Hey man, I’m a veteran and DO NOT JOIN THE MILITARY. You will just become a tool for empire with you are the direct forces on the ground, managerial, administrative, a cold mechanic, whatever. It isn’t worth it once you peel back the veil and see how it all relates to imperialist control over resources needed for empire. Plus the mind numbing endless war crimes.
I understand and feel you regarding school. A lot of the times I just am bored with it. It’s not that I don’t like learning or school, but I’m forced into these narrow categories and none of it is what I want to learn about.
I work in a grocery store. It barely gets the bills done but I never experienced factory work (only alternative around me) because I joined the military right out of high school. But I can at least listen to podcasts and theory and try to instill some class conscious on people.
Don't join the imperialist military. Not only will you be a tool in the death machine of the Amerikan empire, you'll be used and abused for shit pay and you might be left with life long physical issues. My friend who joined up out of highschool needs to wear hearing aids due to hearing damage he incurred during service, and he's not even 30.
I would say - try to divorce work from the context of society and think about what things in general most interest you. Do independent research and really think about it. If you have time/aren't working or studying currently, you could try volunteering somewhere to get your mind jogging. After a bit you should be able to think of a few things that are interesting to you. Then you ask the question "how can I get to doing as much of that stuff as possible under capitalism". And then you dive in. There are no perfect careers, especially in our society. But you may just find one that fulfills you in some sense. Best of luck
I took the ASVAB once, and later realized that the highest score you can get on it is not joining the military.
Do not join the military. I'm a vet. There are a few vets here. I think we all agree - stay the fuck away. Just want to get that out of the way.
So here's my actual advice: set your expectations low and float around. Eventually you'll find something that pays the bills and leaves you not wanting to gouge your eyes out at the end of the week. I did this after the military and it served me well. I eventually ended up in the PMC trajectory though I would have never guessed that's where I'd end up. But you needn't be a vet or have a degree to do this. My buddy was a retail manager for 10 years and now he's a piercer, poking holes in people. Pays the bills, he likes the hours, it works for him.
Don't expect to find your dream job because that shit does not exist. My theory about people who love their job: they either don't care about money or they were already independently wealthy. No one loves their job; by definition it's not supposed to be fun otherwise they would call it fun instead of work, and rich people would horde all the fun for themselves.
While you're figuring it out, I'd probably suggest keeping your romantic relationships light and definitely try not to spawn.
I agree with this. Getting a bullshit degree in anything lets you pass at least one filter for HR. No guarantees after that though. Going through school and paying out the nose is not worth it but for the chance to eke out a “comfortable” living.
Typing this with twitchy elbows and minor nerve pain in my hands. That’s enough motivation to try and escape retail hell.
I grew up in a shitty place and I credit getting three degrees on doing a range of stuff like welding, factory work, construction clean up etc. at 15
do not, this shit is only for the most soulless, ambitious libs. it's an industry made for them.
chances are op is being too hard on themselves. choosing a field on the basis of 'I'm not too stupid for it' is a recipe for legit depression.
If you can solve a basic quadratic with a textbook next to you and do a vlookup in excel you can be an accountant.
You may need to take a calculus course...but I've met accountants and they know next to zero mathematics.
You'd probably be fine, especially if you go to office hours at every opportunity. You get a lot more 1-on-1 attention there, and a lot of practice.
Also, office hours are a great way to make friends. I went to the wedding in 2019 of a friend I met at office hours.
Source: I was a math major and now teach math.
Have you considered labor studies or something like that? The highest level of math you'll likely need is Stats or Business Calc. You don't have to like it, you just have to get a C, and honest to god if you put the work in just about anyone can accomplish that.
It's a major that would more naturally align with your politics than economics but allow you to do similar jobs. It's also a great way to get an entry level job with a Union.
Please do! I'm trying to get in to that line of work now, and it's tricky without a directly applicable degree it feels like. You'd have to probably start out with a lib union, but after you have a year or two experience at the entry level it's much easier to lateral into a more militant union. Alternatively, you can work on advancing your career to a position with more responsibility and push for more radical policies/education yourself. And go figure, unions tend to pay decently and have great benefits for staff.
Now, one true leftists will say that you're selling out a bit and organization needs to be by and for the people, not 'professional' organizers, and I think they're kinda right - but at the end of the day we all have to eat. Organizing workers for a living is harm reduction at worst, and it'll give you INCREDIBLY valuable experience if you decide to join an Org. There certainly seems to be worse ways to make a living.
If you end up needing to take a math class and want some help, hit me up; I’ve started tutoring a former coworker remotely (through texting/calling but I’m pretty sure discord screensharing/voice chat would work at least as well). I used to teach math and miss doing it.
This applies to anyone btw, just send me a PM and we’ll hook up on discord, for now or in case you want to talk math in the future.
i dropped out and worked in helpdesk call center bullshit. which i hated almost immediately, but the pay let me room with some friends in a house, have health insurance, and smoke weed. my "hobby" at the time was going to bookstores and reading books in the cafe while nursing a cheap drink. it was like the library with snacks.
i would read non-fiction books that seemed to contain useful or interesting information, until i decided they sucked and found something else. or if they were cool, but not cool enough to buy, i'd restock them somewhere i could find next time. or if they were legit awesome, i would buy them.
eventually (like 7 years after dropping out) i discovered something i was passionate about to quit my job and pursue as an exploited peon, later going to college for it, then into a managerial role in the field, then graduate school, and now like a creative-ish pursuit in a field i am passionate about. and though i hated IT work, being able to troubleshoot computer problems and fix shit makes you into a strong hire these days. even at an institution with a funded IT department, it's still an ace up my sleeve that i can consult on what kind of hardware or software might be a good fit for rolling out a new idea, or calmly triage a sudden fuckup in the middle of a presentation.
i'm not really recommending this as a career path, but it did work for me without really knowing what i was doing or intending to go back. though my family all thought i was a wasted potential fuckup until i went back to school, then shifted dramatically into thinking i was a fuckin' wizard because i absolutely crushed college as a 30 year old.
just don't do anything goofy like get into a mortgage or have a baby, probably. that makes blowing town with all your belongings in shitty car and taking a dirt pay job problematic.
Maybe think of higher education as a way to help discover new interests, not as training school for whatever discipline you're certain is what you will spend the rest of your working life doing. The modern neoliberal university is very much structured towards making people think they are doing the latter, but ideally higher education at its best is about the former.
You can get a humanities degree, a little gender studies, a little history, etc. It'll let you explore (and meet other radicals), get you a degree, and then you'll be able to get a PR or Marketing job later writing about how great Microsoft's new AI is at determining who's worthy of healthcare.
i had the same problem after i hated my dream program, so i dropped out. i think you'll find things you actually enjoy doing or that actually drive you, but you have to make yourself try a couple of them
do you have any artistic outlets at all? what do you do on a day off? what are your politics? these can be starting points if you're comfortable answering any
what kind of music?
i want to make an album before my next decade but we'll see if that pans out
There are so, so many jobs and ways to make a living. It can be hard to think of them on the spot, but they are still there.
I have an in-law who is pretty much exactly like what you described. Just doesn't want to do anything. Finally, this year, in his mid twenties, he realized being a barber might work for him. He took a course, learned to cut hair, and it's been good for him so far. It wasn't even on his radar before.
Just this week, I learned that "food stager" is apparently a full time job that some people have.
You really have to like talking to people, and often a huge chunk of public library work is more like social work, i.e. helping people with job applications, resume writing, getting forms filled out to apply for social services, etc. If this sounds appealing, then keep trying. Most people working in libraries get burned out by working with the public pretty quickly.
You’ll also find that you need a master’s degree in library science to be a true librarian. Lower tier jobs (start as a page/shelver, then move up to working in circulation) are usually obtainable without a bachelor’s degree, but they pay pretty poorly and there’s not a lot of upward mobility. There’s also a lot of competition for library jobs, I’m afraid, although this differs depending on the area.
Can confirm this - worked in library circulation for a couple years, and then as a tech/network support for the same library. They pay is not great in either case but working as a discount social worker was actually kind of fulfilling in a way. You get to know members of the community, their problems, and actually can provide some tangible help.
The most disheartening part is honestly how many libraries transition away from a focus being a public resource to operating as a business. I’ve seen so many old and rare books get binned because they’re not popular enough. Not to mention how many efforts to keep homeless away/limit their resources I’ve seen over the years.
Maybe you'd be interested in archival studies? It can lead to work as a university librarian, or similar work as an archivist. That would be going the college route, so maybe that's not right for you, but it could be a way to get a stable librarian job. Idk whether there are archivist apprenticeships? There might be?
Don't become a librarian. It's a shrinking field and an incredibly competitive job market. More than likely you'll end up as a research assistant for a historian (if you find an academic job at all).
Pick a job that can't be outsourced, like fixing solar panels or wind turbines or plumbing or HVAC or etc. You don't need to like it or be interested in it - I fixed fukken radios for the last five years and I still don't give a fuck about them, but those technician skills paid my bills. Power through whatever you need to get into that job and do it. You might catch crap from any PMC family members you have, but your career doesn't define you - it is merely a means to an end. If you know what's inside the light at the end of the tunnel, it might make the tunnel more bearable to drive through.
Sounds like you need to be in a labor job. Personally I dropped out of college and floated around unmoored until I took a job driving at FedEx. Turns out I really enjoyed it and am really good at it. But FedEx sucks ass so I quit and am starting at UPS next week. It's a union job so if I stick with it I'll retire with a pension.
The spectacle demands that your job also be your passion. Fuck that. Find something you tolerate doing and find your passions outside of work.
Someone already said so but maybe see about learning a trade? No one will stop you from doing mindless grunt work. I resent having my brain exploited way more than my ability to move objects around
All jobs are rife with chuds, just different kinds. I'm pretty assertive and would rather get heated with a construction chud than get reported to HR for bullying an office chud. Jobs suck but at least with stuff like that, it doesn't go home with you at all either.
There some good advice in this thread, but definitely keep up with art and music.
Drawing is not too expensive to do often and get good at - just keep drawing. Consider some kind of design school, perhaps. Visual design is a career that is always in demand, and you don't have to go into advertising, if that's a concern.
