i lost friends for refusing to play along with depression/suicide jokes, especially as we all neared 27; that shit is poison, it wears you down, erodes your self-respect, inundates you with the subtle environmental assertion that its normal to be miserable
live earnestly or die
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RT @visakanv
the stuff you joke about (even ironically or whatever) has a way of shaping your reality so be careful and deliberate with that stuff. a lot of p…
https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1394772091660951555
its exhausting being the only person in a GC pushing back against a depression meme, refusing to ha ha only serious about someone saying they want to kill themselves, that ha ha none of us will make it past 27, that there's nothing good in the world and that everything is shit
in truth, a certain brand of shitlib belief system is both generated by, & perpetuates, this attitude. if everything really IS that fucked up, if society really WILL collapse in our lifetimes, & your beliefs prevent you from considering prepping as an option, then what's left?
making depression jokes and sharing suicidal ideation memes! because why not make the most of a bad thing, right?
except, this ideology is a black hole of nihilism; if you accept these premises, and are low-agency, there really is no escape. these beliefs are true infohazards.
do you
a. believe money is bad
b. live in a major city w/ a huge CoL
c. believe capitalism & climate change will spell the downfall of society within decades?
d. don't respect yourself or believe in your capabilities?
congrats, you're liable to become a depressive shitlib
the worst part is, when you're in the clutches of this ideological attractor, you're effectively forbidden from questioning most of its core beliefs; are you starting to think that maybe profiting from capitalism is not so bad? good luck asking your friends about it.
many people unknowingly stuck in this loop never make it out, and when they reach the bottom of the spiral, sort of get crushed into ineffectual burnouts, working service jobs until they retire into misery
those who have enough agency, however, break out through blasphemy
they take one of these core beliefs and, effectively, flip it; now they're a hardcore Trumper, or a disillusioned shameless libertarian, or perhaps they're now simply your garden-variety alt-right furry
they've escaped one trap, but have entered another
since that new core belief is reactionary, rather than principally reasoned, it must be defended, otherwise the ego is at risk; bc if it turns out to be wrong, what choice do they have but to lapse back into the shitlib black hole?
this phase is hard. they lose many friends.
many get trapped in this phase as well; its less bad, since its not quite as self-destructive, but its not quite ideal, basing your self-concept in reaction. generates further contradictions
those with enough agency/intellectual shame end up questioning these new beliefs as well
not trying to slander any one ideological group here (besides shitlibs), more just to point out the dangers of self-reinforcing nihilism cults; bc that's what a social group which rewards self-harm is, lets not pretend otherwise
i was lucky to never be sucked in
others are not
past this phase, there's no set destination; once you've escaped the black hole, and calmed yourself down out of reaction, you're left in the wilds, free to choose a new intellectual home. this is far from easy, but it can be a highly rewarding effort
this fixes the soul