Thank you. I like to share things I wish I knew when I was younger!

I get where you’re coming from. I have family members lost to immersion in far-right propaganda that I now have almost no relationship with, and there is nothing I can do. It sucks.

I’m in my late 50s and have been through a lot of shit, and one thing I can tell you is that people generally won’t change until the pain of changing is less than the pain of staying stuck where you are. Moreover, you can want something for someone else, and even if it would overwhelmingly make their life better, it’ll never happen unless they want it for themselves. People are creatures of habit, and those habits rarely change except when there is no other option.

So what do you do? Focus on something that you can change - your behavior. Understand that they make their own choices, and if they aren’t interested in doing things you’re interested in (going outside, socializing, etc.), you need to find people who are interested in those things and engage with them. Healthy people grow and change throughout their lifetime, and some people are less able to do that, so you can outgrow your friends. I’m not saying you should kick them to the curb, but rather understand and know their limitations, and budget your engagement accordingly. Relationships, including friendships, are necessarily a 2-way street. If someone won’t meet you halfway with effort to keep the relationship afloat, then you should consider why you’ve been propping things up and match their energy and see what happens. The phrase: “If he/she wanted to he/she would” is something to keep in mind. People communicate not only with their actions, but also with their inaction. Find people who appreciate you and the energy you bring by reciprocating it.

While it can be challenging to make new friends as an adult, it’s not that difficult. Learning a new skill or hobby can introduce you to a lot of people. For example, I recently started learning swing dancing, and suddenly have several new friends of both sexes, and a never-ending string of fun social dancing events to go to. It’s been a total game-changer for my social life, and I would highly recommend taking classes to learn whatever social dances are popular in your area (swing, salsa, etc.). Of course there are also meetup groups for almost every type of hobby or interest, so you can do something you’re interested in and meet like-minded people. Basically, just get out there and do what your want to do, and find people that also like to do the things you want to do.

Dangler!

All hail!

Cute that they think there will be other administrations.

Sleep with one eye open

Gripping your pillow tight…

I’d take them over Trump any day!

China does have a large economy, but it’s military might so far isn’t even close to the U.S… For example, when it comes to power projection, the U.S. has 20 carriers vs. China’s 7. Give it time and the ever-changing nature of warfare, and China may well eclipse the U.S. militarily, but as it stands now I’d say the U.S. military is much more powerful than China’s.

I’m working on my exit strategy as well. While I agree that things in the U.S. are going to get much worse, everything is cyclical and there will be a time in the distant future when the U.S. gets its shit together again. The sad irony is that all of this is self-inflicted. None of this had to happen. All of the suffering so far, and the mass suffering that is going to occur as a consequence of a world superpower going rogue and then collapsing could have been avoided.

I’m a GenXer, and I feel fortunate to have been born and lived during what is now looking like “peak America”. I’ve known nothing but peace and prosperity. Sure, there have been “wars” and “recessions” in my lifetime, but they have been relatively minor and not had a major impact on my life. The changes being wrought now by corrupt leadership supported by ignorant and malevolent people are destroying the very foundations of what made the U.S. great, and will inevitably result in the collapse of the greatest superpower the planet has seen so far. It’s heartbreaking.

I have a Ducati Monster 1100 with a Termignoni exhaust that is borderline obnoxious. It makes all the right vroom vroom noises, making me feel like a very special boy. I am solicitous of others though and moderate my throttle action in residential areas to keep it mellow. I do agree though that loud pipes can alert drivers that might otherwise not notice you.

They need to cut back on all that avocado toast.

“full self-driving”

Too bad the sign is too big for motorcycles!

The extended cut may be the one you remembered.

Wow, this some candid stuff. I wonder how long before she’s out on her ass?

The problem is that the target audience of this gaslighting will never bother to look at last year’s data, and will just parrot whatever talking points are vomited up.

So majestic!

It’s going to take a collapse of the United States to reset the cycle, and it’s coming quickly.

That’s not a hole, it’s a pie chart.