Work Comes First

"When I lost three of my closest family members to a drunk driver accident, and I couldn’t get time off work to plan and go to their funeral because, 'you need to find coverage and if nobody will cover for you… you have to come in!' Yeah, none of my coworkers wanted to cover my shift. This happened very recently also."

"After I posted this, a lot of people asked if I went to the funeral. I did, and I’m so happy I did. It really helped me find some closure and take some time with my family. I’m going to request time off to see the motherf**ker who hit them get sentenced, and if they won’t let me go… I simply won’t show up again.)"

"(I also politely told my manager to f**k off and that he can fire me if he isn’t happy with my decision to attend… still not fired.)"

- Beneficial_Cat9225

The Story That Should Have Been

"​I saw a news story of a high school student paying off a teacher's student loans."

- greenaidsdaog

Student Loan Problems

"There was a game show where the contestants played for the show paying off their student loans. If that doesn’t scream, 'we’re f**ked,' I don’t know what does."

- Stillwater215

Poor Medical Care

"Pretty much any ER in any major city. Spend a few days in one and see just how incredibly f**ked up a significant percentage of the population is."

- Stock-Bid-9509

Stress's Impact

"I think about my friends, family, and colleagues, and I cannot name a single person who does not have a malady or six. Depression, anxiety, stomach ulcers, heart issues, etc."

- neomattlac

The Price to Pay

​"How people with illnesses have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars just to survive. I swear, it's so messed up. 'Oop, you don’t have enough money for a heart transplant that will save your life?… well, not our problem, say goodbye to your family.'"

"Like, if you don’t have money, they will let you die. Literally. And then they’ll be like, 'There's nothing we can do about it, sorry.' YES, YES THERE IS. This is someone’s life and you’re gonna let them die because they don’t have enough money? It really shows you how people don’t care about other people's lives."

- nilyat07

The Rent is Too Darn High

"Stagnation of wages since the 1980s combined with the increased cost of living in the 400% mark in key areas such as rent and food."

"Future's pretty bleak."

- uredoom

Distributed Wealth

"2/3 of wealth created throughout the pandemic went to the top 1%. Income inequality is going to be the downfall of civilization eventually."

- Crime_Dawg

Unconfirmed Sources

"People mindlessly believing propaganda that is easily disproven by a ten-second google search."

- Wild-Striker

Environmental Crisis

"The fish fillets are getting smaller, but staying the same price."

"If ocean ecosystems are no longer able to sustain consistently harvesting large fish, that shows deep problems that cannot be covered up. Couple that with the cost of the poorest, staple foods increasing while wages stagnate, and you have a perfect recipe for societal collapse."

"People are kept docile by all governments with bread and circuses. Well alas, the bread is getting more expensive and has for decades, while the circuses kinda suck and are rapidly going bankrupt."

"I have been recently re-reading Asimov's 'Foundation,' and his discussion of how powerful empires collapse through a gradual shrinking of ambition and will until all that the smartest are trying (and failing) to achieve is the maintenance of the status quo was rather disconcerting. Sound familiar to anyone else working in the public sector?"

- e-girl

No Teamwork

"When I saw how everyone reacted to the pandemic outbreak. Turning health issues into political ones. That basically cinched it."

- sharpshooter188

Lack of Priorities

"I know the exact moment I realized this. It was during the republican debate in 2015. I forget who made a comment about trump's hand size in a suggestive manner, but Trump responded by saying there's no problem there."

"Think about that, during a presidential debate, arguing about literal d**k size, and no one batting an eye. That's when I knew."

- Manimal31

Politics Aside

"I knew when they booed McCain simply for saying Obama was a decent family man."

- DogsAreOurFriends

"Negotiable"

"The fact that human rights are 'negotiable.'"

- teddyslayerza

All of the Above

"gestures broadly at everything all the time"

- nude-rater-in-chief

Many of the points made here are deeply troubling, and it makes sense that some people would view them as signs for societal doom.

Unfortunately, it's all about perspective, and what may be perceived as terrible today may seem slight in comparison tomorrow.