Source
r/antiwork•
ColdButts

I am defeated, sad, and angry

Completely defeated. Like, I lost. I lost to capitalism. It won. I am in my mid-30s and have nothing to show for it.

I work 70+ hours/week and have no savings. I have no usable health insurance (global deductible is $8,000 -- for my non-US friends: this means that unless I spend $8,000 in a year I have to pay 100% of my healthcare out of pocket. 100%. Walk-ins? That's $300 in most cases.) Same for dental. My teeth are starting to rot. It's been over 10 years since my last dentist appt. I brush and floss but that's not enough for someone approaching middle age (let's be real tho... I AM middle-aged, at this rate).

I have 2 jobs. Both pay above minimum wage. I can barely afford a 1-bedroom apartment in a bad part of Brooklyn, NY. Again: no savings.

Somehow I have good credit, but this has taught me that Credit is only used AGAINST a person. Having good credit doesn't GET you anything. It merely presents an opportunity to get something provided you have the money for it. Credit is only used to hurt people that have had to rely on it as a cushion (aka poor people).

___

What's to be done? Where does someone go from here? I'm not doing this shit for 40 more years.

Posted Sep 24, 2023, 2:08 AM UTC

128
itsafraid•

I have two questions:

  1. What country are you in?

  2. Leave.

Sorry, it fucking sucks. Don't make any little wage slaves, and curse your parents for thoughtlessly creating you.

1
Ok_Independence_4431•

What keeps you from moving to much lower cost of living area?

Major cities in states like IL (very blue), WI (turned to blue), MI (turned to blue), or Ohio (barely red) the cost is still affordable. You can find a good 2 bed room apartment for around $1,000. Jobs with can make $16-$18 per hour is easy to find. As you don’t make much, you can get your healthcare via gov.

1
thekaizers•

You think it's so easy to just quit 2 jobs and move and find comparable pay and a 2 bedroom apartment? Just like that? How long would that take? How much would it cost?

It's very easy to type thought shallow thought bubbles on the internet, much harder to implement in the real world.

1
Winter_Ad_5961•

Yeah, I love how people say just move. Luckily for me I have wealthy family who helped me move but if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have been able to move.

1
ColdButtsOP•

Without my parents I would've missed rent several times. They'll be dead soon enough tho.

1
Winter_Ad_5961•

I hear that. My mom died in 2017. If it wasn’t for my uncle and aunt I’d be homeless they help me so much when I need money.

1
ColdButtsOP•

Im kinda thinking of doing this. I don't want to. My friends are here. Family is here. But I can't move upstate (way too racist up there). Ohio, in the bluest area, is still cop heaven and a perpetual American-flag display with small-town casual racism. I've seen all of Ohio. Think I'd kill myself there. Maybe MI. Something to consider. Maybe that or a million roommates until I can save up a lot. I'm tied to my lease for another 10 months but maybe after that i'll look into MI.

But to answer your question. At this rate I got nothing to lose, so selling hard drugs or robbing banks.

1
seraph_m•

You are still young enough to enlist in the Guard at least. Get valuable skills and college paid for. Get a state and or federal job that way. You can then move cross country to wherever. Some of those jobs pay for relocation. You can also get an enlistment bonus.

1
ColdButtsOP•

Morally I can't do that

1
seraph_m•

No worries; still do look at usajobs.gov. They list all of the jobs available at the federal level, with or without college degrees. Each state has their own equivalent as well. Good luck.

1
RulerOfNyaNyaLand•

Yeah... don't rob a bank. You WILL get caught. Security cameras everywhere. You think your life is hard now, try losing everything while you're in prison and then having a felony on your record.

Really do consider MI. There are affordable spots. NY is super expensive to live in. I got priced out. Look at surrounding areas farther out, but maybe not too far away to visit your family and friends.

You can do this.

Also consider a better job situation. UPS, FedEx, and USPS have good pay and benefits. Look up civil service jobs. They also tend to have good benefits included. You gotta get your dental checkup as soon as you can.

Hold on. Try to think of new things you can do instead of staying stuck. You can solve this. It isn't easy, but you've gotten this far. Don't give up now.

1
ColdButtsOP•

I haven't gotten anywhere; I've just been treading water in a bathtub. But yeah those delivery driver rates aren't bad. Been thinking about those as an option.

1
Leading-Bedroom6624•

Saying you can afford $1,000 a month in rent making 16-18/hr is probably the most ignorant thing I've read on this sub.

1
JuicyApple2023•

Maybe research jobs in other areas where the cost of living is lower and you would only need to have one job in order to thrive.

1
cletustheboomer•

Pwned!

1
ConstantBusiness4892•

Wastewater operator....with that you can go anywhere, and have insurance and retirement

1
ColdButtsOP•

I'll play in shit if it gives me a life. Ill research this

1
MissAnth•

Yeah, you can't afford to live in NY. You need to leave.

1
CacknBullz•

Find and industrial maintenance or electrician position, a lot of demand right now, my employer is actually getting younger all the way up to 40 and putting them through a 2 year maintenance or electrical course.

1
ColdButtsOP•

Does that require a lottery? I'm actually already in a lottery for an electrician placement with a union. Or, I was? I think I need to re-apply.

1
CacknBullz•

Nope, just look at any manufacturer or any type of plant and they will have maintenance jobs.

1
ColdButtsOP•

Hmm. Ill add this to the research list. Could be an option...

1
NyriasNeo•

" Brooklyn, NY."

That is part of your problem. Move to a cheaper state.

1
Pencil-Richard•

You'll work til you die in the machine. As intended for the vast majority of us. You barely being able to survive is right where the system wants you. Stuck, vulnerable, dependent on their "generosity" in allowing you to eat from the dumpster out back in exchange for selling yourself to corporations for ungodly amounts of your time.

Honestly I feel like the system is like a big giant swimming pool. Everyone is just out there trying to enjoy life with friends and family in the water, and if something happens a lifeguard can bail you out. IF you're rich that is. If you can't afford to pay for the services, the lifeguard will roll his eyes, walk over to the edge where you're drowning, and just look you dead in the eye and say "Just stop drowning. You see all these other people who aren't drowning? Why is it they can swim but you can't? It's not that hard. Stop being lazy and kick your feet. You just want someone to come in and bail you out." And then on either side of the pool is 2 groups of people arguing over whether or not we should have the lifeguard save the guy or not. One group is screaming that if we don't act now that person might literally die, and the other group is saying that if we help him for free he will become lazy and reliant on lifeguards to save him at the cost of the other swimmers at the pool. All of the profits flow into the hands of a corporation that isn't interested in lifeguarding to save lives, just exploiting money out of the vulnerable and desperate.

1
thinnestofeyes•

There is not enough money to go around. There are not enough well paying jobs to go around. Capitalism and every political policy to turn you into a capitalist do-gooder is a war against your spiritual welfare. I’m talking about every policy. Every policy in governance is to uphold this system, so you can get out of your bed and work a bullshit job that is not needed. The absurd cost of living is a trap, so the poorest are exploited, milked for their money, and the availability for self actualization is always bogged down when you have to be a slave. There is no prosperity. There is no purchasing power. All we have is bourgeoisie over production and accelerationism. We just envision a future where we don’t have to be slaves for national economic upholding. People not coerced into labour, but become master craftsman in their field, and teach communities.

Basically, there are a very few amount of actors that hate the working class, want to see class solidification, so they don’t have to subject themselves to economic slavery. Cannot wait for AI to kick out the board of directors

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

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1
Motor_Meaning_7819•

Perhaps you're right. But perhaps non-violence is a luxury of modern privilege.

There IS a moral argument for violence. On the overall scales of morality, which would've been more violent - the US Civil War, or 10, 20, 30, 100 more years of the holocaust of slavery?

Indeed I would prefer reform to revolution. But I would prefer revolution to the status quo - the devastation of which is illustrated on this subreddit every day.

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[deleted]•

[removed]

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