Mental torture

The whole point of the Industrial Revolution was to reduce the requirement for human labour! Guess what folks? It worked really well!

The glorious challenge for many of us is to find something to do that is both fulfilling or at l;east not work, either that or compete for "makework" or menial work or one of the very few "real" jobs out there. And when you do find a decent job then beware of "instability". Al the primo jobs I've had ended in a corporate takeover or some other externally applied unexpected rubbish. 

You've made it to 39 with autism and raised a child, you ain't useless. I'd advise you to start finding your happiness in simply being alive, and doing whatever you can find to do that makes the world, or your family, or your own life a bit better. Education is now free of charge via the internet, with practical skills training on youtube. 

If you can decouple yourself from the belief that a "meaningful job" makes money, and replace that with "A meaningful job is one that got me the result I was looking for" you will start to find your own productivity & power. I turned down a paying job last week, (and god knows I could put some money to good use right now) because a swift investigation revealed it was not what I wanted it to be. You are about to hit forty, which for me was an age when things started to make more sense. Allow yourself to take more control as you feel the wisdom start to form. 

USE that freedom that Messrs Boulton & Watt bestowed upon you back in the 19th century! Hardly anyone else does. 

This is a lovely reply I Sperg - what a brilliant perspective you put forward here. I agree with every word - thank you.

Thank you for those kind  words, Kate Kestrel (Always though that was a great name, BTW)

Sadly, it's not all good.

If my version of reality seemingly makes sense, than the logical question is WHY are things so sh17 these days?

And getting a coherent and credible answer to that question, leads one down the rabbit hole to some very dark facts and conspiracies indeed... 

A more worthy question which has lead me towards some happiness I found is: "How can I make anything better, even in a small way, and even if it's not for me directly?" 

"Yes. When so much around us is is pretty dreadful on a grand scale perhaps the only thing we truly have control over are the smaller positive actions we can take ourselves."

F'kn nailed it, Kate!

That's now how one should talk to a stranger of course, but it is exactly how I talk to my daughter (who shares your name) when she delights me with her understanding of how the world.really works.  

Yes. When so much around us is is pretty dreadful on a grand scale perhaps the only thing we truly have control over are the smaller positive actions we can take ourselves.

Glad you like the name :)

Yes. When so much around us is is pretty dreadful on a grand scale perhaps the only thing we truly have control over are the smaller positive actions we can take ourselves.

Glad you like the name :)

"Yes. When so much around us is is pretty dreadful on a grand scale perhaps the only thing we truly have control over are the smaller positive actions we can take ourselves."

F'kn nailed it, Kate!

That's now how one should talk to a stranger of course, but it is exactly how I talk to my daughter (who shares your name) when she delights me with her understanding of how the world.really works.