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I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

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Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#61

Post by jdw64 »

My situation is similar. I'm exhausted from life, and I don't even have a disability I got scammed and lost all the money I had saved up. AI reduced my workload, and because of the war, factory expansions were canceled, so for a while I had no work at all.

I've worked 96-hour weeks for six months at a time. Even working nonstop, I can't save any money. I don't have enough to buy a house, and I'm exhausted. I've done so many different kinds of work, but no matter how much I work, the money just doesn't accumulate. It's not that I haven't tried.

Good jobs are only in big cities, and to live in a big city, you have to pay rent. If I pay rent, my salary doesn't accumulate. I can't even think about getting married.

I really gave it my all, but I don't know anymore. Why is my life like this? By the time I paid off my student loans, I was already in my mid-30s, and I still can't even think about marriage.

I just work and try hard, but the money doesn't add up. It feels like my life has gone wrong. I used to laugh at people who gambled or traded coins, but now I feel like a fool for working so diligently

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#62

Post by bestouff »

theflyingelvis wrote: post #46
Telaneo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have enough excess in society that we can spare enough of those things to those who are unable to take care of themselves.

It almost seems as if you are trolling. Surely we can, at least, agree that the excesses you mention exist only because of those who produce.

A society where just stating this is called trolling is such a sad society. I pity you and you brainwashed siblings.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#63

Post by pharrington »

Brendinooo wrote: post #11

The author lays most of this at the feet of capitalism, and I agree that the system has excesses that have contributed to the atomization of society, which can cause people to slip through the cracks, but...has any other system been obviously _better_ at supporting those with disabilities? Did feudalism or communism do this better? (I think about the "worst system, except for all the other systems" quote often)

There's no way in hell that humans have tried all possible forms of governance and economic systems.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#65

Post by freehorse »

avalys wrote: post #8
Telaneo wrote: post #5

> If your worth is not determined by your productivity, then what remains of you underneath it all? Everything else. You are worth so much more than your productivity. I'm glad I never got sucked into the protestant work ethic, since defining yourself based on your labour and the value you generate from that sounds woefully narrow-minded (this doesn't feel like quite the right word, but close enough). It's probably h…

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

Is the majority of jobs that are related to this space and most people do here productive, by this definition? I would say it is destructive even.

At least what OP says produces no harm at worst.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#66

Post by ModernMech »

meta_gunslinger wrote: post #4

[flagged]

> In the end of the day, all that outcry about capitalism is the classic "I made the wrong decisions and I want society to bail me out of them".

What's the point of society if not being a buffer for bad individual decisions? If I can't count on y'all when I'm down, why should I help y'all when I'm up?

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#67

Post by seanclayton »

stonyrubbish wrote: post #33
meta_gunslinger wrote: post #4

[flagged]

I am 23 years old. I studied hard, went to college, got good grades, etc-- "did everything right," as far as older people in my life told me. At 19 I became disabled from a sudden rare condition such that I am now very ill and mostly housebound. I thought exactly as you did before becoming disabled. Everyone thinks sudden, rare, lightning-strike style things just happen to others until one day they happen to you. I d…

> I don't agree with railing against capitalism either

I say we should all give it a shot. Capitalism has had its time to prove its value and its report card has left too many wanting. I think now is a good as time as any to re-evaluate alternatives to capitalism and its overwhelming role within our societies.

When a machine breaks, the best engineers find out what's wrong and fix it, no matter how many political feelings it hurts and what theories are shattered along the way. Chernobyl is a great show, btw.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#68

Post by Telaneo »

pj_mukh wrote: post #21
Telaneo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have enough excess in society that we can spare enough of those things to those who are unable to take care of themselves.

“We have enough excess in society” How are you measuring this? Hopefully something better than stock prices.

The other commentor mentioned food and clothes to you. I'll add that I can get food for free locally (soup kitchen style, although I don't think they actually serve soup) if I really need it.

Around 10% of houses in the US are vacant, although I'm sure a fair amount are that for good reasons (shitty locations, old and worn to high hell). This to me sounds like a resource allocation problem and not a lack-of-resources problem.

Energy could be free close to free if we made the right choices. The sun's right there. Unfortunately, we've been stuck in a political rut for a long while, making long term projects like 'do something about global warming' and 'transition away from fossil fuels' uninteresting.

Many medicines are only expensive due to patents and making up for research costs. Actual production is usually cheap as hell.

I don't have all the answers. People smarter than me might have them. But I do know that we can do better.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#69

Post by jplrssn »

avalys wrote: post #8
Telaneo wrote: post #5

> If your worth is not determined by your productivity, then what remains of you underneath it all? Everything else. You are worth so much more than your productivity. I'm glad I never got sucked into the protestant work ethic, since defining yourself based on your labour and the value you generate from that sounds woefully narrow-minded (this doesn't feel like quite the right word, but close enough). It's probably h…

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

> Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc

You could say the same thing about software engineers. But someone spending their days just creating JS frameworks is oh-so-productive and paid enough money every month to buy several years’ worth of food and shelter.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#70

Post by smallmancontrov »

xbmcuser wrote: post #60
Brendinooo wrote: post #11

The author lays most of this at the feet of capitalism, and I agree that the system has excesses that have contributed to the atomization of society, which can cause people to slip through the cracks, but...has any other system been obviously _better_ at supporting those with disabilities? Did feudalism or communism do this better? (I think about the "worst system, except for all the other systems" quote often)

I think most people conflate the 2 things the current problems are not just because of capitalism but rather the capture of the government by capitalism.

If you don't discipline capitalism with a firm hand, double insulation guarantees that it takes over the government.
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