unable to run pip

[Skaperen]

i'm getting a strange error trying to run pip suggesting something deep is missing. i installed pip from the Ubuntu repository, again, and it still does this. suggestions?

Output:
Script started, file is ./20220609-022641-028181-install-awscli.log
02:26:41 [28185] EXECUTING: 'pip' 'install' '--cache-dir' '/var/lib/pip-cache' 'awscli'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/pip", line 5, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.main import main
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/cli/main.py", line 10, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.autocompletion import autocomplete
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py", line 9, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.main_parser import create_main_parser
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py", line 7, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py", line 25, in <module>
    from pip._internal.locations import USER_CACHE_DIR, get_src_prefix
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/locations.py", line 19, in <module>
    from pip._internal.utils import appdirs
  File "/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_internal/utils/appdirs.py", line 13, in <module>
    from pip._vendor import appdirs as _appdirs
ImportError: cannot import name 'appdirs' from 'pip._vendor' (/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip/_vendor/__init__.py)
[[ 0m0s real 0.210 - user 0.190 - sys 0.020 - 99.93% ]]
02:26:42 [28185] FINISHED - status = 1
Script done, file is ./20220609-022641-028181-install-awscli.log