this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
255 points (87.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27049 readers
1910 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

It feels like no matter where I turn some septuagenarian, or older, is making life miserable for myself and others. Usually these are older white Christian conservatives, obsessed with a delusional sense of reality that no longer has a basis in fact, or perhaps never did.

There is a disproportionate amount of wealth concentrated in the older generation and those who will inherit it will probably be even worse with that money than the last generation. Certainly we see evidence of that already, anyone in their 30's who has parents who help them out VS those who don't have that have radically different outcomes. For some reason those lucky enough to come from good families ascribe laziness and bad attitude to those who don't have the family support, as if they are somehow enjoying "self made success" while mummy does their laundry for them.

No generation previous needed this kind of assistance well into adulthood, but this infantilisation of working adults has happened because of the hoarding of wealth, refusing to pass on the torch in workplaces and just blocking change for the sake of stoking petty politics. Most of us will never own our own home but all the politicians want to talk about is whether it's OK to dehumanise trans people or not.

I'm 36 this year. For most of my teens I thought there'd be some kind of tipping point where the conservative boomers would fuck off or at least let the next generation step in, but that hasn't happened. Back in the 1990's you could be a girl and wear jeans and be empowered, now this is considered some kind of woke statement. As if we recently invented this idea of women and men being equal.

The faces of my two dogs, my cat and my husband are all that keep me going. Knowing they need me gives me just enough to get out of bed in the morning and start moving... but I'm struggling to do even that without having a breakdown. My husband and I have medical expenses we can't afford and are borrowing money to survive right now. I run my own business and just feel this immense pressure on my shoulders, that again is compounded by how unfair the world is right now.

Anyone got any advice for coping with this late stage capitalist hellscape?

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Owning your own business and self employment are kind of not specifically designed to thrive in this kind of economy. Unless you and/or your business have a prospect being bought out by a competitor you might be burdening yourself with an unnecessary degree of stress.

It can be stressful to run your own business if your livelihood depends on it.

Now this depends heavily on what kind of business you run too and how much you enjoy it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

We're a home studio that makes websites, software and digital media. I've thought about temporarily accepting a job but I fear that would just compromise my mental health to the point where I can't work at all.

In Australia we IT people get paid about half what our USA colleagues make, our expertise is treated with revulsion, even though it's critical, and people act like our neurodivergent/introvert personality types are a hindrance to a successful and productive work environment.

I love what I do, but I'd sooner stack supermarket shelves than go back to being some corrupt conservative dickheads golden ticket, again.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

What is the public service sector like is AUS? In the US there is kind of a large void left from boomers retiring and gen X not working public sector. It is leaving a lot of vacancies in local governments across the country which are all traditionally pretty low pace, decently compensated, with pensions and benefits.

Where I am these jobs are promoting up to 90% teleworking capabilities as well. There is a whole generation of vacancies pretty much in the US and I wonder if AUS is similar at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Consider getting a job even if you don't like it. You can always quit if it's unbearable. The increase in income will help your financial struggles.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Find a hobby besides reading bad news on the internet, it’s not that hard

[–] stembolts 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

| Find a hobby besides reading bad news on the internet, it’s not that hard

Actually it can be, when the same world that generates that news has commoditified every aspect of your existence to a transaction. Transactions you can't afford.

You're conflating debbie-downers with a generation of humans living a worse life than their parents. When a damn is cracked, overflowing with water, drowning people, the solution is not, "Hey just like, don't pay attention, man! Life is good!"

That type of advice doesn't go very far with starving, unhealthy (unable to afford health) people.

Some of us in the United States (me for example) can give you a list of people we know who have died because they were unable to afford insulin (first died in high school twenty years ago, most recent died last year), we know what our country has become because we cannot escape the damage it is inflicting on a generation, a generation poorer than the ones before.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Sucks doesn't it -- I too used to think that the Boomers would at some point exit stage left and let newer generations take over, but not only have they continued to hold onto power well into their 60s/70s, they've also done everything they can to consolidate their own power and riches, while knocking the ladder out from under the later generations.

My only advice is to take a break for the news and focus on yourself, maybe find a de-stressing hobby like drawing or sewing. Aside from that, I just wish you best of luck.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Just don't worry about it... It's there, it's happening, but it's not like you can do anything about it, just sit back and enjoy the things you enjoy. Worrying about bullshit isn't gonna fix it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I would see a doctor.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Just pay attention to what makes you happy in life and don't sweat the rest so much

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Reclaim your labor. learn a skill that saves you money. use that to barter outside the system. remove yourself from the system as much as is practical. learn how to make a molotov. Just enjoy the simple things and don't get too caught up in who threw what at whom.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›