analyses like these make it clear to me that class consciousness is gonna appear in the anglosphere long after it appears everywhere else, because it gets so close to the mark but never quite reaches it.

you’re 100% right that there’s a disconnect between how people feel about their current situation and how much they’re struggling with stress or feeling overwhelmed. the popular narratives in the west – especially the united states – leave people unable to see the relationship between global economic and geopolitical movements and the impacts they have on their own lives. instead, these manufactured narratives lead them to believe their failed coping efforts are just an unavoidable feature of modern life, as you described it.

for the moment, i’m like you – my life isn’t that stressful, but that’s because i’ve intentionally made it as non-stressful as possible through trial & error, and i know things will change again for me, like they have before. my life as an autistic & queer poc who descends from the kind of immigrants ice is currently rounding up has forced me to experience, witness, and acknowledge the casual fascism that’s intrinsic to western cultures in ways that non-stressed, non-overwhelmed americans never will – that is, until capitalism gets late stage enough to force it on them.

and even under such a reality, i fully expect the anglosphere to continue resisting to accept reality for an absurdly long time. you need to look at the responses you’re getting regarding health to a small taste of this; none acknowledge how much additional stress that affording healthcare while affording life at the same time is adding to their woes.

Averages are not very useful for making sweeping generalizations. An average of hours worked is going to include people working 80 hours per week to make ends meet as well as people working under 40 who are unable to get healthcare benefits. In the US, the number going down would reflect increasing underemployment, not prosperity, as we have no safety nets and virtually no one is working sub-40 hours and getting full-time pay.

As for time spent watching television, it’s a passive form of escapism that it more accessible to people under stress. The worst times in my life have been when I would do nothing but watch television to distract myself after work - because I had no social connections and no money to spend on hobbies or going out.

Those here not currently feeling financial pressure are not paying attention to the rise of fascism if they’re reporting being completely unstressed. I am lucky enough to be well-situated financially, but I can feel the walls closing in and I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do to prepare for what’s coming. (It’s easy to say “organize,” but I am not as able-bodied as I used to be and I don’t have the time or energy to commit to an org.) I try to agitate with the people around me, but it more often than not feels like I’m tilting at windmills.

Tl;dr - yeah, I’m pretty stressed.

I’m happy that you are at a point where you find life to be stable and well-paced. For a lot of people, whatever comforts they might be enjoying are riding on a razor-thin margin. Holding together well at first glance, but only one financial, health, or other incident away from a world of hurt.

~~Also, whoever downvoted me right out of the gate could you please take a moment to explain yourself. ~~ The thought I had of someone in an ivory tower dismissing my comment first thing as I’m commuting to work wasn’t sitting right with me. Yeah, I’m stressed.

I’m pretty anxious.

Fascism is advancing very rapidly in my country and is dismantling everything from science funding to the basic rule of law to basic public health and disease prevention while being openly corrupt and literally just stealing tax money.

My country is helping to perpetrate a genocide and has launched a completely voluntary war against Iran for no reason. It also did something that “was totally not war” to Venezuela and is threatening both Cuba and Mexico now.

I work minimum 45 hours/week, usually closer to 55 hours/week. This is nice because I was working 70-80 hour weeks last year, but things have slowed down for me a bit. Idk who in the US is working 35 hours, but it’s not me…

Trying to plan for the future is very difficult because my government is running pump and dump schemes on the market literally constantly while also effectively destroying the bond market, threatening the dollar’s status as world reserve currency, etc. There’s no safe place to put money away for retirement and it is very unlikely the Social Security program will exist by the time I retire. I am lucky to have begun saving for retirement early and live well below my means in a low cost of living area, but even though I have saved like half my income for my entire working life that may not be enough.

Speaking of the future, it is very dangerous for women to get pregnant in my state because if they have an ectopic pregnancy or the fetus dies, the doctors will basically make the woman get sepsis before treating her because of the anti-abortion laws here. Many women have died. So even though we’re lucky enough to be in a position to afford to have kids, we’ve had to put our lives on hold & consider fleeing our home state where our families live.

My relationship with my family is strained - my parents, older relatives, and one of my sisters are all completely brainwashed by fascist propaganda. It is getting better, but during Trump 1 and Biden, they became more hateful and crazy than they ever had been prior. My other sister is trans but hasn’t come out to them yet. I expect that to be very difficult because they’re bigots and have been spewing hate about trans people for years at this point. My sister is doing a very good job of prepping them, and I’m helping how I can, but I’m worried for her. Our government has labeled trans right organizations as domestic terrorist organizations. Trans people are constantly under attack.

My younger siblings and older family members are also hurt by the economic state of affairs, either struggling to get a start in life or having a hard time making ends meet in retirement, paying for health-related expenses, etc. That causes me some anxiety.

I have a good standard of living because my wife and I are highly educated professionals. We are lucky to have had a lot of advantages. So really, we don’t have a lot of financial stress many others do. But even still, prices have risen on most goods like 30-50% or more over the past 6 years or so. If this continues, it may or may not threaten us right now, but it does call into question if we can afford kids, retirement, etc.

The environment & ecology is rapidly getting worse and the government is doing worse than nothing to help. We have flesh eating parasites coming back after having been eradicated since the 60s. Our government is attempting to destroy the national parks and wildlife system and allow.strip mining and drilling. Temperatures are rising and rainfall is decreasing, fires are becoming much more widespread, tornadoes have been hitting our area much more than in the past, etc. New Orleans, a city my wife, I, and our families have a connection to is projected to literally sink into the sea within our lifetimes.

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: Definitely

you probably have a more stable life, dont have to worry that much about dying in the streets etc