why the world feels like it’s collapsing (multipolar chaos & hopecore)

elvicheva

The world feels like it’s spiraling—wars, climate inaction, rising authoritarianism, and growing inequality. It’s easy to feel hopeless. But what if history tells a different story?  I’m diving into real theories and historical cycles to understand where we’re headed—and whether hope is still possible. From Long Cycle Theory to Polanyi’s Great Transformation, let’s explore what past global shifts can teach us about pushing back, resisting anti-intellectualism, and rebuilding in times of crisis.  📌 In this video, I’ll cover: 🔄 Why global power shifts follow predictable cycles 🧠 The rise of hopecore and anti-intellectualism as a response  ⚖️ The historical patterns behind today’s political chaos 💡 How crisis can lead to transformation instead of collapse  What do you think? Are we trapped in an endless cycle, or is there a way out? Let’s talk in the comments.  📖 Sources & Further Reading are linked throughout the video.  🎵 Music by 9JackJack8 from Pixabay 📩 Enquiries: acrosstheglobewithelvi@gmail.com 📌 Follow me on https://bsky.app/profile/elvinanana.b...  #Hopecore #CrisisOrTransformation #MultipolarWorld #AntiIntellectualism #PoliticalAnalysis #HistoryRepeats #FutureOfDemocracy #ResistFascism #GlobalTrends #WokeBacklash #SystemicChange #Multipolarization #munichsecurityconference #history #doomsday #apocalypse #climatechange #collapse #GlobalChaos

Transcript

00:00Hey everyone! So lately the world has been a lot and if you're feeling overwhelmed you're

00:05definitely not alone. Keeping up with the news is important but it definitely has this negative

00:10impact on mental health. It makes you feel powerless and hopeless, at least that's what I

00:14felt, and it made me feel like I need some kind of solace and I'm guessing many of you do too.

00:20It's desperate times, it feels like everything is spiraling. The right wing rising everywhere,

00:26the Trump inauguration and everything that he's been doing affecting the whole world,

00:30multi-billionaires gaining power, the climate in action which is so frustrating, women's rights

00:36being stripped away and no one's doing anything about it. It's hard not to feel like we're heading

00:41towards another collapse or even some voices here and there are whispering the word war or third

00:48world war and in addition to that we're divided, we're fearful, polarization is a huge problem

00:53because we seem to be divided into this clear-cut left-wing and right-wing while we need to be

00:58united and fight for our rights together. We are moving to a multi-polar world but we are not yet

01:04there yet. We are in a purgatory of polarity and in this purgatory more and more countries are filling

01:12the spaces of geopolitical divides doing whatever they want with no accountability. According to the 2025

01:22Munich security report, while the extent to which today's world is already multi-polar is debatable,

01:27the world's multi-polarization is a fact. On the one hand, power is shifting toward a large number

01:32of actors who have the ability to influence key global issues. On the other hand, the world is

01:37experiencing increasing polarization both between and within many states which is hampering joint

01:42approaches to global crisis and threats.

01:44So all of this fills the air with hopelessness and we need hope. This is why global and domestic

01:54turmoil have manifested in digital trends like Hopcore that emerged in 2023 and gained significant

02:00momentum in 2024. The Urban Dictionary defines Hopcore as a genre of videos that invoke a feeling of hope,

02:05glee, wholeness and most happy emotions. The A Magazine writes,

02:09Our generation has become conditioned to believe that nothing really matters as a defense mechanism.

02:14We are the generation that has been forced to deal with the repercussions of those who came before

02:18us. Our parents and grandparents could act in destructive ways but did not experience fear

02:23because they felt they might not live to see the damage. Whereas we are constantly reminded of our

02:28doomed fate. Yes, if you decide to look at all of the odds against us, the odds are not in our favor.

02:33But it all depends on your perspective. There is always something to be upset about,

02:37but there are also so many things to be excited about. This is why Hopcore has become so popularized

02:42on the internet. Isolation and detachment have been coined as a defense for so many young people

02:47when in reality, community and feeling your emotions are the most beautiful parts of being human.

02:51Regardless of format, the overarching spirit of the trend is its message. No matter how dire and

02:56pointless things seem, either in your own personal circumstances or the world at large,

02:59it is human nature to keep trying for something better. The progress is a point,

03:03not necessarily a victorious outcome. Like the indomitable human spirit trend,

03:06hopecore is cheesy and probably won't stick around for that much longer. But actually,

03:09the underlying message is essential for the moment that we're in right now. Hope is essential for

03:13progress. These videos have more power than we give them credit for. Because technically,

03:17not giving into climatism is hopecore. Not giving in to the stress and anxiety of living in our world

03:22every day is hopecore. Tapping into the optimism and willpower that both the indomitable human spirit

03:26trend and hopecore content celebrates can be used to motivate people to keep fighting for a better

03:31tomorrow. Maybe even through community-based movements, which could be so powerful. Because the reality is,

03:35is that we will not be able to get there without optimism and grit. And that is exactly what hopecore

03:39and the indomitable human spirit encapsulates in clips and galleries and videos. I for one hope that

03:44hopecore sticks around for a little longer. I was talking to my close friend a few days ago and

03:48we started reminiscing about how we met. And it was 2020.

03:52Guess what this?

03:53Ha ha ha! Coronavirus! Coronavirus!

03:57And I remember, and she remembers it very clearly, that I had read an article about the right-wing

04:03wave coming. And that article kind of predicted the right-wing wave back in 2020-2021 and also the current

04:10wave. So it got me thinking that history really repeats itself. It comes in cycles. And this means that we can probably

04:17predict what's coming or at least make sense of what's happening. So in the hopes of finding this solace,

04:23I decided to do some deeper research on history and the cycles and whether we can predict what's going on.

04:29And no, I'm not going to base my analysis on TikTok theories, even though sometimes they're quite on

04:34point. So yeah, I've been reviewing some literature, real theories, because history is really useful

04:38and we tend to forget about it, sometimes accidentally and sometimes on purpose.

04:43In a live stream watched by hundreds of thousands of people, Weidel casually claimed that Adolf Hitler was

04:48a socialist and even a communist. And historians were quick to respond calling it absolute nonsense.

04:55And that reminds me that there's been a growing trend of anti-intellectualism and the criticism of

05:01woke ideas. There have been really good videos from some YouTubers that talked about it. But here's basically

05:06this idea that knowledge is elitist and critical thinking is dangerous. Some of that is organic. There has always been some

05:14criticism around it as just human nature. But a lot of it is strategic. Keeping people

05:20unaware is the best way to control them.

05:26So today I'm going to revisit a few major theories of international relations and historical cycles

05:31that might give us some understanding of what's going on. Theory of international relations might

05:35sound boring to you, but I'll try to present it in a fun way. But it reminds me how I had to take that

05:40exam twice. And at the time, I also didn't think it was that important. I didn't know. I didn't

05:45understand why I had to study theory when I just wanted to know everything in practice. But taking it

05:51twice made it really stick with me. And going through such critical times really makes you value

05:56the knowledge that we have. One of the biggest frameworks to understand global power shifts is

06:02long cycle theory developed by George Modelsky in the 80s. And the idea is pretty simple.

06:07World power shifts in long cycles, lasting 70 to 100 years. And at the end of each cycle,

06:14global leadership changes, usually through war or crisis. Modelsky broke it into four phases. The

06:20first one is global war, which is a massive conflict that resets the balance of power. Phase two is world

06:29power phase, which is when the victor becomes the new hegemon. The next phase is delegitimization,

06:34when the hegemon weakens over time. And finally, the fourth phase is deconcentration, when other

06:40powers rise, leading to instability and another war. And we've seen this pattern for the past 500 years.

06:46So for example, in the 1500s, Portugal was the hegemon. Then in the 1600s, the Netherlands took over. From

06:53the 1700s to 1800s, Britain ruled twice. And in 1945, until the present time, the US has been the world's

07:01hegemon. But here's the thing, if we follow this pattern, the US is at the end of its cycle. Because

07:05it's been about 80 years since World War II, and now we can see the global powers shifting. The US isn't

07:12collapsing, but we can see that its dominance is crumbling. For Trump and many of his supporters,

07:17the US created international order constitutes a bad idea. US foreign policy in the coming years will

07:23likely be shaped by Washington's bipolar contest with Beijing. This, however, may well accelerate

07:29the multipolarization of the international system. Then we have John Glob, who studied a lot of

07:35civilizations. He studied over 13 civilizations. And guess what? He found a common pattern. Again,

07:40the first phase is the phase of conquest and expansion. Then it's followed by the phase of wealth and

07:45prosperity, when there's innovation, the economy flourishes. But then it's followed by decadence and

07:50decay. It's characterized by corruption and extreme wealth inequality. And finally, the final phase of

07:56decline and collapse is followed by apathy, internal division, and rise of authoritarianism.

08:02It seems like we're somewhere between stage three and four, where corruption is rampant,

08:06authoritarianism is rising, and the wealth is concentrated at the top. It sounds familiar,

08:11doesn't it? So at this stage, according to Glob, societies either collapse entirely,

08:15or rebuild and renew. And finally, we have Polanyi's great transformation, which is my favorite,

08:20because it's the most applicable to the current situation, the current world state, and it gives

08:25me the most hope. So Polanyi argued that unregulated capitalism leads to extreme inequality, which we see

08:31rising nowadays. And then this extreme inequality provokes violent reactions like fascism or socialism.

08:37And we saw this play out in the 1920s, 1930s, when economic stability led to the rise of fascist regimes

08:43in Europe and authoritarian responses worldwide. Well, now I feel like we're seeing the same patterns.

08:48The rise of right-wing populism today, like Trump in the US, AFD in Germany, which we have covered

08:53multiple times on this channel already, if you want to watch the videos, Modi in India, and so many

08:59other countries, France, Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, I mean, Russia, Georgia, Hungary, all of it is a

09:06reaction to the growing inequality and the failure of neoliberal policies. But of course, because

09:13humans are amazing, every extreme shift provokes a counter movement, and the periods of unregulated

09:18capitalism are always followed by demands for justice and regulation. And this means that this

09:23deep crisis that we're experiencing could be the beginning of a real push towards economic and social

09:29reforms. And we're already seeing signs of this, from labor movements to anti-oligarchy protests, from

09:36climate activism to rising political engagement of young people. And also all the anti-authoritarian

09:42protests in Georgia, in Serbia, in Slovakia, all of this shows that the humanity is fighting back.

09:48So we might be on the verge of a positive political transformation.

09:54So if history teaches us anything, it's that cycles always turn. Every crisis, every empire's decline,

10:01every chaotic transition, there's always something new emerging. That's just the universal

10:06life-death-life cycle. Shout out to women who run with the wolves. I love that book. But anyway.

10:12Yes, things can feel very overwhelming at times. But we have to remember that hard times are always

10:17followed by a new beginning. And we already see so many people fighting back with protests in Germany,

10:23Serbia, Georgia, Slovakia, many other places. People are effectively boycotting companies that are doing

10:28harm to us. The younger generation is more engaged than ever. And we're also fighting back to take back

10:34control over social media. Sure, the world might be at a breaking point, but it means we have a chance

10:38to rebuild. History shows that collapse is not inevitable, but change is. And if we understand

10:44the cycles, we can push the change in the right direction. So what do you think? Are we doomed to

10:49repeat history? Or can we break the cycle? And that's it for today. Thank you so much for watching

10:54this video. And let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I'm really curious. Bye!

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