'Crisis fatigue'

Mike

I was on YouTube last night and someone talked about how this generation is so used living with crises.

Climate change? Species extinction? Rise of far-right movements? Donald Trump? Brexit? Coronavirus?

People are arguably getting used to these looming threats being there and just getting on with life in spite of them. Young people in particular though seem to be experiencing these things (and more) in quick succession. All the while dealing with the day-to-day challenges of being a young person.

And it got me thinking: are you guys feeling any 'crisis fatigue'? Does this impact your mood?

Azziman

I agree that the word 'crisis' is used so much to the point that the idea of a 'crisis' has been diminished - from the severity of the Cuban Missile Crisis that could've triggered a nuclear war, to some people expressing their opinions. Media definitely has a role to play - if everything is a crisis, then they see droves of people reading their articles on the topic, even when it's not really a 'crisis' in absolute terms. Effectively, 'crisis' is a very emotionally powerful word in journalism and politics, as it invokes fear and anxiety x

Aidan

There are genuine crisis' for sure, but the word's just thrown around too much.

I think when life is getting better with each generation, the bar of what you can call a crisis gets lower? Maybe one example is comparing modern day political extremes, to the fascism and communism in the 20th century. It's still bad, but it's much better now if that makes sense?

When you're young and you don't particularly get much exposure to the 'old' issues, the new ones could look worse than they are?

ThePigeons

I think each generation had to deal with about the same amount of crises but just different ones. Doesn't really impact my mood