US is ditching NATO and Russia appears more and more like a real threat... Lots of political polarization happening in several countries, some are going far left, others going far right, there seems to be no in-between anymore.

I don’t know, I don’t know. Am I being paranoid?

I think there is at least a part of it that’s mostly rational. It makes sense to be prepared for difficulties that can happen anytime.

And yet...

What do I do with that small part of my brain that kinda... sorta... wants to see some shit actually hit the fan. I’m tired of this perpetual state of panic where the world is ending every 5 minutes but nothing ever really happens. There’s also a sense of “just get it over with”, and the fact that everybody wants to be right. When you start getting into preparedness, you tell yourself that that you are just being cautious, in case any difficulties come your way, but a small part of you gets a little excited about being able to tell everyone “I told you so” and you start researching maniacally for reasons to confirm your bias. Of course then you think about all the suffering that would entail and you feel bad.

I think the pandemic left us all with with this uneasiness, this anxiety, this thing we call the “impending sense of doom”. Remember that meme that said something like “I always pictured the end of the world with more fire and less zoom meetings and taxes”?

Something similar to this:

But is it real? Or is it just doom-scrolling, just a hyper awareness of all that’s bad with the world without it necessarily being anything new, just exaggerated by the endless hunger of the algorithm that feeds on you anger and fear, anything that makes your blood boil and engage and click more social media posts.

Well, people have been prepping since way before social media. But who knows.

Or is it all just a meme, a joke, a psyop?

Who knows.

But it’s there nonetheless. Many preppers say that prepping is not about living in fear, but rather the opposite, and I believe that. So I’m stocking up my pantry and maybe also learning a new skill or two along the way.