I read every line even though it hurts. I feel I owe it to them, to at least read their stories, remember their faces.

How have we created such monsters?

I am originally from the US but moved to AU and am now a citizen. I got lucky and got out just before Trump’s first presidency.

Life here is good. Like, better than most Americans can really understand. Healthcare is free, education is good and includes topics like critical thinking and understanding how to spot “fake news”.

There is only a small aisle of frozen food in the grocery store, not nearly as much pre-packaged food. There are affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, and outside most grocery stores is an independent baker, butcher, fishmonger, and fruit and veg stand.

Minimum wage is $24.10 an hour, and you cannot be fired for no reason if you are a full time employee.

If you compare things (and adjust for AUD to USD) like rent, gas, milk, bread, eggs… Things cost about the same here as in the US.

We pay around the same amount in taxes, and get so much more.

Things aren’t completely rosy, distressingly, Australia seems to want to emulate the US in certain ways which worries me.

There is also currently a bit of an economic downturn and while it’s nothing like what I left behind, it does mean things cost more and luxuries have to be budgeted for.

I think anyone who isn’t a dick would be welcome here. There are racist cunts here like everywhere, but generally Aussies are the kindest and most welcoming people.

*80s’

Yup. I hope they make it through this.

80’s, female, born in the US and now (thankfully) an AU citizen.

I agree. Slavery was never really stopped. Big brands like McDonalds use convict labour. Some states will lease a slave/convict to private citizens for things like yard work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_labor_in_the_United_States#Modern_prison_labor_systems

It’s bad.

Alabama: Inmates that refuse to labor face a range of consequences, including solitary confinement and extensions of their sentences.

Florida: Inmates in Florida are forced to perform labor, often under threat of solitary confinement and beatings. These inmates are not paid for the labor they’re made to perform, and unsatisfactory performance can also lead to solitary confinement. In one instance, a prisoner working as a barber was sent to solitary for dropping a hair clipper, while in another, a woman who suffered a breakdown and refused to clean a set of toilets was beaten to the point of full body paralysis.

Louisiana: Refusal to work can be met with solitary confinement and physical beatings.

New York: The jobs inmates are mandated to work range from mundane ones such as tailoring and taxi driving, to more hazardous ones as lead paint and asbestos removal. Inadequate work and/or refusal to work can be punished with beatings.

I wonder why they are banning it? A cursory google says its an insect borne virus found on every continent except Antarctica.

I’m from Australia, that looks like a huntsman.

When I first moved here and saw one I freaked out and begged my husband to catch it. He laughed and said they are good spiders, and very fast so hard to catch anyway.

That spider lived above the window blinds, and I realised I would have to sweep the dead bugs off the windowsill every few days.

He definitely became an honoured guest!

It’s beautiful! The post isn’t public on imgur or I would upvote you there too!

I agree, losing it would feel like losing the library of Alexandria. We do need more doing this!

Beautifully written.

Signed, another 40 year old millennial.

I have nerve pain and understand the feeling of the meds not taking the pain away, and the knowledge that there is a trade off with taking them. I have refused to up my dose, but try literally everything else.

Unfortunately I am allergic to codiene and natural opoids, and so tramadol is my long term pain management medication.

I also take broad spectrum cbd oil and flower, triple strength fish oil for inflammation, magnesium, etc. I have also been using lignocaine patches over the nerve roots after reading a study that showed promising results, and despite it not making any sense to me that they should work topically, it does seem to help.

Besides medications and supplements, I use a TENS unit, IR heating pad, ice packs, massage gun, and positioning to reduce pain on bad days.

I have tried every locally available treatment, experimental medication, therapy, consulted with pain doctors and surgeons. Unfortunately nothing has helped so far.

On good days, I can spend 4 - 5 hours up at most, and will pay for it the next day. Most of my time is spent in a zero gravity bed.

I don’t like taking the pain meds, but acknowledge that taking them means I can do more. Push further. It’s not a tradeoff I like either, so most of the time I don’t.

A similar sort of fridge was very common in Australia, you can still find then in antique shops very easily.

They use a tray of water and hessian fabric to cool the inside.

https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/belongings/the-refrigerator/

The clay fridge looks interesting!

Well, I think the self driving taxis across the us apparently need human interaction every 6 minutes on average… So are they self driving? I don’t know.

We can’t use our phones and drive, but someone can have a screen and drive 6 cars at the same time…

https://svgur.com/

<3

My favourite article of clothing is my pink cape by Review Australia. Since buying it we moved to the tropics so I never get to wear it, but I love it so much.

There’s just something about it.

I have traveled to very conservative countries and have never found the sort of puritanical hand wringing that comes from a certain subset of Americans.

I say this as an American expat who has lived everywhere from Hawaii to the bible belt, to New York.

Can you imagine the pain and anxiety you would cause a biological woman who does not look feminine enough for your line of reasoning here?

You see her in the restroom and act like she doesn’t belong there - maybe you say something, maybe you keep your “discomfort in your vulnerable place” to yourself, but your stupid ideas about what a woman is and how one should look in order to be accepted into a bathroom are hurtful.

I was in an art class last month with a lovely young woman who has pcos. She is a Sikh woman, and therefore does not remove her facial hair.

She had a beard that would put a young man to shame, and now it occurs to me that had she been unfortunate enough to be born in America, she would have had to choose between honouring the basic tenets of her religion, or conforming so she is not shunned - or worse, assaulted for using the womens room.

https://www.learnreligions.com/some-sikh-women-have-facial-hair-2993341

Wow, I left the US ten years ago, I had no idea it had got this bad. You need a VPN to browse porn? :(