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Hope is an incredibly powerful tool. It can help humans persevere through the most painful experiences, and it keeps many of us going at the end of the day. Even if nothing went your way this week, you can hold onto the hope that everything will turn around next week. None of us can predict the future, so for all you know, something amazing will happen!
But being optimistic can be exhausting at times. And some people have decided that they have to give up on views and ideas that just aren’t realistic. Redditors have recently been discussing things that they just can't believe in anymore, so we’ve gathered some of their brutally honest replies below. We realize that this isn’t the most uplifting topic, but we hope it inspires you to finally let go of anything that’s no longer serving you.
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#1
American's intelligence
Edit: as a German just f**k you. You still look at Germany and point your finger at us. Asking us how WWII happened. Now look into the f*****g mirror. THIS is how it happened. If he pushes his project 2025 through then you will have THE EXACT same thing but on a MUCH larger scale.
#2
The intelligence and compassion of my fellow humans.
It turns out that decades of catering to the lowest common denominator has reduced our species to selfish, brutish animals who avoid thinking at any cost.
The world is literally on fire, but too many people would rather have someone else do all of the hard thinking for them and then complain about the consequences later.
Edit:
I can no longer hold empathy or patience for the willfully ignorant.
I'm tired of living in a world where people willingly avoid any form of critical thinking by having someone else make the "big decisions" for them - only to then whine about the consequences for their actions.
I'm tired of living in a world where people are mocked for being learned. Where literacy is considered a niche interest. Where people deride artists, but demand the fruits of their labor.
I'm tired of being in a world where someone's worth is centered around how much money they have.
I'm tired of people stepping over their neighbors in order to get ahead.
I'm tired of people demanding the benefits of living in a society, while complaining about having to contribute to it.
I'm just done with people in general.
It turns out that actual intelligence is such a rare quality in humans that it's practically a rounding error at this point.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
This thread is really turning into a pleasant read to start the working week.
#3
Karma. Bad people do bad things and get away with it.
Lucifer 1 week ago (edited)
Technically(according to the teachings), karma doesn't follow our timeline. A lot of people get the concept of karma worng. The westernised version is not what it is. To have Karma enact "justice" according to our calendar so that we have some semblance of normalcy is not how it works.
#4
America.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago (edited)
As a child I thought America was the dream, as an adult I see it as a nightmare. Hollywood is not to be believed.
#5
That hard work alone ensures success. I've seen too many cases when the appropriate timing and connectivity are required.
#6
Right now? On election night? I've stopped believing in America. The dream that was America that was drilled into me as a child of the 70s and 80s. That all people actually had an equal voice. That justice ruled the land. That we were a UNITED States.
Thats all gone.
Its every man for himself and "f**k you, I've got mine".
Maybe my blinders are finally off. Maybe its always been that way.
In any case, my belief in the "Shining City on the hill" is dead.
Its all over, and I will mourn its loss.
Lucifer 1 week ago (edited)
United States always had the disinformation problem. From the American Exceptionalism myth to the shining city on the hill to the greatest country in the world, is propaganda. Instead of dealing with the problems head on, there was this delusion created to keep the masses dis/misinformed and vote against their interests. George Carlin and other comedians and philosophers have spotted it and tried to inform.
#7
I no longer believe the United States will remain a democracy.
Lucifer 1 week ago
"A demagogue who is elected POTUS after fomenting fear and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and "traditional" values. After his election, " "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." -- From It can't happen here by Sinclair Lewis in 1935
#8
Faith in my fellow human beings. LMAO what a joke. I thought we were better than this but here are.
#9
I no longer believe that integrity matters, or that laws have meaning, or that the truth is important.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
See the orange faced shart who has no integrity, broken numerous laws, and posts alternate facts.
#10
I no longer believe in the idea that 'everything happens for a reason.' Sometimes, things just happen—random, unplanned, and without deeper meaning. I've found it more comforting to focus on making the best of what life throws my way rather than trying to search for some cosmic justification behind every tough moment. Sometimes, life is chaotic and unpredictable, and that’s okay. It’s what we do with it that matters most.
#11
The Mormon church. I was a member for 21 years. I hated it. I hated what I had to believe. I hated the kind of person I had to be. I hated everything about the church. But I believed it was 100 percent true. So I lived it for 21 years. The day I let myself accept it wasn't true was one of the most freeing feeling I've ever experienced.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Religion can have such a terrible hold on people, controlling their lives and hiding them away from reality.
#12
That I was supposed to know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life at 18.
The Big Bad 1 week ago
Maybe you'll never figure it out. Just be open to learning new things. Enjoy the scenic route.
#14
The decency of my neighbors. Trump won this round decisively, the American people have spoken and they want... *That*.
Geoffrey Scott 1 week ago
Yes, but...he says he has a mandate, but just north of 50% does not a mandate make.
#15
I dunno. I don't really believe in anything anymore. Life in general is an empty, meaningless slog. I admire those who can enjoy it because it's impossible for me.
Katarzyna Drozd 1 week ago
If you are not able to feel happiness anymore, please go check for depression/ anhedonia. I wish I would go for treatment much earlier instead of listening to my mother claiming praying is answer for everything. Praying is not gonna treat a sickness. Doctors will.
#16
That most Americans are not stupid.
Lucifer 1 week ago (edited)
They are not. But they have lost the ability to think critically & analytically. That's by design. Defunding education will let you keep the low informed even less informed or push a lot of disinformation, they'll listen to simplest story. And they'll do it again by getting rid of DOE.
#17
I no longer believe in 'finding the right time'. If you wait for something to happen, you can always find an excuse not to start it.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago (edited)
I even put procrastination off. I'll start procrastinating tomorrow, or the next day.
#18
The future of our Constitutional Republic. Clearly this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.
Feathered Dinosaur 1 week ago
Clearly some people here don't get the Star Wars reference. Amidala's words have made me shiver then and now
#19
Democracy. I no longer see republicans as people.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
I think a lot of decent Rebublicans have sacrificed their values just so they can be the ruling party.
#20
the fallacy that one can function with less than eight hours of sleep. People, coffee can only do so much.
#22
The idea that humans are basically good (in the sense of morality) and intelligent (in the sense of wisdom).
Historically, and as events over the last couple years have continued to highlight, culminating with the election results in the US...humans are simply a more advanced form of primate. We are - in general - tribal, selfish, and greedy. And emotionally stupid.
Contrary to our religious aspirational ideals, our complex philosophical navel-gazing or our grandiose self assumptions, humans as a whole contain no inherent or ingrained virtue beyond that of any other animal. And in certain areas of our behavior, such as with our wars of political expediency and the choices demonstrated in the USA election, we are abjectly f*****g pathetic.
#23
The decency and intelligence and sense of ethics of the vast majority of humans.
Most people are not bad, but indifferent to evil and they refuse to learn, to understand the world around them, to understand cause and effect and to have at least the basic empathy.
Most people are not bad, but they want bad people to govern and they don't care about evil unless evil and bad policies affect them directly. And I mean directly them, not their family their friends, their community. Them.
Nikole 1 week ago
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.
#24
The survival of the human race in the face of climate change.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Making money NOW is much more important than stopping the world from burning of protecting our resources.
#25
Remember when we were all little kids and it was drilled into our heads how we were the best nation in the world? Welp.
#26
That humans are good by default. This election result was the final nail in the coffin.
#27
That adults have everything figured out and their life is a smooth journey on a fixed path.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Ha ha! This notion soon goes away when you have bills to pay.
#28
Humanity.
Lucifer 1 week ago (edited)
“I frankly don’t give a f**k how it all turns out in this country—or anywhere else, for that matter. I think the human game was up a long time ago (when the high priests and traders took over), and now we’re just playing out the string. And that is, of course, precisely what I find so amusing: the slow circling of the drain by a once promising species.” - George Carlin. The sad part is that a lot of selfish, greedy humans will also cause the extinction of other species.
#30
The belief that people can influence others. I've learnt that people must want to improve themselves, you cannot do it for them.
What do you think ?
Trisec Tebeakesse 1 week ago
“the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” No, no it doesn't. That arc is straightened out and heading away from the truth at an alarming rate.
Pamacious 1 week ago
Sick of people privileged enough to complain about political talk.
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Trisec Tebeakesse 1 week ago
“the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” No, no it doesn't. That arc is straightened out and heading away from the truth at an alarming rate.
Pamacious 1 week ago
Sick of people privileged enough to complain about political talk.
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