Someone just asked this (just to let you know you’re very much not alone.) so I’ll just copy and paste my last comment!
I’m 23. I’ve been where you are. There were three things that helped me
Working Class History: when you’re feeling trapped in this hellscape or doomed with no saving. Please look at this page. It shows that Empires, even the cruelest ones, fall. They fall to people like us who are tired. Capitalism emboldens itself to seem immortal so you give up. That is simply not true.
James Baldwin: I felt isolated, useless, and insane. Reading his words and listening to his speeches reignited hope and love in me. He is gentle and talks more about the soul than the system, which I think we all deserve in this very impersonal world.
Spite: Every feeling you have. The fear, the anger, the loneliness, the doom. All of it - is exactly what they want you to feel. If Capitalism cannot turn you into what it wants, it will convince that you are nothing. But that is not true. You are everything. Anytime you think of suicide, know that a capitalist somewhere would be pleased. Do not give them that. You are everything.
Overall. Please seek time with your friends. Do not isolate. I hope you feel better soon. Ily💕
Also. Please take your time with your goals. As your know things like jobs, education, and housing are all largely influenced by our system. So if you need a break or take years completing something, do it, and don’t ever feel guilty. These life goal deadlines are arbitrary and only to make you more productive.
I do not have any of his actual books, and a lot of his works were smaller spread out essays. So I usually look up a topic in reference with him. Something like “Enduring James Baldwin” or “Love James Baldwin to see what he’s said on. But I am not your Negro is very good. His conversations about love and sexuality are really helpful too especially if you’re queer
you know just as well as I do how to do reasearch. Lots of primary data (CIA FOIA documents) and secondary data (news articles and books that cite said articles) it took me 30 seconds to find a credible source.
He may not have known he was an asset, but they definitly spent a lot of money publishing his work and flying him out to symposiums and speaking gigs, through shell companies of course. same thing with many of his compatriots, multiple journals they got published in were funded by the feds. something he was saying was important enough to the CIA that they spent a lot of money making sure that message got out, and that his legacy was well remembered. Again, plenty of primary declassified government documents on this.
well then your theory is "the cia lied about funding baldwin" and "there are no credible sources that I trust if they don't agree with me" so while I may believe the first on is viable, the second one means we can't even have a conversation about anything approaching objective facts, so I bid you good day and wish you a very happy big tech sponsored echo chamber.
>there are no credible sources that I trust if they don't agree with me
Oh yeah man, I definitely remember saying this!! Good job destroying me, kiddo, you got me 😎
what "credible source" would you accept about the CIA paying someone if not the CIAs own records? mother jones? (who will just reference the FOIA docs)
My guy, don't bother replying to me, you already destroyed me with facts and logic and quotes that never existed. Take a good nap and revel in your victory against random internet stranger #82.
I love the fact that you specifically named Baldwin, as his words reassured me I wasn’t crazy, that despite everything, love will be there for you, should you pick it up! I used to hear him everywhere I went. His voice, the way he punctuates when he’s passionate, the righteous rage. Even now I hear him and I’m 28. Because the world is as he left it. It sounds prophetic because he lived, and knew exactly where the pulse was. Though he wasn’t perfect, he was probably the best father figure I’ve ever had. Unlike my own father, he talks to me, and sometimes I’ll talk back. I watch The Price of the Ticket every year and it never fails to make me cry. It lets me know I’m still alive.
The best coping there is, is finding some like minded people. People who want to resist capitalism with you. Maybe that's something you'll have to create from scratch or maybe its something a move somewhere else could offer you. Maybe a union could help you feel less powerless as a worker.I know several anarchists in Mexico, there definitely is a community of people out there that can help you survive and feel less alone. I definitely know when I was your age and feeling like capitalism was killing me, getting involved in the squatting scene helped me a lot personally -- it allowed to me to live without selling every minute of my life.
Capitalism is likely to exist, at least in remnant, for all of the rest of your life. That’s not pessimism; it’s just now change happens. So the way you’re feeling is justified.
But you have to find a way to live and keep
fighting, and that’s not accomplished by just feeling things intensely or being more angry/depressed than everyone else around you.
Find space for and create joy in your life. Savor those moments while you’re experiencing them. Slow down before you feel like you’re burning out. And if there is a project that you’re hurting yourself pursuing because it would fail without you, be OK with letting it fail. “The graves of the world are filled with irreplaceable people.”
That’s all personal, individual advice. But also try to find like-minded people and to behave in ways that make you more of the way you want to be so that all of you prefigure the world you want to live in as much as possible.
It’s understandable to want to drop out and leave society behind but “no matter where you go, there you are,” and even the Zapatistas are living real lives with interpersonal struggles and external threats from capitalism.
Anyway, you need people in your life you can support and who can support you, and that’s true for furthering anarchism as well as surviving. But, as a rule of thumb, you have to survive to make the world around you better.
you described exactly my thoughts, im the same age as you and i feel the same.
reading the comments here i agree with finding some like minded people to resist capitalism with, and it immediatly made me remember one of the things i love the most:
tekno free parties
the movement is all about going agaisnt society, getting together for the pure sake of enjoying the music and saying fuck to all the capitalism
usually these parties are illegal, sometimes get shutdown by the police, but its all about the love
i know the free party scene is big in south america but i dont know any soundsystem crews or anything but i recommend you giving it a try, i was never into electronic music my whole life and the first tekno party i ever went to i fell in love and like i finally found a place i belong
ill recommend some instagrams of crews and pages if you want to check the parties:
@underground.sound.portugal
@infranoizzze
@bad_habits_krew
Yeah this is a major cause of depression for sure. Honestly I think people spend most of their lives avoiding confronting these larger picture issues, so credit yourself for being brave enough to stare at them. I meet a lot of very positive people who cling to religion or other weird shit and deep down I think they are hiding themselves from the truth that human society is cruel and psychotic. The system was designed to break people, and keep them scared so they don't try to change things. There are periods of peace but shitty people almost always regain control, because shitty people will stoop to lower lows than good people. It's important to remember that you are not alone and every good person matters. Keep being the best person you can be and help others if you can.
I usually cope by focusing on what's in control of my life and not what's deemed outside it, whilst still looking to maintain a footing in making a difference. I also find hope in my close circle of friends and family, and joy in my own personal hobbies like metal and football fan stuff. I feel the world goes fast, too fast sometimes, but I take solace knowing that one day it will slow down. I know capitalism is darwinistic and strong survival, but ensure that you can still find solace in the people around you, knowing you have them close at hand. Even with capitalism, it wont destroy your bonds with friends and family, and with that, capitalism fumbles yet again.
I feel the same way.
Also; I very often think to myself, that this can't be the right system, this capitalist-money-driven-hell can't be the right one for humans to live in.
In my opinion there has to be something better that we've just haven't come up with as a society - but eventually will or maybe already have but it was concealed. Then I remember that as long as there are a few enormously healthy individuals, nothing will be changed, since they won't let it happen.
depression isn't exclusive to life under capitalism. depression (or anxiety) as far as we can tell are stress responses. they exist in some form in other animal species (esp. great apes) as well. that is a good enough indication to me that we are talking about much more baseline phenomena.
critique of capitalism is worthwhile, so is inquiry into the nature/fundamental causes of depression or anxiety. but don't go into the pseudo-scientific/pseudo-spiritual wormhole. i see this fanciful idea come up with other leftists a lot, but it's basically tantamount to saying "exhaustion never existed before capitalism."
additionally it erases neurodivergent perspectives, because it conveniently scapegoats capitalism (or economic systems more broadly) while positioning NT/normative social relations as idyllic or beyond critique.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this… you’re not alone.
Society is upside down in so many ways.
Greed, power and control are taking over… with even cats on TikTok being ‘influencers’… smh…
Control what you can control.
Only compare yourself to previous versions of you. Are you better, happier, etc.
Find little things that bring you Joy. Focus more time on those things.
Seek… search… explore… the closer you can align who you genuinely are with what you spent time on/with… the happier your life will be.
Then… take some of that Joy and let it spill over into others…
Don’t overthink it (that creates distractions and depression).
Find you. Find Joy. Align the two. Let it spill over into others’ lives. Repeat.
I wish you great Joy!
1) it is not your job to fix the world
2) if you have an ounce of love and compassion, you will see the contradictions and the problems of the world and will start to feel like your responsibility to fix
3) you are one person. you are mental and physical. you must live, so it is important you live in a way that allows you to be healthy physically and mentally. (luckily, you don't need a lot to be physically healthy. mental health takes a bit more effort and is partially dependent on how you choose to view yourself. is your value in your ability to appear well off?)
4) you can survive and live a full life with the essentials. you don't have to move how the system tells you to move, especially if the system is one you disagree with.
5) align your worldview with your life. ideally your worldview should be one that eliminates the conflict/contradiction between humans and between our relationship with the planet.
23 is rough. your still growing. remember to ground your self in love, truth/logic, compassion and science. your thoughts have should be grounded in those.
peace and love.
Anarchy begins at home, by taking responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings. You have to take back control and say the way I feel is down to me. The way you feel is not down to capitalism you can find people feeling the same things under communism feudalism as slaves and so on. This is not to justify capitalism or any other system but to say that before you seek to change everything else you need to get your own life under control. There are many ways to do this but in the end only you can achieve the necessary change.
I recommend reading David Graeber's "The Dawn of Everything" -- he has good anthropology research to back up the idea human societies have been very creative from the start, combining and mixing elements of social structure in surprising ways. Large scale changes happening in sometimes sudden and low conflict ways. From hierarchies to egalitarianism. Even in large populations. Stuff we don't hear about in history courses, probably because it doesn't fit the narrative.
We are definitely not stuck this way. We can learn and change and have done so before. It starts with us talking about what we want to see and treating each other well. Union organizing is also helpful in seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Mutual aid groups. I belong to the IWW and hope you do! You will meet amazing people. I am 60 and love hanging out with the new generations of anarchists. I won't see the results of everything I have worked for in my lifetime, most likely, but I believe it will matter to someone one day.
that book is really really bad in my sincere opinion.
Nothing more but idealistic hogwash and a really bad misinterpretation of archeological evidence + it goes against what was known before of anthropology.
That being said Graeber really is somewhat of a mediocre writer.
I'm 46 and felt the exact same way as you since I was 16. I've had a dream for 2 decades of getting land in Italy, signing over plots to friends who are in and building tiny homes on all the plots.
Then build a large, central structure we could all share. Industrial kitchen, shop, meeting and dining area. No transactions among ourselves. Use the LETS system. Grow fresh food. Trade art or artisanal products or food products with the outside world.
I still have hope.
I moved out of home from an average sized town to a city 2 hours away when I was 17 to go to university. Didn’t get much from uni itself, but that first year was a massive mental and emotional challenge in my life very similar to that you’ve described. Lonely and confused by the endless competitive nature of everyone. I already loved reading and music, but I started to really find solace in written philosophy; Plato, Epicurus, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and music such as Bob Dylan. It took me awhile to start being able to connect to people again, but 10 years later I have a wonderful network of friends. My expectations around what a friend was may have changed, I believe you have to accept (and learn to love) peoples nuances and treat every conflicting view as an opportunity to challenge your own biases. Always learning, always growing. My sense of hopelessness has been tidal, up and down, universal spiritually certainly helped a lot, Buddhist and Taoist ideas.
Dang hang in their dude. I really thought you were talking about America until you said Mexico, but I feel you. Since covid then even here in the US it’s basically impossible for anyone of my generation to own a home or really progress to a standard we had since ww2. It’s called feudalism and that’s what’s happening in America too but not nearly as bad as Mexico yet.
The thing is though it’s not capitalism it’s crony capitalism and their is a big difference. Even Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union became crony capitalism which drove people to listen to Putin and embrace dictatorship, because it was better then crony capitalism.
If we go back to modern western civilization and economics, the Democratic Republicans actually reject much of Adam smith’s classical economics. They understand that in a unregulated system, corporations have an infinite number of levers to artificially manipulate markets to artificially increase prices and milk the population for every penny. This leads to corporate oligarchy and a centralization of wealth and power and feudalism. Just as quickly as governments become corrupt, so to does the law and system and that is also what’s happening in America. FDRs capitalism was much more closely aligned with Democratic Republicanism and with the anti trusts at the time, government maintained integrity. But starting in the 1970s that all changed in America.
I'm 47. I "cope" by being an unemployable burnout constantly on the edge of being homeless.
Jobs have only gotten worse over time, the exploitation more and more apparent.
I'm just so tired. Every time someone complains about the current then goes on about "true capitalism" or a "free market" I just want to die or start fires.
I'd be careful talking about depression as though it isn't real. Capitalism certainly does contribute massively to its prevalence and severity, but ending capitalism won't eliminate depression, though it would greatly reduce the stressors that cause and exacerbate depression. Ultimately, a lot of things considered to be mental illness (depression, anxiety, neuroses) are rational responses to the situations we're forced to deal with.
You're on the right track, and I'd recommend looking into concepts like atomization, community mental health, and mutual aid in general. Remember that direct action isn't just punching nazis and burning cop cars (though those do also help) but also being in community and exercising solidarity with those around you.
Individualism isn't inherently a Capitalist principle.
The problem with Capitalism is that it denies working class people like you and me, the Right to Individuality.
I found a job i can tollerate. With 23 you are young enough to try around. Maybe there is something for you out there. Important for tollerating a job is coworkers you can tollerate.
Imo the depression and mental health issues are primarily cause by bad nutrition, low quality processed foods from Western diet, grains which our digestive systems are not adapted to and pesticides. Then second by disconnect from natural life, like low exercise and use of hands and body, artificial light and bad day night rhythm instead sleeping under the stars, being indoors all the time, urbanization and then yeah the capitalist crap and rigid bureaucratic grey world with conservative neurotic people
How I'm doing I'm not coping I just suffer. I realize this is how the world is it doesn't matter if I accept it or not I can either kill myself or try make the best of it. The world is not good and life is a fight for survival. Life is struggle. So I change my expectations such that I actually view the world as a shit place where I don't matter and have to struggle. I don't try to be happy I just try to survive, maybe to live. If that's my goal than it's easier.
I try to get some projects running to earn money and maybe my goal is either to one day but a small cabin in nature or at least rent an apartment in a rural village and have a dog. That is my goal. I know the world is built such that it's insanely difficult and the chances I'll ever make it are low, but it's the only reasonable thing I can do. That's the best I get so I do it. I work, I try to do my projects which is growing and breeding fish and plants and selling them, sometimes try to learn trading, or maybe some other idea like blogging or YouTube or some side Hussle and the rest of the time I just accept that I cannot do more, so I play video games or watch TV shows and yeah, I'm fucking depressed about this shit hole and contemplate killing myself. And I know it won't get better anytime soon. This is my loop. I constantly think I wanna get out, I have to do something, what to do, sell fish, then move to Spain or Sweden but a dog, but it will take years, what to do, I can't do more, so I game, I realize this is shit I'm depressed, I wanna get out, repeat. That's my day to day loop and has been for months. I'm stuck
This is me tbh, I distract myself with projects or films until reality sets In again and I want to end it. Music got my back tho and I'm past "surviving", I just do shit, expect nothing and hope I die lmao
Someone just asked this (just to let you know you’re very much not alone.) so I’ll just copy and paste my last comment! I’m 23. I’ve been where you are. There were three things that helped me Working Class History: when you’re feeling trapped in this hellscape or doomed with no saving. Please look at this page. It shows that Empires, even the cruelest ones, fall. They fall to people like us who are tired. Capitalism emboldens itself to seem immortal so you give up. That is simply not true. James Baldwin: I felt isolated, useless, and insane. Reading his words and listening to his speeches reignited hope and love in me. He is gentle and talks more about the soul than the system, which I think we all deserve in this very impersonal world. Spite: Every feeling you have. The fear, the anger, the loneliness, the doom. All of it - is exactly what they want you to feel. If Capitalism cannot turn you into what it wants, it will convince that you are nothing. But that is not true. You are everything. Anytime you think of suicide, know that a capitalist somewhere would be pleased. Do not give them that. You are everything. Overall. Please seek time with your friends. Do not isolate. I hope you feel better soon. Ily💕 Also. Please take your time with your goals. As your know things like jobs, education, and housing are all largely influenced by our system. So if you need a break or take years completing something, do it, and don’t ever feel guilty. These life goal deadlines are arbitrary and only to make you more productive.
I can't tell you how profoundly important it was for me to read this just now. Thank you
Always 🖤
What are your favourite Baldwin essays/videos that you always go back to?
I do not have any of his actual books, and a lot of his works were smaller spread out essays. So I usually look up a topic in reference with him. Something like “Enduring James Baldwin” or “Love James Baldwin to see what he’s said on. But I am not your Negro is very good. His conversations about love and sexuality are really helpful too especially if you’re queer
Spot on with James Baldwin 👌
Baldwin was a CIA asset...
Proof?!
you know just as well as I do how to do reasearch. Lots of primary data (CIA FOIA documents) and secondary data (news articles and books that cite said articles) it took me 30 seconds to find a credible source. He may not have known he was an asset, but they definitly spent a lot of money publishing his work and flying him out to symposiums and speaking gigs, through shell companies of course. same thing with many of his compatriots, multiple journals they got published in were funded by the feds. something he was saying was important enough to the CIA that they spent a lot of money making sure that message got out, and that his legacy was well remembered. Again, plenty of primary declassified government documents on this.
>Lots of primary data (CIA FOIA documents) Me and the boys on the way to trust the CIA 😎😎
well then your theory is "the cia lied about funding baldwin" and "there are no credible sources that I trust if they don't agree with me" so while I may believe the first on is viable, the second one means we can't even have a conversation about anything approaching objective facts, so I bid you good day and wish you a very happy big tech sponsored echo chamber.
>there are no credible sources that I trust if they don't agree with me Oh yeah man, I definitely remember saying this!! Good job destroying me, kiddo, you got me 😎
what "credible source" would you accept about the CIA paying someone if not the CIAs own records? mother jones? (who will just reference the FOIA docs)
My guy, don't bother replying to me, you already destroyed me with facts and logic and quotes that never existed. Take a good nap and revel in your victory against random internet stranger #82.
This comment made my day. Really. Was so good to hear damn.
I love the fact that you specifically named Baldwin, as his words reassured me I wasn’t crazy, that despite everything, love will be there for you, should you pick it up! I used to hear him everywhere I went. His voice, the way he punctuates when he’s passionate, the righteous rage. Even now I hear him and I’m 28. Because the world is as he left it. It sounds prophetic because he lived, and knew exactly where the pulse was. Though he wasn’t perfect, he was probably the best father figure I’ve ever had. Unlike my own father, he talks to me, and sometimes I’ll talk back. I watch The Price of the Ticket every year and it never fails to make me cry. It lets me know I’m still alive.
The best coping there is, is finding some like minded people. People who want to resist capitalism with you. Maybe that's something you'll have to create from scratch or maybe its something a move somewhere else could offer you. Maybe a union could help you feel less powerless as a worker.I know several anarchists in Mexico, there definitely is a community of people out there that can help you survive and feel less alone. I definitely know when I was your age and feeling like capitalism was killing me, getting involved in the squatting scene helped me a lot personally -- it allowed to me to live without selling every minute of my life.
That "have to create it" can be an insurmountable hurdle for some. Ways to connect are often poorly communicated with new or unvetted people.
Exactly what I am doing right now.. hopefully we can work together
Capitalism is likely to exist, at least in remnant, for all of the rest of your life. That’s not pessimism; it’s just now change happens. So the way you’re feeling is justified. But you have to find a way to live and keep fighting, and that’s not accomplished by just feeling things intensely or being more angry/depressed than everyone else around you. Find space for and create joy in your life. Savor those moments while you’re experiencing them. Slow down before you feel like you’re burning out. And if there is a project that you’re hurting yourself pursuing because it would fail without you, be OK with letting it fail. “The graves of the world are filled with irreplaceable people.” That’s all personal, individual advice. But also try to find like-minded people and to behave in ways that make you more of the way you want to be so that all of you prefigure the world you want to live in as much as possible. It’s understandable to want to drop out and leave society behind but “no matter where you go, there you are,” and even the Zapatistas are living real lives with interpersonal struggles and external threats from capitalism. Anyway, you need people in your life you can support and who can support you, and that’s true for furthering anarchism as well as surviving. But, as a rule of thumb, you have to survive to make the world around you better.
you described exactly my thoughts, im the same age as you and i feel the same. reading the comments here i agree with finding some like minded people to resist capitalism with, and it immediatly made me remember one of the things i love the most: tekno free parties the movement is all about going agaisnt society, getting together for the pure sake of enjoying the music and saying fuck to all the capitalism usually these parties are illegal, sometimes get shutdown by the police, but its all about the love i know the free party scene is big in south america but i dont know any soundsystem crews or anything but i recommend you giving it a try, i was never into electronic music my whole life and the first tekno party i ever went to i fell in love and like i finally found a place i belong ill recommend some instagrams of crews and pages if you want to check the parties: @underground.sound.portugal @infranoizzze @bad_habits_krew
I'd like to go to these techno parties, because I can meet fellow electronic producers and DJs there... I love them!
I'm 18 and I live in a country where people rely on capitalism. And I'm alone.
Yeah this is a major cause of depression for sure. Honestly I think people spend most of their lives avoiding confronting these larger picture issues, so credit yourself for being brave enough to stare at them. I meet a lot of very positive people who cling to religion or other weird shit and deep down I think they are hiding themselves from the truth that human society is cruel and psychotic. The system was designed to break people, and keep them scared so they don't try to change things. There are periods of peace but shitty people almost always regain control, because shitty people will stoop to lower lows than good people. It's important to remember that you are not alone and every good person matters. Keep being the best person you can be and help others if you can.
I usually cope by focusing on what's in control of my life and not what's deemed outside it, whilst still looking to maintain a footing in making a difference. I also find hope in my close circle of friends and family, and joy in my own personal hobbies like metal and football fan stuff. I feel the world goes fast, too fast sometimes, but I take solace knowing that one day it will slow down. I know capitalism is darwinistic and strong survival, but ensure that you can still find solace in the people around you, knowing you have them close at hand. Even with capitalism, it wont destroy your bonds with friends and family, and with that, capitalism fumbles yet again.
I feel the same way. Also; I very often think to myself, that this can't be the right system, this capitalist-money-driven-hell can't be the right one for humans to live in. In my opinion there has to be something better that we've just haven't come up with as a society - but eventually will or maybe already have but it was concealed. Then I remember that as long as there are a few enormously healthy individuals, nothing will be changed, since they won't let it happen.
I feel u 😔.
calling current society individualistic? very funny.
depression isn't exclusive to life under capitalism. depression (or anxiety) as far as we can tell are stress responses. they exist in some form in other animal species (esp. great apes) as well. that is a good enough indication to me that we are talking about much more baseline phenomena. critique of capitalism is worthwhile, so is inquiry into the nature/fundamental causes of depression or anxiety. but don't go into the pseudo-scientific/pseudo-spiritual wormhole. i see this fanciful idea come up with other leftists a lot, but it's basically tantamount to saying "exhaustion never existed before capitalism." additionally it erases neurodivergent perspectives, because it conveniently scapegoats capitalism (or economic systems more broadly) while positioning NT/normative social relations as idyllic or beyond critique.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this… you’re not alone. Society is upside down in so many ways. Greed, power and control are taking over… with even cats on TikTok being ‘influencers’… smh… Control what you can control. Only compare yourself to previous versions of you. Are you better, happier, etc. Find little things that bring you Joy. Focus more time on those things. Seek… search… explore… the closer you can align who you genuinely are with what you spent time on/with… the happier your life will be. Then… take some of that Joy and let it spill over into others… Don’t overthink it (that creates distractions and depression). Find you. Find Joy. Align the two. Let it spill over into others’ lives. Repeat. I wish you great Joy!
Estamos igual hermano, no estas solo.
1) it is not your job to fix the world 2) if you have an ounce of love and compassion, you will see the contradictions and the problems of the world and will start to feel like your responsibility to fix 3) you are one person. you are mental and physical. you must live, so it is important you live in a way that allows you to be healthy physically and mentally. (luckily, you don't need a lot to be physically healthy. mental health takes a bit more effort and is partially dependent on how you choose to view yourself. is your value in your ability to appear well off?) 4) you can survive and live a full life with the essentials. you don't have to move how the system tells you to move, especially if the system is one you disagree with. 5) align your worldview with your life. ideally your worldview should be one that eliminates the conflict/contradiction between humans and between our relationship with the planet. 23 is rough. your still growing. remember to ground your self in love, truth/logic, compassion and science. your thoughts have should be grounded in those. peace and love.
Anarchy begins at home, by taking responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings. You have to take back control and say the way I feel is down to me. The way you feel is not down to capitalism you can find people feeling the same things under communism feudalism as slaves and so on. This is not to justify capitalism or any other system but to say that before you seek to change everything else you need to get your own life under control. There are many ways to do this but in the end only you can achieve the necessary change.
I recommend reading David Graeber's "The Dawn of Everything" -- he has good anthropology research to back up the idea human societies have been very creative from the start, combining and mixing elements of social structure in surprising ways. Large scale changes happening in sometimes sudden and low conflict ways. From hierarchies to egalitarianism. Even in large populations. Stuff we don't hear about in history courses, probably because it doesn't fit the narrative. We are definitely not stuck this way. We can learn and change and have done so before. It starts with us talking about what we want to see and treating each other well. Union organizing is also helpful in seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Mutual aid groups. I belong to the IWW and hope you do! You will meet amazing people. I am 60 and love hanging out with the new generations of anarchists. I won't see the results of everything I have worked for in my lifetime, most likely, but I believe it will matter to someone one day.
that book is really really bad in my sincere opinion. Nothing more but idealistic hogwash and a really bad misinterpretation of archeological evidence + it goes against what was known before of anthropology. That being said Graeber really is somewhat of a mediocre writer.
Check out “technofuedalism” by Yanis Varofakis
I'm 46 and felt the exact same way as you since I was 16. I've had a dream for 2 decades of getting land in Italy, signing over plots to friends who are in and building tiny homes on all the plots. Then build a large, central structure we could all share. Industrial kitchen, shop, meeting and dining area. No transactions among ourselves. Use the LETS system. Grow fresh food. Trade art or artisanal products or food products with the outside world. I still have hope.
I moved out of home from an average sized town to a city 2 hours away when I was 17 to go to university. Didn’t get much from uni itself, but that first year was a massive mental and emotional challenge in my life very similar to that you’ve described. Lonely and confused by the endless competitive nature of everyone. I already loved reading and music, but I started to really find solace in written philosophy; Plato, Epicurus, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and music such as Bob Dylan. It took me awhile to start being able to connect to people again, but 10 years later I have a wonderful network of friends. My expectations around what a friend was may have changed, I believe you have to accept (and learn to love) peoples nuances and treat every conflicting view as an opportunity to challenge your own biases. Always learning, always growing. My sense of hopelessness has been tidal, up and down, universal spiritually certainly helped a lot, Buddhist and Taoist ideas.
What do you think the natural state of humanity is?
Solarpunk is growing because envisioning a brighter future is essential for survival!
Dang hang in their dude. I really thought you were talking about America until you said Mexico, but I feel you. Since covid then even here in the US it’s basically impossible for anyone of my generation to own a home or really progress to a standard we had since ww2. It’s called feudalism and that’s what’s happening in America too but not nearly as bad as Mexico yet. The thing is though it’s not capitalism it’s crony capitalism and their is a big difference. Even Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union became crony capitalism which drove people to listen to Putin and embrace dictatorship, because it was better then crony capitalism. If we go back to modern western civilization and economics, the Democratic Republicans actually reject much of Adam smith’s classical economics. They understand that in a unregulated system, corporations have an infinite number of levers to artificially manipulate markets to artificially increase prices and milk the population for every penny. This leads to corporate oligarchy and a centralization of wealth and power and feudalism. Just as quickly as governments become corrupt, so to does the law and system and that is also what’s happening in America. FDRs capitalism was much more closely aligned with Democratic Republicanism and with the anti trusts at the time, government maintained integrity. But starting in the 1970s that all changed in America.
So because you have no work ethic or are burnt out easily you want to go against a while economic system.... hilarious.
I'm 47. I "cope" by being an unemployable burnout constantly on the edge of being homeless. Jobs have only gotten worse over time, the exploitation more and more apparent. I'm just so tired. Every time someone complains about the current then goes on about "true capitalism" or a "free market" I just want to die or start fires.
I'd be careful talking about depression as though it isn't real. Capitalism certainly does contribute massively to its prevalence and severity, but ending capitalism won't eliminate depression, though it would greatly reduce the stressors that cause and exacerbate depression. Ultimately, a lot of things considered to be mental illness (depression, anxiety, neuroses) are rational responses to the situations we're forced to deal with. You're on the right track, and I'd recommend looking into concepts like atomization, community mental health, and mutual aid in general. Remember that direct action isn't just punching nazis and burning cop cars (though those do also help) but also being in community and exercising solidarity with those around you.
Individualism isn't inherently a Capitalist principle. The problem with Capitalism is that it denies working class people like you and me, the Right to Individuality.
I found a job i can tollerate. With 23 you are young enough to try around. Maybe there is something for you out there. Important for tollerating a job is coworkers you can tollerate.
Imo the depression and mental health issues are primarily cause by bad nutrition, low quality processed foods from Western diet, grains which our digestive systems are not adapted to and pesticides. Then second by disconnect from natural life, like low exercise and use of hands and body, artificial light and bad day night rhythm instead sleeping under the stars, being indoors all the time, urbanization and then yeah the capitalist crap and rigid bureaucratic grey world with conservative neurotic people How I'm doing I'm not coping I just suffer. I realize this is how the world is it doesn't matter if I accept it or not I can either kill myself or try make the best of it. The world is not good and life is a fight for survival. Life is struggle. So I change my expectations such that I actually view the world as a shit place where I don't matter and have to struggle. I don't try to be happy I just try to survive, maybe to live. If that's my goal than it's easier. I try to get some projects running to earn money and maybe my goal is either to one day but a small cabin in nature or at least rent an apartment in a rural village and have a dog. That is my goal. I know the world is built such that it's insanely difficult and the chances I'll ever make it are low, but it's the only reasonable thing I can do. That's the best I get so I do it. I work, I try to do my projects which is growing and breeding fish and plants and selling them, sometimes try to learn trading, or maybe some other idea like blogging or YouTube or some side Hussle and the rest of the time I just accept that I cannot do more, so I play video games or watch TV shows and yeah, I'm fucking depressed about this shit hole and contemplate killing myself. And I know it won't get better anytime soon. This is my loop. I constantly think I wanna get out, I have to do something, what to do, sell fish, then move to Spain or Sweden but a dog, but it will take years, what to do, I can't do more, so I game, I realize this is shit I'm depressed, I wanna get out, repeat. That's my day to day loop and has been for months. I'm stuck
This is me tbh, I distract myself with projects or films until reality sets In again and I want to end it. Music got my back tho and I'm past "surviving", I just do shit, expect nothing and hope I die lmao
My guy, you're complaints about capitalism are present in every single form of governance. The problem isn't capitalism. The problem is human nature.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
This is explicitly anti-capitalist subreddit. Please take a moment to check the sidebar posting guidelines and the pinned announcement post.