Don't fret, you'll pick up the spare in your 40s.
this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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me_irl
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Realest shit I've read in months lol
Then the fun justified transformation into Dr. House begins to take root in your 30s, I don't even feel bad about it anymore (which is key*)
For me it was politics, it was all about politics. I couldn't believe the 60% of our country were blood thirsty pro-war fanatics who salivated at the chance to torture our enemies. Selfish old people. Vile religious fanatics. Hate fueled nuts. This is who we live with, this is the other half of society. It's depressing when you go from thinking "we just have an honest difference in opinion on what the government should do" to "holy shit these people are evil!".
The US was founded on genocide, and psychopathy has a genetic component, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the US has a higher proportion of people with dark personality traits, but I wouldn’t underestimated the power of propaganda.
The US is the most propagandized place on earth. We are taught from birth the ideology of the Epstein class — from books, to movies, to advertising, to news media, to history textbooks, we are constantly taught that individualism and capitalist exploitation are not only virtuous, but indistinguishable from human nature.
And of course, capitalism itself incentivizes evil behavior. In a system that requires unlimited growth in a world with finite resources, people must stoop to the lowest behaviors just to survive the competition.
So I don’t think that most of these people are innately evil, I think they have just been conditioned to act and think in ways that have evil consequences, and that benefit people who actually are evil.
I lived in the most ass-backwards culture imaginable, still not racist, homophobic, or sexist (to my knowledge).
No excuse, they will be paying the full bill of what they have done.
Oh I’m not making excuses for them, but calling them evil is a thought terminator, and does nothing to fix the actual problem, which is capitalism.
*30s
still had too much hope in my 20s
It might seem bad now, but later in your twenties you'll lose respect for people you don't know, too! By your early 30s you should be on track to lose respect for entire institutions, and eventually just humanity in general!
Mid to late 30s is an awkward phase of losing faith you didn't even know you had. Like, dozens of times. You'll hit rock bottom again, and again, and again, and whatever new low your brain just established for human malice and stupidity will be gut punched as your peers enthusiastically elect a pedophilic antichrist. Twice.
Eventually you realize there is actually no bottom, and you start to go numb - which is fucking great compared to the decades of getting dragged through through the coals!!
50s here. it gets worse before it gets worse.
Ngl, I'm already 33 but you guys are scaring me a lil lol
This has been my experience. I am pushing 40 and the last few years have beaten the optimism right out of me, and I already thought that was long gone.
I have often wondered if this is what most people have experienced throughout history or if this another fun millennial game we were forced to play. I'm sure every generation has had their stupid trends and societal problems but watching a country collapse under the weight of it's own stupidity seems less common. Not new, but certainly not something every generation deals with.
The ancient roman average citizen could probably sympathize with us?
I lost most of my faith in humanity with COVID. I lost all of my faith in my countrymen in 2024.
In 2025 I found out that even losing your faith in everyone still isn't rock bottom. There are still somehow ways they can disappoint you even further.
Not sure what 2026 will bring at this point
I suspect 2026 will prove disappointing.
How unsurprising of it.
I don't even like myself, and I know I'm straight up physically incapable of living up to my own standards.
I am exactly 30 years old.
Happy birthday.
Numb in my 20s. I just try to look forward to the soonest nice thing in my personal life at this point.
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No one warns you you spend your 30s watching your and all your friends first dogs they got as adults die either
Getting old is a bitch sometimes
you guys can afford dogs?
If you don’t have kids and survive on ramen it’s possible. That’s only half sarcasm. I probably spend more per meal on my dog’s food than my own, they have health insurance while I don’t, and they see a doctor at least once a year while I only go… never.
god forbid you take care of yourself.
I wonder what the shift is. I’m sure there’s a psychological or social term for it. These problems don’t really exist as a kid, or even a teenager. You have categories like jerks or your enemies, you’re indifferent to a bunch, and then there’s your friends. That’s kinda it.
But at some point people start to change. Their hatreds and prejudices really take hold of how they interact with the world and people around them. Even some of the people you thought were good as “friends” start going off the deep end.
So there’s this falling away as you get older of the cadre you started life with, and of the population as a whole around you, as you find out many of them have turned into horrible people full of willful ignorance, petty hatreds, and prejudices.
At least that’s how I feel as what I think should be normal viewing this happen, I guess? Why treat others so badly? Why aggressively stay ignorant and unaccepting of evidence?
What happens to people?
I couldn't agree with you more, and I find myself ruminating on just the same more often than I'd like to admit.
Their egos become more fully cemented into place, and it becomes more entrenched the more time goes on.
I think realizing Hulk Hogan would celebrate a fascist pedophile authoritarian if you paid him enough was the worst part for me, personally. Chuck Norris, too.
Same with Snoop Dogg. Who could have guessed a gangster rapper would love the government so much?
We call them posers. So many posers.
Had to Google this. I didn't know about Snoop Dogg... deep sigh
So* many comedians I grew up with turned out rotten too. Fuck.
They’re both pretty gross people if you delve further into their history and it makes it less surprising.
The most surprising one for me is how MC Hammer was a legit gangster but low key about it after his fame.
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Chuck Norris suggested re-electing Obama would lead to 1000 years of darkness. He wasn't being subtle even before Trump's first campaign.
Thank goodness he died.
Stop worshipping celebrities.
Don't fuckin sit there and pretend you have zero childhood heroes.
Still respect Attenborough
I genuinely can't think of any at the moment. I didn't follow sports or anything—i played video games. Not only that but i never cared about the VAs, or publishers, or anything like that.
The closest thing might be Marty O'Donnel—the video game composer—who is an Israel supporter. But, when i found out, i didn't really care, tbh.
However, i promise that I'm much more disappointed in my parents than you are for some celebrity.
I’m similar, in the 80s all my hero’s were cars, trucks, helicopters and planes.
Knight rider, couldn’t have cared less who was driving. Magnum PI was only watched for the Ferrari 308, Brown Vanagon and matching Hughes 500 helicopter. Riptide, Miami Vice with the Spyder and Testarossa, Chips, Airwolf, Simon and Simon, Hardcastle & McCormick.
There is a hero I’m ashamed of though. The fucking General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard.
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That's the process of life. Adults are incredible, nigh all-powerful beings to a child. Then you get older, and all the esteem you had for people is burned away as you realise we're all just idiots with a few talents and trainings.
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Perfect age to realize how bad your parents were at raising kids too!
I think that's really when you're raising your kids (hopefully in your 30s). That's when you look back and say "this isn't so hard, wtf were they doing?" "How could they have done that to their kid?" and you can't believe anyone ever thought that was ok. When you haven't been a parent you're more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but once you are that goes away.
No way that dude is younger than 40
What?
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