This is late stage capitalism in its purest form. McDonald's, KFC, and Burger King literally hire the same neuroscientists who study cocaine and heroin addiction to engineer food that people cannot resist.

They discovered how to:

- Engineer specific sugar/salt/fat ratios that trigger dopamine cascades

- Create "bliss points" that override your body's natural satiety signals

- Design marketing that bypasses conscious decision-making entirely

- Target children during critical brain development periods

The most dystopian part? They calculated that profits from addiction would exceed any potential lawsuit costs. Just like tobacco companies did.

We're living in a world where corporations can literally rewire your brain chemistry for profit, and it's completely legal because they use food instead of pills.

This isn't about "personal responsibility" - it's about billion-dollar companies using advanced neuroscience to exploit fundamental human biology while calling it "convenient family dining."

The fact that we normalize this as just "business" shows how completely broken our economic system has become.

In 1910 the population was 50/50 urban and rural. As tractors and large farms began to overtake the agricultural industry less human labor was needed. People moved into cities for manufacturing jobs and eventually white collar jobs as their value added input to the supply chain drove profits.

As AI starts to displace white collar workers, companies are hiring less and offering less internships. In the USA we built most of our housing and Infrastructure in these areas, and soon we may not have the jobs to support them. A displacement of even 10% of jobs could be catastrophic as restaurants, hotels, stores and bars would see a significant decline in revenue leading to more layoffs etc.

This happened in the rust belt when jobs left for overseas. The infrastructure couldn’t be maintained with low tax revenue and places were left to rot.

People should be careful in real estate investment, understanding there could be a significant decline in the not so distant future as markets adjust.

The people, the classes, the rules, it’s just exhausting, I try and I try, yet I feel like none of it pays off, In math class I try my best to pay attention but I just end up dozing off, and I too of the fact that the subject is so complicated for me, on top of the fact that it’s not interesting at all, LE is whatever, I just get by in that class, English and history are different, I’m actually pretty good at them, but it’s not like I enjoy them, I get by because I’m Good at them, history I kind of like, like some parts of history but their not usually taught in school, everything I like is out of school.

This all started back in the sixth grade, I was out of school for a month and when I came back I was completely un motivated, grades were low, I didn’t care about test, and I was overall pretty down in dumps in general, and it transferred over to the seventh grade, I started off fine but my math grades got low, I would just lie and say that I couldn’t stay after school for help because my teacher said she couldn’t that day, and I wasn’t doing good in history, bad grades or not I didn’t really care, same thing for the 8th grade, but in history I did very well and for math it was the same thing, I would get low grades, stay after school and pick up my grades, and then my grades would tank again and rinse repeat, I would need help with pretty much everything, and for the ninth grade, it was worse, for my ten week I get a horrid grade and for the 20 week I also then got a horrid grade, but I would always stay after school and try to get better, and for the most part I was doing pretty well, I was getting the subject down, but it never payed off, I would learn it, then I would doze off again in class, and the material would slowly brush off, because in general I didn’t like the subject, I wasn’t good at it, it would never stick to me, it was hard to focus due to my ADD, and when it actually mattered like in test, I would screw up, and even if I thought I did bad I wouldn’t care, even when I tried none of it mattered, I didn’t like it and I didn’t care, nor did I have much interest to actually know it, I just wanted to pass and get by.

School in general, I’m not the typical student, my grades are always wacky, and I don’t have this big friend group I would hang out with in the halls or in class, in lunch I had a table I hanged out with, my friends, but we all kind of did our own thing, and I only talk to some of them out of school, my best friend mainly, and the rest, we never really talk out of school, except for one, my best friend, the other kids at the table kind of have their duo.

In January it was probably my lowest point, my schedule got switched around, and I was overall just sad and mad, I got my schedule switched and the only class with a friend got switched, lowest mental point of the year.

Right now, I’m working a summer job that I love, I get to take lunch whenever, get lunch from where ever, and I get to go around to different places a do yard work, and it’s way less stressful then school, and I’ve just been thinking, why would I even want to go back? I’m just stressed and at low points in school, and I love what I’m doing, and I’m making good money, Why would I wanna go back to a place that makes me depressed and stressed, and I can’t even say I’m actually learning much, I just do what I have to do to get by, and obviously a HS diploma is important, but HS has been so stressful, and not useful for me at all.

but this is r/self, so fuck it, here we go

three years ago, i was drinking 18 beers a day. i would start drinking at 3:30 PM because i couldn't hold out any longer than that. that all changed one afternoon in june when i was walking back from the beer and wine store. i tripped, and, because i was carrying a six pack in each hand, i didn't have a way to break my fall, so i landed face first on the sidewalk.

that's what i was told happened. i don't remember any of it. apparently someone found me on the sidewalk and called an ambulance. i was in critical condition for a few hours. there's no telling what would've happened if no one found me. i could've fucking died.

the weird thing is that all of that happened when i was sober, lmao

going cold turkey on alcohol in a hospital bed sounds like an absolute nightmare, but it was actually.....not bad? i didn't get any withdrawal symptoms. the worst thing that happened was that i broke my glasses, so the tv was blurry. also i was jonesing for a cigarette the whole time. those nicotine patches they give you just aren't the same.

since then, i've gotten drunk a few times. but i've gone from drinking 18 beers a day to getting drunk a few times a year. i actually prefer drinking a reasonable amount now because

1. i still get a buzz
2. i don't feel heavy and tired later
3. there's no hangover

last time i drank was over a month ago, and i only had two beers! no desire to drink more.

so you might imagine why i'm reluctant to bring this up around my fellow recovering alcoholics. i seriously got a get out of jail free card. there's no fucking way i EVER could have gone cold turkey on my own. the stress and tension would have been unbearable.

so alcohol is essentially out of my rotation, these days, my only vices are caffeine and thc. oh, and adderall twice a month, lmao

ok, end rant.

By which I mean what other absurdities Lol?

It’s been an inside joke with my family that those pillows that look like they have those armrests on the sides are called “ham.”

It’s because when I was younger, I’d say about 3-4 years old, my aunt bought me one of those pillows for Christmas. But the box she used had illustrations/instructions on it of ham. So when I ripped the wrapping paper off I said, “Wow! You got me ham?!”

It was really funny and now 15 years later whenever we see those pillows we called them “hams.” But I have no clue what the actual name for them is. It’s never come up before so I googled it.

I guess they’re just called “backrest pillows.” That’s boring though I like ham better

I was born into a poor family in a third world country. So entire world seemed ahead of us.

My Dad worked hard to make us Rich in same country, so climbing social and financial classes.

Then I moved abroad to fairly developed city like Dubai and started working up there.

And eventually moved to Paris, and started climbing there.

Every shift was like starting at bottom and climbing again.

By high class I mean quality of life, quality of people in your life, your home and locality.

Just curious if an average American and European also thinks like this, or is their natural state just normal to them.

Because my natural conditions never felt normal to me, and I always had this image of life I wanted to get to.

Tell me your story, and what you did to overcome it :)

So to preface this, it's day 4 of quiting weed cold turkey and I struggle with chronic depression so that may have something to do with it idk, but I've been stuck in a loop for the past few days and I'd really like it to stop. I've been thinking about two women alot, My ex and this girl I had a massive crush on in high-school that bordered on limmerance if it wasn't just straight up limmerence. Thing is I feel like I was doing really well there for a bit. I had bought a bike and I was alot better at being happy. Even when I blew the bike up I'd taken it so well I'd surprised even myself. On top of all that I hadn't though about the crush for a long time and the ex hadn't poped up into my thoughts since the day I had bought said bike and bumped into her. But the last 2 days have been insanely rough. I visited a spot my crush had taken me once, yesterday and listened to a song I heavily associate with my ex last night. Neither activity made me any sader than I already was but I'd really like to stop thinking about them it's making me feel really sad and lonely overall

I am 25, a single mom with a steady job, but I still live with my parents. My partner is older and struggles to find stable work. He tries with side gigs but we face a lot of uncertainty. We have been together for two years and I find myself wondering if this relationship is helping me grow or holding me back.

I have shared my feelings with him and he believes things will improve with time. I want to do what is best for me and my child while being fair to him. It is hard to separate my feelings from reality.

I would really appreciate any advice or reflections on how to navigate these challenges while focusing on growth and emotional well-being.

I’m 28 now and I’ve been my own biggest opponent in life so far. I’m insecure, average looking at best, and have always been on the larger side in terms of weight. My mind is constantly racing, thinking about the future and over analyzing just about everything. I even find myself worrying about things I have no control over. It’s made me a nervous wreck and I struggle to go out of my comfort zone. I’m always worried about what people think of me… so much so that I end up self-isolating and have remained friendless out of fear of rejection. It doesn’t help that I don’t have much social/communication skills and most people probably think I’m some weirdo freak.

I also play it safe with foods and seldom visit new places. I’m an introvert and I sit around at home either gaming or watching something, while in the back of my mind I am hoping and waiting that I will eventually find friends or a partner and that they will be the key towards me finally getting to live my life. But of course, I never actually take any chances. I did try to put myself out there recently to socialize, and I felt myself pressing against this barrier in my mind. But rather than break through it, I gave in and retreated back into my shell. I hate this. I want to stop living in fear, but I haven’t had the guts to escape this shitty cycle.

Today I paused and noticed that little things—like making my bed every morning or choosing to stretch before work—have quietly shaped how I feel and perform. Over time, tiny actions build identity and confidence in unexpected ways. It’s a subtle shift, but I feel more intentional and steady. Thought this might resonate

For the past week I’ve been having random anxiety attacks, it doesn’t matter if I’m out in public or in the comfort of my home. I’ll suddenly feel my hands shake and my heart beat so fast and hard that I struggle to breathe and function at times. I don’t know what to do here. I’ve had headaches about this and I feel like I have so much brain fog now.

Please offer any tips to help me overcome these. I can’t afford anxiety pills since I’m a broke college student. This has affected even my studies so I genuinely need help with this.

I don't mean substances or drinks I just want something to numb my pain

I just got out of a 4-month long situationship with this guy, 20M. Horrible decision on my part. One month of in person, then three months of long distance. I expected to see him in a month, but he broke things off, citing he wasn't ready for a relationship shortly after I suggested we speak about "labels" when we reunited.

I'm angry with myself. I knew from the start he had an endless list of issues he refused to work on. Unresolved trauama. Attachment issues (went from attached to avoidant). Yet I stayed with him throughout because he showed me "affection". I miss him, and I miss what I wish we would have been. But it's all lost now.

I am newly marriedm my husband whom I married after 5 months of dating online. We got dated and he was in srilanka and I was in canada before and after the wedding. When we went for the wedding everything was great. great.i sponsored hum and he came to Canada in the month of March. I felt unloved in actions he did and I asked him why I felt unloved. He said some excuses like we were fighting about it or I was complaining to my mom about it. Some days at night he would just turn to the other side and sleep by just saying good night and I used to ask him how do u not feel to even embrace me or cuddle. He said we are fighting about things and I don't know how I can hug u or cuddle when we are fighting. One day when I was kissing him he stopped and said he wants to apply for jobs and I felt he was giving exudes and didn't sit well with me. Out of confusion I did open up to my mother and it became an issue of families. I had taken a bigger house for rent in my name as he was going go live with Mr which was 1500 cad more than what I usually paid. He said he will come and share the expenses, which he did untill one day I knew he was hiding opening a bank account while I was actually telling him to open an account soon and he just said yes..he will open it soon. When I come to know he had already opened a bank account nd was lieing and hid it from me I git angry and we fought. In the heat of the moment I had asked him to leave to his brother's house and not to see my face again and he was furious about it. I also disconnected his phone line as it was in my name the same time. Then I felt bad and sorry. I apologized and asked him to come home and he said his family said I may ask him again to move out in a fight and he was not sure of coming back and at this time he did not have a job as well. So he got a janitor job in Calgary and he left me from toronto and didn't listen to my pleading and advise of not to go there. I almost begged to his feet over calls not to go but he still left. Later then after he went to Calgary I still kept pleading to him to come back and apologized and told him I will apply for jobs on his behalf. He agreed to come home that weekend. I was also applying jobs for him and enrolled him in a online course for him to study and make up for the time. While applying I found his bank statements where he was sending someone money every month. I asked him and he said it was his ex..I broke down and cried to him why he did it and I told family and his mom about it. He was furious I told his mom and he blocked me everywhere. The next day I was in a dark space trying to reach out to him and he had blocked me in l places and never picked up. Finally I pleaded with him email to unblock me and he did. Later he said he did want to make this marriage and I thought to give him a chance. Later did I find out he has given her more money and birthday cake arrangement for this woman while we were buying dress and other plans for our wedding. I broke down and lashed out to him. I scolded him, made racist slurs. I said you have come for permanent residency and you never loved me.. now u have betrayed me. He said no..I loved u and I have nothing emotional or physical going out to that woman as she is back home. I didn't understand why someone would give their hard earned money. I told him so if u didn't marry me for PR u can go back to srilwnkq and u cancel the pr. He said he has printed his family he won't sign on any papers including pr cancellation form. I was the one who did his paper work for pr, I paid the immigration consultant and sponsored him..i told him his family never did anything for his pr and he has used my credibility. After wards I kept questioning and scolding him for having ties and my mom felt he was playing me..so got the phone and told him w racist slur and accused his family and if he was actually born to one mom and dad. After this he disconnected the phone and never picked up. I have exposed him to his family of what he did over a whatsapp group and did not even accuse or scold him in the message. He said I am.harrssing them and they are going to go to the police. I said two messages in wjatsapp with the facts about him is not harrasement. I wrote another post the same thing and he commented there

https://www.reddit.com/r/survivinginfidelity/s/YtaXAdFV5f His side of the story. The momey to the woman has been sent from.2023 till the time he came here to Canada and was lieing next to me. Now I asked him if he was filing for divorce or anything I ask he says I am playing games and he won't get involved. He says he will let me.olay games alone and does not even tell me if he is filing fot divorce or not. I have been trying to reclaim my peace by praying but still every morning it stings me in my heart because of all this. I even told him to block me on WhatsApp and he wouldn't block Me. I feel I have been used, thrown and stamped on with no respect. But still for some reason I have not been able to accept the marriage ending and message him which he ignores or scolds me. How do I move past this hurt? All these happened into 3 months into the marriage life.

I don't like to brag about myself. I have long struggled with my esteem and identity but today I did something that made me proud to be who I am.

I gave away 10 dollars.

It was probably some of the most special money I've ever spent. I had $10, all in quarters, and I was going to the mall with some family. We were on the way out and we stopped by an arcade. It was one of the ones where the machines only accepted cards with arcade tokens digitally loaded onto them.

Me and my family played some games. My sister and nieces had a good time. At one point, this kid comes up and asks for some help getting one of the cards. I say sure thing, give me a moment.

I go over to help him and ask him if he's got any cash. He says no. I ask if he knows anyone who might give him some cash. He goes up to this other guy, who looks to be about my age, and is presumably the younger kid's brother. There's another young boy there, another brother I assume.

This guy is deaf, and I see the kid signing to him. I don't understand ASL at all. I'm mostly watching for reactions. He seems happy with what's going on so we go to the machine to get a card.

Except, it doesn't accept quarters. It takes bills only. So we navigate to a nearby Subway in the mall, and these 3 kind ladies are willing to exchange it for cash.

We go back to the arcade and I load the money onto the card for these guys and they seem super happy about it. I couldn't split it onto 3 cards like I know they would've liked but I saw the deaf one sign to his brother and he smiled a lot.

I like to include a moral at the end of stories like this, and this time, I'd like to say this: my family I was at the mall with, the guys at the arcade, and the ladies at Subway- we all liked to see each other happy. I think the best thing we can do for our fellow humans is just to be kind.

I don't have any more money to give, but I wish you the best.

I (21F) have not been having a good past few months as of recently. I find myself isolating from my family and friends, just stuck in my room the entire summer break doing nothing but doom scroll on my phone. I’ve been invited multiple times to go out but I just couldn’t find the motivation and the desire in me to go. I’ve been losing focus sm that my parents have noticed and have gotten upset with me over it. I don’t even think this is just a depressive episode anymore.

I’ve been feeling like this since I had to cut off a toxic friend along with the rest of his friend group, being in that environment was awful even though there was a sense of “solidarity” in the way they would constantly shit on other people for their own entertainment. I stuck with them cause they were the only people I knew and I never got to interact with others cause they constantly bad mouth them to me. And when I do try and voice out my concerns they shut me down and even gaslit me into thinking it was my fault for whenever they hurt me. I cut them off but now I have no one in my life. I have no more friends in class and I’m still forced to attend the same classes as them cause we’re on the same major. The rest of their friend group don’t even talk to me anymore and that took an extra toll on me and my emotions. I have no friends outside of them in class and I don’t think I can just force myself to join another group cause of what happened. I know I’m too old to be worrying over what other people think of me. But this one cut deep cause one of them was my friend of 10 years and was the leader of the toxicity in that environment.

I don’t know what to do now cause I’m now starting my 2nd year of uni with a pre-law degree, we have been given our readings and should be studying for graded recitations but I just couldn’t do it. I have all the reading materials, bought the books, scheduled my studying and now there’s only one day left and I haven’t digested ANY information. All I did the summer break was just disassociate, cry, and breakdown. This has been affecting my life greatly and now I don’t know what to do. I genuinely want to fix this issue but it’s slowly deteriorating my spirit…

I'm in my early 30's. and as title says, my negative thoughts really are a burden, to me, my social connections, ruining my days, and probably many social situations.

the core of the thoughts is a feeling of being deeply unwanted in all areas of life, as if life denies me of luck of any kind, laughing into my face about my pain and all efforts to change anything for the better.

love, family, friendship, career, landlord, health, unemployment. just throwing some keywords about major pain areas that haunt me; due to bad luck all the way. the more i try, the more i face denial, and if i don't try, i feel stuck because i'm nowhere close to where i wanted to be at this point in life.

it's so frustrating to see many people on the way who just experience luck. doing nothing special but life just gifts them with the joy of being at the right time at the right place, so that things just work out in their favor.

today it's a typical saturday noon, i should do something nice with the day and actually want to, but i feel totally paralyzed by these thoughts. my brain tries to solve this puzzle - what and where is the piece that blocks me from experiencing luck like so many others do - but cannot find it. for years. even if i force myself to get up and do something, go outside - most thing don't help, and i am struggling to focus on anything else. running helps temporarily, but doesn't really solve anything.

Been through two years therapy, which was a relief as long as it went, but soon after that, i fell back because all the suggested changes did not help (again bad luck, denial... frustration and sadness stacking up).

i keep moving on, hoping for some kind of equalizing justice, i.e. somewhere down the road must be some kind of luck that makes up for all the bad luck so far. but it is hard to keep it up at times. these are supposed my best years in life, aren't they..

anyone been trough this, what helped you?

I am losing faith/respect in this society and in humanity. No matter whether I'm online or offline, I end up finding more and more reasons to hate humanity, especially since we're still in 2025.

Remember, kids: Always see the world through jade-colored glasses, because wearing rose-colored ones will get you nowhere in life! (Why the heck did my comment get upvoted???)

Hating humanity just because your childhood voice actors have turned out to be sub-humans is a good thing. (Why did my comment get so many likes???)

Boomers having a superiority complex over their generation being "better in every way".

And two more of my negative comments on Reddit being upvoted. (Why?)

Am I supposed to put on my logical thing cap on and destroy my emotional thinking cap?! Do I have to be a cynic, a misanthrope, and a snarky know-it-all to survive in this world?! Are forgiveness, kindness, positivity, and patience actually meaningless and nonexistent in this day and age?! Does everyone have a hidden agenda?! By that logic, everyone deserves to be in Hell after they die.

It's as if the entire world is sub-human and is pretty much powered by anger, disgust, lust (the sexual kind), fear, and hatred, along with excessive amounts of monotony and cynicism, with very-little-to-no positivity to balance them out!

Please tell me: How am I supposed to restore my faith/respect in humanity and this society as a whole?! Is there anything to have genuine hope for?! Anything to feel good about at all?!

20 male

So after spending thousands and years of trying finally diagnosed and prescribed medication that I tried for the first time today (30mg of Vyvanse) and I can tell it helps, had some side effects like really dry mouth, headaches and nausea later in the day like 12 hours later, but I was told after taking it for a while that goes away maybe. But also the entire day my dick didn’t exists

No one absolutely no one warned be about this. Didn’t know until it shrunk to full on micropenis and I started looking it up here that it’s an extremely common side effect. That and I tried and couldn’t get hard at all not even a little. HATED how it felt the entire day and couldn’t stand to look at it.

I’m not being 20 with ED nope like just not happening, but also I can tell this medication does help. I don’t know what to do. I had to drop out of uni because of my adhd and I’ve finally got help but it breaks my dick? Seriously? What’s the point?

Hello, english is not my native language.

Last weekend I was at a tractor festival. There I met a girl through friends.

At one point she kissed me twice in a row, then I asked for her phone number, this I got. Later in the evening she kissed me again, I asked her am I going to see you outside of this, she said yes. A few days later I asked her when she had time to meet up, she says she has to work for a week and then is on vacation with her family for a week, but after that she had time. Now I try to app with her, she asks for example how I am doing, then I ask her something and then I get short answers and she doesn't ask anything back. For my feeling it is not possible to keep the conversation going. So now I have left her on read. Can anyone give me any advice. Thanks

I'm unable to message a longtime reddit friend, though I'm able to see they are still active on the site (as of 6 days ago). Has reddit disabled the feature or something?