the whole lack of social support structure does seem kinda ruthless from the outside looking in.
It absolutely, depressingly, and soul crushingly is. Send help. Better still: ask your governments to grant US citizens asylum. I'm ok with leaving these sado-masochists to ouroboros themselves.
We don't need to spend more time with the neighbors.
What we need is a way to deprogram 1/3rd of the neighbors of the belief that anyone in the other 2/3rds is responsible for their plight. If we could knock off the victime blaming circlejerks of society long enough to recognize the very easily identifiable common interests we all have...maybe we'll pull through.
Or... a side effect of living our whole lives on the financial brink of starvation or homelessness forcing us into a mindset and culture where we're always seeking to monetize things because that's all we know to do since our entire culture is bent towards growing the economy.
I find that the majority of the time all that is needed is to take my foot off the accelerator. Sometimes it seems like I'm the only driver on the road that is aware you don't have to accelerate until you brake if you just manage your speed accelerating and coasting.
They sell my drug in all the gas stations, advertise it on TV, billboards and radio, just about every restaurant serves it.
And yet, there are still alcoholics that will drink sanitizer if that's all they can get and the shakes and sweats have started. I never drank sanitizer, but that doesn't mean much, knowing what I did do when I still drank.
Does your partner hate Fox News (or talk radio in this case) for stealing their father from them?
Mine does.
Edit to add: so much so that she often wonders aloud if there's a chance she and all the others can sue Fox for ...something. I wish they could. I wish the people of the USA had some means of redress for all the harm Fox news has caused by irresponsibly masking angertainment and calling it news.
Isn't the federal civil service the largest union in the US?