Happy Birthday! I turned 58 on the 9th.
I also completely agree with what you said.

Luckily for me, I have learned to say "fuck it", and mean it.
I don't engage with "futility". Or other people's expectations.

The life of an individual organism might be futile if viewed in isolation, but if you look at the entire procession of life you see great beauty and infinite value. And as an individual with conscious awareness, every second seems like a fabulous miracle.

This is my 58th year as well.I think we get more comfortable in our own skin and with our beliefs as we get older.

Capitalism is like meth. It starts out great and makes one productive, but it soon makes people shallow and selfish and devoid of compassion and wisdom. As I have gotten older, I too have become more disillusioned with humanity and less tolerant of people. At least there is humor, beer and pizza.

No surprise . Live the life you have . It's the only one you have.

True, I think the phrase "wake up and smell the Rose's " is more true than people realize !

Your post sure as hell revealed some basis philosophies of a few people....at 58, you seem very fatalistic........and if thats true....been there, done that, and will say, from my experience is a miserable way to live.......got to a point that I just wanted it to stop, just stop by any means.....was made to realize that what I was doing, was a choice, argued against that really hard.....I was wrong... life is amazing.......and at 76, I again look forward every morning to see what amazing thing will happen today.........it amazes me that trump is not only still president, but still alive.......it amazes me that me that either so many people can be wrong in their beliefs, or that I am.........it amazes me that I can put one foot in front the other...do every thing so right to get where I'm going, and one thing, that I have no control over, can toss a monkeywrench in, and fuck it all up. .....and it amazes me that I don't have to throw in the towel and call it quits anymore.....simply because I chose not to........best of luck to you....be kind to youself.

Wow, you sound like a downer, the futility of life! Cheer up dude, life isn't futile, it's exactly what you make it to be. Not everybody spends what you don't have, I know many people who live by their means and are not extravagant, not frugal either, they use their hard earned money to enjoy life. Oh, and the falacy of American exceptionalism shouldn't bring you down, do something about it and make your life exceptional.

I don't know the factors that contribute to you arriving at the futile point of view. Life is an enigma for me, nobody knows the reason we found ourselves here as humans, the most advanced creature in our world with a brain of incalculable capacity. Perception of our surroundings and the pressures that effect us is important, we mostly see things differently to others. Try critical thinking to see things in another and hopefully brighter way, we have a group on this site which you will find helpful.

i have never associated my atheism with futility. (and some humans are less susceptible than others, and less consumerish than others -- and worry less about whether there is any such thing as american exceptionalism.)

g

If not for my two grandkids, I would have already checked out.

I agree with you on everything, except the futility of life. Now that you’re enlightened as to the other things, make your life exceptional!

Happy Belated Birthday! best wishes for your next trip around the sun.

Read Nietzsche, that is my prescription for you, ha ha . . . . in all seriousness though, there are some wonderful perspectives one can take, we are all in this hellish caldron together, and, all subject to the same forces, and for that very reason we should strive together to improve our condition. The Ancient Greeks were a big-time influence on my thinking . . . . for some of the Ancient Greeks, the true hero was the one who strove against impossible circumstances, even when they knew failure was inevitable, they remained defiant, they opposed the gods . . . . as in the legend, Promethus did, when he handed fire to man. There was a lot more to the Ancient Greek tragedy than most people realize. This is just one more reason why I think that it was detrimental to society when we stopped studying the classics . . . . the study of the classics were also the impetus that led to the flowering of the Renaissance.

can't disagree. i think Shakespeare pretty well described the futility, to para: we enter this world toothless, helpless & mewling & if we live long enough we depart the same way.
although, nowadays most ppl depart with at least a few teeth as did my wife's uncle at 101.

Life is ultimately futile, but I'm damn sure going to go on living it until I can't anymore.

Ecclesiastes: "All is vanity." The only book in the Bible that makes some sense.

I'm afraid the huge corporations , spend millions , building the concept that everyone deserves , what were once considered luxuries , as a part of their daily routine , and when they've got nothing bigger , better , or improved to sell , they beat a product up , quadruple the price , and sell it as if being used , worn , and dirty is something special . The surprise , is that there are people who are dub enough to fall for it , repeatedly !

I can agree. The older I get the more faults I see in theism and our system. You have to have a cell phone that wipes your ass and also makes pancakes to understand modern America today. Buy all the apps and be happy. Of course, I only have an old flip phone.

Life sucks then you die!
LOL!!!

Too many are too positive, too many of us are negative!!!

That is life!

Then there are those like me that are not happy or unhappy!

We are only responsible for ourselves in reality, you make life what it is!!!

We are all individuals who are really the same as everyone else!!!

So if you want to be sad, be sad, if you want to be happy, be happy!

The reality is no one gets out alive!!!

So do what ever the fuck you, say what the fuck you want!!!

There is always someone there to criticize and harm you, just as there might be some one to help you!

We all roll the dice, you can not always get craps, maybe crapped upon!

If you feel like that maybe you are the only one who lives in reality!!!

One could go a step further to say that there is no such thing as human exceptionalism (unless you were to say that humans are exceptionally good at destroying the planet).
However, I (try) to not take such a pessimistic view. It doesn’t really do much for human let alone American exceptionalism, but I think this video is a great way to realize that our time is not merely a test and that we’re not meaningless.

Life is a cycle. When confused or irritated by behavior I observe ..it begins to make sense when considering ‘where in that cycle’ someone is. Don’t know if we become more tolerant with age, but we should get better at avoiding what irritates us.

As mentioned before, I’ll turn to nature. It can can both lull and shock you into appreciation. Culture is fabricated, and when hostage to it, it’s rarely pretty. ‘America’ is likely the first example of what happens given a world-wide mix of cultures and resources. They compete. At that, it’s not pretty..

Seek the truth, avoid false. At 58, you should be close to good at that. I stopped chasing fashion or fads in my twenties, claimed ‘I’d won the game by not playing!’ Looking back, I did. At 62, it’s definitely frustrating wading through those still playing … be they 20, 40 ..or more. Drop out, and live ~

Happy 58th.. that happened to me this year as well.. z'ok.. just another year. Thinking 60 might be the next one that matters much.. from maybe a party pov.

As to your pondering this whole life thing..

" The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." Carl Jung

and

"Whatever gets you through the night." John Lennon

A mix of these two sentiments, I think, can sum up in a way how society at large combats the futility you see. And I agree the " thing" that gets people through the night and kindles their light as a whole seem depressingly negative in North America in particular.. like consumerism, etc. A lot of it seems nonsensical. Such as the idea of "exceptionalism" the way you mean it.

What is exceptional.. I'm not American btw but I think this stands for western emocracies.. is that I can choose to not buy into the brainwashing with little consequence. I have great opportunity to be individual within my culture. In many societies individuality.. or nonconformity.. makes it difficult to kindle the light to get you through the night.

So a little bright spot for you to stand in as the Black Friday madness escalates and the Boxing Day sale hits it's third week.. we can ignore it.

it's capitalism man. capitalism is flawed. socialism is likewise flawed. both for human reasons. so you work a balance going back and forth while operating - but if one side gets too powerful then the whole apparatus shudders and shakes and blows up. people have to be smart enough to see the balance ... but the powers that be are riding it into the ground to their favor violating this balance and all hell's breaking loose.