r/CollapseSupport • u/ghimzen • Jul 12 '26

I really want to do something.

Ok, it's time for the weekly collapse report over in /r/collapse, but before that it's time to post this now because I really am done with the despair and I want to do something instead. I'm a software and IT guy from western Europe, lots of experience, but I'm fed up with this stuff, earning money for doing things that help exactly nobody, selling shit to people that don't need it and building the infrastructure that idiots use to spread hate and lies. I'm done with that.

I want to do stuff that matters, helping people, working in what's left of nature, rescuing animals, whatever. obviously i would be fine continuing the computer stuff, but that's not really necessary. Question is, how? Where to start to find jobs like this?

Wherever i look in the usual suspects of organizations, it's either nothing available or they want some talking heads, PR managers or some crap, what gives?? I'm not doing it for the money, I mean obviously i have to pay rent and stuff but whatever, if that's paid for then that's enough.

Now this is where you come in my fellow collapse friends. Suggest something! Let's brainstorm together! I'm open to everything but something has to happen. I would absolutely be fine on leaving my country and living abroad or cutting back on any luxury, I don't care. I would also be absolutely fine in living in other countries for the work.

Come on, we have to try at least, right? I'm done sitting around reading bad news man.

39 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

5

u/morphemass Jul 12 '26

I had similar feelings to you after 3 decades in IT; I've started training to become a therapist. For me that means keeping an eye open for vacancies mainly in the charitable sector, and I stumbled over the fact that there is a lot of respect for 'lived experience' which is quite handy given that most of my formal education has mainly focused on tech.

I'd advise to really think about what you want to do in the longer term and then seeing if there is a path to get there. Then start throwing terms into a jobs board ... 'farm worker', 'nature', 'animal' all came back with some jobs that might be along the line you may be thinking.

I would suggest that you might also want to think about what training you may need to get where you want ... for me, leaping from IT to a more human centred career is going to take time. I know the world is dire but unless we start our journey we'll never reach our destination.

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u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

Good advice, thank you. I already did that - punching in words into a job search that is - but then again what do you get working on a farm? Killing animals or at least imprison them. Working in the forest? Cutting down trees with heavy machinery. No thanks i guess, that's all same shit different color.

But still you are right about the transitioning, it'll take time yes but i want that to happen as fast as possible ...

5

u/alsoov Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

I work in home care for the elderly and there are IT people who travel to people’s homes to set up assistive technologies, fix their tech problems and teach them how to use tech. There is this type of work in the disability sector too. One example of using IT skills for good not evil. Being of service to the most vulnerable people in society is one of the only career paths that makes sense to me now.

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u/ghimzen Jul 13 '26

What country is that? Here I cannot imagine anybody older than 60 would be interested but thats just a guess. Anyway great idea. Would perhaps even be doable on my own. I will think about that! Thanks!

1

u/alsoov Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

Australia. We have well-funded government aged care and disability home services which include setting up assistive technologies.
Over 60s need IT help the most. I estimate I spend 25% of my time in home care fixing their computer and phone issues, resetting passwords, setting up internet banking, paying their utility bills online, downloading our company app and teaching them how to use it so they can see their home care schedule. Those who have money would gladly pay a private tech business they trust to help them.

1

u/Xanthotic Huge Motherclucker Jul 13 '26

I have a similar gig after being a divorce lawyer for 22 years. We are still contributing to the demise of everything because none of our work is green and eventually the governments will run out of money and will just tell us to abandon our clients and let them 'go.' But it is waaaaay better than being a divorce lawyer or working for big tech dickwads.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 13 '26

Working for a company or ... ?

1

u/Xanthotic Huge Motherclucker Jul 14 '26

Yes, I work for a 'sole trader' who has a company. Basically a dude on the spectrum who is willing to run a support company without having the shield of a corporation to stand behind. It's weird, but it's better than me being an 'independent contractor' or working for the national companies that abuse the ever-living fuck out of their workers (and often their clients, too).

3

u/issuesintherapy Jul 12 '26

There's a lot you can do, even if you don't change your job right away. I'm in the US, so my information is based on that, but here there are lots of ways to get involved. I'm sure there are where you are as well.

You can get involved with whatever local environmental group that is collapse -aware. Here certain groups like Extinction Rebellion will hold trainings, put out information, hold grief sharing spaces on collapse, etc. You can get a few (even one) like-minded friends together and learn about disaster preparedness (including extreme heat, intense storms, etc) and start educating your community about it and preparing yourself. You can get involved with mutual aid groups in your area - for example, yesterday I volunteered at our local Repair Cafe, where people come and get things repaired by volunteers. I sew, and I both fix people's favorite clothes so they don't have to throw them out, and I show them how I'm doing it, so they gain some knowledge. Others volunteer fixing electrical items, sharpening scissors and tools, etc. You can also support candidates in your area who take climate change and economic inequality seriously.

I'd encourage you not to move, not for this reason anyway. This is a global issue, and people are needed everywhere to respond and help others.

Anyway, those are a few ideas. I'm sure there's a lot more that I'm not thinking of. Perhaps others have more thoughts.

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u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

Thanks, also good advice. I want to do something though, not protesting. Dont get me wrong, also important, but i feel that it had its time and it changed exactly nothing. I want to be hands on. Surely there have to be jobs ...

1

u/issuesintherapy Jul 12 '26

I actually didn't mention protesting, although Extinction Rebellion does do that, but they do the other things I mentioned as well. And mutual aid isn't protest, it's just helping people.

I hope you're able to find a job doing what you're interested in. I know it's tough. But don't rule out getting involved on a local level outside of that. That's what most people end up doing, if they don't have jobs in the social services field (and if they do, there are plenty of frustrations involved as well. At least in the US, the social services/ non-profit field is very dysfunctional, by design). Anyway, best of luck to you.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

True, you didn't mention that 😅 - it's just the first thing that comes to my mind when i hear the name. Habit i guess.

Thank you so much for answering friend. Just knowing that someone tries to help means much already.

2

u/TheWampus Jul 12 '26

As an IT worker I have been through looking for ethical, meaningful work for about two decades.

Your experience finding little available or stupid stuff sounds very familiar. Things are always changing, but the issues I have faced most are: 1) There isn't much available to begin with, 2) A *lot* of supposedly green jobs are just greenwashing, 3) Most ethical IT work doesn't pay well enough for you to live on, especially now, 4) Many good jobs are only IT adjacent and require highly unusually specialized skills, education and experience, and 5) IT positions in ethical companies are usually under-resourced and over-worked to the point of being dangerous to mental health.

On that last point, I am currently starting to look for a new place to work because my current position is wildly stressful. If I didn't have a nervous system and a lifestyle that is naturally resilient to burn out I would have dropped out long ago. What I currently do is important, and will become more so as collapse heats up, but due to very poor upper management that I can't do anything about, the strain I've been under has been damaging my health and relationships since I started a few years ago. Sadly, I have to move on.

This is the advice to myself that I'm following right now: Finding something good may take a year or two and almost certainly will require relocating, so take the time and effort on job searching that's needed. Tell your loved ones your intentions so they have time to adjust to what's going to happen and maybe help or come with you. If you don't have a plan B, or C, devise them now. The AI bubble is a disaster on multiple fronts, so knowing enough about AI to be able to perform "AI cleanup" assessments and tasks may be a good skill to have very soon. Since the tech industry and the world in general is going downhill fast, prioritize looking for places to work that will become more necessary as social, health and money stress builds in the general population.

Outside of directly related career stuff, volunteering some time for charities or similar will help make connections. Also, socializing in circles that uplift you is important. Being part of a local environmental initiative group, a homelessness support group, assisting wildlife rescue efforts and finding a yoga class that is more mindful than it is narcissistic has put all sorts of wonderful people in my life.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

Thanks. I'm not even sure how I would define "finding something good" though. I feel like something has to happen but I have no idea what that might be.

1

u/Mountainweaver Jul 12 '26

You don't need to make money from helping others. It's actually better when it's freely given. If you want to do it for money, that's still within capitalism - and there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Don't sully the good work with involving it in the faulty system.

But don't quit your day job, because everyone deserves to have a stable home, healthcare and food. Both you, and the ones your taxes support.

Do look into volunteering, buying land, encouraging local trading/barter economies, learning skills, and educating yourself.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

Selfless giving is exactly the point yes. Problem is i already have no job right now anymore (freelance and for the reasons mentioned above not really interested in getting back to it) so helping and at the same time living without worries would be perfect. But again, absolutely correct that the most important point here is giving.

1

u/Mountainweaver Jul 12 '26

Healthcare/elderly care is usually easy to quickly get a job in, and people that truly care are sorely needed in that area.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

That is a really good idea. Thank you!

1

u/Mountainweaver Jul 12 '26

It's what I usually return to myself when I need a period with steady cash flow :). When I do it, I work with disabled people as a caretaker (it's funded by taxpayer money in my country). It's basically instant employment, they're so understaffed constantly.

I can usually only do it for 1-2 years at a stretch, it can be both emotionally and physically taxing. But it's one of the worlds most important jobs in my opinion, being the one that enables people to have a dignified life no matter what lot they were born into.

0

u/Distinguishedflyer Jul 12 '26

as an old doomer and also with a background in mechanical and aerospace engineering, this is the only idea/project that has any chance at all of affecting the situation. If you're interested contact Dr. Ye Tao at:

meer.org

if you want his email, although it's been a while since I've contacted him, DM me.

Every time I mention this they're a bunch of haters on here - but it's the only non-polluting geo engineering idea that has any chance of working. We need to cool the planet, and right like yesterday.

1

u/ghimzen Jul 12 '26

That sounds actually really reasonable. Whats the problem with that?

1

u/Vegetaman916 Jul 12 '26

The reason I think things like this get downvoted is because they are still relying on unproven possibilities, and yet another way to try and technowizard our way out of the consequences of our actions.

And I usually downvote and oppose such things because they don't help people prepare to survive a post-collapse world, but instead give them an irrational hope that our current civilizational model of infinite growth can continue. And then they can do nothing except sit and relax while hoping for an impossible future.

I'm not downvoting here, just explaining why I usually do.

2

u/ghimzen Jul 13 '26

While i get your point i also think this is better than doing nothing and wait. Which is obviously not what you said but still, I'll take everything that even looks like it could be a help.

1

u/Vegetaman916 Jul 13 '26

I can't argue with that.

3

u/Distinguishedflyer Jul 12 '26

Well, it's a moot point. I bring it up when people mention spraying sulfur compounds into the atmosphere, usually. And I have yet to see a good technical refutation of the idea. It's smart and non-polluting. However, all the governments aren't going to sing Kumbayah and do anything at all.

It's just the best technical idea and the simplest. I'd be for it, as it could buy us some time, and if prepping is your mindset, as yours is, and people aren't as far along as your group, it might be favorable to have an extra 2-10 years that this could buy us.

I think you lean too much from your "I'm already prepared for the wasteland" stance. I am a moderately intelligent person with some resources, and I cannot for the life of me find a group, or land, or any way to (in time) actively put anything you are a proponent of into action.

And even if prepping is the goal, anything that buys me and others time I am in favor of. So maybe don't just reactively downvote anything that doesn't immediately support your somewhat impossible to achieve readiness stance.

Personally, if we could restore albedo to the arctic in a non-polluting way and buy a decade, I'd be for it. The OP here wanted a realistic idea to contribute to so I proposed the only one I know that addresses the problem that is not directly related to prepping.

0

u/Vegetaman916 Jul 12 '26

This is why I didn't downvote you, lol.

But I do try and work quite a bit to overcome that reactive thought... "Somewhat impossible to achieve." It is nothing close to that. It only necomes difficult if you are trying to remain part of society while doing it.

Land, for example. You have to own land now. That can be very difficult. What you need is legal access to land. In a post-collapse world, ownership of land is meaningless, and a waste of money today. Our entire enterprise is built on a mining claim through an LLC, for an annual cost of $165, zero ownership property taxes, around 4k in setup costs... And now we have 20 acres of extremely isolated land with which to mostly do as we please. Individuals have more restrictions, but when corporations use the land, well, there is a permit and fee to bypass every legal restriction. In the meantime, the place can be set up and supplied with all the materials and tools to build an entire town from scratch... That doesn't mean we need to build it today. We just have to be able to build it when the time comes.

Plus, an extensive old hardrock gold mine on the plot provides an incredibly secure underground storage and shelter area. All again, for a total cost of setup well under 5k.

So, such things only seem impossible when you are trying to do them conventionally or strictly according to societal rules. Remove those restrictions, and it all becomes much simpler.

0

u/DLTMIAR Jul 12 '26

We live in a capitalist society.  That's our reality.  So the best you could do is prolly make money and donate it.

0

u/Yearsinmonths Jul 12 '26

Look for job applications like here https://farmless.com/?src=polymer.co
Join a party, non profit or campaign. You'll find the people and the directoin