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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
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
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.
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~~9mm~~1k
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.
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!
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.
Remember that the world used to be filled with feudalistic absolute-monarchist nations where the Emerperor/King always got away with doing immoral shit, and most people who worked for the monarch can fuck up your life with zero repercussions.
Today, at least sometimes the leaders can get punished.
South Korea just Impeached their president. And the president will likely get convicted and removed from office and go to prison, just as with one of the presidents before.
Brazil is now investigating their former President for an attempted coup.
The US isn't there yet, but at least we tried. Eventually, the president will be held accountable, maybe not in 10 years, but eventually we'll evolve out of this shit. The US had slavery, and got rid of it (for the most part). We had Jim Crow and got rid of that. It used to be only white male landowners could vote, and eventually Black Men, then Women, also got the right to vote. Progress happens even if it looks very slow.
Back then there was also no modern medicine, a small flu can kill you. If a family had 2 children in any country that's even slightly developed, both children likely survive. But before modern medicine, you need like 8 children and maybe 2 of them will survive.
Back then there were no entertainment on demand, if you are bored, you are just bored. Now we can just go on Youtube, Netflix or whatever and have a billion things to watch.
Back then, you didn't have a 40 hour work week, you were on a farm and had to constantly work. Any bad weather and crops died you're starving. Or if it post industrial revolution, you could be at a factory with way longer hours and much worse conditions than today.
People think "this is so bad" but it was way worse before.
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.
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.
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.
Treats and escapism 🥰
Underwork when I can, especially if I feel underpaid and under appreciated. Humanity is doomed to destroy itself, so I don’t worry all that much about things. Hell, at this point I would enjoy watching it end. But until then, I’m gonna chill, smoke weed, make music and spend time with the good folks around me.
Underwork when I can
Yes 🐸
That's one way to hurt the parasite's profit.
Another way is to be a discerning consumer.
Owner class exploits us on both sides, the fight has to be fought on both fronts as a wagie and as consoomer
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 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.
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 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.
Smoke a lot of weed
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.
Reading history books for greater context. Shit always finds a new flavor of fucked, apparently.
And drinking a boatload.
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.
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.)
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.
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
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:
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.
Just here trying to create an emotional and practical safe zone for myself, family, and my friends, and fuck the rest of 'em
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.
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.
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.
