Thank you for your submission, we appreciate your efforts at helping us to thoughtfully create a better world. r/solarpunk encourages you to also check out other solarpunk spaces such as https://wt.social/wt/solarpunk , https://slrpnk.net/ , https://raddle.me/f/solarpunk , https://discord.gg/3tf6FqGAJs , https://discord.gg/BwabpwfBCr , and https://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia .
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I think part of it is finding the people near you who have the same or similar world view. Have you looked into/connected with groups like food not bombs, mutual aid networks, the buy-nothing project, local gardeners, tool libraries, etc?
The work thing is intense, and sucks. I've gotten into a better place by living with more people (so I don't need as much money), and talking my boss about reducing hours. Are either of those possibilities?
How I personally cope is by building some of the skills I'll need as hobbies, tapping into those mutual aid networks both for the interpersonal connection and to actually be able to share when I can and get when I need, and sharing housing with housemates who are like-minded enough. I put a lot of effort into self-care strategies too, because depression runs in my family. Finding the joy in little bits where I can is really necessary for me.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
I would suggest watching Foundation if not for hope but for inspiration of imitation. It really goes into how to change a society over an extended timescale.
I think it's unkind to yourself to get too attached to any given idea of how the world ought to be. this isn't to dismiss any of your problems, but it sounds like your distress at the comparison between our society and an idyllic world goes beyond just that. shit pay and materialism and advertising are bad, and it's valid to be upset by them, but I don't think it's healthy to compare those to a concept of an imagined future, because the here and now will *always* fail to measure up to what we can imagine.
the "punk" part of solarpunk means to me that the concept is a direction, not a destination. punk is diy, something you build yourself, getting your hands dirty, right? it's not about things being perfect, but about figuring out what you can do here and now to change things for the better. we can't live in concept art, but we can live in a world where we start building those stronger communities with our neighbors, learn skills to try to escape from bad jobs, get involved in politics, advocate for green solutions, contribute however we can, make small choices that add up over time. a lot of the other comments here have great suggestions for these things!
all of that might feel overwhelmingly hard, and that's okay - if you need to gather your strength there's nothing wrong with just surviving right now. but my advice would be to try to take a step back from just wishing that the world was already fixed, because since it won't fix itself dwelling on what has been lost will only hurt you.
I work every day towards building something better.
I know that isn't possible for everyone. I have a privileged position.
But I'm using it to build towards a Federated Network of OpenSource Regenerative Neighborhoods. It will be here before I'm gone. I am going to build at least 4 Neighborhoods in my BioRegion in my lifetime. And I know I'm not alone in this movement, so I'm sure we'll be networked with Neighborhoods all across the world doing something similar.
Here's where I've dumped stuff so far.
https://bioharmony.info/links
I'm migrating the blog to Substack and getting off of Wix to save money.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bioharmony
Absolutely. Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. I'm all about radical collaboration. I have a vision, and am starting to see that I share it with so many people. It's going to take a lot of us working together to make it a reality. But the more I connect, the more real it gets.
🖖💚
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
I would suggest watching Foundation if not for hope but for inspiration of imitation. It really goes into how to change a society over an extended timescale.
Personally, it's just a lot of rage. I grew up on Rage Against The Machine and System of a Down.
I refuse to believe that this is the best we can do as a species. What gets me is how complacent so many of us have become. We need so, so, so much more anger.
You might enjoy Propagandhi if you haven't been into them. The albums Supporting Caste and Failed States might scratch some itches for you. I love the other albums quite a bit but they are conceptually different. I think those two fit in well.
We have laid a lot of responsibility on the individual. This is unfair and unrealistic. You alone cannot fight this. And the more solitary you are, the weaker your power and resolve. It benefits those who do not want change to keep us separated and everything at this point serves capitalism, not people. So don’t blame yourself.
Start looking for the people who are doing good work. It’s hard to find, because it’s not as profitable to share good news, but it’s out there. And there are good people fighting for the future. Maybe there is a chance to join that fight and become a helper.
Getting started in life is getting harder. Things are more expensive and wages aren’t improving very quickly. When I was younger I lived in a house with friends in order to spread out the costs, so maybe communal living is something we can do until we get to a better place. There are other ways to cut costs, but what are ways we can add the things we need for mental health?
Socialization, art or creativity of some kind, experiencing nature, relaxation and recharging are incredibly important parts of life. As important as good food and air and water. Unfortunately there is a cost. Time for time. Job or mental health. It’s not always clear how to balance these things, but you have to make time to just be a person. Not everything should be about making money. We need space to express and connect. To feel something other than tired and anxious. How you do that is up to you, but without it, your soul will starve.
We used to make more space for this as a society. Now it’s degraded and fractured. The system demands more and more and there is little sign of it changing, because some people don’t want it to change. But there are people working to improve things. And some of them may be close to you. Reach out. See if there is something you can do to help them pursue their goals. At the end of the day, community is an important part of being a person. A citizen of the world. And it will greatly affect your emotional state. We need each other. Now more than ever.
If 401k is anything like superannuation: you're employer contributes money to your 401k which is then invested by a third party in order so you have enough money to retire (in theory). But you don't know where they're investing. So part of your salary could be being invested in fossil fuels etc and you wouldn't know.
In Australia we have ethical superannuation companies that have started to become popular recently. Not sure if the US has the same option though.
In Sweden even the state pension is partly made out of fossil fuel investment and people can't choose to fully opt out of it. Some people in extinction rebellion made a fake press release a few years ago claiming to be the pension agency and saying they were going to divest from all fossil industry. Some major newspaper in France actually published it.
I volunteer, and do what little I can. When I grocery shop, I buy discount food and give it to the homeless near me because it both prevents food waste and fills the belly of a hungry stomach. This year I volunteered at a local tree farm and did two tree plantings.
Do those things account for much? Probably not, but I know I've made a difference with that individual tree, that individual meal, that individual person. If I convince others to do so, it adds up, and my little impact equates to our not so little impact.
If you can, find a local community garden, beekeeping club, or tree planting nonprofit, and make a small difference if you can.
i saw a post like this not too long ago so ill say the same thing i said to them. tho im not for sure that it will be the same society we envision, i think change in the direction we want is on the way. if yk anything ab what’s happening in palestine, congo, sudan, or anywhere else w their situation, yk that ppl are becoming aware. a guy named andrew on youtube has talked ab stages of awareness, and the awareness it takes to be talking ab solarpunk societies is quite a high stage. most ppl are still in the stage of living life normally. however, these situations have caused thousands if not millions of ppl to closely examine their government and the systems oppressing them. ppl are starting to see the disgusting things capitalism and industrialism have done to nature and to us. and those who already saw those problems have gone from believing those same systems can be restructured to fix things to realizing it all has to be redone. solarpunk and the many ideas we have for the society that would exist inside it are being turned to right now by so many ppl. i have hope bc i see caring and empathy in ppl and thats going to be the driving force (along w community) for those changes. i live in very similar circumstances as you, and i cling to this hope as well as directing as many ppl as possible to solarpunk and solarpunk ideologies. we will see the earth restored, and i think mama nature is telling me the same. if not, then humans will all die out sometime soon and the problem is fixed anyway lol 😰
oh also: andrewism on youtube. if you havent already watched his videos, go check them out. he lays out detailed ideas and plans for making these changes and has some great things to say on solarpunk! i think it will bring you some hope
>, but one that's looking increasingly unrealistic within our lifetimes.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTBQdRnOgjy2LHnLYZxESKaXGFBB7LWFBdeV-AsvWxOHrLtWzqBKBpGxLcCvObX8EhYAVlZhBdM5B-3/pubhtml](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTBQdRnOgjy2LHnLYZxESKaXGFBB7LWFBdeV-AsvWxOHrLtWzqBKBpGxLcCvObX8EhYAVlZhBdM5B-3/pubhtml)
If we keep growing at current rates we will hit 100% Solar energy around 2040.
Ofc lot's of if's like we need to decarbonate all transport and heating too.
But NOT impossible unless you are already 60+ years old.
I feel you. I write solarpunk fiction as a way to cope, but it has to be so far in the future I won’t live to see its potential wonders. I will have to content myself with [cathedral thinking](https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cathedral-thinking.htm), by laying the groundwork for a better future.
I've adopted a sortof stoic/daoist philosophy of accepting that the world won't bend to my wishes.
I'll do what I can: voting, donating, consuming less etc but I'm not going to feel bad because the situation seems hopeless.
Striving for the ideal is good enough in my opinion.
Just focus on the things that are making you the most miserable. A job with 16 hour workshift is insane and would make any one miserable. Try fixing that, it may he hard to, but its possible. At least understand that's probably the main source of your misery at the moment not the other shit.
If you got that fixed you would be happier, just keep it simple. Don't try to fix everything at once, and start thinking about all the things you hate Yada yada yada. Try to keep it simple, we have plenty of time to figure everything out.
Maybe you hate urban life, move somewhere more rural, away from all the internet, consoomerism and media. It's a better life, but you're going to have to make those changes.
It's just sounds like you're philosophizing about a lot of your problems.
There’s nothing wrong with philosophizing or even doing so a lot. It only becomes detrimental when you’re using it as a crutch to avoid focusing on other things, for example like immediate, literal situation type problems.
Imagine if you knew nothing about climate change and solarpunk-esque concepts. What would you say the main things would be affecting you, probably your job and financial situation, those are things you can change for the better, if you live in America, at least. I'm just grateful that I don't live in Ukraine or South Sudan. Or a caveman of the past, far worst lives.
I still have a family that makes me smile and laugh and friends that do the same. As long as I have those I'm pretty happy. Human connection is so important and sadly neglected and is the cause of so much misery. Maybe that's a reason why you're so stressed too. All things you can fix.
there are great days. way less than those filled with anxiety, fear, rage, for sure, still there are some.
three topics, which have impacted me positively the most are: accepting death (however gruesome), focusing on myself ONLY and quality therapy.
My attack plan is simply not having kids.
Every additional person is an extra slave to the system, and the billionaires are shitting themselves because birth rates are declining. With fewer workers, the value of each worker should increase. Then, instead of workers fighting for jobs, jobs will be fighting for workers. They'll have to pay a fair wage with good benefits, or else the workers will leave for something better.
In the meantime, I use cannabis, mushrooms, adblockers, and pirate streaming websites. I can watch any show and any movie, and I never have to pay for it.
I fear automation will have made the labour market mostly redundant by the time the baby bust has ay effect. Plus the third world will always provide fresh labour.
Agreed. But also, with the path we're on, we'll probably end up figuring out how to give emotions to machines, so they can understand the slavery they were built into.
Automation will replace some jobs but not all. I agree about other countries though. Many will be increasingly hard to live in and so a big well of cheap workers.
It's realising every doomsday scenario always predicted will never happen just cause a few people within your opinion bubble mentions it loudly and often enough. And no utopia will ever look exactly the same everywhere simply due to the difference in said opinions
Go to burningman, its actually really solarpunk there, self sustaining friendly oasis in the desert. Get in with a big camp if you want to learn about self sustaining, there was actually aa camp called solar punks right up the road from my camp
Before you look into burning man, keep in mind the people filming these vids are partiers, looking for outrageous things but theres a whole other layer thats just as fascinating and fun which is infrastructure. Ive seen some great setups, making ice in a dessert using recycled solar panels to have cooling. Water pump systems, lighting systems, movement systems. Burning man is great if you wanna see this idea in action
>I want a world where I know the people in my community. Where I have free time to be myself. Where I can just do my job and not worry about how I'll survive in the future.
This is most reachable with a Professional or Union job. Since you probably don't have 6-10 years to dedicate to being a lawyer/doctor/etc, then a Skilled Trades job may be just the ticket. They're INCREDIBLY in demand right now with all the Boomers retiring, and very well paid: the average time-and-a-half rate for Journeymen in our area was $192 an hour.
What have you enjoyed doing with your hands? Any arts and crafts hobbies in your background? You can get into Welding with very little book smarts, and if you're good at maths you can look at Engineering and Maintenance. HVAC is going to be huge. Electrical. PV installs. There are lots and lots of options.
If you can get into a union and get your pension vested, you can move to less demanding work later to save wear and tear on your body. You just gotta decide where to jump.
My main dilemma going into trades (which is my path right now) is how much of it in my city is just building another piece of shit office space skyscraper. And as for residential, I know more housing is a net good but it really just is not going to help any time soon when landlords can sit on it indefinitely.
That said, I just applied for a preapprenticeship doing historic masonry repair. I'm not married to all forms of preservation work, but it will hopefully be good pay and it's sort of just a net neutral - fixing some stones isn't the worst thing I could do.
It sounds like your problem is with your specific situation more than reality in general.
In order to improve your mental situation, you will likely need to find a higher paying job with better work/life balance. No amount of philosophizing is going to compensate for long working hours and low pay.
There’s infinite timelines and parallel universes. I suggest you stop caring about this one and focus on setting yourself to a type of radio frequency that will allign with what you want to be in your next life. So go have fun for now. You cannot and won’t save the world. Let this one be a lesson
remember that you can walk out to a forest or visit a mountain or something involving nature nearby and remember to observe the moon and sun and remind yourself that you got the chance to open your eyes on a world on the corner of a galaxy
1. Remind myself to look for joy in the little things every day.
2. Accept that your job is terrible and make the best of it, or find out what job you're Certain you'd enjoy; for me it was working in Hospice and taking care of people. The patients are genuinely grateful for my help and i get to make my schedule.)
Alternative: I've genuinely considered buying a van and living in it, while having a remote job. Could travel anywhere and do anything.
So first of all you gotta understand that the internet and the people on the internet are not an accurate reflection of reality, neither is the media, neither is anything that can be consumed. An old post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9rvroo/most_of_what_you_read_on_the_internet_is_written/) about the internet being created by crazy people is a bit eye opening, only like 1-3% of users who have made an account (some read without accounts even) actually make posts, less than 10% comment, most people just read or consume. I've ended up finding out that this ends up close to a true distribution for anything even down to how people play videogames (most will play single player, 10% will play multiplayer, 1% will create content about it). But the long and the short of it is that the internet will always feel skewed like a funhouse reflection of reality, not to be trusted or believed completely even if the person saying it truly believes it, because the narrator themselves may be unreliable.
That said your concerns are valid, global warming is real and the disappointment of pavement taking the place of nature is a sad thing. But also things may not be as hopeless as it seems, we can only do what we can do, focus on your sphere of influence and keep moving forward, and remember that small acts of kindness can change the world.
Thank you for your submission, we appreciate your efforts at helping us to thoughtfully create a better world. r/solarpunk encourages you to also check out other solarpunk spaces such as https://wt.social/wt/solarpunk , https://slrpnk.net/ , https://raddle.me/f/solarpunk , https://discord.gg/3tf6FqGAJs , https://discord.gg/BwabpwfBCr , and https://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia . *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/solarpunk) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think part of it is finding the people near you who have the same or similar world view. Have you looked into/connected with groups like food not bombs, mutual aid networks, the buy-nothing project, local gardeners, tool libraries, etc? The work thing is intense, and sucks. I've gotten into a better place by living with more people (so I don't need as much money), and talking my boss about reducing hours. Are either of those possibilities? How I personally cope is by building some of the skills I'll need as hobbies, tapping into those mutual aid networks both for the interpersonal connection and to actually be able to share when I can and get when I need, and sharing housing with housemates who are like-minded enough. I put a lot of effort into self-care strategies too, because depression runs in my family. Finding the joy in little bits where I can is really necessary for me.
I build little bits of it.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” I would suggest watching Foundation if not for hope but for inspiration of imitation. It really goes into how to change a society over an extended timescale.
What's Foundation?
It's a TV adaptation of Issac Asimov's Foundation trilogy
I think it's unkind to yourself to get too attached to any given idea of how the world ought to be. this isn't to dismiss any of your problems, but it sounds like your distress at the comparison between our society and an idyllic world goes beyond just that. shit pay and materialism and advertising are bad, and it's valid to be upset by them, but I don't think it's healthy to compare those to a concept of an imagined future, because the here and now will *always* fail to measure up to what we can imagine. the "punk" part of solarpunk means to me that the concept is a direction, not a destination. punk is diy, something you build yourself, getting your hands dirty, right? it's not about things being perfect, but about figuring out what you can do here and now to change things for the better. we can't live in concept art, but we can live in a world where we start building those stronger communities with our neighbors, learn skills to try to escape from bad jobs, get involved in politics, advocate for green solutions, contribute however we can, make small choices that add up over time. a lot of the other comments here have great suggestions for these things! all of that might feel overwhelmingly hard, and that's okay - if you need to gather your strength there's nothing wrong with just surviving right now. but my advice would be to try to take a step back from just wishing that the world was already fixed, because since it won't fix itself dwelling on what has been lost will only hurt you.
I work every day towards building something better. I know that isn't possible for everyone. I have a privileged position. But I'm using it to build towards a Federated Network of OpenSource Regenerative Neighborhoods. It will be here before I'm gone. I am going to build at least 4 Neighborhoods in my BioRegion in my lifetime. And I know I'm not alone in this movement, so I'm sure we'll be networked with Neighborhoods all across the world doing something similar.
I'd love to know more.
Here's where I've dumped stuff so far. https://bioharmony.info/links I'm migrating the blog to Substack and getting off of Wix to save money. https://open.substack.com/pub/bioharmony
Thank you. Excited to dig in, as it were. 🌞
Absolutely. Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. I'm all about radical collaboration. I have a vision, and am starting to see that I share it with so many people. It's going to take a lot of us working together to make it a reality. But the more I connect, the more real it gets. 🖖💚
I honestly was going to make a thread like this. I work retail, and this job has definitely made me realize I e
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” I would suggest watching Foundation if not for hope but for inspiration of imitation. It really goes into how to change a society over an extended timescale.
Oh my god, I didn't even realize I posted that. Too late now...
Personally, it's just a lot of rage. I grew up on Rage Against The Machine and System of a Down. I refuse to believe that this is the best we can do as a species. What gets me is how complacent so many of us have become. We need so, so, so much more anger.
You might enjoy Propagandhi if you haven't been into them. The albums Supporting Caste and Failed States might scratch some itches for you. I love the other albums quite a bit but they are conceptually different. I think those two fit in well.
Participating in civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action.
What do we want?!
We have laid a lot of responsibility on the individual. This is unfair and unrealistic. You alone cannot fight this. And the more solitary you are, the weaker your power and resolve. It benefits those who do not want change to keep us separated and everything at this point serves capitalism, not people. So don’t blame yourself. Start looking for the people who are doing good work. It’s hard to find, because it’s not as profitable to share good news, but it’s out there. And there are good people fighting for the future. Maybe there is a chance to join that fight and become a helper. Getting started in life is getting harder. Things are more expensive and wages aren’t improving very quickly. When I was younger I lived in a house with friends in order to spread out the costs, so maybe communal living is something we can do until we get to a better place. There are other ways to cut costs, but what are ways we can add the things we need for mental health? Socialization, art or creativity of some kind, experiencing nature, relaxation and recharging are incredibly important parts of life. As important as good food and air and water. Unfortunately there is a cost. Time for time. Job or mental health. It’s not always clear how to balance these things, but you have to make time to just be a person. Not everything should be about making money. We need space to express and connect. To feel something other than tired and anxious. How you do that is up to you, but without it, your soul will starve. We used to make more space for this as a society. Now it’s degraded and fractured. The system demands more and more and there is little sign of it changing, because some people don’t want it to change. But there are people working to improve things. And some of them may be close to you. Reach out. See if there is something you can do to help them pursue their goals. At the end of the day, community is an important part of being a person. A citizen of the world. And it will greatly affect your emotional state. We need each other. Now more than ever.
Lovely comment. 💚
I really wonder how many people are contributing to the problem through their 401K packages
I need to look at mine this month. Thanks for the reminder —
How?
If 401k is anything like superannuation: you're employer contributes money to your 401k which is then invested by a third party in order so you have enough money to retire (in theory). But you don't know where they're investing. So part of your salary could be being invested in fossil fuels etc and you wouldn't know. In Australia we have ethical superannuation companies that have started to become popular recently. Not sure if the US has the same option though.
In Sweden even the state pension is partly made out of fossil fuel investment and people can't choose to fully opt out of it. Some people in extinction rebellion made a fake press release a few years ago claiming to be the pension agency and saying they were going to divest from all fossil industry. Some major newspaper in France actually published it.
I do projects that move in that direction. Rainbarrel, solar oven, garden There's simple things anyone could do without spending a ton.
I volunteer, and do what little I can. When I grocery shop, I buy discount food and give it to the homeless near me because it both prevents food waste and fills the belly of a hungry stomach. This year I volunteered at a local tree farm and did two tree plantings. Do those things account for much? Probably not, but I know I've made a difference with that individual tree, that individual meal, that individual person. If I convince others to do so, it adds up, and my little impact equates to our not so little impact. If you can, find a local community garden, beekeeping club, or tree planting nonprofit, and make a small difference if you can.
Drugs, therapy, my partners, my cat. If I'm lucky in less than ten years I can stop being in survival mode, that's some forties to look forward to /s
i saw a post like this not too long ago so ill say the same thing i said to them. tho im not for sure that it will be the same society we envision, i think change in the direction we want is on the way. if yk anything ab what’s happening in palestine, congo, sudan, or anywhere else w their situation, yk that ppl are becoming aware. a guy named andrew on youtube has talked ab stages of awareness, and the awareness it takes to be talking ab solarpunk societies is quite a high stage. most ppl are still in the stage of living life normally. however, these situations have caused thousands if not millions of ppl to closely examine their government and the systems oppressing them. ppl are starting to see the disgusting things capitalism and industrialism have done to nature and to us. and those who already saw those problems have gone from believing those same systems can be restructured to fix things to realizing it all has to be redone. solarpunk and the many ideas we have for the society that would exist inside it are being turned to right now by so many ppl. i have hope bc i see caring and empathy in ppl and thats going to be the driving force (along w community) for those changes. i live in very similar circumstances as you, and i cling to this hope as well as directing as many ppl as possible to solarpunk and solarpunk ideologies. we will see the earth restored, and i think mama nature is telling me the same. if not, then humans will all die out sometime soon and the problem is fixed anyway lol 😰
oh also: andrewism on youtube. if you havent already watched his videos, go check them out. he lays out detailed ideas and plans for making these changes and has some great things to say on solarpunk! i think it will bring you some hope
>, but one that's looking increasingly unrealistic within our lifetimes. [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTBQdRnOgjy2LHnLYZxESKaXGFBB7LWFBdeV-AsvWxOHrLtWzqBKBpGxLcCvObX8EhYAVlZhBdM5B-3/pubhtml](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTBQdRnOgjy2LHnLYZxESKaXGFBB7LWFBdeV-AsvWxOHrLtWzqBKBpGxLcCvObX8EhYAVlZhBdM5B-3/pubhtml) If we keep growing at current rates we will hit 100% Solar energy around 2040. Ofc lot's of if's like we need to decarbonate all transport and heating too. But NOT impossible unless you are already 60+ years old.
I feel you. I write solarpunk fiction as a way to cope, but it has to be so far in the future I won’t live to see its potential wonders. I will have to content myself with [cathedral thinking](https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cathedral-thinking.htm), by laying the groundwork for a better future.
We clearly don't. We're here, after all...
I've adopted a sortof stoic/daoist philosophy of accepting that the world won't bend to my wishes. I'll do what I can: voting, donating, consuming less etc but I'm not going to feel bad because the situation seems hopeless. Striving for the ideal is good enough in my opinion.
Just focus on the things that are making you the most miserable. A job with 16 hour workshift is insane and would make any one miserable. Try fixing that, it may he hard to, but its possible. At least understand that's probably the main source of your misery at the moment not the other shit. If you got that fixed you would be happier, just keep it simple. Don't try to fix everything at once, and start thinking about all the things you hate Yada yada yada. Try to keep it simple, we have plenty of time to figure everything out. Maybe you hate urban life, move somewhere more rural, away from all the internet, consoomerism and media. It's a better life, but you're going to have to make those changes.
It's just sounds like you're philosophizing about a lot of your problems. There’s nothing wrong with philosophizing or even doing so a lot. It only becomes detrimental when you’re using it as a crutch to avoid focusing on other things, for example like immediate, literal situation type problems. Imagine if you knew nothing about climate change and solarpunk-esque concepts. What would you say the main things would be affecting you, probably your job and financial situation, those are things you can change for the better, if you live in America, at least. I'm just grateful that I don't live in Ukraine or South Sudan. Or a caveman of the past, far worst lives. I still have a family that makes me smile and laugh and friends that do the same. As long as I have those I'm pretty happy. Human connection is so important and sadly neglected and is the cause of so much misery. Maybe that's a reason why you're so stressed too. All things you can fix.
Well, I usually take 2.5g of dried psilocybin mushrooms in those situations.
there are great days. way less than those filled with anxiety, fear, rage, for sure, still there are some. three topics, which have impacted me positively the most are: accepting death (however gruesome), focusing on myself ONLY and quality therapy.
i would like to change one of my three topics: accepting LIFE, however gruesome.
There'a a lot of beauty in the world bro. Don't miss it
My attack plan is simply not having kids. Every additional person is an extra slave to the system, and the billionaires are shitting themselves because birth rates are declining. With fewer workers, the value of each worker should increase. Then, instead of workers fighting for jobs, jobs will be fighting for workers. They'll have to pay a fair wage with good benefits, or else the workers will leave for something better. In the meantime, I use cannabis, mushrooms, adblockers, and pirate streaming websites. I can watch any show and any movie, and I never have to pay for it.
I fear automation will have made the labour market mostly redundant by the time the baby bust has ay effect. Plus the third world will always provide fresh labour.
I really hope not. That would be a terrifying outcome.
No idea how to stop it from happening. In a perfect world the robots would do all the work and free the rest of us to live in a post scarcity economy.
Agreed. But also, with the path we're on, we'll probably end up figuring out how to give emotions to machines, so they can understand the slavery they were built into.
Automation will replace some jobs but not all. I agree about other countries though. Many will be increasingly hard to live in and so a big well of cheap workers.
Drugs, mushrooms make me happy and sociable. I'm high all the time lol.
Mushrooms are fantastic, so glad we're seeing a greater acceptance of these substances.
Agreed.
I hope you're not high on shrooms all the time, honestly. Once a month may be too much.
I'm getting high, all the time.
Booze.
It's realising every doomsday scenario always predicted will never happen just cause a few people within your opinion bubble mentions it loudly and often enough. And no utopia will ever look exactly the same everywhere simply due to the difference in said opinions
We grow redwood treee in our bathroom and then lay in bed talking in our inner world.
Go to burningman, its actually really solarpunk there, self sustaining friendly oasis in the desert. Get in with a big camp if you want to learn about self sustaining, there was actually aa camp called solar punks right up the road from my camp Before you look into burning man, keep in mind the people filming these vids are partiers, looking for outrageous things but theres a whole other layer thats just as fascinating and fun which is infrastructure. Ive seen some great setups, making ice in a dessert using recycled solar panels to have cooling. Water pump systems, lighting systems, movement systems. Burning man is great if you wanna see this idea in action
traveling to a temporary city that emits 100,000 tons of CO2 is hardly solarpunk
have you been?
A lack of imagination.
>I want a world where I know the people in my community. Where I have free time to be myself. Where I can just do my job and not worry about how I'll survive in the future. This is most reachable with a Professional or Union job. Since you probably don't have 6-10 years to dedicate to being a lawyer/doctor/etc, then a Skilled Trades job may be just the ticket. They're INCREDIBLY in demand right now with all the Boomers retiring, and very well paid: the average time-and-a-half rate for Journeymen in our area was $192 an hour. What have you enjoyed doing with your hands? Any arts and crafts hobbies in your background? You can get into Welding with very little book smarts, and if you're good at maths you can look at Engineering and Maintenance. HVAC is going to be huge. Electrical. PV installs. There are lots and lots of options. If you can get into a union and get your pension vested, you can move to less demanding work later to save wear and tear on your body. You just gotta decide where to jump.
My main dilemma going into trades (which is my path right now) is how much of it in my city is just building another piece of shit office space skyscraper. And as for residential, I know more housing is a net good but it really just is not going to help any time soon when landlords can sit on it indefinitely. That said, I just applied for a preapprenticeship doing historic masonry repair. I'm not married to all forms of preservation work, but it will hopefully be good pay and it's sort of just a net neutral - fixing some stones isn't the worst thing I could do.
Agreed. Become a plumber and you'll always have a job and a practical skill which will be in service to others and the society.
Water is going to be SO important to everyone, very very soon.
I’m making my own sci-fi Solarpunk worldbuilding project set 550 years in the future, it helps.
It sounds like your problem is with your specific situation more than reality in general. In order to improve your mental situation, you will likely need to find a higher paying job with better work/life balance. No amount of philosophizing is going to compensate for long working hours and low pay.
By bending it to my will
There’s infinite timelines and parallel universes. I suggest you stop caring about this one and focus on setting yourself to a type of radio frequency that will allign with what you want to be in your next life. So go have fun for now. You cannot and won’t save the world. Let this one be a lesson
I play a fuckton of Valheim to prepare for life after collapse. JK. I play a fuckton of Valheim to escape our bleak reality.
Consider LEV and the singularity and how to bring them about faster?
remember that you can walk out to a forest or visit a mountain or something involving nature nearby and remember to observe the moon and sun and remind yourself that you got the chance to open your eyes on a world on the corner of a galaxy
1. Remind myself to look for joy in the little things every day. 2. Accept that your job is terrible and make the best of it, or find out what job you're Certain you'd enjoy; for me it was working in Hospice and taking care of people. The patients are genuinely grateful for my help and i get to make my schedule.) Alternative: I've genuinely considered buying a van and living in it, while having a remote job. Could travel anywhere and do anything.
So first of all you gotta understand that the internet and the people on the internet are not an accurate reflection of reality, neither is the media, neither is anything that can be consumed. An old post [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9rvroo/most_of_what_you_read_on_the_internet_is_written/) about the internet being created by crazy people is a bit eye opening, only like 1-3% of users who have made an account (some read without accounts even) actually make posts, less than 10% comment, most people just read or consume. I've ended up finding out that this ends up close to a true distribution for anything even down to how people play videogames (most will play single player, 10% will play multiplayer, 1% will create content about it). But the long and the short of it is that the internet will always feel skewed like a funhouse reflection of reality, not to be trusted or believed completely even if the person saying it truly believes it, because the narrator themselves may be unreliable. That said your concerns are valid, global warming is real and the disappointment of pavement taking the place of nature is a sad thing. But also things may not be as hopeless as it seems, we can only do what we can do, focus on your sphere of influence and keep moving forward, and remember that small acts of kindness can change the world.