I met up with my ex last week. When she broke up with me, it really broke my brain. But I was able to say to her “having a typically attractive* girlfriend opened doors for me with the beautiful middle class people I was always trying to fit in with, and when you left me those doors slammed shut.” It was nice to just voice it out after all these years and put all the weird recrimination behind.

I sorta wonder what the younger comrades feel. I grew up before the internet, in the 80s when we actually believed that everyone was going to be middle class. Back when I was a kid, every TV show and movie was about trying to get into the cool people group. Life from school to through uni through the early naughts felt like everyone was angling to get in the in-group.

I spent my 20s and 30s repeating the same cycle: meet a group of people, feel accepted, try really hard to be part of the group, then get burned from said normie group for various reasons. The older I got the harder I tried. Like guys, I GOTTA make this group work because I’m running out of time.

Now those same people are boring as fuck to me. I can barely maintain the emotional labour to listen to them. If you’re not marxist/anarchist, activist, vegan, and/or mask wearing, I can’t honestly force myself to talk to you. It does help that most of the normies outed themselves as sociopaths during COVID times. Most people who know me IRL probably think I’m cold. I make a real effort for the actual proles I meet tho.

I suspect you younger comrades probably figured it out much earlier than I did. But if you’re still searching, I hope this helps you out.

*Sorry I know that “typically attractive” can be problematic and arbitrary. In this story, I’m referring to the irrational standard enforced by the mainstream culture and media.

  • ButtBidet [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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    8 months ago

    marxist/anarchist, activist, vegan, and/or mask wearing

    It’s sorta shorthand for giving a fuck. I wish it was a niche. But if you’re OK with hurting and exploiting others, we can’t be real friends. I’m not gonna fuck with you or debate you all the time, but I’ll not give you much more than a passing hello.

    If you legitimately have a good faith curiosity in any one of those, I can walk you through the science. But if you don’t care about the immunocompromised, the poor, and murdered animals because you prefer a tiny bit of comfort for yourself, well sir there’s a whole country of normies that you can chill with.

    • Oka
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      8 months ago

      Your wording is intense. I’m not sure if that’s just your online persona, or just venting in this thread, but it’s not very welcoming. You seem like you talk more than listen. I’m not trying to roast you or start bad vibes, that’s just my impression.

      • Communism could be a better political system, but any political system is subject to failure or overpowered elites
      • I have no problems wearing masks when it is applicable. When covid started I didn’t go anywhere without one. I was in San Francisco, where everything shutdown overnight.
      • I made friends with a vegan, and after we talked, I concluded that in another life I would be a vegetarian, but I was born to a butcher. I would love if modern meat were replaced by lab meat. I do eat vegan meals sometimes. I think utilizing milk and eggs, etc. for human consumption is fine, they are byproducts that would go to waste otherwise, however it has gotten very inhumane because of the industrial scale.
      • What’s your definition of activist?

      Let’s not confuse this with wanting to be friends, parts of your ideals are relatable, but from my impression, our debates would result in you trying to win everything.

      • 420stalin69@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        argues online with an itemized list of disagreements

        start reply by passive-aggressively calling the other person angry and irrational

        ”whats your definition of well-defined word?”

        from my impression, our debates would result in you trying to win everything.

      • axont [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        “You say you’re a communist, but have you considered nothing’s perfect? Also meat tastes too good to be a vegan. Stop being so aggressive.”

        Yeah this is why I also barely interact with anyone who isn’t a leftist. Liberals have already shut down everything I’d ever want to say, they don’t share my values, and me simply existing is interpreted as aggressive. There’s nothing to be gained.

        People who are already content with the world simply don’t relate to me. Yes, we’re pissed off at various things. Why aren’t you?

      • m532 [she/her]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Communism is just better than liberalism in every aspect, liberal.

        Your wording is intense. I’m not sure if that’s just your online persona, or just venting in this thread, but it’s not very welcoming.

        This is “civility”, a tool used by liberals to silence dissent and oppress marginalized people.

        When people have to conform to arbitrary standards to be allowed to speak, that’s ableist.

      • What_Religion_R_They [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Communism could be a better political system, but any political system is subject to failure or overpowered elites

        This is why I don’t try to talk to “middle class” people. There’s just a fundamental break in their perception of reality. There are some cool class traitors who have a grounded understanding, but the rest are just content with living their unexamined life.

      • ButtBidet [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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        8 months ago

        Your wording is intense.

        Hurting people and killing animals is intense. I’m sorry that it’s traumatic to hear, but just imagine how it is for those to experience.

        As other posters have pointed out, it’s really hard for someone with middle class comforts to have empathy. I don’t have much confidence in changing your mind.