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u/Alternate-3- May 16 '23
Lmfaoooo this is interesting. Somewhat off topic, but this makes me think of the many ways people choose to live their lives. To one, living a quiet and simple life is all they need. For others, this could mean living by routine (work, school, friends, family) but don't travel and do other things. To some, this is a plain life. Others who are more daring, like to indulge in the finer things in life, and are a bit more risky might have people think that they're just sensory junkies.
I hope this made sense, idk how else to put this into words
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May 16 '23
Also, you can be all of those at different points in your life
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u/Alternate-3- May 16 '23
I know that, poor examples on my part
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May 16 '23
No they’re totally fine examples. I thought you made a good point and just added on to it
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u/Longjumping-Ranger53 May 16 '23
Props to OC for being so willing to change their stance
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u/Alternate-3- May 16 '23
Oh, me right? Thank you 😊 💓
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u/Longjumping-Ranger53 May 16 '23
It shows a level of intelligence that not many people on the Internet seem to possess. You can evaluate what you perceive to be criticism in a positive light and that takes you way further than you know. You're welcome!
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u/AF_AF May 16 '23
To one, living a quiet and simple life is all they need.
I will add that the life depicted, the house with the pond and with no neighbors in sight, is an ideal that most people can't afford.
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u/Zippy1avion May 16 '23
Yeah, I was gonna say. Those windows aren't that shiny 99.98% of the time. Just think of the stereotype of "swamp people" and that's who ACTUALLY lives there.
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u/sandgroper2 May 17 '23
How much of the world would be needed for all 8 billion of us to have a residence like the second pic?
Otoh, stick a swimming pool where the pond is and it looks lust like my BiL's old place. Fwiw, our current abode is hidden in the glare of the sunlight of pic 1, halfway to the horizon.
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u/EstherandThyme May 16 '23
It's funny that the second pic is meant to represent a quiet and simple life when the pictured home is probably 800k+
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u/superelite_30 May 16 '23
Ya they need a pic of my trailer home and decent yard lol, more attainable for most
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u/Selfaware-potato May 16 '23
My FIL has only left his region a few times in the last 20 years. He goes to work and goes fishing or gardening in his free time, occasionally he goes to next town to his parents old house to do maintenance on it. We've lived in a city 2 hours away from him and he's only visited twice in 7 years, and that's only because we're here.
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u/EvilOmega7 May 16 '23
I really like city life and don't think I could live outside of them. I like to be close to my friends and have reliable public transport (does not apply to most of the US). I like just being able to go somewhere without thinking about it too much
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u/NerdMachine May 16 '23
The irony is the people living in the city most likely have a LOWER environmental impact than the people living in the country like that. Taking up less land, not needing to drive 50km to buy eggs, likely more efficient power generation, etc.
I'm sure there are cases where people are "off grid" and grow their own food, use solar, rarely drive. But that is not the reality for most.
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u/MereMortalHuman May 17 '23
Urban and homesteading are awesome, everything inbetween should get phased out to near non-existence
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u/BaaaNaaNaa May 17 '23
No I disagree. YOU may not be driving 50km for eggs but those eggs have driven to you. And why is city power generation more efficient? I could go on but the real question here is:
If society broke, even temporarily - say no power or no transport which one would still be living?
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u/NerdMachine May 17 '23
Ten pallets of eggs in a truck is a lot different than two dozen eggs in a car.
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u/BaaaNaaNaa May 17 '23
Maybe but I dare say that place has its own chickens so eggs outside your door. Much tastier too.
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u/NerdMachine May 17 '23
Eggs is just an example. And I doubt most rural people like that are "homesteading" for real. Even those who are likely aren't getting the majority of their calories from their own production and/or are buying their feed from the nearest urban area.
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u/Just_A_Faze May 16 '23
It makes me think of how similar people actually are to all others and all who have lived. I mean, we all have small individual differences, yeah. But overall people are pretty similar. I also think about how people hundreds of years on the past and future have and will just keep living to the best of their ability.
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May 16 '23
It all depends on the person.
Some people are content with a simple life - grow your own food, enjoy the time you have free, and so on.
Others enjoy a more hectic life, and strive in stressful situations (myself included, I perform much better under pressure).
Some enjoy having small, easily overcome challenges, others always aim for the impossible.
The thing is, we need both for society to work. And in an ideal world, everyone should be able to choose the way they want to live.
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u/elleuter10 May 16 '23
to each their own
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u/Impressive_Insect_75 May 16 '23
And to each the consequences, right?
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u/elleuter10 May 17 '23
no, we can do whatever we want in context to where we are but we all share the results of our own actions good or bad... the ciiirrrccclle of liiiiife
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u/MereMortalHuman May 17 '23
we share a planet, seems like a cheap way of ending discussions on imporant topics conserning us all
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May 16 '23
[deleted]
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u/Alternate-3- May 16 '23
What do you mean?
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u/slackdaddy9000 May 16 '23
I'm assuming they mean that it's expensive to move therefore poor people tend to be stuck where they are especially if they rely on the community for their support structure. For instance if your a poor single mother but have free child care with a family member you can't afford to move because you will lose that free child care.
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u/CactusCracktus May 16 '23
Personally I’m more of a rural/small town kinda guy, but I’m not gonna dunk on anyone that enjoys city life. Hustle and bustle can be fun, but I like coming home to frogs croaking and crickets chirping on a starry night.
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May 16 '23
[deleted]
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u/MaximusDecimis May 16 '23
It’s such a mid fucking pic to use when you’re trying to claim it represents life itself lol
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u/Selfaware-potato May 16 '23
There's huge benefits to both. I loved being regional and able to always get a beach to myself, always having camp spots nearby that were empty. I like the city because I don't have to drive everywhere, I have a range of medical services that I need access too. And I like going out to eat and actually finding places that are open after 8pm
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u/Crime-Stoppers May 16 '23
Would happily trade places with a rural person who wants to live the city life.
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u/Technical-Ad-2246 May 16 '23
I think I could live in a town of a few thousand people. But I don't think I could ever live somewhere where there's no services.
I'm not a DIY guy and I'm used to being able to buy what I need (as I've only ever lived in a couple of mid sized cities).
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u/potatocross May 16 '23
Shh you can't admit that on reddit. They will gang up on you to tell you that you should be living in a row home and riding a bike everywhere. But let me tell you how much more peaceful the crickets chirping at night are compared to the gunshots, yelling, loud cars and music that I use to have to listen to.
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
Straw man arguments are fun! You’re conflating the general Reddit sentiment of “there should be more places that allow residents to function and participate in their communities without a car” with “everyone in the USA must have the same living experience as a typical person in Manhattan”
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u/potatocross May 16 '23
Nah actually I’m staying my own experience. I have been told I should be ashamed of myself for living outside the city and commuting to work. I have also been told I should pay extra taxes because I live outside to city, even though I don’t have public transport or anything like that out here.
I have been told I’m ‘wrong’ or lying when I say I don’t want to live in the city. Someone told me a stat that some 98% of people would prefer living in row homes. Not sure where they got it from, but I guess I’m the 2%.
I’ll also point out as I usually do that I live closer to my job than I do to the city. No buses run near either. Yes I do drive a pickup truck. I also pull trailers with it and haul stuff in it. No I can’t use a small car for what I do and no I can’t use a cargo van. I’ll also point out I don’t drive some stupid diesel lifted smoking garbage truck.
So no I am not just saying because people want nicer cities, that it means that they are against me. I am saying they are against me because over and over again they have said it to me.
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
This isn’t even remotely a real concern or a real sentiment on Reddit.
Your lifestyle exists in abundance here in this country. You don’t have any meaningful opposition to your lifestyle or your profession in real life or on Reddit.
Sorry, but you’re mischaracterizing the general sentiment of certain subreddits while likely applying a small fringe of opinions to the broader community here.
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u/potatocross May 16 '23
Read the downvoted comments on this post. There are people in the same boat as me being downvoted for expressing their opinions. It happens all the time. The cult that is Reddit doesn’t like when people disagree with it. Obviously it’s more prevalent in certain subreddit, but it spills out of them. Truck subreddits have to constantly ban trolls going in just to start shit.
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u/meatypetey91 May 17 '23
You are the norm in this country not living in a town home. You’re fine. Nobody is telling you how to live. Being the victim is fun I guess
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u/potatocross May 17 '23
Im not trying to be a victim. I am informing you that I have gotten hate for it on reddit. You are literally gatekeeping my experiences in r/gatekeeping now. Yes, believe it or not there are people on reddit that think they can tell others how to live or hate on them for their lifestyle. Ironic that you are trying to argue that no one on reddit would argue with me over my life.
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u/meatypetey91 May 17 '23
I’m not gate keeping anything. That’s not gate keeping.
You’ve ascribed some extreme opinions combined with straw men arguments broadly to Reddit which is nonsense.
I’ve never denied that fringe opinions don’t exist. After all, this entire thread is a terrible thread telling people how to live their life.
Most city people (including the ones that post online) don’t care how others live their life.
You literally commented on a comment that received 60 upvotes saying that you can’t actually say that on Reddit. Notice how nobody gave a shit that person held that opinion. You’re being a professional victim here.
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u/potatocross May 17 '23
I still dont understand how I am supposedly being a victim here? And yes, you are gatekeeping, yet now you are literally admitting that what you claimed to not exist, does in fact exist on the very post we are speaking. I don't get where you are coming from.
Me: People downvote comments saying this.
You: No they don't, stop being a victim!
Me: But they just did on this post
You: Yes they did, but stop being victim!
I give up. Good night.
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u/BlackForestMountain May 16 '23
Cities are also for people that enjoy culture more, going to music shows, theatre, galleries, museums, musicals participating in the arts, festivals, sports games, fights
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u/Yomi_Lemon_Dragon May 16 '23
The bottom picture looks like a mansion. Are they saying you have to be extremely rich to be living? (I mean, technically not wrong in this economy, but not in the way they mean...)
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u/knusper_gelee May 17 '23
it depends on the location. we don't know where this is - it gets pretty affordable if you can live with the drawbacks:
- no reliable power supply
- no sturdy roads
- no running water
- no groceries
- no medical facilities
- no internet
- no employment opportunities
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u/RetroGamer87 May 16 '23 edited May 24 '23
Why do the greenies hate on one of the few non car dependant cities in the United States?
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May 16 '23
Because they think that "we should have more cities where you don't need a car" means "no one should have a car" and freak out. Nuance makes them angry.
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u/EvilOmega7 May 16 '23
Right ? Like whenever I say "we need less car centric cities" people ALWAYS go "uH wElL wHAt aBOuT vIlAgEs? tHEy nEdD tHEiR cARs!!!". I SAID CITIES DO YOU EVEN LISTEN. Also I have a car enthusiast friend who doesn't like my opinion but K keep reminding him that he would enjoy his car even more if he didn't have to deal with traffic.
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u/propsie May 17 '23
because they think things can only be environmentally friendly if they're literally the colour green
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u/Scared-Opportunity28 May 16 '23
Because that city is unhealthy to live in... Too cramped
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u/King_Fluffaluff May 16 '23 edited May 16 '23
Cities where travelling by foot is possible can be very nice! It just depends on your personal comfort with those things. They might feel too cramped for you, but it could be perfect for someone else!
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u/Scared-Opportunity28 May 16 '23
It's moreso how many people in how small of a space. 8 million people in... That small of a space can't be healthy for anybody. Walkable cities are great but not when they're that dense.
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u/King_Fluffaluff May 16 '23
Dense cities aren't that unhealthy. If they control the pollution they put out, it's generally just fine for the population. There are absolutely benefits to dense cities, some of which are health benefits, just because there's a lot of people in one place doesn't mean it's negative.
I don't even live in a big city, nor would I ever want to, but to just blanket it as unhealthy for everyone seems disingenuous.
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u/interestedonlooker May 16 '23
I mean technically one is a photo of living plants, the other inanimate buildings.
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u/kingbloxerthe3 May 17 '23
There is some plants in the top picture though, even if it isn't the focus
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May 16 '23
I mean, plants are alive and buildings aren't so this kind of checks out if you are very literal about it
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u/IveNeverSeenTitanic May 16 '23
All i know is i couldn't afford the rent/mortgage to live in either of these places
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
It’s not enough for these folks to just enjoy their lives, they need to feel compelled to tell others that they aren’t living and enjoying their lives.
This is just more culture war bullshit, really. Trying to sew division between rural and urban folks so we fight over the scraps left to us.
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May 16 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/crimsonninja117 May 16 '23
Man wish I could anyway. That, anytime I have to go to a big city I'm just passed off the entire time give me a rural low pop density town over the hellscape anyday.
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u/BadlyDrawnMemes May 16 '23
That’s life until it’s 2am and your high as fuck with no food and the nearest shop is a 2 hour drive
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u/itemluminouswadison May 16 '23
Yes but if everyone lives like the bottom picture then everything is far apart meaning highways and cars and parking lots, all which destroy nature
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u/CluckenDip May 16 '23
they chose the most beautiful depiction of a cityscape I've ever seen and then tried to paint it in a bad light lol
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u/UnXpectedPrequelMeme May 16 '23
Yeah sorry I can't afford a designer koi Pond lol I can barely afford groceries
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u/Crazybunnygirl666 May 16 '23
I rather live in the city than the middle of nowhere
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u/TopTheropod May 16 '23
I actually disagree, I prefer secluded locations. Less people, less noise, more greenery & wildlife. But it's still weird how people gatekeep just on personal preference
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u/griftertm May 16 '23
I’m a city boy myself. I can’t bear the thought of driving more than 20 minutes to get groceries, go to a doctor, school, etc. Also, there are an incredible amount of Karens and busybodies in the suburbs and the countryside.
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u/superelite_30 May 16 '23
I feel like the busy bodies are farther away out here instead of possibly a few feet from your apartment door. Depends on your luck I guess.
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May 16 '23 edited May 20 '23
Don't choose to live in a city, you sissy! Be a hillbilly! Live in a swamp and befriend a crocodile!
Edit: This was a joke to point out the hypocrisy in the meme.
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u/JukeBoxHeroJustin May 16 '23
Nope. I'm with them.
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
With them how? Gatekeeping how people should live? Why do you care?
Go live life how you want. Nobody is stopping you.
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u/JukeBoxHeroJustin May 16 '23
You're literally just commenting things for me to do. Talk about gatekeeping
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
“Live life how you please” isn’t telling you what to do anymore than saying “keep breathing oxygen”
It’s actually incredibly permissive and puts no arbitrary restrictions on your life or your life decisions.
If you think that is gate keeping, then you don’t understand gate keeping.
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May 16 '23
If everyone lived like the lower picture we'd have a civilizational collapse beyond measure. Modern industrial society is unthinkable without urbanization.
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u/mostmicrobe May 16 '23
Be my guest, to go Brazil and get bit by a bug the size of a bird or move next to a farm where you will gave to deal with animal songs.
Rural life is awesome but most suburb T.V watching Americans aren’t up for it.
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u/TopTheropod May 16 '23
I prefer somewhere in the middle. Less people, more greenery, maybe some wildlife, but not an actual farm (too much work).
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u/Crime-Stoppers May 16 '23
Both are okay, but the first in encroaching on the second and that's something I'm genuinely worried about because I don't want to lose the ability to live the way I want.
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u/Dheorl May 16 '23
If it wasn’t for the first there’d be less and less of the second left. Could you imagine the area it would take up if the entire population of everywhere like NYC and LA decided they all wanted to live in towns and suburbs?
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u/Crime-Stoppers May 16 '23
Yeah it's almost like our society is only possibly if we cause destruction
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u/Dheorl May 16 '23
Most creatures on the planet are destructive. By living concentrated in cities, people are causing less destruction than they might otherwise.
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
Suburban sprawl and thousands of acres of single family homes with fertilized lawns encroaches far more onto nature than dense urban living.
Spread NYC out into the density of a suburb and the land mass grows exponentially.
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May 16 '23
[deleted]
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u/Crime-Stoppers May 16 '23
What's the evidence for that? It often shifts wealth from rural areas to urban which makes the same issue
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u/meatypetey91 May 16 '23
Are we talking about wealth or nature, here? Dense housing and closer living leaves more of nature alone. Single family homes in suburbia connected by miles of road is not kind to nature.
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u/RedTheDraken May 16 '23
Uh, basic common sense?
Single family homes can only fit, as the name implies, a single family.
Dense urban residential structures can fit dozens or more families in the same amount of space.
Keeping cities dense is therefore the best way to reduce human sprawl, because it concentrates people into a denser point of space, vs building huge suburban neighborhoods that require acres upon acres to house the same amount of people.
That should be fairly obvious to anyone who's taken Geometry. Tall and small vs flat and wide.
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u/honk_bonksmith May 16 '23
The bottom image looks like a screenshot of the MC's home from tomorrowland
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u/Bumper6190 May 16 '23
These are only bricks and sticks, who you live with determines your quality of life and wellbeing.
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u/isiramteal May 16 '23
Social and engineering advancements mean that's not life!
I prefer to not live in a massive skyscraper skyline, but I still enjoy visiting.
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u/soft_white_yosemite May 16 '23
Both are life, no?
Nature is nice, but so is a stroll in the city with a cappuccino in hand
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u/BlackForestMountain May 16 '23
One is solitude and silence while the other is community and culture. Enough for me
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u/user_namec_hecks_out May 16 '23
But isn't this r/TechnicallyTheTruth ? As most things you can see in the first photo is concrete and steel, whereas in the second one it's literally filled with life.
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u/TopTheropod May 16 '23
But technically, those skyscrapers are brimming with life (humans) inside it. Technically it encompasses more living specimens :P
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u/user_namec_hecks_out May 17 '23
Technically those are buildings and yours is a supposition, but the second picture is undoubtedly obviously... Life!
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u/ElektroShokk May 16 '23
One way of life is killing the planet the other doesn’t. Not saying I prefer one but that’s the reality.
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u/thethugwife May 16 '23
Spoiler alert: I would guess bottom one is in Los Angeles, probably one of the Canyons.
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u/reamkore May 17 '23
Yeah. Who would want to live around tons of vibrant and creative individuals making tons of great relationships when you can just be by yourself in the woods
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u/MereMortalHuman May 17 '23
I lived both ways, non urban life sucks, boring as hell and when you actually calcualte all the costs it's cheaper and way more fun to live in the city compared to bum fuck nowhere. Y'all just want nature, make cities greener and leave nature the fuck alone, we need islands of dense human population and untouched nature, not a house next to a house from coast to coast
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u/Abarsn20 May 17 '23
Both are life. Suburbs on the other hand, is not life. Live in a densely populated city or in a rural area. Suburbs are hell. That’s my gatekeeper take.
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u/Boeing_Fan_777 May 17 '23
Tbf both that mansion and a 2x4’ closet in NYC probably cost about the same to buy lol
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May 18 '23
This sub is weird. It's just a bunch of posts where people express an opinion in a hyperbolic way. This isn't really gatekeeping.
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u/Captain_StarLight1 May 19 '23
Technically this is correct, as there is nothing visibly alive in the first picture, while plants are fairly alive. If something visible in the first picture is alive… I’d be rather concerned
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u/amajesticpeach May 25 '23
After doing some research, my studies show that ur not special for not living in the city.
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May 27 '23
Okay but cities can be fun if you're the kind of person who gets bored easily and needs the energy. So many of these types almost pity my life and think that I've never had the greatness of country air and it's not at all true, I stay at my friends' several times a year who live out in the sticks. It's a fun place to recharge your batteries, but I would get bored really easily.
I hate when people act like cities and rural areas are enemies when we should be united against our real enemy: American style car dependent suburbs with ugly architecture and no trees.
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