How am I supposed to find motivation to keep going when villainy thrives so prevalently?

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Holiday-Educator3074@reddit

Spite and rage-it’s been keeping me upright since I was 12.

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livinglitch@reddit

Also near 40. Spite and rage only gets you so far. When its directed at the same place that has only gotten worse, its just exhausting. Im burnt out of it.

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This is what I'm grappling with now as well. I call it the Bleakness, a term from the Wheel of Time series, as it reminds me of the depression that would come over some of the Aiel after they learned the truth about their history and had their entire identity disrupted. The term just feels appropriate to what we're all going through: the harsh realization that humanity is far more fucked up than we could ever have expected, and that a significant percentage of our neighbors and even family members will happily condone and support the worst kind of evil, either because they would rather accept lies than face the truth of reality, or because they actively want to dominate other people and make them suffer. The scale of the human evil we are currently seeing is beyond anything I could have imagined, and those who are desiring it and doing it are also the ones who somehow hold ALL THE POWER. Like, I've always known our culture was deeply diseased but I always thought that humans were fundamentally good, and just tricked or controlled. But no, the harsh truth is that countless people WANT to maximize suffering, pain and death, and not even in order to benefit themselves, as many of them will suffer as well - but they're ok with it as long as other people suffer more. It's absolutely utterly horrific and I'm still trying to find a way to feel good about living in this dystopian nightmare we're all currently existing in. For me it feels like the key is finding an internal sense of purpose and meaning based on my own moral center, and the aspects of existence that are beautiful and good. And resolving myself to die before I turn away from that inside myself. I think of it like being trapped on a prison planet. We're all inmates and physically controlled (to various degrees) but they can never control who we are, unless we let them.

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aurora_996@reddit

For me, it's distance running and kickboxing. There's still lots of beautiful nature to explore and love while it's here. Take care of your body and the ones you love. Every year of relative stability is a precious gift, I'm doing my best to enjoy what I can of it despite the overwhelming challenges and the depressing trajectory of the big picture.

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dopeonplastique@reddit

Doing crime is kinda appealing right now for a few reasons

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acatinasweater@reddit

Every day I try to do a little something to fight back against these ghouls. Cover up their graffiti, harass their agents and film their war crimes, add more confirmed IDs to my nuremberg file, read theory and discuss it with other communists, donate to refugees, damage their infrastructure, etc. I know that they’re living on borrowed time, and they’ll be forced to dangle from that bridge when they come to it like Il Duce did. For now, your purpose is to be the splinter in their finger, the water on their sock, the warmth on their pillow, the mold on their bread, and the sand under their fingernails.

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Physical_Ad5702@reddit

Ok, the bill to change to the age of consent to 13 is insane. The Legislator who introduced that bill - it was because one of his relatives was found to have raped a 13 year old girl. Is that what our elected representatives think we put them in office to do? This country plumbs new depths daily. General strike now for as long as it takes (I’m willing to bet the corporate masters would fold within a week or the Donald would unleash the military on the civilian population; either or) to get a grip on psychopaths running this country.

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JettaGLi16v@reddit

Hear me out: I’ve recently (as a thought exercise) pondered joining the I - c - e. And being awful at my job. I mean $50k signing bonus? When do they pay it and is it based on performance? Also $100k salary? What if they got tens of thousands of applicants who just … didn’t give a fuck about doing their job. They are so desperate I bet you might make it through the screening if you have half a brain. Is malicious compliance possible in that environment? Ok, let’s say you’re in a strike team of 10, but your back hurts really bad and you can’t run too fast. Can you go out on workers comp? I was inspired by the latest South Park. Maybe that’s a bad idea, but I’m not yet certain.

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Relative_Chef_533@reddit

I’ve wondered this too tbh.

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japanval@reddit

In 1930s Germany they said that any man who didn't have a shirt on his back could always put on a brown one (i.e. join the brownshirted SA stormtroopers). We're here.

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JettaGLi16v@reddit

Yeah, but if I understand that correctly, the quote implies that desperate people could join the gestapo. Just like desperate people will commit a petty crime to get three hits and a cot. I’m saying what if a lot of people that despise what’s happening right now joined that organization and cashed the checks and just …. Didn’t do their jobs. Isn’t it notoriously hard to get fired from a government job (you know, in the before times). Don’t they have to give you workers comp? Aren’t back injuries notoriously hard to verify once you know how to fake the symptoms accurately? How long do you have to be there to get the $50k signing bonus, and is it tied to performance? Can you walk in the front door and could we bleed the machine dry with a thousand cuts?

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japanval@reddit

I was just looking at it from the government view. They've removed most or all of the requirements and are offering large bonuses. What do you think the ratio of people signing up to immediately "quiet quit" and sabotage the organization from within will be to that of people desperate for work and lacking a conscience (or even enthusiastically racist and anti-immigrant)? The Trump regime is creating their brownshirt army as we watch.

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JettaGLi16v@reddit

No, I agree with everything you said completely. It’s utterly terrifying. Our reps are bought and paid for, so how else do we fight it.. Can we “flood the zone” with incompetence?

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fannypacksarehot69@reddit

What a pathetic series of comments.

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JettaGLi16v@reddit

Thats a completely fair take.

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Physical_Ad5702@reddit

Get your nut my friend, just don’t be surprised if people turn on you real fast.

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JettaGLi16v@reddit

Honestly I don’t care about the money. I’m retired and could happily just donate it all to the ACLU. I’d be doing it to hinder their efforts. Like quiet quitting. But you’re right, it’s hard to convince your friends that you’re doing it as a form of malicious compliance. And I do believe that (rightfully so) all those people should be publicly doxxed. I guess I’d rather see a movement of people infiltrating a fucked up system and getting paid well to bring it to its knees. That would be schadenfreude.

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Physical_Ad5702@reddit

I’m all in favor of gumming up the works. Again, resist in any way you can.

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cabalavatar@reddit

"One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Or, rather, in our shared existential plight, you're responsible for finding your own meaning amid constant suffering. I don't expect to find mine within the villainy, as you call it (rightly). I try to find mine in my connections with others, especially dogs because they're loyal, affectionate, and authentic—much unlike the dark triad traits that have taken over most of how the world and ladder climbers operate under neoliberal capitalism or, now, the growing technofascism/technofeudalism of our era. I'm trying to get to know my neighbours better, keeping in touch with friends, and regularly cuddling my dogs. You can find your own happiness, contentment, and motivation too, in your own way. Just don't expect it to be found in the whole "American dream" myth of a prosperous career, home ownership, and other ambitions that have long since been stripped from nearly everyone not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Giving up on that pretence has also done a lot of good for my depression. We're one of the most social creatures to exist on this planet, but capitalism puts us all into an inhuman and foreign competition. If you want motivation, find people whom you care about. I suspect you'll find plenty of motivation in deepening your connection to those people and in taking care of them.

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TheBroWhoLifts@reddit

Are you watching that back to the frontier / 1800's homesteading show on HBO? It's good but it was so infuriating watching the livestock auction scene. If the three families simply got together, all decided to only bid one one lot each (there were only 3), thereby getting the collectively lowest price and then divvy up the livestock between themselves or, God fobid, agree to all collectively take care and work together, the primary conflict of the entire show would evaporate. Capitalism and competition are so ingrained it's like we can't think any other way even though better approaches exist. It almost made me stop watching the show. I bet it was scripted. It's all propaganda.

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TheBroWhoLifts@reddit

Like Jesus said, "I can do all things through spite which strengthens me." Lol jokes aside, the answer you're looking for is revenge. It's vengeance. It's best served cold, so we've got a while. But don't forget that. I am fueled by spite and vengeance. I sleep well at night.

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How_Do_You_Crash@reddit

To paraphrase a quote, man can suffer almost any how with the correct why. So what’s your why? Why are you getting up in the morning, why are you scrounging yo eke out a life against this backdrop of certain death, why do you do what you must? I don’t know your why, you do though. You must discover and nurture it. Everyone’s is different.

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brbgonnabrnit@reddit

It really is insane how blatant the rich have become. I ask myself every day why I should follow the social contract when the fucken president of America is so openly corrupt! It truly is turning into a dystopia quickly. Gold plated everything in the white house? I mean what the fuck.

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nelben2018@reddit

Might be cool to witness the collapse of industrial civilization?

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BlueAndYellowTowels@reddit

Broadly, my position is: If I can’t control it then I will control my response. I am not going to let an uncertain tomorrow rob me of the treasures of today. I can sad and overwhelmed or I can connect with friends and family and enjoy what is here, now. There’s this one: “I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” …and this one: “It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.” …that’s also why it’s one of my favorite movies.

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Applebreadx55@reddit

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enF9O6ILx-Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enF9O6ILx-Q)

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Kinkajou4@reddit

The eternal question.

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Cultural-Answer-321@reddit

Beat me to it.

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Tanuki-Trickery@reddit

Here are all of the Epstein Files that have either been leaked or released. https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/gov.uscourts.nysd.447706.1320.0-combined.pdf (verified court documents) https://joshwho.net/EpsteinList/black-book-unredacted.pdf (verified pre-Bondi) Trump is on page 85, or pdf pg. 80 Trump’s name is circled. The circled individuals are the ones involved in the trafficking ring according to the person who originally released the book. These people would be “The List “ Here is the story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsiKUXrlcac Here's the flight logs https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21165424-epstein-flight-logs-released-in-usa-vs-maxwell/ —————————other Epstein Information https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Calif_Lawsuit.pdf here’s a court doc of Epstein and Trump raping a 13 yr old together. Some people think this claim is a hoax. Here is Katies testimony on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnib-OORRRo Jeffrey Epstein’s Ex Says He Boasted About Being a Mossad Agent https://share.google/jLMGahKlCzfV1RHZqJeffrey Epstein and Israel both have the same lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Dershowitz says he's building 'legal dream team' to defend Israel in court and on international stage | The Times of Israel https://share.google/Lb9hDOduBWG4Elpid —————————other Trump information: Here's trump admitting to peeping on 14-15 year old girls at around 1:40 on the Howard Stern Radio Show: https://youtu.be/iFaQL_kv_QY Trump's promise to his daughter: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-ivanka-trump-dating-promise_n_57ee98cbe4b024a52d2ead02 “I have a deal with her. She’s 17 and doing great ― Ivanka. She made me promise, swear to her that I would never date a girl younger than her,” Trump said. “So as she grows older, the field is getting very limited.” Adding the court affidavit from Katie, as well: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000158-267d-dda3-afd8-b67d3bc00000 Never forget Katie Johnson. Trump's modeling agency was probably part of Jeffreys pipeline: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/donald-trump-model-management-illegal-immigration/ Do your part and spread them around like a meme sharing them and saving them helps too! Please copy and paste this elsewhere

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extinction6@reddit

Just frikkin awesome! thanks

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canisdirusarctos@reddit

I've thought about this for a while and I'll get all kinds of hate for it, but there is no point for most of us to keep going. We're doing it because we've been brainwashed into believing something could somehow become better. The thing the oligarchs destroying the Earth are most afraid of is clearly population decline. Look at how they responded to the pandemic and how they're responding by population decline. If billions of working-age people worldwide (say, 80%) with no hope were to simply commit suicide (or choose to kill oligarchs if they're so inclined) all at once (imagine if millions of people flooded into capital cities worldwide and left their bodies piled everywhere), it would be a complete disaster that the wealthy would never recover from (if they survived at all). The system is based on mass consumption and extracting everything they can from the planet and us, and without us everything they own becomes instantly worthless. I can't see how you'd organize this many people and get them to realize their lives will be terrible and the lives of their children (if they have any) will be worse, so there's no point in continuing, but it would be the ultimate "fuck you" to those in power. We could create a thousand-plus year dark age where the rich have to forage for food because the lower-80% of the world is no longer available to pick fruit and slaughter animals for them. A beneficial effect is that the loss of all that consumption and spending would also vastly reduce the demands placed upon the Earth to support our pointless and futile lives, resulting in total collapse of the economic systems upon which the system itself depends. It allows us to do something meaningful for the future of life in general by both toppling the system and leaving space for other life to proliferate. It could even reverse climate change. Sure, the oligarchs might survive, but they'll be left to lord over nothing as they hide in their bunkers eating canned food that it isn't economically possible to produce anymore as they wait to die.

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Weather0nThe8s@reddit

People comparing this to anything in the past are so.. fucking.. part of the problem.. Looking at this as some kind of karma is fucked up. Everyone needs to drop it will the vengeful bullshit. I dont know how anyone can still support any kind of political alignment anymore. Either you are the 1% or you are not, and it doesn't matter what color, gender, religion or anything else you are. This is the whole reason we got to this point in the first place is falling for divisive bullshit. Keep it up and shit will definitely be terrible. Its already terrible, but the point of no return doesnt need to be any worse or get here any quicker. 1% wont suffer. They will be fine. Will you still have a vengeful attitude when you're fucking suffering too

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Poonce@reddit

I just posted this comment on r/collapsesupport and I see it being relevant here as well. "This is very well said, and I come from the acceptance camp. Something that I believe has helped me immensely is coming to terms with death. Think about death, look into Tibetan beliefs of death, and the discoveries we are unlocking on consciousness itself. It is uncomfortable to start this path of acceptance, but in the end, coming to terms with death will help you focus on the more important things in life. We are in a society that buries and ignores the fact that we are going to die. Even if the world were on a perfect path of abundance and safety, you would still die one day. Feel it, digest it, live with death beside you. Fear will always sneak in, and acceptance will still be overwhelmed from time to time. We are a society that doesn't speak about death and this pushes off the responsibility that comes with living. Don't be distracted by what they want you to be distracted by, because it is poison to the mind and spirit and they know it. You will start to see yourself working with more purpose enjoying and seeking a life with more meaning in the mundane and more critical thinking in sifting through the noise of the false narrative we have been fed. Programmed importance of such pointless and empty societal norms that kept us on the path to where we are. Expect more from our artists, our films, and if they don't live up to it, then we must remove them from the stage. Support those with something to say, and not just looking for a regurgitated profit. The voices of change are out there, and they are stifled by the status quo. If you don't find this in what you consume, learn to make it yourself. If those with public power don't live up to it, replace them. Make art, make poetry, write stories, and never stop learning. Find a job that helps others, be kind, be critical, and break out of the system mindset. In such destruction, you must find ways to create and express your inner turmoil through living with the knowledge that it is all coming to an end. Because it is."

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pugdaddy78@reddit

Trivium has a song by the tittle villainy thrives that explains it perfectly. I think everyone should give a listen at max volume.

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

One of the more useful pieces of advice I’ve been given: “Make friends with the worst that can happen.” Why? If it does I can’t stop it. If it doesn’t, I haven’t wasted your energy. What do I want to contribute to the world? The rest is noise trying to prevent my good from happening.

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Death_Dimension605@reddit

Organize the revolution

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Synreal@reddit

Who is they?

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Physical_Ad5702@reddit

The US federal government.

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RandomBoomer@reddit

The US Federal government is based on rule of law. What the OP describes is the Trump Administration, which is a racist coup.

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GalliumGames@reddit

Yeah, I feel that. At this point I’m completely in the twilight zone and lost all will to live months ago and no longer give a shit about anything and no longer have any dreams, aspirations or ambitions. I still go through the motions for busywork, but I don’t really care about my studies and hobbies anymore and kind of just do them because that’s what I’ve always done and don’t know any different. The world feels without meaning, structure or rationality to me anymore, and having autism, this led to a total shutdown of my internal world view and a switch to autopilot. Even my relationship to collapse has collapsed as the economy burns and the stock market goes up, genocide occurs and no one stops it, grand crime occurs at the highest levels and no accountability ever comes, fascism rises but the boring dystopia continues in slow attrition of human rights and well being eroding away slowly. There isn’t even a plot anymore to all of this when decline was at least morbidly engaging, it’s just all entropy now at this point. Honesty I guess I’ll attrit until we hit some point where dying is rationally a preferable outcome, or continue to patiently wait until something takes me out.

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1i73rz@reddit

I bet there are plenty of blueprints for guillotines if you look hard enough. Get good at a skill and life finds a way.

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itsatoe@reddit

We are in an environmental crisis (many, actually). As you note, we are in a cultural crisis (many, actually). And if you look at mental and physical health stats, we are in a health crisis (1/2 of all humans undergo a mental health crisis in their lifetime). These three crises are interconnected, as they all originate from our big [break from nature](https://integrationcenter.org/why/#Break). "All" we need to do is find our way back to the land (also described in that link).

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five_rings@reddit

Carry your truth into the future and share it wherever you can. Community is resiliency.

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solaris_rex@reddit

Now you know what the natives and aborigines on mostly every land on this planet have been feeling like for the past few centuries.

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Wave_of_Anal_Fury@reddit

Yep, it's one of the inconvenient truths, not only in America, but around the entire world. America was founded on fascism. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" only applied if you were a white male, and preferably a property owner. Black/African descent? A slave, and 3/5 of a person for census purposes, and otherwise considered property, like a table. Women? Barely better than being Black. After the civil war? Jim Crow. Women didn't get the right to vote until after freed Black men did (in theory, since a lot of obstructions prevented them from voting). Wave after wave of immigrants were demonized, and had no rights in things like the Chinese Exclusion Act. This is what the Heritage (not hate) Foundation is all about, returning us to our roots.

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Less_Subtle_Approach@reddit

How would you have found motivation in the jim crow era, or during the trail of tears, columbus' reign of terror, or plain feudalism? Tribal plains apes discovering agriculture unleashed millennia of horror across the world, with brief interludes of decency. In our time, we have seen the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie can be broken, that workers can invent new and more egalitarian ways of living. Fascism, like capitalism before it, is a fundamentally unstable system. Organize and train in ways that provide you the political power to push it out of balance.

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shroomigator@reddit

Our law enforcement officers and elected officials are our most esteemed role models, who by their actions demonstrate the sort of behavior we, as citizens, are expected to emulate They are telling you how to behave.

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