In a world where most must sell their time for money to survive, free time is true luxury.
Sell your kids on the black market. Poof! Free time.
President Milei I didn’t know you were on the fediverse!
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I don’t disagree, just a quite reminder that not everyone can afford this. The meme doesn’t say it but it gives “money doesn’t buy happiness” vibes and while this isn’t false, a certain amount of money is required for this.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the picture, but I thought that’s why they were called luxuries - because not everyone gets to have them. Though they aren’t what we usually associate with a luxurious lifestyle.
E: just to be clear, everyone should have them, but many are too occupied with the daily battle for survival.
Yes, I read it the same way, that’s why I said that I don’t disagree. Still there is this other reading I wanted to “debunk”
Re-reading your comment I see that I must have meant to reply to someone else. I apologise, my social media timer sometimes makes me hasty.
Yeah this is lowkey a boogie meme - the majority of people don’t live in a work situation that allows for day naps!
How do we call something that the majority of people can’t afford ?
A luxury
We call it expensive, which is a subtlety that the title of this meme poopooing on “consumerism” is missing out on.
Hence, a boogie meme. Those of us down here in the dirt don’t have time for these luxuries; we consume imitations.
You’re in solarpunk territory. They want to rid us of money entirely. Sounds pretty nice but requires huge cultural and lifestyle changes.
How much money does one need for a long walk and listening to birds?
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Time is money. If you work 2 jobs to provide for your kids alone, good luck finding the time and headspace to not worry about anything.
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Parks and forests aren’t evenly distributed. Not everyone can afford living near one or going there.
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In capitalism, one must first pay for basic necessities like food and shelter before anything else. For some people who make low wages this requires an amount of time and effort that interferes with their leisure time.
That said, there are also some people who think they are in this category when in reality their stress is due to self-imposed standards of living that are higher than necessary. Or anxiety and other psychological problems that could be addressed through non-material strategies.
there are also some people who think they are in this category when in reality their stress is due to self-imposed standards of living that are higher than necessary. Or anxiety and other psychological problems that could be addressed through non-material strategies.
also encouraged and exacerbated by capitalism (the former - to create the illusion of a “middle class” for people to aspire to and vote against their own actual material conditions, the latter - by commodifying health care and pathologizing anything that harms “productivity”)
How much money does one need to not have to choose between spending their evenings on a long walk listening to birds vs delivering pizzas as a third job to avoid eviction?
Roughly $75,000+ a year to live comfortably as a single person in the US. Depending on location.
Do you answer all rhetorical questions? Is that your thing?
Yes.
Thanks for clarification! I wasn’t sure
Thank you for moving day naps higher on the list.
Ⓐ🏴✊
Why add a symbol that is almost solely used by totalitarian governments?
The hammer and sickle remains commonplace in self-declared socialist states, such as China, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, and Vietnam, but also some former Soviet republics following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, such as Belarus and Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_and_sickle
Are there any countries that use the symbol that are actually nice places to live with good governments?
Angola
The MPLA abandoned its former Marxist ideology at its third party congress in 1990, and declared social democracy to be its new platform.
Yes I’m aware of the history of Angola.
You asked
Are there any countries that use the symbol that are actually nice places to live with good governments?
Angola has made a conscious decision to stick to this symbol as if transitions to a liberal democracy and stable economy. There were some efforts to change the flag recently because as you said it’s often associated with totalitarian regimes. But those efforts failed because to Angolans it symbolizes the Angolan triumph over the colonial oppression of Portugal and resistance to apartheid South African invasion.
It could change in the future, Angola is still moving towards “good government” and “nice place to live” as you said. But for now it remains their national flag.
Interesting. That being said I don’t understand the lemmygrad peoples desire for the Hammer and sickle as a symbol. Like almost nothing good has come from it. Even in Angola it seems to be viewed as a somewhat tarnished period in their history.
I get what you mean, I’m helping to add nuance to the discussion. Also a bunch of white people coming in and telling Angolans what symbols they can and can’t use to represent their triumph over colonialism and apartheid isn’t a great look either.
Meaning is also contextual - different cultures put different meaning in symbols. To represent global ideas we need some consensus.
Baltic neo-pagans were rigtfully culturally suppressed from using swastika as “symbol of Sun”. Hammer and sickle also signifies millions of deaths and decades of repressioms. It is even forbidden in some post soviet countries along with swastika. Lets find something less damaging to represent marxist ideas.
I don’t believe in these sweeping absolutes. Context and motive are important parts of any equation of what’s “acceptable”.
@Humana
I think the only system to believe in here is sensitivity to feelings and histories of others. If you don’t mind triggering literally millions of people whose families were hurt by soviets, it is your choice.
And wouldn’t you be against public display of swastikas if they are displayed by “neopagans” and supposedly symbolize Sun?Do you ban them from museums? Textbooks? Documentaries? No because they are in an appropriate context. I would never wear or display a swastika and I feel disgusted to see one displayed by anyone with pride. Context and motive matter…
I can’t tell if you’re being ignorant or disingenuous. The Ⓐ should be a clue as to my opinion on government in general, no? As for ☭ - check the first sentence of the article you linked. Or the description written under it, for what I meant to invoke.
I am no USSR apologist. I just consider that symbol useful as a marker for worker solidarity.
I understand what it means, and I support what it is trying to do in theory. The problem is there has never been a government, to my knowledge, that has embraced the ideology that has not turned to corruption/totalitarianism. In these countries, the proletariat are deprived of their rights and fare far worse. That is what the hammer and sickle represents.
I’m happy to change my mind if an example can prove otherwise, but to my knowledge the most effective form of government is that of a social democracy, which is represented by a red rose.
I’m not talking about any governments.
Like I already told you:
The hammer and sickle (Unicode: U+262D ☭ ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between agricultural and industrial workers.
This sentence is the entire and only reason I used that symbol. You have zero reason to continue to ask me for “good governments using this symbol”. It is not a symbol of government. Communism is stateless, ergo no government. Just like anarchism.
You’re trolling. Fuck off.
Nice civility
The swastika is thus understood to be a symbol of auspiciousness and good fortune
Symbols can have meanings that are different than what they turn into. Hammer and sickle is almost unanimously considered to be a symbol of Stalin USSR totalitarian communism where millions perished.
The swastika is thus understood to be a symbol of auspiciousness and good fortune
The Hindu one is, yes.
Symbols can have meanings that are different than what they turn into.
Not denying that.
Hammer and sickle is almost unanimously considered to be a symbol of Stalin USSR totalitarian communism where millions perished.
Only to people ignorant of what communism actually means.
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But do you understand how much money you can make if you make them paid Add-ons or subscription based?!?! Think of the money! Think of the riches!
Treat yourself to a two-hour nap without our latest Life DLC™! Only $29.99*!
*Per nap. We cannot guarantee you will fall asleep or stay asleep. All DLC is non-refundable.
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We have made it so that having the freedom to choose, a most basic human need, feels like doing incorrect stuff.
Like, just choosing to leave a relationship subjects you to so much pain and hate that you’d rather not do it.
It sucks, but sadly a lot of these things are luxuries. Some are getting better but others worse (for example, there are less birds now than in the past, or at least it seems that way).
Most of these should be rights
This. Especially in modern first-world nations. There are plenty of resources for the wealthy to still be wealthy and everyone to have at least economic security.
mornigs
Are other people just ignoring this or am I the only person who is distracted by this?
Didn’t go back to look so it doesn’t exist
Didn’t notice until you pointed it out
It was on the news this mroing
a mother in ar who had kill her three kids, they are taking the three babby back to new york too lady to rest. my pary are with the father who lost his chrilden ; i am truley sorry for your lots
Using Linux
That’s just good anti-capitalism practice, so yeah that tracks.
When I read this, my dyslexic read luxuries as linux
Same thats why i wrote the comment lol
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You do need time and money, apparently.
Yeah I think it’s been found that there is a sweet spot for income and happiness. Having billions of dollars won’t make you any happier, but I think it’s something around $120K per year that provides everything needed to have a happy life without having to stress much about paying the bills.
Unfortunately the vast majority of people fall way below the level of income needed that’s necessary to be able to have a stress free long walk and a good conversation that’s not about how to make ends meet, etc.
That figure heavily depends on cost-of-living in your area. Somewhere between 1x and 3x your local living wage is a good starting point. https://livingwage.mit.edu/
Interestingly, my personal calculations agree with that general figure.
“The ability to freely express yourself”
—with fire.
Yeah, truth. Nobody has complete freedom in a world of other people. I don’t get to run around being an ax murderer, for example (not that I want to be). There are plenty of guardrails and rules and laws, many for good reason.
I was talking about how the image above “express yourself” looks like fire.
I like the implication that freely expressing myself involves flames.
It does for me 🔥
what are you a millionaire?
Might you by chance be American?
I’m on the fence about hearings birds singing. It is really annoying to get woken up way too early by a bird who just knows two tunes and sings it over and over and over again. Like what the fuck?! Didn’t they teach you a third tune at bird school to make your song a bit more melodic and less irritating? Fucking twitter.
There’s this big male cardinal who lives in my rhododendron. He’s not the problem. The problem are the loud, brash younglings who show up and try to muscle in on his territory. They start before dawn, screaming at the top of a tree, making up for their lack of style with sheer volume.
Plus they sound like fucking car alarms. The Big Boy has a gorgeous call, and perches on the fence between the houses to take advantage of the acoustics, and starts at least an hour after dawn because no lady wants to be woken up early by a fuckboy.
He must be back early this year because there’s only been one asshole bird who woke me up.
Gigachad birb. O7
Whenever I see him in the summer he’s got at three or four females following him around.
The birds here are really confused lately and have just been singing all night without a break, it’s driving me crazy.
Light pollution?
I love me some slow mornigs too
Spell check is the real real luxury.
Of all the ways to misspell that, that is probably the worst way.
love my slow mornigs
I know you’re making a joke about the typo but low key slow mornings are for sure one of the greatest subtle pleasures of life
I agree lol. had one today myself
everything on the list requires money. but I get the point you’re trying to say
I didn’t realize I needed money to sleep well… Or to have a slow morning… Or to listen to birds sing?
Even in third world countries you’d have this…
Hard to have a slow morning and day naps when you’re rushing between two jobs because you don’t have money.
If you had money, you could be more selective in finding work that provided the balance and flexibility needed to appreciate the things in life that are free.
But all of these things are too expensive when you’re time-poor, and most people are time poor because they’re desperately trying to avoid being financially poor.
We’re talking about a very small amount of people who have to work multiple jobs 7 days a week, with many more poor people who don’t do that.
And you didn’t cover the birds singing, which you can do pretty much any place…
I think you’re underestimating how much labour the global poor perform in a 24 hour period, 7 days a week.
But yes, many of these things can be possible if you prioritise them for your mental health, my point is just that it’s not always easy to prioritise mental health when you’re focused on physical survival.
But obviously, if you can include these things in your routine, you absolutely should, there are virtually no downsides.
I don’t think I am actually.
I think it’s almost impossible to miss every single one of these all the time. I have worked with the extremely poor, and watched documentaries of people in third world countries regularly. Most people even those who are literal third world slaves (indebted for life) can still regularly enjoy at least 2 of these things regularly.
I’m not saying it’s not shit and that ideally everyone should experience all of them, but it’s unrealistically cynical and nihilistic to think everyone poor is just miserable and doesn’t enjoy anything.
My god you are clueless. Have you moved out of your parent’s home yet? I’m just curious where you are in your life? If you moved, were you given a stable and well funded childhood? I’m just trying to understand the disconnect.
Yeah I’ve lived out of home for close to 2 decades.
I think people here are being extremely dramatic if they say they never are able to sleep in or never have a chance to hear birds singing though, or to watch a sunset. That is absolute hyperbolic bullshit.
Unless this post is about doing it every day (which it isn’t), then everyone gets to enjoy these luxuries at least semi-regularly.
Stress ruins everything