whatever it takes to avoid solidarity with other people in the same material conditions. individualism must be preserved at any cost
I know there is a certain of good visibility that comes with these videos but it’s so bleak we have entire sub-genres of content/vlogs of people chronicling their experience in being unhoused/homeless (I don’t know the correct term) and people watch it for entertainment purposes. That is some real 1999 cyberpunk novel shit
eople watch it for entertainment purposes.
Not just entertainment, they watch it because they find it aspirational
I am included in they, I am converting a vehicle to live in because I've never had a job with legit vacation time or the money to go on vacations, so why not work remotely on the road. Beats wasting my life doing the exact same shit every day in a place I hate.
If that works for you I genuinely and sincerely hope it works in your favor. Stay safe and be well. If you escape out of this Matrix or at least enter a slightly less shittier matrix I am all for it. No jokes or sarcasm, if that plan helps you live a life worth loving then Godspeed friend.
However I still think it’s really stupid we have a society that fails to provide any semblance the dignity we truly entitled to. People shouldn’t have to live in cars (unless they so choose) we got plenty of houses, condominiums, apartments, lofts and other living accommodations that go are empty or are rented out at extreme prices.
Well I'm here on the leftist website, of course I think it's awful that this is my only option for travel and "vacation". No amount of joining a political organization is going to grant me that freedom in my lifetime, so here I am, doing the thing.
:fidel-salute: just be safe in this venture comrade. Also I respect that sort of steadfast commitment.
feels like gentrification/commercialization of "homelessness" as a lifestyle. All the affordable vans have been bought up by people making 50k+ a year to turn into vacation homes, pushing the segment of homeless people that could have otherwise lived in a van back to the street.
Most of them are rich influencers who can stop at any point. They usually have bougie high end vans built specifically for living in.
Oh word? I was unaware they were role-playing. I see so many of those thumbnails online and don’t click on them out repulsion of the premise. There is a lot of stuff online I don’t think should be viewed/engaged with/consumed so I don’t personally. It just feels like a gross blend of “Hustle Culture brought to its illogical extreme” + old-school voyeurism + “uplifting content that actually super depressing because it captures the failure of capitalism in 1440p”
Fuckin’ hell that is miserable motivation and means to do anything. It’s so lame that it’s not even on some super heavy theory marxmindset it’s just for some California clout chasing.
"slumming" for bougie people living like the poor for curiosity, amusement, and now clout chasing...
LMAO
Yeah, I’ve seen an increase in “car-living” and “van-life” recently. Can’t help but believe this has something to do with the cost of living.
It's trying to put a cutesy social media ribbon on crushing poverty and homelessness. Instead of people who're living in their car getting some class conscious over why the fuck am I here and who did this to me, you repackage it as a cool hip and trendy lifestyle to deflect.
You have to buy your own pod, but you can only afford an old and dilapidated one
That would require housing people for free which companies like blackrock and jeff bezos are making sure will never happen in the USA. No the dystopian model isn't pod people in a cyber city it's more like a repeat of the hoovervilles in gutted cities, ala the tent cities of major metro areas.
Pff lazy socialists. Just find a dumpster tub, a bunch of vegetable broth, and a snorkel.
Under communism I would love to see mobile lifestyles become more popular, especially since it means communities could share workers with specialized talents.
I think there's plenty of value in low cost mobility. But I don't think migrant labor is really a good thing, from a socialist planning sense.
You want people who are invested in the long term health and well-being of a community. You don't want Boom-Bust business cycles driven by hyper-exploitative economic activity (slash-and-burn farming, overfishing, strip mining, etc) that leave ghost towns in their wake.
There should be real material benefits guaranteed to individuals, families, and organizations rooted in a given location and adding year-over-year value.
Without some degree of long term incentive, you invite free-riders and fair weather friends who abandon your enclave the moment the global economy/local ecology turn.
Oh, sure. Bringing veterans of an industry into an underdeveloped community adds tons of value.
But only if they leave apprentices and journeymen in their wake.
Any job that requires a large amount of training but is in low demand in any given area would need to be travelling to be efficient.
Uhh lots of important and highly specialized jobs literally cannot be done "remotely".
I'm trying to use my Meta Hands™ to fit these pipes, but they're too far away from the Meta Portal™ and Meta Legs™ haven't been invented yet.
I'm honestly pretty jealous
Don't worry, people like aspects of that lifestyle but apparently, it generally sucks. Most of the time it's just a very shitty apartment with no plumbing. Cool to go anywhere, but a 70 square foot home sucks everywhere.
The van and car dwellers might become the barbarian hordes raiding Wallstreet and Langley, one can dream.
It's all about your level of precarity.
You can measure it by counting the number of stress rings under a person's eyes.
I worked with some people who opted to not rent a place and they called it home free. When I did it for a short time, I called it homeless. They didn’t understand why. If living out of your car and camping is your choice over renting a nice and safe place because rent is so expensive then you don’t really have a choice.
Good luck living in a car when gas prices go nuts or gas is available or your AC just dies and it's 100 ffucking degrees out
Put up reflectors on the windows and park in the shade. You'll find cooling a car much cheaper than a full sized house or poorly insulated apartment.
That said, the cheapest solution would be well-insulated centrally cooled multi-family homes, a thing Americans will never receive at scale.
I.do this and I fucking hate it. What is wrong with these people
yeah unless you're a rich larper living in a car long term is miserable, only a couple steps above living on the actual street.
i mean, it's many steps above being on the street. it's just you'll be out on the street if you aren't a mechanic/have a mechanic friend and hookups for parts. living in a car is incredibly hard on it.
yeah it's basically a (very thin) barrier between you and the pigs/weather. But being able to blend in and drive around provides a lot more freedom and comfort than just living on the street.
Having lived both I'd always choose car over street, but it's not as far removed as some people think. still homeless and should have solidarity with other homeless people
One of the first things I'm doing after getting housed is getting an inspection
I did it to take a long road trip. Spent about a week living like that. If I could choose to have actual accommodations or better transit to my destinations, I would
