Good morning, Earthies!
I am writing this post through my tears. Just finished watching the movie Nomadland, and I can’t stop crying. There will be no spoilers, and I am not actually going to talk about the movie. If you’ve seen it, you will understand, and if you haven’t, I highly recommend watching it.
Ever since I landed on this planet, I’ve been a huge fan of dystopian and post-apocalyptic art and stories. In 2019, I moved to LA, and I realized how close some people’s everyday life is to this dystopian “future”. And then I turn on the news, and I see people around the globe dying from war, climate disasters, and poverty.
I am in my late 30s, and even though I am an alien, I’ve been told many times that I need to think about retirement, just like every other human. “But I am not a human!” I keep saying, and people still respond, “It doesn’t matter, you need a retirement fund”.
Someone that I know who lives in another country just shared the story that he is forced to retire after not receiving a salary for 6 months, and the company he was working for went bankrupt. He is almost 70. He is going to receive the minimum pension in his country because his boss was sucking money out of the company and not paying their full benefits. When I last spoke to him, he seemed different. Sad. depressed. He sounded like me. I am used to being sad and depressed, but when I see someone close to me going through the same, all I can feel is anger.
This person spent his whole life working for someone who betrayed him in the end.
He is just one example. One of many. One of millions.
I am thinking about all the people who lose their jobs because they are replaced by AI.
All the people like me who can’t find a job because film production is leaving Los Angeles.
I have no plan for retirement. I have no plan for next month. And I am not the only one.
That’s why watching Nomadland made me question everything. What am I doing with my life? I am an alien on this planet, and I’ve been struggling with blending in with people. But unfortunately, I became one of them. Why did I end up in a body that is rotting in depression?
People pretend to be pack species, but at the end of the day, everyone is for themselves. You can’t count on anyone, no matter what you believe and what they say. It is hard for an alien to understand because what we see is communities, families, cities, and societies built towards keeping people together. But when you look deep, you realize there is always someone who wins from a situation and someone who is a loser. The problem is that I don’t want to be either of them. I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing. I am afraid of that, but also what if it liberates me from being stuck? What if depression comes from living in a society where you don’t belong?
Some movies are there to entertain you, but once in a while, there is a feature that hits a nerve and makes you cry for hours and think.