because when they run a background check on you they see you were charged. and that’s all that matters. you are untouchable to most employers.

Your life is probably better than the vast majority of other people. But you choose to fixate on it being crappy for whatever reason.

It’s your choice. But people like you weirdly seem to fixate on that ‘oh if only i had more stuff than my life would be so much better’.

Yeah people really don’t get it. Certain resources are only in certain places. Hence why most countries populations are on rivers, coasts, and other crop viable areas. Certain minerals and fossil fuels… also only in certain places and that has been a de terminating factor in why some countries are rich and others are poor. Not to mention under developed societies, even if they have resource wealth, don’t have the industrial/technological means to extract it. Hence colonialism in the past, present, and future.

Which is also why most of the worlds population on livings on like tiny slice of it’s landmass. Vast majority of the land in the world is uninhabitable. 95% of the world population lives on 10% of it’s landmass. and only about 15% of landmass in the globe is developed, as in people live there, so the other 5% of people are living on another 5% of the land. 85% of the land has zero people living there.

I don’t think they’d want to. upper middle class americans are the most miserable people I know. They live in a constant state of anxiety and stress and are often struggling with bills because they overconsume.

Average american’s SOL has declined quite a bit, probably like 4 earths.

If you were talking ‘average upper middle class american’ who has a million in the bank and feels poor despite living in a massive house and having 6 cars, probably 40.

Define comfortable and happy?

Because the most uncomfortable and unhappiest people I know… are the richest. They are have millions but are still desperately trying to get more money and feel no matter how large their lifestyle is, it is inadequate compared to someone else who has it ‘better’.

They also have tall fences, cameras, and private security systems to ‘protect’ themselves from everyone else… despite have never ever been the victims of crime… where as people like me have none of that.

the same reason it’s necessary to walk your dog.

it’s stimulation and exercise. your brain and body like that.

I was just bored. I live in a shithole town with almost nothing to do other than get high and go to the movies or eat fast food. And all the adults didn’t give a fuck about any of us. Getting high af was pretty much the only way to make boring AF nothingsville remotely interesting.

I lost interest when I got to college and actually had interesting stuff to do.

It’s a category mistake. I used to be like OP. Why? I was horrible depressed and miserable almost 24/7. Drugs, sex and alchohol and other ‘highs’ were the only thing that could break through that misery to make me feel good at all.

The issue was my living situation. Once I got out of college and lived on my own, had a job, I no longer need substances or sex to feel good. I just felt good everyday generally because I wasn’t subject to the endless stress of my family and dorm social life destroying my emotional well being. Also exercise, eating right, and having a balanced life of work/hobbies/leisure.

Point is you have to change your life and establish good habits and it’s a lot easier to be happy. A lot of people actively refuse to do this however, and just cope endlessly with substance abuse or other mechanisms.

I rather enjoy alcohol and weed, but I find I enjoy them more the less I use them. I think once a week or biweekly is the sweet spot for me, though twice a week is ok. More than that and the fun diminishes and the negative effects are felt more. My main relaxing hobby is video games, and I like the idea of beers/weed and gaming, but it really sucks for anything that’s not really casual. I’ve been running through hollow knight this month and I’ve noticed when I do partake in either that it makes the platforming and bosses much harder

If you can’t feel joy with substances that means you’re an addict. You need professional help probably.

But speaking more generally, your issue is you think ‘happiness’ is an emotional high you have to chase. What you don’t get is that happiness isn’t some intense feeling of joy… it isn’t. It’s the ability to self-regulate and to stop chasing the highs and the lows. It’s realizing the ‘bland’ feeling is good. You should be feeling bland.

been framed to me that a ‘successful and grown’ man does not do these things for him. he has a wife or he hires outside help

man-children do these things.

because people are happy to pay them money

Disney had an entire cannonical set of excellent stories to work with, but said ‘fuck it we’ll just do whatever crappy nostalgia bait JJ Abrams wants’… and we got a complete shit show.

Andor actaully reminded me of a lot of the ‘legacy’ cannon stuff, which is why it was so popular/great. Dark Empire, Thrawn, Jedi Academy… just had so much better story going on.

most consumers don’t need upload speeds. they aren’t uploading anything. most people’s internet traffic is like 99.9% streaming videos at this point.

there is a lot of people who are stressed and angry about not having more, despite having 100x the wealth of the average person.

in fact most people i know making 50-100K, are a lot less angry and stressed than those making 300-500K. ironically. the latter think they are in poverty for some reason, despite being on the top of the economic ladder, and the former are annoyed they can’t afford a home but aren’t grateful how good their life is.

people are just angry at you that your position in life is better than theirs. or perceive it to be such.

your life is a lot better than someone who is going to be a gas station clerk for their entire life. your poverty is temporary.

frankly i don’t blame them. listen to med students and the like whine about how poor they are is just pathetic when they will walk off into jobs with high six figure salaries in 5-10 years. esp because they don’t realize how privledged they are to be where they are. where i grew up there were no doctors.

most phd stipends don’t cover the cost of living. especially with the massive inflation of the past decade…

i gave up my PhD studies because my stipent was about $10,000 per year less than the basic cost of living. It was basically designed for wealthy people. and the employment opportunities were low paying and scarce. it made zero sense.

until i realize phd programs are largely designed for/by wealthy people and purposefully setup to exclude working-class people like myself. it was classism in action. didn’t help how ‘mortified’ all my peers when they found out how i grew up…

That sounds better. My friend is working in their field, but the positions are set up knowing that they’ll mostly be applied for by PhD students with masters degrees during their coursework, so they know they can pay like crap and they’ll take it anyway. All my understanding of these systems come from the US way, so it’s nice to know it’s better elsewhere.

Clean and cook for myself.

Apparently I’m supposed to hire maids and cooks or something.

Those stupid poor people should just be born rich.

FWIW. I have been on my own financially since 18.

Most people I meet, when they find this out, freak out at me. They think I shouldn’t have been born if my parents weren’t able to do what OP does for his kid. I paid for my own undergrad, graduate, and have started working/saving since I was 15 years old. I went to an ivy league college too. Worked every summer fulltime to pay my bills for the next year. I’ve never been unhappy. I just lived without luxuries and saw nothing wrong with that.

Apparently this ‘lifestyle’ is heinous and unfathomable to people in 2025.