I don't think staring at a bus stop is a meaningful step towards changing the American nightmare. We have a lot of problems due to poor leadership in this country and in the world, and people understandably struggle to take meaningful action to replace that leadership (i.e. vote in their best interest, and vote based on meaningful things that most people don't consider at all when voting). Instead we bicker about DEI and what genitals someone has under their clothes when they use certain restrooms instead of, you know, a voting and election process that is more representative and accountable. Until there is greater class consciousness and people have more emotional bandwidth to consider things outside what is immediately placed in front of them with instagram/tiktok/corporate news/advertising, I don't think it's going to change much. This is a weird tangent.
> I don't think staring at a bus stop is a meaningful step towards changing the American nightmare.
That is not even close to what I was speaking to. It is just part of the process of waking up and becoming unattached and less dependent and more aware of your surroundings and feeling the suffering so you create the will to change things.
> Instead we bicker about DEI and what genitals someone has under their clothes when they use certain restrooms instead of, you know, a voting and election process that is more representative and accountable.
All of this was brought to you by the internet by the people you complain about below.
> Until there is greater class consciousness and people have more emotional bandwidth to consider things outside what is immediately placed in front of them with instagram/tiktok/corporate news/advertising, I don't think it's going to change much.
Class consciousness starts off line, by helping the poor in your local area. Take a look at what the Black Panthers did and you will get an idea. If people are staring at TikTok it is highly unlikely that are running into this information.
Though commonly associated with the sensational, the Black Panthers conceived of and implemented a wide array of meaningful social programs. The Panthers started free breakfast for school children, with party members cooking every morning for the poor and undernourished kids in their communities. They established the Oakland Community School, which offered adult education and childcare, as well as free medical clinics staffed by well-regarded academic physicians who volunteered a portion of their time. Mary Bassett, former commissioner of health of the city of New York, writes that the Panthers initiated medical research into sickle cell anemia, which was largely ignored prior to their work. They provided plumbing, home maintenance, and even pest control services.
> It is just part of the process of waking up and becoming unattached and less dependent and more aware of your surroundings and feeling the suffering so you create the will to change things.
Unless there is already the seed of making change and recognizing what change needs to be made, the idle time isn't really going to help. I suffer plenty in life, I don't need to artificially increase that as some sort of motivation to vote differently or interact with my community differently.
> All of this was brought to you by the internet by the people you complain about below.
Disagreement on social issues has always existed and would also exist even without the internet. I'm not sure what your point is with this comment.
I agree local efforts are great and meaningful. But for large systemic change we need different voting habits.
Maybe that is the purpose of these phones?