The War on Momentum: How Fear, Nostalgia, and Chaos Keep Us Stuck—And How We Break Free

A heavy weight in the air lately, a collective exhaustion that’s hard to shake. Talk to anyone—friends, coworkers, strangers at the bar—and you’ll hear it: “Everything was better before 2020.” It’s a common refrain, this idea that we were on an upward trajectory, thriving, progressing, and then COVID hit like a wrecking ball and shattered everything. Now, people feel stuck in the rubble, looking back at a past they believe was stolen from them, convinced the best years are behind us.

But here’s the thing: that utopia they’re reminiscing about? It never really existed.

Before 2020, things felt more stable, sure. The machine was running smoothly. But was it really leading us somewhere better? Or were we just grinding forward on autopilot, ignoring the cracks in the foundation? The pandemic didn’t just bring chaos—it revealed what was already broken. The economic imbalance, the work culture burnout, the growing division, the creeping sense that we were all just running in place—those things weren’t new. The difference is, now we can’t ignore them.

Fear and Nostalgia: The Perfect Trap

So why are so many people still frozen, unable to move forward? Because fear and nostalgia are the two most effective tools of control. And the powers that be—governments, corporations, media—have mastered the art of weaponizing both.

We’re fed a steady diet of negativity, doom, and paranoia. Every headline screams disaster:

• The economy is collapsing!
• You’ll never own a home!
• Your neighbors are your enemies!
• The world is burning!

At the same time, we’re bombarded with nostalgia, a carefully curated illusion of "the good old days." Music, TV shows, social media trends—they all push us to look backward, to romanticize a past that was, in reality, just as flawed as the present. It’s the perfect psychological trap: keep people scared of the future and longing for the past, and they’ll never take action in the present.

And when people stop acting, stop moving, stop believing they have power? That’s when control is complete.

When the "Lunatics" Take Over the Asylum

But here’s the twist: maybe the breakdown of the old system isn’t the disaster they want us to think it is. Maybe, just maybe, this is the moment when real rebellion happens—the kind that wins.

Because let’s be honest, the people running the show weren’t leading us to some golden future. They were keeping the machine running because it served them. If the so-called “lunatics” are the ones questioning that system, pushing against the stagnation, refusing to accept that this is the best we can do—then maybe it’s time for them to take the wheel.

Reclaiming Momentum

So how do we break out of this? How do we push past the fear, the nostalgia, the psychological paralysis that keeps us stuck?

1. Stop believing the apocalypse narrative. The world is messy, sure, but it’s not over. They profit off your despair. Don’t give it to them.

2. Reject the lie that the past was perfect. The "good old days" had their own problems. The future is unwritten. Start writing it.

3. Create instead of consume. Whether it’s art, ideas, community, or simply a better version of your own life, forward motion starts with creation.

4. Build alliances, not divisions. The more we fight each other, the less energy we have to challenge the real problem: a system that thrives on keeping us powerless.

5. Take action, even if it’s small. The biggest weapon against fear and stagnation is momentum. Once you start moving, they can’t stop you.

They Don’t Get to Win

“They” want you frozen in fear. They want you drowning in nostalgia. They want you convinced that you’re powerless. But the moment we stop playing by their script, the moment we start pushing forward with our own momentum, they lose.

This isn’t about going back. This is about breaking free. The machine is broken—and maybe, just maybe, that’s the best thing that could have happened to us. Now, we build something better.