I'll start: the whole social media thing of everybody having to be a "brand" and the mainstream usage of corporate language (branding, SEO, engagement, content).
Related: trying to turn every single interesting post into a media empire. I remember a little while ago a funny video of a cat failing to use a treadmill hit the top of Reddit, and then suddenly it had its own subreddit and daily posts and just like that the magic was completely squeezed out in the pursuit of riches from viral fame
God pretty much everything related to social media, influencers, etc is just garbage
ok this one is small but interesting and it weirds me the fuck out refusing to conform means literally no one understands what I'm doing.
the way we talk about and deal with money in interpersonal relationships is totally, completely fucked. people loan loved ones money and in extreme cases take them to court to extract repayment.
but it happens in smaller ways too. we're so wrapped up in the worship of money and have so deeply ingrained that our worth is tied up in our ability to repay debt that we insist on turning things into debt even when they're not.
personally, I got lucky, and the one decent thing my parents ever did was shield me from all that such that I never internalized debt culture. it means that the way I treat money and people is completely different from the norm: I don't loan money, ever. if I have the capacity to do something for someone that I care about, I just do it, even when it's costly and it weirds me the fuck out when people try to insist on repaying me. from the perspective of debt culture, there's an inherent superiority to being in the position of a debtor, and I get that intellectually. but what I'm hearing when people insist on repayment is that my gift, made on the basis of our relationship, must be returned.
this is so wildly, super fucked because what's the monetary value of a human relationship? can any amount of money ever touch real feeling, ever erode love?
apparently we believe it can. and I refuse to live in that world.
Same, if I give someone money or help them with something I don't expect anything in return, I see it as a gift. If the relationship is mutual surely at some point I might need help and the other person will be there for me? And it weirds me the fuck out when they insist on "repaying" as soon as possible.
I like giving gifts to friends and sometimes I worry I'm secretly a manipulative abuser by forcing them into a debt that they're then obligated to repay, despite me being very explicit about it being a gift that they don't need to repay or anything
Oh hey, me too! I only want for everyone to be happy, but sometimes I wonder if there isn't a more selfish motive for helping out. Maybe I just have low self esteem, and crave the validation that comes with being indispensable.