My friends haven't responded to any of my texts in the group chat (I asked when we should hang out next) other than one person who said "I ain't got the answers sway."

We haven't really hung out since I got out of rehab and I'm questioning whether or not they're my friends to be honest. They don't reach out or even respond when I do half the time and have greatly slashed our time together since I stopped using drugs. I can't tell if they're just busy and it's bad timing or if they're ditching me.

I'm very lonely and alienated from my community for being a communist and an ex-drug user. I don't live in a big city (Midwest USA) and so there's really nobody else for me to hang out with or find. Most people here are super right-wing and/or have different interests than me.

What to do other than relapse on heroin and die? Maybe I'm dramatic I just feel alone

Particularly ones that aren't liberal or reformist.

I'm chilling in the parking lot of the gym right now and it's very apparent that there is a couple next to me living in their car. At first I thought they were just getting it on - she brushed her teeth and they both leaned their seats back. But I, being the confused creeper I am, looked through my car window again only to realize they're sleeping. Then it hit me.

They're living in their fucking car in a gym parking lot.

I don't know why I'm hit so hard by this, I'm sure you all see it often, but fuck. It makes me sad.

Radicalization points +100

bottom text

I'm struggling with people around me (in the US) being so politically disengaged and just apathetic towards very serious things.

I don't want to be the stereotypical obnoxious commie who injects politics into everything, but at the same time, basically everything political and we have very different understandings of the world so its hard to just sit back and be like everyone else.

Everyone around me just doesn't seem to care and I don't know what to do. I'm getting involved with a party again soon once I get back on my feet but I don't know how to approach people who are just chilling and galloping through, y'know?

Maybe this is a useless or dumb post but I'm just kind of lost

Seriously, I cannot believe the amount of racist, sexist, and overall just shitty things that are said. I just played an FPS for the first time in a while (CSGO) and Jesus christ.

Just makes it not fun lol. Maybe I'm too sensitive

Media whirlwind or legitimate threat to average people?

Just got out of rehab. Feeling great. Nearly 40 days sober, feeling clear headed and even more interested in socialism. More motivated to get back out and organize again.

Missed you all

I'm seeing a bunch of controversy surrounding which socialist organizations to join and I've heard the best things/least bad things about the PSL. Is this true?

It seems like nobody is willing here in the US to actually throw themselves into a revolt or meaningful change because our conditions are just good enough.

I still see everyone around me going for the best social status, the best job, the best car, the biggest house, and completely ignoring all the major flashing red lights.

I feel like a crazy person, like one of those people that's missing the point. I feel surrounded by lunatics and typically that means you're the crazy one but I just know I can't be in this situation, it makes no sense.

Why is it like this? Why do I feel surrounded by NPCs? I can't connect to pretty much anyone here. It all seems so trivial.

I don't want to sound elitist or anything I just can't see how people still don't see the full picture

What to do?

My personal life has drained me. I feel socially unwanted, I am struggling worse than ever before, and my problems are increasingly urgent. My brain is still trying to kill me through crippling feelings of loneliness, social anxiety, regret, poor choices (I am not separating responsibility from myself in saying this), isolation, and guilt. It is nearly impossible to clean my room; forget everything else it takes to be happy. It feels like I am prevented from being able to even try, like I am chained down 24 hours of the day. Obviously I must continue, there's no other choice, existence itself is rebellion, yada yada yada... but I won't lie and tell anyone that I am not tempted every time I see a lethal scenario to take advantage of it. I'm so close to buying an absurd amount of heroin (which in the states is laced with fentanyl) and just shooting it all.

Alas, these problems do not matter in the large scale of things, and they are but a reflection of a deeper issue within society and myself. So it goes.

Here are some more awful things that happened in 2022, which are sure to continue and worsen in 2023. This obviously isn't anywhere near a full list.

The Russian Federation invaded Ukraine, with Ukraine receiving upwards of 68 billion dollars in assistance from the United States and NATO (most of which was military assistance, you know, to kill people and advance their disgusting geopolitical agenda) - https://www.csis.org/analysis/aid-ukraine-explained-six-charts

Air pollution continues to rise without pause, moving from 417 ppm of CO2 to 419.5 ppm (a large difference for those wondering, and we are on no track to slow down) - https://www.co2.earth/daily-co2

It was a historically hot year. Literally thousands of records were broken. The Northern Hemisphere had its second-warmest summer and Antarctic sea ice hit record lows. The mighty Thwaites glacier is just barely hanging on, and Earth has avoided the Blue Ocean Event (one where Arctic ice does not exist) so far. Key word, SO FAR. The AMOC may be slowing down as Greenland’s ice continues melting. This could, over time, cause an unpredictable shift in water exchange currents in the Atlantic. In the Pacific, meteorologists predict El Niño to begin next year — and it could be really bad. - https://www.newsweek.com/record-temperatures-heat-2022-climate-change-1741940 ; https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-had-its-6th-warmest-august-on-record ; https://archive.ph/1BUhV

Drought is slowly killing East African wildlife, herds of zebras, elephants… and 20M+ people. Of course the west does nothing about this, because brown people don't seem to fucking matter. Brazil broke new records for how much of the Amazon rainforest they could kill. Go on, check it out on Google Earth from space. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/12/1131952 ; https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/13/deforestation-in-brazilian-amazon-hits-tragic-record-in-2022.html

Earth hit 8 billion humans this year. Statisticians expect our planet to reach 9 billion around 2037. - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL (not necessarily a bad thing, I understand overpopulation is overblown but still. Big event)

Cholera is a bacterial infection that I promise we'll be reading about more and more. Some of us may even die by cholera one day. Cholera is surging worldwide, in Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria, Malawi, Pakistan, Philippines, Cameroon, and elsewhere. 16 “protracted outbreaks” across 29 countries—none of them in Europe or the US/Canada yet. But it is coming. Westies aren't invincible, you know. Give it 10 years. - https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON426

Surprise surprise, people aren't happy with America, especially the people living here. - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/18/poll-inflation-future-leaders-americans/10903538002/

11 billion snow crabs died near Alaska due to climate change. Children born today will literally see (or rather, not see) thousands of species disappear. - https://theconversation.com/children-born-today-will-see-literally-thousands-of-animals-disappear-in-their-lifetime-as-global-food-webs-collapse-196286 ; https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/alaskan-snow-crabs-dead.html#:~:text=Earlier%20this%20month%2C%20Alaska%20announced,out%20between%202018%20to%202021

63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck at some point this year; this number will rise in the coming years as capitalism continues to implode. - https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/15/amid-high-inflation-63percent-of-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck.html#:~:text=As%20of%20November%2C%2063%25%20of,historic%20high%20hit%20in%20March

Gen Z has 1/10th of the purchasing power that Boomers did. Next time you hear some out of touch asshole talk about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, kick their teeth in. - https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/comparing-the-costs-of-generations.html

Billionaires made 5 trillion dollars off of our backs (2021) - https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/19/worlds-billionaires-made-5-trillion-dollars-over-the-past-year.html

Oh, and the UN came out and said we can't limit warming to +1.5 degrees Celsius. That too. This is obviously disastrous for hundreds of millions of people, but good news! We are still increasing emissions with no sign of slowing down in time. "By 2030, 2040, 2050" is a fucking joke. The wheels will come off in half that time. - https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129912#:~:text=There's%20%E2%80%9Cno%20credible%20pathway%20to,C%20above%20pre%2Dindustrial%20levels

Normal is dying. It's already dead for some. It is just unevenly distributed. Those in the West or richer countries who believe everything will work out just fine - that "the world has always been a mess" type reasoning somehow absolves the the existential time limit we have ticking - are in for a rude awakening, I think.

I hate to come on here and spread doomer-esque sentiment, but it really is just seeming to me (especially in America) like there is no hope. I only have faith in the already existing socialist nations. I can't see revolution occurring in the US, genuinely. The majority of our population seems to either have their head in the sand, be too bogged down by the weight of capitalism, mentally ill/homeless, or just don't seem to give a fuck.

Maybe (probably) this analysis is motivated by my severe mental illness and low point I'm at right now, and it's probably overlooking hundreds of things. I honestly hope the future proves me wrong. What do you guys think? Am I falling victim to myself and society or are we really fucked?

This took all my spoons for the day to write so I'd appreciate literally any interaction, even an upvote. Gonna sleep my waking hours away now :/

Happy 2023.

Just saw an article about coal consumption reaching an all time high this year. I know obviously China leads the world in population AND renewable energy, but they also lead it in coal consumption by a long shot. It's alarming to me. How fast are they moving away from it? Is it fast enough?

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-coal-consumption-reach-all-time-high-this-year-iea-2022-12-16

What do we make of this? I don't mean to be overly critical but it just seems like they're moving way too slow to me, given that we have literally 10 years before we hit +1.5C.

Collapse in 12 hours >:)

Edit: too many great comments. I love you all

I'm struggling with the thought of potentially bringing another person into this world in the future.

Things are so bad already and on track to get worse. Why, with this knowledge, should I have a child? Why should any of us?

I'm not asking this to be some overpopulation crazy eco-fascist but I just genuinely am wondering (and have an open mind) about what the actual implications are of bringing a child into the world right now.

By 2050 it's pretty broadly agreed upon that things will be HORRIBLE climate wise and even worse if capitalism isn't defeated soon. 2022 + 80 year potential life span is 2102. What will it be like then?

Why not adopt one of the billions of climate refugees instead?

I don't know, maybe I'm way out of touch but I just can't think of a reason to damn a child to a life like that.

it's infested

Achievement Unlocked: How Did We Get Here?

Malthus was wrong, right?

It seems eerily close to being ecofascist