• amemorablename@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Been getting back into reading fiction. Recently finished something called The Whistler. Was not my choice of genre (horror) but I kinda grabbed it at the library without looking closely lol. Mainly cause it’s indigenous author, so I was like hey, why not.

    Being how I am and wanting to tie it into what I believe these days, in spite of the story being based in part on an indigenous tribe’s “scare them straight” kind of legend and not anything directly to do with what we get up to here, I did notice that the indigenous legend referenced in the book is not far off from a “systems go beyond individuals” perspective if you take out the supernatural part. I don’t want to give too much away, but basically, what it reminded me of is how people say that capitalists are more priests of capitalism than they are capitalism itself. So it’s almost like capitalism is an entity of its own and I can see how this kind of thing could be understood through a supernatural scary lens as well if you take it very literally. Though in our case, it’s not that we’re saying it’s a literal living Cthulhu entity, but more that it reaches a point where a system’s mechanism direct people more than they direct it? Like they get sort of swept up in the mechanisms and it takes on a “life of its own” (figuratively speaking).

    So from a systems and behavior perspective, you could think of the implied warning as being something like, “Don’t just think about your actions as what they are in isolation. Think about what systems they create or contribute to.”

  • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Have a great week, everyone! Keep up with whatever it is you’re trying to do, steady progress yields steady results!

    As always, communism will win.

  • Jeanne-Paul Marat@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Honestly seeing people talking about the incident at the BAFTAs involving tourettes [albeit, the response from the organization was shit] reminds me why I don’t talk about my psychiatric problems. The “it’s am explanation not an excuse” crowd don’t ever actually care about disabilities and just want to judge people

    Fuck it I’m making a post about this

  • Jeanne-Paul Marat@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Do you need an addiction to survive in capitalist society? I know it sounds like cope but basically everyone I know who isn’t retired or a child has some addiction. Not cripplingly addicted in most cases. Maybe a “dependency” would be a more apt term. It’s less that a person is constantly under the influence of it, more like they need it in small doses consistently [i.e, someone who smokes a cigarette every half an hour or something] or needs to get absolutely lost in it [i.e someone completely sober 95% of the time but gets shitfaced on Saturdays]. Is it natural to have some addiction like that or is it necessary only due to capitalism?

    • Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      Its a function of neuro-chemistry not society or capitalism. People have been getting shitfaced since before the written word. Animals get fucked up on stuff if given the chance.

    • Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      Don’t think it’s only a capitalism thing, but I guess capitalism causes so much psychic damage both due to how individualised the burden of existing is and how you constantly have to deal with completely unnecessary nonsense. Also drugs are commodities, so they fit very naturally into “fixing yourself” in capitalism compared to other economic systems, despite all laws. My smoking buddies are usually either political activists or homeless people, and it makes sense as those are two sets of people who engage with the irrationality of the shape of society on a day to day basis.

    • amemorablename@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      My hypothesis is that much of it comes from need(s) being unmet consistently and traumas that can linger even when needs are getting met from times in the past that they weren’t. Needs meaning basic things that include what people would usually think of like food, water, and shelter, but also includes less emphasized things (especially under capitalism) like intimate connection (can be platonic), sense of community (in the meaning of interdependence not fandoms), sense of purpose and direction, sense of safety and security.

      Capitalism is far from the first or only system to fuck people up (formalized slavery comes to mind), but… if we’re looking at it in detail, capitalism puts the working class in a precarious position where they are disposable, which fucks with any sense of safety and security; it destroys community; it warps relationships toward the transactional; it reduces purpose to “live to make money and buy product”; it leaves direction in the hands of liberal individualism. From the perspective of basic needs, these are a lot of very big problems and it’s no small wonder people will turn to various unhealthy coping mechanisms, some of which plays right into capitalist profiteering; it has industries ready to fill the void with “treats” and the less fulfilling these treats are, the better (for the capitalist) because that means you’ll need to come back for another hit more often.

    • the rizzler@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      depression is certainly a side effect of capitalism. obviously there are other things that can cause it but more people are depressed than ever before (more or less) and i think the social isolation encouraged by current-stage capitalism is a factor. a lot of people choose to self-medicate. there have been times in my life i would get really down every month or so and decide to get really fucked up about it. usually it made me feel a bit better.

  • Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    I think I reached a new level of depression, cigarettes and alcohol are doing absolutely nothing. Silver lining is that it’ll be easier to quit, I guess.

    • burlemarx@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      Stay strong, my (Brazilian) comrade. Capitalism stretches our willpower and stamina to the limit, but we need to keep going, if not for us, for our family or for our cause.

      I am constantly feeling at the edge of burnout, with just a little push remaining before throwing me into depression. I do use food as a coping mechanism, but it isn’t being enough and now this addiction is starting to take its toll. I’m past overwheight, crossing the 80 kg line. I don’t have energy to do exercise and between all the demanding job activities and daily chores I wouldn’t have enough time, anyway. Now I also have a bad knee and back pain, as a consequence of neglecting physical activity and being overweight.

      If I can give you any advice (which I probably won’t follow, personally - o velho ditado “faça o que eu digo mas não faça o que eu faço”), is that you should stop with your addictions ASAP to avoid them having a snowball effect on you.

      But yeah, we live in capitalism, with all stress and pressure, so I’m not in a position to tell people how they should cope. The best I can do is give a positive message. And I’m rooting for you, comrade, and hope you feel better soon.

    • amemorablename@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      I feel similar lately with sugar. Feels like this year has been extra stressful. Hope things get better for you soon, one way or another. ❤️

  • SlayGuevara@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    Apparently fiber is the new protein when it comes to food hypes. And comments on Dutch social media shocked me as virtually everyone I saw said they had difficulties eating enough fiber. I knew lots of people were lacking in fiber but my guys please eat your daily vegetables and stop putting meat and cheese on everything. It’s not that hard.

  • yunah-knowles@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    having a shitty academic time. then i go online and read about random western ‘academics’ like a james gregor. kill everyone

    • yunah-knowles@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      me when i am analyzing usa relationship with marcos admin and i find most comical heritage foundation article written by a james gregor. idk kill everyone

    • Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      Nah, too few paragraphs. I reckon they were was just overeager to participate and maybe a bit too happy to find a forum that supports their “identity” as a “Stalinist”, whatever that means in their mind. It was two day ban anyway, so hopefully they learn and adapt to the culture of actual discussion forums.

      • yunah-knowles@lemmygrad.ml
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        4 months ago

        fffuckkkkkkkkk we could have had rival to trot ai that said based stuff like ‘usamerica is truly usamerikkka’

        well it’s preferable either way that they were just sincere and overzealous, a 2 day ban sounds fair. i parsed thru their history and i largely agree–none of their sentiments were disagreeable but it was a lot of activity and a lot of unnecessary comments that were a bit silly. but either way i hope to see them after their ban

    • Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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      4 months ago

      I kinda thought that maybe it was an AI trying to “karma farm” to build a reputation so they could infiltrate. The takes were super shallow and ignorant beyond just being a “baby leftist.”