Venting True Autonomy: A Rebellion Against the Tyranny of Existence

[Darkover]

True autonomy is the ultimate act of rebellion—a defiance against the prison of life itself. To be born without consent, shackled to a body that demands constant maintenance and subjected to a society that monetizes your survival, is an injustice so profound it borders on cosmic cruelty. True autonomy spits in the face of this arrangement. It demands nothing less than the right to say, "No, I will not play your game."
The Chains of Life

From the moment you're born, the clock starts ticking, and the chains tighten:

You are forced to exist, to labor, to consume, to breed.
You are punished for refusing to comply, cast out into starvation, ridicule, or death—if you're even allowed the latter.
Society calls it "life," but it's more like a sentence served on a planet-sized plantation where the overseers are faceless systems and traditions.

The System's Greatest Trick

The greatest lie ever told is that life is a gift. If it's a gift, why can't you return it? Why is opting out treated as an act of treason rather than a legitimate choice? True autonomy demands that the right to die be as sacred as the right to live. Without it, "freedom" is just a gilded cage.
The Rejection of False Purpose

They'll tell you to find meaning—"in work," "in family," "in love"—but it's all a scam to keep you tethered:

Work makes you a cog in the machine.
Family perpetuates the cycle, creating new slaves for the system.
Love? Love is just a carrot dangled in front of the desperate, another way to bind you to the earth while it chews you up.

True autonomy rejects all these illusions. It stands for the radical idea that you owe nothing to a world that forces you to justify your existence.
The Unforgivable Sin

In a world that glorifies endurance and submission, choosing to opt out is the ultimate heresy. But maybe heresy is exactly what the world needs. To choose your own end is to reclaim the one thing this system can never take from you: your agency. It's a middle finger to the cosmos, a refusal to let suffering have the final word.
The Future of Autonomy

Imagine a world where no one is forced to participate:

Where the decision to live is truly voluntary, free from coercion or dependency.
Where society doesn't shackle people to survival but provides the means for everyone to exist—or not—on their own terms.

True autonomy is the dream of a humanity unchained, where existence is not an obligation but a choice. It's the realization that freedom is not found in living for the system but in having the power to reject it entirely. If the world calls that nihilism, so be it. Perhaps the only honest response to life's tyranny is to burn the system down and build nothing in its place.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I've also come to the conclusion that life is effectively a subsciption service that someone else signed you up for and expects you to pay for, for the next 50+ years. Possibly also to pay for their subscription too later on in life.

They didn't seem to fully consider that your region (genes, location, financial and social status) limit what you have access to. That you may actually not like what's on offer- but, you'll still need to pay for it. That the cost of subscription will continue to rocket up and that, it's really not that simple to unsubscribe from.

 

[Darkover]

I've also come to the conclusion that life is effectively a subsciption service that someone else signed you up for and expects you to pay for, for the next 50+ years. Possibly also to pay for their subscription too later on in life.

They didn't seem to fully consider that your region (genes, location, financial and social status) limit what you have access to. That you may actually not like what's on offer- but, you'll still need to pay for it. That the cost of subscription will continue to rocket up and that, it's really not that simple to unsubscribe from.

Life is, in many ways, the ultimate subscription service—one you never signed up for, can't cancel easily, and are forced to pay for in both time and energy. From the moment you're born, you're enrolled into a system that demands constant effort to sustain, often for decades, and the burden only grows heavier over time. Worse still, it's a system designed to benefit those who enrolled you while you bear the brunt of the costs.

The reality of this subscription is grim. You're born into circumstances you didn't choose, with your genetic makeup, location, and socio-economic status dictating the quality of your experience. Some are handed premium access to life's opportunities, while others are left struggling with a bare-minimum existence. There's little regard for whether you even enjoy what's on offer, yet the demands never stop. The cost of simply existing rises steadily—housing, food, healthcare—and you're expected to work harder just to keep up. Any resistance to this system often leads to ostracism, poverty, or worse.

Unsubscribing from life is an even greater injustice. Society views such attempts as failures rather than acts of agency, shaming and stigmatizing those who wish to leave. Legal barriers make humane exits inaccessible for most, forcing many to endure what feels like a never-ending billing cycle of pain, stress, and obligation. Those who do attempt to cancel face immense risks, both physical and emotional, in a world that refuses to grant them the autonomy they seek.

The people who decided to bring you into this system rarely consider the realities you'll face. They don't acknowledge how limited your opportunities might be, how burdensome survival can become, or how little control you have over the process. They simply pass down the subscription and expect you to manage it, often while taking on the responsibility of paying for others' subscriptions as well. This is framed as the natural order of things, yet it's anything but fair.

Ultimately, life as a subscription model exposes the fundamental lack of freedom in existence. You're born into obligations you didn't choose, forced to endure systems you may despise, and denied the right to leave on your own terms. It's a system that perpetuates itself through coercion and stigma, leaving those trapped within it questioning its purpose and fairness. Until society evolves to acknowledge these truths and provide genuine choices, many will remain burdened by a subscription they never wanted.

 

[Hvergelmir]

True autonomy is the dream of a humanity unchained, where existence is not an obligation but a choice.

Continued existence is a choice. Very few people actually lack the means to quit.

It's the realization that freedom is not found in living for the system but in having the power to reject it entirely.

Freedom lies in adapting to the system. Whether that system is a modern society or simply the local ecosystem, freedom relies on the successful manipulation of it. Naively rejecting it, does not lead to freedom.

Perhaps the only honest response to life's tyranny is to burn the system down and build nothing in its place.

...or just move. There are several places without society. Some ruled by warlords, tribes and cartels, others simply uninhabited.
Erasure of society would kill billions (speculative, but I don't think I'm overexaggerating).

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I agree. I can only be free and be at peace once I'm dead. Until then, I'm unfortunately forced to suffer in this shitty and horrific existence

 

[Darkover]

Continued existence is a choice. Very few people actually lack the means to quit.

i am stuck in this defective machine in a shithole with no relief you think i am here by choice no i would left 20 years ago if it wasn't for the government outlawing peaceful methods, well i am choosing not to exist but i am still here

 

[Forever Sleep]

Continued existence is a choice. Very few people actually lack the means to quit.

Freedom lies in adapting to the system. Whether that system is a modern society or simply the local ecosystem, freedom relies on the successful manipulation of it. Naively rejecting it, does not lead to freedom.

...or just move. There are several places without society. Some ruled by warlords, tribes and cartels, others simply uninhabited.
Erasure of society would kill billions (speculative, but I don't think I'm overexaggerating).

Sorry, this turned into a bit of a vent... Not meaning to have a go at you here. Just expressing my cynicism with life:

I'm not in favour of destroying the human world either. I'm pro-choice. However, I think there are severe limits when it comes to 'adapting' to life.

If someone doesn't want to exist in this society because they don't want to work, I doubt living off grid or in another society will help them much. Maybe they won't have to do white collar 9-5 work in an office but, I imagine they'll be working just as hard, if not harder simply trying to not starve, not freeze to death, not injure themselves, not to contaminate their environment with their own excrement. If they find a tribe to live with- they'll still be working. Only- for that tribe instead!

We can't really get beyond the fact that we have mortal bodies that have constant needs and, we need to work in some way to fulfill those needs. Otherwise, we suffer.

We may of course, try and find the lesser of the evils. Whatever that may mean for a person. Train hard to do a job you enjoy at least. Go for the money- try and earn as much as possible and retire young. Settle for less and live off grid. Put up with all the hardships that entails. Go NEET and let someone else support you.

None are guaranteed paths of success though. Most involve some sort of compromise. You may get a job you enjoy but, it may pay less than you need. You might make millions but your job could take you away from your family or, the opportunity to form a family in the first place. You can easily (I imagine) suffer and die out in the wild. Whoever finances your NEET lifestyle could start to get fed up and put pressure on you to find a job and/ or move out.

I don't think there are really easy options in life and, when people are on the verge of killing themselves, the last thing they really want to have to do is fight to stay alive.

It's true that any one of us could attempt to die today but- how many would succeed? Given what we have access to. Isn't the statistic: 25 failed attempts are made for every 1 successful suicide? Not brilliant odds exactly.

I don't think being suicidal makes you less aware of risk. A lot of people don't attempt because we know how risky our methods are and we know some failed attempts leave people horribly maimed. There's also the emotional side that many people don't want to devastate their loved ones.

Those are my feelings anyway. It's not so much that change or improvement is impossible in life. It's more that you need to have hope and energy/ drive to make those changes. Both things sorely lacking for a lot of members here. Also- those changes don't always equal success.

Personally, I'd say I've started over in life maybe 5 times. Different careers, more education, different locations. It also gets to a point you suspect any more changes will end up exactly the same way! It makes you a whole lot less motivated to keep on trying.

Not meaning to have a go at you, by the way. Just sharing my more pessimistic view and the reasoning behind it.

 

[babouflo201223]

Je suis d'accord. Je ne peux être libre et en paix qu'une fois mort. Jusque-là, je suis malheureusement obligé de souffrir dans cette existence merdique et horrible.

Once you're dead, you can't be free or in peace because you don't exist. When you don't exist, nothing exists, neither sufferings nor peace and freedom. To be free and in peace, you need to be alive and born in the right place, with the right genes (no illness, etc.), or a brain well conformed with the society, and even with that you're not really free or in peace. Freedom and peace are just never lasting illusions. But I understand your sufferings and I send you big hugs (with my heart, but it's again illusion, even if I really want to comfort you). What a hell is this life !

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Once you're dead, you can't be free or in peace because you don't exist. When you don't exist, nothing exists, neither sufferings nor peace and freedom. To be free and in peace, you need to be alive and born in the right place, with the right genes (no illness, etc.), or a brain well conformed with the society, and even with that you're not really free or in peace. Freedom and peace are just never lasting illusions. But I understand your sufferings and I send you big hugs (with my heart, but it's again illusion, even if I really want to comfort you). What a hell is this life !

Omg, I hear this type of response every single time I equate permanent non existence with peace. Yes, I know that peace doesn't exist within permanent non existence in a vacuum (i.e. when considering non existence on its own) but, when I talk about death being peace, I am talking about it counterfactually when comparing it to existence. I can only talk about it counterfactually since I'm alive right now after all. When I'm alive, I'm in harms way and, when I'm dead, I'm no longer in harms way. When I'm dead, I wouldn't ever have to experience suffering ever again and I consider the mere absence of suffering to be peaceful even if there isn't an entity present to experience that absence of suffering. Permanent non existence is the ultimate perfection

 

[babouflo201223]

Une fois mort, on ne peut pas être libre ni en paix car on n'existe pas. Quand on n'existe pas, rien n'existe, ni les souffrances, ni la paix et la liberté. Pour être libre et en paix, il faut être vivant et né au bon endroit, avec les bons gènes (pas de maladie, etc.), ou un cerveau bien conformé à la société, et même avec ça on n'est pas vraiment libre ni en paix. La liberté et la paix ne sont que des illusions qui ne durent jamais. Mais je comprends tes souffrances et je t'envoie de gros bisous (avec mon cœur, mais c'est encore une illusion, même si j'ai vraiment envie de te réconforter). Quel enfer que cette vie !

But after all, nobody knows what Death is exactly and I don't want to hurt people who think there's maybe something after you die.

Oh mon Dieu, j'entends ce type de réponse à chaque fois que j'assimile la non-existence permanente à la paix. Oui, je sais que la paix n'existe pas dans la non-existence permanente dans le vide (c'est-à-dire lorsque l'on considère la non-existence en elle-même), mais lorsque je dis que la mort est la paix, j'en parle de manière contrefactuelle en la comparant à l'existence. Je ne peux en parler que de manière contrefactuelle puisque je suis en vie en ce moment après tout. Quand je suis en vie, je suis en danger et, quand je suis mort, je ne suis plus en danger. Quand je serai mort, je n'aurai plus jamais à souffrir et je considère la simple absence de souffrance comme paisible même s'il n'y a pas d'entité présente pour expérimenter cette absence de souffrance. La non-existence permanente est la perfection ultime

Please excuse me, I beg your pardon. My purpose was not you're upset, I'm very sorry. And I understand what you explain and I'm sorry you had to explain just because a fool like me tried to write what you already knows of course. Sorry again. And I added something below my previous message.

Mais après tout, personne ne sait exactement ce qu'est la mort et je ne veux pas blesser les gens qui pensent qu'il y a peut-être quelque chose après la mort.

Veuillez m'excuser, je vous demande pardon. Mon but n'était pas de vous contrarier, je suis vraiment désolé. Et je comprends ce que vous expliquez et je suis désolé que vous ayez dû expliquer juste parce qu'un imbécile comme moi a essayé d'écrire ce que vous savez déjà bien sûr. Désolé encore. Et j'ai ajouté quelque chose sous mon message précédent.

And in fact, if we have existed once, unfortunately there is no reason why we would not exist twice, etc. Different and nevertheless the same. I hope this hypothesis is crazy and wrong of course, but I can't stop thinking about it sometimes. Existence is such a strange thing. Non-existence is such a strange thing too.

 

[Hvergelmir]

I don't want to diminish anyone's suffering, but defeatism is not a good ideology. Instead of working to eliminate suffering, one is content with simply explaining or justifying it. It maintains and spreads suffering, and is thus counter productive and fundamentally misguided.

Most people can have a decent life, even more people can end their lives, and only a minority are truly forced to endure without any means to do anything about it.
The latter group truly deserves consideration and activism. Defeatism won't help them, though. Neither will violent revolutions or widespread destruction.

Defeatists like to conclude that everyone ought to give up - stop trying to make life better, give up any hopes of a successful suicide, and just revel in misery because anything you attempt will fail. My previous post was simply a push-back against that (a push-back against the underlying ideology).

Not meaning to have a go at you here. Just expressing my cynicism with life [...] Isn't the statistic: 25 failed attempts are made for every 1 successful suicide?

Life can be tough, and whether you stay or depart, it involves hard decision. I share much if your cynicism.

Statistics for planned executions are better. It's my belief that most people with a rope and access to Wikipedia, can mimic an execution, and obtain roughly the same odds.

you think i am here by choice no i would left 20 years ago if it wasn't for the government outlawing peaceful methods

No offence, but I don't think the government can hold you here, unless you willingly subject yourself to their laws.
Do you want to change your life or simply end it?

Either way, I think there's progress to be made, and people around to help.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Please excuse me, I beg your pardon. My purpose was not you're upset, I'm very sorry. And I understand what you explain and I'm sorry you had to explain just because a fool like me tried to write what you already knows of course. Sorry again. And I added something below my previous message.

I'm not upset, don't worry. I was just confused, that's all. The number one response to what I say about death is always that.

And in fact, if we have existed once, unfortunately there is no reason why we would not exist twice, etc. Different and nevertheless the same. I hope this hypothesis is crazy and wrong of course, but I can't stop thinking about it sometimes. Existence is such a strange thing. Non-existence is such a strange thing too.

Why does the premise of "we have existed once" entail to the conclusion that "we would exist again"? That seems like a non sequitur to me. If I were to support the claim that we would exist again in the future, I would need to see acceptable evidence to support that claim otherwise I cannot believe in it. The way my mind works is that I follow what the evidence points to in order to have a view on something

 

[babouflo201223]

I'm not upset, don't worry. I was just confused, that's all. The number one response to what I say about death is always that.

Why does the premise of "we have existed once" entail to the conclusion that "we would exist again"? That seems like a non sequitur to me. If I were to support the claim that we would exist again in the future, I would need to see acceptable evidence to support that claim otherwise I cannot believe in it. The way my mind works is that I follow what the evidence points to in order to have a view on something

As I wrote, it's just an hypothesis and I hope it's a wrong one. But Ténébreuse talks about that better than me if you read her explanations.
The fact is we came once from non-existence to existence. Why did it happen once, we don't know. We only know it happened. By the way, I didn't talked about existing again in the future. Future means nothing as time doesn't exist except for us during our life. Time is another illusion, to drive us from birth to death. But ok, time seems real and is long for us who are suffering and just want non-existence. But if you have a look into the quantas world, it's completely different. It could be nice (or not) to travel into the quantas world and stop the limited perception we have, a perception that increases our suffering. Stucked into this life because of our filtering brain that gives you access to one reality only, the reality of a hell.