Positivity is an incredibly powerful tool. If you always look on the bright side and see the glass as half full, you’ll have less stress, a stronger immune system and better mental resilience. But it’s important to know when it’s beneficial to force a smile and when it’s time to face uncomfortable truths head on.
Redditors have recently been discussing issues that we’re expected not to worry about, despite the fact that they’re actively harming society. From being obsessed with screens to the prevalence of microplastics in our food and water supply, this list is full of some bleak realities. So it might not be the most uplifting read, but these are topics that we can’t ignore forever.
#1
Anti-Intellectualism.
Image source: Chiperoni, Brandi Alexandra / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#2
Social media. Destroying our attention, ability to focus, our sense of community and empathy, and now becoming a way for lies to dominate our sense of reality.
Image source: trafalmadorianistic, Austin Distel / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#3
Trump and Elon.
Image source: Mechanic1966
#4
Religious Zealots and them trying to force control on people’s lives by intruding the Goverment.
Image source: Loose-Ad5430, Karolina Grabowska / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#5
Cheering on “self-made” Billionaires, while they take government grants & tax breaks, meanwhile we wait out illnesses cuz it’s too expensive to go to the doctor.
Image source: Fair_Transition4865, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#6
Lack of empathy for fellow human beings.
Image source: crazycatlady331, DESIGNECOLOGIST / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#7
The hoops people have to jump through now just to have a job. Ghost jobs, AI screening out resumes, remote work that isn’t really remote (especially remote jobs not telling people where they can and can’t hire), easy baiting and switching, the job platforms allowing scams, and all the aforementioned.
All this stuff is just to be able to participate in society. Yet people are always giving useless advice that is often conflicting. People’s mental health is ruined by layoffs and I wouldn’t be surprised if people took their own lives over this.
Image source: AWPerative, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#8
Subscriptions for EVERYTHING.
Image source: Rosekun25, freestocks / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#9
Lack of care for people who suffer from mental health problems and wars.
Image source: TransLadyFarazaneh, Anthony Tran / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#10
The instant gratification. With the increase in technology, we’ve become impatient and entitled. We want immediate results for everything. We go to a restaurant, immediate results. We go to a hospital, immediate results. We’ve lost our ability to wait for anything. Patience is a virtue that sadly not many have nowadays.
Image source: TheClungerOfPhunts, Ümit Bulut / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#11
Over consumption – of everything, food, clothes, toys. There’s just too much stuff available. I feel like Pixar’s wall-e was prophetic.
Image source: GreekXine, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#12
The age of information has turned into the age of disinformation. F*****g echo chambers.
I miss the Dewey decimal system where you had to look up actual published information now it’s a s**t hole of disinformation and even educated people eat it up and we are in a free fall into fascism. Social media will be the downfall of society.
I’m a father of 4 and I just want my kids to grow up in the America I grew up in. Disagreements on both sides but meet in the middle on most things. Not the America where Russia is the victim.
Image source: idontgetit____, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#13
A chronic lack of sleep. 99% of adults need 7-8 hours of good sleep to remain healthy. A chronic lack of sleep increases your stress levels, inhibits the functionality of your immune system, increases your risk of cancers, causes all sorts of cardiovascular issues and all sorts of serious neurological complications.
Image source: Emu1981, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#14
Obesity. We tend to tamp down the seriousness of it in America for the sake of body positivity. Where I work, the VAST majority of young patients coming into nursing homes for rehab, sometimes turning into long term stays, are only there because one small issue (the flu, a knee surgery, an infection) left them unable to function anymore due to their obesity and related illnesses sapping their strength. I spend so much time trying to get people who weigh 300+ lbs to sit up and get out of a supine position just once or twice a day. I see how hard they struggle just to move. They can’t clean themselves, their legs are too heavy to even roll themselves in bed. It’s a problem.
Edit: to clarify, I’m aware that obesity can start in childhood, and can be outside of your control (trauma, genetics, financial situation)… not trying to shame anyone’s weight.
Image source: rymyle, AllGo / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#15
The failure of American education systems.
Image source: vegaskukichyo, Kenny Eliason / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#16
Capitalism.
Having scrolled through the comments, capitalism is the actual cause cause of 95% of what people are commenting.
MWH1980:
The idea that if you don’t possess wealth than you aren’t even human seems to really be filtering through.
Image source: blueCthulhuMask, Саша Алалыкин / Pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
Lack of universal healthcare.
Image source: Satyr_Janus_Ajax, National Cancer Institute / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#18
Disinformation 100%
Image source: Sixplixit, AbsolutVision / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#19
Microplastics.
Get this. Plastic was created in 1907 which makes it roughly 118 years old. It’s been around a little more than a century and it’s everywhere. Antarctica? Microplastics! Deepest oceans? Microplastics! All your foods? Microplastics! The worst of it is Nylon, Polyester, Acrylic, Polypropylene and lots of others.
Scientists are trying to study long term affect but with no control group it’s very difficult. Everything has microplastics in them.
Image source: PalmBeach_FloridaMan, Sören Funk / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#20
Global warming and pollution.
Image source: steffie-flies, Matt Palmer / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#21
Mental health struggles—anxiety, depression, burnout—and how they’re often ignored or stigmatized in favor of “toughing it out” or just pushing through. The societal pressure to constantly perform and be productive can lead to mental exhaustion, but addressing it feels like an afterthought in a lot of ways.
Image source: SereneSophia30, Joice Kelly / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#22
Sedentary lifestyle.
Most people I know sit for 8 hours a day. Maybe 1/10 actually exercise.
Spinal problems, posture problems, breathing problems, blood flow problems. We weren’t born to sit down this much for these long periods of time.
Image source: CyberSmith31337, Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#23
Greed.
Image source: Over_Gap_5574, Anjo Clacino / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#24
Religious idiots.
Image source: Dathomire, Kateryna Hliznitsova / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#25
Coming from someone who is chronically ill and into public health: BPAs, microplastics, pesticides, mold and mycotoxins, chronic viral infections, dyes in our food, SUGAR, alcohol, general inflammation, preservatives, heavy metals, EMFs, PFAS, bad air quality, bad water quality, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, sedentary lifestyles, lack of sleep, a*******n, and number one: STRESS… yeah, I’d say that’s the tip of the tip of the iceburg.
Image source: Haunting-Jello2059, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#26
The cost of living.
Image source: Ok_Wolverine2177, Frank van Hulst / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#27
Doomscrolling. Kinda like I’m doing right now.
Image source: hamiltrash1232, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#28
Over working. Poor nutrition value in available foods(food desert). Stress.
Image source: rtthc, Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#29
Isolation from our immediate communities.
The ability to go online and avoid interacting with your immediate surroundings has crippled the social ability of predominately social animals.
Image source: Otterable, Colin + Meg / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#30
Cars. It shouldn’t be a Mad Max death race to go to work in the morning.
Image source: OurLordAndSaviorVim, Quaid Lagan / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
#31
MBAs. Their drive for a yearly increase of profits above inflation is destroying everything; families, the environment, people’s mental health, and the sustainability of the economy. A collapse is coming, and those whose lives aren’t already destroyed are watch a slow motion car crash.
Image source: r1niceboy
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