No one gives a shit anymore

When push comes to shove, people do what’s best for themselves.

Actually, they don’t even need a shove. It’s their default position. (Not even your friends and family care about you).

Look out for No.1 - that’s the main goal in life. I wish it wasn’t like this.

But the evidence is all around us.

Cyclists run red lights with no regard for anyone else. Drivers block entire streets because their time matters more than yours. Try opening up to a close friend and you’ll likely find yourself talking to the top of their head while they scroll through their phone.

Politics? A masterclass in self-interest. Decisions are made to win headlines, not help people. Long-term thinking is a liability. Better to do what’s flashy now than plant trees someone else will sit under later.

War is still a thing. In 2025! People are still killing other people over land and power. Long after we realised land is no longer a thing of value.

So if this is true, if we’re all hardwired to serve our own interests, then what’s the point of doing anything for anyone else?

Why look out for your neighbour?

Why sacrifice for your family?

Why bother?

That’s the question I keep bumping into. Quietly, almost daily. Like a stone in my shoe. Not sharp enough to stop me walking, but it's always there.

The Daily Evidence

I live in London. Every day seems to deliver another more evidence.

On Tuesday, I watched a cyclist fly through a red light at a packed junction. No hesitation. No scan of the crossing. Headphones in, eyes forward, completely absorbed in his own momentum. Cars beeped their horns, pedestrians flinched, but he just kept moving.

Later, a delivery van double-parked outside my house, blocking me in. Hazard lights blinking like an apology, but the driver just stared at his phone, totally unmoved. I just sat there in mr car, trapped.

That night, I met with someone I’ve known for years. Close friend. We hadn’t spoken properly in a while, so I tried to say something real. Mid-sentence, I caught their gaze drifting down to their phone. A little swipe. A scroll. A quick glance at nothing. And that was enough to break the moment.

These aren’t huge events. No one died. Nothing burned down. But that’s exactly what makes them powerful. These are the little choices people make every day to disengage, to disconnect, to protect their bubble at all costs.

And it’s not just individual behaviour, it’s systemic.

The Larger Indifference

Politics these days feels like theatre performed for algorithms. Policy as PR. Performative empathy with just enough outrage to keep people angry, but never enough action to actually change anything.

Angela Rayner, a politician of the people (one of us!), just had to resign for breaking the rules. For profiteering whilst buying her third property! She wasn't in it for us, she was in it for herself. Like all the rest.

You watch politics for long enough and the message becomes clear: long-term thinking is for suckers. If you’re not getting credit now, what’s the point?

The systems aren’t broken. They’re working exactly as designed. They reward short-term wins, personal image, and self-preservation. They punish depth, care, and vulnerability.

So where does that leave someone trying to build something as idealistic as a community?

And Yet…

Despite all that, despite all this evidence, I’m helping to build a digital talk radio station (Do Radio).

It sounds mad even writing that. A radio station. In 2025. When everyone already has more content than they can ever consume. When attention is a currency and most of it is hoarded by whoever yells loudest.

But this isn’t about volume. It’s about connection.

The kind of connection that doesn’t trend. That doesn’t perform. The kind that makes someone feel just a little more human, a little less alone.

That’s what I want to build. That’s what this is for.

And I keep circling back to one thing: if I stop now, if I let the selfishness I see every day convince me it’s pointless, then I become part of the problem. Another person who gave up.

I can’t do that.

So we're building the station anyway.

The Quieter Truth

Because here’s the other truth I keep noticing. It’s quieter. Easier to miss, but it’s still there.

• I'm talking about the neighbour who brings you soup when you’re sick.
• The stranger who helps someone pick up their shopping on the pavement.
• The friend who remembers something you said months ago and sends you a book about it.

Tiny things. Moments that don’t announce themselves. But they add up.

They remind me that selfishness might be everywhere, but it isn’t everything.

The Question That Won’t Go Away

So we're building Do Radio. Slowly, maybe naively, but with full intention.

Not because we think it’ll go viral. Not because we think it will fix the world. But because we want to find the people who still care. The ones who want to connect. Who are looking for something quieter, slower and more human.

The ones who might be feeling the same thing I am: the creeping suspicion that we’re losing something essential and the stubborn hope that it’s not too late to get it back.

That’s what I’m chasing.

I don’t have the answer yet.

But I do have the question: if they’re still out there, the ones who care, how do I find them?

Until next time,

Jon "the pessimistic optimist" Kaye

Choosing to live without chasing

P.S.

I want to show my work. I've written an album of songs for Do Radio. You can listen to it here. And if you like, you could even buy a copy. Help me fund my coffee addiction.