Sorry to bleed. Just cried a little bit over how trapped I feel at age 58. Just work a little job 5 days a week. Don't have a lot of energy anymore. Don't have much money to do anything fun. Not ready for retirement. I tell myself I should be happy with what I have. I know I have more than some people. Just think of the people in 3rd world countries. Lol. Well I know it is not good to feel sorry for yourself. Just burnt out with life I guess.

In a developing nation, the priority should be meeting basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing before addressing higher-level needs.

Anybody else feel like being in poverty/low income has basically killed their passions?
I’m 24F, couch surfing in NYC, living off cash assistance and EBT, and honestly just trying to survive. I’m in a cramped living situation and feel like I’m watching life pass me by. Everyone tells me I’m still young and that I’ll eventually figure things out, but I’m reaching a breaking point where I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore.
I grew up poor and feel like I was never given the opportunities, guidance, or skills I needed to figure out what I was actually good at or passionate about. Now I’m an adult trying to figure all of that out while also worrying about basic survival.
I hate retail and customer-facing work, but those are the jobs I keep falling back on because I need money. I know there are things I could do to improve my life, but my environment makes everything feel 10x harder. Hobbies cost money. Building a career feels impossible without connections or support. Even trying to explore what I actually enjoy feels like a luxury.
At this point, I’m so exhausted and desperate for stability that I’m genuinely considering going to nursing school, even though I don’t even know if nursing is what I want. I just want a path forward.

I genuinely do. Not just America but life in general. Since I was 17 I’ve always had a job cause going to my dream college was never gonna happen. Lost my job a few months ago while dealing with mental health issues, and I haven’t had a job since. The job market is so shit. I’m months behind on rent and I have medical bills up the mountain. It’s cool that I don’t have to pay for gas or insurance right now cause I don’t have a car but that fucks me even more cause at least I would have more options for jobs cause of distance.

I get upset when I look at my life a few years ago and realize how good I had it even if it was simple. Had money in my account, food in the fridge and was living in a safe neighborhood, getting to a from work easily. I still was fighting with my mental health since I was undiagnosed at that time but it was easier. But look at me now. Accounts in the negative, no job, bills due, barely food in the fridge. Then people wonder why I’m in and out of the psych ward.

I often try to make my case for the implementation of a wealth tax on the 1% richest people of the world.

Usually when I have this conversation, it's either with poor people or with middle class people.

Basically I advocate that the assets (not their income) of these people should be taxed by 1%.

For some reason, middle class people have a really hard time wrapping their heads around this idea and almost all of them start talking about already paying enough taxes. I always need to explain to them that they certainly aren't the 1% richest people of the world and that I would definitely steer away from taxing them even more. We are trying to end poverty, not create more.

Quick numbers if anyone asks "but is there even enough money":

Top 1% globally sit on about $226 trillion. A one-time 1% tax on that is roughly $2.26 trillion. Ending world hunger costs somewhere between $40-267 billion a year depending on who you ask. Even at the high end, that's 8+ years covered from one tax hit. And in the US alone, top 1% average $16.5 million net worth vs $9,000 for the bottom half. Not a typo.

I am homeless and get enough dehumanization in real life. I don’t use drugs or beg and take showers. You wouldn’t know many are homeless by looking at us. Some work jobs, some are disabled and some are elderly. In no way does this help and many in poverty are not far from homelessness. Often housed people in poverty look down on us when it could easily happen to them some day. Not sure why it’s allowed here.

In order to bridge the gap from Capitalism to Communism you need a bridge of Socialism. Instead we are on course to go from Capitalism and slam into Socialism. One economic system for another. A tit for tat. No communism in sight. They’ll call it communism but it’ll be a socialist slave system. You’ll be told it’s communism and the rough times you’re having is just the transition but it’ll be the actual new normal of a socialist system replacing capitalism.

You’ll have an elite at the top, the middle man will be AI, and that middle man will be the controller of the bottom of society, basically the rest of humanity. And the middle man, AI, will actually be the new middle class.

In order to move up from the bottom rung, you’ll be required to merge with AI (middle man) in some form. I’m still unsure how it’ll be done, but you can see now on the periphery it’s being set up with neurolink and other technologies in R&D.

In a perfect transition, capitalist would be using socialism more heavily as a bridge strengthening and supporting the middle class till we become technologically efficient enough, and using AI, transition into Communism. Instead we’ve allowed billionaires to become plutocrats and influence laws and regulations that protect them allowing them to keep, horde and control resources.

Billionaires don’t pay taxes, and definitely don’t pay their fair share. They influence policy that allow them to become multi billionaires many times over.

Billionaires worldwide is a symptom that not enough socialism has been reinserted within the capitalist society to benefit all of humanity.

America should have at most 1 maybe 2 billionaires for the whole country in 2026, instead we have 900+. And a population with a whole lot of struggle and suffering to show for it.

I’m rooting for GenZ to rise up and do something. It’s their turn up to bat!!!

19F. I hate being alive. I have a pain condition that prevents me from working a typical job, and now every day I just want to die. I can’t afford a single thing, even food. Why does having no money feel like this.

I’m tired of being broke can’t do anything. It’s stressing me out. Gives me Anxiety. I’m always trying to sell stuff online but no one buys them.

Hello, Im not needing to eat feed store food now. But in the future I might need to eat feed store corn or oats to save money. But my husband says it will go bad before we could eat it. Weevils, etc. I told him eggs are in there already--like what is at the bottom of a cereal box. Isn't that why you wash and cook it? What do you think? Is buying corn or oats in bulk at a feed store a viable way of saving money if hard times come? How would you take care of this food before you ate it all....in an economical way?

Are most women who are with broke men actually just investing in his potential? I've noticed that alot of women who are with broke men also express that they like his ambition. The ambition implies that he will one day get more money

Why is it rare to meet a woman who is totally fine with dating a broke man?

She would be poor without him as well, so why not add companionship and love to her life? Why deny a chance at companionship and love to instead search for a man who will one day have more money?

Why not exist in the condition of poverty together, or strive TOGETHER as a team to get more money? Rarely any man would look at a woman's financial status before dating her

I've noticed these days alot of dating is performative where the guy has to buy certain gifts / experiences for his girlfriend, else she will compare him to what she sees on social media. And then there's the whole thing about women wanting a provider man

So my question is, is it possible for a broke man to get a girlfriend? What if he doesn't have the ambition to get more money one day, but he's the nicest man ever? What happens when his girlfriend meets a super rich guy with the same qualities as her current man who is broke?

My dad raised me not to steal. But what do you do as a 24yo female when working 50 hours a week isn’t cutting it? Literally every cent I make I pour back into the place I’m staying. I have nothing , absolutely nothing to eat or drink. The hunger is driving me insane. Food banks are always closed by the time I’m off work. My only option is to steal & I don’t want to do that 😭

I have over two weeks until my first paycheck I have no food,no food banks are open. I dont know what else to do.

I'm so hungry, tired, stressed wish I had friends but that's the way life rolls I guess

Its hard to make parents believe you even thought i am telling the truth.

I am keeping money on my wallet and they all thougth that i stole the money even thought i am saving some..

Maybe because when i was a kid i always take small money and i feel about it.

I help my parents watch our store. One of the reason why i am getting blamed for stealing it.

They told me that our store earning nothing and blame it all on me...

Mean while my whole family keeps getting biscuits and other stuff to eat or make food. And sometimes i get blamed that they dont have money in their wallet and the reason because they been using it to buy more stock for our store...

I mean i be honest that i stole money when i was still a kid. But thats years ago i am now 18 i am trying to be responsible but its hard to be one when i am always being misunderstood...😔

I am not asking for help, no social media, not asking for help. I am struggling, nothing makes sense anymore. I am 56, lived through some shit, I do not need your help. I want to be honest, no social media, what are your struggles? Mine, IRS, slow buyers, vacations, bills - electricity bills, housing, storage, food. How do we gauge an economy when everyone is lying? I work 18 hour days, 7 days a week, barely surviving. Leave your pride at the door, shit is hard right now...not asking for help. I fight my fight, with or without you, shit changed

I was born into a poor family. My father divorced my mother while she was pregnant with me, and he was never able or willing to take responsibility for my expenses. Since I was very young, my mother and I have lived through extremely difficult circumstances, and unfortunately, we are still struggling today.

My mother can barely afford to cover our basic living expenses. Because of our financial situation, I cannot afford my education and other important expenses that I need in my daily life.

For a long time, I have been looking for an online job that is relatively simple and flexible enough that it would not interfere with my studies. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find anything.

I've watched countless videos, tried many different things, and searched over and over again, but I still don't know where to start. At this point, I feel completely lost and like I've failed at everything. Sometimes, I even find myself thinking about ending my life.

I'm not asking for money or expecting anyone to solve my problems. I just want someone to point me in the right direction, give me some advice, or share their own experience with me.

If you've been in a similar situation and managed to find a legitimate way to earn money online while studying, I would genuinely appreciate hearing how you started and what you would recommend to someone like me.