Do places like China and Cuba have better spaces for young people and people in general to hang out?
I was just talking to my therapist about this. Also ties into this excerpt I saved from a Hexbear discussion years ago
"As external conditions change, it becomes tougher to meet the three conditions that sociologists since the 1950s have considered crucial to making close friends: proximity; repeated, unplanned interactions ; and a setting that encourages people to let their guard down and confide in each other said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology and gerontology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This is why so many people meet their lifelong friends in college, she added."
Comes from this article, will edit with a proper archive link if I can later https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/fashion/the-challenge-of-making-friends-as-an-adult.html
Well shit I don’t think I’ve ever had an unplanned interaction with someone (more than once of course)
Lots of other countries have communal spaces and people are actually there. People are outside more often doing things together. Little public squares, parks within walking distance. It's pretty common in South America for there to be a covered, open-air space for sports and festivals and so on.
In the US these things, when they exist, require planning and transport to get there. They're not within walking distance. Maybe parks, but they're mostly unused and tend to be socially focused on children and parents.
After-school programs are the American bandaid option for this. You immediately lose all of it once you graduate though.
Where?
Until I move out in a few days, the situation around me for quite a few years has been no meaningful public commons areas, businesses that expect you to buy something to so much as stand anywhere near them, and police roaming around harassing and tormenting homeless people.
EXACTLY! There is no place for people to see each other. Even places of worship aren't places you can go outside of their operating hours (in most cases). I don't know about you but every single "community center" i know have has been bulldozed or flipped. There is no place to kick it, or place to be seen kicking it to begin the process of socialization. Maxxing and relaxing is core to meeting people, and there no places where people can rest in public. There ain't even malls and markets to bump into people. It sucks man
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
