☮ Social ☮ PD Social Distancing Talk Thread: Swirly Congregation That's 100% Pandemic-Proof

[cosmic charlie]

Guy had an amazing trip, I'm very happy for him.
Asked if he could try the LSD when he runs out.

If it helps him not drink alcoholically, absolutely.
Love watching psychedelics benefit people's lives

 

[Bella Figura]

I wouldn't go through that much trouble to get it anyways, some people can tell them apart easily, some can't tell any difference.

ALD is my favorite out of the three, but not by much. For me it's the classic lysergamide experience, just a little smoothed out, slower come up, not as speedy. Apart from that, it's fairly indistinguishable to real LSD

Thanks bro - I'll give it a pass then!

Holy moley. Still up from 20mg dexamp over 11 hours ago. Had fun at the rave or whatever one might call it. I am hornier than a mofo from this dexamp. Just jerked off and thinking about doin' it again. Christ!


I forgot how hard dexamp hits.

Meth turned me into an absolute perv

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Spoiler: Offblast!

 

[psy997]

My friend invited me to go to see some House music tonight (if he doesn't bail lol) so I'm planning on taking 20-40mg of dexamp/amps to really kick it up a notch as I find psychedelics a bit troublesome at 'raves'. Really looking forward to it %)

Who did you see?

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Who did you see?

I don't remember lol. To me most EDM is the same, though I find I like house and techno better, and it was a house DJ at least. Went to Stereo, always hate it there, but my friend invited me and it turned into quite the night on the town.

 

[Xorkoth]

Hey guys, nice to see some older faces around.

I'm about to hit my flight to go back home. Just spent almost a week with my family after finding out my dad died last week. He had been battling ALS for 6 years and was suffering terribly so it was a long time coming and it's good that he's at peace. My family and I all felt sort of celebratory most of the time because of knowing he is at peace now. The wake was crazy, it wasn't open casket, he had already been cremated, but there were 500-600 people, it was a 3 hour line to get to the front of the receiving line. I already knew my dad was an amazing guy, but almost every single person had stories about how my dad positively impacted/changed/saved their lives. I learned some new things about what he was involved in. My dad was a man who lived his entire life for others, quietly. He never talked about it unless he was trying to impart a lesson, he just gave of his money and himself to others in need and took chances to give people help. He ran a machine shop for a long time and in the economic downturn in 2008, he took no pay at all for 2 years because he felt he had a responsibility to his employees who were the people who made his success possible. If he had taken pay he would have had to let more people go. That's just the kind of guy he was.

The funeral was beautiful, I kept wondering where my tears were but the funeral did it. My siblings and mom and I each wrote something and spoke. The place was packed and there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. Then the next day we celebrated his 62nd birthday (he died a week before it). We drank old fashioneds and beer and got wasted which is exactly what we would have done with him.

All in all it was an intense week and really emotional but it couldn't have gone better and it was good closure. I'm lucky to have had a dad who is literally the best person I've ever known.

 

[xammy]

600 people? wow
My grandma died of ALS but she died before it progressed too badly
horrible disease for sure.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah the ugliest disease I've ever seen, at least for his personality. He became a prisoner in his own body, he said he felt like he was already dead for 2 years and that people were just keeping him alive while he watched. I'm so glad he's not suffering anymore, he told me he was living in hell.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

Nice to have you back
Glad it was such a beautiful experience. I can imagine that in the USA it's very different as families can be so spread out over the country, very different from where I live.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah I had to fly 700 miles. I drive it sometimes but it's a journey. And it's nowhere near all the way across the country.

 

[xammy]

This country is almost exactly 700 miles long from north to south

 

[xammy]

Is bernie sanders just a meme presidential candidate? there was some twitter stuff about Finland health care yesterday. They spoke about that it costs over 10k in hospital bills to have a child there and here its like 60 dollars. Is that true?
How about andrew yang? He wants $1000/month basic income for every US citizen :D check his interview in joe rogan experience

We had a 2 year trial for basic income here lately and we're getting results soon how it was. A few thousand randomly selected people got it for 2016-2018.

Would be nice. Our welfare is probably the best in the world but it has some problems. In some situations you are better to live on welfare than take low paying jobs.

 

[Xorkoth]

It really does cost like $10k to have a kid here, although many people qualify for medicare for all or most of that. A random visit to the emergency room can land you $5-10k per day, it's obscene, health care costs are absolutely out of control here which is why it costs like $500+ a month for health insurance if you're just getting it for yourself and you don't qualify for help with Obamacare. It's crazy, I'm one of the only people among my friends who actually has health insurance, I have friends who haven't been to the doctor in like 10 years. One of my friends has a pain in his side that he wonders if it's his liver or pancreas or something but he won't go to the doctor because he doesn't want to go into debt just to find out what it is.

It's complicated in the US because we have ~360 million people whereas northern European countries that do their welfare programs so well have far less. I'm not sure if a universal basic income would work so well over here, but in terms of health care for all, I think we need to figure that out because we spend so much money on other things such as wars and tax cuts for the wealthy, and we allow the pharmaceutical companies and for-profit hospitals to make health care costs so sky-high that half the population can't afford health insurance or health care. These things are not necessary to do and we'd be a whole lot better off if the money that taxpayers were paying was actually going to things that benefit them.

But no, Bernie isn't a meme. People are memeing absolutely everything politically these days. The two political parties and the people who follow them are rabidly tribal so there is tons of ridicule and hate towards any candidate for anything, basically, and it's pretty hard to know what's real. It's a terrible situation. Bernie is called a socialist (in fact anyone who argues we need better social safety nets is called a socialist these days), but in reality he's just pushing for our money to be spent on services for the people instead of to benefit the ultra-wealthy and corporations. But the level of tribalism is such that people refuse to believe that would be a good thing.

Many people think Bernie would have beaten Trump last election, but Hillary Clinton basically stole the primaries from him. A lot of people voted for Trump or didn't vote because they hated Clinton as a candidate who supported and were excited about Sanders. I'm a little wary of him running again because I feel like the right has pretty thoroughly tried to discredit him as a *gasp* SOCIALIST COMMIE BASTARD! Honestly the left isn't unified at all and it makes me worry that Trump will get re-elected.

 

[Buzz Lightbeer]

It really does cost like $10k to have a kid here, although many people qualify for medicare for all or most of that. A random visit to the emergency room can land you $5-10k per day, it's obscene, health care costs are absolutely out of control here which is why it costs like $500+ a month for health insurance if you're just getting it for yourself and you don't qualify for help with Obamacare. It's crazy, I'm one of the only people among my friends who actually has health insurance, I have friends who haven't been to the doctor in like 10 years. One of my friends has a pain in his side that he wonders if it's his liver or pancreas or something but he won't go to the doctor because he doesn't want to go into debt just to find out what it is.

This is very unimaginable for me and probably the whole of West-Europe.

I hate the fact that political views seem to be embedded in everyone's personality, in a hard wired way. It seems to only have gotten worse and worse. People don't really listen to each other anymore. They can get so stuck in their own beliefs, that instead of having a normal debate or conversation, they put people in 'cages' (can't come up with a good word), "he's a this, he's a that, so he's stupid blabla". It brings on so much hate, some of the stuff you read on social media is incredible, how people can be so blinded by their own political views, that they forget that they're dealing with real human beings. And even if a conversation or debate finds place, it's like everybody has already made up their mind, and instead of trying to imagine the other guy's viewpoints, they look for everything wrong with his arguments, to make a good comeback afterwards.

 

[Xorkoth]

Yeah you're absolutely right. I oversee as part of my senior mod duties, and also participate heavily in, the Current Events and Politics (and Science topics now too) forum of Bluelight, and it's mesmerizing, in a frightening way. It's nicer over there to discuss rather than trying to read random Internet comments to articles, which is truly appalling, because the discussion is much higher-level and (mostly) respectful. But even so, the tribalism is so deep, it's even hard for me not to participate in it, though the more I talk with different people, the better I am at forming opinions without being too influenced by the status quo of the side I most closely associate with.

 

[ecstacylover]

I hate the fact that political views seem to be embedded in everyone's personality, in a hard wired way.

And even if a conversation or debate finds place, it's like everybody has already made up their mind, and instead of trying to imagine the other guy's viewpoints, they look for everything wrong with his arguments, to make a good comeback afterwards.

At least what I saw growing up in midwest America most people's political views stem from their religion or community, which is their identity in a sense. And for some reason half of my recommended youtube videos are always right-wing pundits like ben shapiro, etc. "destroying" some 18 y/o liberal kids arguments. A few times I've watched some of them and it seems like the arguments of these right-wingers are not based on rationality or facts but rather trying to undermine their opponents credibility and somehow that counts as "destroying" them. Even shapiro looks like a total birdbrain going up against a halfway decent intellect like sam harris. The problem is most people don't have the capacity for empathy because they still haven't realized that they aren't fully autonomous beings constantly acting according to their own volition. But even with democrats these days, I feel like its the lesser of two evils. They differ on superficial stuff like social nets, guns and abortion, but their still back by the same corporate interests.

It's just sad really, with video games and just phones and technology in general I feel like America is definitely dumber than it was 50 years ago. People may have more knowledge because its so easily disseminated, but I feel like critical/abstract thinking and the ability to reason are going down the drain. With the amount of fake news that gets propagated on FB it shows how unassuming most people are. And their willing to give up their privacy and have their data sold in exchange for "social" lives. I got rid of my personal social media a couple years ago and it was one of the best decisions i ever made. I haven't had a phone for a lot of that time either (which definitely has its downsides), and its eye-opening when you realize that most people cant go 60 seconds without checking their phone.

I'm not sure how i feel about a basic income, but the american education and healthcare system definitely needs an overhaul. All we would have to do is cut back on military spending like SM said. Education here is all about how much money are you gonna make when you get out, because you have to incur so much debt to get it in the first place. Fields like medicine have the most potential for growth and changing humanity, but the smartest people aren't majoring in biology because they want to make more than 30k/year. Even majors like the humanities or music, most people will laugh at you for doing something like that which is sad, we need people doing that stuff too, because its stuff like that which makes us human.

 

[Xorkoth]

I also got rid of social media years ago, well I still have a Facebook but I check it like once every 3 months to see if old friends I lost contact with have tried to contact me. The struggle is real for some people... just absolutely attached to their phones, like the very worst punishment parents can give some teens is to take away their phone. Also social media is being used to engineer society and implant ideas and further the wedge between the "sides". It's fucked up and sad and frightening as well. I worry that in 20, 30 years if things don't improve and keep getting worse, we're gonna have outright hatred and a civil war. It's so insidious how much they've got people basing their identity on political party, it's stronger than religion these days.

I think capitalism is a fine system, with the potential to maybe be the best one. Unfortunately it has been corrupted utterly, as any government systems inevitably are, by power mongers. What we have now is not capitalism, it's a destructive consumerism culture where we have allowed the pursuit if money with no upper bound to dictate everything. We destroy the planet for higher corporate profits, we neglect foundational things like education and basic human rights and benefits to the very people who pay the taxes that run the government, so that the ultra wealthy and corporations can even more obscenely wealthy. We have people believing things like "trickle-down economics", and we're squeezing out the middle class, which is what made this country great. We have defense corporations literally starting wars so they can sell armaments to both sides. It's sick and it's insane, and yet so many people who these policies are hurting are brainwashed into supporting the very policies that are hurting them. And then they're blaming immigrants and environmental protections and such for their steadily decreasing quality of life, rather than inflation outstripping income gains, tax money going to corporations instead of to health care. I mean for fuck's sake, how is it "freebies" when we're paying for it with taxes? It's nonsense. Taxes are supposed to support things for the people, yet our infrastructure is crumbling, our educational systems are being stripped down to the bone, and you have to go into massive debt if something happens to you or you get sick, or basically pay a second rent to get health care unless you're lucky enough to work at a company that pays most of it for you. It's stupid, too, because it costs way more to society when people are getting sick because they are afraid to go to the doctor because they can't afford it, and diseases that could have been prevented have to be dealt with, and then society pays for it. I could go on and on.

Strange times...

 

[xammy]

My brother is probably gonna die due to alcoholism if something doesn't change. He was in 3 months rehab a while ago and when he came back he started drinking like the next day.

Yesterday some new "friend" from that rehab place was drinking in his place and we went to check him today with my mother and the car is stolen. It's my mothers car too. For fucks sake.

We called police but don't know what will happen. Maybe this guy is already over the border to Russia. Then the car is gone for good.

I hope he crashes and dies.

 

[Xorkoth]

Wow man, I'm sorry xammy, that's terrible. It's really hard to see someone you love destroy themselves. My siblings and parents are way more responsible than I am, they had to watch me fall into opiates, but I was across the country so they just heard about it and could see I was in a dark place. I saw my best friend fall into homelessness and a life of crime because of meth and psychosis, it was terrible.

Speaking of that though, I saw him when I was visiting my family for my dad's funeral, and for the first time in 3 years he was himself, it was almost like nothing had happened. He's working really hard, living with his parents, making/saving money, and had so many insightful things to say about life and his recovery and stuff. Last night he called me while I was feeling really happy after band practice and told me how spending time with me and my family was the first time he felt like his old self since he started using meth, and even before. We had an amazing conversation, and he floated the idea of moving out here and living at my house for 1-2 months while he finds a job and place to live, and also specifically to spend a lot of time with me and start meeting my people here, because he has this really strong feeling that it will help him keep healing and evolving. He knows he could line up everything before he comes but he wants a period of easing into it and spending a lot of time with me. He's only ever lived places where he can't relate to people and feels like an outsider and he feels like he's never been able to really evolve into the person he could be. I always felt the same way until I moved here and I think it would be great for him too. So I told him it's a good idea and I'm down. I told him my concerns (that he would relapse into drug problems) and told him my friends and I like to drink and smoke weed and sometimes do other drugs, primarily psychedelics. His response to those things satisfied me. He also said he'd pay rent while he was living here. I still have to tell my girlfriend though and I think she'll not be thrilled about it but she'll agree to it and agree with me that it's the right thing to do.

I am nervous about it, but I believe it's the right thing to do. He's my brother from another mother, and I need to do what my dad always did, and "love fearlessly". He always put himself out there and took emotional risks for people and it really changed a lot of peoples' lives. So I'm going to do the same thing. Thinking about it, it feels more and more right. I want my friend to be happy and I will do whatever I can to help him out.

Plus, he's a professional musician and we've literally never jammed together, so he can totally share that part of my life here and I'm excited about that. And he said he'd drive me to band practices anytime which is great because my people are getting tired of giving me rides, they don't say so but I can tell. Anyway, my friend is going to pay off his car he just bought first so he's not in debt when he gets here, so it'll be at least a few months from now.

 

[ecstacylover]

I could go on and on.

I feel you. I hate to even talk about this stuff anymore because it just feels like beating a dead horse, which is fucked up, because talking about it is the only way It will ever change. Sometimes you just gotta unplug from it all, I cant even follow mainstream news anymore because its plain depressing and negativity. Idk how people here feel about McKenna but he was definitely right about how urgently humanity needed psychedelics or something similar. Orwell was even more prescient, his book has been coming true now for some time. What other demographic were they pandering to with the "Patriot" Act. Reminds me of that scene from star wars, "so this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause"

I have a hope people will wake up, I think it will just take something really drastic.

Damn xammy, hope it works itself out.