YouTube Says the Whole World Is Collapsing—Why Other Countries' Misfortune Feels So Good

Lately, whenever I open YouTube, the entire world seems to be in serious trouble.

“The British Economy Has Finally Collapsed”

“America Has Reached Its Limit as Inequality Soars”

“South Korea Faces an Existential Crisis Over Its Falling Birthrate”

“The German Economy Is Finished”

Videos like these appear one after another.

What on earth is happening to the world?

At this rate, it would not be surprising if humanity were extinct by next year.

Strangely, though, when I close YouTube and read international news from ordinary sources, every country is still there, dealing with problems while continuing to function. Americans go to work, British people drink beer at the pub, and German companies keep doing business.

The sense of impending doom fades considerably.

So why is the whole world collapsing only on YouTube?

The answer is not particularly complicated.

I keep watching videos that tell me it is.

It Is Exhausting to Hear That Japan Is Finished

For more than a decade, people in Japan have repeatedly heard the same story: the economy is declining, wages are stagnant, the country’s GDP ranking is falling, and the population continues to age and shrink.

These are real problems.

Still, hearing “Japan is finished” and “Japanese people have become poor compared with everyone overseas” every day eventually becomes exhausting.

That is when a different kind of content appears:

“Actually, things are pretty bad overseas too.”

Homelessness is increasing in the United States. People in the United Kingdom are struggling with the cost of living. South Korea’s birthrate is even lower than Japan’s.

Watching this can bring a small sense of relief.

“So Japan is not the only one.”

The more forceful videos may even leave viewers thinking, “Perhaps Japan is doing better after all.”

It works remarkably well.

For people who are tired of being told about Japan’s decline, videos about disasters abroad act as an emotional painkiller.

Other People’s Misfortune Can Be Reassuring

It is not an especially admirable trait, but seeing someone else in a worse situation can make us feel better about our own.

Your salary may not have increased, but hearing that employees at the company next door earn even less can make you feel slightly better.

Objectively, nothing has improved. Your salary has not risen by a single yen.

Yet when the point of comparison moves downward, it can feel as though your own position has improved.

The same thing happens between countries.

It is painful to hear that Japan is not growing. But when that statement is followed by “Britain is in trouble too” and “South Korea is in even worse shape,” it becomes tempting to think that Japan is doing reasonably well.

Japan has not moved up. We have simply moved other countries down.

YouTube Learns This Weakness Without Mercy

Then the YouTube algorithm enters the picture.

You click once on a video called something like “The Truth About Germany’s Economic Collapse.”

The next day, YouTube recommends “Britain Has Made an Irreversible Mistake.”

You watch that too.

Soon, it offers “The Real Reason Americans Envy Japan.”

The progression is flawless.

The algorithm does not have an ideology. It has simply learned that this viewer spends a long time watching videos about foreign countries in trouble.

From then on, it makes the entire world miserable for you.

The United States, China, South Korea, and Europe all collapse in quick succession. Before long, your YouTube homepage looks like the aftermath of World War III.

But it is not so much a picture of the world as a mirror reflecting your own click history.

“Immigration Is Destroying Europe” Is an Easy Sell

Immigration is another powerful subject, especially now that public concern about foreign residents has become more visible in Japan as well.

“Immigration Is Destroying France”

“British Cities Have Become Unrecognizable”

“Germany’s Immigration Policy Has Failed”

Titles like these are easy to click.

European countries do face genuine challenges involving immigration, including public safety, housing, social services, and cultural tensions. Their basis in reality is precisely what makes them such effective material for videos.

But if you want to explain an entire country in one video, the quickest method is to film its most dramatic locations. Visit a troubled neighborhood, use footage of clashes between immigrants and local residents, and announce, “This is France today.”

You do not even have to lie.

It is possible to create an extremely distorted picture of the world using nothing but authentic footage.

That is what makes it so difficult to recognize.

America Has Severe Inequality—and Still Produces the World’s Strongest Companies

Countries are inconveniently complicated. Their strengths and weaknesses exist at the same time.

The United States has enormous inequality. Medical costs and homelessness are serious problems. At the same time, it continues to produce world-leading technology companies and generate tremendous wealth.

Japan has weak economic growth. Wages stagnated for many years, and its aging, shrinking population presents a major challenge. At the same time, crime is relatively low, public transportation works, and society remains remarkably stable.

It becomes misleading when someone isolates only one side and declares that America or Japan is finished.

But no one clicks on a video titled, “The United States Has Strong Industries but Also Faces Several Structural Problems, Including Inequality, and Its Future Policy Response Deserves Attention.”

The words would not even fit on the thumbnail.

“America Is Collapsing” is far more efficient.

The Real Danger Is Building a World Entirely from What We Want to See

In the end, the most interesting thing about watching videos on the collapse of foreign countries is not what they reveal about those countries.

It is what they reveal about me.

I am anxious about Japan’s future. I do not want to believe that Japan alone is in decline. Ideally, I would like to conclude that Japan is actually doing better than I thought.

So I click on one video.

The algorithm effectively replies, “Understood,” and begins collapsing the entire world for me the next day.

What a thoughtful service.

Unfortunately, Germany’s collapse would not increase my salary. Watching one hundred videos about other countries’ misfortunes would not solve a single problem at home.

These days, when I see a thumbnail declaring that some country has “finally collapsed,” I try to ask myself a question before considering the content:

“So this is the country I am supposed to look at today to feel better about my own?”

Then I do not click.

At least, I would like to say that I do not.

Sometimes people need an emotional painkiller.