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We’ve Become the Human Asteroid — And This Won’t Be a Soft Landing
This isn’t a thought experiment. It’s math — cold, brutal math crashing down on us
You don’t notice it when it starts.
It’s not in the sirens. There’s no war. It’s smaller than that — and more intimate.
You start checking your account before tapping your card.
You hold your breath at the pharmacy counter.
You scan the menu not for cravings, but for price tags.
You hesitate before tapping “confirm” on a plane ticket to visit your sick grandma, hoping she’ll hang on for another month.
And before you know it, you are an expert in checkout line quick math estimations like it’s a life skill — because suddenly, it is.
You tell yourself it’s temporary. You budget harder. Smarter. You stop going out, then stop minding. Your plans get smaller. Your diet simpler. Your life narrower. Some even stop dreaming forward.
This is the slow erosion of stability.
It’s not famine — it’s fatigue, quiet substitution, delayed plans, and the little humiliations that pile up unnoticed until they become your new normal.