like even ignoring the worst-case scenarios we’re set for crises in the immediate future that will dwarf the “cost-of-living crisis” of 2022-23 and the pandemic. but basically the vast majority of people are just hoping that it’ll all be fine and we’ll go back to how things were in the 90s if we have some Good Government. it’s going to be interesting to see how the masses respond to this situation, which they have been repeatedly informed of for decades now, but which they still don’t understand.
I think this is a psychological phenomenon. Maybe it’s related to that thing about fearing loss more than you desire gain. People have also been very conditioned to things never getting better, but they do know that things can get worse. It seems like the only improvement that most people can imagine is going back like a year in time.
I’ve also been thinking about this. One of the absolute biggest things that has caused us to get into this situation is everyone having some degree of bad risk assessment, with most having it really bad. Like most people have some real main character syndrome. I wonder if this is a consequence of so much privilege compared to the vast, vast majority of humanity that have lived so far. I have wondered if it’s something that’s always been inherent to our psyche and it’s just been exacerbated by things in modern society? I dunno I’m no psychologist, I’m just rambling on the internet
Edit: Also I’m not saying this is across the whole world, when I say “most” I mean “most in affluent countries.” Obviously there’s many in the world who have good risk assessment from just having to for survival
People have a lot to lose, which has made people very risk-averse.