Increase productivity?

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Which is why if we started making memes attributing behaviors to people who are just… Not sick… It would be really weird and innacurate.

Or like, what about people who are sick and are just having a good day? Or people who are sick but their meds are working so they don’t look like it from the outside? Maybe they are sick, but they just have a runny nose and not the cough you’re expecting?

The meme could have very easily been captioned “someone telling me about mindsets and positive thinking” and it would be perfectly fine. But, for no reason other than to sew hostility and division, OP added a bunch of irrelevant identity politics into the mix.

Do you go around to people who aren’t coughing and label them “sickless”?

Do you not know how meme’s work? OP is constructing a strawman. Claiming individuals who are white, middle class, neurotypical, male people exist. Implying causality between these identities and this behavior. Which is racist, sexist, generally bigoted nonsense.

“Neurotypical” is a term that only makes sense when talking about groups, and in contrast to other groups you are discussing. It only makes sense when you are aggregating populations of people. Referring to an individual as “neurotypical” is nonsensical.

Furthermore, inexpertly diagnosing someone on the bus (or otherwise, but the setting of the meme is a bus so I’m using that) as “neurotypical” just because you don’t immediately recognize any noticeable traits of neurodiveristy is extremely problematic. It’s dangerous to just toss the word “neurotypical” around casually.

Lol are those people in the room with us right now?

They assessed as not qualifying for a diagnosis for the specific disorders they are being tested for. That is a far, far cry from being “diagnosed as neurotypical”.

If no one is neurotypical, as you claim, then no one is neurodivergent

This statement here is just completely nonsensical rhetoric. You are staying it like it’s some sort of logical conclusion that it’s true when there is no such logical conclusion. Maybe that’s why you think it’s nonsense… Because it is nonsense that you’re making up, not me.

Neurotypical GROUPS exist. Neurotypical BEHAVIORS exist. Neurotypical INDIVIDUALS do not. You aren’t ever going to get diagnosed as neurotypical.

You missed my point entirely. “Neurotypical” is a term that only makes sense in conversations about specific forms of Neuro diversity, and when talking about groups. There is no such thing as a “neurotypical” individual. This meme is attacking “neurotypical” individuals, but in reality when talking about individuals “neurotypical” just means “I, as the observer, am not aware this person’s neurodiveristy so I’m just going to pretend like that means it does not exist”.

And your personal anecdotes are as useful to the conversation as any other personal anecdotes is. I’ve received plenty of unsolicited advice from women and people of color. For as many anecdotes you have about the “hustle” grindset of white men, we can find plenty of similar stories from non-white cultures. My Cantonese friend in high school who faced the pressures of his “tiger mom”. The cultural issues Japan and Korea are facing with overwork. Heck, this meme is attacking “positivity” from white men, but you could argue a lot of that “positivity” originated from the New Age movements which got most of that from “eastern” religions.

Attacking “middle class neurotypical white men” is the same bullshit culture-war nonsense that far-right groups use to single out and hate on everyone else. Just because it’s attacking different groups than usual doesn’t make it any less bigoted or any more correct.

Does the middle class exist?

Do “Neurotypical” people exist? Seems to me like the classic example of how the average woman has 2.5 children, but you can’t find anyone who actually gives birth to 2.5 children.

And I thought the ones selling positive thinking were white women? Or maybe Asian men- specifically gurus from “eastern” religions? I thought white men were supposed to be the ones following stoicism or nutritional supplements.

Its almost as if stereotypes and broad categorizations break down under scrutiny.

Pumpkin Jack. It’s a 3D platformer. I haven’t played it in a couple years, but I remember it being mostly linear. Not a ton of collectables, but some. 11 months out of the year it’s a pretty “meh” game, but it absolutely NAILS the Halloween aesthetic. Not “horror” or “scary” or “autumn” but very specifically Halloween.

MediEvil is similar, though much older. I have only played the original for PS1, though there is a modern remake on all platforms that looks pretty good. Not quite as explicitly Halloween-y, but still pretty close. Flawed in its own ways, but I would still say a better game overall than Pumpkin Jack. The levels were a bit less linear and it was a bit more like an adventure game than a platformer.

Luigi’s Mansion is a classic too.

A lot of other games have levels or worlds that are good for Halloween even if the whole game isn’t. Like Pumpkin Hill in Sonic Adventure 2, or Subcon Forest from A Hat In Time. Honestly one day I want to compile a list of all of these themes areas across my favorite games and the play all of these levels seasonally.

I hope that once my account turns 18 they will stop asking my for by DOB to look at mature content.

Lol I’m not denying any sort of privelege. I grew up on the borderline between lower and middle class as my mother’s fortunes changed. But trying to analyze my personal life experiences is just a terrible, meager excuse to dismiss the historical value of asceticism. It’s the equivalent of dismissing socialism because “capitalism made your iphone!”. I’ve had to scrape by with an empty bank account and max’d out credit cards, relying on whatever was left in the pantry and whatever gas was left in the tank to make it until pay day. But it doesn’t matter if I’ve had those experiences or not- the message from this author is not dependent upon just how poor some random member of the audience happened to be at various points in his life. Yiu can’t make any sort of actual argument here and are trying to “win” by personally attacking me, as if that’s going to accomplish anything for anyone.

And yes- not having money can be incredibly stressful. But…once again look at the comic. First of all, the author acknowledges that this is not a perfect lifestyle, but makes it clear that the characters are not as stressed out about financial difficulties as you might expect. And if you stop to think about it…

What bills do they need to pay exactly? What is it you feel they should be so stressed about that you’re judging them for being satisfied? In rural areas like this they likely have well water and a septic tank. We already know they don’t have heat. They probably don’t have a natural gas hookup. The comic says the pay for electricity, but heck there are plenty of ways around that if you want. If you ever go out to rural places like these you’ll see cheap solar panels all over the place where it doesn’t make sense to run main voltage electricity, and in the hills you’ll find people running micro hydro. I am imagining they inherited the trailer and land or somehow managed to buy it in the past- trailers are cheap and land in rural areas is cheap. Property taxes… Maybe, but what no permanent construction on the property that’s going to be miniscule. Maybe cell phone bills? But with all the alternate forms of income I mentioned it’s not that much of a stretch to think that they could scrape together the money for that, if they wanted.

I’ve acknowledged elsewhere here that I was lucky, and college degrees have become more expensive and less valuable since I graduated. So I’m not sure why you seem to be accusing me of accusing poor people of being lazy. In fact that kind of goes against everything else that I’m saying here- the people in this comic appear to be living a virtuous and satisfying lifestyle without all the trappings of wealth and capitalism. I know people who live similar lifestyles and are quite happy.

You’re the one judging poor people here. Suggesting that wanting to live like this is immature or a sign of mental illness. The truth is that tons of people live like this and are happy. And while it’s not a lifestyle I personally want to embrace, there are lessons to be learned from studying other lifestyles. It’s important to ask what it is that we are spending money on, what we are working for, and what the opportunity cost of labor is.

There’s a huge different between being privileged and being bourgeoisie. Or else the proletariat would be virtually non-existent.

And poor people, including people in trailer parks, can get 2 degrees and a corporate job, and buy a house. It’s difficult, and especially the part about secondary education has gotten worse over time.

You’re just a slave to desire, to avarice, to greed. Convinced you can work yourself to death and that one day the benevolent overlorda will reward you with happiness.

You have a much more optimistic memory of gaming review platforms than I do.

I remember getting several different magazines in the 90’s and they were always the same thing. Any “professional” journalist knows that their livelihood is based on selling games. Journalists have to strike a balance between their audience and publishers, which makes negative reviews incredibly rare.

It’s not just videogames. Music, movies, TV shows, books, comics, consumer products. Unkess you’re paying out the nose, reviews almost always have some sort of bias towards trying to sell things. I find the best opinions come from other sources: people I know personally, organic community discussions on the internet (though those are not immune to corporate influence), or when products are only mentioned in contexts where the author clearly will not benefit. For example, a journalist making a list of the top-10 games of all time putting Ocarina of Time on it is probably not incentives to do so… Unless Nintendo is trying to promote a re-release.

Itt: tons of people judging these characters for being happy.

I’ve seen plenty of people who seem fully functional to an outside observer. Nice clean clothes, well-spoken, full-time job running in the rat race, own a house in the suburbs. You notice their car is parked in the driveway, not the garage because it’s a hoarder house. I’ve cleaned out multiple hoarder houses in my day, and they were all in really “nice” suburban neighborhoods with no trash in the outside.

I also know plenty of people who are perfectly happy and functional but are known to leave the occasional plastic bag or empty bottle lying around. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re depressed. Not to mention some of that “trash” is probably being recelycled. That coffee can is almost certainly being used to store something. That tire is just a spare for the trailer- no need to waste precious storage space keeping it inside when it’s literally made to be outdoors for it’s lifetime.

Pretty much every billionaire is doing tons of drugs but they never get the same judgement. Cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, all sorts of designer stuff. Using prescription stuff recreationally like Adderall and Ritalin. Or buying up all of the diabetes medication that has weight loss as a side effect so they can eat luxuriously without worrying about gaining weight. Is it really “coping with their situation” or is it possible that they have nothing to cope with and are just enjoying their lives?

I’m bourgeoisie now? What means of production do you seem to think I own? Privelege? Well sure, everyone has some level of privelege - we could talk more about how the subjects of the comic are white, cis, heterosexual, and one of them is even male! But none of that is relevant to the message.

When I was a teenager I wanted things. The latest videogame, the new movie, the new novelty item from the fast food place, the new technological gadget that promised to make my life better. I wanted to go to college and get a job, work hard, get rich, get a big house with a pool and a huge yard and have 3 kids.

Are philosophers like Lao Tzu, Socrates, Diogenes, Aquinas, and most schools of Buddhism all a “teenaged mindset”, or are you just trying to infantilizs and undermine anti-consumer sentiments? Are you saying what you truly believe, or just parroting what the advertisers have told you?

What is in this comic that implies they are not planning for their future? It is simply not addressed in the comic because that’s not relevant to what the author is trying to convey.

I’m in my 30’s, have 2 degrees, have had a soul- rushing corporate job for more than a decade. I’m quite happily married. We bought a house when we were 23- younger than Carly here in this comic.

Part of that success was that we were willing to buy a cheap house. An old house in a rough neighborhood, a bad school district. A fine trade-off because we didn’t want children. We didn’t need a gigantic house, or a brand-new construction, or to live in a trendy growing neighborhood.

I make 6 figures, which for where I live is more than twice the average HOUSEHOLD income. As I’ve grown older I have seen how all of these expensive things, all these desires, are unhealthy. There is very little left that I want to buy. What I really lack is time. I spend ~10-11 hours 5 days a week either actively working or getting in/out of “work” mode. I have molded my sleep schedule around work. It consumes my life, dealing with inane corporate nonsense in exchange for that paycheck.

I stopped desiring new and expensive things a long, long time ago. I have had a bad knee for more than a decade. My retina somehow detached itself several years ago, and while it was re-attached that eye is only half as good now as it was before. The fancy 70" 4k TV hanging in my living room became difficult to focus on and I don’t use it much anymore, preferring smaller and closer screens. And I have been incredibly lucky- I have not been in a car accident, I don’t have any chronic diseases, and aside from my knee and eye I am in good health. Most people my age have several conditions that require medication and regular appointments to manage. I know full well that my own flesh will continue to fail me. It is quite easy to “piss away” your entire life by trying to “build for the future” that never comes.

I’ve traveled. I’ve gone to tons of festivals and concerts and movies and comedians. I’ve eaten at fancy restaurants and sampled expensive wine (my mother-in-law is a licensed sommelier). And yet, when I look back on my life my favorite memories are the simpler ones. Snippets of conversations with people I care about. Moments playing with our cats. Afternoons I spent completely alone, laying in the sun on my back porch, listening to the birds vying for mates or the squirrels fighting over food. Playing guitar and writing music.

“Stay in school” only worked when that paid off. I would still recommend finishing high school, but profit motives have made secondary education in the US a much more nuanced and individual decision in the past couple decades. I will say that it’s a good idea to avoid weed, alcohol, or any other recreational drugs until you have become as established as you want to be. There is a balance to be found between avarice and sloth.