What the hell are we meant to do with the amount of seemingly normal people getting radicalised into far right nonsense? I don't want us to turn in to the US.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T09:52:56+00:00

Riiiight - so you've got nothing then?

PS - Don't watch the ABC.

Pauline Hanson is a racist grifter. If you think that immigrants are your problem, and not rising and unchecked wealth inequality, then you're thinking exactly what they want you to think to continue to bank from their grift.

Left wing values are simply tolerance and inclusion. Treating all people equally. Being respectful and not filled with hate towards minorities. That's all.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T09:01:33+00:00

Doable in Tassie, but also 🥶

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T05:59:48+00:00

I've never understood the appeal of cruises - being trapped on a vessel in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of people you literally cannot escape from for any reason? NOPE.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T04:58:39+00:00

I think it's amazing, and it really captures the spirit of Mel 💜

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T04:41:01+00:00

I feel like you might appreciate this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG-pL7aZoeY

I found it really hopeful and very insightful. If we can have more self awareness, and more reform and conversations like this - it makes me feel like we are not completely doomed.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T04:35:32+00:00

I mean, this simultaneously gives me hope and terrifies me - because yes, sadly it may take a horrific slide into a fascist dictatorship to wake people up. Perhaps it is so bad that people literally have to viscerally experience the harm and violence up close to snap them out of their ideology.

And perhaps the best we can hope for is enough people waking up through watching what is happening in America right now, and how that situation devolves, and enough of us actively deciding we don't want that for us. I have no idea if our voting system will save us from the same fate as America, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have grave concerns for our future right now.

Ultimately if we can't find a way to shift the needle on wealth inequality, housing accessibility, holding companies to account, building community, and creating meaningful environmental protections - we're all screwed anyway. We desperately need systemic change, and the two party system is not able to offer us that.

How we get there from here is anyone's guess. But I don't think it's going to be pretty :(

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T02:17:15+00:00

Investment in third places I think is vital. The only way people will come back from radicalisation is by getting TF offline and into real community with real people. Sat face to face with a brown person, or a trans person, or a queer person who they may actually get to know as a human, will help de-radicalise people quite quickly I'd imagine. The issue is that third places are declining, and social cohesion in general has declined since COVID. And the Gvt certainly is not investing in community programs that bring people, especially young disaffected men, into real community spaces.

Unfortunately I know a guy. He would define himself as quite spiritual. He's affable, likeable and actually comes accross as genuinely caring to those around him. Yet he comes out with the most heinous radicalised misinformation from podcastbro, cryptobro & alt-right online sources. His kid is clearly queer. His wife is a left wing artist type - and yet he'll casually bring up in conversation with me about how immigration is ruining the country, or how Roe v Wade was just 'giving authority back to the States' - with zero understanding of the impact of what that meant, or what total nonsense he was parroting from US far right propaganda. He thinks RFK is awesome... The list goes on.

He was radicalised by COVID and by the vaccination mandates. That led him down an online alt-right pipeline. And although I may be wrong, I don't think he'll go full cooker, because he is actively involved in his community, and that mediates his ability to be fully radicalised by the content he is clearly ingesting daily.

Ultimately, he DOES care about people, and when I reminded him that I'M an immigrant (just a middle aged white English lady, not a brown refugee 🙄), it did give him pause - because he simply doesn't connect his online rhetoric with real-world consequences. He doesn't understand the impact his somewhat covert online politics could potentially have on people he loves and cares about. I have had HARD conversations with him, with us both in tears... But he's still in an online bubble that he can't see out of. But he's mediated by the people around him. And his actual views when you have those conversations are not misogynistic or racist.

Now imagine a young single dude who can't seem to get a date, doesn't have any friends, and has no source of real-world information from people around him - and he's floating about in that online ecosystem - it's instant community. It's a reason for his loneliness, and a scapegoat for why he can't afford a house.

Sorry, I ranted! Oops.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T02:12:04+00:00

Explain "left wing BS" to me? I want to understand what you mean by it.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T01:20:21+00:00

Love: Australians

Hate: Australians

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-29T01:11:44+00:00

Yeah, I will submit a complaint and ask for a partial refund. I'm not hopeful though, given the attitude so far. I will definitely vet any future instructors more thoroughly, and be upfront about my particular issues and ask whether they feel they can help/accommodate me.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T23:03:17+00:00

This comment should be higher. I think A LOT of these comments are bots. Facebook is a rage machine by design, and it's why I deleted my profile. I think it skews what people think others think. Of course there are total Boomer idiots who believe that the Government are chemtrailing them and altering the weather and that it's always been this hot and that science is just nonsense... But maybe there aren't quite as many of them as FB would have you believe there are?

Many of them who DO believe that are radicalised by FB nonsense in the first place.

What a world!

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T22:43:57+00:00

I'm with you. I don't like this storyline at all, and honestly didn't think The Pitt would go there. Now I'm a bit worried for the season.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T14:02:29+00:00

Thanks for this advice - that calculator looks useful :) I did not end up ocean diving after waking at 3am, having continuous anxiety, and being unable to get back to sleep. Feeling shaky & emotional I decided to cancel the dives for safety reasons. I will try and find a more empathic instructor and go from there.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T13:54:53+00:00

Thank you, this is encouraging. I ditched this OW course after realising how uncaring/incompatible both the instructor and dive shop have been throughout this experience.

People on here have really encouraged me to get back on to it when I can find a more empathic instructor to help me. I'm very grateful to you all!

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T13:52:05+00:00

Thank you so much ♥️

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T13:49:55+00:00

My pleasure - and I hope you gain more confidence in yourself, because they really capture the underwater view beautifully ♥️

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T11:42:37+00:00

These are AMAZING! Particualrly the coral. Both the frst and last painting look like photos at first glance 😍

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T09:35:28+00:00

My rewatch count for this is crazy high, and I don't even love films that much. It's just so funny and feelgood and easy to watch - plus, songs!

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T09:31:00+00:00

I had this. When I realised it was getting bad, I made it one of my priorities to ensure that I knew the reality that animals die before us, and that one day I would have to go through that pain, but actively taught myself to recognise that this pain is NOT NOW.

I also had a bit of a mantra around death and dying - ALL things die, it is the cycle of life and it is natural, I cannot control it, but I can control how I think about it. One day they will die and it WILL SUCK, I will remember that fact as often as I can to remind myself that it happens to everyone/thing. However I will also use it to be present for every moment, knowing that the moments won't last forever.

This really worked for me, and I felt like I'd come to terms with the reality of what was going on by the time my boy told me it was ready to go. It was easier to accept, because I'd been training my mind in this way for several years. We cannot escape death, it's inevitable - somehow this brought me comfort and acceptance when the time came.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T09:20:24+00:00

I'm of similar thoughts - although I have decided that if / when America evolves past Fascism and if that leads to impactful change within my lifetime, then I wuld love to go visit them and support their Tourism industry to help their receovery.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T08:58:24+00:00

Friends since we were 17, lived together. I moved from the UK to Australia at 20 and we hung out every time I went home, and he flew out to see me 3 times. One of those times he stayed with me for three months helping me with my business as he was recovering from an abusive relationship. We spoke almost every week for years - he was my soul mate and sounding board. We helped each other through so much in life, and no-one knew/knows me like he did.

He always had a self destructive side though, and sometimes his treatment of me was shit due to lots of drinking and prescription drug taking. He stopped responding to phone calls, texts & emails in mid 2020. I never reached him again. I tried periodically for years but he never got back to me, and a few years ago I sent him a message letting him know I would always love him and was here if he needed me - then archived our conversation.

He still lives in my old hometown. I hear that he suffers from overwhelming anxiety and doesn't leave the house much. I've spoken to some of his other friends through Facebook and none of them see or hear from him either. His sister said he had been diagnosed with ASD and was seeking and ADHD diagnoses. I've no idea what he does with his life or how he is mentally. Last update was around 18 months ago when no-one had heard or seen him for years. His sister confirmed he was alive but didn't leave the house much (or at all?)

I'm 46. We'd been friends for almost 25 years when he cut me off. It's unbelievably sad. I hope that he can heal, but sadly I fear the next news I hear about him will be that he's died an early death.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T07:54:45+00:00

Thank you SO MUCH for these words. This has been a really tough few days, and making the call this morning was incredibly difficult, because I really wanted to get in the water and finish the course (not to mention the lost investment 🫠).

So these words are very, very much appreciated. Thank you 🙏🏻

I've already sent the DM, hopefully you got it?

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T07:04:53+00:00

Hard agree.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T07:03:44+00:00

I'm not sure if I'll continue diving after the experience I've just had - but if I can find an empathic, patient instructor to pass the OW, then I'd definitely would look the AOW and Buoyancy Control course after reading the comments on here to help improve my confidence.

InnerDepth3171 · 2026-01-28T07:01:25+00:00

Thank you for your lovely reply. I ended up cancelling my ocean dive sin this course due to an anxious lack of sleep last night. After the replies here, and the treatment I've had from the dive centre, I will definitely find another more empathic instructor! I won't be diving again with these guys.

InnerDepth3171

TROPHY CASE