Venting I hate how life is a struggle

[sserafim]

Life is a cruel game of survival and competition. At end end of the day, life is just a struggle. All organisms are struggling to survive and will attempt to survive by any means possible. Animals kill and eat each other in nature, even we eat animals to survive. People compete with each other in the capitalist rat race. Everyone is seeking to get to the top. What's the need for all of this competition? Why must we all compete with each other?

I hate how life is such a struggle, and how adulthood is just about survival. Once you become an adult, you live the rest of your life in survival mode. Adulthood is essentially about working to *earn* a living (aka making money. You were born against your will, why must a living be *earned*? It's not like you chose to be here). People have to work for a living (aka modern-day slavery) for the rest of their lives just to afford to exist on a planet that they didn't even choose to be on. People have to sign away their life to capitalism and society just to earn money to pay the costs required for survival. I hate how people have to eventually become slaves to capitalism, money and society. We're all living in an exploitative system, society is basically a capitalist pyramid scheme. We're all enslaved, with no choice but to buy into the system. It doesn't have to be like this, we're literally in the 21st century. So why is it still like this?

 

[Goku Black]

I couldn't find the words to express how I agree with this, I also hate how much people say just get over it when it's not that easy. It's a struggle and it's a competition for what? Power, wealth and greed all mixed into one.

 

[Linda]

Basically I agree with your post, but I think you are overlooking one thing. You don't have to spend ALL your time being a slave to capitalism. You can usually manage to carve out some space for yourself, to do things that you find fulfilling, even when you are working for a living. (I used to escape to the mountains as often as I could.) Whether or not you can carve out enough space to tip the balance in favor of "carry on living" rather than "ctb" will depend on your circumstances and on your personality. But I don't think you should conclude that it's impossible. At least, not yet.

 

[sserafim]

Basically I agree with your post, but I think you are overlooking one thing. You don't have to spend ALL your time being a slave to capitalism. You can usually manage to carve out some space for yourself, to do things that you find fulfilling, even when you are working for a living. (I used to escape to the mountains as often as I could.) Whether or not you can carve out enough space to tip the balance in favor of "carry on living" rather than "ctb" will depend on your circumstances and on your personality. But I don't think you should conclude that it's impossible. At least, not yet.

I want to escape the system altogether though. I don't want to have to buy into it. I don't want to have to work for a living just to survive. I would lose all of my freedom, and instead be chained to work/a job. I'd rather kms, there's nothing I would hate more than to be just another cog in the system.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I imagine because the ones who have power to change things benefit from enslaving the rest of us.

I agree with you by the way but, the difficulty comes when you try and think of an alternative. What would an ideal society look like in your eyes? How do we live without exploiting one another?

I think it would be a start if we could all get paid to do a job we actually enjoy. So much of our time is spent working. Without any work or focus, some people might actually be worse off in terms of engaging our brains and feeling some sort of purpose.

What about people who really don't want to work though? Or, who can't? Who looks after them? Even if money is abolished- those people still need to eat. They still need shelter and water. Should other people be expected to look after them for no reward?

I find it hard to imagine a world without money or, at least trade. I'll give you this in exchange for that. Otherwise, it becomes- I'll let you have this for free and then- we have exploitation again.

I remember when I first learned about communism- everyone being equal. And I thought- that sounds lovely- what's the hatred of it all about? Not realising that it was bollocks in practice but, it's difficult really. Shouldn't someone who is very talented and works incredibly hard to become a brain surgeon be paid more than someone who is constantly skiving off their wage slave job?

Shouldn't we reward hard work and achievement as a society? Of course, the problems are when people at both ends of the scale start abusing the system. But- you're always going to get that- surely? How do you deal with people like that?

I get it by the way. I hate capitalism and consumerism. I hate being a cog in this corrupt machine but also, I don't know what you do to change things. You make the rules too lenient and you get people milking the system. You make them too harsh and people suffer terribly.

I'm just glad I don't have to make those kinds of decisions but I'm always curious. I think in general, we spend so much of our time criticising the system- me included. Yet, what would work as an alternative do you think?

 

[LoiteringClouds]

I hate how people have to eventually become slaves to capitalism and society.

"The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered "Man! Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived." - Dalai Lama

We have to make great sacrifices, especially mental health, to earn money in order to avoid painful death through hunger or homelessness. And some people actually die due to subhuman working conditions!

I often think the earth is a huge prison and we're all prisoners. Pro-lifers, they themselves are also prisoners, are slightly high-ranking ones and try to keep us here so that they can gain rewards - society praises them and even hand out some money to them.

And they blame us for being slaves, saying "you're not good enough - try harder to be free." What a cruel joke!

I couldn't find the words to express how I agree with this, I also hate how much people say just get over it when it's not that easy. It's a struggle and it's a competition for what? Power, wealth and greed all mixed into one.

Somebody's fame and fortune is built on others' shame and misfortune I think, because fame and fortune are relative. And the more people suffer, the more glorious winners can be. Most of us are here just here to be trampled on.

You can usually manage to carve out some space for yourself, to do things that you find fulfilling, even when you are working for a living.

I agree with you @Linda and this is what I'm doing right now - I'm trying to recover, and I found posting on this forum is fulfilling.
I don't know how pathetic it sounds when I say my biggest reason to live is a suicide forum - and people would laugh at me if they heard that - but I don't care, if I can make people's days a bit less unbearable.

 

[R_N]

It is like this because we are taught that alternative is worse. We are also promised false sense of security and see authority as our parent. That is why we don't have an issue with being lab rats as well and listen to "experts". In short we are gullible cowardly sheep controlled by our own fears and we are trained to behave in certain ways too.

I know "matrix" is kinda cliche at this point but people on top don't even need an army when average person is trained to defend the matrix. Test this by saying anything that goes against the grain and see how fast they get their torches and pitchforks ready.

 

[sserafim]

I imagine because the ones who have power to change things benefit from enslaving the rest of us.

I agree with you by the way but, the difficulty comes when you try and think of an alternative. What would an ideal society look like in your eyes? How do we live without exploiting one another?

I think it would be a start if we could all get paid to do a job we actually enjoy. So much of our time is spent working. Without any work or focus, some people might actually be worse off in terms of engaging our brains and feeling some sort of purpose.

What about people who really don't want to work though? Or, who can't? Who looks after them? Even if money is abolished- those people still need to eat. They still need shelter and water. Should other people be expected to look after them for no reward?

I find it hard to imagine a world without money or, at least trade. I'll give you this in exchange for that. Otherwise, it becomes- I'll let you have this for free and then- we have exploitation again.

I remember when I first learned about communism- everyone being equal. And I thought- that sounds lovely- what's the hatred of it all about? Not realising that it was bollocks in practice but, it's difficult really. Shouldn't someone who is very talented and works incredibly hard to become a brain surgeon be paid more than someone who is constantly skiving off their wage slave job?

Shouldn't we reward hard work and achievement as a society? Of course, the problems are when people at both ends of the scale start abusing the system. But- you're always going to get that- surely? How do you deal with people like that?

I get it by the way. I hate capitalism and consumerism. I hate being a cog in this corrupt machine but also, I don't know what you do to change things. You make the rules too lenient and you get people milking the system. You make them too harsh and people suffer terribly.

I'm just glad I don't have to make those kinds of decisions but I'm always curious. I think in general, we spend so much of our time criticising the system- me included. Yet, what would work as an alternative do you think?

Unfortunately, I think there may be no alternative. There's a theory called capitalist realism, where "it's easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism".

I often think the earth is a huge prison and we're all prisoners. Pro-lifers, they themselves are also prisoners, are slightly high-ranking ones and try to keep us here so that they can gain rewards - society praises them and even hand out some money to them.

And they blame us for being slaves, saying "you're not good enough - try harder to be free." What a cruel joke!

I definitely agree that earth is a prison. In my opinion, it's a prison planet. We were all sent here against our will, and are now are trapped with no escape. We're basically prisoners to this life and world; we're prisoners to money, society, and capitalism.

The sad thing is that we had no choice or input in being born or not, we weren't able to consent. This is the thing that I hate the most: that I was brought into existence without even being asked whether I wanted to exist or not. I never asked for any of this, I never wanted to come to earth and become just another prisoner. I never even wanted to exist in the first place, yet it was forced upon me. This is inherently unfair and unjust.

 

[Linda]

"The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered "Man! Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived." - Dalai Lama

We have to make great sacrifices, especially mental health, to earn money in order to avoid painful death through hunger or homelessness. And some people actually die due to subhuman working conditions!

I often think the earth is a huge prison and we're all prisoners. Pro-lifers, they themselves are also prisoners, are slightly high-ranking ones and try to keep us here so that they can gain rewards - society praises them and even hand out some money to them.

And they blame us for being slaves, saying "you're not good enough - try harder to be free." What a cruel joke!


Somebody's fame and fortune is built on others' shame and misfortune I think, because fame and fortune are relative. And the more people suffer, the more glorious winners can be. Most of us are here just here to be trampled on.


I agree with you @Linda and this is what I'm doing right now - I'm trying to recover, and I found posting on this forum is fulfilling.
I don't know how pathetic it sounds when I say my biggest reason to live is a suicide forum - and people would laugh at me if they heard that - but I don't care, if I can make people's days a bit less unbearable.

"I don't know how pathetic it sounds when I say my biggest reason to live is a suicide forum ..." It doesnt sound pathetic at all to me. Sounds a better reason to live than many I can think of. Better than living to make money by exploiting others. Better than living to kill other people in a war and take their territory. Better than many other reasons. But for you it's probably only a temporary thing. You will move on eventually.

 

[divinemistress36]

I enjoy reading your posts you always put in detail how I feel on the inside

 

[ijustwishtodie]

For me, life was a struggle even during my childhood too but, yes, adulthood is pure pain. Life is completely awful due to how much struggle one has to go through. I don't want any part of it and I never did. I just don't understand how I can kill myself successfully either. I feel so trapped and I hate it

Oh, incidentally, I echo the sentiment of the user above me. I like reading your posts too as it formulates what is on my mind. Because of this, I consider you as my second favourite user on this forum

 

[walkingdead2023]

Life is a cruel game of survival and competition. At end end of the day, it's just a struggle. All organisms are struggling to survive and will attempt to survive by any means possible. Animals kill and eat each other in nature, even we eat animals to survive. People compete with each other in the capitalist rat race. Everyone is seeking to get to the top. What's the need for all of this competition? Why must we all compete with each other?

I hate how life is such a struggle, and how adulthood is just about survival. Once you become an adult, you live the rest of your life in survival mode. Adulthood is essentially about working to *earn* a living (aka making money. You were born against your will, why must a living be *earned*? It's not like you chose to be here). People have to work for a living (aka modern-day slavery) for the rest of their lives just to afford to exist on a planet that they didn't even choose to be on. People have to sign away their life to capitalism and society just to earn money to pay the costs required for survival. I hate how people have to eventually become slaves to capitalism, money and society. We're all living in an exploitative system, society is basically a capitalist pyramid scheme. We're all enslaved, with no choice but to buy into the system. It doesn't have to be like this, we're literally in the 21st century. So why is it still like this?

We live to work and pay the government. Half of my paycheck goes for deductions: state taxes, feral, Medicare, as, etc.. I'm sick of this system and on the top of that, today My coworker just told she eats Alligator meat … I feel like I need to throw up what's it exactly we eating in restaurants? I don't trust people so I need to stop eating, I need to stop living PERIOD

 

[LoiteringClouds]

Shouldn't we reward hard work and achievement as a society?

I think we should, but I've been trampled on at work because of that.
Abusing and impoverishing whom authority figures think "lazy" or "incompetent" are far easier than rewarding hard work and achievement. Still, high-achievers earn more respect and will have more purchasing power than incompetent ones.

I don't think we should abolish capitalism, because I can't survive without it, and I actually feel guilty because I'm almost a freeloader who leech on other people's great achievements.
I have a job but my boss says I'm "totally useless" and make fun of me whenever he sees me, because I make a lot of mistakes and no matter how hard I try I haven't been able to improve myself for this 5 years. I'm surprised he hasn't fire me so far - he keeps saying "try harder" - how merciful he is.

My brain has been fried, to the point where I'm legally disabled (I live in Japan), but am not on benefits/welfare. I'm ashamed of how little I contribute to the society, and I don't know what to do other than enduring daily slander and mockery from my boss.

I hate being a cog in this corrupt machine but also, I don't know what you do to change things.

I heard my former employer say to somebody, "you can't even be a cog - you're engine oil." I actually think being a cog is a kind of glory - you endure tremendous pressure to keep the machine running. I can't do that - I'm engine oil to lessen conflict between two superiors.
I don't deserve respect in this society (outside this forum) unless I achieve something, I guess - and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I wish I could opt out this game about righteousness - I've been blamed all the time by people who are too sacred to be questioned.

"I don't know how pathetic it sounds when I say my biggest reason to live is a suicide forum ..." It doesnt sound pathetic at all to me. Sounds a better reason to live than many I can think of. Better than living to make money by exploiting others. Better than living to kill other people in a war and take their territory. Better than many other reasons. But for you it's probably only a temporary thing. You will move on evntually.

Thank you so much, and you reminded me an important thing - I'll move on eventually. I can't imagine one day I leave this forum, but I think, everything comes and goes, like clouds.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think we should, but I've been trampled on at work because of that.
Abusing and impoverishing whom authority figures think "lazy" or "incompetent" are far easier than rewarding hard work and achievement. Still, high-achievers earn more respect and will have more purchasing power than incompetent ones.

I don't think we should abolish capitalism, because I can't survive without it, and I actually feel guilty because I'm almost a freeloader who leech on other people's great achievements.
I have a job but my boss says I'm "totally useless" and make fun of me whenever he sees me, because I make a lot of mistakes and no matter how hard I try I haven't been able to improve myself for this 5 years. I'm surprised he hasn't fire me so far - he keeps saying "try harder" - how merciful he is.

My brain has been fried, to the point where I'm legally disabled (I live in Japan), but am not on benefits/welfare. I'm ashamed of how little I contribute to the society, and I don't know what to do other than enduring daily slander and mockery from my boss.


I heard my former employer say to somebody, "you can't even be a cog - you're engine oil." I actually think being a cog is a kind of glory - you endure tremendous pressure to keep the machine running. I can't do that - I'm engine oil to lessen conflict between two superiors.
I don't deserve respect in this society (outside this forum) unless I achieve something, I guess - and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes I wish I could opt out this game about righteousness - I've been blamed all the time by people who are too sacred to be questioned.


Thank you so much, and you reminded me an important thing - I'll move on eventually. I can't imagine one day I leave this forum, but I think, everything comes and goes, like clouds.

Well, you have my respect for going in to face all that each day. You should be rewarded for that- not treated like shit!

Companies should encourage people who may need a bit more extra support. The problem I've found though is- they take on their quota to comply with equal opportunities but, so many companies are understaffed these days and, it won't be the managers who have to pick up the slack- it will be the other workers at the coal face. Unfortunately, that just ends up putting more stress on an already over burdened workforce. I wish we lived in a world where the bottomline wasn't prioritised over everything else. It even gets to the point where it's dangerous.

When I worked in retail, there was this lovely regular customer who became quite chatty. She once said this guy was bragging to her about how his child was some big shot lawyer but she pointed out- we wouldn't need lawyers if there weren't criminals. I always found that funny.

Sometimes, I don't know what to think to be honest. I was raised with a strong work ethic, so I do feel obliged to work hard for companies that employ me. But, on the othet hand, my cynicism prevents me from being utterly exploited. I remeber this one lady used to work crazy hard where I used to work. Her Uncle had been like a father to her and when he died over the Christmas period, she wasn't allowed to take time off for the funeral. I really hoped that would show her what kind of company we worked for but no- she still busted a gut for them. Stuff like that though. Companies in general really- I can't really blame people for not wanting to work! Why be a mug ultimately?

 

[LoiteringClouds]

Well, you have my respect for going in to face all that each day. You should be rewarded for that- not treated like shit!

Companies should encourage people who may need a bit more extra support. The problem I've found though is- they take on their quota to comply with equal opportunities but, so many companies are understaffed these days and, it won't be the managers who have to pick up the slack- it will be the other workers at the coal face. Unfortunately, that just ends up putting more stress on an already over burdened workforce. I wish we lived in a world where the bottomline wasn't prioritised over everything else. It even gets to the point where it's dangerous.

Thank you so much for your kind words! My boss, the owner of the business, has treated me like dirt, but I'm thankful to him because he has catastrophically failed to make me think it's all my fault - he essentially failed to turn me into a slave who is willing to be exploited.

And the company I work for is understaffed, too, because he simply can't afford more workers. Instead of hiring more, he simply blames me for being slow. My colleague is his favourite, and he praises her all the time, but she often takes a leave when her child is sick. And all the workload she would have to do is on my shoulders. I do a lot of overtime and he blames me for doing that. What a joke.

Unfortunately, that just ends up putting more stress on an already over burdened workforce. I wish we lived in a world where the bottomline wasn't prioritised over everything else. It even gets to the point where it's dangerous.

But all his words and actions have convinced me that he only thinks about the bottom line and he actually said I'm merely a robot. Congratulations - he earned the title of "ruthless exploiter" - now I understand there's no defence for his actions. I no longer have to blame myself.

When I worked in retail, there was this lovely regular customer who became quite chatty. She once said this guy was bragging to her about how his child was some big shot lawyer but she pointed out- we wouldn't need lawyers if there weren't criminals. I always found that funny.

I really love her way of thinking. And nobody can be a pro-lifer if there were no suicidal person on earth... They can't "save" people who aren't suicidal!

Sometimes, I don't know what to think to be honest. I was raised with a strong work ethic, so I do feel obliged to work hard for companies that employ me. But, on the othet hand, my cynicism prevents me from being utterly exploited. I remeber this one lady used to work crazy hard where I used to work. Her Uncle had been like a father to her and when he died over the Christmas period, she wasn't allowed to take time off for the funeral. I really hoped that would show her what kind of company we worked for but no- she still busted a gut for them. Stuff like that though. Companies in general really- I can't really blame people for not wanting to work! Why be a mug ultimately?

I feel obliged to do work like crazy, considering how little I contribute to the society, but I always end up prioritising myself, because whenever I feel pressurised I quickly spiral into depression.

I'm so sorry for her experience, and unfortunately I think it's rampant in this dog-eat-dog world.

I no longer care about my job too much, and it helped me so much - now I know I'm not my job.

 

[WhatPowerIs]

Basically I agree with your post, but I think you are overlooking one thing. You don't have to spend ALL your time being a slave to capitalism. You can usually manage to carve out some space for yourself, to do things that you find fulfilling, even when you are working for a living. (I used to escape to the mountains as often as I could.) Whether or not you can carve out enough space to tip the balance in favor of "carry on living" rather than "ctb" will depend on your circumstances and on your personality. But I don't think you should conclude that it's impossible. At least, not yet.

Time spent being a cog in the machine far outweighs the time spent doing things to make life livable, at least for me.

 

[TiredOfAllThis]

I am really sick of this pointless struggle. Lies, traps and traitors are everywhere, and those who you trust try to make advantage of you. Fear and anxiety only keep building up and get in the way.

Strangely enough, only animals do not lie.