ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠

A low-dose Bupropron prescription and getting at least seven hours of sleep every day.

OP is already failing to do anything outside of work and sleep. Desperate measures.

I’ll tell you what worked for me: Doing everything before work instead. Get up at 4am instead of 7 and go to bed at 7pm instead of 10.

There are plenty of solutions. They rely on aligning incentives with prosocial behavior.

If you’re not going to read what I write, I’m going to stop writing. Best wishes.

I’m not getting mugged in broad daylight in a city centre wtf.

My life may involve a lot less broad daylight than yours, but I’m not just talking about muggings, which are rare in Chicago. Bad drivers are a much more prevalent concern.

If I saw someone skipping and singing randomly on the pavement I’d probably ask them if they were alright and maybe call the services.

That’s just rude.

Food and clothes and modern housing and electronic communication devices and art and healthcare and postsecondary education.

Yours is the false equivalence, here.

ngl, sounds like a skill issue

Three reasons: It’s failure-prone even without human error. It’s especially prone to human error. And it does nothing to prevent the spread of STIs.

It’s also less pleasurable than most alternatives.

Condoms are cheap or free. Please get some.

I think you read something I did not write.

They were prosperous for the era, but still featured the supermajority of the population working just to produce or gather food. I don’t think the absence of capitalism is ruin, but I do think a lack of formal economy is unstable in a globalized world. Corporate capitalism isn’t stable either, nor is it desirable, but even an anarchist solarpunk utopia needs an robust economy, albeit one free of corporate entities and their profit-motives.

I don’t use earphones outside because it’s unsafe: Awareness of surroundings is paramount. You say you rarely see a car but not everyone is so lucky. I’m guessing you’re younger, too: When I was a youth, walking with headphones or earbuds meant you had a tapedeck or CD player (and later iPod or smartphone) that could be stolen, making you a more attractive target, as well as one that was easy to sneak up on.

What do I do instead? Listen to the birds sing. Listen to snow or leaves crunch underfoot. Sing! Read a book. Skip! Admire the sun through the trees. Look for cool bugs. Have a conversation with a friend. Rehearse a future conversation in my head. Solve math problems. Philosophize.

I do, but the leaves rustling and birds chirping provides it for me. OP describing that as a bad thing is what boggles me.

The world doesn’t accept that one, though.

No, but that’s what you’re comparing it to. I think we can do better, but the thousands of years before the modern era aren’t something to aspire to. We can go forward instead of backward.

Good advice I can use! I’ll switch to a multivitamin that includes iron and see if that helps.

They would leave through the service entrance.

Caveat: I’m a Stoic, and I think about this in Stoic terms. I’m aware that this may bias my interpretation, and you should be, too.

You can accept the past without surrending agency in the present or hope for the future. You must accept that your boss has treated you badly, stolen your wages, condescended to you, &c. You don’t have to maintain that pattern, though. You can get a new job. If that’s not an option, you can plan around it, eg. by documenting the wage theft and abuse and sending it up the chain. If that’s not an option either, or doesn’t work, you are free to just not give a shit. You don’t have to engage with it emotionally at all, you can just think about something else while it’s happening and then go about your day. They can step on your neck but they can’t make you accept it. Only you make that choice.

It’s great for small groups. It’s susceptible to corruption at scale, though.

That’s not a word I say out loud.