There's a certain strain of commentator who is just sure that nothing can ever get better.
In amongst all the hullaballoo about the UK potentially banning under 16s from social media0, I saw a prominent historian say:
i assume banning kids from social media will be accompanied by a huge investment in teen-friendly communtiy [sic] spaces (like youth clubs) and social activities?
No?
Huh.
But, here's the thing. He's wrong. You can argue about whether the UK's Labour Government is doing the right thing1, but they are pouring huge amounts of money and effort into youth provision.
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Young Brits are set to benefit from Dutch style employment support as the Government steps up localised support to tackle rising NEET numbers.
- "Almost 180 new Youth Hubs will begin opening from next week which will provide wraparound services – coordinating education, welfare, and employment support."
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Prime Minister announces major expansion of youth services and real-world opportunities to re-connect young people with the world around them
- "Announcing a new £88 million package of support to transform opportunities for young people across the country, the Prime Minister will make clear that this government is picking this challenge up and seeing it for what it is – a worrying trend – and delivering real-life solutions for the long-term, investing in opportunities for young people."
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£30m pledged for youth club in each London borough
- "Sir Sadiq Khan said £30m of the £50m allocated in this year's budget for supporting young people would be used to fund a "Youth Lates" programme in the capital's 32 boroughs."
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Youth Matters: Your National Youth Strategy
- "spending nearly £70 million over the next 3 years to help local areas better support young people and develop a network of up to 50 Young Futures Hubs by March 2029"
When I raised this with him, the Doomer could only say it wasn't enough. When asked how much would be enough, there was no reply. I think that's because people like this don't want to engage with the world. They're desperate to show that nothing is being done. And, when it is pointed out that something is being done, all they can fall back on is that is it never enough.
If you push back even slightly on their Doomer views, you'll get a litany of complaints about how everything is taking too long (well, duh, there's a couple of decades worth of austerity to unpick) and how they have no faith in any of this making a difference (because they won't give it a chance) and that nothing is being done (even though they refuse to look at the evidence).
Similarly, I'm sure you've all seen someone moaning the the planet is fucked because we're doing nothing about it. But that simply isn't true:
The UK's greenhouse gas emissions have fallen sharply: in 2024 they were 54% lower than in 1990, according to provisional data.
Everywhere you look there are signs of progress and hope.
Doomerism, by its nature, is a reactionary concept. It's like those weirdos who reply to every funny story on the web with "didn't happen". An utter unwillingness to acknowledge that - yeah - some stuff happens. The world doesn't change as quickly as you'd like and politicians are never quite as brave in government as they are when campaigning - but stuff gets done!
When the Mayor of London introduced various measures to prevent polluting vehicles from poisoning London, the Doomers said it was pointless. Today we know it led to a substantial reduction in hospital admissions.
You see Doomers bleating about how the Panama Papers exposé led to nothing. That's contrary to all the people prosecuted. Did everyone get the justice they deserve? No. But to reduce it to a nothingburger is the essence of Doomerism. "I don't remember anything important happening, therefore the world is terrible."
Doomerism always feels to me like a psyop designed to keep people dispirited. When everything is reduced to a "yeah, but they won't do anything" then you end up disenfranchising people.
Are there terrible things which need changing? Absolutely!
Are politicians doing everything that you specifically want? Probably not!
Are incremental changes happening if you bother looking for the evidence? Yes.
Why aren't these people looking at what is actually happening, reading about what is being tried, understanding what trade-offs are being considered? Is engaging with reality really that difficult?
I guess a nuanced or positive take doesn't get you as much social media engagement as a childish howl of rage.
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For the record, I think this is probably misguided. Although most American sites already ban under 13s from making an account, I am not sure that extending that to 16 is proportionate. But that's tangential to my argument here. ↩︎
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Again, whether you or I agree with all their policies isn't relevant here. ↩︎
10 thoughts on “Against Doomerism”
Isn't part of the problem that the press aren't interested in shouting about those sort of initiatives as they don't drive the reader engagement that venomous outrage at the perceived failures of the government does?
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Gibbitz
There are good things that happen, but to the defense of doomers, is it wrong to want more? They could go about it differently for sure. Doomerism feels like where a pessimistic worldview, exasperation and being a troll intersect.
What a refreshing read, Terry! In psychology, we're often told that the natural human state is to remember the bad and not the good and that it takes effort to remember the good about yourself, let alone anyone else. As such, it's no surprise that there are doomers amongst us. But how refreshing to see that we are actually making progress in some things at a point when it feels like everyone around us is saying the opposite. Here's to progress.
I fear you are falling prey to thinking that nuanced thinking exists in the reactionary world of social media!
(I know you know you this!)
But yes, so many people are happy to shout loudly without pausing to check the facts, as David suggests, the reaction is 'worth' more online than a reasoned response.
I now insert a 'sigh' because it's all so very tiring, isn't it.
sigh
@Edent sounds like this which has been on my mind a lot re: Russian domestic politics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9
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@Edent and to this I say
https://hopeful.technology
Join us!
Society for Hopeful Technologists
| Reply to original comment on macaw.social
Dan Davis
I was re-reading some old Heinlein novels and ran across this:
"Despite the crapehangers, romanticists, and anti-intellectuals, the world steadily grows better because the human mind, applying itself to environment, makes it better. With hands...with tools...with horse sense and science and engineering."
Would any author today write a sentence like that in a novel?? That spirit is why I became an engineer. Down with the Doomers!
@Edent Shout it from the roof tops. Right on!
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John Green called this the "Seductiveness of Despair". I found his discussions on this very helpful to understanding this more fully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIbqS6XoNiE
Great post. I noticed myself getting more and more "doomer" a few years ago and made a solid effort to stop engaging with the kind of content online that made it feel like the world was only going to shit and nothing good was happening. I think this has done wonders for my mental health, at the expense of cutting ties with some long time internet 'friends' (alas).
I do think that David Geary above raises a valid point though - this feels like a side effect from news and social media constantly pushing rage bait and doom and gloom because it's better for clicks.
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