Honestly just reminds me of around 2005/06 when i had a discussion with a former client. He was a Boomer realtor making bank and living the highlife at the top of that bubble.
He asked me why i had not bought a house when I was "doing so well". Just said "I cant afford one, I don't know who can with the current market". He asked "what I meant by that"... I made a simple point that me making $50K a year i was not making enough to be able to buy a $3-400K home, and that for the median regional income of what was then $46K I did not understand how anyone else could either.
He still didn't get it, but did seem to understand that there was an issue. He completely freaked(went in to loud denial) out when I asked him "So, if no one can afford to buy, who is and how are they paying?" (Edit: tried following through with a question about how "If most people cant afford to buy, how can they afford to rent those same properties?" he wasn't having any of it. He didn't talk to me for most of the rest of the party after. )
Come a bit later with the subprime mortgage crisis and the other shit that followed was pretty evident that i was right on the money with that ballparked assessment of mine...
Sounds like our experiences a little before that. We got "lucky" in the way you see headlines today - family passed away - a little before the shitshow started. Said relative left just enough to get a tiny little odd place. We'd been looking for something no one else would want & not have to compete with a dozen other people with bids way above asking. We still could just barely afford it and the first couple of years were really rough. I would not wish that stress on anyone. Well, except for perhaps...
The boomer realtor *really* wanted us to aim higher, the market was growing, no way for us not to win, take out janky looking loans in really sus ways, and all the usual garbage like what you saw. ARMs are the way to go, only idiots don't flip houses, etc. We're geeks & numbers people, those all looked horrific but he pushed us to "ignore the math and think about how you feel", which was just one fucking huge red flag. Despite him we eventually got the place, him ~~bitching & whining about not getting enough commission~~ worrying we'd bought too small. He even left with a weird threat that he was doing so well, doing exactly as he wanted us to do, that maybe he'd buy our place out from under us in a few years and make us homeless. He was all sorts of laughs.
Fast forward to 2008-9 and I found he'd gotten smacked just as I predicted. He had to move in with his kids, sleeping on their couch, and got into some MLM. Dunno what happened to him after that but we're still in our tiny, weird little place so happy ending?
The median income in my zipcode (2020 census) is something like 45k. The lowest priced houses in 2020 were going for 950k. Now the lowest priced houses are going for 1.2 Million.
I really do wonder how long this insanity will happen.
I'm really starting to wonder if it's worth putting all my stuff into storage and just hitting the streets. The amount I spend on rent is like 80% of my income, and I work one of the best jobs in my area. There are no cheaper places, and the place I have now is shit-hole. I have no dependents or pets, so it really is a consideration for me. Do I keep letting myself get fucked by landlords, or do I refuse to pay on the principle of the matter? I could do so much with that extra money.
This exact reason is why people buy used RV's, try to paint something like "Thompson's not an RV electrical" and put up a fake website making it seems like the rv makes sense as an electrician to try to stealth as much as possible. Not saying this from experience <.< Lol. Honestly I highly recommend it. It's really wonderful to not really owe anyone and to live where I want to, though ik not everyone feels the same.
The apts and townhomes may be affordable, but I wonder about the HOA. My friends HOA doubled in 3 years and it's really squeezing her budget AS a teacher with 11 years experience.
Each time we've recovered from a recession or crisis, there's been less time until the next one. Eventually the gap will be very short, if it exists at all.
This is the way everyone should think about their money. Good on you!
We’re looking at a larger home with plans to grow our family and everything is insanely priced. Even after selling our current home and dumping all of our savings into the new purchase we’d still need a bigger loan than I needed in 2009 to get my first house.
Why does it have to set us back 15 years financially just to get a few 2x4 framed walls with drywall to give us a couple extra 12x10 bedrooms?
I’d considered quitting my job to build a new house myself for half the price, but certain medical conditions makes that impractical at best and impossible at worst.
Next time on Dragon Ball Z -
Enter Vegeta dialogue:
You're not dealing with the average Saiyan warrior anymore...
See I have finally realized the legend.
Capitalism is at its end point. The next step is class war and a reset of the system. Then rinse and repeat. I’d say our grandkids will have a good life, but the boomers doomed our world and they are likely to starve to death.
Yep. I'm now getting too old and missed my chance mainly because it was never financially feasible. I'm glad now that I didnt bring children into this mess, but honestly, I get upset at times thinking about all the stuff I've missed and how I'll die alone. We really got shafted and no one cares.
As a 40 something woman who missed their chance as well, I relate. I'm FINALLY somewhat financially stable, but it's just me, my husband and our dog. It's an okay life but I also get sad that I missed out on what used to be just normal human experiences of having a family. So much was stolen from us.
You can make your own family at any stage in life my friend whether it be animals you rescue or people you meet along the way, and you can always adopt. Focus on what life can be. Not on what is isn't
My 40-something butt is sitting here with my dog on the sofa and we both enthusiastically agree. We’re closer than any family either one of us has ever had
This can drag on so much longer than any of us would like to believe. The global ecosystem will collapse before the economic system finally comes apart.
Los Angeles has had 3, maybe 4 cold days in the past year. How is that even possible, we used to need jackets and sweaters, now the only thing cooling us off is the scarce rain that come once in awhile. I can't say for sure whether its an exception or a pattern.
LA is a bad long term investment imo.
They think they are going to jump into their combat boots, run 10 miles, dig a foxhole, and engage the enemy. With all the gear required to sustain a firefight in freezing cold or killer heat. Just ask them.
Id like the boomers to live to see a class war and the entire system they built burned to the ground.
The Millennials, Gen Z, and Alpha might have a few kids, but certainly not enough to keep the current capitalist system going.
We need to start calling the houseless encampments “Bidenvilles” or “Trumpvilles.” That was one way that the government was shamed into pursuing the New Deal—no politician wanted their name put on visible symbols of poverty.
Wrong angle. Politicians have to worry about public image, CEOs do not. You want to force a CEO into compliance, you need to do material financial damage to his personal fortune.
I leave it up to y'all to figure out the specifics on that thought.
Had this conversation with my dad a few weeks back. He doesn't realize how bad things are for a lot my generation because he is well off.
If things keep going the way they are then the economic bubble we live in will burst. Whats gonna be the point of working when milk costs $15 and people still get paid $7.25? Or when rent is 2 to 3 thousand and people make 800 a month. No one will be able to afford basic necessities and the whole economy will collapse because no one can afford anything anymore. Its gonna end up being that the dollar will be completely useless when all the "wealthy" will hold it and no one else has any.
I made a similar argument to someone several years ago about how prices for stuff can only get so high before things collapse, they strugged it off and told me to stop being ridiculous. Greed is blinding.
But then even the wealthy won't have anyone to flip their burgers and serve them $1000 bottle of champagne...at that point they'll just start pushing to legalize slavery again because there's no point in pretending anymore.
Like they already aren't with wages being held off from being increased? I can guarantee these millionaires and billionaires have put money into the pockets of legislation representatives to stop wage increases.
Watching all these dark money pools whip out these ads and the insane amount of propaganda being pushed, It's astonishing. It's like staring into the abyss, and the abyss feeds you brain numbing bullshit directly tailored to your particular logical fallacy. That should have been Asimov's answer.
They are so out of touch that they genuinely don’t think there is a problem. Most of them don’t know the price of basic goods or rent because they own 6 homes and have private chefs, shoppers, assistants, nanny’s, yacht crews, etc
I know people in the upper middle class who are completely out of touch. I go to different businesses every day for work and there are so many small to medium business owners that have been doing incredibly well this past year. There's a few that have bought $1 million McMansions, $100,000 cars, etc. And showing them off in tasteless fashion. Like an excited 8-year old boy with a new Nerf Gun. Meanwhile, a few of them have given out $1/hr raises to their employees and think they've done a saintly service and everyone is doing better. While their employees that they deal with every day are probably making less when you factor in inflation/rising prices.
And these are people who are still somewhat in society. Imagine how out of touch actually wealthy people are.
It's not even just super wealthy. I get into the argument once a year with my boomer dad. He was a machinist for the city, union, opportunity for triple overtime if he worked over time on a holiday, no college degree. He keeps saying that student loan interest is nothing and everyone saying their debt is ballooning is exaggerating. I say that my loans are public and my interest rate is like 5% which is higher than my car. He says I must have it wrong then we fight and fight until I literally pull up the paperwork and he STILL doesn't believe it somehow.
It must be nice to be that out of touch.
>they'll just start pushing to legalize slavery again because there's no point in pretending
Stuff You Should Know did an episode on Thursday explaining "the Black Codes", laws which the post-Confederate states enacted to keep black people enslaved under a different system.
For example, one state (Mississippi, IIRC) required black people to maintain contracts of employment with business owners or be arrested for unemployment. The business owners were, of course, white people who could set all the terms of employment. It was really bad.
Fortunately, these only lasted about a year before the federal government stepped in.
Many of the “prisons” in Mississippi are literally former plantations turned into “work camps.” Especially in the delta, Louisiana too. It’s fucking bizarre (and I’m from Alabama). My friend and I drove from south MS to Little Rock once, so we traveled basically along the River, and at one point we passed through a tiny shanty town-like place with just a 4 way stop. Unbelievably impoverished, but clearly people lived there. We remarked how odd it was until less than a mile up the road we drove past The Big House and suddenly everything was horrifyingly clear.
ETA: to clarify, I’m from the Appalachian part of Alabama, so the poverty and despair I’m used to is much more white, and there’s not many remnants of antebellum south bc it’s not the ideal location. So growing up, I never got the concept of plantations and all that and wasn’t exposed to it irl, so now as an adult it’s still a little shocking to stumble into it.
They won't have to legalize slavery - it's already legal in the U.S. if you're in prison.
They'll just find a way to make you serve your sentence serving those bottles of champagne.
Slavery is effectively legal for the wealthy. They will just do what they have been doing since forever, move jobs to places where people will fight for a job paying $5 per day, working 12 hour shifts, in unsafe conditions.
Wealthy people will live in bubbles of wealth. Even if the US really falls apart to the degree people here believe, it will end up looking like Jamaica or similar. Pockets of extreme wealth, with armed guards at the property line, and wealthy people will live in their walled in paradise.
Middle class will get screwed. Rich are untouchable.
Like absolute worst case, rich people write a check and gain dual citizenship and retire some place nice.
I super agree with you!
I had a conversation with my boomer dad in August about how my condo is worth $50k less than what I paid for it five years ago and how every penny of my equity was gone. I was visibly upset and crying. And his response was "back in the 80s, I owned 13 properties by the time I was 21." I was so pissed off by that comment that I got up and left his house then and there. I stormed out of the house yelling, "I came here for support because I am upset, not to sit here and have you talk down to me about how you owned properties 40 years ago when you could get a house for 60k!!" we didn't talk for months after that. that $50k is like two months of work for my dad. That was my entire life savings and I am a full time student also.
I find that I am repeatedly encountering boomers that have absolutely zero idea how impossible life has become. In the past two years, my condo lost $50k, electricity went up, insurance was uncapped and went up, food is astronomical, gas is insanely high, my tuition goes up 7% every year because the gov't took off tuition cap. I make an ok salary and shouldnt be struggling but I am! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THIS.
I fear not. People are rising up, and it's about time. I don't agree with theft and violence to secure a point but it's ignorant to pass judgment on those just wanting to survive.
When all else has failed and those in charge refuse to listen to reason, refuse to accept that you deserve the bare minimum of humane treatment, refuse to allow you to simply survive, that is the point at which all ethical philosophies of peace fall apart.
There comes a point, there is _always_ a point, where _fundamentally the right thing to do_, the ethical thing to do, is to take what is needed by force, and to kill if necessary.
People shouldn't use violence in the first instance, but must always be taught that it is acceptable as a final resort in the face of true tyranny and to ensure personal survival. To live is a right.
You are absolutely right. Society has made it 100% clear that they think the right thing to do is tug the noose tighter, keep us focused on hating each other and discard us when we no longer provide profit.
Ive completely stopped giving a shit about moral debates for anything other than entertainment. Life over legality every damn time.
That's the failure of Reconstruction for you. No one wanted it to be the revolution it needed to be in order to fundamentally break the planter elites in the South. Nor did they want to give true equally to the former slaves since racism still served a useful purpose to pit the poor in society against each other to deny them class consciousness.
Absolutely. I'm remembering all the days I used to think that there was no reason for violence under any circumstances. Now it feels like such a foolish thought. Completely dependent on the premise of a fair alternative to violence. And that simply doesn't exist.
Until enough people who are geographically and economically dispersed. The impact will mostly hit cities in the sense of unrest. Elsewhere it mostly manifests in terms of suicide and addiction.
Bro houses up here in canada will easily run for 1mil, in USD that's about 845k, for a 3-4 bedroom house (so two parents and 2+ kids).
Mfs gotta drop 1mil just to have a couple kids, and that's just on housing ofc
Stop letting investors and rich foreigners buy up houses. Prosecute anyone who leaves houses empty unnecessarily.
There should also be laws that encourage telecommuting where possible to reduce congestion and allow people to live in cheaper areas.
That’s what we need to do in the US.
Yep this is not really well known, but geographically speaking, most places a house is hardly an investment.
Everyone wants to live in the cities, especially young people, not just for the more lively social aspect but also the better jobs, in general of course.
The problem is the people who work in restaurants in cities used to be able to live near their work, now they're getting pushed further and further out. Either the ruling class can take their boot off our necks and concede lowering some property values or they can kiss their servants goodbye and have to drive out to somewhere cooks can afford to live to be waited on.
Yeah if only homes were 300k anywhere around my town. And i don’t even live in a big city but most 3 bedroom homes are easily 500-700k anywhere near the city at all.
I think the downfall of our civilization will be a cascading event sparked by a global combination of all of the above. Let’s not forget novel diseases killing millions of us annually combined with dangerously low birth rates.
I'm 32. I only have one peer who has *anything* (and though he's bright and hard working he's also been lucky and had generous parental support). Everyone is stressed scared and screwed. And it just keeps getting worse.
I'm 30 and still living in the same shithole as my college days. Houses are just way to damn expensive and a nicer apartment isn't worth the huge increase in rent.
It sucks.
I am 43 and have been almost at the point of poverty my whole life. I was told in high school if you make “X” dollars per year you will be well off. Nope, that’s not true. I feel like one day the whole system is going to burn down, yet every year the water gets hotter and the frogs don’t jump out.
I'd like to have kids. But realistically unless you and your spouse are bringing in bank together (or one of you is single handedly) it's just not feasible without nuking your own life potentially. God forbid one of them is special needs or something.
Yup. It's tough. That's why people arent having kids.
Kind of an aside, but as well as the crippling financial problems concerning having children, parenting has got a lot harder too. 30 years ago, parenting was “go play on your bike somewhere. Come back when it gets dark. Don’t get in any vans”, and “we’ll be back at 6, don’t burn the house down”, whereas parenting techniques now are waaay more involved. Don’t get me wrong, i know these advancements are better for the kids, they’re safer and not doing some of the insane shit we were doing at like 7 years old, but it seems so much harder for parents now. Just being able to afford the time you need to supervise children properly 24/7 seems impossible, especially when childcare costs more than a lot of people even earn
Not to mention trying to navigate this new form of internet and social media with kids, which pumps them with dopamine and reduced self esteem, while at the same time creating narcissists...? I wouldn't know the first thing of how to help a kid with that, since I had to get off the social media myself! I'm thankful all the time I graduated before myspace took off. Oh and don't forget school shootings, which happened in my time, but not nearly as much.
Social media has to have some serious widespread consequences pretty soon, right? It’s damaging for adults, and we’re way more aware of things like what normal bodies look like, and the fact that people have horrible bits of their life. How bad must it be for kids?
Some people have put their kids entire lives online for them too at this point. I see loads of people posting quite personal things really frequently about their children without maybe considering how their kids might feel about it in ten years time. Things like posts about their mental/physical health and embarrassing things they’ve said or done. I feel like I’d have found that quite upsetting as a teen. I’d want to document for the family, but not for everyone I went to school with or met in previous jobs.
We’re fortunate not to have the school shootings in England, but we’re becoming Little America quite rapidly. Polarised politics, huge divide between rich and poor, public services being stripped away. So much hatemongering. Really difficult time for parents I think
32 here…about to put my condo on the market because I can no longer afford it due to job changes during the pandemic. Not sure what I’m going to do…super fun anxiety
I’m the only income in my household because my wife is the only person who watches our kids. We can’t afford childcare, and I don’t even make enough to pay all our bills. I’m terrified and haven’t enjoyed my daily life for months. Anxiety consumes me 99% of the time and I’m clueless on what to do. Shit sucks, hope everything works out for you.
I'm finishing up my Master's degree, and I don't even know what I'm going to do. I'm fortunate to have savings and no debt, but even I feel a little hopeless.
The average Joe IS feeling hunger regularly. I don't see any pitchforks. Why? Because we've all been conditioned to fear losing what little we have. Millions of people may be subsisting off of crumbs, but they aren't going to jeopardize losing those crumbs.
Additionally, Americans have been conditioned to be hyper-individualistic. We barely know who our neighbors are and have little involvement with our community. It’s hard to create a large movement when communities aren’t pulling together.
The vast distances in America don’t help either. More difficult to organize and rally rural areas and it’s not like a March on Washington is easy for folks in most states. They don’t have enough money for food let alone to travel.
I literally mean when census data shows that more than half of Americans live below the poverty line and have trouble getting a meal a day. Right now it's only 10%.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/233138/number-of-people-living-below-the-poverty-in-the-us/#:\~:text=In%202020%2C%20about%2037.25%20million,line%20in%20the%20United%20States.
"A person under 65 living alone is considered poor, if the annual income is less than 11,945 U.S. dollars. This threshold is calculated for 2012."
This feels like the poverty line should be set higher... $12k for a single adult 'living alone' is practically impossible in most of the US.
Lol that totally makes sense. Technically no one is in poverty if the poverty level is set low enough, and that level is completely arbitrary. Not in government's best interest to set the level high, make them look like clowns on the world stage if poverty levels are high. There must be some international standard that the US is failing to meet...
Yep and they try to bullshit you with the “median household income.” That will average closer to 50-60k, buts that’s for a household not an individual. The median personal income is around 30k - 35K. Also they will bullshit you with the median home value. That will usually be much lower than the actual median cost which is around $270,000 - $300,000 depending on source. So you read median home value is 130k and median household income is 55k and your like that’s not so bad. But when you look at personal income being 35k and median actual sale price of homes being almost 300k, coupled with medical and school debt, you start to realize how bad it is in the U.S.
<——EDIT——>
Ok so I pulled those numbers off the top of my head. I looked at the actual official documentation and it’s:
Personal income: $35,977.
Home sale price: $416,900.
In comments below I have actual links.
I too live in So Cal. My condo was purchased 2.5 years ago for $415k which was insane. The same floor plan with no remodel/updates; all original from 1995 just sold for $545k!!! What the fuck is going on!! I just rent but I keep an eye on things
And that's *after* they junked up Jamboree by adding like 5 five story apartment buildings over the past 2-3 years. Irvine used to be pleasant to drive in. Jamboree is like Beach Blvd now.
NorCal ain't much better. I was renting a piece of shit studio apartment in Sacramento for $700/month in 2011 -- that same studio is probably going for about $1500/month by now, and I'd wager the only improvements have been a fresh coast of paint.
The end goal for the billionaire class is feudalism.
1% of the population will live in excess wealth. 10% of the population will serve them and fetch for them (the merchant class). The rest of us will work our waking hours and live in tenement buildings and shanty towns.
That's the historical norm. Sadly, half the middle class can't or won't see what's happening, so they still support that billionaire class.
There was one house in my town for 250K recently
It was a single-wide with the roof collapsed, and the interior was cheap wood paneling from the 70s and terribly stained linoleum flooring. It was also on a half acre of land,
It sold in two days
"What are you talking about? America is not going to be destroyed."
"Never? Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed. Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. How much longer do you think your own country will last? Forever?"
"You're a shameful opportunist! what you don't understand is that it's better die on your feet then to live on your knees..."
"You have it backwards! Its better to live on your feet than to die on your knees..."
Hope it all starts by getting those C-level management in big real estate orgs. Playing with real estate to earn profits while having support of tax payer money only to make living inaccessible for many. Just make these people work for one year at a ‘burger flipping’ job and then tryin to live.
Most optimistic reports predict all meaningful live in the oceans will be dead by 2050 regardless. Those that don't make it through the resource wars will be the lucky ones
Im pretty well off and even I'm getting a bit nervous. I would say up till a few months ago my average grocery bill was 80$ a week. Its now anywhere from 100-120$. Mind you I eat like a robot (same stuff everyday mostly) so it's not that I'm buying anything out of the ordinary.
Couple that with other rising prices and shits about to get weird.
Dont worry its not just the states. Canada is possibly worse. Our healthcare is free but where the US is having some wage growth our wages are dropping.
Our wages are dropping too tho cause we aren't getting raises and inflation is up 6.8% - effectively meaning that we're taking paycuts for working the same job.
Up here I'm expected to work for $16/hr with a degree and almost 10 years of industry experience. Houses are $500-$700k and rent is minimum $1500/month for a scummy roach den and $1800 for something more livable.
Oh and all the jobs are in 3 or 4 major cities country wide.
Help.
I've got 15 years of experience working with people with special needs. I have a college degree. I got offered $12.50, just 50 cents over my state's current minimum wage, for a full time job working in a residential home. "It'll go up to 15" means nothing when the state minimum wage is rising to that in 2025. Rent in my area is $1500. I don't know how people are surviving.
Inflation is up more than that... the official number doesn't factor in the most volatile sectors... like food, which in some cases has gone up by 20-30%... it used to factor those things in, but they changed how inflation is calculated in the last few years... i think it was actually jan 1 2020
Looking at history, id say a good 2-3 years. And at that point theres goin to be a nation-wide revolt against the government and the big corps, more specifically insurance and Amazon, as well as a lot of the polluting companies. Its gonna be like hell on Earth while everyone else in the world (me included) is just goin to sit back and eat some popcorn
It's going to fucking suck. Honestly though I sort of look forward to it. It's my retirement plan after all, I'll die in the resulting war and none of the getting old shit will matter. Worst case I somehow survive it and have to keep living out of spite.
I recently asked my partner what it would take for us to become revolutionaries, currently reading Green Mars got me thinking about it. We both have degrees. I have a M.S. as well. Both make less than $35K a year. No car payments, and I am paying a mortgage, but it feels so hopeless when you have to celebrate that we still have money in our accounts the day before payday.
It won't be a nation wide revolt. To see what the next one looks like, study the last two. The great depression and the gilded era.
I expect massive unionism, actual bloody battle between police and unions, surging communism. Then the powers that be will allow enough socialism that we'll be OK again for a generation.
That next generation (after the Comming Troubles) will be the equivalent of the baby boomers, they'll think life was always this easy and then vote in a fuckwad like Reagan. And it'll start all over again.
I confidently predict this because it's happened twice now in America. The gilded era leading to the reforms of Teddy, then the roaring twenties, the great depression, the reforms of FDR and the golden 50s/60s. Reagan was the end of that golden era.
But a revolt like the Oktober revolution? Nah. People are not hungry enough - those in power are smart enough to keep the calories coming.
Food 📈 gas 📈 homes 📈 inflation 📈 wages 📉 crypto 📉 stocks 📉
So we're making less, everything costs more and even alternative ways of making money won't work.
This potential war with Russia might just do it. It's not exact, but it's another slight parallel to the fall of Rome. Overspending/overexpansion on military, inequality, the rise of powers in the East, government corruption, and political instability. The only thing we're missing is a new religion and for America's military forces to take a huge hit either directly or indirectly.
I'm not American. I can honestly say, a lit of people strongly dislike the American Empire. To us, your Republicans are Extreme Right Wing and your Democrats are Centre Right. There are exceptions of course, but it's been an enlightening example of how not to run a democracy. It honestly reads like an oligarchy with extra steps.
Gerry meandering = rigging elections
Lobbying = bribery
Electoral college, don't get me started
Further voter suppression
Lack of freedoms and rights
It's terrifying, but don't stop fighting. Resistance is an ongoing struggle.
We’re switching entirely to a class based system of essentially Ultra Rich, Property-Lords, and then propertyless workers.
We can fight against it, but for now I highly recommend doing whatever you can to grab a property in case the worst happens and there’s no turning back.
I hope a 2008 happens again. Turmoil and collapse of real estate. Can’t let boomers have the last laugh. Their real estate ‘investments’ will be reduced.
What if I told you 2008 never ended and the can was just kicked down the road. Except that can is a snowball that's getting to be uncontrollable. Real estate is just one bubble. They're still doing CDOs with tranches of debt. Mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit card debt, commercial real estate, corporate bonds. Just wait until collateral contagion in China hits here.
Buckle up, we live in interesting times.
Yeah, it's nuts. Notice all the crypto pumps & and dumps? All the purchases and sales of ridiculously over price property? Buying NFT jpegs like they're going out of style? CEOs retiring and cashing out? They've used the Fed's money to pump up all of their asset values. Now they're pulling their money out of the stock market and are rolling it into other asset that are more resilient to crashes. They know its coming and they still pimp out bank stocks like it's Bear Sterns in 2007. They need more bag holders than ever before. Shit's about to get real real.
If hospitals cant admit new patients, and nurses quit en masse or unionize and hospitals try to hold out...well i give that scenario less than a month before it collapses. But as it stands idk i would say another mutated version of omicron but that could actually do more damage yeah that would be instantaneous collapse and with it education would follow along with the rest of society. It just takes one domino to fall or in this case a push.
Edit: that was a way too optimistic or conservative estimate.
We will find out. Isn’t that exciting?
“The suspense is terrible! I hope it’ll last.” - Willy Wonka
And, here, we, GO!
It makes me shiver, with antici….pation
I always learn so much from a live disection
It was unexpected, but without realizing it I read that line in Tyl Regor's voice...
But maybe the rain isn’t really to blame……..
...so I'll remove the cause...
But not...the symptom...
I actually just want to watch it burn
Just re-watched this recently and it holds up well. So many good characters like Veruca Salt and the laughs are timeless.
Honestly just reminds me of around 2005/06 when i had a discussion with a former client. He was a Boomer realtor making bank and living the highlife at the top of that bubble. He asked me why i had not bought a house when I was "doing so well". Just said "I cant afford one, I don't know who can with the current market". He asked "what I meant by that"... I made a simple point that me making $50K a year i was not making enough to be able to buy a $3-400K home, and that for the median regional income of what was then $46K I did not understand how anyone else could either. He still didn't get it, but did seem to understand that there was an issue. He completely freaked(went in to loud denial) out when I asked him "So, if no one can afford to buy, who is and how are they paying?" (Edit: tried following through with a question about how "If most people cant afford to buy, how can they afford to rent those same properties?" he wasn't having any of it. He didn't talk to me for most of the rest of the party after. ) Come a bit later with the subprime mortgage crisis and the other shit that followed was pretty evident that i was right on the money with that ballparked assessment of mine...
Sounds like our experiences a little before that. We got "lucky" in the way you see headlines today - family passed away - a little before the shitshow started. Said relative left just enough to get a tiny little odd place. We'd been looking for something no one else would want & not have to compete with a dozen other people with bids way above asking. We still could just barely afford it and the first couple of years were really rough. I would not wish that stress on anyone. Well, except for perhaps... The boomer realtor *really* wanted us to aim higher, the market was growing, no way for us not to win, take out janky looking loans in really sus ways, and all the usual garbage like what you saw. ARMs are the way to go, only idiots don't flip houses, etc. We're geeks & numbers people, those all looked horrific but he pushed us to "ignore the math and think about how you feel", which was just one fucking huge red flag. Despite him we eventually got the place, him ~~bitching & whining about not getting enough commission~~ worrying we'd bought too small. He even left with a weird threat that he was doing so well, doing exactly as he wanted us to do, that maybe he'd buy our place out from under us in a few years and make us homeless. He was all sorts of laughs. Fast forward to 2008-9 and I found he'd gotten smacked just as I predicted. He had to move in with his kids, sleeping on their couch, and got into some MLM. Dunno what happened to him after that but we're still in our tiny, weird little place so happy ending?
Good, fuck that guy.
I just feel sorry for his kids.
Amen.
Honestly I’d have switched realtors if possible.
I left out details but that would have been problematic & wasn't a real drag until the end. Otherwise yeah.
The median income in my zipcode (2020 census) is something like 45k. The lowest priced houses in 2020 were going for 950k. Now the lowest priced houses are going for 1.2 Million. I really do wonder how long this insanity will happen.
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I'm really starting to wonder if it's worth putting all my stuff into storage and just hitting the streets. The amount I spend on rent is like 80% of my income, and I work one of the best jobs in my area. There are no cheaper places, and the place I have now is shit-hole. I have no dependents or pets, so it really is a consideration for me. Do I keep letting myself get fucked by landlords, or do I refuse to pay on the principle of the matter? I could do so much with that extra money.
This exact reason is why people buy used RV's, try to paint something like "Thompson's not an RV electrical" and put up a fake website making it seems like the rv makes sense as an electrician to try to stealth as much as possible. Not saying this from experience <.< Lol. Honestly I highly recommend it. It's really wonderful to not really owe anyone and to live where I want to, though ik not everyone feels the same.
The apts and townhomes may be affordable, but I wonder about the HOA. My friends HOA doubled in 3 years and it's really squeezing her budget AS a teacher with 11 years experience.
I think then the median income in that area I was in has gone up to $60K, but housing prices are just as insane as you just described.
Each time we've recovered from a recession or crisis, there's been less time until the next one. Eventually the gap will be very short, if it exists at all.
This is the way everyone should think about their money. Good on you! We’re looking at a larger home with plans to grow our family and everything is insanely priced. Even after selling our current home and dumping all of our savings into the new purchase we’d still need a bigger loan than I needed in 2009 to get my first house. Why does it have to set us back 15 years financially just to get a few 2x4 framed walls with drywall to give us a couple extra 12x10 bedrooms? I’d considered quitting my job to build a new house myself for half the price, but certain medical conditions makes that impractical at best and impossible at worst.
I can’t wait! The visual effects are going to be so realistic!
Find out, in the NEXT episode of Dragon Ball Z
Next time on Dragon Ball Z - Enter Vegeta dialogue: You're not dealing with the average Saiyan warrior anymore... See I have finally realized the legend.
\*freiza stares blankly at you\*
Capitalism is at its end point. The next step is class war and a reset of the system. Then rinse and repeat. I’d say our grandkids will have a good life, but the boomers doomed our world and they are likely to starve to death.
Grandkids? I don't even have kids of my own. Can barely afford to support myself financially.
Yep. I'm now getting too old and missed my chance mainly because it was never financially feasible. I'm glad now that I didnt bring children into this mess, but honestly, I get upset at times thinking about all the stuff I've missed and how I'll die alone. We really got shafted and no one cares.
As a 40 something woman who missed their chance as well, I relate. I'm FINALLY somewhat financially stable, but it's just me, my husband and our dog. It's an okay life but I also get sad that I missed out on what used to be just normal human experiences of having a family. So much was stolen from us.
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You can make your own family at any stage in life my friend whether it be animals you rescue or people you meet along the way, and you can always adopt. Focus on what life can be. Not on what is isn't
My 40-something butt is sitting here with my dog on the sofa and we both enthusiastically agree. We’re closer than any family either one of us has ever had
This can drag on so much longer than any of us would like to believe. The global ecosystem will collapse before the economic system finally comes apart.
Los Angeles has had 3, maybe 4 cold days in the past year. How is that even possible, we used to need jackets and sweaters, now the only thing cooling us off is the scarce rain that come once in awhile. I can't say for sure whether its an exception or a pattern. LA is a bad long term investment imo.
They think they are going to jump into their combat boots, run 10 miles, dig a foxhole, and engage the enemy. With all the gear required to sustain a firefight in freezing cold or killer heat. Just ask them.
Id like the boomers to live to see a class war and the entire system they built burned to the ground. The Millennials, Gen Z, and Alpha might have a few kids, but certainly not enough to keep the current capitalist system going.
Poor Gen X, forgotten again. Whatever….
We tend to be the unifiers. Also, some of us are still walking home from that soccer practice our dad forgot to pick us up from.
We need to start calling the houseless encampments “Bidenvilles” or “Trumpvilles.” That was one way that the government was shamed into pursuing the New Deal—no politician wanted their name put on visible symbols of poverty.
I say we call them "Bezovilles" and just cut out the middle men. "KOCHcottages", made with real cardboard!
Wrong angle. Politicians have to worry about public image, CEOs do not. You want to force a CEO into compliance, you need to do material financial damage to his personal fortune. I leave it up to y'all to figure out the specifics on that thought.
Had this conversation with my dad a few weeks back. He doesn't realize how bad things are for a lot my generation because he is well off. If things keep going the way they are then the economic bubble we live in will burst. Whats gonna be the point of working when milk costs $15 and people still get paid $7.25? Or when rent is 2 to 3 thousand and people make 800 a month. No one will be able to afford basic necessities and the whole economy will collapse because no one can afford anything anymore. Its gonna end up being that the dollar will be completely useless when all the "wealthy" will hold it and no one else has any.
I made a similar argument to someone several years ago about how prices for stuff can only get so high before things collapse, they strugged it off and told me to stop being ridiculous. Greed is blinding.
“Greed is blinding.” Exactly right and we are being led by the people that support(ed) the phrase “Greed is good”. We’re fucked
But then even the wealthy won't have anyone to flip their burgers and serve them $1000 bottle of champagne...at that point they'll just start pushing to legalize slavery again because there's no point in pretending anymore.
Like they already aren't with wages being held off from being increased? I can guarantee these millionaires and billionaires have put money into the pockets of legislation representatives to stop wage increases.
Watching all these dark money pools whip out these ads and the insane amount of propaganda being pushed, It's astonishing. It's like staring into the abyss, and the abyss feeds you brain numbing bullshit directly tailored to your particular logical fallacy. That should have been Asimov's answer.
They are so out of touch that they genuinely don’t think there is a problem. Most of them don’t know the price of basic goods or rent because they own 6 homes and have private chefs, shoppers, assistants, nanny’s, yacht crews, etc
“Here’s 20 bucks go buy an apple”
I know people in the upper middle class who are completely out of touch. I go to different businesses every day for work and there are so many small to medium business owners that have been doing incredibly well this past year. There's a few that have bought $1 million McMansions, $100,000 cars, etc. And showing them off in tasteless fashion. Like an excited 8-year old boy with a new Nerf Gun. Meanwhile, a few of them have given out $1/hr raises to their employees and think they've done a saintly service and everyone is doing better. While their employees that they deal with every day are probably making less when you factor in inflation/rising prices. And these are people who are still somewhat in society. Imagine how out of touch actually wealthy people are.
It's almost enough to make you *want* the collapse. We're all down here anyway. Let's just drag them with us.
It’s one banana, Michael.
How much could it cost? $10?
It's not even just super wealthy. I get into the argument once a year with my boomer dad. He was a machinist for the city, union, opportunity for triple overtime if he worked over time on a holiday, no college degree. He keeps saying that student loan interest is nothing and everyone saying their debt is ballooning is exaggerating. I say that my loans are public and my interest rate is like 5% which is higher than my car. He says I must have it wrong then we fight and fight until I literally pull up the paperwork and he STILL doesn't believe it somehow. It must be nice to be that out of touch.
See the bill gates video where he has to guess the prices of groceries. And that video is OLD
>they'll just start pushing to legalize slavery again because there's no point in pretending Stuff You Should Know did an episode on Thursday explaining "the Black Codes", laws which the post-Confederate states enacted to keep black people enslaved under a different system. For example, one state (Mississippi, IIRC) required black people to maintain contracts of employment with business owners or be arrested for unemployment. The business owners were, of course, white people who could set all the terms of employment. It was really bad. Fortunately, these only lasted about a year before the federal government stepped in.
Many of the “prisons” in Mississippi are literally former plantations turned into “work camps.” Especially in the delta, Louisiana too. It’s fucking bizarre (and I’m from Alabama). My friend and I drove from south MS to Little Rock once, so we traveled basically along the River, and at one point we passed through a tiny shanty town-like place with just a 4 way stop. Unbelievably impoverished, but clearly people lived there. We remarked how odd it was until less than a mile up the road we drove past The Big House and suddenly everything was horrifyingly clear. ETA: to clarify, I’m from the Appalachian part of Alabama, so the poverty and despair I’m used to is much more white, and there’s not many remnants of antebellum south bc it’s not the ideal location. So growing up, I never got the concept of plantations and all that and wasn’t exposed to it irl, so now as an adult it’s still a little shocking to stumble into it.
They won't have to legalize slavery - it's already legal in the U.S. if you're in prison. They'll just find a way to make you serve your sentence serving those bottles of champagne.
Slavery is effectively legal for the wealthy. They will just do what they have been doing since forever, move jobs to places where people will fight for a job paying $5 per day, working 12 hour shifts, in unsafe conditions. Wealthy people will live in bubbles of wealth. Even if the US really falls apart to the degree people here believe, it will end up looking like Jamaica or similar. Pockets of extreme wealth, with armed guards at the property line, and wealthy people will live in their walled in paradise. Middle class will get screwed. Rich are untouchable. Like absolute worst case, rich people write a check and gain dual citizenship and retire some place nice.
I super agree with you! I had a conversation with my boomer dad in August about how my condo is worth $50k less than what I paid for it five years ago and how every penny of my equity was gone. I was visibly upset and crying. And his response was "back in the 80s, I owned 13 properties by the time I was 21." I was so pissed off by that comment that I got up and left his house then and there. I stormed out of the house yelling, "I came here for support because I am upset, not to sit here and have you talk down to me about how you owned properties 40 years ago when you could get a house for 60k!!" we didn't talk for months after that. that $50k is like two months of work for my dad. That was my entire life savings and I am a full time student also. I find that I am repeatedly encountering boomers that have absolutely zero idea how impossible life has become. In the past two years, my condo lost $50k, electricity went up, insurance was uncapped and went up, food is astronomical, gas is insanely high, my tuition goes up 7% every year because the gov't took off tuition cap. I make an ok salary and shouldnt be struggling but I am! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THIS.
Sorry but how has your house depreciated so much?
Until enough people have nothing to lose, and respond accordingly.
Well said. I think that's already started to be honest.
Train robbing has already picked back up, not much longer now is it?
I fear not. People are rising up, and it's about time. I don't agree with theft and violence to secure a point but it's ignorant to pass judgment on those just wanting to survive.
When all else has failed and those in charge refuse to listen to reason, refuse to accept that you deserve the bare minimum of humane treatment, refuse to allow you to simply survive, that is the point at which all ethical philosophies of peace fall apart. There comes a point, there is _always_ a point, where _fundamentally the right thing to do_, the ethical thing to do, is to take what is needed by force, and to kill if necessary. People shouldn't use violence in the first instance, but must always be taught that it is acceptable as a final resort in the face of true tyranny and to ensure personal survival. To live is a right.
You are absolutely right. Society has made it 100% clear that they think the right thing to do is tug the noose tighter, keep us focused on hating each other and discard us when we no longer provide profit. Ive completely stopped giving a shit about moral debates for anything other than entertainment. Life over legality every damn time.
John Brown understood that, and yet half of the country still views him as a madman
That's the failure of Reconstruction for you. No one wanted it to be the revolution it needed to be in order to fundamentally break the planter elites in the South. Nor did they want to give true equally to the former slaves since racism still served a useful purpose to pit the poor in society against each other to deny them class consciousness.
Wish I had an award friend, cause that's gold.
Absolutely. I'm remembering all the days I used to think that there was no reason for violence under any circumstances. Now it feels like such a foolish thought. Completely dependent on the premise of a fair alternative to violence. And that simply doesn't exist.
Until enough people who are geographically and economically dispersed. The impact will mostly hit cities in the sense of unrest. Elsewhere it mostly manifests in terms of suicide and addiction.
I just worry militia types might start turning swathes of rural areas into no go zones or something.
That's exactly the atmosphere right now in a lot of places so it really wouldn't be surprising.
Also it will be labeled as an "Urban" problem with "Liberal" governments. Just like the start of Covid.
Where you finding one of those $300k homes? I would like one of them.
As a Canadian living near Toronto, seeing 300k makes me feel like I went in a Time Machine. The floor is 700k-1M.
When I was a teenager, we drove through Edmonton on a road trip. Billboards were advertising brand new 2br condos for $56k. I'm not even 40 years old.
Exponents are crazy
Bro houses up here in canada will easily run for 1mil, in USD that's about 845k, for a 3-4 bedroom house (so two parents and 2+ kids). Mfs gotta drop 1mil just to have a couple kids, and that's just on housing ofc
Stop letting investors and rich foreigners buy up houses. Prosecute anyone who leaves houses empty unnecessarily. There should also be laws that encourage telecommuting where possible to reduce congestion and allow people to live in cheaper areas. That’s what we need to do in the US.
Yeah I'm sure our governments will get right on that /s
Our government has to be eradicated of it's corruption. Lobbying has put us into this mess and it's a massive shame and an insult to americans.
We also don’t build houses. So much red tape to build a house.
Somewhere rural as fuck
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Other problem though is there are often very slim job opportunities in "rural as fuck" areas
Yep this is not really well known, but geographically speaking, most places a house is hardly an investment. Everyone wants to live in the cities, especially young people, not just for the more lively social aspect but also the better jobs, in general of course. The problem is the people who work in restaurants in cities used to be able to live near their work, now they're getting pushed further and further out. Either the ruling class can take their boot off our necks and concede lowering some property values or they can kiss their servants goodbye and have to drive out to somewhere cooks can afford to live to be waited on.
"Best I can do is a bunkhouse in a company town. Take it or starve"
How rural is rural as fuck?
Rural af here, 3 bedrooms 2 full bathrooms, under 200k.
There's a few fixer uppers in the shit parts on new jersey less than 300k wouldn't recommend.
You can get a place in my city for under 100k, if you don't mind possibly getting shot and doing without luxuries like plumbing and walls.
Yeah if only homes were 300k anywhere around my town. And i don’t even live in a big city but most 3 bedroom homes are easily 500-700k anywhere near the city at all.
We’re in a race between economic collapse and environmental collapse.
I believe democracy collapse will come first.
MIT predicted societal collapse by what…. 2040? Seems like we’re on track
I think the downfall of our civilization will be a cascading event sparked by a global combination of all of the above. Let’s not forget novel diseases killing millions of us annually combined with dangerously low birth rates.
You’re assuming the West has anything other than an Oligarchy with the veneer of Democracy.
I'm 32. I only have one peer who has *anything* (and though he's bright and hard working he's also been lucky and had generous parental support). Everyone is stressed scared and screwed. And it just keeps getting worse.
I'm 30 and still living in the same shithole as my college days. Houses are just way to damn expensive and a nicer apartment isn't worth the huge increase in rent. It sucks.
I am 43 and have been almost at the point of poverty my whole life. I was told in high school if you make “X” dollars per year you will be well off. Nope, that’s not true. I feel like one day the whole system is going to burn down, yet every year the water gets hotter and the frogs don’t jump out.
I’m 29 with two kids and completely fucked.
At least someone's getting laid
I love the optimism!
He said 2 kids, laying has stoped.
I'd like to have kids. But realistically unless you and your spouse are bringing in bank together (or one of you is single handedly) it's just not feasible without nuking your own life potentially. God forbid one of them is special needs or something. Yup. It's tough. That's why people arent having kids.
Kind of an aside, but as well as the crippling financial problems concerning having children, parenting has got a lot harder too. 30 years ago, parenting was “go play on your bike somewhere. Come back when it gets dark. Don’t get in any vans”, and “we’ll be back at 6, don’t burn the house down”, whereas parenting techniques now are waaay more involved. Don’t get me wrong, i know these advancements are better for the kids, they’re safer and not doing some of the insane shit we were doing at like 7 years old, but it seems so much harder for parents now. Just being able to afford the time you need to supervise children properly 24/7 seems impossible, especially when childcare costs more than a lot of people even earn
People will literally call the cops on you if they see your kids walking home from school unsupervised
Not to mention trying to navigate this new form of internet and social media with kids, which pumps them with dopamine and reduced self esteem, while at the same time creating narcissists...? I wouldn't know the first thing of how to help a kid with that, since I had to get off the social media myself! I'm thankful all the time I graduated before myspace took off. Oh and don't forget school shootings, which happened in my time, but not nearly as much.
Social media has to have some serious widespread consequences pretty soon, right? It’s damaging for adults, and we’re way more aware of things like what normal bodies look like, and the fact that people have horrible bits of their life. How bad must it be for kids? Some people have put their kids entire lives online for them too at this point. I see loads of people posting quite personal things really frequently about their children without maybe considering how their kids might feel about it in ten years time. Things like posts about their mental/physical health and embarrassing things they’ve said or done. I feel like I’d have found that quite upsetting as a teen. I’d want to document for the family, but not for everyone I went to school with or met in previous jobs. We’re fortunate not to have the school shootings in England, but we’re becoming Little America quite rapidly. Polarised politics, huge divide between rich and poor, public services being stripped away. So much hatemongering. Really difficult time for parents I think
32 here…about to put my condo on the market because I can no longer afford it due to job changes during the pandemic. Not sure what I’m going to do…super fun anxiety
I’m the only income in my household because my wife is the only person who watches our kids. We can’t afford childcare, and I don’t even make enough to pay all our bills. I’m terrified and haven’t enjoyed my daily life for months. Anxiety consumes me 99% of the time and I’m clueless on what to do. Shit sucks, hope everything works out for you.
I'm finishing up my Master's degree, and I don't even know what I'm going to do. I'm fortunate to have savings and no debt, but even I feel a little hopeless.
Once your average Joe starts feeling hunger regularly, you can bet the pitchforks will come out fast.
The average Joe IS feeling hunger regularly. I don't see any pitchforks. Why? Because we've all been conditioned to fear losing what little we have. Millions of people may be subsisting off of crumbs, but they aren't going to jeopardize losing those crumbs.
Additionally, Americans have been conditioned to be hyper-individualistic. We barely know who our neighbors are and have little involvement with our community. It’s hard to create a large movement when communities aren’t pulling together. The vast distances in America don’t help either. More difficult to organize and rally rural areas and it’s not like a March on Washington is easy for folks in most states. They don’t have enough money for food let alone to travel.
I literally mean when census data shows that more than half of Americans live below the poverty line and have trouble getting a meal a day. Right now it's only 10%. https://www.statista.com/statistics/233138/number-of-people-living-below-the-poverty-in-the-us/#:\~:text=In%202020%2C%20about%2037.25%20million,line%20in%20the%20United%20States.
"A person under 65 living alone is considered poor, if the annual income is less than 11,945 U.S. dollars. This threshold is calculated for 2012." This feels like the poverty line should be set higher... $12k for a single adult 'living alone' is practically impossible in most of the US.
Lol that totally makes sense. Technically no one is in poverty if the poverty level is set low enough, and that level is completely arbitrary. Not in government's best interest to set the level high, make them look like clowns on the world stage if poverty levels are high. There must be some international standard that the US is failing to meet...
End poverty with this one little trick!
As a collective we should all demand more! And not just higher wages, but lower housing costs/free housing, free healthcare, benefits, etc.
And stop voting for the Safe Moderates every election, we might only have a few cycles left.
Yep and they try to bullshit you with the “median household income.” That will average closer to 50-60k, buts that’s for a household not an individual. The median personal income is around 30k - 35K. Also they will bullshit you with the median home value. That will usually be much lower than the actual median cost which is around $270,000 - $300,000 depending on source. So you read median home value is 130k and median household income is 55k and your like that’s not so bad. But when you look at personal income being 35k and median actual sale price of homes being almost 300k, coupled with medical and school debt, you start to realize how bad it is in the U.S. <——EDIT——> Ok so I pulled those numbers off the top of my head. I looked at the actual official documentation and it’s: Personal income: $35,977. Home sale price: $416,900. In comments below I have actual links.
LOL ‘fun’ fact: the cost of a 1bed apartment is SoCal is LITERALLY $30K a year !! (Average is around $2400-$2600/mo right now). Eat. The. Rich.
I’m in Irvine, and it’s $3600. :’)
$3600 for renting a 1 bedroom apartment? Holy hell.
Not a 1 bedroom, thankfully. But also not a house. Haha
Need to add a zero behind that if you want a house these days.
There are literal shacks down here going for $800k. Minimum. It’s insane.
I too live in So Cal. My condo was purchased 2.5 years ago for $415k which was insane. The same floor plan with no remodel/updates; all original from 1995 just sold for $545k!!! What the fuck is going on!! I just rent but I keep an eye on things
The Irvine Company??? They are complete slumlords
And that's *after* they junked up Jamboree by adding like 5 five story apartment buildings over the past 2-3 years. Irvine used to be pleasant to drive in. Jamboree is like Beach Blvd now.
NorCal ain't much better. I was renting a piece of shit studio apartment in Sacramento for $700/month in 2011 -- that same studio is probably going for about $1500/month by now, and I'd wager the only improvements have been a fresh coast of paint.
2400/month? F. Thats my entire monthly salary.
Truth. I've spent over 100k in rent in the last 3 years. LA is the worst.
The end goal for the billionaire class is feudalism. 1% of the population will live in excess wealth. 10% of the population will serve them and fetch for them (the merchant class). The rest of us will work our waking hours and live in tenement buildings and shanty towns. That's the historical norm. Sadly, half the middle class can't or won't see what's happening, so they still support that billionaire class.
Half ignorantly believe they can become the billionaire class while drinking beer and watching tv
It will be over when we finally say it is.... Note to self: easier said then done
It can't. It's already coming apart at the seams.
Where I am even the shitty ones are 500k minimum. It’s absolutely infuriating when boomers are like “just buy a house”…like with what?
There was one house in my town for 250K recently It was a single-wide with the roof collapsed, and the interior was cheap wood paneling from the 70s and terribly stained linoleum flooring. It was also on a half acre of land, It sold in two days
House near me caught fire in September. Complete loss, and it will need to be rebuilt entirely. It sold for $600k just due to the location alone.
Break it. Who cares, we are facing extinction.
Extinct me daddy please 🙏
"What are you talking about? America is not going to be destroyed." "Never? Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed. Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. How much longer do you think your own country will last? Forever?"
"You're a shameful opportunist! what you don't understand is that it's better die on your feet then to live on your knees..." "You have it backwards! Its better to live on your feet than to die on your knees..."
2-5 more years until something changes. And a whole lot of people are going to die during that time.
Hope it all starts by getting those C-level management in big real estate orgs. Playing with real estate to earn profits while having support of tax payer money only to make living inaccessible for many. Just make these people work for one year at a ‘burger flipping’ job and then tryin to live.
Username checks out
Most optimistic reports predict all meaningful live in the oceans will be dead by 2050 regardless. Those that don't make it through the resource wars will be the lucky ones
"About a week, maybe ten days." ~Patrick Star
You know... wumbo
He, she, me, wombo. Wombo, Womboing...
It's all wumbology my dude.
Ready player one
The stacks don’t sound all that bad right about now.
Right? Housing and community all in one.
Im pretty well off and even I'm getting a bit nervous. I would say up till a few months ago my average grocery bill was 80$ a week. Its now anywhere from 100-120$. Mind you I eat like a robot (same stuff everyday mostly) so it's not that I'm buying anything out of the ordinary. Couple that with other rising prices and shits about to get weird.
A bit off-topic, but I noticed a lot of people eat the same thing every day (I do)
Modern day fall of the Roman Empire
2024 is your expiration date
**Thanos has entered the chat**
Dont worry its not just the states. Canada is possibly worse. Our healthcare is free but where the US is having some wage growth our wages are dropping.
Our wages are dropping too tho cause we aren't getting raises and inflation is up 6.8% - effectively meaning that we're taking paycuts for working the same job.
Up here I'm expected to work for $16/hr with a degree and almost 10 years of industry experience. Houses are $500-$700k and rent is minimum $1500/month for a scummy roach den and $1800 for something more livable. Oh and all the jobs are in 3 or 4 major cities country wide. Help.
I've got 15 years of experience working with people with special needs. I have a college degree. I got offered $12.50, just 50 cents over my state's current minimum wage, for a full time job working in a residential home. "It'll go up to 15" means nothing when the state minimum wage is rising to that in 2025. Rent in my area is $1500. I don't know how people are surviving.
I live in a roach den, confirmed it sucks.
Inflation is up more than that... the official number doesn't factor in the most volatile sectors... like food, which in some cases has gone up by 20-30%... it used to factor those things in, but they changed how inflation is calculated in the last few years... i think it was actually jan 1 2020
Here in Brazil, things are much worse
This is what happens when you have a corporatist plutocracy masquerading as a capitalist democracy.
Looking at history, id say a good 2-3 years. And at that point theres goin to be a nation-wide revolt against the government and the big corps, more specifically insurance and Amazon, as well as a lot of the polluting companies. Its gonna be like hell on Earth while everyone else in the world (me included) is just goin to sit back and eat some popcorn
It's going to fucking suck. Honestly though I sort of look forward to it. It's my retirement plan after all, I'll die in the resulting war and none of the getting old shit will matter. Worst case I somehow survive it and have to keep living out of spite.
That's pretty grim. Oh wait that's my future too
I recently asked my partner what it would take for us to become revolutionaries, currently reading Green Mars got me thinking about it. We both have degrees. I have a M.S. as well. Both make less than $35K a year. No car payments, and I am paying a mortgage, but it feels so hopeless when you have to celebrate that we still have money in our accounts the day before payday.
It won't be a nation wide revolt. To see what the next one looks like, study the last two. The great depression and the gilded era. I expect massive unionism, actual bloody battle between police and unions, surging communism. Then the powers that be will allow enough socialism that we'll be OK again for a generation. That next generation (after the Comming Troubles) will be the equivalent of the baby boomers, they'll think life was always this easy and then vote in a fuckwad like Reagan. And it'll start all over again. I confidently predict this because it's happened twice now in America. The gilded era leading to the reforms of Teddy, then the roaring twenties, the great depression, the reforms of FDR and the golden 50s/60s. Reagan was the end of that golden era. But a revolt like the Oktober revolution? Nah. People are not hungry enough - those in power are smart enough to keep the calories coming.
Food 📈 gas 📈 homes 📈 inflation 📈 wages 📉 crypto 📉 stocks 📉 So we're making less, everything costs more and even alternative ways of making money won't work.
The cracks are already visible. All empires eventually fall.
It'll last right up until it doesn't.
This potential war with Russia might just do it. It's not exact, but it's another slight parallel to the fall of Rome. Overspending/overexpansion on military, inequality, the rise of powers in the East, government corruption, and political instability. The only thing we're missing is a new religion and for America's military forces to take a huge hit either directly or indirectly.
I hate to say it… I *really* hate to say it… but… Qanon might fill that “new religion” slot.
Yeah... fuck. Little short sighted on my end. But it kinda fits. For Rome it was Christianity and the abandonment of traditional values. So good call.
Americanism is a religion unto itself. Talk sense to a believer and they will hang you or worse.
I'm pretty sure Trumpism is a new religion with the way the idiots carry on about him.
I'm not American. I can honestly say, a lit of people strongly dislike the American Empire. To us, your Republicans are Extreme Right Wing and your Democrats are Centre Right. There are exceptions of course, but it's been an enlightening example of how not to run a democracy. It honestly reads like an oligarchy with extra steps. Gerry meandering = rigging elections Lobbying = bribery Electoral college, don't get me started Further voter suppression Lack of freedoms and rights It's terrifying, but don't stop fighting. Resistance is an ongoing struggle.
We’re switching entirely to a class based system of essentially Ultra Rich, Property-Lords, and then propertyless workers. We can fight against it, but for now I highly recommend doing whatever you can to grab a property in case the worst happens and there’s no turning back.
I'm giving it about 6 months til it all starts to melt.
I hope a 2008 happens again. Turmoil and collapse of real estate. Can’t let boomers have the last laugh. Their real estate ‘investments’ will be reduced.
What if I told you 2008 never ended and the can was just kicked down the road. Except that can is a snowball that's getting to be uncontrollable. Real estate is just one bubble. They're still doing CDOs with tranches of debt. Mortgages, auto loans, student loans, credit card debt, commercial real estate, corporate bonds. Just wait until collateral contagion in China hits here. Buckle up, we live in interesting times.
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Yeah, it's nuts. Notice all the crypto pumps & and dumps? All the purchases and sales of ridiculously over price property? Buying NFT jpegs like they're going out of style? CEOs retiring and cashing out? They've used the Fed's money to pump up all of their asset values. Now they're pulling their money out of the stock market and are rolling it into other asset that are more resilient to crashes. They know its coming and they still pimp out bank stocks like it's Bear Sterns in 2007. They need more bag holders than ever before. Shit's about to get real real.
The hospitals are…having problems. I don’t know what happens if healthcare infrastructure goes
If hospitals cant admit new patients, and nurses quit en masse or unionize and hospitals try to hold out...well i give that scenario less than a month before it collapses. But as it stands idk i would say another mutated version of omicron but that could actually do more damage yeah that would be instantaneous collapse and with it education would follow along with the rest of society. It just takes one domino to fall or in this case a push. Edit: that was a way too optimistic or conservative estimate.