It feels all but certain that I won’t be able to enjoy a prosperous life or get to retire. All of the wealth is going straight to the top. All of the opportunities to move up in the world are being rug-pulled. All of the federal agencies that help keep us safe and healthy are gone. The social safety net is getting flushed down the toilet. We will live in disease and squalor, and the most vulnerable of us will die.

Because I dared to not be a sociopath, I and anyone else who voted for sanity will be deemed enemies of the state and hunted down - which won’t be hard, because it would be trivial to build the most robust surveillance state in human history if it doesn’t exist already.

I myself have disabilities (which I don’t think qualify for benefits) that make it hard, but not impossible, to find a job. The problem is that I just can’t bring myself to do it because I don’t get what the fucking point is anymore. I have to work so hard to get out of this rut just for some fascist fuck to kill me or toss me into a torture facility before I can even experience life on my own.

Have you been in a similar headspace and were able to escape it? If so, what snapped you out of it?

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    You don’t. That’s what the homeless people are for.

    But, it’s not impossible to move up. When oil crashed in March 2020, several companies’ stock, which you can purchase on Robin Hood or any app-based exchange, were down to pennies. Those shares are now trading for $15-$25 dollars, so even if you bought a small amount, you made a tidy profit. It’s how I paid off my student loans.

    Trump, in his largesse and incompetence, is likely to inadvertently cause a market crash somewhere in the next four years, so I’d encourage you to save at least a few bucks if you can from each check against the possibility of being able to buy stock super-cheap in the wake of a crash. If you have the patience to hold your stock for a year or two, it’s rewarding.

    • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      100 percent agree. Always fight for pay, not for rhe company trying to pay you less.

  • Caveman@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I mean, work is always a shit deal, trading life for money but you need money for life also including retirement which is a lot less guaranteed for millenials and younger.

    I’d recommend learning a trade like electrician or plumbing. You get fat stacks and control your own time. It takes a bit of time to learn but the work you do will never be a scam since it’s you working for an average person and yourself.

  • Sol 6 VI StatCmd@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Maybe try to find a small business you care about or interests you? I own a small business. It’s me, my wife, my sister-in-law and two friends I made in the industry. We all get paid $16/hr. We got to create the environment we wanted to work in. Its a lot of work but we’re happy and feel more free than we would elsewhere.

    I know I’m coming from a point of privilege writing this but I like to think we’re all on equal footing at my place and we’re doing our best to grow together rather than making me rich. I’ve worked for a lot of small businesses as well and they often have more respect for skills and individuals - not all - but a lot. If you find a place you like or even love it can become like a second home.

    • theangryseal@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      God I miss my job.

      More than 20 years of peace and I took it for granted. When the boss started talking about selling the place I thought, “Who would buy this outdated hole in the ground that makes no real money and is surrounded by competition?”

      What bums me out the most though is that when I was 16 he said, “Come work for me. In 10 years I intend to retire and I’ll lease one of these places out to you and you’ll take over when I die.”

      I knew it wasn’t happening at the 11 year mark.

      Don’t be loyal. Jump around. Don’t throw your life and time away. Everyone I know who has ever made any money did so by selling their skills to the highest bidder.

      I helped someone else get everything they ever wanted and I got nothing but promises.

      Don’t do that. Seriously.

      (I should have made this its own comment but yours is the one that moved me to write it. The speech is directed mostly at OP and anyone else who stumbles onto it.)

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Capitalist Wage-Labor is a scam. Surplus value comes from labor. Labor is a commodity just like anything else on the market, but the price of labor itself is tied to general subsistence plus replacement, it isn’t tied to how much value is created. Differences in wages come from various factors but regulate around cost to replace, ie training requires a lot of time, so this is represented by higher wages.

    Instead, we should be advocating for public ownership, so that the people get the spoils of their labor, and can pay into a general fund of sorts to provide safety nets, infrastructure, and more that don’t rely on the profit motive.

    I recommend you read theory. I wrote an introductory reading list for Marxism if that appeals to you or anyone else.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Yeah, I mean it all really depends on how you define work… people don’t usually quantify their free time properly

  • dan1101@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I work to have money for shelter and food and, just as importantly, some spending money for hobbies and travel. The freedom to be able to drive basically anywhere any time is a great thing to have.

    The inequalities today are large but also the standard of living for even the lower class is probably higher than any other time in history. You can go your entire life without holding a shovel or hammer or piece of firewood, now imagine instead having to build your own house, grow your own food, and cut firewood to stay warm. Things aren’t so bad.

  • Turbofish@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    For a while there I was a homeless alcoholic. Now I’m an alcoholic. Given the choice between the two I know which I’d rather.

  • normalexit@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I work because I enjoy healthcare, food, and shelter. The system has always been rigged, so you just have to find something you enjoy (or can tolerate doing). Ideally try to think about things that make you happy and can pay you, and maybe try doing something in that field.

    When I go on vacation to tropical states there are always some overly tanned boat captains that just drive drunk tourists around and get paid decently well for it. I always think about those guys when I’m having a hard day at work, “man, they sure figured it out”

  • NeoToasty@kbin.melroy.org
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    8 months ago

    If I want things, I need money and the only way to get money without practically committing any financial crime that there is, it’s to work for it. Quite frankly, it’s unhealthy to be bathing yourself with this mentality of dreading the reality of the matter. I won’t disagree that it sucks, but there has to be other directions out there for you than just that.

    But I do suspect the reason you’re feeling this way is because of you mentioning disabilities and I can’t imagine the kind of world you’re in where, it seems like there’s a layer of disrespect towards the disabled when it comes to work.

  • multicolorKnight@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    TL; DR Get in on the scam.

    Pick something you like to do, or have a talent for, and plan a path to make money from it. You may still have to work for someone else initially, to develop skills and get experience, but it will be better than doing a shit job only for money.

    Research what resources there are to support your startup. Even in places where there is no help from government or anything else for individuals, you will find they want to support business.

    Especially if you have extra challenges, if you get good, they will make a narrative around your success and promote you as an example.

  • ealoe@ani.social
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    8 months ago

    Log out of social media, go outside, interact with real people. Life is not remotely as bad as all that, it just seems that way because social media has told you to be scared. Humans are extremely adaptable, we will overcome whatever the problems are.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 months ago

      Frankly, in my experience the social media has been unreasonably optimistic

      Most of the struggles and worries come from real-life expriences

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      8 months ago

      Humans are extremely adaptable, we will overcome whatever the problems are.

      Many die so others get to live. I am sure the dead ones are happy for you🤡

    • someacnt_@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Meanwhile real people: oh you are disabled? Fuck off, and die alone!

      Like, are you describing heaven or something?

      • uis@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        Like, are you describing heaven or something?

        No, just sane parts of the world.

  • LunarVoyager@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    The only thing that matters now is money. I will fucking drive 3000 miles back to California to make $20/hr mopping the floor at McDonald’s if I have to, and live in my car while doing it, and save that rent money like a fucking maniac until I can invest in a turnkey rental property. I won’t stop until I get mine.

  • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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    8 months ago

    If I don’t work I become homeless and starve to death. I do the minimum to keep my job and fuck the rest.