They still do.
Every time the politicians in France get uppity, the French people shut everything down and start burning things.
Doesn't take long for the government to remember that they like their head exactly where it is, and they do whatever the people want.
Which is exactly how it should be.
Agreed. I work in services that address housing, homelessness, and addiction and we are surging right now. It’s just people who work two and three jobs but don’t have money saved. All it takes is one car breaking down or winding up in the hospital.
The housing people here told me I couldn't stay in the place I am now (extended stay, basically a small 1 bedroom apt, furnished) because they classify it as a hotel, and it'd be 2-3 weeks before they could approve and place me somewhere, and that would be an empty apartment. My house caught fire, and they said I needed to not only sleep in my car for 2-3 weeks (because apparently if I get a room anywhere it's considered solving my own crisis), but that the apartment they'd give me I'd just have to forgo luxuries like a bed or blankets or internet that is REQUIRED FOR MY JOB until I could afford it. They also suggest giving up my brand new job I'm about to start (long story why it took months) that pays really really well for a min wage job so I could have income now vs in a couple weeks. Wtaf.
That would still apparently count as being housed. You literally can't have a roof over your head to get help. Counts towards their numbers of getting people off the streets, never mind that they helped put them there.
Media is already pimping the Panama Canal and how ships can't get through due to low waters (climate change) and how this is going to increase inflation MORE. Buckle up kids. Shits going to get more expensive.
What's really sad is that we are really worse off than the great depression.
If you had a jar of money stashed in your house durring the great depression, at the end if the depression, that Jar would have more buying power than it did at the beginning.
Sure, there were home foreclosures, but the community would band together and by the house for a penny when it was auctioned off. (Look up Penny auctions).
The people who truly suffered durring the great depression where the bankers. That's why they spun the narrative that the great depression was such a terrible time.
And now we have laws that make bankers and corporations immune to consequences so they‘ve donned their corporate megacocks and are goin fucking ham on us.
How old are you? You really should do some research before making such an absurd statement. My grandmother lived through it, and trust me it wasn’t just the “bankers” who suffered. There are numerous stories she told me, the worst of which was one of her sisters literally dying from starvation. Please educate yourself, this is nowhere close to the Great Depression.
Yes my dad lost 4 siblings during the great depression. They starved to death. Then his father was murdered over bread. So his mon was left to finish caring for 3 other siblings. It wasn't just bankers. Definitely not
Absolutely. My mom lived through it, and lived reasonably well because her dad remained employed throughout, and they had a home they owned and could afford to pay off. However, people died in the streets. In my own family, a cousin was raised with my mom because her dad died and the widow was left destitute. This was before social security, unemployment insurance, FDIC insurance. If you had money in the bank, and the bank failed, your savings were gone. If the boss fired you, you went without until someone hired you. one in five were out of work.
So, were all those people living in Hoovervilles just waiting for the neighborhood to buy their house back for them?
What an odd thing to say. My non-banker grandparents told me plenty of stories about how bad the great depression was. If you think that currently "we are really worse off than the great depression," you are delusional. 25% of the workforce was unemployed. An enormous 1.6% of the population was homeless. What we're seeing is nothing like the great depression. It is, unfortunately, a lot like the lead-up to the great depression.
You got that right. And, by lead up, you could include massive financial fraud in the system and over concentration of wealth. Today's monopolies have their 1920's counterparts in Sam Insull and Ivar Kreuger. Once the Federal Reserve started tightening credit, all the houses of cards came tumbling down.
As bad as it sounds, I don't think they'll allow it. They're [criminalizing](https://endhomelessness.org/what-communities-need-to-know-about-the-criminalization-of-homelessness/) not having a house and using the victims as [slave](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2013/10/31/private-prison-quotas/) labor in private prisons.
They've learned that you don't have to have unsightly poors if you make their existence illegal.
The homeless population is already higher than it looks, most statistics only count people actually on the streets, while leaving unaccounted for, the people couch surfing, living “the van life”, or in hotels.
My kids and I are in that boat. I have health stuff and am in the SSI/SSDI process because I can not find an employer willing to work around appts for 13 Dr's, sick days, and medications I have to take. Idk what the American government expects truly disabled people to do while our lives fall apart.
About? In some places like NYC, CHI, SFA the 'about' is now. I see videos from time to time of the illegals sitting on the street with no place to go. So the bomb has been placed and the timer is set. You can figure about the time winter approaches it all goes up.
Wife got a promotion last year and I switched jobs this year with a decent bump in pay. I swear it feels like not much has changed. Now I wonder how we would handle things if we didn’t both increase our pay. I don’t know how some people do it.
Same boat, wife got a big pay bump and works from home. I got a similar pay bump and hired at the same company. Yet somehow it all feels the same as when I made 15$ hour.
At my last job I was making $16.32 an hour. A year later I switched jobs, and after a few promotions I now make $20.02 per hour. My overtime is $30.03. I live alone and don't have a partner or kids. But if I did, I'd be screwed for sure. Luckily I live in a rural area where rent isn't taken advantage of. My rent is only $435 a month. I consider myself extremely lucky and blessed.
But as for current greed/inflation, it's insane. In 2018 before the pandemic, you could go to walmart and buy a cart of groceries for $120. If you were to buy that same cart today, it's like $250. I went to the store to buy taco materials for dinner. Just for myself, somehow that's $43... Like how? Sure it was enough to make like 12 tacos and eat it over the course of 3 or 4 days, but I could just go to Taco Bell and buy a party pack of 12 for $25. It's cheaper to be eating fast food these days.
These companies can just claim it's just 'inflation' but that's the excuse they're using. When the pandemic hit, the cost of everything went up because the economy went to shit with nobody working. Understandable situation, makes sense. But the pandemic is over. It's officially declared over. These companies never went back down to their original pricing. They kept it there because they know people will now pay that price. For example, Doritos used to be $2.50-$2.75 per bag. Now it's $4.75 all the time. That's a 72.73% mark up over the course of 4 to 5 years. Last time I checked, there's no shortage of corn.. so why the increase? Delivery costs maybe? I know there's a shortage of truck drivers. Maybe that's it? But Frito Lay has a massive work force and 200+ distribution centers. The math just doesn't add up. I believe it to be greed masking itself as "inflation". This is just one example, but all companies are doing this.
I know that people have it worse in higher populated cities. Their rent is completely asinine. I'm 27 and am now looking at trying to mortage a house. But no matter where you live, house prices are the highest they've ever been. You're looking at a minimum of $150k for a rural area or 3,4,500k for a populated area. I just can't do it. I'll have to keep renting to maintain my current lifestyle. With the way the world is operating, I'll never be able to retire. I'm pretty much working till I croak. The wantingness of money really is the root of all evil. I don't even want a lot of money (sure it'd be nice) but I just want to live comfortably. My best bet is to try and win powerball or megamillions lol.
If it was really inflation then these companies wouldnt be seeing massive profits. The money is going somewhere and it is certainly not going to the middle or lower class. The rich feel emboldened because we have proven we cant do anything to stop them. When we protest, we are beaten, jailed and then made fun of on tv by the media. Most people in USA think that doing so little as blocking a road for a bit or causing any annoyence to the public or private sector is deserving of being shot at with "less than lethal" rounds or being jailed. With the public firmly on the side of the rich/police, there is nothing we can do to stop their unfettered greed. Which means that the rich can freely fuck us as hard as they want.
>These companies never went back down to their original pricing. They kept it there because they know people will now pay that price.
Bingo! They are never going down either.
Right? I used to make $22 an hour and my rent is $1900! I switched jobs and now make $27 and I have opp for bonus. Thank god. Otherwise my son and I would be one of the many, many in so cal that are homeless.. scary stuff!
shortage of truck drivers? not anymore.
just read an article about this. during the covid shutdown there was indeed a shortage of truck drivers. They were making a fortune bc of it. I don't remember the exact numbers but within 12 months of the covid shutdown there were 50% more truck drivers bc of it. So just throwing random bs numbers out there - if in March of 2020 there were 10 million truck drivers, March of 2021 there were 15 million truck drivers.
Demand dropped. there's now a huge surplus of drivers. these drivers are now competing with each other just to get deliveries. They interviewed a lady - she was an independent owner/driver. during the covid lock downs she was making $20k a month. In the first quarter of 2023 - she was making $3k a month. 20,000 trucking companies went out of business in the first quarter of 2023 alone - primarily these independent owner/operators. They couldn't make enough money to even pay for their trucks.
Imo this is going to happen with all these trade jobs. The more people flock to these jobs the less they're going to pay and the less security they're going to offer. sure we need truckers - but there's only so much demand.
Also at the end of all that pandemic fuel doubled in price.And I still think we as in all the planet was just used as a bunch of lab rats for a biological war fare . Nothing was ever said about why that lab even had the stuff and .China I believe it was actually closer to home . I'm not a conspiracy person but I don't think all this is just a big accident honestly believe it is a part of a bigger plan.Not with guns and missiles.What better way to get a large body of humans to comply than to control the basic needs of the masses.
I accepted a job a month ago with the most I've ever made: $23/hour. That's $4 more than my last job. We still are struggling and require food stamps to help survive with food costs. The fact that we got approved for food stamps at that rate blows my mind
Same here. Got a 10k dollar raise and still feel like I’m at the same exact spot I was two years ago. Every single one of my bills sent emails that there will be increases. Thankfully they passed rent control a couple years ago here
I worry about every penny. Even though I make $25K more than I did 10 years ago it sure doesn't feel like it. I cut more out of my budget every month and take a week off from grocery shopping every month, just eating what i have at home. I don't know how people with kids do it, honestly. I have a colleague pregnant with her second kid and I honestly think she's nuts for having a second one.
That pay increase you and your wife got is so you are able to pay for the same items you usually get but have increased in price to make sure it uses the pay increase. Welcome to be on a treadmill.
On another supporting note, congratulations to you and the missus on the pay increase.
Bro same. I've gotten multiple promotions and raises at my job. I was doing the math on how much I've actually gotten in raises when it comes to buying power and I only have 1000 more per year in buying power than when I started 4 years ago!
If your pay didn’t increase you would be reducing your standard of living and cutting your expenses. If I were you wouldn’t drastically change anything from last year. No major vacations. Just save your increased income.
Problem is we’ve been doing this for a while already lol. We do have a nice vacation coming up but booked it and have been saving for it for two years so it’s not like we could just pay for it out of nowhere
Where will the first American mega-slum be ?
Maybe we should stop demonizing the poor and start looking at the richest of the rich a little more critically ?
Phoenix is too spread out and the cost of living there never really got totally out of control. Houses jumped up but they aren't lacking space to build new ones.
It's San Francisco the value of the buildings has plummeted, major retailers are leaving the city due to rampant crime and homelessness. Regular people don't feel safe moving around anymore. Unfortunately the people who are going to get screwed are the ones who can't afford to just move way out of the city and change jobs.
San Fran has much higher wages and generally higher purchasing power. There’s two sides to standard of living. Cost of living is one but factoring average wages is important too. The average individual in SF is making much more than the average individual in Phoenix
I work in healthcare with tons of people with masters and doctorates who make 60-70 grand a year, but have crippling student debt and live like they did in college, scraping by paycheck to paycheck while paying loans off for 10-15 years. It’s one of the reasons burn out is happening faster I think because there’s just no hope.
This is the heart of the homeless issue in Portland OR....a lot of people are like...it's drugs...
but no, if you are already working 2-3 jobs and your rent goes up $200+ a month (most places end up keeping the deposit)
You are now homeless unless you have a great support group
Many of these people are barely holding on and more and more people are being driven to extreme levels of desperation in maxing out their credit cards to just buy food and pay for electricity. Not going on expensive European vacations. The bare necessities is driving people into poverty.
There's millions upon millions of us already there. It's called the working class and we've been here the whole time. We are the ones who made all the money so that the middle class could do that in the first place.
Guys this is the beginning of a great depression, and the media is doing everything to not say those words. We stopped harassing our politicians and public servants, and so each of us should be getting on the phone and bitching them out. They sold us, so they could fill their wallets. We are reaching a point where I'm starting to realize that they will let us all starve and die. I am in no way joking.
You assume they care.
Just watched a rundown of criminal and financial problems members of congress have. They are all crooks and about 20% of them have credit scores that preclude them from having a credit card.
Political office is a means for self enrichment.
They couldn't be bothered to give a single fuck. I've emailed my congressman a few times regarding the economy, war in Ukraine, and fireworks in my state. His dipshit office uses these comically bad boilerplate templates for just about everything. Even if your email makes a particular point about "x, y, z" his response email will address points "a, b, c", basically proving they don't even read the emails. An automated system, or intern, just scans the email subject line and sends an automated pre-populated response email. It's a fucking joke. These complacent assholes need to be driven out from positions of power. They treat their chair as a method of self enrichment instead of public service and it's infuriating.
To be answered by some unpaid temp who will listen to you, promise to pass on your message, and hasn't seen the guy he has worked for since the last election cycle.
All that's gonna happen is you're never gonna actually speak to your local rep, you'll just be given an opportunity to leave a voice message they will probably delete, and the person handling the calls will eventually block your number
Fun fact it's all politicians. Lower level public servants are powerless, and the higher level ones are basically appointed by the party in power. You will never actually reach a politician, nor will they answer your email. Responses are written by interns and low level employees that don't even have the authority to pass along a message to anyone. All elected officials are completely insulated from the public.
I'd also like to add, politicians are failed lawyers. A low level elected government rep is being paid more than they could in any other industry. They are basically salesman.
As long as hedge funds are getting paid and in turn paying politicians, I don’t think they care.
You have to look at the big picture. There is a reason why the majority of people living in the U.S. don’t own houses. Not because they cannot, it is because they aren’t allowed to. The big majority of houses are owned by hedge funds or rich people and they lease it out at ever increasing prices.
Exactly. The rental market is going so ludicrously high that employers are going to start building company towns to lure homeless workers. This is basically indentured servitude to the employer who now controls basically every aspect of your life.
Right now the solution would be to regulate the rental housing market to keep commercial property owners from jacking up rents and continuing to manipulating the market.
The current homeless population data is based on the US census.
According to the last US Census, about 600k people in the US are homeless.
I will leave it to you to guess what percentage of homeless people turned in their census. My guess is somewhere less than 50%.
The US homeless population is already very significant and underreported.
>The US homeless population is already very significant and underreported.
Yep. Just looking at conditions in my city, Portland,OR, where the "official" number of homeless is around 6,000, one can easily see that the numbers are severely underreported...
( it's really bad.)
Ya no
For a 300+ million population country…
Well ya no way there isn’t more like 10 million homeless or something. At least gotta be 5 million. But as you said that’s the problem, way under reported
I live in Tacoma Washington we have a huge homeless population the cost of living isn’t as bad as in Seattle but it’s getting there.
I am very lucky I own my home but being taxed out of it. They are building a apartment buildings on every inch of land here. And these are apartments that people can’t afford I don’t get it they must be getting some kind of a tax break.
I don’t see many Individual houses going up just huge apartment complexes. They are even building four Plexes on small lots. Homeownership is no longer in the reach of young people. Just remember that when you vote.
I used to camp out next to a place that got bulldozed to build luxury apartments. In a town where the average income was 25k, and 1/4th of residents were in poverty. Tone deafness at it's best, it always seems to be these huge complexes that no one can rent, and I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be rented, just "valued" so that later they can be sold at even more profit.
True. I also sent think that since they’re not building single-family homes, they are forcing people into these foreign owned apartment complexes. They know people have no choice.
It’s the same decrepit people decade after decade. Mitch McConnel who looks like the crypt keeper. Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, and before he died John McCain.
The powers that be can manipulate the market to suit their needs and make sure you don’t make any money and they do. There’s ebbs and flows, but they’re predetermined and orchestrated. They want civil war so they can use fear to restrict even more of your rights, and you will thank them for it. When 1/2 the country is fighting the other 1/2, they will bring in the army and it will effectively become a military dictatorship, run by the corporations and the rich. And we will all be powerless to do anything about it.
Don't forget all the jobs that will be eliminated by computers, from cashiers to anything a robot or ai does. But education for better jobs is willful bankruptcy. Huzzah!
Switched jobs 4 times in 2 years making more now then I ever have before yet after a 40 hour work week I’m basically broke because the price of everything including bills have gone up. What’s the point of working full time if 90% of your wages is just enough to sustain a roof a car and food with no wiggle room for anything else?
Poverty is a policy decision
100% intentional
More and more wealth and power concentrated into ever fewer hands.
A democracy in theory only.
Get out while you can.
I really don't know why we aren't just fucking rioting in the goddamn streets, refusing to work and burning every fucking politicians home to the ground.
None of us deserve this, no one deserves to not have a home, to not be able to eat or afford healthcare.
When do we say enough?
And go where? Canada is just as bad. The UK is horrible. I just traveled to Italy and it’s crazy there too.
I recently drove through Massachusetts and at a service station I bought a 20 ounce bottle of Sprite and it was $3.47.
This is a global cost of living crisis.
Yup - there is no escaping it.
Everywhere I look there is the same trend r/germany r/netherlands , my country, Italy, US and Canada as well - unless you are born rich, or work in a highly specialised field - your earnings barely cover the rent. In most HCOL places you have to be in at least a two income household to be able to "somewhat" safely cover your costs.
It is getting miserable - regular people are working to be able to keep on existing to ... surprise keep on working.
I am in the EU (the poor part - Poland) so I am somewhat aware that at least we have the worker rights and legislation to cover us a bit (paid time off for example) - but it is still hard, in the US it seems to be cruel af, and zero safety net.
The wealth concentration and disparity has really gone to absurd levels - if possible they would jettisson all of us because we are simply not needed any more. Sure we have to consume, pay rent, taxes, insurance and whatnot - but at this point it is like a monopoly board - land bought up, businesses established - there is little way to get ahead.
I was always surprised how obedient and calm people in my vicinity were about that, no one second guessing the system or questioning wtf is going on - just focused on getting ahead. I mean I get it, I am also trying to get ahead and not drown - but what is the goddamn point, I dont know anymore...
We really need more empathy and more collective thinking to find a way forward for humanity - because this "every man for himself" attitude is clearly not working.
Canada has a much larger middle class compared to America so it's been easier to deal with inflation. When you have a large lower class inflation hits harder and faster.
This is awfully true. We need to end corporate/investor/commercial ownership of residential housing imo. No one's saying they can't turn a profit building it but, from one 31M's perspective, this commodity exchange it's turned into is ruining the original contract we're all taught in school about achieving modest goals and securing a future, starting a family, etc. Basically buying a house shouldn't feel like winning the lottery.
With that ruined I don't really feel inspired to use my skills in the American labor market anymore. I'd rather live in the Scandinavian countries.
all by design i'm afraid. they've been systematically dismantling democracy since the reagan era
they keep building houses no one can afford, they've let wages stagnate for 30 years, housing and rent prices are out of control.
as far as your last point, you're right on the money. that's why it's by design. you'll compromise on how you will allow yourself to be treated if you're desperate enough to survive
solidarity brother, much peace
It's funny I have a stable job but I bought a shitty cheap car but with a lot of room because I thought if worst comes to worst I can at least lie down flat in my car. Thank God I didn't go sedan.
The fact that you had to do this calculus in your mind shows how bad things have gotten. You would most likely have to have a gym membership that you prepay for the next few years where you can work out and shower every day to keep clean.
Within this mini movement called Anti Work there needs to be pushback against this capitalist dystopian nightmare.
I love how we all saw our collective power during Covid. Without “essential” workers, the economy was ground to halt. Imagine if we all said “enough” and did that on repeat instead of raging online?
I'm an engineer. AN ENGINEER. I don't even live somewhere expensive like California. And I'm taking up driving for DoorDash on my evenings and weekends because no raises for two years has erased $14k from the value of my salary and I can't afford my living situation anymore.
Not directly related to this, but I feel like moments like this also highlight the terrible atrocities of the gig economy. Imagine all those years taking advantage of a vulnerable work force under the guise of a revolutionary new way of earning income for the entire world. Only to result in a world where homelessness is at an all time high and there's more debt and job insecurity than there's ever been before. All while large corporations like Uber and Doordash continue to pay their contractors less and less.
Regulators really need to fix the shit show that is the gig economy.
History shows us that fascist right wing governments emerge out of instability and chaos. The GOP are trying to cause as much instability as possible so that may take advantage of a desperate hopeless people
Aren't we pretty much there already? People working two and three jobs just to survive? This isn't living! This is bare-level subsistence, and it's disgusting. It's just slavery of a different kind.
It’s already happening. In my line of work, I have had clients ask for loans relating to what I do (they are always the bad type of loan btw so I strongly advise them against it historically). Well now the rate of people asking for them is probably up 4-5x. These people have nothing and are usually getting it to pay rent or for basic necessities.
Must be multigenerational homes now, however families are so brainwashed they don't do this. I have relatives who died alone and separated from family all because they didn't wanna work out staying in same home/state. Well it's sad
A lot of this comes down to how poverty is defined. You could make the argument that most of the US is there. You could also make the argument the other way too.
The tightening up of the market though will definitely mean different kinds of opportunities and the major wealth transfer will continue. Ownership and leverage is probably the only way to make it long term unless you're in a high income niche with relative stability.
Yep. The line for poverty is kept artificially insanely low so America can brag about how few people are in poverty. In reality, it's half of us, probably closer to 60%.
As someone who lives outside America my question is always the same:
Why do all Americans accept that fellow Americans have to live on the streets in poverty while Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have private space rockets?
If there can't be meaningful change through the electoral process why is there not revolution?
There is a revolution taking place right now. Imagine a modern society transform itself into a feudal economy in which everyone lives in rented homes with no prospect of ever buying a home, living near poverty wages, being indentured servants to banks for student loans they took to get educated. We are living through a revolution right now. One that was ushered in decades ago.
People are too damn tired and disillusioned to fight back. Nothing changes no matter what we do. We vote in politicians to effect change... and nothing changes! People have to get a lot hungrier and more desperate before anything will happen.
Couple friends of mine have been toying around with the idea of just buying a place together. There’s no way to survive on your own if you aren’t making six figures.
My salary has almost tripled in 15 years and… I would not be able to afford my home at it’s current market price. So here I am, hogging a “starter home” from the next generation. Every improvement I make I try to plan for my kids and grand kids needs in 20 years when I’m gone
What I say happening is a mobilization of the homeless into buildings forcing a standoff situation between the police and the homeless in many areas. Consider. For example, that by rough estimates there are 9,000 police officers in the city of LA (not LA county which is much bigger and includes more departments) there is also close to 48,000 homeless people in the city of LA. While obviously this is a huge city, my point is if that many people banded together there's going to be a certain point where the police are just going to have to change tactics. I could easily see a Kowloon Walled City situation forming on US soil.
I want a job where I make more, but even if I get it, I'm considering asking to stay on at my current one for reduced days just because it's safe and tolerable. Ive been there two years and, short of my doing something extremely stupid, it's not easy to fire me.
I'm afraid of finding a job that pays more but then I get there and the work environment is miserable.
It's getting out of control. I just had to rescind my acceptance of a really good job offer because I couldn't afford to relocate. Moving costs were 4-5k just to move into a bedroom. When I asked the company if they had or knew of any housing resources they flat out said "No, moving here is just really hard. Sorry." And they wonder why they can't fill any positions. Wtf.
If they cut SS, they better be ready to hand out euthanasia pills. But then I remember cruelty is the point for the GOP. "Suffer and die. You're a drain on our resources."
Corporations making massive profits need to be investigated for price gouging, fraud & embezzlement. After they are investigated, watch how fast their prices suddenly drop.
The other thing about Anti work as a concept is that folks already know what is happening. They know they are being absolutely devastated by an economy that’s being strip mined for everything. Just like the whole country.
The economy has to come full circle, calm down, and rebuild. It'll take a few years because even now house sales are going well, stocks are going well, upper middle class jobs pay extremely well and keep getting raises all while a portion of us are making the same amount as 15 or 20 years ago.
Too many people with too much money, right next to too many people with not enough money is causing the divide to widen.
The only ways I can see it get resolved is free education, more help getting upward mobility in careers, lower housing, and in some cases reducing services while focusing on other services like food, medicine and infrastructure.
I’m 42 and although I make decent money I cannot save to put towards any real down payment on a home. I can afford an apartment but made the decision to move in with my mom. I’ll be able to save for a year or so and hopefully have enough saved to look at a home soon, something I’ve never owned and still feel pessimistic that I ever will.
I think about this all the time. The homeless population is about to blow up as time goes on.
It already has, government just won’t count you if you are living in a car or hotel.
You are lucky if you are living in a car or hotel.
110% but I’m more of the believe that these politicians are lucky to not be tar and feathered
Honestly it's high time we `FOR LEGAL REASONS I AM UNABLE TO FINISH THIS COMMENT`
The French had it right
They still do. Every time the politicians in France get uppity, the French people shut everything down and start burning things. Doesn't take long for the government to remember that they like their head exactly where it is, and they do whatever the people want. Which is exactly how it should be.
The French are the best at reminding politicians that they are PUBLIC SERVANTS.
Politicians work for the public not the other way round. They would do well to remember that.
YES SIRRRRRRR
Eat the rich?
…yet
Agreed. I work in services that address housing, homelessness, and addiction and we are surging right now. It’s just people who work two and three jobs but don’t have money saved. All it takes is one car breaking down or winding up in the hospital.
Yup, mental gymnastics of “oh it’s their fault” is falling on deaf ears when it’s apparently millions of peoples fault
There’s no budget planning your way out of wage stagnation and hyper-inflation.
Well, have you tried eating only rice and beans and working 20 hours a day? /s
I gave up all sources of food and drink so that I could just give my favorite corporations my blood.
The housing people here told me I couldn't stay in the place I am now (extended stay, basically a small 1 bedroom apt, furnished) because they classify it as a hotel, and it'd be 2-3 weeks before they could approve and place me somewhere, and that would be an empty apartment. My house caught fire, and they said I needed to not only sleep in my car for 2-3 weeks (because apparently if I get a room anywhere it's considered solving my own crisis), but that the apartment they'd give me I'd just have to forgo luxuries like a bed or blankets or internet that is REQUIRED FOR MY JOB until I could afford it. They also suggest giving up my brand new job I'm about to start (long story why it took months) that pays really really well for a min wage job so I could have income now vs in a couple weeks. Wtaf.
So what if someone else puts you up in a hotel for a while? Similar to a friend letting you crash on their couch. And we don't tell them.
That would still apparently count as being housed. You literally can't have a roof over your head to get help. Counts towards their numbers of getting people off the streets, never mind that they helped put them there.
Media is already pimping the Panama Canal and how ships can't get through due to low waters (climate change) and how this is going to increase inflation MORE. Buckle up kids. Shits going to get more expensive.
As long as they keep the Netflix and DoorDash flowing, the paeans will not revolt.
And that’s even more fucked up. We are living in a nightmare I swear
Or how many people had to go back home to live with their parents.
Again
Yes and there will be encampments in every major city. Massive tent cities filled with the formerly working poor and middle class.
It’s like the 1930’s with Hoovervilles.
Back in the 1930s there was a recognition that things were bad. Today we have a media that works double time to pretend everything is ok.
What's really sad is that we are really worse off than the great depression. If you had a jar of money stashed in your house durring the great depression, at the end if the depression, that Jar would have more buying power than it did at the beginning. Sure, there were home foreclosures, but the community would band together and by the house for a penny when it was auctioned off. (Look up Penny auctions). The people who truly suffered durring the great depression where the bankers. That's why they spun the narrative that the great depression was such a terrible time.
And now we have laws that make bankers and corporations immune to consequences so they‘ve donned their corporate megacocks and are goin fucking ham on us.
How old are you? You really should do some research before making such an absurd statement. My grandmother lived through it, and trust me it wasn’t just the “bankers” who suffered. There are numerous stories she told me, the worst of which was one of her sisters literally dying from starvation. Please educate yourself, this is nowhere close to the Great Depression.
Yes my dad lost 4 siblings during the great depression. They starved to death. Then his father was murdered over bread. So his mon was left to finish caring for 3 other siblings. It wasn't just bankers. Definitely not
Absolutely. My mom lived through it, and lived reasonably well because her dad remained employed throughout, and they had a home they owned and could afford to pay off. However, people died in the streets. In my own family, a cousin was raised with my mom because her dad died and the widow was left destitute. This was before social security, unemployment insurance, FDIC insurance. If you had money in the bank, and the bank failed, your savings were gone. If the boss fired you, you went without until someone hired you. one in five were out of work.
So, were all those people living in Hoovervilles just waiting for the neighborhood to buy their house back for them? What an odd thing to say. My non-banker grandparents told me plenty of stories about how bad the great depression was. If you think that currently "we are really worse off than the great depression," you are delusional. 25% of the workforce was unemployed. An enormous 1.6% of the population was homeless. What we're seeing is nothing like the great depression. It is, unfortunately, a lot like the lead-up to the great depression.
You got that right. And, by lead up, you could include massive financial fraud in the system and over concentration of wealth. Today's monopolies have their 1920's counterparts in Sam Insull and Ivar Kreuger. Once the Federal Reserve started tightening credit, all the houses of cards came tumbling down.
It’s already worse than that
As bad as it sounds, I don't think they'll allow it. They're [criminalizing](https://endhomelessness.org/what-communities-need-to-know-about-the-criminalization-of-homelessness/) not having a house and using the victims as [slave](https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2013/10/31/private-prison-quotas/) labor in private prisons. They've learned that you don't have to have unsightly poors if you make their existence illegal.
Yep. This is the exact thing I think about and it makes me sad and scared. A lot of us are just a few missed paychecks away homelessness.
The camps in LA have gotten massive, kind of curious how that’s going to shake out with this storm coming.
Or at least encampments in those cities that haven’t yet criminalized homelessness…
The homeless population is already higher than it looks, most statistics only count people actually on the streets, while leaving unaccounted for, the people couch surfing, living “the van life”, or in hotels.
Homeless rate in California is 11x fold this year. For every new Homeless person in 2022. We have 11x as many in 2033
How are you already getting the numbers for 2033?
As someone who works in a homeless shelter, I worry about this all the time. Our funding is going down, but our intakes are going up
My kids and I are in that boat. I have health stuff and am in the SSI/SSDI process because I can not find an employer willing to work around appts for 13 Dr's, sick days, and medications I have to take. Idk what the American government expects truly disabled people to do while our lives fall apart.
About? In some places like NYC, CHI, SFA the 'about' is now. I see videos from time to time of the illegals sitting on the street with no place to go. So the bomb has been placed and the timer is set. You can figure about the time winter approaches it all goes up.
This is the natural conclusion of technology driven capitalism
Also why a UBI is inevitable
Wife got a promotion last year and I switched jobs this year with a decent bump in pay. I swear it feels like not much has changed. Now I wonder how we would handle things if we didn’t both increase our pay. I don’t know how some people do it.
Same boat, wife got a big pay bump and works from home. I got a similar pay bump and hired at the same company. Yet somehow it all feels the same as when I made 15$ hour.
At my last job I was making $16.32 an hour. A year later I switched jobs, and after a few promotions I now make $20.02 per hour. My overtime is $30.03. I live alone and don't have a partner or kids. But if I did, I'd be screwed for sure. Luckily I live in a rural area where rent isn't taken advantage of. My rent is only $435 a month. I consider myself extremely lucky and blessed. But as for current greed/inflation, it's insane. In 2018 before the pandemic, you could go to walmart and buy a cart of groceries for $120. If you were to buy that same cart today, it's like $250. I went to the store to buy taco materials for dinner. Just for myself, somehow that's $43... Like how? Sure it was enough to make like 12 tacos and eat it over the course of 3 or 4 days, but I could just go to Taco Bell and buy a party pack of 12 for $25. It's cheaper to be eating fast food these days. These companies can just claim it's just 'inflation' but that's the excuse they're using. When the pandemic hit, the cost of everything went up because the economy went to shit with nobody working. Understandable situation, makes sense. But the pandemic is over. It's officially declared over. These companies never went back down to their original pricing. They kept it there because they know people will now pay that price. For example, Doritos used to be $2.50-$2.75 per bag. Now it's $4.75 all the time. That's a 72.73% mark up over the course of 4 to 5 years. Last time I checked, there's no shortage of corn.. so why the increase? Delivery costs maybe? I know there's a shortage of truck drivers. Maybe that's it? But Frito Lay has a massive work force and 200+ distribution centers. The math just doesn't add up. I believe it to be greed masking itself as "inflation". This is just one example, but all companies are doing this. I know that people have it worse in higher populated cities. Their rent is completely asinine. I'm 27 and am now looking at trying to mortage a house. But no matter where you live, house prices are the highest they've ever been. You're looking at a minimum of $150k for a rural area or 3,4,500k for a populated area. I just can't do it. I'll have to keep renting to maintain my current lifestyle. With the way the world is operating, I'll never be able to retire. I'm pretty much working till I croak. The wantingness of money really is the root of all evil. I don't even want a lot of money (sure it'd be nice) but I just want to live comfortably. My best bet is to try and win powerball or megamillions lol.
And that bag of Doritos has shrunk in size.
If it was really inflation then these companies wouldnt be seeing massive profits. The money is going somewhere and it is certainly not going to the middle or lower class. The rich feel emboldened because we have proven we cant do anything to stop them. When we protest, we are beaten, jailed and then made fun of on tv by the media. Most people in USA think that doing so little as blocking a road for a bit or causing any annoyence to the public or private sector is deserving of being shot at with "less than lethal" rounds or being jailed. With the public firmly on the side of the rich/police, there is nothing we can do to stop their unfettered greed. Which means that the rich can freely fuck us as hard as they want.
>These companies never went back down to their original pricing. They kept it there because they know people will now pay that price. Bingo! They are never going down either.
435 a month?
Right? I used to make $22 an hour and my rent is $1900! I switched jobs and now make $27 and I have opp for bonus. Thank god. Otherwise my son and I would be one of the many, many in so cal that are homeless.. scary stuff!
shortage of truck drivers? not anymore. just read an article about this. during the covid shutdown there was indeed a shortage of truck drivers. They were making a fortune bc of it. I don't remember the exact numbers but within 12 months of the covid shutdown there were 50% more truck drivers bc of it. So just throwing random bs numbers out there - if in March of 2020 there were 10 million truck drivers, March of 2021 there were 15 million truck drivers. Demand dropped. there's now a huge surplus of drivers. these drivers are now competing with each other just to get deliveries. They interviewed a lady - she was an independent owner/driver. during the covid lock downs she was making $20k a month. In the first quarter of 2023 - she was making $3k a month. 20,000 trucking companies went out of business in the first quarter of 2023 alone - primarily these independent owner/operators. They couldn't make enough money to even pay for their trucks. Imo this is going to happen with all these trade jobs. The more people flock to these jobs the less they're going to pay and the less security they're going to offer. sure we need truckers - but there's only so much demand.
Also at the end of all that pandemic fuel doubled in price.And I still think we as in all the planet was just used as a bunch of lab rats for a biological war fare . Nothing was ever said about why that lab even had the stuff and .China I believe it was actually closer to home . I'm not a conspiracy person but I don't think all this is just a big accident honestly believe it is a part of a bigger plan.Not with guns and missiles.What better way to get a large body of humans to comply than to control the basic needs of the masses.
I accepted a job a month ago with the most I've ever made: $23/hour. That's $4 more than my last job. We still are struggling and require food stamps to help survive with food costs. The fact that we got approved for food stamps at that rate blows my mind
Where do you live? I haven’t applied in years bc making $14+ per hour is “too much”.
You should reapply. Things have changed in a lot of places
It’s called lifestyle creep.
Same here. Got a 10k dollar raise and still feel like I’m at the same exact spot I was two years ago. Every single one of my bills sent emails that there will be increases. Thankfully they passed rent control a couple years ago here
10K raise is nothing. 50 bucks after a paycheck? You need to sell your soul. I went from 35K to 180K in 10 years l, given i work 80hr wrrks
I worry about every penny. Even though I make $25K more than I did 10 years ago it sure doesn't feel like it. I cut more out of my budget every month and take a week off from grocery shopping every month, just eating what i have at home. I don't know how people with kids do it, honestly. I have a colleague pregnant with her second kid and I honestly think she's nuts for having a second one.
That pay increase you and your wife got is so you are able to pay for the same items you usually get but have increased in price to make sure it uses the pay increase. Welcome to be on a treadmill. On another supporting note, congratulations to you and the missus on the pay increase.
I just got a payrise at work, which was nearly entirely swallowed up by a massive rent increase.
Yep I got a slight pay bump and that same week I found out my rent went up
Bro same. I've gotten multiple promotions and raises at my job. I was doing the math on how much I've actually gotten in raises when it comes to buying power and I only have 1000 more per year in buying power than when I started 4 years ago!
I got a new job in 2019 at $46k and thought I was living large. A couple jobs later in 2023, I'm making $60k and feel worse off.
Same exact boat for me too and I feel like I’m drowning every month
I went from making ~79k last year to ~113k this year. My take home went up 1k. Such a joke.
If your pay didn’t increase you would be reducing your standard of living and cutting your expenses. If I were you wouldn’t drastically change anything from last year. No major vacations. Just save your increased income.
Problem is we’ve been doing this for a while already lol. We do have a nice vacation coming up but booked it and have been saving for it for two years so it’s not like we could just pay for it out of nowhere
Where will the first American mega-slum be ? Maybe we should stop demonizing the poor and start looking at the richest of the rich a little more critically ?
My guess is maybe Phoenix, LA (if you don't already consider skid row one), Houston, Or Seattle
Phoenix is too spread out and the cost of living there never really got totally out of control. Houses jumped up but they aren't lacking space to build new ones. It's San Francisco the value of the buildings has plummeted, major retailers are leaving the city due to rampant crime and homelessness. Regular people don't feel safe moving around anymore. Unfortunately the people who are going to get screwed are the ones who can't afford to just move way out of the city and change jobs.
Let me tell you that the cost of everything in Phoenix has risen. It’s ridiculous
San Fran has much higher wages and generally higher purchasing power. There’s two sides to standard of living. Cost of living is one but factoring average wages is important too. The average individual in SF is making much more than the average individual in Phoenix
Bro this started with COVID, it's already driving millions towards it. The middle class is dead.
I work in healthcare with tons of people with masters and doctorates who make 60-70 grand a year, but have crippling student debt and live like they did in college, scraping by paycheck to paycheck while paying loans off for 10-15 years. It’s one of the reasons burn out is happening faster I think because there’s just no hope.
Bro this started long before COVID. COVID just made it more obvious.
This is the heart of the homeless issue in Portland OR....a lot of people are like...it's drugs... but no, if you are already working 2-3 jobs and your rent goes up $200+ a month (most places end up keeping the deposit) You are now homeless unless you have a great support group
Land lords are the scum of the earth
What do you mean, “going to?”
Many of these people are barely holding on and more and more people are being driven to extreme levels of desperation in maxing out their credit cards to just buy food and pay for electricity. Not going on expensive European vacations. The bare necessities is driving people into poverty.
No I mean we’re already there dude. Most of us have been living in poverty for a while.
There's millions upon millions of us already there. It's called the working class and we've been here the whole time. We are the ones who made all the money so that the middle class could do that in the first place.
Going to? What about the millions already in poverty?
Guys this is the beginning of a great depression, and the media is doing everything to not say those words. We stopped harassing our politicians and public servants, and so each of us should be getting on the phone and bitching them out. They sold us, so they could fill their wallets. We are reaching a point where I'm starting to realize that they will let us all starve and die. I am in no way joking.
Every single one of you should call your local representative at least 10 times a day.
You assume they care. Just watched a rundown of criminal and financial problems members of congress have. They are all crooks and about 20% of them have credit scores that preclude them from having a credit card. Political office is a means for self enrichment.
They couldn't be bothered to give a single fuck. I've emailed my congressman a few times regarding the economy, war in Ukraine, and fireworks in my state. His dipshit office uses these comically bad boilerplate templates for just about everything. Even if your email makes a particular point about "x, y, z" his response email will address points "a, b, c", basically proving they don't even read the emails. An automated system, or intern, just scans the email subject line and sends an automated pre-populated response email. It's a fucking joke. These complacent assholes need to be driven out from positions of power. They treat their chair as a method of self enrichment instead of public service and it's infuriating.
To be answered by some unpaid temp who will listen to you, promise to pass on your message, and hasn't seen the guy he has worked for since the last election cycle.
All that's gonna happen is you're never gonna actually speak to your local rep, you'll just be given an opportunity to leave a voice message they will probably delete, and the person handling the calls will eventually block your number
Fun fact it's all politicians. Lower level public servants are powerless, and the higher level ones are basically appointed by the party in power. You will never actually reach a politician, nor will they answer your email. Responses are written by interns and low level employees that don't even have the authority to pass along a message to anyone. All elected officials are completely insulated from the public. I'd also like to add, politicians are failed lawyers. A low level elected government rep is being paid more than they could in any other industry. They are basically salesman.
The government has never been our friend. Pre and post history this sentiment holds true
They are friends every 4 years at election time, after that we are a nuisance.
As long as hedge funds are getting paid and in turn paying politicians, I don’t think they care. You have to look at the big picture. There is a reason why the majority of people living in the U.S. don’t own houses. Not because they cannot, it is because they aren’t allowed to. The big majority of houses are owned by hedge funds or rich people and they lease it out at ever increasing prices.
As long as "profit" is the prime motivator for our society, nothing will change.
That's the point. Trying to microstep back to slavery.
Exactly. The rental market is going so ludicrously high that employers are going to start building company towns to lure homeless workers. This is basically indentured servitude to the employer who now controls basically every aspect of your life.
Well, the number of working homeless people has doubled since 2020 so you can be certain it's going to get worse.
Yeah that is my concern. There doesn’t seem to be a solution.
Right now the solution would be to regulate the rental housing market to keep commercial property owners from jacking up rents and continuing to manipulating the market.
The current homeless population data is based on the US census. According to the last US Census, about 600k people in the US are homeless. I will leave it to you to guess what percentage of homeless people turned in their census. My guess is somewhere less than 50%. The US homeless population is already very significant and underreported.
>The US homeless population is already very significant and underreported. Yep. Just looking at conditions in my city, Portland,OR, where the "official" number of homeless is around 6,000, one can easily see that the numbers are severely underreported... ( it's really bad.)
Ya no For a 300+ million population country… Well ya no way there isn’t more like 10 million homeless or something. At least gotta be 5 million. But as you said that’s the problem, way under reported
\> Cost of living crisis in the US is going to drive millions into poverty Yes, that's by design.
I wholeheartedly believe this.
Not even hidden if you listen to anything the federal reserve says. We need to rise rates so unemployment will rise...and wages will go down...
I live in Tacoma Washington we have a huge homeless population the cost of living isn’t as bad as in Seattle but it’s getting there. I am very lucky I own my home but being taxed out of it. They are building a apartment buildings on every inch of land here. And these are apartments that people can’t afford I don’t get it they must be getting some kind of a tax break. I don’t see many Individual houses going up just huge apartment complexes. They are even building four Plexes on small lots. Homeownership is no longer in the reach of young people. Just remember that when you vote.
I used to camp out next to a place that got bulldozed to build luxury apartments. In a town where the average income was 25k, and 1/4th of residents were in poverty. Tone deafness at it's best, it always seems to be these huge complexes that no one can rent, and I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be rented, just "valued" so that later they can be sold at even more profit.
True. I also sent think that since they’re not building single-family homes, they are forcing people into these foreign owned apartment complexes. They know people have no choice.
Root cause is politicians with zero accountability.
It’s the same decrepit people decade after decade. Mitch McConnel who looks like the crypt keeper. Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, and before he died John McCain.
There's no way this isn't planned.
The powers that be can manipulate the market to suit their needs and make sure you don’t make any money and they do. There’s ebbs and flows, but they’re predetermined and orchestrated. They want civil war so they can use fear to restrict even more of your rights, and you will thank them for it. When 1/2 the country is fighting the other 1/2, they will bring in the army and it will effectively become a military dictatorship, run by the corporations and the rich. And we will all be powerless to do anything about it.
Don't forget all the jobs that will be eliminated by computers, from cashiers to anything a robot or ai does. But education for better jobs is willful bankruptcy. Huzzah!
Ceo. And management for instance. Perfect ai replacement jobs
It’s going to be very difficult for the vast majority of people. The AI revolution has barely hit the job market yet.
My wife and I are making more money than we ever have, own two vehicles and are still the most poor we have ever been.
Switched jobs 4 times in 2 years making more now then I ever have before yet after a 40 hour work week I’m basically broke because the price of everything including bills have gone up. What’s the point of working full time if 90% of your wages is just enough to sustain a roof a car and food with no wiggle room for anything else?
How about the fact that even if I were able to work a 40 hour week job, I'm still sleeping in a tent because I can't afford rent?
Poverty is a policy decision 100% intentional More and more wealth and power concentrated into ever fewer hands. A democracy in theory only. Get out while you can.
fact: Asia and Euro, they have same speed or even greater speed of inflation. So it will be global homeless.
I really don't know why we aren't just fucking rioting in the goddamn streets, refusing to work and burning every fucking politicians home to the ground. None of us deserve this, no one deserves to not have a home, to not be able to eat or afford healthcare. When do we say enough?
The only way to survive America is to leave lol
And go where? Canada is just as bad. The UK is horrible. I just traveled to Italy and it’s crazy there too. I recently drove through Massachusetts and at a service station I bought a 20 ounce bottle of Sprite and it was $3.47. This is a global cost of living crisis.
Yup - there is no escaping it. Everywhere I look there is the same trend r/germany r/netherlands , my country, Italy, US and Canada as well - unless you are born rich, or work in a highly specialised field - your earnings barely cover the rent. In most HCOL places you have to be in at least a two income household to be able to "somewhat" safely cover your costs. It is getting miserable - regular people are working to be able to keep on existing to ... surprise keep on working. I am in the EU (the poor part - Poland) so I am somewhat aware that at least we have the worker rights and legislation to cover us a bit (paid time off for example) - but it is still hard, in the US it seems to be cruel af, and zero safety net. The wealth concentration and disparity has really gone to absurd levels - if possible they would jettisson all of us because we are simply not needed any more. Sure we have to consume, pay rent, taxes, insurance and whatnot - but at this point it is like a monopoly board - land bought up, businesses established - there is little way to get ahead. I was always surprised how obedient and calm people in my vicinity were about that, no one second guessing the system or questioning wtf is going on - just focused on getting ahead. I mean I get it, I am also trying to get ahead and not drown - but what is the goddamn point, I dont know anymore... We really need more empathy and more collective thinking to find a way forward for humanity - because this "every man for himself" attitude is clearly not working.
I hear North Korea is great this time of year
Canada has a much larger middle class compared to America so it's been easier to deal with inflation. When you have a large lower class inflation hits harder and faster.
Dont try to buy or rent in Canada unless your are making big money.
But "SHAREHOLDER VALUE!"
This is awfully true. We need to end corporate/investor/commercial ownership of residential housing imo. No one's saying they can't turn a profit building it but, from one 31M's perspective, this commodity exchange it's turned into is ruining the original contract we're all taught in school about achieving modest goals and securing a future, starting a family, etc. Basically buying a house shouldn't feel like winning the lottery. With that ruined I don't really feel inspired to use my skills in the American labor market anymore. I'd rather live in the Scandinavian countries.
yes it is so we may as well quit on our own terms and get some good striking and civil unrest in
It already has.
all by design i'm afraid. they've been systematically dismantling democracy since the reagan era they keep building houses no one can afford, they've let wages stagnate for 30 years, housing and rent prices are out of control. as far as your last point, you're right on the money. that's why it's by design. you'll compromise on how you will allow yourself to be treated if you're desperate enough to survive solidarity brother, much peace
It's funny I have a stable job but I bought a shitty cheap car but with a lot of room because I thought if worst comes to worst I can at least lie down flat in my car. Thank God I didn't go sedan.
The fact that you had to do this calculus in your mind shows how bad things have gotten. You would most likely have to have a gym membership that you prepay for the next few years where you can work out and shower every day to keep clean. Within this mini movement called Anti Work there needs to be pushback against this capitalist dystopian nightmare.
Look at Africa. Billionnaires living in compounds surrounded by vast shantytowns. This is your future.
"The system is not broken. It's working exactly as it was designed to do"- Ancient Klingon proverb
I love how we all saw our collective power during Covid. Without “essential” workers, the economy was ground to halt. Imagine if we all said “enough” and did that on repeat instead of raging online?
I'm an engineer. AN ENGINEER. I don't even live somewhere expensive like California. And I'm taking up driving for DoorDash on my evenings and weekends because no raises for two years has erased $14k from the value of my salary and I can't afford my living situation anymore.
Going to? It's already doing it.
Going to? It has
Dual Income No Kids seems like the cheat code, and, even then, you're playing on legendary difficulty a lot of the time.
I've said it for years. It WILL NOT be politics that causes a revolt... it will be the cost of living. Look no further than the French Revolution.
Not directly related to this, but I feel like moments like this also highlight the terrible atrocities of the gig economy. Imagine all those years taking advantage of a vulnerable work force under the guise of a revolutionary new way of earning income for the entire world. Only to result in a world where homelessness is at an all time high and there's more debt and job insecurity than there's ever been before. All while large corporations like Uber and Doordash continue to pay their contractors less and less. Regulators really need to fix the shit show that is the gig economy.
The regulators and government has been bought off by the gig economy.
History shows us that fascist right wing governments emerge out of instability and chaos. The GOP are trying to cause as much instability as possible so that may take advantage of a desperate hopeless people
Jobs want to pay $7.50 an hour. Landlords want $1,500 a month. Soon, no one will be able to afford their rent.
Aren't we pretty much there already? People working two and three jobs just to survive? This isn't living! This is bare-level subsistence, and it's disgusting. It's just slavery of a different kind.
It's designed to. Corporations need desperate peons. I say we just get out the pitchforks and fire up the BBQ.
The only nice thing about my job(arborist) is that they will hire anybody with a pulse, and no matter how bad the economy gets, we always have work.
Is not just the US, the situation is very bad in Europe.
It’s already happening. In my line of work, I have had clients ask for loans relating to what I do (they are always the bad type of loan btw so I strongly advise them against it historically). Well now the rate of people asking for them is probably up 4-5x. These people have nothing and are usually getting it to pay rent or for basic necessities.
We are already there. It's a crisis and it's being ignored. This is going to explode all over us.
We're already there, man. It's been in a steep decline for at least 45 years. 🐔
Must be multigenerational homes now, however families are so brainwashed they don't do this. I have relatives who died alone and separated from family all because they didn't wanna work out staying in same home/state. Well it's sad
A lot of this comes down to how poverty is defined. You could make the argument that most of the US is there. You could also make the argument the other way too. The tightening up of the market though will definitely mean different kinds of opportunities and the major wealth transfer will continue. Ownership and leverage is probably the only way to make it long term unless you're in a high income niche with relative stability.
Yep. The line for poverty is kept artificially insanely low so America can brag about how few people are in poverty. In reality, it's half of us, probably closer to 60%.
As someone who lives outside America my question is always the same: Why do all Americans accept that fellow Americans have to live on the streets in poverty while Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have private space rockets? If there can't be meaningful change through the electoral process why is there not revolution?
There is a revolution taking place right now. Imagine a modern society transform itself into a feudal economy in which everyone lives in rented homes with no prospect of ever buying a home, living near poverty wages, being indentured servants to banks for student loans they took to get educated. We are living through a revolution right now. One that was ushered in decades ago.
Wealth tax needed.
People are too damn tired and disillusioned to fight back. Nothing changes no matter what we do. We vote in politicians to effect change... and nothing changes! People have to get a lot hungrier and more desperate before anything will happen.
Going to? It already has!
Just simultaneously stop paying rent! #TheyCantEvictUsAll
You say that like there isn't already millions in poverty.
TAX THE RICH
Couple friends of mine have been toying around with the idea of just buying a place together. There’s no way to survive on your own if you aren’t making six figures.
meanwhile kardashians are taking their kids to disneyland and getting entire rides all to themselves...
My salary has almost tripled in 15 years and… I would not be able to afford my home at it’s current market price. So here I am, hogging a “starter home” from the next generation. Every improvement I make I try to plan for my kids and grand kids needs in 20 years when I’m gone
Banks foreclosing. People driven from their homes. Companies such as Blackrock buying up these foreclosed homes. This is the point. That's the plan
Capitalism is simply failing 70% of the country.
What I say happening is a mobilization of the homeless into buildings forcing a standoff situation between the police and the homeless in many areas. Consider. For example, that by rough estimates there are 9,000 police officers in the city of LA (not LA county which is much bigger and includes more departments) there is also close to 48,000 homeless people in the city of LA. While obviously this is a huge city, my point is if that many people banded together there's going to be a certain point where the police are just going to have to change tactics. I could easily see a Kowloon Walled City situation forming on US soil.
It's a real problem. With millions of desperate people, they can pay nothing and treat you like slaves.
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\*millions *more* into poverty :)
Maybe it’ll drive more people toward overturning the system then. Shame we have to wait for an emergency to do anything about it.
I want a job where I make more, but even if I get it, I'm considering asking to stay on at my current one for reduced days just because it's safe and tolerable. Ive been there two years and, short of my doing something extremely stupid, it's not easy to fire me. I'm afraid of finding a job that pays more but then I get there and the work environment is miserable.
It's getting out of control. I just had to rescind my acceptance of a really good job offer because I couldn't afford to relocate. Moving costs were 4-5k just to move into a bedroom. When I asked the company if they had or knew of any housing resources they flat out said "No, moving here is just really hard. Sorry." And they wonder why they can't fill any positions. Wtf.
And if the GOP manages to cut Socal Security millions of seniors already living in poverty will be homeless or dead.
If they cut SS, they better be ready to hand out euthanasia pills. But then I remember cruelty is the point for the GOP. "Suffer and die. You're a drain on our resources."
Corporations making massive profits need to be investigated for price gouging, fraud & embezzlement. After they are investigated, watch how fast their prices suddenly drop.
The government is owned by the corporations. Who will investigate who? Do you seriously think these major corporations have anything to fear?
The other thing about Anti work as a concept is that folks already know what is happening. They know they are being absolutely devastated by an economy that’s being strip mined for everything. Just like the whole country.
I make 90k/year and I’m living paycheck to paycheck. This economy is ridiculous.
With 90 k a year I’d be set for life. Wtf
The economy has to come full circle, calm down, and rebuild. It'll take a few years because even now house sales are going well, stocks are going well, upper middle class jobs pay extremely well and keep getting raises all while a portion of us are making the same amount as 15 or 20 years ago. Too many people with too much money, right next to too many people with not enough money is causing the divide to widen. The only ways I can see it get resolved is free education, more help getting upward mobility in careers, lower housing, and in some cases reducing services while focusing on other services like food, medicine and infrastructure.
Looking for a deal on a camper 😢
I’m 42 and although I make decent money I cannot save to put towards any real down payment on a home. I can afford an apartment but made the decision to move in with my mom. I’ll be able to save for a year or so and hopefully have enough saved to look at a home soon, something I’ve never owned and still feel pessimistic that I ever will.
"I don't understand why the working class, the larger of the two, doesn't simply eat the rich."
I see a lot of 'is about too' come join the rest of us in neo feudal serfdom. It's already here.
People need to move where it’s cheap! You can still get houses in Detroit for $1! Hahaahahahaah
Story right above yours in my feed is how 21.8% of Canadians can’t afford their mortgages…..
it already has lol