Rural Anarchy

I'm not really worried that we've become a consumerist society. I'm far more worried about what it means for us that we've become so transactional.

But if we can figure out how to get most people to understand what mutual aid really means, it's a hell of a tool. We can keep cars running, we can fix your computer or put a new screen on your phone. Just pay it forward when you can.

And I can help with plumbing or the brakes on your car or giving you a ride to work. But we need a lot more than can do that, and don't expect immediate returns. Or if they're accepting, the need to feel like they shouldn't ask unless they can pay.

What if they do? That's on them. What if they buy food because they haven't eaten in two days? What if they buy gas for their car to get to a friend's place and safety for a few days? I don't care what they do.

But our society needs some work to get to a point where asking doesn't matter.

For those of us familiar with mutual aid, it might be an option. But we have to really educate and organize everyone around us to understand that concept. Too many people I know see me hand someone homeless a $20 and ask me "what if they just buy alcohol with it??"

Oh yeah, I feel for you. Sounds like you're reading my mail from a decade ago!! "Yay, shoes that work!"... oops, outgrown in a month. And the SAME shoes a size bigger don't work now.

But hey, I'm a freak about how my socks fit even now so I could never hold it against her.

But even into high school, she didn't like athletic shoes and socks and I had to talk her down from the ledge about them because she did love being in the color guard that required them. But telling her to "ignore" those sensory issues wasn't always an easy fight!

You have my deepest sympathies. I've been there and done that. But hopefully it's like my daughter and gets easier as they get older. It was hell when she was little. Now, she just has socks and shoes she "prefers" and no real issue. And she loves fashion, so she sucks it up to look cool.

She still lives with me, but she's in her early 20s now. And we don't have massive meltdowns about the way socks feel each morning. But when she was 8? I had to miss work and keep her out of school for the day sometimes. Because "socks". Much love and many hugs. I know that battle.

Oh I feel you there. It's better now that's she's older but my oldest was in occupational therapy as a kid because of sensory issues. And that just got her to wear jeans instead of warmup pants. As for me and my house, we totally get sensory issues! Sensory Integration Disorder is hell!

Yeah. Like, the "new" vehicle I bought at shitty terms was a 10 year old 4 cylinder SUV. We take what we can get. Sure some folks can go buy new cars but that's not most of us. Hell, I'd have loved to end up with my dead grandma's 1999 Buick LaSabre!

Yeah. I raised a couple of kids. I love them, but they're expensive as hell! Far more than I pay for TVs or nice cars. But fuck us, right? Choosing to spend money on TVs and cell phones and feeding and clothing and housing our children! Just throwing money at being consumers, amiright??

And the really funny part is this guy mentioning a "Ford Expedition". Most of those on the road are old as hell these days. No one drives a new Expedition these days, but a lot of them from 20 years ago a cheap and easy to find.

I mean, if you have me as a friend and live close, I can keep that old thing running for the cost of parts. But most folks don't know an old grizzled car mechanic that knows how to fix them and does it for free for friends.

And, the old Caddy, in holding to your point, is a 2001 model. Exactly 25 years old now. The ten year old Jeep Cherokee with 100K miles was a MASSIVE upgrade.

I recently had to finance, at credit card terms, a 10 year old small SUV because my old hoopty (funny enough here, a 2001 Caddy) finally gave up the ghost. And I drive a highway full of overloaded gravel trucks driven by compete meth fueled idiots at 6am. I want a .50 Cal!!!

If you're in Texas and didn't vote in the primary, you're eligible to vote in the GOP runoff. If you can, go vote for Paxton in the May runoff primary election. Cornyn is boring enough that GOP voters will vote for him. But not Paxton. We want him as the GOP Senate candidate.

For 20 years the idea that a Democrat could win a statewide vote in Texas was a joke. Beto came within the margin of error against Cruz and I was shocked in 2018. But folks, if Paxton wins the runoff, we might have the first Democratic Senator from Texas in a decades. The people hate Paxton.

My parents are MAGA through and through. I fucking hate it, but it is what it is. But without prompting, my mom went on a whole ass rant about hating Paxton and how she could never vote for him. I send her a video of Talarico talking about the Gospels? It's a done deal in the election.

Hoping and praying for Paxton to win the GOP runoff!!

I can't explain how much conservatives in Texas hate his corrupt ass. And the rest hate him for cheating on his wife. Paxton is toxic even to MAGA. We can sell the cleancut Christian white boy Christian Democrat to them.

Even with a good factory job, I'm not hurting because I have new phones and TVs. But that "brew coffee at home to save money" is now $20 a can for the cheap stuff I like. And rent is half my paycheck. And I don't even care for "avocado toast" or whatever the boomer talking points are now.

I make pretty good money and live with a phone that's 5 generations out of date and a 42" 1080p TV. And all my friends that make less than me certainly don't have better phones and TVs, so I don't know where this dude gets the idea we're poor because we buy new phones and TVs all the time.

Hate Elon or Sam Altman... or the single mom that has to pay $100 a month for service for her cell phone with a cracked screen so she can register her kids for school and book Medicaid appointments. Shouldn't be a hard choice. Much more reality than her having a new iPhone17 and a nice car.

Even my MAGA ass parents that would follow Trump to hell would vote for a Democrat against Paxton. He is just absolutely hated in Texas now!

Brother, you're kinda going off the rails compared to what the original conversation was. I mean, I understand what you're talking about but you seem to be going scatterbrained across a lot of different economic and social issues.

No endorsement yet. And Paxton is defiant against a possible Cornyn endorsement. And probably won't drop out even if Trump endorses Cornyn. But it's very much in the air for now. Polling still shows a tie or a slight Paxton advantage. And I pray Paxton stays in and wins the runoff.

Apparently this dude can't imagine that poor people have to make due and buy stuff cheap and make it last. Seems to think struggling people are out there with the newest iPhones, giant ass "flatscreens" and luxury vehicles. And we're all poor because we buy the newest phones and TVs.

When you have Reagan screaming about welfare queens in a Caddy echoing in your head, it's hard to progress to the idea that CRT TVs went away decades ago and the cheap TVs are all "flat screen".

LOL. It's you that changed the conversation to the latest smartphone, a big TV, and for some stupid reason, an SUV that's no longer made. Anything else you want to add to your list of things poor people shouldn't be allowed to have? You suck at life AND keeping track of internet conversations.

You're the only one walking about consumerism while the rest of us are talking about necessary expenses. Yeah, a consumerist economy isn't great. But singling out poor people trying to pay for necessities? I can't take your "conversation" seriously. TVs and Ford Expeditions? You're a clown.