It’s not clear to me who or what is directly responsible for this, but do you really think the American Agency for Making Sure Planes Don’t Crash isn’t involved when an American Plane Crashes… just because it happened somewhere else?

Three things are true:

1. People seek attention, and often lie to get it.
2. Seeking attention is not unique to GenZ. People screamed for attention in Pompeii and Ancient Greece, leaving graffiti on the walls and yelling arguments at strangers
3. Many symptoms of neurodivergence appear at first glance to be typical to the human condition. This is not a coincidence - neurodivergents are human, and therefore face many of the same problems that neurotypical humans do.

_

The reason autism and other disorders are evaluated as a spectrum is because the human condition itself is a spectrum of experience. We are not simple creatures.

The reason people are diagnosed with a disorder is often because they have landed somewhere on the spectrum of human experience that involves an abnormal level of difficulty when faced with “normal” challenges.

Simple or routine tasks, time management, emotional regulation, conversation - humans universally face normal challenges in these areas at times, but neurodivergent individuals face greater challenges at higher frequencies, to the point where it can be classified as a “symptom” because it directly interferes with their life in a way that is not statistically normal - it produces unhealthy levels of stress or emotional instability, impairs social and professional engagements, interferes with their ability to reason or achieve their own desires, etc. etc.

These symptoms can often be managed or treated. Just as often, they can only be coped with.

In short, “invisible” symptoms, masking, misdiagnosis, and societal misunderstandings all contribute to this very common idea that the average neurodivergent is just an attention seeker.

Is it likely that you have come across someone who has incorrectly self-diagnosed? Absolutely. People will lie on the internet. People will lie to your face. People will lie to themselves.

But it is also incredibly likely that you have come across people with severe symptoms that you had absolutely no understanding of. People who have been driven to the brink of suicide because they couldn’t manage their own mind, people who can convince you they are okay but can’t convince themselves.

It’s a goddamn spectrum, and people who can’t function at all belong on it just as much as people who can mask, treat, or cope with their symptoms enough to blend in. You don’t get to write off their existence just because their struggles aren’t obvious to you.

Yet another unnecessary accelerationist in a world where the brakelines were cut years ago and the bus has been speeding up all on its own.

“I can fend for myself” is the extremely naive thought that cut those brakes. No human is an island, and everyone is connected to everyone, past and present.

And “good, they should suffer because they deserve it” is the extremely evil thought that placed the brick on the accelerator. It’s the same thought that drives decisions like defunding healthcare.

So, congrats on being a part of the problem. Enjoy cheering for the suffering of humanity.

I mean, being a manufacturing-based economy certainly didn’t keep oligarchs at bay in the early 1900’s US. On the flip side, a coder or a banker can strike just as well as a machinist.

It certainly did work against the oligarchs. Most of our labor laws, OSHA, etc were written in the blood of workers of the early 1900s. Blair mountain, steel workers, mass unionization… the oligarchs learned a lot of painful lessons that lead to massive quality of life improvements across the country.

Blue collar workers have to show up or nothing gets done. Their work happens in a physical location that can be picketed, and they all need to live close enough to that location to show up for work. The money of their employers is literally in the hands of blue collar workers on the job. Materials and bodies need to move in and out every single day or no money can be made that day.

The information, service, and gig economy does not run on the same principles. An Ubereats driver has never even seen his “employer” and the only real qualification is a drivers license. Coders can be fired or replaced with H1B’s or overseas contractors, and they often work remotely or in local satellite offices that the C-suite sees once a year. Physical bank locations are not headquarters or vaults - they’re sales floors for offering loans and credit cards.

None of these people can physically stop their employer from making money, and so they have much less power in the employer-employee relationship than traditional labor forces had until now.

A lot of great answers here, but one issue stands out as the most important: time. There isn’t enough time for anyone else to pick up the slack for the promises the US has already made. People across the world are depending on those supplies, and many of them won’t survive long enough for another country to step in and provide them.

Even the ones that will survive will face long-term consequences. Malnutrition and lapses in medical care aren’t just short-term or isolated problems. Suddenly pausing treatments for tuberculosis patients doesn’t just mean the patient can suffer and die - it also means TB can repopulate in their bodies, develop resistance like any bacteria exposed to but not cured by antibiotics, and that patient can spread more drug-resistant strains of TB to others. (Credit to John Green). More drug-resistant TB anywhere in the world is going to be a problem for people everywhere.

Historically, forcing a country into unreasonably high debt immediately following a war… is a pretty bad idea for literally all parties involved.

Thanks. I’m glad you can discuss these issues that involve the rapid and violent upheaval of people’s lives with apathetic disinterest. Boy do I feel stupid for caring more than you, eh?

… Then you’re for immigration, but also oppose immigration to the United States right now? Presumably because of economic reasons? That’s just being against immigration with extra qualifiers.

The whole point is that neither immigration nor deportation - more immigrants coming in or more immigrants leaving - neither will result in any material change to the problems you have with the nation’s current state. Wave a magic wand and deport them all, healthcare won’t be cheaper the next day. Wave a magic wand and lock the southern border from coast to coast and your food won’t be cheaper either.

Immigration is not causing any of the significant and systemic problems that the United States is currently facing, and so there’s no sense in… what, exactly?

Waiting for the problems to get better before you would accept more immigrants? Some utopian moment in time when you would actually be for immigration in the United States? What would that time look like to you, and why would current or future immigration stand in the way of reaching that point?

I’m saying that the US has so many issues that mass immigration will never help when you can’t even take care of the people who are already there.

That’s the thing, though. You can take care of the people already here. There is more than enough wealth, natural resources, land, food, energy… you name it, we have more than enough of it and can make more than enough of it. The point is the people in power choose not to. One or one million, immigrants will not take away anything from the lives of citizens that hasn’t already been taken away.

If you could wave a magic wand and deport every last immigrant, how would that take care of the citizens here? Crime would go down? No, statistically they commit less crimes per capita. Taxes would go down? No, as a group they pay far more in taxes than they could possibly take back in government spending.

The immense amount of wealth being hoarded by the powerful is already not being spent on improving people’s lives, and every last dime of it will continue not being spent on improving people’s lives.

You won’t get another slice of the pie just because someone leaves. You won’t end up with more value to be shared among less people… you will just end up with less people. People whose absence will actually make everything cost more, meaning the slice of the pie you do already hold will be worth less than before.

I understand illegal immigration benefits the immigrants, thats a ridiculous point to feel the need to make.

Really?

Im concerned that illegal immigrant labor is akin to H1b or prison labor, where the worker has diminished rights and is abused more than other groups.

Are you concerned about them or not? If you’re concerned about their quality of life, we should talk about how their quality of life here is better than it will be if they are deported. If you’re not concerned about their quality of life, then don’t pretend to be concerned and then change the subject when challenged on that concern.

And when you have one of the largest land masses on the planet, and some of the most valuable natural resources, and a declining birth rate and increasing childhood mortality, and the cost of your health care is entirely caused by artificial scarcity… hm. Maybe the problem isn’t immigrants.

I’m concerned that illegal immigrant labor is akin to H1b or prison labor, where the worker has diminished rights and is abused more than other groups.

Did it occur to you that even with the diminished rights and abuse, they still chose to immigrate? And that they still wish to stay?

You’re not protecting them by deporting them. If you want to protect them and help the economy, give them a path to citizenship so that they can continue to work essential jobs while receiving the labor protections of citizens that - oh, whoops. Those protections are being threatened too. Almost like the people doing the deportations have no interest in protecting people and are actively harming them.

Not enough attention is given to the literal arms race we find ourselves in. Most big tech buzz is all “yay innovation!” Or “oh no, jobs!”

Don’t get me wrong, the impact AI will have on pretty much every industry shouldn’t be underestimated, and people are and will lose their jobs.

But information is power. Sun Tzu knew this a long time ago. The AI arms race won’t just change job markets - it will change global markets, public opinion, warfare, everything.

The ability to mass produce seemingly reliable information in moments - and the consequent inability to trust or source information in a world flooded by it…

I can’t find the words to express how dangerous it is. The long-term consequences are going to be on par with - and terribly codependent with - the consequences of the industrial revolution.

Anarchism uses democracy and consensus to make decisions

Genuine question: Is that not a democracy?

These overreactions are reminding me of the J6ers, though.

Ah, yes. Truly a classic. “The people angry about the blanket pardoning of all the violent insurrectionists are just as bad as the violent insurrectionists!”

Lol.

That’s very interesting. Do you know where I could learn more about that decision? I tried searching but its 2025 and any phrases I could think of just returned websites offering nearly identical collections of flag emojis…

Please don’t feel that the best thing you can do is shut up! You deserve a voice in the matter, even if it is much harder for you to use it the way others can use theirs.

Besides, not everyone can always be or even needs to always be the person who spreads the message. We need people to help figure out what the problems and solutions are just as much as we need people to share those problems and solutions with the world.

It is usually a necessary evil that we have marketers to sell the things that wouldn’t exist without the engineers to produce them.

Correct! One of the most important tools we need to obtain, the most important weapon we need to arm yourself, isn’t obvious, or simple, or easy.

It’s Messaging.

Want to spend your time bitter? Apathetic? “I-told-you-so”?

I don’t blame you.

But you’re not actually working towards a solution. If all you have to say is “I told you so,” or “what’s the point?” or “everything’s fucked” - I get it. But you’re not contributing to the conversation any more than the people in this comic have been for the last how many years. You’re not helping any more than they were.

We need messaging. We need to be willing to fight these battles. Not fighting the embittered trolls, but spreading truth. Sharing solutions. Making plans. Fighting this. Apathy. Pointlessness. Accelerationism.

Spread free platforms. Spread free ideas. Have meaningful conversations with your friends and families and coworkers. Try again, and keep trying. In little steps, in great acts. Don’t let the shock paralyze you, the size overwhelm you. Don’t get washed away by the flood of hate. This is the second best time to act. Your opportunities are growing by the minute.

Life is about to get very, very hard for many people. Many of the obvious targets will suffer, but it’s pretty clear that nobody is “safe”. Even the poster boys are under threat of retribution for stepping out of line. And everyone, everyone is facing the inevitable economic downturn that is speeding toward us.

But hardship shakes beliefs. It changes minds. Things will become personal for even the most detached, apathetic, or privileged. And when politics become personal all bets are off.

But don’t bother if you’re not going to try. Really, really try. Think about yourself, and the world, and the person you’re talking to, and really try to make them see.

Take - and make - your opportunities to change minds. Don’t be afraid, but be careful. Don’t be polite for the sake of politeness, but be kind, be considerate, even be gentle when you think it will help, but don’t be polite.

Whatever they can say to you can’t compare to what is being done to you or about to be done to everybody. Whatever they say can’t be worse than their complacency.

Your one and only goal: stay on message. This is bad and it needs to stop. Here is how it affects you. Here is how it affects your family. Here is how things are going wrong, and why.

More than anything else, we need each other. We need solidarity, community. We need to genuinely start asking ourselves: how do we win? And then make the answer happen.

We kneel beneath the weight of wealth and tradition and fear. But despite the growth of AI, at the end of the day the people we kneel beneath are people. Humans decide what happens next. They are human. We are all human. We can decide what happens next.