Michael

Enter Shikari

I love their Common Dreads album!

I have not been able to find a good fit, no. Being in a rural area and being on Medicaid complicates this.

I considered online therapy, but I experience severe video/phone call anxiety. In-person therapy is fine, but the facilities around here aren’t trauma-informed/specialized in treating PTSD. They also don’t know the first thing about adult autism.

I’ve tried a couple times regardless, but I did not feel comfortable sharing any of the sensitive details to them.

I would give them a few chances, like tell them about my biological sister (18 years older than me, career criminal, took my parent’s identity more times than I can count, poisoned me with copious amounts of Benadryl over a period of time in my teens to steal from my parents, tried to suffocate me multiple times), but even sharing the smallest details did not inspire trust.

I’ve had therapists blame me or my anxiety for not being able to adapt to a hostile environment before I even was able to tell them 1% of what is actually going on. Acting as if I wasn’t being rational when I told them how many difficulties I had. Acting as if I could just ignore and get along with my sister while living with her…

Most people can’t fathom what I have been through. Since I present “normally” (i.e. mask), albeit with some level of visible anxiety, it makes it seem like things are not so bad to them.

I am seeking somebody, but I can’t afford the people who can help. Maybe one day. I have given up on getting justice and the person who raped me over and over is still free. As for my sister, well she is in court and will likely be going away for a long time for reasons unrelated to me - the jury will decide her fate.

Recently, she tried to frame my mother with a fake ID/renting scheme by impersonating her, giving out bad checks while seeking housing in a neighboring city in another state. My sister has been out of our lives for about a decade, mostly, and she still is trying to get my mother in trouble/hurt us. We have restraining orders against her and have for a few years now.

My mother nearly got arrested due to the fake ID(s) being so good. It fooled the cops, so it must’ve been fairly real-looking. Fortunately my mother has several witnesses who know it wasn’t her, but she still has to appear in court and deal with her bullshit.

Thanks. That was 10 years ago. I am making steady progress in realizing my dreams of helping others, but I still am struggling quite a bit even though I’ve made so much progress on my healing journey.

When I was being raped and tortured repeatedly by a younger male family member for over 2 years and cried for help, being told that it was something I imagined or made up to stir drama was extremely heart-shattering.

It didn’t matter how much physical evidence I had gathered, nobody in my life would recognize the seriousness of the situation or even take the smallest steps to prevent the abuse from happening.

I was too afraid to call the cops because even my parents refused to believe me. I lived in a very rural town which likely never encountered a situation like mine. Nobody was on my side. My abuser poisoned my family and friends against me before/during/after the abuse, to make sure I had no one to go to.

What are your thoughts on people who are against pacifism?

It’s an elaborate and well-organized psyop by fascists/the very wealthy to bait people to the left of the far-right into promoting violent action, thus successfully smearing their cause/ideology/person as being both violent and extremist, and making it easy for the fascists in power to label, monitor, silence, jail, and/or kill them. AI is being used to facilitate this.

Well considering that I live in a rural area where warehouses (Amazon or otherwise) are literally the only jobs that pay much of anything outside of trades and the medical industry, I think they do have a choice.

It isn’t a fair choice and again, we agree there. But this example I can relate with personally.

I am somebody who has an option to be employed by Amazon, I am in need of funds, but I am sickly and I won’t contribute to an out-of-control system. I feel like doing so would accelerate my illness.

I feel like people with warehouse jobs are better off than me by a large margin, even if they are functionally trapped. I recognize the struggle. Truly.

I still choose to tread my own path. My path has been filled with thorns that even the people closest to me struggle to believe. I was raped and tortured repeatedly for around 2 years by a family member two years younger than me. That’s the tip of the iceberg. I have experienced so many tough situations that no adult intervened in or believed me about.

I am moving forward and the thorns aren’t going to prick me, because my heart is stronger and so is my will.

Are you this harsh with food and hardware from companies?

Selective would be a better word.

I just buy different things or shop at companies that are doing things differently. I love it when companies I support make significant progress to be better for themselves, for their customers, and for humanity as a whole.

(And yes, I am aware of greenwashing and it still bothers me to support some companies, regardless of the good that I recognize that they do.)

Are you selective about the chocolate you consume? I am. I don’t support child slavery.

Funnily enough, the workers of the megacorps you mentioned likely have more choice than most to tread their own path. They very likely have significant financial reserves (at least compared to a poor and sickly person like me).

When there is a mass exodus of NVIDIA/etc. workers, I will be chipping in to support them directly.

I am read up. Krafton has shown their bad faith and has not sufficiently given me reason to believe that they will change moving forward.

If I started a business and had to give up 100% of my business to keep it afloat, I’d recognize that I messed up and move on.

If you like the product, go buy it. Help them reach the milestone.

I am speaking for myself. I know it’s a good product, but I have a policy to not support early access titles unless they meet specific criteria.

I have been burned far too many times with early access titles that stay in limbo or don’t deliver on release, especially by studios under hostile publishers (who are very greedy).

I am poor and my health isn’t very good, so I feel it’s imperative that I make good decisions with my limited resources.

Subnautica 2 isn’t a bad product in its current state and it will likely release in an even better state, but I feel the whole thing is tainted for me.

Questions like, “What if Unknown Worlds stayed independent?”, or, “What if Krafton were more ethical?”, would ring through my mind constantly while playing. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the experience.

With some exceptions, we all have a choice in the first-world. Chains can be external and internal. In your example, the chains are mostly internal even if there is some degree of external chains. If you’re living in SF and are a game developer, chances are you aren’t doing terribly.

As for exploited and poor third-world countries or those who lack citizenship in first-world countries (i.e. undocumented immigrants), I’m inclined to say that is modern slavery. It sometimes literally is slavery, even child slavery.

Here in the first-world, we presently benefit from child slavery and third-world exploitation in the products we consume. It’s not uncommon either.

I believe people have to choose differently if they want different. Be the change you seek, that whole jazz.

Well, we agree.

As for myself? I chose to not be a slave and I’m sticking with that.

You can hate mega corporations, CEOs and board members

I don’t agree with their decision to move forward with Krafton. They obviously wouldn’t retain sovereignty by letting a publisher buy them completely out for $500 million. What transpired after the acquisition was something anybody with business sense could’ve foreseen to some degree.

but most of the lower lever employees are not there by choice.

This is a design lead speaking as far as I know. All employees are there by choice - even if it’s not their first choice, it’s their choice…as much as it pains me to admit (as somebody who isn’t a fan of the exploitation dynamics that run our society).

Krafton won’t be getting my money. I’m not rewarding them for their unethical behavior.

“Thanks for pirating a game that I’ve spent years working on,” game design lead Anthony Gallegos replied to one such self-reported pirate. “I’m disappointed that you’d do that when it’s kind of how we make our living. I hope you rethink your life choices.”

Thanks for working for a studio that sold their soul to a foreign publisher for $500 million and a $250 million bonus.

(And no, I’m not pirating the game.)

This, but I don’t feel it’s a form of revenge. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to not feed into drama and choosing to not engage with people who wish you ill.

Genuinely wishing those who wish you ill the best and completely moving on is likely more difficult - it’s what I’ve done with several individuals in my life and it’s served me very well.

It was hard and unnatural until I realized that I don’t want to spend my life hating others and being involved in any form of drama. The hate and resentment I felt towards those that participated in my abuse was killing me, but releasing it all and staying in a positive headspace helps me to feel better.

Knowing I won’t get into those situations anymore and appreciating the lessons I learned made me stronger.

Ah, I see now. Thanks for clearing this up and for the link.

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How far would you swallow your morals for money?

OP: Hell I’d work for Pаlаntir for a nice $250k

I’m pretty sure OP went as far as they could…

We just need to give those who commit crimes the tools to heal and learn from the hurt they caused. We don’t generally, and various unideal things happen after people are released from humiliating, degrading, dehumanizing, and exploitative conditions.

Not getting caught when they do their next crime or hurt the next person is likely on a lot of people’s minds. It’s happened with my sibling who just continued to escalate their behavior after every incarceration. They never learned their lesson. They never got offered real help. Their life is a revolving door of hurting others and losing their freedom for brief spells. They have no starting point to begin to understand the hurt that they routinely cause. They can’t get a job and participate in society even if they wanted to get better and do things right because they face discrimination in hiring and their opportunities are limited.

Personally, I feel that punishment just amplifies the violence and dysfunction, especially in the horrid conditions of the US prison system and forced labor camps like the story we are discussing. Being discriminated against in employment/not being offered opportunities/given a chance by society locks them into crime and destitution. I just can’t honestly imagine that brings the good out of many people…