This is either top of the hill or rock bottom. There is no in-between.

I can still remember the relief that came with deciding there is nothing the world would be willing to grant me, regardless of effort, that could approach the simple pleasure of escaping into a better world that, honestly, isn’t significantly more artificial than the rigged, propagandized capitalist construct they want us to beat ourselves, and one another, to death in the name of.

So you’re saying if I work 80 hour weeks for decades I might gain the world’s respect and enough in game currency to start pursuing actual passions beyond making an entitled fancy lad/lass born into the owner class richer?

Yeah, that’s gonna be a no from me dawg. Even if you’re a lucky “winner” who worked really hard and didn’t get betrayed by the owners or outcompeted by your fellow peasants, you had to adopt exploitative, greedy, sociopathic values to do so. If that’s cool with you, cool, that’s a non-starter for me. I’ve no interest in participating in the “judge one another by socioeconomic status” game. Especially when it’s oddly proud of the fact that most start with little to nothing and a few already own every space on the board. That’s a deeply broken game, one there seems to be very little will to patch.

This collapsing civilization’s disapproval means nothing, as I’ve seen what makes it cheer. If you’re smart, find your bliss and bring a blanket.