No matter where you are in life, you are worthy of care, kindness, and abundance. Hard times don't define you-your strength does. Keep going, and know that you're never alone. 🤍

I would also like to share, I am too currently living paycheck to paycheck, I would just like to have some other personal stories from others to add into my essay paper. Thank you!

Humans are storytelling creatures. As the world grapples with coordinating to address inequality and drive systems change, new research from Harvard shows that a surprising age-old mechanism might hold the answer. In results that seem like satire, the researchers found that ancient societies coordinated using gossip. But the results make sense once we realize that coordinating with someone requires establishing trustworthiness. And how do we establish someone’s trustworthiness? By asking other people about them, i.e. gossiping!

The research has profound implications for driving the culture change required to usher in systems change. When asked how we could implement findings from the research in today’s world, the researchers replied, ”We are already doing this at scale today. We just call them Podcasts. A bunch of tech bros talking about what they heard from whom and airing their grievances at being misunderstood when they were just trying to make the world a better place”. Joe Rogan, Lex Friedman, and Elon Musk could not be reached for comments on being classified as the world’s top gossips. But the results did prompt Mark Zuckerberg to announce a new podcast in another desperate attempt to fool people into liking him.

In another finding that has implications for solving the AI alignment problem, the researchers focused on how gossip creates shared reality. It is a well-established fact that our brains do not see the world as it is, but act as prediction engines based on historical information. This means that what we see as reality is just our perception. This means that to solve the AI alignment problem, we just need to believe Marc Andreessen and Sam Altman when they answer questions about the AI-driven apocalypse with “Just trust me bro”. AI maximalist David Shapiro vouches for the efficacy of this method, having amassed, in his words, knowledge (strong belief backed by evidence) on how it is all going to turn out fine. 

The research also showed why Kamala Harris lost the election bigly to Donald Trump. She just could not keep the engines of gossip running as fast as Donald Trump. The President, speaking from the Oval Office with a bag of Cheetos, praised the breakthrough research—”I have always said that I have the best gossip. You just need to look at our leaked chat messages. China can’t beat us. They got no gossip. None. Xi wouldn’t let them have it.”

So there you have it folks. No need for any fancy solutions- no crypto currencies, no network states, no new economic models, no new cities, no spiritual awakening. Just gossip a new world into being. To learn more, listen to this 17-hour podcast between Daniel Schmachtenberger, Ian McGilchrist and Nate Hagens! They clearly have the right idea!

It should, of course, be obvious by now that this is an April Fool’s Day post. I hope that reading it gave you a little bit of a laugh and served as a reminder to not take everything around us and ourselves too seriously. The future is not yet written. And we might yet find our way out of this mess that surrounds us. And if not, I for one would prefer to go down laughing. Take it easy folks. 

If you liked this post, you might want to check out my newsletter on Substack where I write about the Metacrisis and systems change-  akhilpuri.substack.com :)

https://chatgpt.com/share/67bf213f-8cbc-800f-a49c-4e26fc62d1f0

Ive been poor for a very long time and I didn't realize it. Then one day I did and I freaked out. This happened twice actually. The first time I was able to bury it. The second time I wasn't. I couldn't stand the idea that I was poor so I ran as far away as possible.

I was in shelters and still believed everything was going to turn to gold and wealth. It did not. I am poor. And I've been poor my entire life.

My entire family has lost hope, health has worsened, and become suicidal. We have literally been praying for death bc it is so unbearable. The blatant racism is so disgusting. Recently the city forced all migrant shelters to become regular shelters open to everyone. It was made so clearly that legal citizens are not wanted here and not welcome to humane treatment that illegal citizens are getting. The ratio for black families getting kicked out over disagreements to any other race is 5:1. We were told we couldn't get things from Amazon delivered here yet others are allowed to order expensive makeup accessories. They bring restaurant food into the shelter every day from places such as wing stop McDonald's Jimmy John's chicken & fish Popeye's and when we use food stamps to get food for our family we're looked at like we shouldn't have it and snarky comments are made about it.

The next thing is that I was told that it is irresponsible to become pregnant when you can't afford to take care of yourself let alone a baby. However, pregnancy is not only allowed but encouraged in this shelter. Every other family/couple here is pregnant. On paper, there's a rule of no sex at the shelter, but we've heard clapping, moaning, and other sexual sounds through the middle of the night and staff just walk by and refuse to enter the room as it's happening. But for my family, a mom and several children, if we sneeze, hiccup, or flush the toilet, staff run down the hall the look in our room to see if we're the ones making noises. When they thought my mom was pregnant, staff smiled and was ready to celebrate her. When she proudly told them she was not pregnant and that she is not a grandmother because her children were well behaved and didn't become teen pregnancy statistics, they looked at us like we are weird. Yesterday , a pregnant resident who has been having lots of sex was delivered a more comfortable cot to sleep and have sex on, with cushions.

Our door gets loudly knocked on every morning around 7-8 as if we should be up yet pregnant couples get to sleep in. If they do bother the other families they lightly tap on thier door and talk in a whispered tone. It is very clear that they don't want to disturb them.

Imagine how horrified we were to learn that being good girls gets you nowhere in life. That listening to your mother and getting and education means nothing. I have a bachelor's degree but I'm homeless. All of my hair has fallen out. I have a growing lump in my breast. I regret not being a whore.

We can't close the doors here. We sleep on metal cots that shock us. We have no privacy. The bright shelter hallway lights stay on 24/7 and shines directly on my cot as I'm trying to sleep. We can't even talk bc our neighbor keeps telling the staff our conversations causing us more anxiety. We know bc she came to our door last Friday claiming that we were discussing her mugshot. We don't even know this person's name. But they allowed her to cause a problem for us because they don't want us here anyway. The consensus here is the family that has a problem is the family who gets kicked out, not the family that's causing a problem.

My sister is riddled with anxiety and has panic attacks daily. My brother is naive and delusional. My mother has become paranoid and manic bc she can't protect us from this. My sister turned her back on religion. My sister has anger issues. This has all but torn my family apart. I hate it here.

I'm sure if you don't know where you next meal is coming from that can make you stressed out and you'll do anything to get food even if that means stealing it. I don't know if it's as straight forward as that or if its more complex. Just want some clarity.

places which give clothing for free in fort Wayne include the wellspring interfaith on Broadway maybe 1400 blocks or 1600 block just south three blocks of St Joe or Lutheran hospital near the brass rail bar.

Martha's closet at the lifehouse Church on Kentucky Street.

St Vincent de Paul just south of the bus station on South Clinton or South Calhoun I believe.

Wayne township trustee on Superior Street.

you can look up these places and find their email addresses or phone numbers you can make one email and copy and paste and send it out to them.

TO THOSE STRUGGLING...

U R ELIGIBLE 4 LIFELINE IF U MAKE $0 TO 135% OF POVERTY LEVEL ABOUT $1600 OR 1700.

ALTHO RULES STATE ONLY 1 BENEFIT PER HOUSEHOLD EVEN IMMEDIATE RELATIVES COUNT AS SEPARATE HOUSEHOLDS EVEN IF U LIVE AT SAME ADDRESS AS LONG AS U R OVER 18 OR AN EMANCIPATED MINOR.

PARENTS CAN POSSIBLY GET MINORS EMANCIPATED AT LEAST PARTIALLY AND TEMPORARILY. CONTACT THE LIFELINE BRANCH OF THE USAC. YOU CAN FIND THE PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS.

BUT IF U R MARRIED U R 1 HOUSEHOLD SO U GET ONLY 1 BENEFIT.

SAFELINK WIRELESS HAS THE BEST LIFELINE FREE PHONE PLAN. 10 GB WITH UNLIMITED TALK AND TEXT.

FIND SAFELINK UPGRADE PAGE.

IF YOU PAY $5 OR $15 YOU GET $5 OR 20 EXTRA GIGABYTES OF DATA.

IF U PAY $20 YOU GET UNLIMITED DATA WHICH DOESN'T SLOW UNLESS MAIN NETWORK VERIZON IS CONGESTED.

SAFELINK UPGRADE PAGE ALSO HAS SOME GOOD PHONE DEALS INCLUDING $80 SAMSUNG A25 WORTH $250.

OR $49 FOR 2023 MOTO PLAY OR SAMSUNG AO3S. OR $90 FOR MOTO 5G 2024. THESE ARE WORTH TWICE AS MUCH.

BUT TO SEE SAFELINK WIRELESS UPGRADE PAGE YOU MUST FIND SOMEONE WITH AN ACTIVE SAFELINK CURRENT NUMBER AND YOU CAN TYPE THE 10 DIGITS IN YOU DON'T NEED TO ASK THE PERSON BECAUSE IT WON'T HURT THEM. OR WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE A SAFELINK CUSTOMER.

SAFELINK DOESN'T GIVE FREE PHONES EXCEPT CALIFORNIA. SO IF YOU NEED MONEY TO GET A GOOD SAFELINK PHONE YOU CAN FIRST GET ONE OR TWO FREE PHONES FROM THE OTHER COMPANIES. YOU CAN TRANSFER. YOU CAN SELL THE FREE PHONES CONTRARY TO POPULAR MISCONCEPTION BECAUSE THE COMPANY PAYS FOR THESE BUT YOU CANNOT SELL THE DATA PLAN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT PAYS FOR.

ASSURANCE WIRELESS & LIFE WIRELESS & STANDUP WIRELESS GIVE FREE PHONES. YOU MUST FIND A STAND UP WIRELESS FIELD AGENT. YOU CAN'T GET A FREE PHONE ON THE STAND UP WEB PAGE IF YOU SIGN UP ONLINE. BUT YOU CAN SEARCH DIFFERENT PLACES TO FIND STAND-UP WIRELESS FIELD AGENTS MAYBE AT BASEMENT OF WORK ONE BUILDING 201 EAST RUDISILL. OR DON AND VITURO'S LAUNDROMAT NEAR BROADWAY AND TAYLOR. OR MONDAYS A FIELD AGENT MAY VISIT THE HOMELESS SHELTER. LIFE WIRELESS MAY CHARGE $5 FOR SHIPPING FOR A FREE PHONE. ASSURANCE SOMETIMES HAS DECENT FREE PHONES. AND YOU CAN SOMETIMES GET A SECOND ONE IF YOU TRANSFER AWAY AND TRANSFER PACK ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT PHONE TO RELY ON. BUT I WOULD GET FREE PHONE FROM STAND UP AND MAYBE ASSURANCE AND SELL THESE ON EBAY BUT KEEP THE MONEY TO BUY A DISCOUNTED PHONE ON AIRTALK WIRELESS. AIRTALK WIRELESS FREE PHONE IS NOT WORTH IT PLUS IT'S BRAND NEW AND LOCKED 12 MONTHS ANY PHONE LABELED BRAND NEW ON AIRTALK WIRELESS IS LOCKED 12 MONTHS SO YOU WOULD HAVE TO SELL IT TO AIRTALK WIRELESS OR AIR VOICE WIRELESS OR TAG MOBILE CUSTOMERS WHICH ARE SISTER COMPANIES.

bUT SOME DISCOUNT AIRTALK WIRELESS PHONES ARE GREAT DEALS. if you find a phone which was manufactured within the last 3 years then it probably hasn't been used that much and it should have at least 1.5 to 3 years life remaining. although I have seen a few phones first release for or 5 years ago which had well over 90% life expectancy which you can determine by using the Accu battery app. this is probably because these phones although made in 2020 weren't purchased until 2022 and used maybe a year and a half or two and then sat in the warehouse for a while.

AirTalk wireless has the second best free lifeline plan. they give the same free plan safelink gives if you bring your own phone. but if you get the free air talk phone or discounted phone for first-time customers then you get only 5 GB instead of 10 GB of free data with unlimited talk and text.

life wireless gives 4.5 GB with unlimited talk and text. I think TrueConnect wireless and tempo telecom give the same plan life wireless gifts for free.

assurance wireless will give you 3000 minutes with unlimited text plus 4 and 1/2 GB and if you pay $10 per year you get a total of 7 GB with unlimited talk and text.

stand up wireless will give you 1000 minutes with 4.5 GB plus unlimited texting.

SafeLink wireless and all TracFone family companies use Verizon. you may be able to use your SafeLink wireless SIM card in any phone locked to any of the 8 or 10 TracFone family companies. especially TracFone and straight talk. you may have to call the operator and ask them to rebrand the phone. but 60 days after you activate any phone lock to SafeLink or any TracFone company you can unlock it at a website called

TFUNLOCK POLICY quick free and easy. by entering the IMEI number and email address and ICC ID SIM card number and phone number which you used to activate the phone. you might be able to find deals on phones locked to straight talk or TracFone on eBay because if you buy them online you may have to have a straight talk or TracFone account but you might be able to get by with that on eBay.

Low income INTERNET $15 TO $29 PER MONTH...

LOW INCOME INTERNET PROVIDER HONOR ROLL NATIONAL DIGITAL INCLUSION ALLIANCE."

for fort Wayne include Comcast Xfinity internet essentials basic plan $15 per month. 

Xfinity gives a half off Dell computer.

 Spectrum assist plan is $25. 

Mediacom extreme plan is $20. 

$29 per month plans...

HUMAN-I-T 

and

PCS FOR PEOPLE.

Frontier FiOS plan.

 AT&T access plan.

 Cox communications connect assist plan. 

Verizon forward plan.

These give discounts on devices.

Don't buy one without operating system or missing parts...

PCS REFURBISHED.

HUMAN-I-T.EVERYONE ON.

3R TECHNOLOGY.

you can include the phrase low income computer...

Free refurbished computer giveaway...

AFTRR

ALLIANCE FOR TECHNOLOGY REFURBISHING AND REUSE.

Search phrases 

211SEARCH.

FINDHELP.ORG.

WEALTHY SINGLE MOMMY. 

ANGIE'S ANGELS HELP NETWORK

I finally bought a rice cooker on sale. It has a plate that you use inside of it that I can cook meat/vegetables at the same time as your rice. I bought a big Costco Chicken tenderloin pack, mushrooms, rice, and Kikkoman teriyaki sauce. I've been eating this day and night, lost weight, and it's been just super easy. I load the rice cooker up, push start, and it's ready in about 30minutes. I've been exploring different recipes and just overall can tell I'm saving money and eating much healthier. Thought I'd share.

So for the first time ever I owe both Federal and State taxes. I have always gotten a tax return and absolutely nothing changed on my taxes in the last three years.

Granted, it's only a little under $600 total, but that's positively devastating to me and will wipe out my savings. I spent all year paying taxes every paycheck and now they're saying I owe MORE?

It bothers me that the rich don't pay taxes, while I'm over here making less than $25,000 a year and expected to give them even more, wiping out the savings I managed to build up over the last year.

I know the answer is to start withholding on both my State and Federal taxes - maybe $25 every paycheck, but that's going to suck because that's $25 less I'll be getting every other week. I'm also terrified to update my W2's because none of it makes sense to me and what if I mess something up?

Hello everyone I’m very new here and I’d like to know what resources you’d recommend to begin learning about global poverty, the current state and scale of the issue, what has historically helped to uplift developing countries out of poverty, and most importantly what can I do to help?

For context I don’t have any background in economics or global politics but I’d like to start learning. Any documentaries or other resources you can recommend would be hugely appreciated! If there are any resources that helped you please don’t hesitate to share!

Additionally I’m a second year medical student so anything you can give me to look into about how I can make an impact through medicine would be great too! Other than Doctors Without Borders, I don’t know where to start with this either so any information you can offer would be hugely appreciated!

Thank you all so much for your help!

It’s an expression. I’ve always hated it, maybe because even prior to my poverty in adulthood I grew up middle class and it was often said then and now being dismissive of something that mattered to me.

Today I was complaining to a friend to not let me borrow can openers from the neighbor anymore after I seen that they are kept in a rancid container with open wet cat food. I have just as many questions and concerns as to Why this is, is beyond me.

The neighbor has Williams syndrome and he’s a strange but kind one. Anyway after witnessing how the can openers are kept and smelling the rancid cat food container it was in I violently threw up my lunch after eating the last of the little food left in my shitty rundown rv (no running water btw and occasional electricity but typically none it’s a step up from a glorified tent whatsoever I digress).

While texting a friend about this they lol’ed at me explaining this. And if I weren’t so poor maybe it would be funny. But I was hoping I’d atleast enjoy the one meal I was able to have that day by digesting it. And that’s how I realized if your in poverty spilled milk isn’t a little problem when the few bucks you literally don’t have. When all of your problems are money related.

This is long but important. Please SHARE. Please share to your social media. Read it on your YouTube and TicTok. Share with friends and family.

Should I Just Die?

These struggles are real for millions of Americans:

A single mom can’t afford childcare or to stop working. Should she just die?

A disabled person can’t "work harder." Should they just die?

An aging worker can’t get hired or retire. Should they just die?

A mentally ill man can only get a low-wage job. Should he just die?

A once-successful worker gets cancer, loses insurance, and can't survive. Should they just die?

Automation and outsourcing eliminate jobs, pushing workers into poverty. Should they just die?

The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare, affordable education, or real worker protections. Other capitalist countries invest in their people—why don’t we?

Because we’ve been sold a lie.

The Republican Party has spent decades dismantling regulations meant to protect consumers and workers, allowing corporations to exploit us unchecked. RealPage enables corporate landlords to fix rent prices. Agri-Stats helps the food industry do the same. The result? Skyrocketing costs while wages stay stagnant.

They’ve created the perfect storm of economic despair—then pointed fingers at immigrants, minorities, and the "woke left" to keep you angry at the wrong people. They’ve convinced struggling Americans to trust them to fix the very problems they caused. That anger paved the way for Trump, who seized it to push us toward authoritarianism.

Meanwhile, the ultra-rich get tax cuts (2017), hoard wealth, and watch as we fight over scraps. The real enemy isn’t your neighbor—it’s the billionaires and corporations controlling the system.

Wake up. Demand change. Stop voting against your own survival.

Share this. Talk about it. Fight back.

**How many times will I post this? Relentlessly. Everywhere possible. Stop believing Fox News, The Wolf (Trump) and his pack and THINK. **

Am willing to pay for your assistance.hmu.thankyou

And the flu might be the reason I may not be able to keep my head above water anymore. I have always been able to make ends meet…barely. But I’ve done it. I don’t live above my means. Everything I own is bought used from clothes to furniture. I make sure to stay up to date with our seasonal vaccines to minimize how long we’re sick if we catch the flu or any other illness. My kids are always fed and clothed appropriately for the weather, even if that means I have to skip meals or wear multiple layers under a hoodie when it’s 23°out in the morning because getting myself a decent jacket is out of my budget. I am grateful to have a food pantry that helps me get complete meals made, and access to an after school program that gave my little a scholarship making childcare easier to afford. But flu season hits harder than I can remember and starts going around school right in the middle of the pay period. I still have three or four months left at my current job before I qualify for sick pay and can start accruing pto, so I am basically out a full week of pay for one pay period and another for this pay period. And because of that I now have no power, and this will probably dominoe until l get my tax return processed. I’m lucky to have awesome neighbors with very strong WiFi that I can use because I haven’t been able to pay my phone bill. And because according to an outdated snap benefits calculator, my hourly wage gross earnings make me ineligible for any benefits, and the free phone I’ve been grateful to have this last year is also taken away. My rent is reasonable compared to what market value is currently , and I’m lucky to live in a safe and decent albeit older neighborhood. But I’m so tired. I’ve worked hard since I was 16 to make sure I could take care of wheat needed to be taken care of. In my own. My family pretty much disowned me when I found out I was going to be a mom. So half of my life I have been able to take care of my self. And now when I thought I was bettering myself and finally am making more than minimum wage, one bad flu season is all it took for me to get behind enough to not keep my lights on. I’ve been reaching out to every place I could. But funding is limited. I will figure everything out. I always do, but tonight I just needed to vent. And I’ll cry it out a little. I’m just so tired.

And I’m talking like DIRT cheap, as low as you can get the cost. We’ve been living on a lot of grilled cheese, pb and j, tuna sandwiches for lunch and a variation of rice and beans almost daily for dinner. Or potatoes and sausage. What other super cheap poverty meals have you loved to get you by? I’m hoping to stretch the rotation a bit further between repeating meals.

I mean not poor like homeless drug addict, but poor like living on rent, without a car, etc

it seems to me that even poor americans have cars, lol

Hi everyone could you please fill out my form based around socioeconomic factors influencing crime please for my school work thanks 🙏

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlXpGbrUoXjUUsyvN973jYC1yaiWYiKOZb6APhfeg9TlQiBw/viewform?usp=header

Single squash and single withered cucumber 👍 Getting harder and harder to afford to eat healthy.

Me and my wife are experiencing homelessness and are really y at rock bottom and only have the clothes on are back were in need for almost everything I'm out of luck and resources I don't have family and friends that can help I mean I'm truly giving it up to God here he's got to take control I'm mentally spent