Not American. BasicFit and similar chains allow you access to all their gyms across Europe. Obviously, the car will be a problem here. If you can afford it, something like the citroen berlingo will do. They're everywhere, relatively affordable, and not super noticeable. If that's not an option, there's the library or public transport, combined with the occasional hostel. Not ideal, but better than sleeping on the street and not being able to wash at all.
Non-profit social media isn't exactly healthy either.
I know beehaw is a relative safe haven, but venture to other instances in the fediverse and you'll find cesspits of toxicity that are as bad as it gets.
And given what my experiences with toxic positivity, cancelling and culture wars in minority run communities which should know better, I doubt beehaw doesn't have its fair share of toxicity too. Even if you manage to keep out the worst bigots, people who have been hurt or bullied, quite often end up hurting or bullying others.
People clearly do care, that's why they manufacture drama. It helps drive engagement and views.
Of course, it's hard not to look down on people who develop parasocial relationships with youtube personalities.
But some people are very lonely. So if anything we should be critical of the youtuber who knowingly cultivate unhealthy fanbases and profit off their misery.
That's the thing. From what I've gathered, a lot of what he says is perfectly sensible, often age old philosophical advice. But that's how they get you. It's like Russia Today. They mix the lies with plenty of truth. If they only told lies, they would be far less convincing.
Of course, another thing Peterson does, is use expensive words to make himself sound smarter than he actually is. If you have a related degree or spend a little time on wikipedia, you'll notice he's often talking nonsense. But to the layman, Jordan sounds like he's a great intellectual. I don't think he's deliberately trying to scam his followers, I think he earnestly wants to help them. I'm willing to believe he means well. It's just that he's like a respected doctor who thinks he knows better than his lawyer and ends up getting himself convicted. He may be an expert in his field of expertise, but he clearly isn't outside that field. He often sounds like an overeducated idiot. There are plenty of those in academia, unfortunately.
If anything, I find it a damning indictment of society (and the media), that a run of the mill motivational speaker can become so popular.
Almost all art is influenced by other art. But Tarantino very closely copies some scenes. Think a literal collage, made up of photocopied bits of another work, rather than a painting inspired or influenced by another work. Tarantino is honest about this.
Is that a great painting? I quite like it, it's iconic, but it's not the Mona Lisa, and Warhol is not Da Vinci.
People who haven't watched a lot of movies, think Tarantino is Da Vinci. That he created an iconic scene, like Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
People who have watched a lot of movies, realise he's Warhol. There's an iconic scene, but it's based on an original work, like Warhol's Mona Lisa.
There's nothing wrong with Warhol. Hell, it's ok to think that Warhol is a better artist than Da Vinci, think that Warhol's Mona Lisa is a better painting than the original Mona Lisa, art is subjective after all.
But it's a mistake to think Warhol is a genius, because he painted the Mona Lisa. He didn't. That was Da Vinci. If you're going think Warhol is a genius, you should think he's a genius because he took an existing work and manipulated it in a way that is genius.