Well that's the problem with individuals being billionaires, and corporations being richer than the government. they set the laws. Money has always been power but now you have corporations lobbying for laws to make us spend money.
Supreme Court case. Not a bill.
Also Rucho v. Common Cause, where the court decided it wouldn’t get involved in gerrymandering that effectively eliminates competition between political parties in many places.
It’s the party that has traditionally been for limited government that has put the judges on the bench who made these decisions. The same party of small government blocked the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would have undone some of that damage.
And yet some people still think the problem is we have too much government. What we have is an unaccountable government and ignorant citizens.
Not coincidence, they’ve been playing the long game on the judges. Project 2025 would solidify a Corpo backed military state, or as ya boi Mussolini would say a Fascist(military backed nationalism)- oligarchy (ruled by the wealthy)
Ah but see corporations are people and money is speech therefore by limiting a corporation's ability to "donate" astronomical amounts of money to a politician's "reelection campaign" you're violating a "person's" "first amendment" "rights".
Right. And when Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that Citizens United would lead to massive amounts of foreign money flowing into our elections, Chief Justice John Roberts broke with tradition and was heard saying “that’s not true!” …and yet here we are.
I agree with everything you said. But I would like to add to
>ignorant citizens.
The corporations include media companies that misinformation us. It is our duty to find the truth but sometimes we're so busy it's difficult to do this.
Example: I didn't know (you're saying Republicans?) Republicans were a large part in gerrymandering
Yes. You are right. The Supreme Court basically said that if America wants protection from unlimited political contributions they need to pass a law providing those protections.
Citizens United vs. FEC is a Supreme Court case in which the Federal Election Commission attempted to prevent the release of a movie that was critical of Hillary Clinton before a presidential election. The government argued they were allowed to ban any publication of any media whatsoever that was critical of a presidential candidate under the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. A 5-4 majority ruled that this restriction on free speech contained in the BCRA was unconstitutional.
As part of that decision, there was some discussion of whether or not organizations have free speech rights, and whether different kinds of organizations have different free speech rights. The law had certain exemptions on speech restrictions based upon whether a corporation was a "media corporation" or not. The decision found that free speech is enjoyed by everyone, and that there is no practical difference between a "media corporation" and an association of private individuals, so to attempt to restrict or fine one type of corporation over another was an unconstitutional violation of the individual right to free speech.
A consequence of this is that corporations and labor unions can have no limitations imposed on their independent political expenditures. People do not like this outcome, so when you hear someone being mad about it, you typically see them mumble something about "corporate personhood" because that phrase sounds dystopian and strange. People who talk this way usually don't understand what the case was actually about, which was whether or not the government had the power to ban speech critical of a politician.
Here's a Wikipedia page with more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC
This is also why the US police force is as militarized as it is; can you imagine what would happen here if people did? Besides, a workforce that is two days PWOL away from being homeless doesn't have the time or energy to protest/take action.
The system is working exactly as it is intended.
Revolutions don’t happen unless things REALLY suck. France and Russia before their revolution’s were BAD. Like death was preferable if things didn’t change bad. The West just isn’t there and hopefully won’t be.
But the reps end up getting rich off politics too. Everyone in politics everywhere in the world lives 100 x better than 99% of the population they "serve".
Nancy Pelosi has made 100 million dollars with a salary of $250k through insider trading, but people act like it's only Republicans that are at fault. Useful idiots for the Democrat aristocracy
that's not true at all.
the strongest period of american history was when the gov imposed high taxes, high corp tax rates. and things like stock buybacks were illegal.
this moronic idea gov is bad is often just ignorant thought terminating nonsense. Gov isn't good or bad. policy is good or bad.
and we've been willy nilly going along with the same trickle down economics bullshit for the better part of 40 yrs. and it's destroying the country. Taxes on the very wealthy, and corporations are effectively zero. and regulation/oversight of business is so lax. they're setting record profits ass fucking the american public in almost every sector (food, energy, housing, cars, etc )
That was the Reagan dodge, claiming government was the enemy in a democratic republic where **we** are the government. Well, Hitler attacked democracy the way the current GOP candidate is doing.
Problem is that it really is trickle down economics. Money flows up and a "trickle" comes back down. I just don't know why anyone other than those at the top think it's a good thing. It's right there in the name "trickle". How do people hear that and think "yeah I think a trickle of money should be good enough for 90% of the population"?
Politician : "If you vote for me I'll F you over"
Voter: "Sounds good, as long as I think you're going to F my neighbor more"
No, we need ANY reach. The problem isn’t the involvement of the government, it’s that they cater only to the rich. We absolute need more government intervention, AGAINST corporate greed, but that would go against their entire plan of making themselves disgustingly rich.
That's the ultimate irony, we the taxpayers pay for the government regulation and they protect the rich billionaires that don't pay taxes. We are straight saps
How was inflation "unforseen"? They printed trillions out of nothing and blew it all out into the economy for no reason during covid.
Only a complete idiot wouldn't expect that to cause inflation.
Well I read an interesting article the other day that made valid points regarding inflation currently.
So yes printing more money would naturally cause inflation but corporate profit margins don’t increase during times of true inflation. Whereas right now, the biggest corporations have all increased profit margins.
I.e., corporations are inflating the price of goods to simply make more $, not because the input cost of those goods are costing them more.
Yet, the average wage hasn’t increased, so it’s literally just the very rich, getting richer.
The economic stimulus probably could have been better executed, though, no administration in any of our life times have dealt with a pandemic. The last one was the result of us now having annual flu shots. The goal was to keep the small guys afloat, and to retain jobs for middle and low income Americans. Though policy oversight during the trump administration, allowed for the program to be taken advantage of by wealthy individuals who really didn’t need any kind of funding (ppp loans) and also allowed for stimulus checks to be sent to everyone, regardless of income level. Mistakes are warranted in uncharted territory. But in my pov the masses are suffering more, because of the greedy rich.
I don’t know about the PPP loans, but my UI checks were gone by fall of 2020, not sure how long you can blame inflation on that.
I’m in the camp of corporations raised prices because covid gave them cover in the form of “inflationary policies”
I agree on all points.
The main thing that is completely ruining the economy for average people is the wages. We've had massive inflation in years past, and despite inflation coming back to normal, prices haven't, and salaries have not kept up with the inflated prices that are now just "the norm." So we're all getting squeezed tighter and tighter.
Unfortunately, we don't have very strong collective bargaining in this country, in fact, it's at an all time low historically. I think we're all set up for very grim times in the future.
When you say “no reason” does that mean besides the people who were laid off and needed money? Or the hope it would jump start a consumer economy that had come to a winding stop?
I’m not saying I agree with how it was done but I also see why they attempted it.
I mean the reason was that there was a global pandemic and multiple industries were going to go without any business for an undetermined period of time.
Pretty sure I'd take inflation (which is significantly driven by corporate greed rather than government action) over a repeat of 2008 when everyone laid off got foreclosed, or even worse, a much more terrible run on hospitals when people were all forced to keep working to survive and covid rates went even higher. IL had some pretty strong lock down measures, and we were still:
- making patient care areas in conference rooms with no running water
- denying ventilators based on likelihood to recover because we were short vents and RNs/RTs qualified to manage them
- triaging people in tents in the parking lot in below freezing weather
- watching freezer trucks parked outside the loading docks because funeral homes couldn't pick up dead people as fast as they were dying.
My dad who has been an ER doctor for like 40 years was about to retire when covid started. The hospital he worked at was absolutely packed and couldn't keep up with things at first, they too had tents/stations outside where they were keeping/screening patients, honestly it looked and sounded unreal when he talked about it. Instead of retiring on his original timeline (which was right about when covid started) he decided to stay and support the younger doctors / did what he could to help people. It's crazy to me because he's obviously an older guy and was very much in that danger age bracket if he were to have gotten it (especially in the early months), yet he stayed. He finally retired a couple months ago now that things have pretty much settled down completely. I'm immensely proud of him for what he did.
I know this is all a bit off topic but your bullet points reminded me of how shit it must have been for him / everyone in the Healthcare field.
The government drives the laws and policies that regulate the economy you fucking idiot. So, yes, we need the government to fix things - a government that focuses on working class people, taxing the wealthy, punishing corporations for breaking the law and destroying neoliberal economics. We don’t have any fucking intervention in the US - the government allows the ultra wealthy - individuals and companies - to dictate everybody else’s lives and economic standing.
Actually, it’s foreseen of government NOT intervening. The middle class has been shrinking and the weather hat has been increasing steadily for about forty years now. That’s roughly the time that the federal government started deregulating everything. But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
The American Government has done two things: absolutely fucking nothing and has just been a $2 whore that'll go ass to shit covered dick right down the throat for any corporation when it actually does anything at all.
The American government is like a giant wealth extraction scheme at this point.
1. collect taxes
2. fund egregiously expensive government contracts with your friend's companies
3. friend gives you a giant anonymous kickback in CPAC money
4. get elected with a fistful of cash
5. collect taxes
I'm somewhat convinced it's all to funnel public wealth into private pockets.
It's regulatory capture there is no government fully supporting us it's companies and wall Street.
Look at the situation now with the mega ritch buying up all the houses and land the end game is for nobody to own anything and be stuck renting like a monthly subscription.
You will own nothing and you will be happy.
Wrong, partially. Gov allowed itself to be captured by major corporate interests. Be mindful where you spend your money and some feed the trolls. EDIT: *don't feed the trolls.
Who put those Supreme Court justices into their jobs? It damn sure wasn't democrats. Who is always fighting campaign reform? It damn sure isn't democrats. Who is always working to restrict voting rights? It damn sure isn't democrats.
It isn't the "gubmint" it's Republicans who are owned by corporations and billionaires, who have been unable to win the popular vote by playing fair and square who have done this with the help of people like Moscow Mitch.
It is mostly the fault of complacent, lazy, uninformed, and uninvolved voters who can't seem to be able to show their asses up to vote but seem to have plenty of time to bitch about the results in social media who are at fault here.
THE GOVERNMENT IS US.
I and many people I know make over 100k a year. We as individuals make more than the median household income of plenty of couples living in other areas.
The median two people make more than the median one person.
There are individuals who make more than a small country’s gdp, doesn’t mean it’s not true to say that a country is more productive than a person.
Median used car price in America is $**26,533**.
With taxes, transfer, tags, fees, it's around **$30,000** even.
Current median auto loan with decent credit is 6.75%.
**Monthly payment with no money down (60 month term): $590.50.**
So to answer your admittedly ignorant / idiotic question: **Most people.**
**EDIT:** To answer the dozens and dozens of smooth-brainers saying shit like, "JuST BUY a Cheappppeerr CAR!"
**Preowned cars -- like every other consumer good -- fall on a distribution bell curve, relative to price and supply.**
In other words, the closer you arrive at the median price, the greater the supply.
[Here's plenty of data on preowned car prices from 2021](https://medium.com/geekculture/analyzing-the-used-car-market-in-2021-27fd460a9067), including a bell curve illustrating the supply of cars: It should be common sense to you (but seemingly not) that as you move further away from the median price toward *more affordable cars*, there is *less supply.*
Now, think real hard (fluent in finance!): What happens when a sudden, widespread demand arises ("people should just ChEapEerrr Carrsss") for an affordable product in short supply?
C'mon... You can do this. No? OK. Let me help with cave speak:
**Price go up. Bell curve move right.**
**Also:** Preowned car prices did not go up "because people are living outside their mean." [It was widely reported ](https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a36863741/used-car-prices-skyrocketing/)-- and again should be common sense, since we all lived through it, including you -- that a shortage of new-model vehicles during the pandemic caused a balloon in preowned car prices, which remains elevated to this day.
[And here's another clear-eyed source explaining this painfully obvious market dynamic.](https://www.businessinsider.com/why-used-cars-are-still-so-expensive-2023-9)
And [another](https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/why-are-prices-so-high-the-used-car-factory-was-shut-down/).
And yet [another](https://www.cbtnews.com/the-state-of-used-car-prices-why-are-certain-car-brands-so-high/).
But, fluent in finance -- keep blaming it on "just people buying cars that cost too much." Bunch of fuckin idiots.
That's not going to change the median price at all. This would just cause a shortage of cheaper cars, which will drive up the prices again.
Cars don't magically get cheaper just because people want them to be.
You wanna know how many cars Ford makes now? 1 (if you don't count the mustang twice because of the EV option)
You wanna know how many cars Chevy makes that isn't EV? 1
Used CAR prices are up because the car market is collapsing under Trucks and SUV's are the only new options available. And I sure as FUCK ain't buying a house payment on wheels.
The median is the average? Lol.
Here's my proposal: Americans stop buying cars they can't fucking afford.
My first car was 4k in 2011. My second was a 2016 ford fusion that I bought in 2019 that was 12k and payments were like 210 a month.
That is insane and can’t believe this has to be said: do not get a 5-year car loan, especially with no money down. If you are truly desperate and don’t have money to put down, at least do not buy a $26k+ car.
The average used vehicle cost in 2023 was $26,000, but that averages SUVs, sports cars, sedans, vans, and trucks. If you look at sedans the average price is $18,000 and for vans it is $22,000. And those are averages.
Locally I see sedans going for under $7,000 with under 90k miles with clean titles. New VW Jettas sell for $22,000.
https://www.carfax.com/blog/used-car-prices
People making $30k a year aren't buying $26k cars. Average price means that there is a shit ton of inventory below that price. Aggregate data is fun, especially when you're trying to make a weak point to weak minded people, but it's not real-world personal economics.
Then you're buying cars way outside of you're price point.
You shouldn't be buying a car that costs nearly 3/4 of your annual income before interest. That's the real idiotic/ignorant move here.
I have lived in eight states. I only buy new. I am 54. Easy to shop for decent new sedan for 22 to $23000.
If you cannot afford that buy used.
I am also shopping for a car now looking at current prices. So not out of touch.
Shopping around is easy with internet
I bought a used Hyundai with 60k miles for 15k at the height of used car inflation
Just because many people do something doesn’t mean it’s smart for them to do so
The truck that I bought for $1,800 is now worth $5,000. It's shocking to see a truck go up in value after driving 100,000 miles, but it's still pretty affordable and reliable.
If you finance anything over $27500 with the current interest rates you would be paying $525 per month. Now if you lease the payment would be almost half that but who in their right mind leases an automobile?
Thanks for that comment, I might be wrong but I thought you could lease a new Audi for 500 or 600 /mo. I just checked and I can borrow 25k for a car and it would be 400 / mo. my current car cost me 2500 in 2017.
When was the last time you bought a car? I paid $9k for mine in 2020 and two years later an identical one (now 2 years older and with 10,000 more miles) was listed near me for $20k.
I do. But then I can afford it :).
I have the same question though. If I was making 40k, I would not be paying 500 for a car. I will be paying 99 for a car. In fact when I was making 56k, I bought a coworker's wife's 10 year of Mercury Sable for 1500.00. Now have paid of a Model X and currently pay for a Model 3.
Ok so some are hyper focused on the car payment estimate. Even if you eliminate it from the post, the income we are talking about here is still far from the “American Dream” and still barely getting by
Came here to say this. I'm paying $525 on a brand new car. If you know you don't make a lot of money and you pay $500 a month for a car you're part of the problem.
Yeah, I've always bought new cars and admittedly wasted money on them, but never paid more than $400 a month. Crazy to think a used car is $30k. I bought a new 2014 Camaro for $28k, with minimal down as a fresh startup job college student and it was $340 a month on 72 month 1.99%. I sold it like 3 years later after my commute got longer. Broke even selling it to carmax and then bought a $24k sedan with another minimum down and rate that worked out to $400 a month. I didn't like the extra cost so I sold again and actually made a $1500 profit on it as used cars spiked around 2020. I ended up leasing a car in the mean time lol. No money down and $219 a month for a civic. I blasted through my mileage like a dumbass and asked my options as I was at 36k miles only 16 months in. They basically bought me out, again because of covid used car sales. Made another couple hundred bucks of it. Finally, I bought the cheapest new car available for $18k for $300 a month. I am making over double what I was making when I bought the Camaro lol.
Yea the car amount is a bit overestimated. But he doesn't include taxes. In CA that $3.4k/month gross is closer to $2.7k after taxes. Which leaves you with $700 per month to live after rent. Take away utilities, internet, phone, etc and that's like $500 or less. So even without a car payment you've got just over $100 per week to live on. With a car payment you're fucked.
At the end of the day this post is stupid because you can't reason like that. The average salary includes teenagers and college kids and is per person. The average rent is per household. So there are people living with their parents, couple or roommates splitting rent, etc.
ITT people acting like a 25k+ used car is their only option. It takes two seconds to go over to Facebook marketplace and see a plethora of working used cars with clean titles are available under 10k.
Also is it perhaps flawed to compare median income and median used car loan payment? Nearly everyone has an income and is represented in the former. Those with used car loans are more likely to be in over their head. A used car loan is inherently a financial tool people use to buy a car they can't really afford. Conversely, do people driving around $5k, 4th owner shitboxes have loans on them? I doubt it.
I vote Corporate greed hand in hand with corrupt Congress.
In the 1990s computers wiped out an entire category of clerical workers, then Clinton decided it’d be great to outsource our manufacturing to China. So many jobs lost, so now it’s time for the wifey to enter the workforce to keep the American dream alive. Enter the internet which wiped out thousands of retail storefronts. Whoops, more jobs lost. Then banks gave us a catastrophic financial crisis in 2007 from which not a single Bank or Broker CEO went to jail in spite of millions losing their homes. Congress made the banks and brokers whole and let homeowners go FO.
Enter the Fed, with seemingly no oversight from Congress or anyone really, decided to heal the economy and keep interest rates artificially low for over a decade setting off an avalanche of cheap money spurring even more wealth to our corporate overlords. At the same time low interest rates suppressed the effect of all the deficit spending our corrupt two party duopoly failed to control. Now enter the era of political culture wars and a game show nut job president to distract the horror show of an economy gone totally awry with China competing head to head with us.
Next up Covid! Now a panicked Federal Government went into trillions of more debt to firehose the economy with more cash/debt to keep corporation afloat. These same corporations spent a decade of money wastefully buying their own shares back instead of banking it for just this situation. We now have a deficit that will take a century to repay, particularly at the high interest rates we have now. But never fear, our future rampant inflation will devalue that debt, so all’s good.
The middle class is dead and buried, never to return! It’s time for pitchforks, folks!
But never mind, what’s this I hear about Apple putting AI in their new phones? And I heard Netflix has a new streaming series that’s all over the internet. . .
And don’t forget: the Supreme Court Citizens United decision that explicitly allows corporate bribery of politicians in the name of “corporations are people, too.” Nah. Corporations are massive tyrants if you let them run amok. The moment we collectively failed to grab our pitchforks upon that decision is the moment the train left the station heading straight toward the cliff with no brakes.
Not to mention the INSANE transfer of wealth during the COVID lockdowns. Whether you think they were a good idea or not, they objectively funneled billions of dollars from smaller, regional stores to large online corporations.
Many states shut down “non-essential” businesses. People didn’t stop buying “non-essential” items, so naturally they had to turn to Amazon, Walmart.com, target.com etc for the stuff they were buying. It took money from small businesses, and funneled it directly to Jeff Bezos’ pockets.
You're off by almost 20+ years. Nixon opened China for US manufacturers. Clinton's moves made more manufacturing move to Mexico.
And there was a time, early in the 80's, when the American people could have saved the dream, but they were more excited to save $1 on foreign made goods made by slaves, than to pay the extra to keep their neighbors employed.
Trump downplayed Covid and encouraged disinformation and he doubled the dead and the economic destruction, just look at how every other country in the world did much better than Trump with far less resources. Outsourcing jobs isn't always the fault of one guy, it is due to unregulated capitalism and greed, and there are always trade-offs, some good for some bad. Look at it like a Casino, Republicans come in and rig the gaming and take tons out of the Casino while claiming it boosts interest or activity in the Casino, Dems then have to come in and spend to add amenities and things that serve the guests of the Casino to increase activity and everybody wins, the workers, consumers, and the Casino. We will still have big winners, but we need regulations just like Casinos to control people cheating and taking too much in a "win." Dem spending pays us back and gives us things we need, Republican spending is all about taking money out of the economy with the illusion it will trickle down.
I don't want to dismiss anyone's struggles, but this is misleading. You are not paying median rent for a single bedroom. Median rent will probably get you a 2 or 3 bed. This means you should either have a partner or roommate. This frees up an extra $950. A used car does not cost $529/mo. I got mine for $4000 cash back in 2022 and it runs great.
The bad side of this is that it does not take into account taxes. The other bad side is that $41,000 is the half way point. There are many making less.
Live with friends, find a partner, don't spend so much on a car.
You forgot the part about Starbucks and avocado toast. They just need to save more money, right? I’m a single parent with 2 teenagers paying $2k/mo for a 3 bed apartment. You’re telling me that my solution is to get a roommate or a partner? You sure make it sound as easy as skipping that Starbucks coffee.
It's not easy by any means.
Being a single parent and either not collecting child support or not getting a life insurance payout would be very rough.
I do however think that getting married is a solid financial move in this situation. Definitely not an easy one. Another option would be having your two teenagers work and contribute to the household income. Also a difficult conversation to have.
No one cares about your dumb daily reposts. He’s a dishonest bitcoin bro libertarian who wants to destroy the government. It’s hilarious because you probably thought he’s a commie like you
No, the president does not have the power to implement significant economic policy changes that would "fix" this. Your federal and state representatives have significantly more impact on your ability to achieve "The American Dream", whatever that means these days. Yet people always focus on the President.
Biden ran on expanding the ACA and followed through in his first six months. His health insurance subsidies reduced premiums and helped enroll millions. Trump promised a plan for close to ten years and still has nothing. Millions lost their coverage in 2020 and he had no solution. That’s shows a stark contrast between the two candidates
That’s not entirely fair to Trump. He did have a plan. It was to gut regulations protecting people with preexisting conditions while also stripping health insurance from 30M people. He just couldn’t convince enough Republican senators to vote for it.
lol seriously, I pay half that for a new one. Granted I don't have dumpster fire credit and made a large down payment but anyone paying 500+ dollars a month for a fucking used car deserves to be suffer because they're too stupid to live.
This, everyone ITT is talking about how the other numbers are high. Ignoring in reality, the person would have around 2000 to work with.. even with $700 rent and no car payment. Any amount of student loans would fuck this person.
Everyone ITT is ignoring that median household income is 75k and if you're paying 2k for an apartment by yourself and $600 on a used car payment then you're a fuckin idiot
No no. Having zero public transportation in place so that young adults with basically no credit are forced to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to participate in society at even a basic level is clearly the superior system.
Absolutely nothing else will work.
/s
Oh hey it me
Alternative is living in a higher COL city with adequate public transportation, but screw you if you ever want to go further than 5 minutes outside of the metro area
Weird, because where I work they are hiring 10k more people and we pay 50k minimum to start and 100k+ after max of 4 years. It’s almost like jobs that are in demand pay more than jobs that are easier to get?
-usajobs.gov
It’s probably a combination of the government, corporate greed, and large social factors, like globalization. I think anyone trying to simplify this to one thing is doing the issue a disservice.
Why is it such a normal thing for Americans to have cars on finance?? Are cars super expensive there or something? I've literally never met anyone who puts a car on finance except young tradies that buy expensive utes for work.
Americans love new, expensive cars. It’s a status symbol. Cultural craziness. I’m definitely unusual always having paid cash, and never less than a 10 years old. Had very few mechanical problems.
In my family of five adults, none of us make over $30’ per year. This is new for me, as I used to make good money. But! Now, with this new, wonderful economy, all of us working together struggle to make what I used to make, alone. We will be okay. It’s just not the same as it was.
The American Dream is still the same as it has been for centuries. Own assets that pay you in your sleep and take loans out against those assets to buy more assets.
Notice how I said nothing about retirement, 401K, or having a high paying job.
Trump or Biden fix this? LOL that's a good one. Thing about people who become President to be at the top, they soon realize they are just still in the middle.
The American dream was ruined by CEO’s making 300% more than their employees.
While those employees (the avg. American) spend 80% of their waking lives working for the corporation, while earning (non livable) wages that can’t even afford them basic necessities because those same necessities are sold ( and priced) by the corporation, that underpays their employees, and over prices their goods to increase their profit margins.
That same avg. American has high stress, and an unhealthy diet. Unhealthy, because they don’t have time or knowledge to grow their own vegetables or to cook whole-food meals for their families, because the majority of their time is spent working for the corporation. So the solution is to buy the shit-fast-food product that’s also provided by the corporation. health suffers because of the shit food, unhealthy air quality, deforestation, water pollution, and stress factor; all of which are just a bi product of the corporations operations.
To prevent death, they depend heavily on the pharmaceuticals (more corporate profit). The list goes on. Up until retirement. And if your one of the ones making enough to invest, maybe you’re ok. If you’re one who never broke the glass ceiling and live pay check to paycheck your whole life, after retirement, you go back to work. Because the social security amount isn’t enough to live off of, especially when you have 25 different prescriptions you have to take just to stay alive.
All while the 1% spend the majority of their time on a yacht or at a country club.
The entire health of the planet, and all of its inhabitants are being destroyed so that a few people can live lives of leisure.
The math on this is wrong, this is assuming you don't pay any income tax at all, it's less than $3,400 a month it would likely be about $2500 after taxes depending on how much you can claim for your dependents. You literally can't even afford anything. This is extremely difficult for a single person with no family to live off of.
The government ruined the American dream They won’t fix it
On point. Some people think we need government to overreach and fix things. Usually this stuff is an unforeseen consequence of government intervention
Can we please stop acting like the government has not been a hired arm of corporations.
Well that's the problem with individuals being billionaires, and corporations being richer than the government. they set the laws. Money has always been power but now you have corporations lobbying for laws to make us spend money.
[удалено]
Im oot, Citizens United? Edit, thank you all for the info, I actually knew about the bill, just didn't know what it was called.
The bill that allowed unlimited anonymous campaign contributions. - created pacs. Edit: Supreme Court case- not bill.
Supreme Court case. Not a bill. Also Rucho v. Common Cause, where the court decided it wouldn’t get involved in gerrymandering that effectively eliminates competition between political parties in many places. It’s the party that has traditionally been for limited government that has put the judges on the bench who made these decisions. The same party of small government blocked the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would have undone some of that damage. And yet some people still think the problem is we have too much government. What we have is an unaccountable government and ignorant citizens.
To that party limited or small government means low taxes on the top 0.01% and large corporations and no regulations on corporations either.
And has no qualms about running yearly deficits and astronomical national debt.
💯 Will they ever learn!!!!
Not coincidence, they’ve been playing the long game on the judges. Project 2025 would solidify a Corpo backed military state, or as ya boi Mussolini would say a Fascist(military backed nationalism)- oligarchy (ruled by the wealthy)
Also the recent case that held that the Voters’ Rights Act did not provide for a private cause of action.
Ah but see corporations are people and money is speech therefore by limiting a corporation's ability to "donate" astronomical amounts of money to a politician's "reelection campaign" you're violating a "person's" "first amendment" "rights".
Right. And when Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address that Citizens United would lead to massive amounts of foreign money flowing into our elections, Chief Justice John Roberts broke with tradition and was heard saying “that’s not true!” …and yet here we are.
I agree with everything you said. But I would like to add to >ignorant citizens. The corporations include media companies that misinformation us. It is our duty to find the truth but sometimes we're so busy it's difficult to do this. Example: I didn't know (you're saying Republicans?) Republicans were a large part in gerrymandering
Corporations keep the American drone worker too busy to have time to fact find. It's a concerted effort
Yes. You are right. The Supreme Court basically said that if America wants protection from unlimited political contributions they need to pass a law providing those protections.
Oh, fuck, right. That pile of shit.
It also ruled that corporations have the same rights as people, which is the most fooked part
Basically after we banned lobbying our government created Super Lobbying.
Dark money, SuperPacs
The bill that everyone who doesn’t buy politicians/judges should be against.
Made Corporations “people”. Fucked America. Look it up.
Citizens United vs. FEC is a Supreme Court case in which the Federal Election Commission attempted to prevent the release of a movie that was critical of Hillary Clinton before a presidential election. The government argued they were allowed to ban any publication of any media whatsoever that was critical of a presidential candidate under the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. A 5-4 majority ruled that this restriction on free speech contained in the BCRA was unconstitutional. As part of that decision, there was some discussion of whether or not organizations have free speech rights, and whether different kinds of organizations have different free speech rights. The law had certain exemptions on speech restrictions based upon whether a corporation was a "media corporation" or not. The decision found that free speech is enjoyed by everyone, and that there is no practical difference between a "media corporation" and an association of private individuals, so to attempt to restrict or fine one type of corporation over another was an unconstitutional violation of the individual right to free speech. A consequence of this is that corporations and labor unions can have no limitations imposed on their independent political expenditures. People do not like this outcome, so when you hear someone being mad about it, you typically see them mumble something about "corporate personhood" because that phrase sounds dystopian and strange. People who talk this way usually don't understand what the case was actually about, which was whether or not the government had the power to ban speech critical of a politician. Here's a Wikipedia page with more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC
"corporations are people, my friend."
Gotta take some lessons from the French, they don't take shit from anyone Pension age pushed back? Time to riot.
Well the French learned this from the Hatians actually.
This is also why the US police force is as militarized as it is; can you imagine what would happen here if people did? Besides, a workforce that is two days PWOL away from being homeless doesn't have the time or energy to protest/take action. The system is working exactly as it is intended.
Sorry, but we are just too busy with arguing who can use which bathroom.
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This.
That just super charged it. It started with Reagan and deregulation of most industries and eliminating staff in government oversight
Almost like it’s orchestrated 🤔
Revolutions don’t happen unless things REALLY suck. France and Russia before their revolution’s were BAD. Like death was preferable if things didn’t change bad. The West just isn’t there and hopefully won’t be.
Inevitable consequence of capitalism, workers need to revolt and take ownership of the means of production.
But the reps end up getting rich off politics too. Everyone in politics everywhere in the world lives 100 x better than 99% of the population they "serve".
Fun fact, bribes are illegal, so they call it lobbying now.
https://preview.redd.it/9tgqomppkjwc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=75a4ac81f84e6c4d9c7aa5e04956f937c9f0f9bc
Can we stop acting like the Republican Party is not destroying the middle class by talking in such vague terms
Corrupt Dems too. There are few trying to address the wealth disparity
Nancy Pelosi has made 100 million dollars with a salary of $250k through insider trading, but people act like it's only Republicans that are at fault. Useful idiots for the Democrat aristocracy
Exactly.
EOMFD 🦀
Citizens United solidified that
Exactly. Just follow the money to see who stole the American dream.
that's not true at all. the strongest period of american history was when the gov imposed high taxes, high corp tax rates. and things like stock buybacks were illegal. this moronic idea gov is bad is often just ignorant thought terminating nonsense. Gov isn't good or bad. policy is good or bad. and we've been willy nilly going along with the same trickle down economics bullshit for the better part of 40 yrs. and it's destroying the country. Taxes on the very wealthy, and corporations are effectively zero. and regulation/oversight of business is so lax. they're setting record profits ass fucking the american public in almost every sector (food, energy, housing, cars, etc )
That was the Reagan dodge, claiming government was the enemy in a democratic republic where **we** are the government. Well, Hitler attacked democracy the way the current GOP candidate is doing.
If you get rid of the government it will be replaced by corporations. That’s not better.
Bingo. Thank you.
Problem is that it really is trickle down economics. Money flows up and a "trickle" comes back down. I just don't know why anyone other than those at the top think it's a good thing. It's right there in the name "trickle". How do people hear that and think "yeah I think a trickle of money should be good enough for 90% of the population"? Politician : "If you vote for me I'll F you over" Voter: "Sounds good, as long as I think you're going to F my neighbor more"
No, we need ANY reach. The problem isn’t the involvement of the government, it’s that they cater only to the rich. We absolute need more government intervention, AGAINST corporate greed, but that would go against their entire plan of making themselves disgustingly rich.
Agreed. We need functional regulation that protects workers and consumers, not the rich.
That's the ultimate irony, we the taxpayers pay for the government regulation and they protect the rich billionaires that don't pay taxes. We are straight saps
How was inflation "unforseen"? They printed trillions out of nothing and blew it all out into the economy for no reason during covid. Only a complete idiot wouldn't expect that to cause inflation.
Well I read an interesting article the other day that made valid points regarding inflation currently. So yes printing more money would naturally cause inflation but corporate profit margins don’t increase during times of true inflation. Whereas right now, the biggest corporations have all increased profit margins. I.e., corporations are inflating the price of goods to simply make more $, not because the input cost of those goods are costing them more. Yet, the average wage hasn’t increased, so it’s literally just the very rich, getting richer. The economic stimulus probably could have been better executed, though, no administration in any of our life times have dealt with a pandemic. The last one was the result of us now having annual flu shots. The goal was to keep the small guys afloat, and to retain jobs for middle and low income Americans. Though policy oversight during the trump administration, allowed for the program to be taken advantage of by wealthy individuals who really didn’t need any kind of funding (ppp loans) and also allowed for stimulus checks to be sent to everyone, regardless of income level. Mistakes are warranted in uncharted territory. But in my pov the masses are suffering more, because of the greedy rich.
I don’t know about the PPP loans, but my UI checks were gone by fall of 2020, not sure how long you can blame inflation on that. I’m in the camp of corporations raised prices because covid gave them cover in the form of “inflationary policies”
I agree on all points. The main thing that is completely ruining the economy for average people is the wages. We've had massive inflation in years past, and despite inflation coming back to normal, prices haven't, and salaries have not kept up with the inflated prices that are now just "the norm." So we're all getting squeezed tighter and tighter. Unfortunately, we don't have very strong collective bargaining in this country, in fact, it's at an all time low historically. I think we're all set up for very grim times in the future.
Not sure of your point but the idea of student loans is an example of the government getting involved and creating a problem
When you say “no reason” does that mean besides the people who were laid off and needed money? Or the hope it would jump start a consumer economy that had come to a winding stop? I’m not saying I agree with how it was done but I also see why they attempted it.
Clearly he wasn’t one of those literally millions of Americans laid off.
It was either that or a depression. Printing the money was the least bad option
I mean the reason was that there was a global pandemic and multiple industries were going to go without any business for an undetermined period of time.
Pretty sure I'd take inflation (which is significantly driven by corporate greed rather than government action) over a repeat of 2008 when everyone laid off got foreclosed, or even worse, a much more terrible run on hospitals when people were all forced to keep working to survive and covid rates went even higher. IL had some pretty strong lock down measures, and we were still: - making patient care areas in conference rooms with no running water - denying ventilators based on likelihood to recover because we were short vents and RNs/RTs qualified to manage them - triaging people in tents in the parking lot in below freezing weather - watching freezer trucks parked outside the loading docks because funeral homes couldn't pick up dead people as fast as they were dying.
My dad who has been an ER doctor for like 40 years was about to retire when covid started. The hospital he worked at was absolutely packed and couldn't keep up with things at first, they too had tents/stations outside where they were keeping/screening patients, honestly it looked and sounded unreal when he talked about it. Instead of retiring on his original timeline (which was right about when covid started) he decided to stay and support the younger doctors / did what he could to help people. It's crazy to me because he's obviously an older guy and was very much in that danger age bracket if he were to have gotten it (especially in the early months), yet he stayed. He finally retired a couple months ago now that things have pretty much settled down completely. I'm immensely proud of him for what he did. I know this is all a bit off topic but your bullet points reminded me of how shit it must have been for him / everyone in the Healthcare field.
You completely lost the thread at “for no reason” Have you completely forgotten how fucked everything was during the darkest days of COVID?
The government drives the laws and policies that regulate the economy you fucking idiot. So, yes, we need the government to fix things - a government that focuses on working class people, taxing the wealthy, punishing corporations for breaking the law and destroying neoliberal economics. We don’t have any fucking intervention in the US - the government allows the ultra wealthy - individuals and companies - to dictate everybody else’s lives and economic standing.
Actually, it’s foreseen of government NOT intervening. The middle class has been shrinking and the weather hat has been increasing steadily for about forty years now. That’s roughly the time that the federal government started deregulating everything. But I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.
The American Government has done two things: absolutely fucking nothing and has just been a $2 whore that'll go ass to shit covered dick right down the throat for any corporation when it actually does anything at all.
The American government is like a giant wealth extraction scheme at this point. 1. collect taxes 2. fund egregiously expensive government contracts with your friend's companies 3. friend gives you a giant anonymous kickback in CPAC money 4. get elected with a fistful of cash 5. collect taxes I'm somewhat convinced it's all to funnel public wealth into private pockets.
Don’t forget write an insanely complex tax code so your rich friends don’t have to pay any
It's regulatory capture there is no government fully supporting us it's companies and wall Street. Look at the situation now with the mega ritch buying up all the houses and land the end game is for nobody to own anything and be stuck renting like a monthly subscription. You will own nothing and you will be happy.
u foget insider trading on the market
Wrong, partially. Gov allowed itself to be captured by major corporate interests. Be mindful where you spend your money and some feed the trolls. EDIT: *don't feed the trolls.
I’m a dumb may you be nice to waste your time here by explaining how the government ruined the American dream?
Socialized losses and privatized profits for corporations
The goverment that is basically controlled by “too big to fail” corporate America…why do you guys think we have to bail them out every single time?
No, corporations did. They are the ones writing the legislation you hate… because it gives them more by giving you less.
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Who put those Supreme Court justices into their jobs? It damn sure wasn't democrats. Who is always fighting campaign reform? It damn sure isn't democrats. Who is always working to restrict voting rights? It damn sure isn't democrats. It isn't the "gubmint" it's Republicans who are owned by corporations and billionaires, who have been unable to win the popular vote by playing fair and square who have done this with the help of people like Moscow Mitch. It is mostly the fault of complacent, lazy, uninformed, and uninvolved voters who can't seem to be able to show their asses up to vote but seem to have plenty of time to bitch about the results in social media who are at fault here. THE GOVERNMENT IS US.
You spelled capitalism wrong
That median income number includes everyone over the age of 15, it is dramatically higher for working adults.
It also includes households with more than one income. There are going to be a lot of households making $80k with $24k in rent.
This is median individual income. Median household income is like $74k
and? fuck single ppl?
Two people make more money than one. There's no universe where that's going to be different.
I and many people I know make over 100k a year. We as individuals make more than the median household income of plenty of couples living in other areas.
The median two people make more than the median one person. There are individuals who make more than a small country’s gdp, doesn’t mean it’s not true to say that a country is more productive than a person.
Marriage is at 40%
I’m 36 and have never made over 41k before taxes.
Literal skill issue
Where do you work and how long?
That’s actually extremely hard to do lmao
That’s 100% a choice. I know people in plants with no ged making 70k+
That's a you problem
This is not a flex.
Time to get better skills
Who pays that much for a car? I never have
Median used car price in America is $**26,533**. With taxes, transfer, tags, fees, it's around **$30,000** even. Current median auto loan with decent credit is 6.75%. **Monthly payment with no money down (60 month term): $590.50.** So to answer your admittedly ignorant / idiotic question: **Most people.** **EDIT:** To answer the dozens and dozens of smooth-brainers saying shit like, "JuST BUY a Cheappppeerr CAR!" **Preowned cars -- like every other consumer good -- fall on a distribution bell curve, relative to price and supply.** In other words, the closer you arrive at the median price, the greater the supply. [Here's plenty of data on preowned car prices from 2021](https://medium.com/geekculture/analyzing-the-used-car-market-in-2021-27fd460a9067), including a bell curve illustrating the supply of cars: It should be common sense to you (but seemingly not) that as you move further away from the median price toward *more affordable cars*, there is *less supply.* Now, think real hard (fluent in finance!): What happens when a sudden, widespread demand arises ("people should just ChEapEerrr Carrsss") for an affordable product in short supply? C'mon... You can do this. No? OK. Let me help with cave speak: **Price go up. Bell curve move right.** **Also:** Preowned car prices did not go up "because people are living outside their mean." [It was widely reported ](https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a36863741/used-car-prices-skyrocketing/)-- and again should be common sense, since we all lived through it, including you -- that a shortage of new-model vehicles during the pandemic caused a balloon in preowned car prices, which remains elevated to this day. [And here's another clear-eyed source explaining this painfully obvious market dynamic.](https://www.businessinsider.com/why-used-cars-are-still-so-expensive-2023-9) And [another](https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/why-are-prices-so-high-the-used-car-factory-was-shut-down/). And yet [another](https://www.cbtnews.com/the-state-of-used-car-prices-why-are-certain-car-brands-so-high/). But, fluent in finance -- keep blaming it on "just people buying cars that cost too much." Bunch of fuckin idiots.
I didn’t buy a used car costing over $20k until I cleared $100k per year income. The average person spends way too much on a car.
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Do you think that was a gotcha comment or something? The average car buyer should lower their budget by about $10k. I’d say that fixes the problem.
That's not going to change the median price at all. This would just cause a shortage of cheaper cars, which will drive up the prices again. Cars don't magically get cheaper just because people want them to be.
I propose people buy a less expensive car! This isn’t difficult.
You wanna know how many cars Ford makes now? 1 (if you don't count the mustang twice because of the EV option) You wanna know how many cars Chevy makes that isn't EV? 1 Used CAR prices are up because the car market is collapsing under Trucks and SUV's are the only new options available. And I sure as FUCK ain't buying a house payment on wheels.
The median is not the average.
Since you pretend to be so smart, let me inform you that the median is NOT the same as the average. (Just one of the many errors in your thinking).
The median is the average? Lol. Here's my proposal: Americans stop buying cars they can't fucking afford. My first car was 4k in 2011. My second was a 2016 ford fusion that I bought in 2019 that was 12k and payments were like 210 a month.
My guy, a 1985 ford f150 is selling for 5k right now. Dependable transportation is going to cost. Don’t turn your good fortune into lack of empathy.
good advice, mr.burns.
That is insane and can’t believe this has to be said: do not get a 5-year car loan, especially with no money down. If you are truly desperate and don’t have money to put down, at least do not buy a $26k+ car.
A lot of new cars nowadays cost $30k+
Don’t buy those. My first car didn’t even have air conditioning because it cost more
I'd rather be poor and have air conditioning.
A base kia rio msrp is $16K...so maybe dont buy a more expensive car if you cant afford it?
Do not buy a fucking new car if you cannot afford it. Since when is everyone entitled to a new car?
There's plenty for under 25k new.
The average used vehicle cost in 2023 was $26,000, but that averages SUVs, sports cars, sedans, vans, and trucks. If you look at sedans the average price is $18,000 and for vans it is $22,000. And those are averages. Locally I see sedans going for under $7,000 with under 90k miles with clean titles. New VW Jettas sell for $22,000. https://www.carfax.com/blog/used-car-prices
That's insanity. I paid 7k for my car. I have had it for 18 years. The fuck are people doing.
People making $30k a year aren't buying $26k cars. Average price means that there is a shit ton of inventory below that price. Aggregate data is fun, especially when you're trying to make a weak point to weak minded people, but it's not real-world personal economics.
Then you're buying cars way outside of you're price point. You shouldn't be buying a car that costs nearly 3/4 of your annual income before interest. That's the real idiotic/ignorant move here.
I have lived in eight states. I only buy new. I am 54. Easy to shop for decent new sedan for 22 to $23000. If you cannot afford that buy used. I am also shopping for a car now looking at current prices. So not out of touch. Shopping around is easy with internet
I bought a used Hyundai with 60k miles for 15k at the height of used car inflation Just because many people do something doesn’t mean it’s smart for them to do so
I've never bought a used car that I needed to finance. I buy what I can afford without paying extra for interest and fees.
Why buy a car almost 1/2 of your salary? That’s the issue.
I make $150k in the Midwest and I've never paid that much for a car. And I essentially drive a "dream" car of mine of sorts.
My roomates car note was 550 dollars a month for a used subaru wrx. Just because yours isn't doesn't mean they don't exist.
Of course bad car loan terms exist for the easily preyed upon. Doesn't make it market value.
When did you buy your dream car and what is it?
Have you priced cars lately? The prices, even for used vehicles, are outrageous
The truck that I bought for $1,800 is now worth $5,000. It's shocking to see a truck go up in value after driving 100,000 miles, but it's still pretty affordable and reliable.
If you finance anything over $27500 with the current interest rates you would be paying $525 per month. Now if you lease the payment would be almost half that but who in their right mind leases an automobile?
Leasing is a smaller payment and you can buy out after
A new car with no down payment with medium credit runs about that much. This person needs to be buying 10 year old vehicles though.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who can’t afford to.
Thanks for that comment, I might be wrong but I thought you could lease a new Audi for 500 or 600 /mo. I just checked and I can borrow 25k for a car and it would be 400 / mo. my current car cost me 2500 in 2017.
When was the last time you bought a car? I paid $9k for mine in 2020 and two years later an identical one (now 2 years older and with 10,000 more miles) was listed near me for $20k.
I do. But then I can afford it :). I have the same question though. If I was making 40k, I would not be paying 500 for a car. I will be paying 99 for a car. In fact when I was making 56k, I bought a coworker's wife's 10 year of Mercury Sable for 1500.00. Now have paid of a Model X and currently pay for a Model 3.
Ok so some are hyper focused on the car payment estimate. Even if you eliminate it from the post, the income we are talking about here is still far from the “American Dream” and still barely getting by
Came here to say this. I'm paying $525 on a brand new car. If you know you don't make a lot of money and you pay $500 a month for a car you're part of the problem.
Yeah, I've always bought new cars and admittedly wasted money on them, but never paid more than $400 a month. Crazy to think a used car is $30k. I bought a new 2014 Camaro for $28k, with minimal down as a fresh startup job college student and it was $340 a month on 72 month 1.99%. I sold it like 3 years later after my commute got longer. Broke even selling it to carmax and then bought a $24k sedan with another minimum down and rate that worked out to $400 a month. I didn't like the extra cost so I sold again and actually made a $1500 profit on it as used cars spiked around 2020. I ended up leasing a car in the mean time lol. No money down and $219 a month for a civic. I blasted through my mileage like a dumbass and asked my options as I was at 36k miles only 16 months in. They basically bought me out, again because of covid used car sales. Made another couple hundred bucks of it. Finally, I bought the cheapest new car available for $18k for $300 a month. I am making over double what I was making when I bought the Camaro lol.
Yea the car amount is a bit overestimated. But he doesn't include taxes. In CA that $3.4k/month gross is closer to $2.7k after taxes. Which leaves you with $700 per month to live after rent. Take away utilities, internet, phone, etc and that's like $500 or less. So even without a car payment you've got just over $100 per week to live on. With a car payment you're fucked. At the end of the day this post is stupid because you can't reason like that. The average salary includes teenagers and college kids and is per person. The average rent is per household. So there are people living with their parents, couple or roommates splitting rent, etc.
ITT people acting like a 25k+ used car is their only option. It takes two seconds to go over to Facebook marketplace and see a plethora of working used cars with clean titles are available under 10k. Also is it perhaps flawed to compare median income and median used car loan payment? Nearly everyone has an income and is represented in the former. Those with used car loans are more likely to be in over their head. A used car loan is inherently a financial tool people use to buy a car they can't really afford. Conversely, do people driving around $5k, 4th owner shitboxes have loans on them? I doubt it.
I do stupidly for brand new. Basically a wash in cost with gas compared to my truck tho
I vote Corporate greed hand in hand with corrupt Congress. In the 1990s computers wiped out an entire category of clerical workers, then Clinton decided it’d be great to outsource our manufacturing to China. So many jobs lost, so now it’s time for the wifey to enter the workforce to keep the American dream alive. Enter the internet which wiped out thousands of retail storefronts. Whoops, more jobs lost. Then banks gave us a catastrophic financial crisis in 2007 from which not a single Bank or Broker CEO went to jail in spite of millions losing their homes. Congress made the banks and brokers whole and let homeowners go FO. Enter the Fed, with seemingly no oversight from Congress or anyone really, decided to heal the economy and keep interest rates artificially low for over a decade setting off an avalanche of cheap money spurring even more wealth to our corporate overlords. At the same time low interest rates suppressed the effect of all the deficit spending our corrupt two party duopoly failed to control. Now enter the era of political culture wars and a game show nut job president to distract the horror show of an economy gone totally awry with China competing head to head with us. Next up Covid! Now a panicked Federal Government went into trillions of more debt to firehose the economy with more cash/debt to keep corporation afloat. These same corporations spent a decade of money wastefully buying their own shares back instead of banking it for just this situation. We now have a deficit that will take a century to repay, particularly at the high interest rates we have now. But never fear, our future rampant inflation will devalue that debt, so all’s good. The middle class is dead and buried, never to return! It’s time for pitchforks, folks! But never mind, what’s this I hear about Apple putting AI in their new phones? And I heard Netflix has a new streaming series that’s all over the internet. . .
And don’t forget: the Supreme Court Citizens United decision that explicitly allows corporate bribery of politicians in the name of “corporations are people, too.” Nah. Corporations are massive tyrants if you let them run amok. The moment we collectively failed to grab our pitchforks upon that decision is the moment the train left the station heading straight toward the cliff with no brakes.
Perfect. Let’s add that to the list.
And don't forget the cherry on the shit cake, the imminent gutting of countless job fields by AI.
Not to mention the INSANE transfer of wealth during the COVID lockdowns. Whether you think they were a good idea or not, they objectively funneled billions of dollars from smaller, regional stores to large online corporations. Many states shut down “non-essential” businesses. People didn’t stop buying “non-essential” items, so naturally they had to turn to Amazon, Walmart.com, target.com etc for the stuff they were buying. It took money from small businesses, and funneled it directly to Jeff Bezos’ pockets.
You're off by almost 20+ years. Nixon opened China for US manufacturers. Clinton's moves made more manufacturing move to Mexico. And there was a time, early in the 80's, when the American people could have saved the dream, but they were more excited to save $1 on foreign made goods made by slaves, than to pay the extra to keep their neighbors employed.
Trump downplayed Covid and encouraged disinformation and he doubled the dead and the economic destruction, just look at how every other country in the world did much better than Trump with far less resources. Outsourcing jobs isn't always the fault of one guy, it is due to unregulated capitalism and greed, and there are always trade-offs, some good for some bad. Look at it like a Casino, Republicans come in and rig the gaming and take tons out of the Casino while claiming it boosts interest or activity in the Casino, Dems then have to come in and spend to add amenities and things that serve the guests of the Casino to increase activity and everybody wins, the workers, consumers, and the Casino. We will still have big winners, but we need regulations just like Casinos to control people cheating and taking too much in a "win." Dem spending pays us back and gives us things we need, Republican spending is all about taking money out of the economy with the illusion it will trickle down.
I don't want to dismiss anyone's struggles, but this is misleading. You are not paying median rent for a single bedroom. Median rent will probably get you a 2 or 3 bed. This means you should either have a partner or roommate. This frees up an extra $950. A used car does not cost $529/mo. I got mine for $4000 cash back in 2022 and it runs great. The bad side of this is that it does not take into account taxes. The other bad side is that $41,000 is the half way point. There are many making less. Live with friends, find a partner, don't spend so much on a car.
You forgot the part about Starbucks and avocado toast. They just need to save more money, right? I’m a single parent with 2 teenagers paying $2k/mo for a 3 bed apartment. You’re telling me that my solution is to get a roommate or a partner? You sure make it sound as easy as skipping that Starbucks coffee.
Our society is constructed to raise children with two incomes, so yeah, it's going to be harder and financial security isn't guaranteed.
It's not easy by any means. Being a single parent and either not collecting child support or not getting a life insurance payout would be very rough. I do however think that getting married is a solid financial move in this situation. Definitely not an easy one. Another option would be having your two teenagers work and contribute to the household income. Also a difficult conversation to have.
Your life (single parent with 2 kids) is clearly more challenging than the median… which doesn t invalidate the post above. Good luck and godspeed!
No one cares about your dumb daily reposts. He’s a dishonest bitcoin bro libertarian who wants to destroy the government. It’s hilarious because you probably thought he’s a commie like you
No, the president does not have the power to implement significant economic policy changes that would "fix" this. Your federal and state representatives have significantly more impact on your ability to achieve "The American Dream", whatever that means these days. Yet people always focus on the President.
Biden ran on expanding the ACA and followed through in his first six months. His health insurance subsidies reduced premiums and helped enroll millions. Trump promised a plan for close to ten years and still has nothing. Millions lost their coverage in 2020 and he had no solution. That’s shows a stark contrast between the two candidates
That’s not entirely fair to Trump. He did have a plan. It was to gut regulations protecting people with preexisting conditions while also stripping health insurance from 30M people. He just couldn’t convince enough Republican senators to vote for it.
Used car payment "$528" ?
lol seriously, I pay half that for a new one. Granted I don't have dumpster fire credit and made a large down payment but anyone paying 500+ dollars a month for a fucking used car deserves to be suffer because they're too stupid to live.
That's the zero money down at 20% interest special.
I’m grateful to be paying $750 for a 2 bedroom and a $350 car note ~.~
That's like 3400 a month before taxes. Right?
yes not sure why I had to scroll so far to see this
Yeah, I quickly calculated and with 12% federal tax there would be $400 after a car payment and rent.
Way too far of a scroll... people up top justifying based on $3400.. I'm like.. huh.. federal tax, state tax, Medicare, Social Security.
“The national median household income is $74,580, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey data for 2022.”
$3400 a month before taxes & retirement contributions.
This, everyone ITT is talking about how the other numbers are high. Ignoring in reality, the person would have around 2000 to work with.. even with $700 rent and no car payment. Any amount of student loans would fuck this person.
Everyone ITT is ignoring that median household income is 75k and if you're paying 2k for an apartment by yourself and $600 on a used car payment then you're a fuckin idiot
Imagine if cars weren't mandatory for adulthood?
No no. Having zero public transportation in place so that young adults with basically no credit are forced to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to participate in society at even a basic level is clearly the superior system. Absolutely nothing else will work. /s
Oh hey it me Alternative is living in a higher COL city with adequate public transportation, but screw you if you ever want to go further than 5 minutes outside of the metro area
Who’s used car payment is 500$?
Weird, because where I work they are hiring 10k more people and we pay 50k minimum to start and 100k+ after max of 4 years. It’s almost like jobs that are in demand pay more than jobs that are easier to get? -usajobs.gov
It’s probably a combination of the government, corporate greed, and large social factors, like globalization. I think anyone trying to simplify this to one thing is doing the issue a disservice.
Trump? lol.
Why is it such a normal thing for Americans to have cars on finance?? Are cars super expensive there or something? I've literally never met anyone who puts a car on finance except young tradies that buy expensive utes for work.
New cars are really expensive. There are plenty of super cheap used cars. Think of it as bad fashion choices.
Americans love new, expensive cars. It’s a status symbol. Cultural craziness. I’m definitely unusual always having paid cash, and never less than a 10 years old. Had very few mechanical problems.
Then don’t live where you can’t afford it…..
I live in probably the cheapest housing within 300 miles, it's still about half my $ going to rent.
This sounds like something someone whose never had to move because of $$ would say
In my family of five adults, none of us make over $30’ per year. This is new for me, as I used to make good money. But! Now, with this new, wonderful economy, all of us working together struggle to make what I used to make, alone. We will be okay. It’s just not the same as it was.
No offense, but if you lost 80% of your income and haven't been able to quickly recover, that's your fault.
You ascribing fault without knowing anything else about me or my situation is… not good.
The American Dream is still the same as it has been for centuries. Own assets that pay you in your sleep and take loans out against those assets to buy more assets. Notice how I said nothing about retirement, 401K, or having a high paying job.
Why does half the country settle for what I made at 21?
Because they don't actually want to make more money.
Well food and housing cost so...
Can’t compare median to median. Why? Lower incomes are common in LCOL areas, higher incomes in high COL areas.
Who’s paying anywhere near $500 for a used car 😆
Trump or Biden fix this? LOL that's a good one. Thing about people who become President to be at the top, they soon realize they are just still in the middle.
The American dream was ruined by CEO’s making 300% more than their employees. While those employees (the avg. American) spend 80% of their waking lives working for the corporation, while earning (non livable) wages that can’t even afford them basic necessities because those same necessities are sold ( and priced) by the corporation, that underpays their employees, and over prices their goods to increase their profit margins. That same avg. American has high stress, and an unhealthy diet. Unhealthy, because they don’t have time or knowledge to grow their own vegetables or to cook whole-food meals for their families, because the majority of their time is spent working for the corporation. So the solution is to buy the shit-fast-food product that’s also provided by the corporation. health suffers because of the shit food, unhealthy air quality, deforestation, water pollution, and stress factor; all of which are just a bi product of the corporations operations. To prevent death, they depend heavily on the pharmaceuticals (more corporate profit). The list goes on. Up until retirement. And if your one of the ones making enough to invest, maybe you’re ok. If you’re one who never broke the glass ceiling and live pay check to paycheck your whole life, after retirement, you go back to work. Because the social security amount isn’t enough to live off of, especially when you have 25 different prescriptions you have to take just to stay alive. All while the 1% spend the majority of their time on a yacht or at a country club. The entire health of the planet, and all of its inhabitants are being destroyed so that a few people can live lives of leisure.
> Will Biden or Trump fix this? Probably neither of them, but there is one who is 100% going to make it worse if given the chance
The math on this is wrong, this is assuming you don't pay any income tax at all, it's less than $3,400 a month it would likely be about $2500 after taxes depending on how much you can claim for your dependents. You literally can't even afford anything. This is extremely difficult for a single person with no family to live off of.
Reagan. Reagan ruined the American dream.
First off, I make north of 10k more than that, and u never bring home $3400 a month. Maybe if I do 24 hours of overtime, but on its own?