elia

"Tell me one good reason not to yell at you right now."

"We're in this together."

I think part of what is making young people lonelier, in discussing why they're increasingly isolated, is that they're so afraid of meeting someone who doesn't hold their same beliefs, and instead of being just core beliefs it is kinda ancillary shit.

It's actually okay to disagree even on social topics! Even on some political ones! But I mean, online you can start with "i love this mutual but they have a really bad/uninformed opinion about x media"

I know this is IMMEDIATELY going to be taken in bad faith, and yes babygirl, you are so right, I DO want you to go make best friends with both the KKK grand wizard AND your nearest nazi leader.

But seriously, as someone who has spent two decades doing community organization: finding ways to connect with different people is so so so important. There are people i follow here who ate 80% smart and their brain falls out of their head 20% of the time and that is GOOD FOR MY MENTAL ECOSYSTEM AND GOOD FOR LEARNING HOW TO BE A PERSON

Humans have been smoking shit since we first figured out how to light things on fire. Humans will always smoke. You will never, ever, EVER get everyone to stop.

The GOAL should be better safety regulations for what goes into smokes and vapes, better social support networks for people who want to quit, better safety nets so that poverty and stress and unmedicated conditions don't drive people to smoking as self-medication, and the creation of effective safe-usage sites where people can get their fix without impacting others unnecessarily.

Smokers aren't evil cackling villains who want to personally pollute your air. We're just...people. Personally, I probably wouldn't have started smoking as much if I actually had access to some ADHD medication. But that costs a fuckton of money and requires a doctor who gives a shit.