In EMS, there's a saying: if you drop the baby, pick it up.
Dropping the baby is like the worst thing you can ever do, but for Christ's sake, don't just leave it on the ground, do something about it. I've gotten involved in local government. Local government is great because you can still affect change there, and you can affect change that can snowball into something bigger with other people in other local governments making those changes. I'm on the city's bicycle commission, and I'm working with local organizations like the 'Council for Leadership and Justice' and 'Strong Towns' to try and make the world a better place than I found it. Is it futile? Sure feels like it sometimes, time will tell I guess, but the trying helps me feel better for a few reasons, not least of which because it puts me in contact with others who care enough to try too.
I'm probably generally more optimistic about the future than the average Lemmy users, but even if I were pessimistic about the broad big picture questions, I'd still have plenty of local bits of local optimism. I really enjoy the company of my friends and family. I'm excited about my kids growing into cool adults who will do good things, from the tiny and mundane (a piece of artwork, a joke that makes me laugh) to the medium (taking an interest in my interests) to the big stuff (making big moves to change the world for the better).
I can't end poverty or hunger. But I can support the food bank in my neighborhood and volunteer/give to organizations that are doing good work at alleviating hunger and homelessness. And maybe feeding someone a single meal doesn't change the systemic problem that made him rely on my charity, but you'd better believe that meal still makes a difference to him in that moment.
Same with getting local kids their school supplies, helping a neighbor raise funds to pay off some medical debt, getting someone work clothes so that they can go interview for a job, teaching people how to negotiate and organize for better pay, etc.
We have plenty of power, collectively. Let's not waste it being miserable and unproductive.
In what way are you working with Strong Towns? I've gotten involved with local government too, but haven't really connected with Strong Towns beyond espousing their principles.
A guy running a local chapter reached out to me because of a comment I left on a YouTube video. We're collaborating on how to organize more people and push the city council to take aggressive measures like zoning reform, repealing parking minimums, robust public transit, comfortable bike lanes, etc.
Edit: And if you're like me, make sure you call 988 and talk to someone. That's what I had to do earlier today, and this time it was actually kinda helpful.
Jesus Crist! I get wanting to overkill serving yourself a Kurt Cobain breakfast special, but where the hell did you even find a 409mm gun? Do you own a battleship?
First I realized that I was reading the news for entertainment, not to actually get informed in any meaningful actionable way.
Then I started to doubt any headline that confirmed my biases. “Trump says terrible thing” boils down to a 3 second sound bite with zero context. “Trump voters regret voting for him” is a summary of 8 tweets taken off a recent trump post. “New study” has 23 participants.
In other words read the damn article. Things are bad, but not quite as relentlessly bad as social media would have you believe.
Also, I vote, I donate, I march. There’s not much else I can do, so what does all this “being informed” do me? Me being miserable doesn’t help anybody.
Second: stop consuming rage bait. 50% of Reddit is just videos of people being insane in public. It’d have you believing that we live in a warzone. We don’t. There is nothing to be gained from watching that shit.
Outside of that, picked up some video games and even started reading books again. Trying to deprogram the brainrot that makes it hard to concentrate on anything for more than 10 seconds.
I joined the military as soon as I graduated high school, got a solid 20 years of free food, free shelter, free college education, free travel, and plenty of life skills/experiences, all while collecting a solid income. Then I retired at 38 years old, collected a pension and a 100% VA disability check for the rest of my life (which includes free medical/dental for life), and inherited my childhood home in the countryside when my father passed away this year.
I do what I can to help out my local community, but I'm not working and have no need to contribute to capitalism. I make my own schedule each day, do whatever hobbies/goals I have the energy for, then call it a day whenever and start again the next morning.
My wife gets the same VA benefits, although she didn't serve long enough to collect a pension; she was medically discharged. So we're both just enjoying a quiet life in the countryside, no jobs, just focused on whatever makes us happy each day.
This is the life everyone deserves to have, and I'm upset that capitalism is basically the opposite of this lifestyle. They preach that if you're not working, you're a drain on society. Because the fewer workers they have, the less money that's generated for the rich elites running the capitalist regime. That's why our retirement age keeps going up. The longer people live, the more time they have to be productive members of "society" (read: capitalism). No thanks; I retired at 38 and I'm happy enjoying my youth while I still have some semblance of it.
EDIT: I just want to point out that military life was basically democratic socialism, with all our needs met, the govt ensuring we had food and a home, education was free, most all work-related expenses paid for. (uniforms, travel, etc.) Our paycheck was basically just spending money for us. We didn't have to worry about covering bills because we received a separate "allowance" to cover rent/mortgage and utilities. Food was another allowance on top of our paycheck. If we were reassigned to another base somewhere in the world, the govt would foot the bill for movers and they packed your house for you. And you basically had to break the law to be kicked out of the military, so job security was excellent. We all got paid based on our rank and time in service, so it didn't matter if you were a geothermal physicist or just handing out towels at the gym; everyone got the same wage across the board. It was an ideal situation. You'll be hard pressed to find something similar in the rest of America.
That’s not a shot at you, btw - more of a critique of the system that makes military service one of the only ways you can actually have a life like what you have.
Currently? Mostly making shitposts about chaining CEOs to boulders and casting them into the Sea, advocating to build big bronze statues of cold-blooded murderers, and openly wishing for certain people to be struck by lightning. Some real Biblical shit.
It's not a death threat if you just wish God does the dirty work!
Honestly, at this point, I think we need to admit the US cannot be fixed. It's time to peacefully dissolve the US federal government in its entirety. Grant all 50 states independence, turn the lights off, and move on.
I think the last straw for me is the recent vote for House committee leadership among the Dems. Even the nominally liberal party is so utterly corrupt, so utterly surrendered to vanity, that it is incapable of learning even the simplest of lessons. Both parties have been so completely corrupted from the inside out by money, that they cannot be saved. The only people who can come into power are those who are utterly corrupted by corporate money, and they have zero incentive to repair the damage money has done to the system.
It is possible for a thing to be so thoroughly broken that it cannot be repaired. And we have passed that point as a nation. We simply don't want to admit it.
The time has come to peacefully dissolve the US in its entirety. We need to grant all 50 states full independence. Then they can come together and form whatever new nation or nations they want.
This nation can no longer be saved. It is time to end the denial.
I organize and build relationships in my community. Everyone has something to offer and something they need. It isn't always immediately obvious what those things are, so it's nice to have an existing network when you figure it out. Get together. Have potlucks. Share your skills, knowledge, tips, tricks and resources.
I doubt you actually do any of that. Lovely vague community esque language. Oh have a potluck and effect great societal change! Give me a break. Hapy olidays!
I mean, I can't prove it to you so you can just believe it or not. I definitely didn't mean to imply that I'm making some "great societal change". That's not an attainable goal. The question was about how I deal with the state of the world. For me, my anxiety was peaking in the early days of the pandemic and the political situation in the US. I was just doomscrolling all day. Finally I decided that I just needed to do something/anything. I contacted a local mutual aid group in my area and started helping distribute hot meals around my area. I did that for about 2 years, twice a week. I have gone on to do more organizing (food, politics, skill shares) with some of the people I met there, and have expanded my network of like-minded friends. It has helped my mental health immensely.
Climate change is really fucking that idea up here in Scotland.
Our ecosystem relies on now non-existant snowy winters to reset the pest and fungus population every year, instead we get mild winters and summer that have no actual rain to water plants yet are so humid that everything is permamently damp, pests and fungi ramp up year on year and plants that used to grow fine here (Talking potatoes and even some native trees) are struggling. I'd say a full half of the non-confierous trees near my house have started dying in the last 2 years.
I don't. I'm literally on suicide watch trying new psych meds and wondering if the emotion storms are triggered by news, or the new drugs. Whee.
When the entire country is tilting day by day over the precipice about to fall into the abyss of fascist, one-party autocracy, it feels like the night before the Martians emerge with their tripods and heat rays. I feel like Fiver seeing the notice board portending the disaster of Sandleford Warren. I feel cursed for slighting Apollo somehow.
People are carrying on as if there's nothing wrong or nothing we can do, and I can't understand how they continue to function.
Good luck in your journey fellow human. I don't have anything else to offer but that someone read your words and you created thoughts in my head. Truly hope you best of everything. Cheers.
I don't want to overstate this, but some liberation can come from within.
Yeah, we all have to play their game, but internalizing the values our sick society places on us is optional. Make peace with the things you alone cannot immediately change. Resist in the small ways you are able, find joy where you can, and do what you can for the people you care about. Free your mind and your ass will follow.
I look back over history and see that every system of social organization ever was rigged against the people at the bottom, and then I look further back into nature and see that nature is literally trying to kill you all day every day, and I just take it as par for the course.
Our current system is less rigged against me than would be literally any other system under which I might have lived at any point in the past. I’m more free and supported than almost any other human who has ever lived, and for that I’m grateful.
I guess you could say I deal with it via the deliberate choice to be grateful, and to ignore the people who think I’m foolish for being grateful.
My mental health is certainly better than it would be if I chose to be bitter and resentful of the facts of existence.
Being surrounded by hostile forces that want to exploit and eat me is just part of existence. I am also surrounded by forces that want to nurture and assist me. I focus on those.
The ideal is to be capable of fighting a war, and capable of laughing in easy joy at the same time. Why? Because existence is war, and war is dreary and miserable if it’s the only thing that exists.
Elie Wiesel wrote in Night about finding freedom while strapped down to a table being tortured by concentration camp guards. It’s hard to find a scenario in which a person is more fucked. But it was there that he discovered the freedom of his spirit. If he can be free in that situation, I can be free in this situation.
Quite frankly, a big part of managing the stress when looking at the macro-political situation and how that intertwines with the macro-econonics and fucks up the microeconomics of households, is to not dwell on it. Too much doomer content bringing you down? know when to stop consuming and do something else. There's a point where you cannot change it and making yourself depressed thinking about it too much is just going to make your own life shittier.
I also work hard to find the best path to survive, thrive and live my best life. Sometimes that means taking some time to learn the rules of the game that's set up so you don't dive head first into the pitfalls that are setup for those who don't pay attention to the rules. Learn more about the big scary words at play as you sign up for an insurance plan, and what they mean. Learn about interest (both on your debts and your funds) and how interest plays into your finances, how to budget and figure out what you can afford, and how to financially improve upon your previous choices that occurred either due to lack of knowledge or due to making the least bad decision available to you at a given point in time.
But also make sure to find joy and happiness in a bunch of different timescales to both be happier and improving yourself so that no matter how mundane your life is, you have sparks of joy to keep you always looking forwards to something:
Small affordable indulgences, be that a yummy food like a small block of aged cheese, or maybe a small lego set or a small game. Whatever makes you happy that you wouldn't normally spend on
Take a moment to appreciate something in your environment. I like to take a minute to look at the stars every time I'm outside at night, but also actively take in the trees and patches of woodland and how they're currently reacting to the weather. If you can keep a small plant, just checking in on your little potted plant every day can bring its own joy in caring for your little buddy
Find a creative outlet, no matter how much you suck at it, just find something you can make that you enjoy making
Pick something fun you can look forwards to at all times that's just around the corner. A club that meets monthly to do a hobby you enjoy does well. I then try to also make sure to find some excuse to get together with friends and spend a little more money than I otherwise would every few months so its extra special and I can really look forward to those get togethers.
Start exercising regularly. Your body was made to move, and making sure you're actually using your body and pushing your muscles a bit 3-5 times a week is amazing for both your general health but also your mental health too. Take a walk, ride a bike, make a fool of yourself on a dance floor, struggle to do a pushup/pullup. It doesn't have to be structured, just something to actually move your whole body throughout the week and actually use your muscles
TL;DR STOP DOOMSCROLLING AND GO POKE SOMETHING WITH A STICK...it might even be a little fun
I act like this is not a drill. We've put together an emergency kit. We have a reverse osmosis water filter. I've been stockpiling seeds, personal care items, first aid supplies, and shelf stable food. I spend my time reading, playing board games and doing puzzles with my spouse. We're spoiling the heck out of our pets. Trying not to spend money unless absolutely necessary. Towing the line between staying informed and doom scrolling. Some days better than others.
I should probably be more active. I shouldn't drink at all, but I still do on occasion. I should be eating healthier and engaging in my community. But I only have so much energy and to be honest I'm barely holding on. Secretly praying for a Hail Mary because I can't believe this sham of an election is going to go through. I just can't.
Vintage non-internet connected devices, self hosting open source services, buying used clothes, while I slowly prepare my retirement as a hermit in the mountains of west virginia
50% socially acceptable self destruction (eating too much of the wrong things) and 50% dissociating while exercising (in hopes the collapse happens soon enough to make my physical fitness relevant.)
So I went through a very dark place a few years back. Anxiety, depression and PTSD led me to the conclusion that "life is hard and always will be and that in the whole of human history we are all insignificant".
But with the help of a great therapist (and some meds) I was able to append "so I might as well have fun".
So I try to find joy wherever I can. So yes to doing things, fight my cynical side, make friends, dress weird, dance, party, be my (weird fun happy) self, allocate zero fucks to the haters and all to love to the people that matter.
I still fight the system where I can, but mostly by trying to make other's lives happier. Let the billionaires be rich miserable assholes, we're too busy dancing slutty to care.
This can also backfire. It's frustrating to see history repeating itself so clearly over and over again, while being utterly powerless to really change it.
Sorry for the late reply. With the holidays and life, in general, I just didn't find the time to get on the site, instead of the phone app, to write this up and I struggle to type via digital keyboards.
When I say silent quitting life, I assume the reader knows the term silent quitting a job from the past pandemic era (at least that's when I learned of it) where a worker who may have been gung-ho on their job in addition to innovating and advancing parts of it; who may have stayed late, working on tasks, or came in early without additional pay; are now doing just the minimum to keep their job. Silent quitting, as far as I know, is doing only what is required and nothing more, refusing to work extra for no pay, etc.
So applying silent quitting a job to silent quitting life, is where I used to seek to improve myself and my immediate surroundings, I do the bare minimum to survive and keep the boat afloat, so to speak. I have lost interests in most hobbies, most interests, and rarely step outside of a daily routine of work, spending time with my wife/kid, and going to bed to repeat the same shit the next day. I just don't see the point in continuing this system we currently exist in and hope, against all odds, that something drastic changes soon to make life worth living, again. It isn't fair to my son or my wife.
I used to hear about famous/wealthy people offing themselves when they have a life, money, a spouse, and children. It didn't make sense to me back then. I didn't understand how someone, who seemed to have everything someone might want, would see no point in continuing their life. I get it now and it scares me what the next, second 4(+) year term of a tRump administration will do to my mental health.
I've since learned that this might be Passive SI. I don't know what the future holds for myself or my family, but I don't plan to do anything to harm myself. I just feel bad for my son. He was born into this world and since his birth (Dec. 2019), things have only seemed to become more glum. I have been seeing a therapist, been on anti-depressants/-anxiety meds, and tried to find anything to give myself a reason to go on, knowing this world was made for the 1% at the expense of the 99%, but it's hard. So far, it's just led to my wife and I going day-by-day. It's not what I'd call living; it's just surviving right now.
thank you for the reply. i have been doing the same for the last few years, i totally understand how you feel. i really hope that things improve but I'm not keeping my hopes up. only thing really keeping me going is my family and my dog. good luck to you and yours. ♡
Ditto and likewise. Here's to hoping we both find something that soothe the internalized rage we collectively feel toward a system that was never made for us.
Barring that: move to somewhere that is better for investing in people.
Doing better with only a focus on money, within a capitalist framework, will absolutely challenge your morals and ethics from time to time. Investing time in people, and community in general, has no such downside. Also, you'll need both to ascend Maslow's Hierarchy and be a well-rounded and healthy person around here. Succeeding in this area will also shift your viewpoint away from purely financial matters, or worse yet, basing your self-worth on your financial value to the market.
You deserve an explanation as to why your cross-post of this was removed from ![email protected]: that instance has higher standards (though not quite Beehaw level) and we try to keep things "welcoming", thus we made our top community rule #1 to "be nice". And I felt that coming out swinging calling the whole country a "hellhole" went against that rule. I see that that is the top rule in this community as well, but I suppose there are differences in interpretation as to what that means.
Options from here: You may appeal to the head mod @[email protected] if you wish, as it does not strictly violate the rules of Discuss.Online itself. And/or you could re-phrase the title. Or you could even make a post asking for clarification of the rules/expectations - although note that this was already done recently and by far people seemed to express distaste for all the politics stuff, so we try to direct that to ![email protected] instead. I've posted there myself in the last week, almost made another post there yesterday as well, and I highly recommend that community for things such as this. In fact, their sidebar text says that they love such self-posts of commentary, as opposed to like "news", and even "discussion of and disagreement about issues is encouraged!"
So I get that you wanted to vent and discuss, and there absolutely are places to do that, I just wanted to protect the members of that community in particular from being constantly barraged with politics, bc as you seem to agree, dayum that shit gets old fast - it becomes overwhelming to so many of us to see all the BS that goes down almost daily now:-(. And maybe that's one way that we can deal, by placing limits on how often we have to think about it each day:-).
Spread awareness, break all the little rules you can, scatter seeds of all kinds across town, refuse to recognize the dollar, point high powered laser pointers at private jets taking off, make up your own gender unique to you and dont respond to bigots who dont use it to refer to you, shit in the driveway of the CEO of your company (especially if you are the CEO), become ungovernable. The social contract is shattered, you owe nothing to them.
One of these is potentially dangerous to others, and how do you not "recognize" your currency? Do you pay for food and utilities with wolfskin and eggs?
I just want to say that invasive plants species are a thing, and if a jet crashes on actual real people because of this, you might as well just get a gun and start blasting away, given the random places it might end up.
Currently taking a sabbatical from giving a shit about anything.
Got assaulted, seriously injured, car got stolen, lost my job working at a non profit helping the homeless, became homeless, spent a year that way, racked up a whole bunch more injuries.
Managed to qualify for SSDI, got on a bus, rode halfway across the country in horrible agony to find a shithole I can afford to rent, with just the clothes I had on me.
Its been about a year now, doing my own physical therapy, slowly recovering.
Can't afford actual physical therapy, couldn't get to it anyway.
Maybe sometime next year I'll be able to get my glasses replaced.
Maybe if I get to the point I can walk or use my wrist for more than 10 minutes at a time I'll look into some kind of remote work... or just make a video game or something.
Same here. I'm actually forcing myself to stop. It's expensive and I get high for shorter and shorter times. I'm trying to make it to spring, but we'll see.
I'm literally just trying to make it to sunset lol
I was growing for a while which made it worse. The weed was basically free so I was just smoking joints all day
I don't. We don't. Best we'll ever be able to do is keep the future generations in mind as the ship continues sinking. Remember overgrowth got us here and degrowth is possible--Hope must stay everpresent on the horizon of possibilities
I basically stopped participating. I work in a government position that is stable and pandemic-proof. I will never be able to buy a house so I don't even consider that. I live where I don't need a car. Basically, my needs are met and capitalism didn't work for me, ever.
I feed and drug the dog, which reminds me to take my antidepressants and another pill which I have to take with food, and so I eat breakfast. I meme with my friends online. I compartmentalize the fuck out of life. I go to therapy. I give myself treats. I wrap the dog's pills in a hip-and-joint soft treat so he'll take them without me shoving them down his throat. I remind myself that I almost-own a condo, so I'm doing better that a lot of millennials.
In a universe where efverythingf is forever, energy and matter just take new forms never truly destroyed...
Why the fuck is conciousness the exception
Edit: That's a serious question, and the only answer I can think of is "It isn't, we just don't know how to find conciousness when it leaves the body. Much as ancient main did not know of radiation nor how to find it, so he believed radioactive springs were cursed or blessed."
You have to make a lot of assumptions for any of that to be true.
Your consciousness is the sum of electrical signals and stored data. The same way that if you throw a computer into a fire the data is gone forever.
The energy in your body is what continues on forever, not the data.
There is no law of conservation of data. That is not a thing
I see a large trend of people just completely rejecting reality for fantasies.
I would love it if my consciousness continued on forever, but that is not the truth. There is zero evidence of this. When you dye your body will rot and the energy will be returned to the earth. I think that is more beautiful
The human soul cannot be measured even in a human body.. So why do you think it exists? You sound like someone who completely rejects science in favor of fairy tales that make them more able to go to sleep at night.
Reality is harsh and cruel. Your 'soul' is just your consciousness, it disappears the second there is no energy to keep your brain alive. The second you die you are gone forever, the only thing that remains is your memory until those people die. Nature does not care about you, you have the same worth as a cockroach.
All of these religious fairy tales are there to exploit your fear of death. They give you a fairy tale saying that death isn't the end so you feel better about life. All you have to do is follow their rules 😂
You do know we can't measure consciousness either right? But we still know it happens, it's the only thing we can know for sure happens because we're all experiencing it right now.
We still don't know a lot about how the brain works, and again, it's pretty weird that this is universe that recycles everything except consciousness: Matter and energy cannot be destroyed, they only change form.
Ever look into NDEs? Weird stuff, they thought it was just oxygen deprived hallucinations, but then they keep finding very specific and powerful brain activity after the patient is declared dead that suggests something is going on in a big way. Something much bigger than neurons randomly firing in an attempt to reignite the brain, the brain's ignited like never before despite the fact that it should be dead. They also keep finding that Near Death Experiences are so damn universal that for the weird magic sounding stuff to be a hoax, then hundreds of thousands of people would have to have been in on it since the dawn of man.
Never assume that science knows everything. Not because "Religion has all the answers", but because science is not a religion, it's not a big book that you can just find answers in. It's an on-going process of questioning everything and then going "That's funny, that shouldn't be happening." right before learning about a new set of questions to ask.
It's actually really beautiful.
Update: Oh yeah Information can't be destroyed either, not even by a black hole... and you really think Conciousness is the one exemption?
Matter and energy cannot be destroyed, they only change form
Yes, and the energy in your body is not ever destroyed. Your consciousness is electrical and chemical energy running a biological computer (brain). That energy is NOT lost when you die. Your brain will rot and be broken down by bacteria and worms, they will get that energy and it will continue FOREVER. The data, your consciousness, does not survive this energy transfer.
I highly suggest you read Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan.
He really breaks down how much of this speculative stuff gets taken as fact without any proof, or even with proof to the contrary.
It really is applicable today when people are rejecting reality in favor of religion, crystals, and energy healing. He uncovers the psychological processes that make this happen over and over in the course of human existence.
TLDR; It's all bullshit (he puts it way more respectfully)
I think about how much worse it would be if I was in another paradigm where even expressing such an opinion would get me punished, jailed, or killed, then go on with my day.
I try to maximize my time doing things I actually like doing. I don't have control over the rest of the hell hole, but I can try to make my small part of it bearable. Even better if I can share the enjoyment with others so they can escape, if only for a while
You are asking mostly nazi Ukrainian supporters, for a war where actual success of nazis, means nuclear strikes on USA.
Let's just say Lemmy is incapable of unsticking head from ass. Militarist nazi diminishment of russia, but with higher minimum wage and healthcare? Sign them up
Simple. Learn to play that game and try to succeed.
If you get up and just go to work every day expect to fail. Learn to use the stock market. Learn to use options. Start small. Like real small. Don't use real money. Just write down on a piece of paper and figure out your results.
Once you're making money on paper then put in a small amount of money and try. Try. Try. Try. Try again.
You can't stop capitalism but you can use it in your favor.
Do be mindful that this attitude is precisely how our ancestors entrapped us in this terrible catastrophe of a situation to begin with. Don't blame--that's what they did too.
Who are the 'people' you're referring to here? The privileged and powerful or the distraught and the hopelessly impoverished? Why is 'position change' our compass of goodness concerning economics systems? If you're planning on just playing the 'false dilemma' game, I will concede immediately--if it's only this or that, you'll find me hard-pressed to vote in favor of anything non-capitalism, but that's only because I know the alternative is something much worse yet still technically capitalism with a different name/label
Who? My brother. Moved from being almost bankrupt to now living in a nice house and owning a business.
My godfather built his own company, lives a good life.
A friend of mine who has gotten into investing and is now making a nice living doing that.
Why would anyone not want to change their position in life? Why would anyone want to stay where they are? Be nice to move up enough in life to own your own place and actually retire at some point. By retirement I mean never worry about your bills. Not worry about "oh no my hot water heater went out, now I have to choose go to my grand kids graduation or replace the hot water heater ". Actual retirement.
oh so by people you meant you and your family. Clearly the selfless capitalism is convenient for you isn't it?
If 'move up' means a lower standard for everyone else, how 'good' can it really be? I don't really know where you got retirement from. That's a 20th century invention that most want no part of.(Most retired people come out of retirement at least once for a reason boss.)
So because I choose people I know to demonstrate a point then that also means that I don't know anyone outside of a friend and family circle that capitalism has helped?
"Clearly the selfless capitalism is convenient for you isn't it" nice but if snark there... So much for an actual discussion.
If you are retired and WANT to go back to work is completely different from not having a choice when you are old tired and no one will hire you and you don't have enough money to live on. Bit of a difference there.
I don't know of anyone that does not want to retire. Many who come out of retirement only work part time. Not full time, again they want to. Not that they don't have a choice.
If you don't want it that's fine, but anyone I've spoken to does.
I'm all for trying to make it out, but for most people day trading in particular is a terrible idea and 90%+ lose money. I think most people would be better advised to just dump money into an index fund or other longer term investment and not think about it too much, at least that way you are betting on the market as a whole rather than your personal trading skills vs pros, which isn't likely to work out.
I would agree. Put money where you said. Then try what I said if they can figure it out and be successful great go for it, if not at least they have the fund.
In EMS, there's a saying: if you drop the baby, pick it up.
Dropping the baby is like the worst thing you can ever do, but for Christ's sake, don't just leave it on the ground, do something about it. I've gotten involved in local government. Local government is great because you can still affect change there, and you can affect change that can snowball into something bigger with other people in other local governments making those changes. I'm on the city's bicycle commission, and I'm working with local organizations like the 'Council for Leadership and Justice' and 'Strong Towns' to try and make the world a better place than I found it. Is it futile? Sure feels like it sometimes, time will tell I guess, but the trying helps me feel better for a few reasons, not least of which because it puts me in contact with others who care enough to try too.
Exactly.
I'm probably generally more optimistic about the future than the average Lemmy users, but even if I were pessimistic about the broad big picture questions, I'd still have plenty of local bits of local optimism. I really enjoy the company of my friends and family. I'm excited about my kids growing into cool adults who will do good things, from the tiny and mundane (a piece of artwork, a joke that makes me laugh) to the medium (taking an interest in my interests) to the big stuff (making big moves to change the world for the better).
I can't end poverty or hunger. But I can support the food bank in my neighborhood and volunteer/give to organizations that are doing good work at alleviating hunger and homelessness. And maybe feeding someone a single meal doesn't change the systemic problem that made him rely on my charity, but you'd better believe that meal still makes a difference to him in that moment.
Same with getting local kids their school supplies, helping a neighbor raise funds to pay off some medical debt, getting someone work clothes so that they can go interview for a job, teaching people how to negotiate and organize for better pay, etc.
We have plenty of power, collectively. Let's not waste it being miserable and unproductive.
In what way are you working with Strong Towns? I've gotten involved with local government too, but haven't really connected with Strong Towns beyond espousing their principles.
A guy running a local chapter reached out to me because of a comment I left on a YouTube video. We're collaborating on how to organize more people and push the city council to take aggressive measures like zoning reform, repealing parking minimums, robust public transit, comfortable bike lanes, etc.
Cannabis and passive suicidal ideation
Edit: And if you're like me, make sure you call 988 and talk to someone. That's what I had to do earlier today, and this time it was actually kinda helpful.
I just like thinking about it, ya know?
The only freedom i have left in my life is deciding when I die, so i get to feel a little free whenever i decide that today isn't the day...
My stupid body took the cannabis away from me, now all I have is the passive suicidal ideation... It's also my retirement plan! Good ol' 40
9mm1kJesus Crist! I get wanting to overkill serving yourself a Kurt Cobain breakfast special, but where the hell did you even find a 409mm gun? Do you own a battleship?
We all own many battleships in America! The trick is having them let you on board at the right time. Lol
First I realized that I was reading the news for entertainment, not to actually get informed in any meaningful actionable way.
Then I started to doubt any headline that confirmed my biases. “Trump says terrible thing” boils down to a 3 second sound bite with zero context. “Trump voters regret voting for him” is a summary of 8 tweets taken off a recent trump post. “New study” has 23 participants.
In other words read the damn article. Things are bad, but not quite as relentlessly bad as social media would have you believe.
Also, I vote, I donate, I march. There’s not much else I can do, so what does all this “being informed” do me? Me being miserable doesn’t help anybody.
Second: stop consuming rage bait. 50% of Reddit is just videos of people being insane in public. It’d have you believing that we live in a warzone. We don’t. There is nothing to be gained from watching that shit.
Outside of that, picked up some video games and even started reading books again. Trying to deprogram the brainrot that makes it hard to concentrate on anything for more than 10 seconds.
Oh, and alcohol.
I chose not to participate.
I joined the military as soon as I graduated high school, got a solid 20 years of free food, free shelter, free college education, free travel, and plenty of life skills/experiences, all while collecting a solid income. Then I retired at 38 years old, collected a pension and a 100% VA disability check for the rest of my life (which includes free medical/dental for life), and inherited my childhood home in the countryside when my father passed away this year.
I do what I can to help out my local community, but I'm not working and have no need to contribute to capitalism. I make my own schedule each day, do whatever hobbies/goals I have the energy for, then call it a day whenever and start again the next morning.
My wife gets the same VA benefits, although she didn't serve long enough to collect a pension; she was medically discharged. So we're both just enjoying a quiet life in the countryside, no jobs, just focused on whatever makes us happy each day.
This is the life everyone deserves to have, and I'm upset that capitalism is basically the opposite of this lifestyle. They preach that if you're not working, you're a drain on society. Because the fewer workers they have, the less money that's generated for the rich elites running the capitalist regime. That's why our retirement age keeps going up. The longer people live, the more time they have to be productive members of "society" (read: capitalism). No thanks; I retired at 38 and I'm happy enjoying my youth while I still have some semblance of it.
EDIT: I just want to point out that military life was basically democratic socialism, with all our needs met, the govt ensuring we had food and a home, education was free, most all work-related expenses paid for. (uniforms, travel, etc.) Our paycheck was basically just spending money for us. We didn't have to worry about covering bills because we received a separate "allowance" to cover rent/mortgage and utilities. Food was another allowance on top of our paycheck. If we were reassigned to another base somewhere in the world, the govt would foot the bill for movers and they packed your house for you. And you basically had to break the law to be kicked out of the military, so job security was excellent. We all got paid based on our rank and time in service, so it didn't matter if you were a geothermal physicist or just handing out towels at the gym; everyone got the same wage across the board. It was an ideal situation. You'll be hard pressed to find something similar in the rest of America.
Wish I joined the military, sometimes. But my heavy conscience got in the way.
But like, not actually a joke.
That’s not a shot at you, btw - more of a critique of the system that makes military service one of the only ways you can actually have a life like what you have.
Butt stuff
T H A N K Y O U
H
A
N
K
Y
O
U
Currently? Mostly making shitposts about chaining CEOs to boulders and casting them into the Sea, advocating to build big bronze statues of cold-blooded murderers, and openly wishing for certain people to be struck by lightning. Some real Biblical shit.
It's not a death threat if you just wish God does the dirty work!
Honestly, at this point, I think we need to admit the US cannot be fixed. It's time to peacefully dissolve the US federal government in its entirety. Grant all 50 states independence, turn the lights off, and move on.
I think the last straw for me is the recent vote for House committee leadership among the Dems. Even the nominally liberal party is so utterly corrupt, so utterly surrendered to vanity, that it is incapable of learning even the simplest of lessons. Both parties have been so completely corrupted from the inside out by money, that they cannot be saved. The only people who can come into power are those who are utterly corrupted by corporate money, and they have zero incentive to repair the damage money has done to the system.
It is possible for a thing to be so thoroughly broken that it cannot be repaired. And we have passed that point as a nation. We simply don't want to admit it.
The time has come to peacefully dissolve the US in its entirety. We need to grant all 50 states full independence. Then they can come together and form whatever new nation or nations they want.
This nation can no longer be saved. It is time to end the denial.
Alcohol.
The understanding that death will eventually release me from this mortal coil.
And that all the assholes that work against the wellbeing of the average person are also going to die.
I organize and build relationships in my community. Everyone has something to offer and something they need. It isn't always immediately obvious what those things are, so it's nice to have an existing network when you figure it out. Get together. Have potlucks. Share your skills, knowledge, tips, tricks and resources.
I doubt you actually do any of that. Lovely vague community esque language. Oh have a potluck and effect great societal change! Give me a break. Hapy olidays!
I mean, I can't prove it to you so you can just believe it or not. I definitely didn't mean to imply that I'm making some "great societal change". That's not an attainable goal. The question was about how I deal with the state of the world. For me, my anxiety was peaking in the early days of the pandemic and the political situation in the US. I was just doomscrolling all day. Finally I decided that I just needed to do something/anything. I contacted a local mutual aid group in my area and started helping distribute hot meals around my area. I did that for about 2 years, twice a week. I have gone on to do more organizing (food, politics, skill shares) with some of the people I met there, and have expanded my network of like-minded friends. It has helped my mental health immensely.
How dare you not wallow in cynical misery.
Preparing myself for the world Titor predicted. Small communities.
Learning to homestead as best I can as a renter. Lots of raised beds and planter bags.
I only buy things to support my hobbies. Saving up for land and a prefab home so I can go completely independent.
I don't want to worry if critical food gets expensive again.
Tuturu!
Climate change is really fucking that idea up here in Scotland.
Our ecosystem relies on now non-existant snowy winters to reset the pest and fungus population every year, instead we get mild winters and summer that have no actual rain to water plants yet are so humid that everything is permamently damp, pests and fungi ramp up year on year and plants that used to grow fine here (Talking potatoes and even some native trees) are struggling. I'd say a full half of the non-confierous trees near my house have started dying in the last 2 years.
I would have tried this so hard a long time ago but there is basically 2 things keeping me in the shackles: dentists & hospitals.
How do you deal with that?
Bite your doctors
With bad teeth? That won't work!
I don't. I'm literally on suicide watch trying new psych meds and wondering if the emotion storms are triggered by news, or the new drugs. Whee.
When the entire country is tilting day by day over the precipice about to fall into the abyss of fascist, one-party autocracy, it feels like the night before the Martians emerge with their tripods and heat rays. I feel like Fiver seeing the notice board portending the disaster of Sandleford Warren. I feel cursed for slighting Apollo somehow.
People are carrying on as if there's nothing wrong or nothing we can do, and I can't understand how they continue to function.
Good luck in your journey fellow human. I don't have anything else to offer but that someone read your words and you created thoughts in my head. Truly hope you best of everything. Cheers.
Thank you.
So long as Federal shennanigans don't accelerate my situation (say by killing Social Security) then I should be okay.
But yeah, I'm super vulnerable like brain surgery during a hurricaine.
Treats and escapism 🥰
I don't want to overstate this, but some liberation can come from within.
Yeah, we all have to play their game, but internalizing the values our sick society places on us is optional. Make peace with the things you alone cannot immediately change. Resist in the small ways you are able, find joy where you can, and do what you can for the people you care about. Free your mind and your ass will follow.
I go to asklemmy threads and try to sneak my message by their partisan hack, censorship/ban-happy mods by leaving subtle jabs like this one:
https://lemmy.world/comment/13937684
I look back over history and see that every system of social organization ever was rigged against the people at the bottom, and then I look further back into nature and see that nature is literally trying to kill you all day every day, and I just take it as par for the course.
Our current system is less rigged against me than would be literally any other system under which I might have lived at any point in the past. I’m more free and supported than almost any other human who has ever lived, and for that I’m grateful.
I guess you could say I deal with it via the deliberate choice to be grateful, and to ignore the people who think I’m foolish for being grateful.
My mental health is certainly better than it would be if I chose to be bitter and resentful of the facts of existence.
Being surrounded by hostile forces that want to exploit and eat me is just part of existence. I am also surrounded by forces that want to nurture and assist me. I focus on those.
The ideal is to be capable of fighting a war, and capable of laughing in easy joy at the same time. Why? Because existence is war, and war is dreary and miserable if it’s the only thing that exists.
Elie Wiesel wrote in Night about finding freedom while strapped down to a table being tortured by concentration camp guards. It’s hard to find a scenario in which a person is more fucked. But it was there that he discovered the freedom of his spirit. If he can be free in that situation, I can be free in this situation.
I go to work, enjoy my hobbies, support my family, and drink a lot.
Quite frankly, a big part of managing the stress when looking at the macro-political situation and how that intertwines with the macro-econonics and fucks up the microeconomics of households, is to not dwell on it. Too much doomer content bringing you down? know when to stop consuming and do something else. There's a point where you cannot change it and making yourself depressed thinking about it too much is just going to make your own life shittier.
I also work hard to find the best path to survive, thrive and live my best life. Sometimes that means taking some time to learn the rules of the game that's set up so you don't dive head first into the pitfalls that are setup for those who don't pay attention to the rules. Learn more about the big scary words at play as you sign up for an insurance plan, and what they mean. Learn about interest (both on your debts and your funds) and how interest plays into your finances, how to budget and figure out what you can afford, and how to financially improve upon your previous choices that occurred either due to lack of knowledge or due to making the least bad decision available to you at a given point in time.
But also make sure to find joy and happiness in a bunch of different timescales to both be happier and improving yourself so that no matter how mundane your life is, you have sparks of joy to keep you always looking forwards to something:
TL;DR STOP DOOMSCROLLING AND GO POKE SOMETHING WITH A STICK...it might even be a little fun
I appreciate this comment.
I act like this is not a drill. We've put together an emergency kit. We have a reverse osmosis water filter. I've been stockpiling seeds, personal care items, first aid supplies, and shelf stable food. I spend my time reading, playing board games and doing puzzles with my spouse. We're spoiling the heck out of our pets. Trying not to spend money unless absolutely necessary. Towing the line between staying informed and doom scrolling. Some days better than others.
I should probably be more active. I shouldn't drink at all, but I still do on occasion. I should be eating healthier and engaging in my community. But I only have so much energy and to be honest I'm barely holding on. Secretly praying for a Hail Mary because I can't believe this sham of an election is going to go through. I just can't.
Vintage non-internet connected devices, self hosting open source services, buying used clothes, while I slowly prepare my retirement as a hermit in the mountains of west virginia
Compartmentalization. Prioritize dealing with the things I can control first. The rest is noise until I have extra time to worry about it.
Smoke a lot of weed
Moved out to the country, gardened, raised animals, breathed clean air and listened to the wind.
I find peace in learning and doing things well that, even if the system disintegrates, need to be done to move forward.
I dream about moving out OF the country.
50% socially acceptable self destruction (eating too much of the wrong things) and 50% dissociating while exercising (in hopes the collapse happens soon enough to make my physical fitness relevant.)
Weed and booze
I've cut down dramatically on the booze, increased the weed and feel a lot better. You can smoke so much more if you don't drink, it's awesome
So I went through a very dark place a few years back. Anxiety, depression and PTSD led me to the conclusion that "life is hard and always will be and that in the whole of human history we are all insignificant".
But with the help of a great therapist (and some meds) I was able to append "so I might as well have fun".
So I try to find joy wherever I can. So yes to doing things, fight my cynical side, make friends, dress weird, dance, party, be my (weird fun happy) self, allocate zero fucks to the haters and all to love to the people that matter.
I still fight the system where I can, but mostly by trying to make other's lives happier. Let the billionaires be rich miserable assholes, we're too busy dancing slutty to care.
Reading history books for greater context. Shit always finds a new flavor of fucked, apparently.
And drinking a boatload.
This can also backfire. It's frustrating to see history repeating itself so clearly over and over again, while being utterly powerless to really change it.
I silently quit life. It's not going well.
can you elaborate on what that means?
Sorry for the late reply. With the holidays and life, in general, I just didn't find the time to get on the site, instead of the phone app, to write this up and I struggle to type via digital keyboards.
When I say silent quitting life, I assume the reader knows the term silent quitting a job from the past pandemic era (at least that's when I learned of it) where a worker who may have been gung-ho on their job in addition to innovating and advancing parts of it; who may have stayed late, working on tasks, or came in early without additional pay; are now doing just the minimum to keep their job. Silent quitting, as far as I know, is doing only what is required and nothing more, refusing to work extra for no pay, etc.
So applying silent quitting a job to silent quitting life, is where I used to seek to improve myself and my immediate surroundings, I do the bare minimum to survive and keep the boat afloat, so to speak. I have lost interests in most hobbies, most interests, and rarely step outside of a daily routine of work, spending time with my wife/kid, and going to bed to repeat the same shit the next day. I just don't see the point in continuing this system we currently exist in and hope, against all odds, that something drastic changes soon to make life worth living, again. It isn't fair to my son or my wife.
I used to hear about famous/wealthy people offing themselves when they have a life, money, a spouse, and children. It didn't make sense to me back then. I didn't understand how someone, who seemed to have everything someone might want, would see no point in continuing their life. I get it now and it scares me what the next, second 4(+) year term of a tRump administration will do to my mental health.
I've since learned that this might be Passive SI. I don't know what the future holds for myself or my family, but I don't plan to do anything to harm myself. I just feel bad for my son. He was born into this world and since his birth (Dec. 2019), things have only seemed to become more glum. I have been seeing a therapist, been on anti-depressants/-anxiety meds, and tried to find anything to give myself a reason to go on, knowing this world was made for the 1% at the expense of the 99%, but it's hard. So far, it's just led to my wife and I going day-by-day. It's not what I'd call living; it's just surviving right now.
thank you for the reply. i have been doing the same for the last few years, i totally understand how you feel. i really hope that things improve but I'm not keeping my hopes up. only thing really keeping me going is my family and my dog. good luck to you and yours. ♡
Ditto and likewise. Here's to hoping we both find something that soothe the internalized rage we collectively feel toward a system that was never made for us.
Mostly, self-destructive coping skills, just not very well in general
I focus on what tasks I have to get done today and do them. Then I doomscroll.
It's kind of like trying to cope with the reality of death
Invest in people.
Barring that: move to somewhere that is better for investing in people.
Doing better with only a focus on money, within a capitalist framework, will absolutely challenge your morals and ethics from time to time. Investing time in people, and community in general, has no such downside. Also, you'll need both to ascend Maslow's Hierarchy and be a well-rounded and healthy person around here. Succeeding in this area will also shift your viewpoint away from purely financial matters, or worse yet, basing your self-worth on your financial value to the market.
Just here trying to create an emotional and practical safe zone for myself, family, and my friends, and fuck the rest of 'em
Feel free to crosspost on [email protected]
@[email protected]
You deserve an explanation as to why your cross-post of this was removed from ![email protected]: that instance has higher standards (though not quite Beehaw level) and we try to keep things "welcoming", thus we made our top community rule #1 to "be nice". And I felt that coming out swinging calling the whole country a "hellhole" went against that rule. I see that that is the top rule in this community as well, but I suppose there are differences in interpretation as to what that means.
Options from here: You may appeal to the head mod @[email protected] if you wish, as it does not strictly violate the rules of Discuss.Online itself. And/or you could re-phrase the title. Or you could even make a post asking for clarification of the rules/expectations - although note that this was already done recently and by far people seemed to express distaste for all the politics stuff, so we try to direct that to ![email protected] instead. I've posted there myself in the last week, almost made another post there yesterday as well, and I highly recommend that community for things such as this. In fact, their sidebar text says that they love such self-posts of commentary, as opposed to like "news", and even "discussion of and disagreement about issues is encouraged!"
So I get that you wanted to vent and discuss, and there absolutely are places to do that, I just wanted to protect the members of that community in particular from being constantly barraged with politics, bc as you seem to agree, dayum that shit gets old fast - it becomes overwhelming to so many of us to see all the BS that goes down almost daily now:-(. And maybe that's one way that we can deal, by placing limits on how often we have to think about it each day:-).
No problem! Thanks for the explanation.
Spread awareness, break all the little rules you can, scatter seeds of all kinds across town, refuse to recognize the dollar, point high powered laser pointers at private jets taking off, make up your own gender unique to you and dont respond to bigots who dont use it to refer to you, shit in the driveway of the CEO of your company (especially if you are the CEO), become ungovernable. The social contract is shattered, you owe nothing to them.
One of these is potentially dangerous to others, and how do you not "recognize" your currency? Do you pay for food and utilities with wolfskin and eggs?
Sure, barter if you want and can. Their power relies on the vibes of markets. Line go down is how you really hurt them. Stop buying stuff.
This for real. Stop buying shit.
I just want to say that invasive plants species are a thing, and if a jet crashes on actual real people because of this, you might as well just get a gun and start blasting away, given the random places it might end up.
It's like you people are unhinged or something
"Stop him! He bought local seeds and is spreading them across the city! He's an unhinged menace!"
Give me a fucken break.
Currently taking a sabbatical from giving a shit about anything.
Got assaulted, seriously injured, car got stolen, lost my job working at a non profit helping the homeless, became homeless, spent a year that way, racked up a whole bunch more injuries.
Managed to qualify for SSDI, got on a bus, rode halfway across the country in horrible agony to find a shithole I can afford to rent, with just the clothes I had on me.
Its been about a year now, doing my own physical therapy, slowly recovering.
Can't afford actual physical therapy, couldn't get to it anyway.
Maybe sometime next year I'll be able to get my glasses replaced.
Maybe if I get to the point I can walk or use my wrist for more than 10 minutes at a time I'll look into some kind of remote work... or just make a video game or something.
...
How do I deal with it?
Just keep living, one day at a time.
If you want to make a video game I'd be willing to help, I've started a few and have learned a lot of the ins and outs. I'm partial to godot myself
Maybe when I can actually use my wrist or sit in a chair for more than 30 minutes without extreme pain...
Weed.
Eventually it stops working. I've been blowing through ounces faster than I ever have, feel like I barely get high anymore
Yeah that's the dopamine receptors burning out alright
Same here. I'm actually forcing myself to stop. It's expensive and I get high for shorter and shorter times. I'm trying to make it to spring, but we'll see.
I'm literally just trying to make it to sunset lol I was growing for a while which made it worse. The weed was basically free so I was just smoking joints all day
I submit to it while kindling a fire inside. For the rest of the day escapism. Everyone is just doing escapism.
I don't. We don't. Best we'll ever be able to do is keep the future generations in mind as the ship continues sinking. Remember overgrowth got us here and degrowth is possible--Hope must stay everpresent on the horizon of possibilities
I basically stopped participating. I work in a government position that is stable and pandemic-proof. I will never be able to buy a house so I don't even consider that. I live where I don't need a car. Basically, my needs are met and capitalism didn't work for me, ever.
Drugs, lots and lots of tender loving illigeal drugs
Weed and trying to understand what I value and want in my life and how that can be made to happen outside of capitalist structures
Lots of Minecraft
I feed and drug the dog, which reminds me to take my antidepressants and another pill which I have to take with food, and so I eat breakfast. I meme with my friends online. I compartmentalize the fuck out of life. I go to therapy. I give myself treats. I wrap the dog's pills in a hip-and-joint soft treat so he'll take them without me shoving them down his throat. I remind myself that I almost-own a condo, so I'm doing better that a lot of millennials.
I refuse to have children in response to what I see with my own eyes. No thanks to my parents for making me exist.
Glad I'm not the only person who resents their parents for making them
Pretty easily.
I live my life and care about the people around me. I ignore things I can’t affect.
The sky is not falling. The ground is right here and things are generally OK for most people.
I do what I can when I can. Hopelessness hinders the change I can make
I've been looking for a mutual aid organization to join and looking into what it takes to get a gun in my state. Bleak, I know lol
i cry a lot and smoke a lot of weed lol
Every day is a step towards my plan leaving this country and going back to Korea
Try really hard to ignore all evidence against the afterlife.
I wish so hard that I could believe. Just lie to myself forever, When you die it's not like you find out...
Your lizard brain is wired to avoid death, but non-existence shouldn't be scary. You've already done it for possibly an infinite amount of time.
In a universe where efverythingf is forever, energy and matter just take new forms never truly destroyed...
Why the fuck is conciousness the exception
Edit: That's a serious question, and the only answer I can think of is "It isn't, we just don't know how to find conciousness when it leaves the body. Much as ancient main did not know of radiation nor how to find it, so he believed radioactive springs were cursed or blessed."
You have to make a lot of assumptions for any of that to be true.
Your consciousness is the sum of electrical signals and stored data. The same way that if you throw a computer into a fire the data is gone forever.
The energy in your body is what continues on forever, not the data.
There is no law of conservation of data. That is not a thing
I see a large trend of people just completely rejecting reality for fantasies. I would love it if my consciousness continued on forever, but that is not the truth. There is zero evidence of this. When you dye your body will rot and the energy will be returned to the earth. I think that is more beautiful
There is no glory or beauty in Oblivion, what you describe is not a fade to black, but a fade to invisible.
Additionally your idea assumes that what makes me think and feel is the accumulation of data by itself.
No matter how smart a computer gets, it's not going to start thinking for itself. The rise of AI Hallucination has proved that.
General AI will not be found until we can see the human soul in a microscope.
The human soul cannot be measured even in a human body.. So why do you think it exists? You sound like someone who completely rejects science in favor of fairy tales that make them more able to go to sleep at night.
Reality is harsh and cruel. Your 'soul' is just your consciousness, it disappears the second there is no energy to keep your brain alive. The second you die you are gone forever, the only thing that remains is your memory until those people die. Nature does not care about you, you have the same worth as a cockroach.
All of these religious fairy tales are there to exploit your fear of death. They give you a fairy tale saying that death isn't the end so you feel better about life. All you have to do is follow their rules 😂
You do know we can't measure consciousness either right? But we still know it happens, it's the only thing we can know for sure happens because we're all experiencing it right now.
We still don't know a lot about how the brain works, and again, it's pretty weird that this is universe that recycles everything except consciousness: Matter and energy cannot be destroyed, they only change form.
Ever look into NDEs? Weird stuff, they thought it was just oxygen deprived hallucinations, but then they keep finding very specific and powerful brain activity after the patient is declared dead that suggests something is going on in a big way. Something much bigger than neurons randomly firing in an attempt to reignite the brain, the brain's ignited like never before despite the fact that it should be dead. They also keep finding that Near Death Experiences are so damn universal that for the weird magic sounding stuff to be a hoax, then hundreds of thousands of people would have to have been in on it since the dawn of man.
Never assume that science knows everything. Not because "Religion has all the answers", but because science is not a religion, it's not a big book that you can just find answers in. It's an on-going process of questioning everything and then going "That's funny, that shouldn't be happening." right before learning about a new set of questions to ask.
It's actually really beautiful.
Update: Oh yeah Information can't be destroyed either, not even by a black hole... and you really think Conciousness is the one exemption?
Yes, and the energy in your body is not ever destroyed. Your consciousness is electrical and chemical energy running a biological computer (brain). That energy is NOT lost when you die. Your brain will rot and be broken down by bacteria and worms, they will get that energy and it will continue FOREVER. The data, your consciousness, does not survive this energy transfer.
I highly suggest you read Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. He really breaks down how much of this speculative stuff gets taken as fact without any proof, or even with proof to the contrary. It really is applicable today when people are rejecting reality in favor of religion, crystals, and energy healing. He uncovers the psychological processes that make this happen over and over in the course of human existence.
TLDR; It's all bullshit (he puts it way more respectfully)
volunteer, support local, and play music
I say "thank goodness I don't live in China, or worse." Then I go back to trying to improve my life.
Yeah I did say "or worse" but I clearly draw the line of superiority between capitalist hellholes and an actual fucking dictatorship.
Dreaming about becoming a billionaire?
projecting?
??
Lol because China doesn't have them, is that what you think?
I think about how much worse it would be if I was in another paradigm where even expressing such an opinion would get me punished, jailed, or killed, then go on with my day.
I try to maximize my time doing things I actually like doing. I don't have control over the rest of the hell hole, but I can try to make my small part of it bearable. Even better if I can share the enjoyment with others so they can escape, if only for a while
You are asking mostly nazi Ukrainian supporters, for a war where actual success of nazis, means nuclear strikes on USA.
Let's just say Lemmy is incapable of unsticking head from ass. Militarist nazi diminishment of russia, but with higher minimum wage and healthcare? Sign them up
Nice try fed.
Me and my family have been doing really well since we escaped the leftist venezuelan dictatorship.
Simple. Learn to play that game and try to succeed.
If you get up and just go to work every day expect to fail. Learn to use the stock market. Learn to use options. Start small. Like real small. Don't use real money. Just write down on a piece of paper and figure out your results.
Once you're making money on paper then put in a small amount of money and try. Try. Try. Try. Try again.
You can't stop capitalism but you can use it in your favor.
Do be mindful that this attitude is precisely how our ancestors entrapped us in this terrible catastrophe of a situation to begin with. Don't blame--that's what they did too.
Sorry but name something better then capitalism to allow people to change their position in life.
feudalism, tribalism, mercantilism, anarchy, colonialism, distributism, mutualism, syndicalism.
Who are the 'people' you're referring to here? The privileged and powerful or the distraught and the hopelessly impoverished? Why is 'position change' our compass of goodness concerning economics systems? If you're planning on just playing the 'false dilemma' game, I will concede immediately--if it's only this or that, you'll find me hard-pressed to vote in favor of anything non-capitalism, but that's only because I know the alternative is something much worse yet still technically capitalism with a different name/label
Who? My brother. Moved from being almost bankrupt to now living in a nice house and owning a business.
My godfather built his own company, lives a good life.
A friend of mine who has gotten into investing and is now making a nice living doing that.
Why would anyone not want to change their position in life? Why would anyone want to stay where they are? Be nice to move up enough in life to own your own place and actually retire at some point. By retirement I mean never worry about your bills. Not worry about "oh no my hot water heater went out, now I have to choose go to my grand kids graduation or replace the hot water heater ". Actual retirement.
i am glad you have been lucky in playing the game. most arent and will never be, no matter how capable and talented.
oh so by people you meant you and your family. Clearly the selfless capitalism is convenient for you isn't it?
If 'move up' means a lower standard for everyone else, how 'good' can it really be? I don't really know where you got retirement from. That's a 20th century invention that most want no part of.(Most retired people come out of retirement at least once for a reason boss.)
So because I choose people I know to demonstrate a point then that also means that I don't know anyone outside of a friend and family circle that capitalism has helped?
"Clearly the selfless capitalism is convenient for you isn't it" nice but if snark there... So much for an actual discussion.
If you are retired and WANT to go back to work is completely different from not having a choice when you are old tired and no one will hire you and you don't have enough money to live on. Bit of a difference there.
I don't know of anyone that does not want to retire. Many who come out of retirement only work part time. Not full time, again they want to. Not that they don't have a choice.
If you don't want it that's fine, but anyone I've spoken to does.
Have a good night. I'm out.
I'm all for trying to make it out, but for most people day trading in particular is a terrible idea and 90%+ lose money. I think most people would be better advised to just dump money into an index fund or other longer term investment and not think about it too much, at least that way you are betting on the market as a whole rather than your personal trading skills vs pros, which isn't likely to work out.
I would agree. Put money where you said. Then try what I said if they can figure it out and be successful great go for it, if not at least they have the fund.
Knowing it’s better than the alternatives being touted.
You are a super tough guy. I’m very impressed with how you played and won. Great job.
LOL, you in the wrong place. All we do around here is whine and cry about our victimization. Oh, and we hate ourselves.
Like you, I've chosen not to lose. Not doing outstanding, but my failures are all on me.
Folks managing to win at the monopoly board game be like.
Share how to win strats then