this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024

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181

As a young American, how do I motivate myself to work? It feels like the entire system is a scam and it's pointless to even try. (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It feels all but certain that I won't be able to enjoy a prosperous life or get to retire. All of the wealth is going straight to the top. All of the opportunities to move up in the world are being rug-pulled. All of the federal agencies that help keep us safe and healthy are gone. The social safety net is getting flushed down the toilet. We will live in disease and squalor, and the most vulnerable of us will die.

Because I dared to not be a sociopath, I and anyone else who voted for sanity will be deemed enemies of the state and hunted down - which won't be hard, because it would be trivial to build the most robust surveillance state in human history if it doesn't exist already.

I myself have disabilities (which I don't think qualify for benefits) that make it hard, but not impossible, to find a job. The problem is that I just can't bring myself to do it because I don't get what the fucking point is anymore. I have to work so hard to get out of this rut just for some fascist fuck to kill me or toss me into a torture facility before I can even experience life on my own.

Have you been in a similar headspace and were able to escape it? If so, what snapped you out of it?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

Move to a really poor country and meet real people there. Your life will get better, inevitably.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

I had a friend who was absolutely determined to never work for anyone else, and so he taught himself how to make wire-wrap jewellery to sell. It's far from an easy thing to do, as he was incredibly motivated and spent most of his time working on it, but if you really do want too, there are ways that a person can support themselves through their own direct actions.

And yes, I second others that suggest you really should spend less time on social media.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago

america is a capitalist country, or so i read and heard. money should be the motivator here.

and i also see your point. the general trend of money is to move upward. your fighting chance is to get the money to stay longer in your hands for you to benefit before it gets sucked up.

all i can say here is don't stay too much on the bigger things. more likely, you will not have control for any of those. focus on the smaller things you can change on the dailies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago

To generalize the answer a bit, if for no other goal, than make the goal to move to a country that better aligns with your beliefs and that you feel rewards you properly for your work. Make incremental steps to achieving that (what exactly the list looks like depends upon the person's current state and where they want to go) and make marking each one off a goal and motivation.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 hours ago (7 children)

If it is the election results that are making me feel this way. I try to be optimistic even about that. I imagine what if the party I did not vote for, manages to do the good things they promised. In USA example would it not be awesome if Trump actually manages to end some wars (in at least somehow fair way)?

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[+] [email protected] -6 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Lots of pessimism in USA right now, huh?

I think this is quite common for half of USA to feel this way when the other party wins the election. This is due to electoral system you have, which has very a side effect of very strong negative campaign. So if you believe one party whole wold will go to hell if the other party wins.

But the world will not go to hell. In my probably less affected opinion nothing this bad will happen:

Although Trump had some tendencies to overthrow the voting system, such tendencies are usually gone when people win the election.
No one will start concentration camps
Trump is very bad at keeping his promises (where it the famous wall?)
No one will prosecute others just for what they were voting. It is impossible to know who voted what. Also why would Trump want to start internal war? There is no support for such war. Etc. Etc. So no. The worst case scenario is not possible. Your system has way to many safety mechanism for whole country or world would go to hell. And a lot of people who voted for Trump are not that extreme. So there is no support for the most extreme policies.

About the work though. Under any government positive or negative changes are quite slow to implement. In many countries there is a housing crisis. And even if in my country government is bound to fix this issue it will take 10 or more years to fix it. So my generation will have to find a place to live somewhere in current market conditions.

So in any case it is very bad strategy to hope for the government to fix your personal issues like your housing, your salary, your job, your dating, your happiness. On those you have to work by yourself. And I can assure you the difference you can make on your life is enormous.

To fill you with some optimism you can try to write a list on what you life would look like if you really try to improve it. And yes of course live the politics out of it and focus only on your life and changes you can affect.

For my personal escape it made the most difference to become more optimistic:

By practicing gratitude
By always trying to look on the bright side of thing. I believe those things make the most difference. Because imo happiness comes from thinking you have awesome life.

Edit: Why the down votes?

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