It is deeply frustrating trying to live a productive and peaceful life, knowing that violent psychopaths and their obedient enforcers can tear it away with hardly a moment's notice. Planting seeds is good, because while they may be trampled before you can harvest, they also may not. Plans for the future need to include planning retreat avenues and long-term constructive action alike.
Sometimes I wonder how it would be if no such threatening forces existed. Everyone for themselves, you know? But as people, we always bunch up and love to play us against them games.
Only time will tell, I guess. All I have is hope. That is not much. I need to work on the backup plans and backup plans for the backup plans too.
I keep reminding myself to hope for the best, prepare for the worst, accept what is beyond my control, and make myself a better person. I'm a lot better at giving such advice than following it.