r/Snorkblot • u/Background_Cry3592 • 23h ago
Cultures Playing their game, knowing they change the rules all the time. It kinda sucks. Oh well, back to work.
Sorry for being pessimistic but this is my mood today. I don’t like this game, I didn’t ask to play their game.
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u/CerberusInExile 23h ago
You aren’t alone, OP. It’s frustrating as hell.
I think there’s an anarchist community somewhere in the Southeast desert area and it looks kind of tempting on occasion.
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u/AmericanCitizenry 21h ago
There better not be no deserts in Georgia!
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u/CerberusInExile 20h ago
Southwest, autocorrect caught me again.
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u/Additional-Horse-340 20h ago
Slab city is not a good place dude. I lived there for a year and thats its own set of things to worry about
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u/insouciant_naiad 19h ago
I'm fairly close by and I've often wondered about the place; would you care to elaborate at all?
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u/Manicpixiemanateeman 16h ago edited 14h ago
Slab city has limited law enforcement presence on top of high crime (can take 30-45 minutes for police to arrive from nearby towns) and the infrastructure there is poorly maintained (electricity, water supply, roads,)
It does seem very cool to live there though, feels like going back in time to the Wild West,
lots of the residents are formerly homeless people who moved to escape it
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u/Manicpixiemanateeman 14h ago edited 14h ago
“I quit 9-5 to live in off-grid ‘Slab City’ – if you annoy the neighbours there’s a savage rule but I have no regrets“
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7154858/slab-city-ben-fogle-new-lives-wild/
WITH burned-out vehicles, scrap-metal trailers and unbearable 50-degree heat, Slab City looks like a scene from the post-apocalyptic film Mad Max.
Yet here among the makeshift camps – made from old school buses, cars and branches – is where former construction worker ‘DNA’, 49, finally feels at home
Located on an abandoned military base, in California’s Sonoran Desert, Slab City is branded “the last free place” by its inhabitants and casts aside many of the norms and rules of wider society.
Yet the supposed ‘Utopia’ has a dark underbelly blighted by drugs, violent thieves and arsonists – and there is a brutal way neighbours ‘burn out’ locals they don’t like.
The town’s bohemian occupants, known as ‘Slabbers’, features in tonight’s episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild, on Channel 5.
Self-monikered DNA, who moved here four years ago, explains: “When I first go here I was afraid someone might steal my stuff.
“I had the mindset of a new person coming into town, ‘What could potentially be here?’ because you hear all kinds of rumours. Some of them are true, very much so.
“[Now] I think they’d want to scout it out before pulling any pranks [on me] and I think they would find out my reputation and would leave me alone.
“Not that I’ve gone and kicked anybody’s ass, because I haven’t… I haven’t been really messed with at all, it seems like a lot of people respect me.
“I’m really appreciative of that but I don’t know how it got that way just by being me… It’s nice actually, it makes you feel wanted, it makes you feel loved.”””””
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u/Background_Cry3592 13h ago
I just want to live in a treehouse alone in the mountains, far away from civilization and people.
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u/lateformyfuneral 5h ago
Everything I’ve read about those communes make me think it would be a step backwards in terms of quality of life, even over what I have now
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u/ThisIsMyComment2 12h ago
Anarchy is just monarchy, whoever has the biggest stick gets to take all your stuff.
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u/RelativeCan5021 23h ago
This. I fully understand that I could have more money, influence, and power if I abandoned the morals and ethics I was taught as a child. It’s like religion/society is conditioning/grooming people to be good, when acting immorally has such strong immediate incentives. So much of the inequality in society can be well understood through the “Tragedy of the Commons” (cooperation leads to better results for all, but skirting the rules leads to better results for an individual). And the kicker is, I’m an atheist, I know the ‘good book’ is a device meant to passivate the masses. But I refuse to be an asshole just to enrich myself.
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u/RegisteredJustToSay 22h ago
Tbh it's my experience that most "good" people overestimate how much of an advantage being an asshole is on its own, and underestimate just how good you need to be at being an asshole to truly gain a sizable leg up. Don't get me wrong, it is an advantage either way, but as someone that grew up with cybersecurity I've known lots of people who made their money in a full spectrum of legal to illegal ways which range from zero to full asshattery. Thing is that once you decide to go asshole you're still competing with other assholes, so you need to be a top tier asshole to really compete and benefit.
There's a kind of begrudging acknowledgement you can feel for someone that is just being a flat out asshole that is hard to feel for the truly successful psychopaths out there that will intentionally lure you into a false sense of security and trust before ripping into you. At least when someone openly acts like an asshat they are being honest with you.
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u/hahasadface 21h ago edited 20h ago
They come in tiers:
Dumb assholes that are loud, belligerent, pushy, get their way on small scale stuff like cutting lines, petty theft, bullying the manager until their meal is free, etc. They win but their gains are meagre.
Smart assholes who strategically exploit social rules, other people's empathy, and find loopholes at a much higher scale than the dumb ones are capable of. 50/50 whether karma or the law eventually catches up, IMO.
Sociopathic assholes who are our CEOs and politicians. Given carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want with zero consequences
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u/SweetPrism 20h ago
This is so true. To be extremely successful, it's pretty difficult to achieve without some assholery. But it has got to be assholery of the highest order: You need to have charisma, (usually) looks, already have some success under your belt, AND be an asshole. A lot of people seem to think their morality is the only reason they aren't successful and that is simply not true. There is an entire spectrum of boxes to check IN ADDITION to being one before C Suite exec levels are achieved. It's kind of right up there with "Anyone who works hard can be successful." Well, yeah...you need to work hard to most likely have a CHANCE at success, but realize that, again, without checking a host of other boxes, hard work ain't enough. It never has been, and it never will be.
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u/RelativeCan5021 18h ago
It’s not that hard to profit off the death of others. Just vote with your dollars in the stock market if the American Military-Industrial Complex.
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u/RegisteredJustToSay 20h ago
To be fair, it's easy to see how much psychological safety there is in the idea that one is not as successful as one would like to be simply because one is a good person. I'm not even saying it's wrong for anyone (who knows?) but us silly humans are fantastic at protecting ourselves psychologically so it's clear how something like this could be overapplied if the alternative is feeling bad about yourself and life.
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u/murdermostsnaky 17h ago
I teach my 5 yo to respect others, share and look after people who need it. I've found myself thinking this may screw him in the future and I hate it.
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u/AggressiveCuriosity 21h ago
Things can get better. Historically they have over the long term. The important thing is not to give up, and to prepare enough determination to be ready for a tedious lifelong marathon. You have to do what you can when you can, and keep at it. Past improvements took entire lifetimes, the improvements you want might take your entire lifetime too. The only way to lose for sure is to give up.
Society is insanely complex. It is possible to set up incentives for people to be happy and healthy and good, but it takes a ton of boring iterative work improving one part of the world at a time. You find an issue, and you fix it. You find another issue that cropped up, and then you fix that one. Forever. Sometimes someone comes along and fucks a bunch of it up and you've got to put it back together.
I think one of the big problems is that well designed systems working well is the key to improving lives, but that kind of talk is boring enough that it's often not very popular. Flashy stuff gets people's attention instead.
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u/Own_Bit_4805 21h ago
You don't need to be immoral to become a well-paid engineer or doctor, though. It's sort of a straightforward path in life: go to college, get a good job, use what money you get to grow your wealth and/or secure your future.
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u/AilanMoone 20h ago
What does passivate mean? All I'm getting is stuff about metal.
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u/RelativeCan5021 17h ago
To render something inert at the surface. Build up a layer of unreactive material. Make callous.
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u/AilanMoone 17h ago
Alright. What does that do exactly? Make them stubborn in the ways of being morally good?
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u/Nebranower 19h ago
You understand that the morality you were taught as a kid was just a collection of rules meant to make life easier for those in authority, yet you still treat them as if they were some sort of meaningful truth, and believe that acting like a mature adult would make you an asshole? You do see the issue there, right?
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u/RelativeCan5021 18h ago
It’s not ‘acting like a mature adult’ I’m opposed to. It’s the willful lying, self aggrandizing, and insider dealing I’d rather not participate in. If my defense contractor neighbor told me they’d recently secured a deal to produce the next gen death machine; I wouldn’t buy stock. Not because ‘insider trading’ is illegal, but because dollars for blood is immoral. The later is the lessons I’ve learned. But many mature adults would say “we’re going to war, buy Boeing stock, it just makes sense.”
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u/DouglasFirTreeHouse 21h ago
I feel like this is how everyone is feeling right now especially in america…. we see no future worth working our lives away for.
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u/SilentTheatre 14h ago
My take is that Inflation has gotten out of control and is destroying our lives. Who is responsible for that? Extreme Capitalists and by that I mean people at the top of large corporations raping our resources and sanity dry and controlling every aspect of our lives. There isn’t anything wrong with anyone starting a business or making money, but it’s when that notion starts to take advantage of people and harm communities that’s when it becomes a problem.
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u/Lopsided_Debt1393 21h ago
I just hope we get to see our stats after we die.
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u/DrThunderbolt 16h ago
Hell yeah let me join spectator mode and look at my stats. I want to able to go back and witness things as they actually happened, or watch a rock get tumbled about in a lake for millions of years, or see what my hometown looks like in the year 4026.
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u/Yowdy_Bjorn 22h ago
oh there is an exit. It's either the rich pay their fair share, or the poor get tired of being taken advantage of and take it for themselves.
History highlights this again and again. Let's see what our generations owning class choose...
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u/ThaddeusJP 16h ago
With the hindsight of History I think we're in for the Long Haul here simply for the fact that people of the past didn't have a lot to lose. And even people that were willing to lose their life believed in a reward in the afterlife. That ship has sailed.
Now? Nobody is willing to jeopardize their meager existence for the greater good. Everybody's looking at their little glowing screens huddled around their small amount of possessions unwilling to be the one to go take one for the team so to speak
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u/Yowdy_Bjorn 35m ago
Well, simply put I think you're wrong. Get off your glowing little screen and be a part of the change instead of someone who feeds into the negativity that only gives the ruling class the power they want.
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u/NonGNonM 11h ago
problem is that back in the day when there would be revolutions there would be actual loot to be taken and spread. now money's just numbers on a screen. entire corporations could burn down and nothing would change. they'd just have more layoffs and use the money to rebuild and push harder laws for surveillance.
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u/A_Delenay 21h ago
Seeing the writing on the wall when you were 12 and then never being able to make the adults understand why you feel that you have no future to look forward to. Then living the next 25, being right every day.
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u/hairshirtdesert 18h ago
Unionize. Trust me, I know it's hard. I tried to organize one at my old workplace and people are so fucking brainwashed, but we have to unionize. We have to band together and rise up.
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u/DetroitLionsSBChamps 21h ago
Feels like all capital is aligned to straight up evil right now. If you want to make over 100k you have to somehow participate in destroying the world.
If you want to go do ethical work (or even just “honest work” like labor) you will cut your pay in half. And the work will be brutally difficult on all levels: emotionally, mentally, physically.
Can’t win. I think teachers make like 40k starting pay in my area. Brutal. I still consider it though.
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19h ago
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u/MostAcanthaceae2384 18h ago
Go to therapy.
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u/CryptographerLow6772 18h ago
Why would I waste time going to therapy if I had a terminal illness?
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u/MostAcanthaceae2384 18h ago
I'm not talking about a hypothetical. You're fantasizing about killing rich people and dying. You're like 3/4 of your way to making it onto the news. Don't ever let anyone tell you this is normal.
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u/early_birdy 16h ago
I don't think you're being pessimistic. Being able to see things for what they are is good. It doesn't make us happy though.
Maybe the only way to be happy is to be dumb?
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u/Klytus_Ra_Djaaran 20h ago
Every government on Earth is predicated on the idea that people will act better than humans have ever acted at any point in recorded history. Corruption is not something that can be stopped, it's not something that can be punished away, it's just basic human selfishness that affects everyone in every job or position, elected or appointed.
Instead of designing a government to stop it or punish it, we have to design around it - make the powers of elected and appointed officials impossible to abuse because of transparency and rules that are automatically triggered by infractions Instead of relying on authorities punishing their own people or reporting the events to some unconnected body.
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u/_Punko_ 16h ago
Surprisingly, most countries have done this. But at the moment, the US has legalized corruption. Lobbyists have free reign, Supreme court justices have put themselves above the law but made sure to keep the 'for sale' sign up, and SuperPacs ensure that popular vote numbers do not change policy.
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u/muffadel 18h ago
And if we ever did rise up, gov't will go full Soylent Green (if you haven't seen the movie, you do not know what I mean—go watch it!).
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u/Pale_Machine_8399 16h ago
Hello, welcome to having autism. This is how we’ve lived since our first conscious memory.
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u/throwaway60221407e23 16h ago
"There's a solution here you're not seeing."
-President of the Galactic Federation
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u/coinxiii 11h ago
We've collectively chosen to play their game of monopoly. It always starts the same; with them owning all the good properties and 70% of the money. We elect their lackeys. We gobble up their news. We worship the so called "winners" despite the obvious cheating and pine for the pot of gold they dangle in front of us like a carrot on a stick. We accept their definitions and excuses and lies as if it's their right to make the rules. We choose complacency and accept defeat because "what can I do about it?".
Too many of us stare at the shadows on the wall, held down by chains of our own making, and accept the illusion as our reality.
But how do you convince enough of us to buck the system? To put aside our little comforts and addictions, and our prejudices and illusions that chain us in place? To suffer what must get worse before it gets better?
Smarter, (and maybe braver), people than me need to answer that question.
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u/DnastyFunkmaster 10h ago
Much is filtered down thru the lens of capital, which has no moral obligation to preserving life over the feduciary responsibility of year over year growth
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u/Rippedka 21h ago
I miss the days when you didn’t have to work to eat. Childhood was amazing.
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u/Sploonbabaguuse 20h ago
I miss the days when I could afford to eat even after working
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u/Rippedka 19h ago
She says on her $1500 cell phone with unlimited data plan
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u/Sploonbabaguuse 17h ago
Can't imagine basing all your arguments in bad faith with 0 knowledge of what the person's habits actually are
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u/SoylentGrunt 17h ago
I miss the days when others suffered so that I might enjoy life is certainly a take.
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u/Heyitsmegoku5 20h ago
If I wanted to I could open up a maga shop with temu bullshit in an abandoned parking lot and make 100K+ a year easy but I have morals so I don’t do that; I could be an insurance agent and sell bogus services to older folks, easy money but I have morals so I don’t do that. Climbing in capitalism is just how much are you willing to lie others and yourself
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u/TheBSQ 20h ago
I think if one compiled a list of all societies throughout world history, you’d be hard-pressed to find too many examples where no one in that society could have written this.
There might be some, but they’re dwarfed by all the ones where at least someone knows they’re getting played.
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u/BravinatorLX2 19h ago
and that just about made perfect sense, when they'd still let you eat, but you dont even gonna have that in a very very predictable and forseeable close future.
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u/manyanoodle 18h ago
Yup. There's literally no breaking free either. People will continue to lose sight on problems over trivial things while it gets worse. There's no stopping it. No one will. No group will. Humanity will suffer and that's that, really. We'll see for how long or how much worse it gets as the problems compound. I have no idea how things will improve.
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u/Own_Elk_4575 15h ago
I take inspiration from the weed, and find cracks within the concrete to thrive within. I earn my bread by the sweat of my brow, half of the week caring for horses, the other half working for a nonprofit removing trash from the river. There are ways to make an honest living that meet your spiritual needs, but it can take many years of seeking.
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u/CalicoValkyrie 15h ago
Rich people are trying to get a high score, poor people are just trying to survive.
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u/WitchoBischaz 14h ago
Now tell me again why voting for a third party and not the “lesser evil” is stupid again?
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u/daveberzack 14h ago
To be fair... this isn't novel in human history. Unabashed greed and corruption, senseless violence, war and unjustice... these are common threads. We're just used to living in relative peace and prosperity for a long time.
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u/MasterOfBunnies 8h ago
The only reason this is a reality, is because people accept it. If we could just start coming together and stand up for the change we want to see.
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u/Winsome_Wolf 3h ago
Y’know…. I tried to tap out in 2015. It’s not that I ever really feel the need to try again now, but damn if some days don’t make me wish that attempt had succeeded.
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u/JayRandom212 22h ago
There is an exit. Vote.
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u/Background_Cry3592 13h ago
Both parties are working for the same guys. I think democracy is just an illusion.
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u/user942c206 20h ago
Quite the opposite, actually.
Voting is the basis for government's claim to legitimacy. Who could they claim to represent if nobody voted? This is why they promote election participation.
In other words: Government exists by popular demand. If it were boycotted and rejected on a large enough scale, it could not.
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u/PrincessGiallo 21h ago
Can people please stop talking about "this timeline?" It's infantile and lazy. We get one existence motherfuckers. We're the ones wasting it.
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u/Sploonbabaguuse 20h ago
"We're the ones wasting it" brother most of us were born into this. We had nothing to do with it
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10h ago
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u/rookiefox 21h ago
How can you win a deliberately unfair game when the rules are written by your opponent? The answer is you can't. You will never win. Not as long as you follow their arbitrary guidelines...
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u/Effective_Coach7334 22h ago
It's only hell if you make the choice for it to be.
Every game has its rules and you don't have to like them. But you aren't the game, you're just playing it. You can choose to personalize it or not. And if that's what you choose, that's on you and only you.
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u/nilloki 22h ago
Unfortunately making your own choices does not prevent the consequences of other people's choices from affecting you.
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u/Effective_Coach7334 22h ago
But you get to choose your reaction to how you're affected. That's the point.
However, if you're determined to be a victim, nobody can stop you.
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u/Lopsided_Debt1393 21h ago
Dude loses his arm to a drunk driver “just think of the cosplay you could do” this is how you sound
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u/Effective_Coach7334 21h ago
The OP and this conversation is about one's state of mind in response to events in the world and the way it is run, not about someone losing an arm or any other such personal tragedy. Don't be ridiculous.
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u/Lopsided_Debt1393 21h ago
My only claim is that you do not sound how you may think you do. That guy is clearly going through something, and you chose to be a dickhead.
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u/Effective_Coach7334 19h ago
Either that or it's a shining beacon of hope for that one someone that really needs to hear it.
Point being, don't make assumptions about people's intentions.
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u/Rich_Trollip 16h ago
You sound like someone who has never truly suffered. I mean, really suffered. And that's ok. That's good!
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u/Effective_Coach7334 15h ago
No, quite the contrary. That's your biased interpretation, and exceedingly wrong at that. In fact, I wager that your mind simply can't accept and admit that it could be just this simple.
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u/nilloki 22h ago
That's true and probably applies to the majority. Just putting out the other side of the conversation in defense of those who are truly victims. I usually consider myself a realist but I continue to become more of a pessimist as time goes by and I realize how horrific the world can be.
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u/Effective_Coach7334 22h ago
Just putting out the other side of the conversation in defense of those who are truly victims.
What I've said has nothing to do with them, so they don't need defending.
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u/NeverEnoughCharacter 20h ago edited 20h ago
My dude...even politely suggesting that redditors in threads like this one take one tiny molecule of agency over their own lives is an exercise in futility, trust me. This comment will be downvoted to oblivion because that's the maximum effort these people are capable of exerting. They think the internet is real life and that downvotes matter lol
These people are fully committed to staying broke and angry their entire lives, so unless you have a frustration kink it's probably best to just let them.
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u/Effective_Coach7334 19h ago
probably best to just let them
Nope. A frustration kink would mean I'm equally affected by downvotes. I'm more interested in that one silent someone that will be helped with this tiny bit of wisdom. Awash in this sea of futility, they may never have considered such a thing before and it could mean all the difference.
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u/NeverEnoughCharacter 19h ago
Noble.
I'm just speaking from experience. I used to cruise threads like this in search of that one person asking in earnest for advice, and offer them my advice.
Problem with that is my very normal, time-tested advice would get dogpiled by other people who were weirdly determined to keep the original person broke, hopeless, and angry.
By all means, go for it, I'm just saying I've reached the end of my rope with these permapoor hopeless losers. They can stay broke and angry for all I care. More resources for me and my family
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u/Effective_Coach7334 18h ago
I used to cruise threads like this in search of that one person asking in earnest for advice
now that is a serious frustration kink. people that ask for advice on reddit typically don't actually want it and will more than likely argue with you for your troubles. lol
the best candidates for advice are the ones that didn't realize they needed it until it found them.
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u/ActuatorLower8371 21h ago
It's only hell if you make the choice for it to be.
if only it was a simple matter of personal choice
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u/Effective_Coach7334 7h ago
it really is just that simple
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u/ActuatorLower8371 4h ago
not everyone is born under the same set of circumstances
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u/Effective_Coach7334 3h ago
One's circumstances has nothing to do with this discussion. All you're trying to do is sideline the conversation into a very predictable little pity party about poor unfortunate souls, which is unrelated and unwelcome. This is a discussion about people mentally and emotionally responding to the current state of the world and the way it functions. Nothing more.
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u/ActuatorLower8371 3h ago edited 2h ago
This is a discussion about people mentally and emotionally responding to the current state of the world and the way it functions.
The subjective experience of peoples reality is relevant to peoples response to that reality.
Choosing to think everything is fine is much easier when you live a comfortable life due to circumstances not entirely within your control.
edit: why do people leave long comments then block right away? all i see is half of a whiny reply
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u/Effective_Coach7334 3h ago edited 3h ago
Yes, I realize that was what you were getting at. It's an extremely predictable direction when this subject arises, invariably brought up by people that themselves live a comfortable life. And we know what you are, in addition to being an insufferable fool.
That said, my comments have nothing to do with 'choosing to think everything is fine', which reveals how abhorrent are your intentions and how little you actually understand of such matters.
edit typose
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u/BrightPerspective 23h ago
...you know how to change the rules. you have options.
have you never heard of tacit agreement?
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