Might be a boomer take, but if you’re willing to go so far as to not exist anymore because the world is whack, I don’t think it’s an unrealistic ask to show up to a city council meeting some time, run for local office, break some stupid-ass laws and feed the homeless or go to a protest, etc. If we all woke up tomorrow and decided to make a different world, we could. I would appreciate your help in making this a better place to live for all beings, it would really mean a lot to me.
We’re very isolated and feel powerless. You can do all that but there’s no guarantee you will see any change. In fact, you’re more likely to become even more jaded when you find out your local council is dominated by business and religious interests.
Have you ever considered the possibility that you’re being propagandized to respond to those feelings by commiting suicide instead of challenging the system that created those conditions? Look, all I’m saying is that if you kill yourself, you’ll definitely have missed any opportunity you had at getting to yell at the cops or actually making the world you want to live in. If you try to make a better world and still want to end it all, that option hasn’t been taken from you, but there’s a non-zero chance you could help make things better. I’m doing what I can, and I’d really appreciate your help, whatever that looks like.
My local council is all “small” business owners and religious leaders. They tried to fight a biking course that would have ended up costing the city $0 cause a local rich guy was willing to cover everything cause biking is “liberal propaganda” (and because one of them owns a bunch of dealerships)
We’re fucked dude. There’s no way in hell someone like me is ever getting elected in this town where the median age is in the 60s. And it’s not like I can afford to leave. I can’t even afford the fee to apply to run right now.
Then show up and fuckin yell at them. It’s free and the cops can’t stop you. We had people showing up yelling at our council about some mean shit some other person said to them because they publicly supported Israel, like it was kindergarten hour (I mean, fuck around and find out, though, right?), and they had to just sit there and listen until her time was up. Somebody else came up and personally put one of the councilors on blast by name, the dude looked like he was going to have an aneurysm but they had to deal with it because they’re part of the government and that’s freedom of speech.
Look, you don’t have to join city council, there’s other movements out there that are looking for people like you. Try formally joining some or joining some of their actions:
https://rebellion.global/ for extinction rebellion (climate change action)
https://blacklivesmatter.com/ this one’s pretty obvious, I think.
There’s also YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) groups all over the country, you could try looking for one where you live and/or getting one together by putting up flyers at coffee shops, nearby colleges, anywhere that’ll let you put one up and maybe a few places that won’t.
Look, I’m not even going to tell you to think about federal politics because it’s moot. The parties want you to believe that it’s the most important place to put your time/money/attention, but that’s bullshit. Spoiler alert: one of two fossils are likely to win, one of them is a self-serving Nazi, the other is Joe Biden, do with that information what you will. Local politics is where shit gets done in this country, and it’s a lot more impressive to local politics when you can show up either consistently or with a group of people.
Straight up, get politically involved in your community
It might sound silly or inconsequential, but it will have an impact. Even a small impact is better than no impact.
You want a more pedestrian focused city plan to happen? More parks? More multi-family housing? Better bus lines? Get involved, talk to your city council, get your friends involved.
It might sound small, but all change starts small.
Edit: Hell a friend of mine was able to get enough people in his HOA together to get them to start looking into adding some more people focused stuff to their little community. Like adding a couple bike racks to the park in their neighborhood and blending the curbs in a bunch of places.
If you have friends to talk to about city planning, you probably won’t kill yourself. We live in the age of loneliness. People are isolated and feel doomed and hopeless.
Probably won’t kill themselves, but not a certainty. Unfortunately I’ve lost a number of friends over the years to deaths of despair (drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, etc)
We definitely live in an age of loneliness that’s undeniable.
The only way to address it though is to get out there because our infrastructure is built to isolate and people have been raised to fear their neighbors.
Rare HOA win
You say this but every morning I must battle my mental health to get out of bed. Only reason I’ll get out is because I have to go to work. In the days I don’t work I’ll just lay in bed until my bladder is on the brink of exploding and only then get up to piss. I don’t know how people find the energy to go to protests or do something with their lives. I only work, and I only work because I need money.
Look, I’m not where you are. I’ve been there, and I’m not going to talk down to you about it from the other side. I’m not going to pretend to know just what you’re going through, and I’m definitely not going to tell you to just get over it. What you’re feeling is real and legitimate. What I can say is that the way that you feel, as real as it is, is not a fixed, permanent thing. You haven’t always felt this way, and you won’t always feel this way. Everything is temporary.
I have volunteered weekly for 4* years, have given speeches at protests, whetpasted posters against nazis, and attend most council meetings. Still have massive depression episodes.
Just saying that it’s not like both situations can’t be true at once, and I would argue that if you do the former the later is more likely then an average person.
I know I’m being that guy here, but this is a butchering of the meme format. Woof.
i was originally going to complain about this in text form but i couldn’t find an applicable community so i decided to turn it into meaningless internet dopamine points
roar
ROAR!
spoiler
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Heres an international resource that people actually can use: https://findahelpline.com/
They have an up to date list of prevention lines in a lot of different mental health fields. If anyone is struggling with mental health I recommend checking it out to see if there are any helplines you can use. They also have a nifty lite FAQ entry about how to start the conversation since it can be hard for many.
spoiler
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accurate
Doesn’t even mention the narrative that humans (the child listeners) are harmful to the earth, part of the pollution problem, should have fewer humans, etc.
