#lamenting capitalism

[darth-jayne]

I was "learn a new skill" bored during my last quarantine, so I taught myself basic chainmail weaving. I'm fully engrossed, I can tell that this is a hobby that will come back up in the hyperfixation rotation.

The coiling and cutting of the rings is a super satisfying repetitive action, and I've gotten some tools to expedite the process for mass production if I get tired of it. Joining and closing the rings is a joy; I have to keep reminding myself to use the pliers so I don't tear up my fingertips.

I've wound well over 100ft of wire into rings already with very few ideas of what I'm actually going to make yet. I have vague ideas of dice bags and stuff, but if I want to make any armor for myself I'd need a different color of rings; I have a black chain hauberk I'm not going to pair that with a shiny silver coif.

I'm also thinking about making some armor for my bonus kid's stuffed tiger, I think that would be a fun way to practice making the shapes. Plus if I get a little bit wrong here or there and something pinches, the stuffie isn't likely to complain XD

Also, I've been listening to The Silmarillion a lot while doing this and there is something incredibly satisfying about making chainmail while an epic tale of war and heroism is being recited. Making me yearn for an idealized past: spring and summer for farming and hunting, fall for harvest and preparation, winters of crafting and storytelling. I know it wasn't that simple, I'm acutely aware of how dependent I am on things like grocery stores and pharmacies and my cell phone, not to mention doctors and civil water engineers and the international trade system and everything else that gives me enough ease and leisure in my life to have time to daydream about something "simpler".

Hell, I've been offered land and farming equipment TWICE as inheritance and turned it down both times because I know what the reality of being a small family-run agricultural business is these days. It literally killed my uncles, hence the offer of inheritance. I don't want that.

But it's remarkable to me how much the idealized life of so many of my generation (house with some land, a few domestic animals, garden, community of friends and relations living nearby, not quite fully self-sufficient but supplementing home produced goods with commercial purchases) is the same life our grandparents or great-grandparents fought so hard to get away from...

[uncanny-tranny]

The bourgeois or "exploiting class" doesn't inherently include the person who gets their nails done biweekly, or the disabled person who has a carer, or the guy who got a $70 video game for full-price, or the person who relies on medication (yes even the ones you don't think they "need"), or anything else like this. None of these people will, on average, have the ability to exploit workers by means of ownership or whatever.

While you are busy fighting with fellow workers, you are still being exploited by your boss, by capitalism, by (potentially) not having healthcare, by being overworked and underpaid, and so are they.

[pathologising]

Im genuinely confused when you post stuff upset about how ppl can be “selfish” and “not take responsibility” bc you admitted to being diagnosed with a personality disorder which involves selfishness, callousness and refusal to take responsibility/lack of remorse… isnt that projection then

this cool thing called therapy and recovery man. You can also be in the trenches and criticise the trenches.

It's also very one dimensional to think of people as their diagnoses. Yes that includes unsavory ones like the cluster b family. We are three dimensional human being capable of making good and bad and in between choices!!! Diagnoses are simply a categorization of behaviour meant to outline a problem, and any therapist worth your salt will tell you that a person is not just their dx.

Who I was when I first got diagnosed was a very different person than who I am now. Not to toot my own horn, but I like to think I've come quite far from the life that I was living. Thay doesn't mean I cannot be selfish or callous or manipulative or whatever else, anyone can. It's a matter of if you work at it or not.

I could go on about this but I don't see you coming in good faith. So understand that if you don't understand it I cannot and will not help you.

[steelycunt]

i am too jealous a person to use instagram in the summer months as a university student. i am just too jealous

[arnold-layne]

i hate that finding a good job this day always requires networking. what about us antisocial bitches that say more words to an npc than to a human in a day. i really should be able to get a decent job with skills alone, not through someone i happen to know, because i don’t know that many people.

[lemony-snickers]

dear body: when I complained about being So Very Tired for no reason, what I meant was that I wanted to wake feeling rested after a long night’s sleep, not that I wanted you to wake me up at 2:30 am and keep me awake.

[whosname]

Y'know what's the bad part of days off? Knowing you gotta go back there work, go back to real life.

[captainsolocide]

can't believe green day is going to be in dc this summer and I have no one to go with to see them

[haunted-fae]

inspired by the linked post

A replaced mc au

Warning: this is the first draft cause I don't do drafts, swearing definetely, abandoment, probably light bullying from brothers, MC brings up some of the brothers trauma

One week.

One week Y/N had been there and already they'd discarded MC.

The room in Purgatory Hall was cleared of all anime merchandise but did Y/N go there?

Of course not, they could just take MC's room in the HoL!

MC wouldn't mind moving out right? Wrong.

No more tea with Lucifer, no more movies with Mammon, no more discussing TSL with Levi, no more reading with Satan, no more gossiping with Asmo, no more binge eating with Beel, no more naps with Belphie, no more anything from the brothers.

Solomon and the angels tried to cheer up MC but how do you replace what you thought were true friends?

Clearly the brothers knew but MC would rather die than ask.

They didn't even get a choice!

They weren't told beforehand!

Diavolo was the one to break the news so MC couldn't curse out the brothers.

It hurt a little each day as they got ignored by everyone.

But at least they could focus on their studies or teaching Solomon how to cook or baking with Barbatos and Luke.

Maybe it wasn't so bad.

But it was.

The snapping point was when Y/N asked MC to not sit with them. The brothers just looked on.

When MC didn't move, still in shock, they started in with the comments.

"You're so clingy." Mammon

"Go away Normie." Leviathan

"So annoying." Belphegor

"Can't you see your unwanted?" Asmodeus

That broke them out of their shock. They didn't bother to give the others a chance to say something cruel that, by the looks of their faces, were on the tips of their tongues.

"At least I'm not a traitorous asshole like all of you!" They fumed, standing up about to storm off if not for Lucifer's comment, barely reaching their ears,

"Really another outburst?"

"Another outburst, huh?" MC said turning back to face him. "At least my 'outburst' didn't start a war and get my sister killed. MY 'outburst' wasn't caused by a BOOK and I didn't threaten to KILL a child! And the rest of you..."

"I thought we were friends Mammon. I stood up for you, I never even *joked* about you in a mean way and this is how you treat me? Be prepared for the nastiest rumors."

"Levi, I may be a normie but at least I actually had friends other than you. If your brothers left you you'd have no one. Actually i take that back, without ME you have no one cause your brothers were content to leave you alone for eternity."

"Satan, your a cheap imitation of Lucifer and you'll never be anything but his shadow and a fucking afterthought."

"Asmo, y- Asmodeus, you are a vapid shallow bitch and no one truly loves you. They just like how you look and to be honest, you dont look that good."

"Beelzebub, you drag down every team your on, in Lilith's case that was fucking literally."

"Belphegor, your a fucking asshole. Your weak and you blame the humans for Lilith's death when it was your fucking fault."

"Fuck all of you, I would say burn in hell but I think it's better if you drown in fucking holy water."

MC stormed off and didn't speak to the brothers for the rest of the year.

After 2 months it stopped hurting, just as the brothers started missing MC.

[nicklas-snackstrom]

as a longtime dylan strome lover i am just so filled with happiness seeing him on MY TEAM. and then i come back on here after years and im looking through his tag and i almost want to cry bc im just so happy like i just saw a gif of the caps swarming him after that overtime goal and wow. so much love and happiness

and i got to meet him last year at a practice and he was so fucking sweet

also my mom who is terrible with faces only recognized him because i showed her a picture and all she remembered was “raccoon eyes” so as he was walking out the door i was turned around and she just goes “RACCOON EYES”

[bordonfreeman]

Wishing odd job repair shops were still a thing because that is my dream job right there. I want to fix things, please, not because i have to but because i can pleaseee

[dinos0urs]

Honestly, creation shouldn’t be about whether you can make a living doing it anyway? Capitalism has ruined us so, so badly. If the only thought in your mind when considering a new creative endeavor is “will I be able to do this as good as or better than anybody else doing it right now?” or “will anybody want to buy it?” chances are you won’t even want to start. Nobody’s first poem or painting or song or sculpture is going to be a masterpiece AND THAT’S FINE. Write a poem to yourself. Play the ukulele for your friends. Paint a picture for your S/O. Knit a scarf for your mom. Bake cupcakes for your coworkers. If you get good enough to make a living at it that’s fantastic. If not, you still added something beautiful, handmade, unique, to your life and the lives of your loved ones. Art is about love, expression, and community, NOT MONEY.

I don't think many people realize how much they've been turned into a bunch of casually cynical jerks.

Someone may come to their parents and say "I want to write a book" and their parents will say "it's really hard to get published".

Someone might confide in their sibling and say "I want to sell my art on "x" platform" and that sibling will say "do you know how many people you'd be competing with? Do you know how many shops are even on that platform?"

I know a kid who once told his best friend "I think I wanna start a dnd podcast" and the friend was like "do you know what the word "oversaturation" means?"

Personally, I don't know why any of that matters? And even if it did, perhaps your response should be "Do it! Do it and see where it goes!"

[tripitgoodyo]

Lost Carrier Pigeons I

Dearest Pierre:

I know it has been a while. I know that time doesn't heal all wounds. I just wish I could speak with you once more. I wanted to let you know that I finally got a home. I finally have a house. I know it is a rental, but I fought the rental crisis and I won. You would be happy for me.

I know that living at your parent's place was the worst defeat after our manic journies from one end of the U.S. to the other and back again. Know, know that someday that home will be your home just keep your head up. I know that there are thousands of miles between us and a gold-digging plot to divide us, but just know that I am safe. I made it I used my craftiness to get a roof.

I ain't no homeless hooker on Central no more. Regardless of what that central ave is. I made it. Find someone that brings you joy. I am just working to someday have my moment in the sun. It will happen.

I wish I had been there for the SuperNova. I wish I had the time, the money, and the energy to be there, but at least you were there for her. At least you were the strong one, even though you see yourself as the weak one. That is the funny thing about life, we are not as we see ourselves. We are just and only how we are. That person is the reflection of those that are around him. Be proud of yourself and what you have accomplished. It is great.

You might have been discriminated against, you might have been a guinea pig for ableist experiments, but you survived. You are here. I hope you can be strong. Someday we may meet, but I do not know when I just keep working for my future, so that I may have a lease, a light bill, an internet bill, a heating bill, a water bill - all in my name and no one else's. It will happen. I am close. I hope, but your strength and struggle with that man that hurt you - your story gives me strength in the moments when I need to fight for my future.

I chose one bad situation for another, but you forced me out of yours. You didn't want me to keep working. I kept working for the future - so that I might have that lease. There were no leases to be had and it ended us. I drove 4 hours each way to work since that was the only place that had a job - and your parent's house was the only place where we weren't homeless.

I hope your sisters don't lock you up, I hope your sisters show you how strong you are. Keep going against the nation that imprisons you.

The Capitalist persuasions that keep us out on the street at night, make it so that we spend years without seeing a doctor and days hungry. The system has benefits, but you're denied for filling out line 7D wrong. How can you fill out the form if you're too hungry to think and how can you wait 3 months before submissions. I do not know.

All I know is that at least you are safe and I am safe. We have roofs, we have food. I have medical care, but you don't - I am sorry about your tooth.

[arnold-layne]

im such a loser it hurts. i’ve gained a lot of weight over the last year and it makes me hate my body. my job sucks and pays so little i feel ashamed just thinking about it. my grades are bad and my writing is mediocre and devoid of meaning. why do i even exist

[awkward-teabag]

I hate the idea that a company should always be in growth mode and that mass layoffs, sorry, restructuring is something that should happen at set intervals. Steady profits are still profits and people will be less inclined to work or get invested in their work if they have to keep an emergency backup job in the back pocket no matter how good their work is.

To say nothing about how it limits social bonding 'cause there's only so many times you can go through seeing friends lose their job and have survivor's guilt or vice versa, or how since it's a known occurrence it means you know you're competing directly with friends.

Of course that's the point, along with the business idea that employment should follow the Pareto Principle even though it's pop science, demonstrably false, and an intentional misunderstanding of what was really an observation of coincidences.

And of course that means you're constantly shedding people who have knowledge, skills, and training to "streamline" things or to "increase production speed" when overworking already overworked employees and throwing greenhorns into it does the exact opposite.

It's not about making the company better, it's about making unionizing harder, paying people less, making it seem like the company is doing something, and giving the execs and shareholders more money.

While overworking those who kept their jobs.

[ooc-miqojak]

I said this very same thing in a certain Discord a couple months ago, and got publicly harassed, then privately insulted/condescended to/gaslit, so I left the server ( -as they were trying to kick me for defending myself, lmao!). But it's an objective fact, whether people want to hear it or not - AAA games are, more often than not, buggy, unfinished disasters on purpose. And yes, games in the modern era are (more often than not) worse than they were in the late 90s/early '00s.

I know this to be true ( because I have eyes in my head and I keep up with news in the gaming community/I have experienced it myself), because after I got bullied/harassed out of this 'community space', I compiled several (fact based) sources that discuss this very topic, right here, called The State of AAA Games in the Modern Era.

But the simplest way to put it is that we used to pay for a whole burger - now? You pay for a burger you won't get for 6 months to 3 years later, but all you end up getting is the bun... but you can buy the rest piece by piece! Or, you can 'save money' by subscribing to a pass that will drip feed you the rest of the burger piece by piece every 3 months: the patty, then the cheese, then the lettuce, then the condiments, then the pickles... you pay for a whole game, then recieve only a portion of it, and then have to pay yet more money to receive the rest of the game (cleverly disguised as DLC, when more often than not, it's stuff that's kind of core to the game being playable/enjoyable - the Sims 4/EA are notorious for this).

Video gaming was scoffed at until it got popular, and then capitalism did what it always does: gobbled it up. They wanted to milk the cash cow for the least money invested, and the most monetary gain - the devs care, but the investors/shareholders/execs don't, and you end up with shittier and shittier games... and devs who are abused and overworked because they lack many protections that other jobs have!

The sad truth of it is? Money talks, and it's the only language capitalism understands - people have to stop buying into the cash grab traps so that the company loses money, and execs somewhere go 'oh no our profits' and then maybe they'll try to make a decent, feature complete game - like the last Armored Core game! It was a WHOLE game, and not a shell of what it could be - propped up on myriad essential DLC - upon release.

Tl;dr - As long as the line goes up, there is no incentive to stop doing what they do, because people keep buying in. Game quality isn't important to the people who fund the games, now - money is. The EA(/other game company of your choice) of today isn't the one who put so much love into their games when millennials were growing up. So remeber this: Nostalgia counts for nothing, and companies aren't your friends.

Unironically I think we might run into another video game crash like back in the day