DragonBallZinn

Hey c/self_improvement.

Right now I’m really hitting a bad part of my journey. I’m seriously doubting my reason to keep going. I put in all this work and I almost never see any reward for it. Can’t lose fat no matter how hard I work out. I’m totally unemployable and while I have a summer gig right now, I can’t live through another 9 months of unemployment and I know that’s what’s in my future because no employer wants to touch me with a ten foot pole.

Right now, I’m looking at taking some college courses. But what’s the point if I’m not top of my class? No employer would want to hire me if I’m not perfect in every conceivable way. I have nothing to offer the world that literally everyone else can’t. It’s like I am ontologically inferior to everyone.

EDIT: thank you so much for all these responses.

The toilet has a seat!

Kind of going on an organization kick rn, and it’s actually pretty interesting on how back in the day, unions also served as community hubs similar to churches.

I want to go to a DSA meeting soon and see how I vibe, because as much as we may all lament the loss of community. I think it’s important for the left to learn how to build one, because the fascists most certainly have.

With UlyssesT out there touching grass, I haven’t seen this thread in a while. What in the past do you NOT miss? It could be very personal or just something everyone experienced but doesn’t anymore.

For me, I am so fucking happy the food scene in burgerland has changed since the 2000s. People seem to enjoy more well-seasoned foods and healthier options seem to outstrip the unhealthy slop I remember in the 2000s. Even my yee-yee ahh Ohio suburb has changed somewhat noticeably to support fresh ingredients. Less WASPslop is always good.

How about y’all?

I spoke about it before but whenever I have things I need to do, I find myself putting them off even when I'm out of the house in no small part because of how constantly busy traffic is. I may live in the middle of nowhere, but it's car dependent so there are near constant traffic jams.

Even at the grocery store I find myself wandering aimlessly because of how constantly packed the place is. The gym? It's full all the time too so it's hard for me to actually do my workout. When I'm actually in traffic I feel myself getting more and more angry and irritated. I despise how poverty forces me to stay a basement dweller in rural Ohio, I despise how slow going from point a to point b is because of how busy traffic is at all times. It makes me sad seeing fire trucks not go anywhere because of how backed up traffic is.

I think it's cutting a lot into my productivity in trying to find a job and get myself off my feet when I have to take care of other things, and I wonder if any neurodiverse people feel the same way.

Much to learn from such a phenomenon.

To me, Silicon Valley is a confusing beast. I'm not sure if this is remaining liberalism but there are some things about it (on the surface level) that I find admirable: it's generally science-positive and is a beacon of intellectualism in the US, even if tech is not your cup of tea I like the idea of some people being in the "problem solving business", and if I must participate in capitalism then working for a company that helps with sustainability in SV doesn't sound too bad. Not ideal, but leagues more tolerable than working on an oil field.

However, this facade crumbles at even the quickest glance and it sometimes almost becomes just as nakedly reactionary as the oil and gas industry. Elon Musk is practically the poster child of Silicon Valley and was a lib that just needed one scratch to give up the ghost and go full fash. Silicon Valley is literally acting like an Ayn Rand villain. Silicon Valley has also practically soured my attitudes towards technology and some of that can be blamed on pretty much all new "innovations" just being inventing a new form of landlordism. Even many of the people in the supposed blue city are complete and utter fash, the whole thing feels like it's permanently an 80s Wall Street movie but with tech.

Is there like any books that can better explain Silicon Valley and what it actually stands for?

I know a huge thing that you see online is talks about different generations, and it almost seems as if to me that for some folks, “generational conflict” has replaced class conflict. Furthermore, I worry that the American dream was supposed to die so everyday baby boomers could buy houses and see their property values go up hundredfold and invite otherwise working class folk into an “honorary bourgeoisie” system. But ultimately this is still a class struggle rather than a generation struggle. Like I’m gen Z and I do not see baby boomers as my oppressor, there’s plenty of millennial landlords ready to rip me off because LinkedIn told him to liquidate his assets’ or whatever idk I don’t speak Porkuguese.

I’m no exception, I’ve made my guesses on why any given generation is the way it is, but I can’t help but wonder when did this focus on generation over class all start? Did baby boomers grow up identifying as baby boomers, and when they were in their 20s-40s was there this idea that millennials were going to be their designated bagholders? If so, did baby boomers always have a consistent culture and identity?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, it’s just that the generational struggle seems really flimsy upon further scrutiny.