Canadian Ennui. Really?

Dear Ask A Punk -
When does it stop? It seems like everything really is getting worse and don't know that there is anything we can do about it. I have a job I hate, but I keep it because I know I won't find another one that is any better any time soon and that sucks. I broke up with my boyfriend because that seemed pointless - and it wasn't even a "bad" relationship. I just figured it would end sooner or later anyway, so why not sooner? My friends are all miserable or at best bored and we can't figure a way out of it. Are we all part of the problem then? Maybe, but after years of trying to figure out how to help, it is like we're all giving up. I live in a small city in Canada. I know things could be worse, much worse, insufferably worse than we have them here, as you've pointed out before, but come on, people with easy access to clean drinking water still have a right to feel like things could be better, don't they? I'm just tired of the ugliness I see - the human-on-human ugliness... which believe me is much worse in your country than here, but it is definitely seeping in. It feels like everyone is ready to just run wild. What is the cause of this and at this point is it even possible to turn it all around? - Canadian Punks Rule.

Dear CPR-
I'm already starting to miss the "What is punk?" questions. You didn't really think I would have a definitive answer to basically "What is wrong with human civilization and how do we fix it?" did you? If I could answer THAT question, I can assure you I wouldn't be sitting in a one bedroom apartment that currently has mushrooms growing out of the living room rug (there was a water leak and, well, it is a long story.)

Even at the best of times civilization or 'civilized society' is a thin veneer of order we keep spackled over our basic human natures & motives which are, really (and unfortunately) powered by fear, greed and manipulation. Our better selves and higher virtues, the things that make us "better people" tend to evaporate the moment the well runs dry or the food runs out. This has always been true. The "fear" I'm talking about is really the human ability to imagine the future. By that I mean our own immediate futures. The future that says "I need to have a week's groceries in the refrigerator in order to feel secure" and "I need to have unlimited access to a source of crude oil in order for my country to be secure." We're driven to protect ourselves and our interests and those of our "tribe" against all "outsiders" ... This is basic human functioning. I don't want to get into a whole evolutionary argument about primate/human behavior... but heck the fact that the 'creationist' crowd would jump all over it further proves my point about the human drive to divide people into "us" or "them"

Sure, many species have somehow been able to ask themselves the question "...but what about tomorrow?" That is why bees make honey and squirrels stockpile food for the winter. But we, as humans, add another layer of fear to it "What if there isn't enough to go around? How will I get mine?" And that led us to throwing rocks at each other, and really what is a gun but a more lethal and effective way of throwing a rock at someone? And what is a hydrogen bomb? ...just the biggest damn rock human minds have figured out how to pick up and throw at "them" ...whoever "them" might be.... could consciousness itself be seen as an evolutionary dead end if it ultimately leads to our own destruction? Damned if I know.

This is all high-falutin' talk. I'll try to pull it back alittle bit and focus on what you said. You're right. I look around and nearly everyone I see or know is less happy (or perhaps "less secure" would be a better way to say it) than ever. I can't think of anyone I know who isn't going through a job loss, a divorce, a life-threatening illness, extreme family troubles or at the very least impending major dental work... and many are dealing with more than one. Heck I'M unemployed AND I have a root canal scheduled for today. It is all a symptom of the stress our society is under, because our personal and collective futures look grim. After that, our basic beliefs, fears and predispositions then try to find the reason for it, something (or someone) to blame. This makes people feel like they have to "choose a side" on nearly everything and be "willing to fight for it" when what they're really trying to do is drown out their own fear.

Knowing that doesn't make it any easier to survive. I know I'm getting sick of nearly every conversation I hear or have devolving into an argument in which neither side is willing to listen or present facts. No one is open to have their minds changed by what they might hear. Opinion and volume seem to be all that matters, and that sort of thing is most dangerous in troubled times.

I feel like I'm not being much help to you, because the best I can do is agree with what you're saying. Everyone does seem ready to blow. As I said earlier, everyone I know is dealing with at least one "major personal problem." and you're right, there doesn't seem to be any good resolution for it all on the horizon. Could things get uglier? Sure... that is always a possibility. A few major disasters (natural or man-made) in quick succession could knock most of what we think of as 'Civilization' right off its pins. That is the bad news. The good news is I don't think the Earth's poles are going to reverse in 2012 either. I think many many people are just waiting for the other shoe to drop. We just have to hope it isn't the last shoe...ever.

And there is that pesky word again "hope." Do you have any left? I guess that is what it really all comes down to. Passion, hope & love (well, those and clean drinking water) are really all that is left when the bullshit is stripped away. Yes, yes, I know that sort of sentiment couldn't sound less punk rock... Whatever. That's just more "us vs. them" thinking... but I ask you: What could be more anarchistic in these dark & pessimistic times than passion & hope?

So that's my advice today. As tempting as it might be, do not give in to the tug of the giant swirling drain. Do something. Feed somebody. Sure the world might soon go up in flames, but if/when it does, share your marshmallows with the people around you.