True, I’ve never once heard an American use the word feckless. Even a well read American would understand that a comment like that makes you sound like a douchebag.

I’m in the same boat. It’s a lot and I don’t have much money or time as it is. It could help, especially if you’re going through something right now. I know it helped my siblings quite a bit.

I’ve seen far too many parents do the opposite. They have kids to use them for one reason or another or they completely regret having them and neglect them or abuse them. It was amazing to see a person who truly understood the weight of a parent’s responsibility and I’m glad there are others like her out there. I hope your cousin has a long, happy life because she definitely deserves it.

Definitely. Most of my siblings will never have kids either. 2 of them did end up having 1 each accidentally. They both do their best to try deal with their problems and still try to be good parents. We talk about it sometimes. Some of the things we went through just seem unreal so long after the fact. I doubt they will have more kids. It’s tough enough just existing on your own right now. The world seems like it’s on fire and people are stressed and struggling. The future looks extremely dark. I couldn’t even imagine trying to raise a child even without trauma. Did you and your siblings ever go to therapy to try to work through that trauma?

I appreciate that. I think it’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself. When you are doing something you love and you really throw yourself into it you will feel more confident and comfortable with yourself. I know exactly how that feels. I’ve tried telling friends and partners that I felt empty inside before, but they never really understood and it just made me feel like I had to suffer alone. I’m doing better now, but I don’t feel completely like myself. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I don’t recognize the person there if that makes sense.

She was an amazing person. She sacrificed everything for her family. She didn’t date, do drugs, or drink. Instead she spent all of her time raising and supporting her 2 sons. I’ve never seen a parent sacrifice so much for their kids. She was always working, always doing something productive. I’m nothing like that. I know that I couldn’t sacrifice that much so I’ll never have kids myself. I do try to lift people up as much as possible though. I have a lot of pain and darkness, but I always try to bring people up or help people whenever I have the chance. I especially like to encourage people to follow their dreams and embrace their passions, because I know how empty life is if you ignore that part of yourself. I love music. Whenever I’m not at work, I’m practicing an instrument, singing, writing, or studying music. Adults often give up the things they love even if they don’t have kids and I like to encourage people to find themselves again.

I agree, I grew up in a red state. Most of my family are republicans and I went to church regularly until I was about 13. You’re exactly right. Churches bring people together. It’s very much an opportunity to socialize for many people. I grew reading and studying a lot and it didn’t take long for me to see through the bullshit. I know that most republicans are decent people, they’re just afraid of anything different from them and that fear is used to manipulate and control them. Unfortunately, the only way for them to break free is to study and embrace what their afraid of. They have to get out and meet the people that fox news and other influences tell them to fear. There’s really no other way and unfortunately Republicans tend to not travel at all. They rarely leave their safe space.

Bernie Sanders would have been an amazing president. We really fucked up not electing him. Not like we were even given a chance though.

As for what I mean by not supporting future leaders, you might have had a very different life than I have. What I’ve seen is that people are petty, jealous, selfish, and extremely unsupportive. I grew up very poor so I’ve always been around poverty, anger, and sadness. I can honestly say I’ve only ever met 1 really decent person and she unfortunately died of cancer not long ago. I’ve hardly ever seen people support each other or hold each other up. Instead I usually see the opposite of that. If someone starts to shine too brightly they get knocked down by family, friends, partners, and others. I’ve lived all over the US and I see it everywhere I go. Like I said, the only people who would have a chance are people who are well off and grew up in a supportive household and have a lot of connections and from what I’ve seen, that is very uncommon for most people.

I’ve been saying this for years. We need a Jesus or MLK like character to come in and lead. The majority of people on both the right and left agree on pretty much everything. It’s the talking heads that divide us. I’ve worked in blue collar and white collar environments and I’ve gotten along with everyone, even though some blue collar people have very backwards beliefs. They aren’t actually bad people, they’re just extremely gullible.

There are millions of people ready to act on both sides they just need someone to inspire them. We need someone who can unite both sides against the true enemy. Until we have someone who can speak on all levels and inspire both the left and the right we are fucked.

Another problem is that people that are naturally talented or charismatic or driven are called tryhards. We berate talented people and we bring them down to our level. I’ve seen it happen so many times. There’s a reason we don’t see inspirational and awe-inspiring people as often as we used to. Unless the person is born in an upper class family and grew up very privileged, there’s very little chance we’ll find someone charismatic and talented enough to lead.

At least housing is actually being built, but I know what you mean. Theres no real affordable housing near me and the wait list for what little is available has been closed due to budget cuts.

Thanks man, don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago and I left that place and never looked back. I think a lot of it has to do with how much money your family had. I grew up super poor and never had a stable place to live and my parents took a lot of their frustrations out on my siblings and myself. Mostly me as the oldest of five children. I know I went through more than most people, but I’ve traveled around the country and most people I’ve met had some kind of parental corporal punishment.

I have had friends who lived in middle class and upper middle class families and it was a completely different environment from what I was used to. I also grew up in a poor red state and a lot of what people believe there was completely backwards and probably still is.

No worries dude, I’m glad most people have pretty much given up that style of parenting. Spanking and abuse was still pretty common in the 90s though.

Lol, I’m 34 and my parents hit me with just about anything within arms reach when I was young. Getting the switch might have been the better alternative.

Don’t forget the government cutting funding for affordable housing projects.

Maine is the 3rd whitest state in the US:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/whitest-states

We’re likely to see a lot more violence directed at white US citizens. Maybe it will finally change some minds on the right.

The problem they don’t seem to realize is that at some point people are going to start thinking that if ICE is around there’s a good chance that they’re going to kidnap or kill you, even if you’re white. People are going to start shooting first. They aren’t giving people much choice and there are so many guns in the US.

They constantly repeat shit without really understanding it, a lot like parrots. They obviously don’t know how to actually identify AI slop.

Hey, maybe there will be a better future after all. Republicans can just keep killing off their own with misinformation and maybe one day we won’t have to deal with their bullshit.

I highly doubt most women who make porn would do it if their needs were met otherwise. I know how much I hate my 9 - 5 so I can’t even imagine the suffering and dread they must feel. We really should have a UBI system.

More than half the people who send me gifts have told me they can’t afford to do anything for Christmas this year. I let them know that I understand and I wouldn’t be sending much this year either. I’ve had to cut my Christmas budget in half compared to previous years. Everyone I know is struggling right now. Trump’s economy has fucked us all.

So true lol. They are the type of teammate who only shows up 20% of the time, works on one tiny piece of the project with lots of help from other members, then claims they did all the work or blames everyone else when the project doesn’t get finished on time.

Exactly, I make a fraction of what you make and I could never afford to buy a house anywhere. Back when I first started renting 16 years ago, my friend and I rented a 2 bedroom place for $450 a month and now a studio is 4 times that in rural states.

The owner of the place I currently rent has surprised us with a Christmas notice that she’s selling the place and we have to leave by April. We can’t afford anywhere near here so we’ll have to move very far north and our commutes will at least double. Maybe triple. Locals are getting forced out of places they’ve lived their whole lives. This shit is fucked up. People are too damn greedy and selfish.

Same and I live in what would be considered a rural state. We don’t have any big cities and a studio apartment would cost me about $1500 a month about 50 miles outside our biggest city and $1800+ within 50 miles of Portland Maine which is our biggest city. This shit is out of control. Our wages are more in line with a rural state, but our rent prices are near what you’d expect in a bigger city.