UniversalMonk

what is he doing that I'm not

He's not being a fucking stoner for one thing

Correct. Which is why I posted it in this community--which just so happens to be called "AI Generated Images."

Damn, loving these submissions!

Awesome. Thank you, brother! I kinda wanna use it in my profile! lmao

And my day job until just a few months ago was special education teaching assistant in an elementary school in a disadvantaged neighborhood. I recently retired from working in the public sector for 20 years.

Feel free to check my post history from the .world instance from months ago, when I was still teaching there. I spoke of my career often.

Guess we are more alike than different, friend. Funny how that works, huh?

Hmm, do you think it fits under a nsfw category? There is no blood or overt sexuality. It's more of a surreal artwork. Obviously it's unsettling, but I don't know if it counts as NSFW. I'm fine if the mods feel it should be marked that way though.

probably people didn’t get to their cubicles in the U.S. yet

Actually it's Monday evening here in the US. So the cubicle crowd has come and gone already today. Thank you!

Reality is bleak for some. And every generation has had a portion of the population who thinks everything is bleak.

We are no more or less special than previous generations.

IMO you have the obligation to create the environment that allows what you have (an existence without worry for politics) for everyone.

So what are you doing that's creating that type of environment for me and others?

You’re basically saying ‘my life is secure; fuck everybody else that hasn’t got what I have’.

Not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that if an idiot like me, with very few work skills, made it, then you certainly can because you have more advantages than I have had.

I also had a child to raise, so even if you count in costs of living differences between then and now, it's negated by the fact that I had a kid to care for.

Bruh, I live in a city of over 500,000 people. The majority of people I see are not "just struggling." People are doing it. Are you saying all of them have had it easier than yourself?

Right now as I type this, there is a group of 10 road crew guys working on the curbs of my street. Hard, miserable, dirty work. They make more than I ever did. And their out there, laughing, doing their work and just going on with their lives.

I was never even skilled enough to do construction work. I promise that right now, you have more stuff and more skills than I have ever had.

And I'd trade my paid-for house for your youth any fucking day. But not your mindset. This will sound offensive, but I do believe your mindset is holding you back more than anything else.

By the way, my kid is your age. Lives three blocks from me with his gf, and one roommate. And he's getting by.

Lifting our noses off the grindstone and looking at the horizon shows a future without hope of any of this changing. Too much stacked against us.

No, I don't believe that. I 100 percent think you can overcome and kick ass in life and be way more successful than I have ever been.

Keep pushing. You got this!

Wait, is this a compliment or an insult to me? I love the wording either way though!

You make a good argument, but I would counter it by saying, it's NEVER been easy. I didn't have it any easier than you did. I fucking lived off of beans are rice and powered milk for years. Literally. my meals for almost eight years straight was Beans and rice. Beans and potatoes. Every meal. Every day.

Sometimes people at work would have a potluck or something, sothen I'd be able to gorge on meat and stuff, but other than, I was eating poverty food.

I couldn't afford a cell phone for the longest time. And I didn't have a car, so I biked/walked to work every single day.

I've never made more that $15 and hour my entire life. Trust me, you STILL have it easier than I did.

Now, to your point, housing as gone up. But roommates. I guarantee you have more luxuries than I do. Even now. I bet you have gaming stuff, good internet, better phone, a better job than I ever had, and more importantly--youth.

There are still plenty of people out there making thru life fine and not just struggling.

I'm not downplaying your struggles, but I'm saying they are no worse than what I had to go thru. Even now, my main computer is a raspberry pi that I bought for $50. And my phone cost $110. And my phone plan is $25 a month.

I use my phone for texting and the GPS maps and apps for working out. No gaming because I don't have the bandwidth or the power.

I bet right now everything you have is nicer and more expensive than what I have. True, I do have a paid off house, but it's a crappy house.

My pension is less than $1,000 a month after taxes. My trips w the girlfriend are on her dime. Otherwise, I'd just hanging out here all day.