TLDR; know your job, get off big tech, vote with your attention/data/purchases, use privacy phone and carriers, stop buying shit from assholes, learn how to be alone, save tiny amount from paycheck and don’t touch
Learn your job better than anyone else. Good ole boys club, affirmative action, and nepotism can’t make up for incompetence. I’ve overcompensated for being from a poor family my whole tech career by going above and beyond and learning more and more skills. After 20 years, people listen to me and I have an insane amout of leverage in my workplace.
No google, gmail (almost 100%off), Amazon Prime, reddit, Facebook, Instagram, youtube, or Spotify. I am using several emails in Europe. Amazon and Facebook were easy to remove. Reddit was replaced with Lemmy. I also use Mastadon and Pixelfed. Make a personal threat model first so you don’t go nuts implementing countermeasures. Get NextDNS on your phone and filter trackers if tracking is an issue for you. Good luck on this long journey.
Instead of Firefox, I use Libre and I started using Tor browser and FOSS browser for Android, and with my new phone a native fork of Bromite that was preinstalled.
Instead of my Samsung phone, I bought a Fairphone 6 with e/OS already installed and am using Murena as my carrier. This just became available in the US. I’m transitioning to it all now. So far customer service is slow through email, but they responded over night and no issues with coverage.
I started voting with my attention, but also with my wallet. No Target. No Ticketmaster. Absolutely no Coors ever! There are a few things I refuse to buy.
Also, I have a bit of each paycheck go into an emergency account of a bank that does not exist in my state. If I have to withdraw, I either need to cross state lines or find a local co-op participant bank. After several years, I have not only a huge emergency fund but also 6 months of living expenses that I transferred to a money market account when the emergency account got too high. I have made withdrawals for auto repairs and to hospitalize my pet.
I don’t buy too many things. Mostly just clothes that are durable and video games. Saving money means you can tell your boss to kiss your ass if you need to. Your vote might not count as much, but your wallet, data, and attention can be used to vote every day.
Also just be by yourself. Stop going out every chance. Do your own thing. There are worse thing than being alone. Be very careful if you date. Watch for red flags like love bombing and people who constantly speak negatively about your friends / family.
TLDR; know your job, get off big tech, vote with your attention/data/purchases, use privacy phone and carriers, stop buying shit from assholes, learn how to be alone, save tiny amount from paycheck and don’t touch
Learn your job better than anyone else. Good ole boys club, affirmative action, and nepotism can’t make up for incompetence. I’ve overcompensated for being from a poor family my whole tech career by going above and beyond and learning more and more skills. After 20 years, people listen to me and I have an insane amout of leverage in my workplace.
No google, gmail (almost 100%off), Amazon Prime, reddit, Facebook, Instagram, youtube, or Spotify. I am using several emails in Europe. Amazon and Facebook were easy to remove. Reddit was replaced with Lemmy. I also use Mastadon and Pixelfed. Make a personal threat model first so you don’t go nuts implementing countermeasures. Get NextDNS on your phone and filter trackers if tracking is an issue for you. Good luck on this long journey.
Instead of Firefox, I use Libre and I started using Tor browser and FOSS browser for Android, and with my new phone a native fork of Bromite that was preinstalled.
Instead of my Samsung phone, I bought a Fairphone 6 with e/OS already installed and am using Murena as my carrier. This just became available in the US. I’m transitioning to it all now. So far customer service is slow through email, but they responded over night and no issues with coverage.
I started voting with my attention, but also with my wallet. No Target. No Ticketmaster. Absolutely no Coors ever! There are a few things I refuse to buy.
Also, I have a bit of each paycheck go into an emergency account of a bank that does not exist in my state. If I have to withdraw, I either need to cross state lines or find a local co-op participant bank. After several years, I have not only a huge emergency fund but also 6 months of living expenses that I transferred to a money market account when the emergency account got too high. I have made withdrawals for auto repairs and to hospitalize my pet.
I don’t buy too many things. Mostly just clothes that are durable and video games. Saving money means you can tell your boss to kiss your ass if you need to. Your vote might not count as much, but your wallet, data, and attention can be used to vote every day.
Also just be by yourself. Stop going out every chance. Do your own thing. There are worse thing than being alone. Be very careful if you date. Watch for red flags like love bombing and people who constantly speak negatively about your friends / family.
You don’t need all this stuff!