Hello, chapos.

I'm posting from Dubai, and I hate everything this country stands for. I was born and raised here to immigrant Indian parents, and my dad owns a business, with a small number of migrant labourers under him. He pays them "more than what they'd get somewhere else" and that basically amounts to "send some money back home and live on the cheapest most affordable food" wages.

My mother is a manager at a company, and I recently saw her reprimanding a group of workers who came to raise a silent protest about their wages being halved. I stood there silently and cringed helplessly.

In this hypercapitalist cyberpunk (it is indeed low life, high technology sans the lawlessness) dystopian hellworld, racism, sexism, homophobia and classism is a way of life; and if it isn't overt, it is most definitely covert. I have been suffering from depression, suicidal ideation and mood disorders for the better part of a decade now.

After getting exposed to Marxist theories, the idea that I have been brought up on the fruit of surplus value stolen from labour weighs down on my mind. I also consider myself an ecosocialist, and that in itself is enough for me to hate the hellhole that I stay in. On the few occasions where I have tried to talk about my leftist ideals to either friends or family, I have been mocked, belittled and disregarded as a crazy fucking loser (been NEETing for 3 years now, I haven't been able to find a job with my college degree, and my mental illness makes it hard for me to persist/commit to anything) who is simply bitter and lazy, and is anyways just living off his parents, and is not to be taken seriously. Or they accept that I'm probably right, right before they sarcastically wish me good luck with a revolution.

I'm sick of living like this. I don't fit in anywhere, and when I do, I feel like I'm faking it. And oh yeah, to top it all off, I'm a closeted queer and an ex-Muslim atheist. I feel like I have very little to look forward in life. Doom-scrolling through r/collapse, seeing how the world is being overtaken by neoliberalism, the hate for minorities back in India led by the current fascist government, climate change denial ensuring a shittier quality of life down the decades in the region I live right now, lack of real social connections with irl folks...

I have been seriously considering suicide for the last week, and it feels like more than ideation. I think I've reached that stage of being at peace with suicide, and I think this post is some half assed attempt to reach out for help. I weirdly relate to a lot of the things you dudes say, so I thought I'd post here.

  • Torenico [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I extend my solidarity to you, comrade. There are a couple of things you must understand though; first you're not alone in your struggle, your struggle is your struggle yes but there are many people like you, fighting every day for a better world, for a just cause, so hang in there because remember, we're all comrades here, we're all fighting for each other wherever we are. Secondly, you must understand that certain things are completely out of your control, so don't let news from around the world drag you down. Injusticies are everywhere, and it's not your fault they exist and the things you can do about it are very very limited, so don't let it depress you, what I think you could do is reinterpret the world around you, understand that this shit is bad but don't go full doomer. People are going to suffer, a lot and for a long time still, but don't let it catch you because it'll literally kill you. Also remember, avoidance is not particularly healthy, it might help for a while but the problem persists, you're just ignoring it, reconfigure your brain so that when you receive the inevitable bad news you won't feel excessively bad about them. For example the world might look like a hellhole right now, but there are thousands and thousands fighting to destroy what's causing so much damage, so you understand that shit sucks BUT there's an army of people willing to sacrifice it all for everyone else, there's a lot of hope out there.

    Stay as healthy as you can comrade, we all have each other here. :heart-sickle: