• 3 Posts
  • 21 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: June 12th, 2023
  • EndOfLine@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•Is public transport in the USA owned by car makers?English
    49·
    7 months ago

    Public transit, in the United States, is primarily owned and operated by various government agencies.

    What you are describing fits into the conspiracy theory that automobile manufacturers “lobbied” politicians to pass laws, subsidies, zoning regulations, public transit expansion plans, etc that would favor / encourage car ownership while limiting the growth of public transit. I believe that there where some trials involving auto manufacturing executives, which support at least part of this theory, but I don’t know those details.

  • EndOfLine@lemmy.worldtoNo Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•Is this it? Is there anything more to life, am I missing something?English
    111·
    11 months ago

    It sounds like you are describing depression. Here are some things that help me when I get to feeling like this. It’s not easy to do when battling with low energy and a lack of motivation, but they help.

    • Do more outdoor activities. Normally in the form of walks, or biking to nearby locations instead of driving.

    • Drink more water. Basically, I just have a glass of water before drinking anything else.

    • Eat better. Nothing too extreme, I make an effort to prepare more foods at home and include more vegetables.

    • Change things. I’m not talking about a life change. Rearrange furniture, put up some different wall art, change your lighting, swap out the background images on your computers and / or mobile devices, etc.

    • Spend time with your thoughts. I would try to spend about 15 minutes to an hour each day sitting in silence, with no distractions. I don’t force any thoughts. I just wait to see what bubbles to the surface. It usually helps me identify problem areas that I need to focus on.

    It is also possible that you have started down a life path that you feel you are “supposed” to pursue and not necessarily a path that you want to pursue.

    It could also be that you are burned out between school, work, and social obligations. Making more time for yourself or taking some time off, if that is an option, might help.

  • EndOfLine@lemmy.worldtoNo Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•Why are actors smoking in movies and tv shows?English
    21·
    11 months ago

    Here’s my theory that is based on no research whatsoever:

    Cigarette companies used to pay to have characters smoke in movies and TV shows. This would cultivate a social acceptance and “cool factor” around smoking. During the 80s and 90s, this practice came under fire and smoking in movies and TV dramatically dropped to the point of almost being non-existent.

    Then time passed, vaping became popular, and people stopped caring about the impact of normalizing or even glorifying smoking. So the practice of paying studios to have characters smoke started to return. Nobody said anything, so it is becoming common place again.

    It doesn’t matter if it is unhealthy, it is profitable.

  • EndOfLine@lemmy.worldtoNo Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•I understand it's normal to want to be in a relationship, but how do you feel happy when you aren't?
    34·
    1 year ago

    how do you feel happy when you aren’t?

    Personally, when I was younger I caught myself using relationships to define my self worth and distract me from dealing with my own negative thoughts. So I started working on myself. I would sit in silence, with little to no distractions, for prolonged periods of time at least once a week (e.g. taking a long bath, or a road trip with no radio). This forced me to spend time with my own thoughts and, before long, something would bubbled to the surface (a past argument, memories of a past breakup, feelings of inadequacy, etc). Then I would take a look at that subject and / or allow myself to just feel any negative emotions. The objective was not to “solve” the issue, just to be mindful of it and understand why I was holding on to those thoughts. Eventually, I came to terms with most of my inner turmoil in one form or another. That got me to a place where I could be alone without being lonely and that, in turn, allowed me to be happy whether I was in a relationship or not.

    Not sure if that is any help to you, but it worked for me.