cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/30817458
It is becoming increasingly clear to me that I need to expand my social circle. Most people I’m in a position to see in real life regularly are filled with a lot of brainworms: owning property is seen as a goal that one would be crazy not to pursue, the police and military are seen as sacred institutions, and I even know a few trumpanzees. I need to make new connections, but I’m a weird suburbanite shut-in with a weird demeanor that is offputting to normal people, and I’m worried that trying to meet new friends through my existing friends will just further entrench me into the petite bourgeois crackershpere.
How do you meet based people when you’re just far enough from the nearest city for regular travel back and forth to be inconvenient and are bad at making friends in the first place?
Get involved with local IRL leftist groups. There are some in every city. Find people who are doing work you find admirable and are interested in, and get involved with it. Maybe you’re helping the local homeless population in some way. Maybe you’re helping trans folks get access to HRT or other transition things. Maybe you’re training immigrants on their rights in regards to ICE. Get involved in community or guerilla gardening. Help leftists candidates run for office. Participate and organized protests. IDK what the Hell you want to do. But there are so many possibilities. I guarantee you that there are needs in your own community that you can contribute to solving. You may not be able to change the whole world, but you can make a difference in your own world. Find what interests you, where your passions lie, and find others doing the same. Yeah, if you’re in suburbia, you’ll probably have to drive to meetings to participate. But you live in suburbia, driving is a given.