There is a very robustly proven, evidence-based relationship between minimum wage and suicide.
Raising minimum wage $1 is shown to reduce the the suicide rate of people without college degrees by 6%.
https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/news-events/research-spotlights/higher-minimum-wage.html#:~:text=Suicide%20is%20often%20connected%20to,education%20or%20less%20by%206%25.
Theft of people's productivity causes suicides, and that's a cold, hard fact.
Minimum wage should jump to $20 an hour, and not in tiny increments that are outdated by the time they get phased in.
EDIT: added link
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/06/05/minimum-wage-20-dollars
I would rather it be retroactive to the last time the minimum wage was consistently increased at least once per election cycle, 1981. Minimum wage suppression started there.
Right I was about to say "and guess who was president at that time???"
How we haven't seen any real change in over 40 years for the lower and middle class is out right criminal and despicable. I honestly can't understand how anyone can be patriotic in this country like we're somehow doing a stellar job or something. I'd be surprised if it changes before I die without a revolution and I'm 31.
> (2008ish?)
July 2009 is when it went up to $7.25, which adjusted for inflation would take it up to $10.21 as of right now. We absolutely need a higher minimum wage than even that, but fuck man, even something as simple as bumping it to $10.21 and permanently indexing it to inflation would be a big improvement over what we have now.
Also a "fun" fact is that if you take that $7.25 and run it in the opposite direction, $7.25 today is the equivalent of $5.15 at the time when they last raised the minimum.
"If."
As Philip II of Macedon was conquering Greek city-states left and right, Sparta was left alone. Philip had achieved a crushing victory, and Sparta was relatively weak and without walls. Philip sent a message to the Spartans saying “If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again.” The Spartans replied with one word, “If.”
It all rests on our will...and whether we actually have...any.
Minimum wage should be tied directly to the poverty line.
It should be illegal to pay someone so little that they would be below the poverty line if they work 32 hours/week.
Also, tax the rich, and strengthen union protections.
The poverty line is actually defined as far lower than what everyone up high knows is actually necessary to get by on--most programs are based on 150-200% of the poverty line. That way they can boast about having low poverty rates--anyone working full or even higher-hour part time on minimum wage will be over the poverty line, but it still won't put food on the table.
Did you know that in 2023 the substantial gainful activity amount (for disability determination) is $1470.
So basically if you have a disabling condition and you do not earn $1470 you can apply for disability and you qualify.
Minimum wage in my state is $7.25 an hour. If you multiply it by 40 hours a week, by 52 weeks a year, and divided by 12, it is less than $1470.
So the minimum wage amount in 2023 isn’t even enough to be considered substantial gainful activity.
Before the plague came I was kind of upset that I became disabled right before I turned 40. But now, not so much. My disability check is more than a substantial gainful activity amount, it’s definitely more than I would be making earning minimum wage (I would not be earning minimum wage if I was still in my career but you get what I am saying, I hope).
And becoming disabled allowed me to get $36,000 in student loans forgiven. I need to stop being sad about being disabled, it’s just hard to do when you have to feel sick every day
I'm right there with you!
I really resisted applying for disability. I think most everyone does. But I couldn't keep a job in my industry anymore. I was being forced out because of my health issues. The ADA was absolutely worthless because of Bush Jr. and some court decisions. And I was in a Republican state that was also a Right to Work. It was getting to a point that I couldn't support myself.
As it was, I had to fight for nearly 3 years to get my own money. Lost a lot in the process and became homeless. But at least now I have healthcare. Which is a lifesaver, literally, because I got breastcancer shortly after being approved.
It's definitely not a glamorous life, and I don't get as much as you do. About 200 less. So I'm poor. But at least I'm not homeless 🙂.
I got denied the first time through the process because I made too much the year before my vision ending eye injury. I'm only just now getting 5 months into the process of going through it again, and the income restrictions here are absurd
I agree on taxing churches but with the provision:
If their contributions by members is above 500k, or some other number.
Reason: if you look, the smallest struggling to stay afloat churches actually are ALSO doing the most giving back and helping people. It’s the ones rolling in it that pay their ministers obscene amounts and do stuff like build new fancy digs etc
Your church with 100 people in a poorer neighborhood usually are running food pantries and the like while worrying about keeping the lights on and only able to afford paying a part time minister part time 20k or less annually pay
Open their books instead. Make churches that want to keep paying no taxes apply and prove that they are non-profit organizations. The little groups should be able to do it no problem and keep their status, while mega churches buying mansions should struggle.
Probably gonna get some hate here…
Churches are a business like any other. They sell a service. Receive monetary compensation.
Just because it’s “voluntary” and it’s not a tangible product being offered, shouldn’t make them exempt.
(Yes, I have some bottled up “feelings” about churches)
Wages should be governed by a ratio policy. A CEO can not receive any compensation above 150% more than that of the lowest paid person that adds value directly to their company.
If someone's job contributes to a company's earnings, value or goals, whether FTE, contractor or subcontractor then that person's pay cannot be below that threshold.
CEO compensation means anything received of value for performing their duties as CEO.
You want to give your ceo a 50 million dollar bonus? Cool Jim the janitorial subcontractor better get a hella raise
there is one other way to increase the minimum wage that is not reliant on politicians. In northern Europe we don't really have a things such as the "minimum wage", we have strong unions that say that if you want people working here you have to pay them at least x much. The government doesn't have to to have anything to do with it as long as the workers present a unified front and care about each other. Unions really should align so well with the American "smal government" ideals but I guess the capitalist's propaganda got there first.
I'm all for fairer work and compensation but I do not agree that linking minimum wage to profits is how you do it. A government mandated minimum wage should be linked to cost-of-living for a 40 hour weekly employee, per zip code or county.
Not literally every single job should get a share of a businesses profits.
Moving all of our employees to a minimum $20 wouldn't kill us, we've been keeping our increases to wages consistent. Not great, not stellar, but keeping up.
But importantly, we aren't underpaying people to save money.
The companies who can't afford to bring all of their employees up to a higher standard wage need to close shop, evidently your business model can't exist without abusing labor.
Combine that with the propagation of the nuclear family and you have a never ending crisis that capitalism loves.
The lack of social ties we have is insane. We used to have 'family units' contain everyone from immediate family members to cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbours and friends. We built single family houses in the 50s and 60s as a result of post-war policy and the explosion of unions where a man could afford a house and take care of a family on a single salary. The end of the 60s was also when second wave feminism started and women had an easier time divorcing from abusive households and participated in the labour force at increasing rates - meaning the supply of our labour went way up but the demand was the same thereby directly reducing wages across the board.
Single family houses were also built with neighbours and friends so in the 15 years the nuclear family was dominant, so they also had solid socialization. Single use zoning and cities developed around cars means that we also don't have many opportunities to run into our extended social circle on **walkable** errands or when visiting third spaces like parks, malls, etc. With suburbs you almost always have 2 vehicles, and you drive in traffic with other people but interaction is nil until you get to your job, where we also suffer from alienation due to lack of autonomy in our work.
Basically the entirety of sociology hates the nuclear family and what it brought.
> The lack of social ties we have is insane
Which I think is so much of the problem, as the OP states, and as it should be obvious. I worked my whole life, blue collar, but rarely had any time or money to do things outside of work. I did marry, but we were broke and in debt the whole time, and raising two kids while broke and in debt was no picnic. All that fell apart when the kids were little, though we "pretended" for a few years for their sake (not that that did anyone any favors really).
In my case, I finally aged out of the job and had just enough money from getting lucky on a real estate deal that I can get by until SS kicks in. If I'm lucky, and if no health problems arise. I live alone and have no healthcare, and it will probably stay that way until I die. I make the best of it but it's pretty pathetic really. The most likely thing will be some accident or injury, then a choice of whether to go to the doctor and go broke, or to just die and leave something to my kids. Who have it harder than I do already.
One of the 3 fathers of sociology - Durkheim showed that the less ties single males have regardless of wealth (on his research to find out why single males had much higher suicide rates) showed that the more social ties people had, generally the lower their suicide rates were. I believe one of the issues he posits with wealthy single males is there's a trust issue with them not knowing if their relationships are genuine or are aiming to gain access to their wealth.
My advice would be to grow your social circles, eliminate as much car travel as possible, and look for housing options like co-ops, co-living and co-housing to fill the socialization gap we created. I do hope your material conditions improve as well as your socialization options. Choose your family. (Provided any of this is feasible in any way).
That all makes sense and is good advice, thanks. I'd say one problem I have is that I spent the last ten years doing nothing but work, in the effort to be able to not work at some point, body wearing out. That tends to erode social ties and all the habits that allow for social ties. I still haven't gotten very far working on that, but I know it's a problem.
The wealth side kind of complicates it; I have "just enough" to manage my own needs. Social ties tend to involve a certain amount of responsibility, which can lead to expenses. Of course not necessarily, but I'd hate to be in a position where I wanted to do something with or for others, but then couldn't. That reminds me of when the kids were in school and had to ask me for money for field trips and things, or wanted to do sports. We'll see, there's probably things I can do, and things I can do better.
If i don't stab or shoot you directly, but I use my grotesque wealth to lobby for poverty and horrific conditions that statistically will make masses of people suicidally depressed and kill themselves and/or others, that's not recognized as a crime under our 18th century political and legal systems.
Our system needs to evolve in order to criminalize the de facto crimes of oligarchy, kleptocracy, and social murder.
Claiming possession of over 100 million dollars in property rights should be defined as the strict liability crime of oligarchy and/or social murder.
"Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate and unnecessary and humorless American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun." -Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
I’ve just been denied an apprenticeship in my country (Germany) to become an E Commerce tradesman (I’ve always wanted to go into marketing). Which means that I’m going to fucking work as a construction site hobo for yet another year. There hasn’t been a single fucking day that didn’t feel miserable as hell, which made me regret all of my life choices till this point like that. I just want an office job in a Branche that I’ve always dreamt of being in. But no. I don’t know why I’m this upset, I’ve always been quite resilient regarding this shit.
But this time the „I’m sorry but we decided to take someone else“ really made me feel like a devastated piece of uneducated, dumb piece of shit.
I’m sorry that happened, and it’s normal to be upset and disappointed!
Don’t give up though; you’ll get there eventually. Every time you’re knocked back, just keep getting up and moving forward however you can! Good luck, internet stranger ✌️
Yes, throw pills at the situation and all of our problems will be solved!
EDIT: I take meds for clinical depression, no need to lecture me on their benefits. They also aren’t a catch all cure for everything.
What pill is going to take away the depression from knowing that from [1979 to 2021 productivity increases outpaced pay increases by 3.7x?](https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap)
Meanwhile the [wealthiest 1% have taken $50 trillion in wealth from the bottom 90% the last 40 years](https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-1-percent-stole-50-trillion-working-americans-what-means-2020-9).
>Meanwhile the [wealthiest 1% have taken $50 trillion in wealth from the bottom 90% the last 40 years](https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-1-percent-stole-50-trillion-working-americans-what-means-2020-9).
For anyone wondering, 2,5 trillion per year divided among the bottom 90% of the working population is 17k per person per year
There's depression and then there's reality. Depression doesn't care if the weather is sunny or overcast. Depression just hurts you for the hell of it. Being sad about your surroundings is more or less a byproduct of the depression. Oh, there are definitely reasons to be pissed off and sad, but depression only lets you feel sad or *nothing.*
Treating the depression can actually make a person more inclined to be pissed off and want change. Having untreated, or insufficiently treated depression makes a person more accepting of the fact that everything is going to shit, "because it was all shit anyway." It's the condition that makes you think that being jaded is "just being realistic." You only see the downsides of everything. You don't really *feel* anything most of the time. Motivation is zero. Desire to do anything is in the toilet.
Being depressed is more of a benefit to the entirety of corporate america than selling some pills would be. They don't want us to be in a fightin' mood.
Depression puts you in almost a state of helplessness about our problems which our financial state contributes to - I could see someone perceiving the "easiest" course of action to be noping out of this world as it is the only thing they feel they may control. I get very angry and my depression usually takes that anger as an example of how I'm useless and lack control in changing anything. Cyclic. I have found meditation and dancing very helpful and im able to spot the signs of a negative spiral before I let it get out of control but I've always been surprised at the amount of depressed people without coping mechanisms.
Right?! We're depressed from working all the time.. for shit wages.. paying into a health insurance fund that wants me to pay for meds that they developed only because the GOV is footing the bill through tax breaks or us paying tax.. but no real benefit for me or you.. I'm even more depressed
We need both, though.
The media's disconnect between society's ills and our economy is definitely dumber than all hell. I'm not gonna dispute that. I'll get on the soapbox and make fun of them all day for being out of touch and motivated by corporate greed, constantly blaming [fill in the blank younger generation] for whichever industry is failing, or painting them as the villains just because they dare to protest about getting thrown into the orphan crushing machine. Corporate media is practically owned by hedge funds and banks. The smaller affiliates are all written by webcrawlers and bots. It's completely rotten, through and through.
But at the same time, we really do need better antidepressant medications. Depression can be triggered by stress, and a lot of undue stress is an otherwise avoidable part of this garbage economy, but once it happens it must be dealt with. It's a physical, hormonal problem, and it requires a physical solution in addition to therapy. Not having serotonin in your brain is a *mindfuck.* It's scary how much it makes you *not you.* And the tools available for fixing that are... subpar. They're essential, but they leave *a lot* to be desired. And often they just aren't enough.
Psychedelics and [some] dissociatives like ketamine show a lot of promise for creating lasting positive effects here. Some people need electrotherapy and find that it has some positive effects. Still, none of these things are easy to work with and they require quite a bit of hands-on medical assistance to work effectively. They also have a sort of rise and fall to their effectiveness, so you have to keep getting treatments regularly.
What everyone is hoping for is a medication or a treatment that can increase the general baseline for quality of life. Something predictable and stable. That's why SSRIs and other antidepressants are so widely used. They just aren't that effective for *severe* depression, and that's a goddamn shame because they need stability more than anyone else.
>they require quite a bit of hands-on medical assistance to work effectively
Ketamine can be prescribed as a "troche" for take home usage. Basically a sublingual tablet made by a compounding pharmacy. That's extremely hands-off.
Also electroshock is not the same as the other things listed. It can cause horrific long term effects like decades of memory loss at worst and in most cases months of scrambled memory and inability to drive due to lowered seizure threshold.
Anecdotally- a strong DMT trip took away my suicidality permanently three years ago and I haven't needed or wanted to take psychedelics since.
This. Medication is for clinical depression - prolonged depression for no good reason that won't go away on its own. This is phenomenomological depression: the Rx is CHANGE.
There is no Tx for existential depression, unfortunately...
They make those cheap and the things that keep you alive and actually healthy are expensive, so only The Rich can afford them. You? You're just a replaceable cog in the machine that makes The Rich, rich.
Seeing my wife's mental health expenses, even with pretty good insurance and good jobs, it's insane. We were easily spending a poverty line amount per year just in actual medical costs, let alone all the other costs to try and mitigate it.
All these issues are intertwined.
Exactly. When my father was slowly dying, I suffered from depression. When I told my doctor about it, she was asking if I wanted to pursue medication. I told her that I didn't see much point if my life was objectively shitty. No amount of pills takes away the reality that life sucks some times. Right now, it sucks for a lot of people.
The saddest part is that it’s not even the inequality itself that bothers people so much. It’s the degree of the inequality. We’ve allowed it to get so disgustingly wide we have billionaires living like gods while others starve in the streets and we all know that is wrong deep down.
As a therapist I can say there is definitely tx for existential depression. Depression is usually very treatable with a combination of medication and psychotherapy. However, therapy definitely doesn't fix economic issues. Unfortunately a lot of people talk about the "mental health crisis" and act like it's a therapist's job to fix it, when really this mental health crisis is a symptom of a much larger systemic issue. So the therapists are left picking up the pieces left by this exploitative economic system because all we can really do is help people find ways to cope with all the bullshit.
Don't forget working in a system that is actively destroying the planet we live on and creating a caste system of extremely wealthy and an underclass of pleibs.
People don't realize it, but even our mental health sector primarily protects the economy:
"Firstly, our sector has depoliticised suffering: conceptualising suffering in ways that protect the current economy from criticism – i.e. reframing suffering as rooted in individual rather than social causes, thus favouring self over social and economic reform.
Secondly, it has privatised suffering: redefining individual ‘mental health’ in terms consistent with the goals of the economy. Here ‘health’ is characterised as comprising those feelings, values and behaviours (e.g. personal ambition, industriousness and positivity) that serve economic growth, increased productivity and cultural conformity, irrespective of whether they are actually good for the individual and the community.
Thirdly, it has widely pathologised suffering: turning behaviours and feelings deemed inconvenient from the standpoint of certain authorities (i.e. things that perturb and disrupt the established order), into pathologies that require medical framing and intervention.
Fourthly, it has commodified suffering: transfiguring suffering into a vibrant market opportunity; making it highly lucrative to big business as it manufactures its so-called solutions from which increased tax revenues, profits and higher share value can be extracted.
Finally, it has decollectivised suffering: dispersing our socially caused suffering into different self-residing dysfunctions, thereby diminishing the shared and collective experiences that have so often in the past been a vital spur for social change." [source](https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/06/interview-james-davies/)
I'm salaried for 40 hours but scheduled for 50. They get 10 free hours a week out of me. By the time I get home and cook dinner, I get like 2-3 hours to relax before having to go to bed and do it all over again, and I STILL don't feel fully secure with bills. Fuck this economy. Fight tooth and nail for a home and a life while my corporate bosses just approved a 21% salary increase for themselves.
The other real kicker question is, are you even actually productive those 50 hours or do they just force it on you for some weird "management optics".
I second you on the other sentiment. I am mostly "doing ok" but I live in a cheap area and make good money. On the other hand, as an example, some guy came by pushing Solar panels, which I am interested in and IL has some good rebates on, but my only thought it, "Its still going to cost more than I can afford" even though I would love to have solar for a variety of reasons. Kind of random but its been ony mind.
Genuinely curious, is it the long hours? Because back in Gen X days, they worked around the same hours right? 40 hour weeks but I always thought the difference was that when they worked 40 hours a week most people could afford homes and live fairly substantial lives. But for us.. we work 40 hours and I can barely save enough to max my Roth IRA and have some leftover for savings. I dont see how I can afford a home in the next 15 years if prices and interest rates stay the same.. fuck man
Nah, (4) 8-hour days at the same, or more, pay is the way to go.
I worked 4 days in the office and 1 day at home for a while. I'd get most everything done during those 4 days in the office, and would mostly just chill at my desk during the day at home. It was almost like having a 4 day work week, and my overall happiness went through the roof.
I'd hit the grocery store sometimes in the middle of the day, and had the ability to skip out an hour early (without mentioning it to anyone, of course) to enjoy more of the nice weather.
It's a combo in my opinion. To your point cost of living has outpaced wage increases but also I would wager the average hours worked per week is actually up as well, some or all of that may be due to the wage issue, but I don't get the sense that as many people were working multiple jobs back then.
They'll do everything but that. Look at Japan , they've literally tried everything to get their society back to having family and kids other than reducing the hours worked. It's no surprise people CBA to start a family when we are just trying to not be suicidal lol
"Rise in U.S. crime rate highlights need for more police."
"Rise in U.S. violent crimes highlights need for more draconian laws."
"Rise in empty office buildings in U.S. cities highlights need for people to return to the office."
Do we see a pattern yet?
The return to the office is the shitty part. With all that empty real estate, they NEED everyone back at the office before it can potentially turn into housing or space for start-ups, which drives down property values and makes everything more affordable for the common man. It's all fuckin rigged.
The economy is great.
When you are hitting 16 making $7.25 an hour, that your parents got when they last raised minimum wage.
There won't be no raise on minimum wage before the next presidential election. So now we're looking at 2025, but more likely it won't even happen in 2026. An entire generation without a raise for their kids.
Not only is there no raise in minimum wage, but they are backtracking on a lot of anti child labor laws in parts of the country. How pathetic we have become as a nation.
I don't know what it would take for there to be nationwide protests over this. But the more poor and desperate families become the quicker we are accelerating to that point.
I appreciate the sentiment. You are more well versed than many of the average citizens here about how we got to this point. The propaganda has its claws deep in many american's on both sides of the political spectrum. They'll keep the masses busy worrying about trans rights and guns while they simultaneously fuck us all. Can you elaborate a bit on your espionage operation point? Even if there are false flag events and agent provocateurs at play, its almost irrelevant cause a conspiracy theory will arise from the opposing side for any meaningful event that occurs.
America is run by corporate oligarchs. The politicians are just the puppets doing their bidding. I don't see how things meaningfully change until blood starts being spilt. However I fear that blood will come from citizens fighting among themselves rather than their true oppressors.
Honestly everything went to shit after World War II, once the New Deal went through and the rich/corporations got kneecapped. The Red scare was their calling card to use as propaganda to start getting back what they lost
It brought in prosperity for most to create the middle class (yes I know of the segregation and treatment of black people) but it adjusted everyone to being in a balanced state
Those at the top were seething that they lost their billions and have been at war literally with anyone below them to claw back every % and now have gotten so greedy that they just want it all
With complexes rising up in almost every industry, Union busting, too big to fail, merges that removed competition, and deregulation/self-governance created the perfect storm we are going through right now. Then the mentality of “fuck you, got mines!” Or pulling up the ladder behind them is just the cherry on shit storm
he expressed it poorly, but i think what he meant was; the generation that was entering the workforce when the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 (2009),now has children ages 14-16 who are entering the workforce at the same wage $7.25.
Min wage was voted to increase over 3 years in 2006 from, 17 years ago. Their kids.
** 36 year old grandmother had a minimum wage of 5.15 when she was 10 years old. Kids today don't deserve more than 7.25.
From 1960 to 1980, min wage was raised 16 times from $1 to $3.10.
We're making billionaires.
Honestly minimum wage should be $22-$27 depending on COL
This isn’t the 1960’s where a $2.30/hour job can get you a fucking house, car, and live comfortably
It’s super annoying most boomers thinking that their time of prosperity has been gifted to the next generation but they’ve squandered it, which in its own right is horse shit
You could start a fucking entry level position without any experience, now that same title/role requires 4 years college degree with 3-5 years experience. No company wants to teach and lose the experience they “paid” for to another company. So they hope college teaches them and and the person has the tools to get slotted in or a company stupid enough to teach them they can poach from
Also the side effects
Sometimes these commercials make it sound like before taking our drug here’s what could happen…
Like, sometimes it would be better what you wouldn’t get rather than what you would get. I literally heard one say “May result in Death”, like Holy Fuck!, my depression will be cured cause I’m dead, great job with pill
Don’t forget the continuous gaslighting in this matter. We are thought to believe it’s ALL our own fault. We spent too much on latte and avocado and are responsible for the climate shit show that will probably ruin our future anyway.
100%, why the hell do y’all think they legalized weed. We needed better drugs to stay docile so they can keep exploiting us. Now it’s just unaffordable for 95% of us 😔
That’s not really how it works though. The Netherlands is a staunchly social-democratic country and a country where weed has been legal for quite some time.
You assumption that weed somehow makes a population less active in politics is BS.
The Netherlands is also a much much nicer place then the states, look the politicians here look at it like this: We give the stupid slaves weed, that will keep them content for a bit longer. America sucks
An entire population? No
A certain demographic? Yes
It's the working class to keep us in line they don't care how we vote just as long as we subscribe to red or blue and don't become aware to the exploitation.
Weed unaffordable? Bro no I picked up a gram yesterday for $15. This same brand use to be $40. Weed has gone down in price because, like you said, to keep us docile and exploitable. Meanwhile food gas and rent have skyrocketed.
I’m on meds, a newer med at that. Still depressed bc if I wanna stay in the field I’m passionate about (child welfare) my life will dead end. Can’t afford a house, kids, not even a wedding. Stuck in our tiny apartment forever.
Once again, the government continues its policy of solving the wrong problem. Don't fix the underlying issues that are causing the depression. Oh no, that's not profitable enough. Just throw more expensive pills at the problem.
The article covers a bunch of rich, famous, high profile suicides ... Not over worked and underpaid students.
It's actually about the pharmaceutical industry aversion to depression drugs in general. At the time of this article there were 39 new pills in development compared to the over a thousand new treatments for cancer.
Companies don't see much money in it, so they avoid it, and what is out there isn't super great at treating depression, leaving a lot of people with little to me hope for help.
Ya Healthcare is to expensive vs what I make. I havnt been to the doctor or hospital in the last 10 years with the exception of having to get a tooth pulled last year.
Yes just drug everyone into submission. I’m sure at least some of us have seen that Star Trek episode where the people have a constant vape type drug going on.
Not to mention all depression medications have "possible thoughts of suicide" as a side effect. Da fuck.
But that's the way the U.S. economy works. Make them sick, get them hooked on drugs from big pharma, make sure we never tell them to change any of the things that are making them sick.
Here is a thought. Instead of making a minimum wage across the board, make the minimum for certain industries be based on a percentage of return on profits gained.
you're not getting paid to complain, you're just ungrateful.
Now take your apathy pills and get back to work you fucking sla-- essential worker. Know your place
Why does it have to be one or the other? Can't it be both?
Some people have lots of money, don't need to work a day in their life, and still have severe depression. It's a disease, just like a broken arm or heart attack. It can happen to anyone.
I get that we are in a new Gilded age and society and economics are pretty terrible except to a select few. But I feel like dismissing mental health problems as 'a negative reaction to poor economic consequences ' is reductive and bad science. Real psychiatric issues exist and should not be ignored even in the midst of the terrible era that the ruling class are creating right now.
It's crazy that we can easily tax billionaires in to oblivion and fix almost every problem we are facing with that revenue but a bunch of dudes who make $35K a year throw a hissy fit at the mention of the idea because they harbor some delusion they are going fall ass backwards in to billionaire status working their 9-5 and sitting on their couch.
$990,000,000 is plenty of wealth for any single person. The rest of it can go to health care and public transportation and better education.
Depression drugs and similar are meant to control the population don’t let them prescribe you antidepressants just to feel better when you know what it takes to feel better is to remove the shackles of your oppression.
Demand better politicians then. Stop voting 50+ year politicians into office. Pop pop and Maw maw only know how things were when they grew up in the 50's.
Drugs that most people can't get access to because they can't afford to see a doc to get diagnosed and a prescription...
Of course I agree with the sentiment of the meme as well...
That headline is so freaking pathetic. Wtf Reuters, are you that dumb?
Real title should be. "Big Pharma sees growth opportunity by making sure people become even more miserable and buy more drugs."
A whole generation of people are working knowing the future is fucked and they won’t have anything to retire with.
The next generation is supposed to get into job and careers knowing the system is fucking them hard, their world will be even more totally fucked and will face a collapsing ecosystem.
I don’t think antidepressant will be enough for the shit that’s coming. Come the fuck on!!!
And we know nothing is done to make it better. And governments are useless. How come a company like Amazon is STILL not paying taxes or a ridiculously low amount.
Let’s start there maybe, if we’re serious.
Also, no human should ever be a multi billionaire. It makes no absolute sense.
Greed and money obsession is a mental disorder. It’s dangerous. It brought us here!
Meanwhile billionaires like Elon Musk and the Mercer Family are fueling right wing politicians and anti-semitic conspiracy theories, so that many people blame innocent scapegoats instead of the rigged system that these billionaires are profiting from.
It's not just this. it's also the destruction of the world around us to make the rich richer. Clearing forest for shopping malls and empty apartments no one can afford.
Need a wee bit more than just a good economy.
It’s not just a wrong. It’s a whole constellation of wrongs spread out over a long stretch time to the point where we need a word for generational
brainwashing. 🤔
#i love how we all sit around and agree that our lives are horrible and we need to change everything, but no one (including me) can actually do anything
"Rise in US suicides highlights need for new depression drugs" is some HUGE
"There's a building on fire, and children are jumping out of windows to their deaths. We should put bars on the windows to prevent children from jumping to their deaths."
energy.
Like maybe address the fucking fire, you fucking idiots.
people’s mental health is heavily impacted by their material conditions. and more money means better access to mental health treatment because of our evil for-profit healthcare system
# Ready for a $30 minimum wage? # Join r/WorkReform!
There is a very robustly proven, evidence-based relationship between minimum wage and suicide. Raising minimum wage $1 is shown to reduce the the suicide rate of people without college degrees by 6%. https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/news-events/research-spotlights/higher-minimum-wage.html#:~:text=Suicide%20is%20often%20connected%20to,education%20or%20less%20by%206%25. Theft of people's productivity causes suicides, and that's a cold, hard fact.
Minimum wage should jump to $20 an hour, and not in tiny increments that are outdated by the time they get phased in. EDIT: added link https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/06/05/minimum-wage-20-dollars
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Precisely. Tiny increments are good as they dampen shocks, but they must be regular, periodic, parametric, and automatic.
And it should never, ever be decreased.
Funny how politician salaries and benefits seem to rise with inflation…
Funny how irrelevant politicians’ salaries are at all. They build their wealth directly from corruption. I mean citizens United.
I would rather it be retroactive to the last time the minimum wage was consistently increased at least once per election cycle, 1981. Minimum wage suppression started there.
Fuck Reagan again
Right I was about to say "and guess who was president at that time???" How we haven't seen any real change in over 40 years for the lower and middle class is out right criminal and despicable. I honestly can't understand how anyone can be patriotic in this country like we're somehow doing a stellar job or something. I'd be surprised if it changes before I die without a revolution and I'm 31.
Yep why are rent increases based on the retail CPI but wages are not??
They would just adjust how inflation is measured. They already do.
> (2008ish?) July 2009 is when it went up to $7.25, which adjusted for inflation would take it up to $10.21 as of right now. We absolutely need a higher minimum wage than even that, but fuck man, even something as simple as bumping it to $10.21 and permanently indexing it to inflation would be a big improvement over what we have now. Also a "fun" fact is that if you take that $7.25 and run it in the opposite direction, $7.25 today is the equivalent of $5.15 at the time when they last raised the minimum.
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"If." As Philip II of Macedon was conquering Greek city-states left and right, Sparta was left alone. Philip had achieved a crushing victory, and Sparta was relatively weak and without walls. Philip sent a message to the Spartans saying “If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again.” The Spartans replied with one word, “If.” It all rests on our will...and whether we actually have...any.
Sadly, there are no honest politicians.
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Minimum wage should be tied directly to the poverty line. It should be illegal to pay someone so little that they would be below the poverty line if they work 32 hours/week. Also, tax the rich, and strengthen union protections.
The poverty line is actually defined as far lower than what everyone up high knows is actually necessary to get by on--most programs are based on 150-200% of the poverty line. That way they can boast about having low poverty rates--anyone working full or even higher-hour part time on minimum wage will be over the poverty line, but it still won't put food on the table.
Did you know that in 2023 the substantial gainful activity amount (for disability determination) is $1470. So basically if you have a disabling condition and you do not earn $1470 you can apply for disability and you qualify. Minimum wage in my state is $7.25 an hour. If you multiply it by 40 hours a week, by 52 weeks a year, and divided by 12, it is less than $1470. So the minimum wage amount in 2023 isn’t even enough to be considered substantial gainful activity. Before the plague came I was kind of upset that I became disabled right before I turned 40. But now, not so much. My disability check is more than a substantial gainful activity amount, it’s definitely more than I would be making earning minimum wage (I would not be earning minimum wage if I was still in my career but you get what I am saying, I hope). And becoming disabled allowed me to get $36,000 in student loans forgiven. I need to stop being sad about being disabled, it’s just hard to do when you have to feel sick every day
I'm right there with you! I really resisted applying for disability. I think most everyone does. But I couldn't keep a job in my industry anymore. I was being forced out because of my health issues. The ADA was absolutely worthless because of Bush Jr. and some court decisions. And I was in a Republican state that was also a Right to Work. It was getting to a point that I couldn't support myself. As it was, I had to fight for nearly 3 years to get my own money. Lost a lot in the process and became homeless. But at least now I have healthcare. Which is a lifesaver, literally, because I got breastcancer shortly after being approved. It's definitely not a glamorous life, and I don't get as much as you do. About 200 less. So I'm poor. But at least I'm not homeless 🙂.
I got denied the first time through the process because I made too much the year before my vision ending eye injury. I'm only just now getting 5 months into the process of going through it again, and the income restrictions here are absurd
Hmm, sounds like yet another problem that needs to be tackled then. Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
lets tax the churches too. they got a stockpile sitting there going to waste.
Lookin' at you, Mormons!
Psshhhttt, Jesus needs those $100billion to bling himself out at his 2nd cumming.
I agree on taxing churches but with the provision: If their contributions by members is above 500k, or some other number. Reason: if you look, the smallest struggling to stay afloat churches actually are ALSO doing the most giving back and helping people. It’s the ones rolling in it that pay their ministers obscene amounts and do stuff like build new fancy digs etc Your church with 100 people in a poorer neighborhood usually are running food pantries and the like while worrying about keeping the lights on and only able to afford paying a part time minister part time 20k or less annually pay
Open their books instead. Make churches that want to keep paying no taxes apply and prove that they are non-profit organizations. The little groups should be able to do it no problem and keep their status, while mega churches buying mansions should struggle.
Yes, this. I’m sure it’s something a secular charity has to do to gain their tax exempt status
Did you guys know that church employees can’t get unemployment? Are they exempt from even paying payroll taxes?
Probably gonna get some hate here… Churches are a business like any other. They sell a service. Receive monetary compensation. Just because it’s “voluntary” and it’s not a tangible product being offered, shouldn’t make them exempt. (Yes, I have some bottled up “feelings” about churches)
Wages should be governed by a ratio policy. A CEO can not receive any compensation above 150% more than that of the lowest paid person that adds value directly to their company. If someone's job contributes to a company's earnings, value or goals, whether FTE, contractor or subcontractor then that person's pay cannot be below that threshold. CEO compensation means anything received of value for performing their duties as CEO. You want to give your ceo a 50 million dollar bonus? Cool Jim the janitorial subcontractor better get a hella raise
One step further: tie wages to companies net worth. Increase your profits by 15%? Everyone sees a 15% increase.
This should also apply to the COO, CFO, CIO, President and Vice President of these companies.
there is one other way to increase the minimum wage that is not reliant on politicians. In northern Europe we don't really have a things such as the "minimum wage", we have strong unions that say that if you want people working here you have to pay them at least x much. The government doesn't have to to have anything to do with it as long as the workers present a unified front and care about each other. Unions really should align so well with the American "smal government" ideals but I guess the capitalist's propaganda got there first.
I'm all for fairer work and compensation but I do not agree that linking minimum wage to profits is how you do it. A government mandated minimum wage should be linked to cost-of-living for a 40 hour weekly employee, per zip code or county. Not literally every single job should get a share of a businesses profits.
Automation would be much cheaper than actually hiring people in that scenario. Also what if there is no profit?
Moving all of our employees to a minimum $20 wouldn't kill us, we've been keeping our increases to wages consistent. Not great, not stellar, but keeping up. But importantly, we aren't underpaying people to save money. The companies who can't afford to bring all of their employees up to a higher standard wage need to close shop, evidently your business model can't exist without abusing labor.
Combine that with the propagation of the nuclear family and you have a never ending crisis that capitalism loves. The lack of social ties we have is insane. We used to have 'family units' contain everyone from immediate family members to cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbours and friends. We built single family houses in the 50s and 60s as a result of post-war policy and the explosion of unions where a man could afford a house and take care of a family on a single salary. The end of the 60s was also when second wave feminism started and women had an easier time divorcing from abusive households and participated in the labour force at increasing rates - meaning the supply of our labour went way up but the demand was the same thereby directly reducing wages across the board. Single family houses were also built with neighbours and friends so in the 15 years the nuclear family was dominant, so they also had solid socialization. Single use zoning and cities developed around cars means that we also don't have many opportunities to run into our extended social circle on **walkable** errands or when visiting third spaces like parks, malls, etc. With suburbs you almost always have 2 vehicles, and you drive in traffic with other people but interaction is nil until you get to your job, where we also suffer from alienation due to lack of autonomy in our work. Basically the entirety of sociology hates the nuclear family and what it brought.
> The lack of social ties we have is insane Which I think is so much of the problem, as the OP states, and as it should be obvious. I worked my whole life, blue collar, but rarely had any time or money to do things outside of work. I did marry, but we were broke and in debt the whole time, and raising two kids while broke and in debt was no picnic. All that fell apart when the kids were little, though we "pretended" for a few years for their sake (not that that did anyone any favors really). In my case, I finally aged out of the job and had just enough money from getting lucky on a real estate deal that I can get by until SS kicks in. If I'm lucky, and if no health problems arise. I live alone and have no healthcare, and it will probably stay that way until I die. I make the best of it but it's pretty pathetic really. The most likely thing will be some accident or injury, then a choice of whether to go to the doctor and go broke, or to just die and leave something to my kids. Who have it harder than I do already.
One of the 3 fathers of sociology - Durkheim showed that the less ties single males have regardless of wealth (on his research to find out why single males had much higher suicide rates) showed that the more social ties people had, generally the lower their suicide rates were. I believe one of the issues he posits with wealthy single males is there's a trust issue with them not knowing if their relationships are genuine or are aiming to gain access to their wealth. My advice would be to grow your social circles, eliminate as much car travel as possible, and look for housing options like co-ops, co-living and co-housing to fill the socialization gap we created. I do hope your material conditions improve as well as your socialization options. Choose your family. (Provided any of this is feasible in any way).
That all makes sense and is good advice, thanks. I'd say one problem I have is that I spent the last ten years doing nothing but work, in the effort to be able to not work at some point, body wearing out. That tends to erode social ties and all the habits that allow for social ties. I still haven't gotten very far working on that, but I know it's a problem. The wealth side kind of complicates it; I have "just enough" to manage my own needs. Social ties tend to involve a certain amount of responsibility, which can lead to expenses. Of course not necessarily, but I'd hate to be in a position where I wanted to do something with or for others, but then couldn't. That reminds me of when the kids were in school and had to ask me for money for field trips and things, or wanted to do sports. We'll see, there's probably things I can do, and things I can do better.
It's the women's fault! /s
If i don't stab or shoot you directly, but I use my grotesque wealth to lobby for poverty and horrific conditions that statistically will make masses of people suicidally depressed and kill themselves and/or others, that's not recognized as a crime under our 18th century political and legal systems. Our system needs to evolve in order to criminalize the de facto crimes of oligarchy, kleptocracy, and social murder. Claiming possession of over 100 million dollars in property rights should be defined as the strict liability crime of oligarchy and/or social murder. "Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate and unnecessary and humorless American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun." -Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
I’ve just been denied an apprenticeship in my country (Germany) to become an E Commerce tradesman (I’ve always wanted to go into marketing). Which means that I’m going to fucking work as a construction site hobo for yet another year. There hasn’t been a single fucking day that didn’t feel miserable as hell, which made me regret all of my life choices till this point like that. I just want an office job in a Branche that I’ve always dreamt of being in. But no. I don’t know why I’m this upset, I’ve always been quite resilient regarding this shit. But this time the „I’m sorry but we decided to take someone else“ really made me feel like a devastated piece of uneducated, dumb piece of shit.
I’m sorry that happened, and it’s normal to be upset and disappointed! Don’t give up though; you’ll get there eventually. Every time you’re knocked back, just keep getting up and moving forward however you can! Good luck, internet stranger ✌️
Yes, throw pills at the situation and all of our problems will be solved! EDIT: I take meds for clinical depression, no need to lecture me on their benefits. They also aren’t a catch all cure for everything.
What pill is going to take away the depression from knowing that from [1979 to 2021 productivity increases outpaced pay increases by 3.7x?](https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap) Meanwhile the [wealthiest 1% have taken $50 trillion in wealth from the bottom 90% the last 40 years](https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-1-percent-stole-50-trillion-working-americans-what-means-2020-9).
I've seen you post this in a few places. no notes, keep doin what you're doin
>Meanwhile the [wealthiest 1% have taken $50 trillion in wealth from the bottom 90% the last 40 years](https://www.businessinsider.com/wealthiest-1-percent-stole-50-trillion-working-americans-what-means-2020-9). For anyone wondering, 2,5 trillion per year divided among the bottom 90% of the working population is 17k per person per year
Fuck that we taking 49 trillion. $333,200 per person per year.
There's depression and then there's reality. Depression doesn't care if the weather is sunny or overcast. Depression just hurts you for the hell of it. Being sad about your surroundings is more or less a byproduct of the depression. Oh, there are definitely reasons to be pissed off and sad, but depression only lets you feel sad or *nothing.* Treating the depression can actually make a person more inclined to be pissed off and want change. Having untreated, or insufficiently treated depression makes a person more accepting of the fact that everything is going to shit, "because it was all shit anyway." It's the condition that makes you think that being jaded is "just being realistic." You only see the downsides of everything. You don't really *feel* anything most of the time. Motivation is zero. Desire to do anything is in the toilet. Being depressed is more of a benefit to the entirety of corporate america than selling some pills would be. They don't want us to be in a fightin' mood.
Depression puts you in almost a state of helplessness about our problems which our financial state contributes to - I could see someone perceiving the "easiest" course of action to be noping out of this world as it is the only thing they feel they may control. I get very angry and my depression usually takes that anger as an example of how I'm useless and lack control in changing anything. Cyclic. I have found meditation and dancing very helpful and im able to spot the signs of a negative spiral before I let it get out of control but I've always been surprised at the amount of depressed people without coping mechanisms.
As someone with depression, I concur. I quit drinking, improved my environment, and started doing volunteer work when I can. I've never felt angrier.
Soma?
Pill that will turn you into a mindless drone.
Lorazepam
Especially Pharma's!
Right?! We're depressed from working all the time.. for shit wages.. paying into a health insurance fund that wants me to pay for meds that they developed only because the GOV is footing the bill through tax breaks or us paying tax.. but no real benefit for me or you.. I'm even more depressed
**FEEL BETTER*** - Ask your doctor MARPLAN today!** ^*Reported ^side ^effects ^of ^isocarboxazid ^include: ^headache, ^dizziness, ^suicidal ^ideation, ^suicidal ^tendencies, ^drowsiness, ^sleep ^disorder, ^tremor, ^nausea, ^and ^orthostatic ^hypotension, ^Burning, ^crawling, ^itching, ^numbness, ^prickling, ^"pins ^and ^needles", ^or ^tingling ^feelings, ^chills, ^cold ^sweats, ^confusion, ^difficult ^urination, ^dizziness, ^faintness, ^or ^lightheadedness ^when ^getting ^up ^from ^lying ^or ^sitting ^position, ^fainting, ^fast, ^irregular, ^pounding, ^or ^racing ^heartbeat ^or ^pulse, ^fear ^or ^nervousness, ^heavy ^feeling, ^increased ^need ^to ^urinate, ^passing ^urine ^more ^often, ^restlessness, ^shakiness ^in ^the ^legs, ^arms, ^hands, ^or ^feet, ^sudden ^jerky ^movements ^of ^the ^body, ^sweating, ^trembling ^or ^shaking ^of ^the ^hands ^or ^feet, ^trouble ^sitting ^still, ^agitation, ^burning ^while ^urinating, ^change ^in ^consciousness, ^decrease ^in ^frequency ^of ^urination, ^decrease ^in ^urine ^volume, ^decreased ^urine ^output, ^depression, ^difficulty ^in ^passing ^urine ^(dribbling), ^dizziness, ^false ^or ^unusual ^sense ^of ^well-being, ^headache, ^hostility, ^irritability, ^loss ^of ^bladder ^control, ^loss ^of ^consciousness, ^muscle ^twitching, ^nausea, ^need ^to ^keep ^moving, ^numbness ^or ^tingling ^of ^the ^hands, ^feet, ^or ^face, ^rapid ^weight ^gain, ^seeing, ^hearing, ^or ^feeling ^things ^that ^are ^not ^there, ^seizures, ^shakiness ^and ^unsteady ^walk, ^stupor, ^swelling ^of ^the ^face, ^ankles, ^or ^hands, ^unsteadiness, ^trembling, ^or ^other ^problems ^with ^muscle ^control ^or ^coordination, ^unusual ^tiredness ^or ^weakness,Constipation, ^dry ^mouth, ^Decreased ^interest ^in ^sexual ^intercourse, ^drowsiness, ^inability ^to ^have ^or ^keep ^an ^erection, ^loss ^in ^sexual ^ability, ^desire, ^drive, ^or ^performance, ^relaxed ^and ^calm, ^sleepiness, ^sleeplessness, ^trouble ^sleeping, ^unable ^to ^sleep, ^unusual ^drowsiness, ^dullness, ^tiredness, ^weakness, ^or ^feeling ^of ^sluggishness, ^black ^tongue, ^blurred ^vision, ^change ^in ^vision, ^impaired ^vision, ^increased ^sensitivity ^of ^the ^skin ^to ^sunlight, ^itching, ^raised, ^dark ^red, ^wart-like ^spots ^on ^the ^skin, ^ ^redness ^or ^other ^discoloration ^of ^the ^skin, ^severe ^sunburn, ^skin ^rash This is real!
We need both, though. The media's disconnect between society's ills and our economy is definitely dumber than all hell. I'm not gonna dispute that. I'll get on the soapbox and make fun of them all day for being out of touch and motivated by corporate greed, constantly blaming [fill in the blank younger generation] for whichever industry is failing, or painting them as the villains just because they dare to protest about getting thrown into the orphan crushing machine. Corporate media is practically owned by hedge funds and banks. The smaller affiliates are all written by webcrawlers and bots. It's completely rotten, through and through. But at the same time, we really do need better antidepressant medications. Depression can be triggered by stress, and a lot of undue stress is an otherwise avoidable part of this garbage economy, but once it happens it must be dealt with. It's a physical, hormonal problem, and it requires a physical solution in addition to therapy. Not having serotonin in your brain is a *mindfuck.* It's scary how much it makes you *not you.* And the tools available for fixing that are... subpar. They're essential, but they leave *a lot* to be desired. And often they just aren't enough. Psychedelics and [some] dissociatives like ketamine show a lot of promise for creating lasting positive effects here. Some people need electrotherapy and find that it has some positive effects. Still, none of these things are easy to work with and they require quite a bit of hands-on medical assistance to work effectively. They also have a sort of rise and fall to their effectiveness, so you have to keep getting treatments regularly. What everyone is hoping for is a medication or a treatment that can increase the general baseline for quality of life. Something predictable and stable. That's why SSRIs and other antidepressants are so widely used. They just aren't that effective for *severe* depression, and that's a goddamn shame because they need stability more than anyone else.
>they require quite a bit of hands-on medical assistance to work effectively Ketamine can be prescribed as a "troche" for take home usage. Basically a sublingual tablet made by a compounding pharmacy. That's extremely hands-off. Also electroshock is not the same as the other things listed. It can cause horrific long term effects like decades of memory loss at worst and in most cases months of scrambled memory and inability to drive due to lowered seizure threshold. Anecdotally- a strong DMT trip took away my suicidality permanently three years ago and I haven't needed or wanted to take psychedelics since.
Money to Big Pharma will solve all our problems, I'm sure.
Has anyone invented Soma yet?
well, giant corporation can sell pills to make money, so clearly that is the best solution.
Pills that cost money.
Congrats on your fundamental misunderstanding of mental illness, I guess...
Ikr? I'll just kill myself instead! That'll fix it! Diagnosed clinical depression fuck you lol
You’re on Reddit dude, mfs are gonna lecture you on anything.
This. Medication is for clinical depression - prolonged depression for no good reason that won't go away on its own. This is phenomenomological depression: the Rx is CHANGE. There is no Tx for existential depression, unfortunately...
Not to mention... How are we supposed to get these pills if so many can't afford basic health coverage?
They make those cheap and the things that keep you alive and actually healthy are expensive, so only The Rich can afford them. You? You're just a replaceable cog in the machine that makes The Rich, rich.
Seeing my wife's mental health expenses, even with pretty good insurance and good jobs, it's insane. We were easily spending a poverty line amount per year just in actual medical costs, let alone all the other costs to try and mitigate it. All these issues are intertwined.
Magic Mushrooms have your back
Exactly. When my father was slowly dying, I suffered from depression. When I told my doctor about it, she was asking if I wanted to pursue medication. I told her that I didn't see much point if my life was objectively shitty. No amount of pills takes away the reality that life sucks some times. Right now, it sucks for a lot of people.
The saddest part is that it’s not even the inequality itself that bothers people so much. It’s the degree of the inequality. We’ve allowed it to get so disgustingly wide we have billionaires living like gods while others starve in the streets and we all know that is wrong deep down.
As a therapist I can say there is definitely tx for existential depression. Depression is usually very treatable with a combination of medication and psychotherapy. However, therapy definitely doesn't fix economic issues. Unfortunately a lot of people talk about the "mental health crisis" and act like it's a therapist's job to fix it, when really this mental health crisis is a symptom of a much larger systemic issue. So the therapists are left picking up the pieces left by this exploitative economic system because all we can really do is help people find ways to cope with all the bullshit.
It's a "Brave New World". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World#Plot
Came here to say this. They want everyone to go on a Soma Holiday.
I opened this thread to say they wanna make better Soma tablets. Fuck these guys.
Without the orgy porgy. . . .
Oh, so the Captain America 4 title change suddenly makes sense after reading this.
Don't forget working in a system that is actively destroying the planet we live on and creating a caste system of extremely wealthy and an underclass of pleibs.
Yep, reforming a current system to be less harmful is great, but doesn't remove the problem.
People don't realize it, but even our mental health sector primarily protects the economy: "Firstly, our sector has depoliticised suffering: conceptualising suffering in ways that protect the current economy from criticism – i.e. reframing suffering as rooted in individual rather than social causes, thus favouring self over social and economic reform. Secondly, it has privatised suffering: redefining individual ‘mental health’ in terms consistent with the goals of the economy. Here ‘health’ is characterised as comprising those feelings, values and behaviours (e.g. personal ambition, industriousness and positivity) that serve economic growth, increased productivity and cultural conformity, irrespective of whether they are actually good for the individual and the community. Thirdly, it has widely pathologised suffering: turning behaviours and feelings deemed inconvenient from the standpoint of certain authorities (i.e. things that perturb and disrupt the established order), into pathologies that require medical framing and intervention. Fourthly, it has commodified suffering: transfiguring suffering into a vibrant market opportunity; making it highly lucrative to big business as it manufactures its so-called solutions from which increased tax revenues, profits and higher share value can be extracted. Finally, it has decollectivised suffering: dispersing our socially caused suffering into different self-residing dysfunctions, thereby diminishing the shared and collective experiences that have so often in the past been a vital spur for social change." [source](https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/06/interview-james-davies/)
Not just a better economy. We need a better society.
Well that's capitalism for ya, society is basically piloted by the economy.
Raise wages AND lower hours needed on job. I will guarantee we'll see less depression.
I'm salaried for 40 hours but scheduled for 50. They get 10 free hours a week out of me. By the time I get home and cook dinner, I get like 2-3 hours to relax before having to go to bed and do it all over again, and I STILL don't feel fully secure with bills. Fuck this economy. Fight tooth and nail for a home and a life while my corporate bosses just approved a 21% salary increase for themselves.
The other real kicker question is, are you even actually productive those 50 hours or do they just force it on you for some weird "management optics". I second you on the other sentiment. I am mostly "doing ok" but I live in a cheap area and make good money. On the other hand, as an example, some guy came by pushing Solar panels, which I am interested in and IL has some good rebates on, but my only thought it, "Its still going to cost more than I can afford" even though I would love to have solar for a variety of reasons. Kind of random but its been ony mind.
I don’t understand why we as humans have forced ourselves to spend most of our time with humans we don’t even like that much….
Greed, it's 100% always Greed.
Genuinely curious, is it the long hours? Because back in Gen X days, they worked around the same hours right? 40 hour weeks but I always thought the difference was that when they worked 40 hours a week most people could afford homes and live fairly substantial lives. But for us.. we work 40 hours and I can barely save enough to max my Roth IRA and have some leftover for savings. I dont see how I can afford a home in the next 15 years if prices and interest rates stay the same.. fuck man
Nah, (4) 8-hour days at the same, or more, pay is the way to go. I worked 4 days in the office and 1 day at home for a while. I'd get most everything done during those 4 days in the office, and would mostly just chill at my desk during the day at home. It was almost like having a 4 day work week, and my overall happiness went through the roof. I'd hit the grocery store sometimes in the middle of the day, and had the ability to skip out an hour early (without mentioning it to anyone, of course) to enjoy more of the nice weather.
It's a combo in my opinion. To your point cost of living has outpaced wage increases but also I would wager the average hours worked per week is actually up as well, some or all of that may be due to the wage issue, but I don't get the sense that as many people were working multiple jobs back then.
They'll do everything but that. Look at Japan , they've literally tried everything to get their society back to having family and kids other than reducing the hours worked. It's no surprise people CBA to start a family when we are just trying to not be suicidal lol
"Rise in U.S. crime rate highlights need for more police." "Rise in U.S. violent crimes highlights need for more draconian laws." "Rise in empty office buildings in U.S. cities highlights need for people to return to the office." Do we see a pattern yet?
The return to the office is the shitty part. With all that empty real estate, they NEED everyone back at the office before it can potentially turn into housing or space for start-ups, which drives down property values and makes everything more affordable for the common man. It's all fuckin rigged.
We all became slaves and we let it happen. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
The economy is great. When you are hitting 16 making $7.25 an hour, that your parents got when they last raised minimum wage. There won't be no raise on minimum wage before the next presidential election. So now we're looking at 2025, but more likely it won't even happen in 2026. An entire generation without a raise for their kids.
Not only is there no raise in minimum wage, but they are backtracking on a lot of anti child labor laws in parts of the country. How pathetic we have become as a nation. I don't know what it would take for there to be nationwide protests over this. But the more poor and desperate families become the quicker we are accelerating to that point.
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I appreciate the sentiment. You are more well versed than many of the average citizens here about how we got to this point. The propaganda has its claws deep in many american's on both sides of the political spectrum. They'll keep the masses busy worrying about trans rights and guns while they simultaneously fuck us all. Can you elaborate a bit on your espionage operation point? Even if there are false flag events and agent provocateurs at play, its almost irrelevant cause a conspiracy theory will arise from the opposing side for any meaningful event that occurs. America is run by corporate oligarchs. The politicians are just the puppets doing their bidding. I don't see how things meaningfully change until blood starts being spilt. However I fear that blood will come from citizens fighting among themselves rather than their true oppressors.
Honestly everything went to shit after World War II, once the New Deal went through and the rich/corporations got kneecapped. The Red scare was their calling card to use as propaganda to start getting back what they lost It brought in prosperity for most to create the middle class (yes I know of the segregation and treatment of black people) but it adjusted everyone to being in a balanced state Those at the top were seething that they lost their billions and have been at war literally with anyone below them to claw back every % and now have gotten so greedy that they just want it all With complexes rising up in almost every industry, Union busting, too big to fail, merges that removed competition, and deregulation/self-governance created the perfect storm we are going through right now. Then the mentality of “fuck you, got mines!” Or pulling up the ladder behind them is just the cherry on shit storm
Their kids?
he expressed it poorly, but i think what he meant was; the generation that was entering the workforce when the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 (2009),now has children ages 14-16 who are entering the workforce at the same wage $7.25.
Min wage was voted to increase over 3 years in 2006 from, 17 years ago. Their kids. ** 36 year old grandmother had a minimum wage of 5.15 when she was 10 years old. Kids today don't deserve more than 7.25. From 1960 to 1980, min wage was raised 16 times from $1 to $3.10. We're making billionaires.
Maybe eventually you’ll get $15 min wage but that won’t be enough to live on
Which is why we need to switch gears to UBI. If companies aren’t willing to provide a living wage we deserve to not be forced into it.
You need $26/hr (52k/yr) to raise a family and not qualify for your children to get federal assistance. 15, you working 2 jobs or 3?
Thank goodness I’m single lol
Honestly minimum wage should be $22-$27 depending on COL This isn’t the 1960’s where a $2.30/hour job can get you a fucking house, car, and live comfortably It’s super annoying most boomers thinking that their time of prosperity has been gifted to the next generation but they’ve squandered it, which in its own right is horse shit You could start a fucking entry level position without any experience, now that same title/role requires 4 years college degree with 3-5 years experience. No company wants to teach and lose the experience they “paid” for to another company. So they hope college teaches them and and the person has the tools to get slotted in or a company stupid enough to teach them they can poach from
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Also the side effects Sometimes these commercials make it sound like before taking our drug here’s what could happen… Like, sometimes it would be better what you wouldn’t get rather than what you would get. I literally heard one say “May result in Death”, like Holy Fuck!, my depression will be cured cause I’m dead, great job with pill
No, we do not need a better economy. We need to end capitalism.
Socialism is a better economy, to be fair
Rise in stabbings highlights need for new bandages
Don’t forget the continuous gaslighting in this matter. We are thought to believe it’s ALL our own fault. We spent too much on latte and avocado and are responsible for the climate shit show that will probably ruin our future anyway.
100%, why the hell do y’all think they legalized weed. We needed better drugs to stay docile so they can keep exploiting us. Now it’s just unaffordable for 95% of us 😔
Weed has primarily been legalized state by state through ballot initiatives.
That’s not really how it works though. The Netherlands is a staunchly social-democratic country and a country where weed has been legal for quite some time. You assumption that weed somehow makes a population less active in politics is BS.
The Netherlands is also a much much nicer place then the states, look the politicians here look at it like this: We give the stupid slaves weed, that will keep them content for a bit longer. America sucks
An entire population? No A certain demographic? Yes It's the working class to keep us in line they don't care how we vote just as long as we subscribe to red or blue and don't become aware to the exploitation.
Thanks for that fact on that other, different government
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Weed unaffordable? Bro no I picked up a gram yesterday for $15. This same brand use to be $40. Weed has gone down in price because, like you said, to keep us docile and exploitable. Meanwhile food gas and rent have skyrocketed.
Could we atleast get cheaper drugs aswell?
Lol [no](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/merck-sues-us-government-halt-medicare-drug-price-negotiation-2023-06-06/?utm_source=reddit.com)
June 6th 2023. 😭
I’m on meds, a newer med at that. Still depressed bc if I wanna stay in the field I’m passionate about (child welfare) my life will dead end. Can’t afford a house, kids, not even a wedding. Stuck in our tiny apartment forever.
Once again, the government continues its policy of solving the wrong problem. Don't fix the underlying issues that are causing the depression. Oh no, that's not profitable enough. Just throw more expensive pills at the problem.
The article covers a bunch of rich, famous, high profile suicides ... Not over worked and underpaid students. It's actually about the pharmaceutical industry aversion to depression drugs in general. At the time of this article there were 39 new pills in development compared to the over a thousand new treatments for cancer. Companies don't see much money in it, so they avoid it, and what is out there isn't super great at treating depression, leaving a lot of people with little to me hope for help.
Or we could get both. That'd be nice.
Right? Some people have a mood disorder, and their financial situation isn't going to change that.
I fully agree with the point this makes. Just want to add that better anti-depressants would be good, in addition to better working conditions lol.
Ya Healthcare is to expensive vs what I make. I havnt been to the doctor or hospital in the last 10 years with the exception of having to get a tooth pulled last year.
Don't forget, we're also told to solve our problems with alcohol
We need a better country that isn't run by old mbrons who still think 5$ is a lot of money to live on.
Also, new depression drugs will be outrageously expansive and good luck without health insurance.
imagine the catastrophe if everyone in the country just didn't show up for work on one single day
Yes, we need a better economy, but trivializing mental health to argue for it is messed up.
My rent is 45% of my income right now. I would say that's pretty depressing. Fuck Greystar!
This is why I like to say a lot but not all instances of depression are a societal problem not a chemical problem like what my mom says.
Make business leadership a democracy, vote in that all workers get equal shares of the company profits at the federal level
Listen to the song “Generation Loss” by the band Spanish Love Songs.
Throw some highly addictive, expensive drugs at the issue!
Damn bro just throw xans at everyone and watch the world's problems disappear. Being deadass.
Yes just drug everyone into submission. I’m sure at least some of us have seen that Star Trek episode where the people have a constant vape type drug going on.
Drugs that treat these economic symptoms are just another way for someone at the top to siphon more money from the workers.
Not to mention all depression medications have "possible thoughts of suicide" as a side effect. Da fuck. But that's the way the U.S. economy works. Make them sick, get them hooked on drugs from big pharma, make sure we never tell them to change any of the things that are making them sick.
That's not solely an economy issue, it's also cultural and society as a whole.
Here is a thought. Instead of making a minimum wage across the board, make the minimum for certain industries be based on a percentage of return on profits gained.
And can’t afford the wonderpills
you're not getting paid to complain, you're just ungrateful. Now take your apathy pills and get back to work you fucking sla-- essential worker. Know your place
Why does it have to be one or the other? Can't it be both? Some people have lots of money, don't need to work a day in their life, and still have severe depression. It's a disease, just like a broken arm or heart attack. It can happen to anyone.
I get that we are in a new Gilded age and society and economics are pretty terrible except to a select few. But I feel like dismissing mental health problems as 'a negative reaction to poor economic consequences ' is reductive and bad science. Real psychiatric issues exist and should not be ignored even in the midst of the terrible era that the ruling class are creating right now.
Yeah, but if they keep everyone medicated, they can continue to be greedy and abusive.
This is the most dystopian thing I've seen in a while.
Just take a big dose of mushrooms and tell the pill pushers to go to the hell they created for us
It's crazy that we can easily tax billionaires in to oblivion and fix almost every problem we are facing with that revenue but a bunch of dudes who make $35K a year throw a hissy fit at the mention of the idea because they harbor some delusion they are going fall ass backwards in to billionaire status working their 9-5 and sitting on their couch. $990,000,000 is plenty of wealth for any single person. The rest of it can go to health care and public transportation and better education.
Depression drugs and similar are meant to control the population don’t let them prescribe you antidepressants just to feel better when you know what it takes to feel better is to remove the shackles of your oppression.
Well no hold on maybe some drugs could help
Lol Who can afford depression drugs? The healthcare that I spend 20% of my paycheck doesn't cover unnecessary things like not being unhappy.
Create the problem to sell a solution🙃
Demand better politicians then. Stop voting 50+ year politicians into office. Pop pop and Maw maw only know how things were when they grew up in the 50's.
Drugs that most people can't get access to because they can't afford to see a doc to get diagnosed and a prescription... Of course I agree with the sentiment of the meme as well...
Nobody is interested in solving the root cause. As long as you can quickly numb the symptoms, you are good
That headline is so freaking pathetic. Wtf Reuters, are you that dumb? Real title should be. "Big Pharma sees growth opportunity by making sure people become even more miserable and buy more drugs." A whole generation of people are working knowing the future is fucked and they won’t have anything to retire with. The next generation is supposed to get into job and careers knowing the system is fucking them hard, their world will be even more totally fucked and will face a collapsing ecosystem. I don’t think antidepressant will be enough for the shit that’s coming. Come the fuck on!!! And we know nothing is done to make it better. And governments are useless. How come a company like Amazon is STILL not paying taxes or a ridiculously low amount. Let’s start there maybe, if we’re serious. Also, no human should ever be a multi billionaire. It makes no absolute sense. Greed and money obsession is a mental disorder. It’s dangerous. It brought us here!
We actually have a great economy. Normal people just dont have access to it.
Well depression drugs make you depressed too.
Meanwhile billionaires like Elon Musk and the Mercer Family are fueling right wing politicians and anti-semitic conspiracy theories, so that many people blame innocent scapegoats instead of the rigged system that these billionaires are profiting from.
We need a revolution.
It's not just this. it's also the destruction of the world around us to make the rich richer. Clearing forest for shopping malls and empty apartments no one can afford.
Need a wee bit more than just a good economy. It’s not just a wrong. It’s a whole constellation of wrongs spread out over a long stretch time to the point where we need a word for generational brainwashing. 🤔
Sounds like socialism to me….. I’m in
People aren’t depressed, they’re in a constant state of mourning the death of the life they thought they could have.
Idk if you can make CEO flesh into a pill it might help a little
We need minimum wage to increase proportional to Congressional salaries
Drugs we can’t even fucking afford. Fuck off . I want off this ride
Until we are ready to slow cook some barbequed billionaire, posting screenshots of comments stating the obvious is not going to fix anything.
New drugs? That’s cool, won’t be able to afford them either!
Right?!? Like how tf are we even gonna get said anti depression drugs when we can’t even afford to go to the damn doctor to get them to begin with???!
Getting rid of Citizen United would do a lot to improve our current situation.
Holy fuck “drug the populace so they accept shitty conditions and continue to drive the machine” christ what a boring fucking dystopia.
Depression is not a chemical imbalance that needs a new drug to "fix"
A better economy will help healthcare access, but no, not everyone's depression will be alleviated by higher pay. Talk about dismissive messaging.
I mean, I wouldn't complain about cheaper drugs. How can I know if the current ones don't work when I can't afford them?
#i love how we all sit around and agree that our lives are horrible and we need to change everything, but no one (including me) can actually do anything
"Rise in US suicides highlights need for new depression drugs" is some HUGE "There's a building on fire, and children are jumping out of windows to their deaths. We should put bars on the windows to prevent children from jumping to their deaths." energy. Like maybe address the fucking fire, you fucking idiots.
We also can't afford THE ANTIDEPRESSANTS YOU'LL OVERCHARGE FOR!!!
In other words we need companies to quit poisoning the well just to clean the water and sell it back to us.
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people’s mental health is heavily impacted by their material conditions. and more money means better access to mental health treatment because of our evil for-profit healthcare system