Right Libertarian -> Socdem -> Demsoc -> ML
In my early days (late teens-early twenties) I’d say there were even times I flirted with fascist ideology, but in retrospect, I was a deeply unhappy and insecure person and that was manifesting in my politics in very unhealthy ways.
Probably depends on where you live exactly. I’m originally from an extremely rural area of Nebraska, U.S., and the typical working class person there will be significantly different to even other parts of the U.S. I’ll take a swing at it anyway:
Brands: Maybe Levi and Harley Davidson, but beyond that there’s no brands that stick out to me.
Aesthetic: Jeans, denim shorts, athletic shorts, t-shirts (especially with the sleeves ripped off), hoodies, plaid button downs work shirts, maybe the occasional denim jacket or chore coat, cowboy boots, work boots, maybe tennis shoes. One surprising thing might be accent - higher class people have more of a flat affect where working class is more “redneck” or “hick” for lack of a better word. This isn’t completely one to one though, some working class people might have more of a flat affect, especially if they live in a bigger city.
I’m not sure about class markers except the accent thing. I think it’d probably be how big and new your truck is or how nice your house is. People don’t really go for brand name clothes or luxury cars here afaik.
I think maybe there’s been once or twice someone might’ve been surprised I was from a working class background. I dress pretty similarly to what I did growing up and drive a shitbox car so it most people probably aren’t surprised.
No clue on accuracy of depictions of people around here. There is almost no popular media that depicts people from around these parts. If Nebraska ever comes up, it’s mostly only jokes about how no one lives here. The closest thing I can think of is Superman’s parents (from Kansas) in the Superman movie from last year - they were maybe somewhat accurate except they had southern accents for some reason.
I’ve been back and forth on this for some time. My partner and I have discussed leaving, but we both seem to always waffle on it because we don’t want to leave our family and friends.
I’ve found that many people stop emotionally maturing at about 18-25 years old. I’d like to believe that there’s some way to break these people out of this “rut” - possibly through class consciousness or some other thing that might open them up to more introspective thought patterns.
I was admittedly racist and Islamophobic and a bit of a bully as a teenager until I was about 19 or 20, having grown up in a very very rural American town where that was basically the norm. I found my way to where I am now via years of introspection, exposure to more diversity, and opening my mind to trying to understand things like class and anti-imperialism (probably initially by good faith exposure to Israeli apartheid and the Palestinian genocide). I’m definitely not a “finished product” by any means, but I’m a much better person than I was back then (over a decade ago now). This leads me to hold out some sliver of hope that there is some way to move the needle with the people who are like I was when I was younger.
Don’t let your emotions turn you into an unwilling consumer. If you feel your phone is going to imminently crap the bed, then get a new one. If not, then don’t. Also, phones don’t change much generation to generation anymore, so just get a used/refurbished one from a couple generations ago. It’ll be nearly identical and save you probably upwards of $600-700 (or your local equivalent currency).
Below the iceberg: “Not all dogs have bones”
“Redwood are algae” is a similar statement to “Pterodactyls are fish” or “bees are crustaceans”. Redwoods are land plants, thus are also members of Viridiplantae - the clade containing land plants and green algae. The sister taxa to Viridiplantae in clade Archaeplastida are Glaucophyta (unicellular algae), and Rhodaria (contains red algae among other things). Thus since land plants are more closely related to green algae than green algae is to red algae or glaucophytes, if we want to treat the term “algae” as a monophyletic clade, then we have to include land plants in that, which of course includes redwoods. Essentially, this framing would make the term “algae” equivalent to Archaeplastida.
Another simpler interpretation (same idea as “ducks are dinosaurs”) might be that all land plants evolved from algae, and nothing can evolve out of a clade, therefore plants must be algae. My hesitation to put this first is due to the fact that I’m unsure if the most recent common ancestor of green algae and plants would itself be classified as algae - this is an exercise left to the reader.
I feel for you comrade. I’ve had a very different journey than you but I’ve struggled with loneliness and lost friendships as well. I think an important thing to do in the short term is to reach out to your old friends. Some may be uninterested, but you might be surprised how easily many dormant friendships can be rekindled - I’ve had friends that I hadn’t spoken to for well over 5 years that picked back up like we didn’t miss a beat once I actually built up the nerve to reach out. This could be helpful to getting you out of a negative feedback loop.
This post has made me lose some faith in humanity. Congratulations.