Sweeping generalizations

July 4th, 2023

I don't feel really angry — but clearly I feel sad and disheartened and disappointed. And I have been feeling fine and happy since yesterday — I started a new job and my new coworkers seem fine and helpful, and my new duties require a lot of learning, but I already see that they are manageable. But then something happened —

My mom had a fall. She was walking in the park and she lost consciousness (which in itself is scary) and fell to the ground. She broke her nose, has cuts and lacerations on her face, and has a broken right forearm. It will be a while before she is back on her feet. She lives with her sister who herself had several falls over the last months and is still suffering from several orthopedic issues, so I will be helping them for the next few weeks with general household duties. But that is not an issue here. The problem is with several things that happened after her accident.

She had severe bleeding and was dazed after a fall in the park and she asked for help from three young women walking by. They looked at her, talked among themselves but then quickly walked away without any help at all. Only after a while did an elderly lady come by and she helped my mom to at least get the phone to call for help. And I know that it is wrong to generalize about any group of people based on the actions of a few, but I don't care — so here it goes:

to all the teenagers and the like who think that world revolves around them and helping an elderly lady in distress is below them — I am quite glad about the state of the world that will be your lot soon. I will not be around in the next 40 years, but what I leave you is a climate crisis that is already irreversible and ethnic and racial, and national strife that will soon turn into a wholesale bloodbath and constant wars and violent mass migrations. There will only be more inequality and modern-day consumer slavery is just around the corner waiting for you. Most of the jobs will be taken by AI, so good luck with your degrees and the future of your children.

I know I will start feeling better in the next few days, but for now, I just wanted to rant…