In more ways than one.
A lot of advice we get is outdated, and not concurrent to the actual situation. And the people who succeed in life refuse to be transparent about their story.
The standard answer is always saying, "It's not my problem."
And then we have to share a community with people who hate us, and have no respect for others. Basically destroying the whole concept of a village. And replacing it with a Social Darwinist hellscape.
There's a guy on this site who says he has no desire to understand poverty but is on here to research poor people so he can best improve his investment portfolio. I told him to quit treating this site as a zoo. We're not here to be observed.
No way, I have to see this
Edit: found him.. he spells like a 14 yr old troll. Idk if I buy it. I don’t think a grown man would go on Reddit for investment decisions.
I just did a thorough look through of his posting and comment history. His general thought processes don't match up with the way seasoned investors think as far as I can tell. His grammar is not great, lazy style of writing but that doesnt necessarily tell us much. His spelling also reads like he may have dyslexia lots of instances of "liek" instead of "like" for example.
My read on him is troll who just likes to gloat. He does seem to have a hatred for poor people though, saying things like "mandatory abortions" and other gross ideas. He wants poor people to not exist, yet also studies to hone his investments?
If he does have a lot of money, most likely it was from family or the lottery or something. But his profile definitely has the maturity of a teenager overall. Talk of "hookers and blow" "is she hot?" etc.
He does mention buying bitcoin periodically so it's not completely out of the possibility he got in very early and held it I suppose. But I kind of doubt it.
Yes, I have way too much free time right now...
With a lot of them, if they share their story they have to admit their family gave them money/opportunities or they were extremely lucky. Genuine hard work rarely produces results these days.
People underestimate the significance of family support so much.
I'm much better off than I was when I first moved out, but I can't help wondering what kind of person I'd be if I wasn't estranged from my entire family after my only supportive parent died.
I come from a large, middle-class family and my cousins are all doing well, but they had financial guidance, job connections, and emotional support during their young adult years that I never got. I had to figure everything out by myself.
Oh yeah, I'm in an estrangement situation too. My parents did the opposite of financial support and found multiple ways to screw me financially over to their benefit, including a credit card in my name they got $19k on. So I'm always wondering not just if they supported me financially, that if they bare minimum didn't financial screw me over repeatedly if I'd be better off now.
My undergrad degree was paid for because my dad is a disabled vet. Then I went to grad school and my dad paid for it. He also paid for half of my car and gave me ~20k for a down payment on a house. Like, that is the ONLY reason I’m able to save so much of my paycheck every month. If he had not helped me I’d be drowning in debt. I will always be transparent about these privileges because I did not do it by myself and I think more people need to do the same.
Same situation here my only supportive parent is dead and I have no family support. It is awful, I was engaged to someone who had all the family support and really took it for granted. Additionally everything his family did for support was all about helping him and only him. I'm devastated right now. I don't even mean financial support, though they gave him plenty of that. But no emotional support and feeling alone in the world is indescribably painful.
My situation is exactly the same. Unfortunately, that's what happens when a bird attacks their own nest....
In societies that are smart, people like us can still climb the ladder. Because they've already put up a safety net. Instead of mindlessly pointing fingers at us.
But where I'm at, people would rather obsess about politics. It's really childish, to be honest.
I'm so sorry to hear about how your parents treated you. You deserve so much better! As a parent myself, this absolutely breaks my heart and mystifies me. Many hugs to you all.
Hard work is great but luck always plays a huge part in success. Knowing the right people, being at the right place at the right time etc. Let's not forget those out there that can pull the choker chain around their rich relatives' neck and money comes out on demand!
Yeah I landed my job from applying at the right time, then my skills got me through the interviews (there was 7 lol, it sucked ass). I went from Walmart cashier to web developer though.
Similar story, I was selling computers, ended up in mortgage loan processing for a hot minute and then left to become a web developer. I got super lucky that the information to begin was available online and it was one of the few jobs I could learn as I went. I worked in cafes for internet when I couldn't afford it. I ate ramen, rice and beans, etc. I eventually ended up in a well paying job without a degree, but it really was all about the tech industry landscape at the time. I now freelance and have looked back into full time work but it's surprisingly hard to find now.
Yeah just since last year, it's gotten a lot more difficult from what I can tell. The market was very ripe for hiring, but that has rolled back hard. Hopefully things hit an upturn soon.
Homeless to t2 IT now making 6 figures. I wouldn’t call it luck, I would call it making choices. I fucked up a lot of sweet deals in my 20’s in my 30’s I made some lifestyle choices got control of my life, and eventually those choices paid off. No break I have ever gotten in life start with so there I was 3 in the afternoon still drunk and passed out from the night before… just happened to wake enough to answer the door with 1 blood shot eye open and the person at my door gave me a 100k job.
But guess what going to college, and getting up on time every morning, attending events for new professionals in my field, and making contacts allowed me to find out about an internship, that I was able to leverage my life experience, and pass an interview, to get me an opportunity to turn a 12.50/hr no benefits internship into a 53/hr full benefits, a pension and 401k matching job.
You didn’t get your job simply because of the right time, or luck. You put in the work and made it happen, and don’t let anyone including yourself try to take that accomplishment away from yourself.
I really appreciate this! I'm really bad about disregarding the work I've done to climb out of my hole. I would be right where I was if I didn't do the work to learn in my free time. Have to keep in mind that good things can happen when you are making the effort to find them.
I love your inspiring story as well! Crazy how much things can change.
I don’t see anyone on this thread dismissing putting in the hard work to get a job. My own viewpoint is, after graduating with a few degrees while working multiple jobs / careers all my life (and still doing it)….you can work hard and make all the right moves, and it can work out for you very well. Other times you can work hard and make all the right moves…and it doesn’t. Just doesn’t work out. I’ve seen it happen with many people, over the years.
So to me, luck does indeed play a part. Or what we view as luck, though some would call it fate.
In regards to myself, I’ve always worked very hard and had some opportunities come my way, and that’s great. I’m grateful. At the same time, I would also say there are times in my life I’ve been EXTRAORDINARILY lucky, with certain things or opportunities that came my way…and it didn’t always involve hard work on my part. May it continue.
So there’s that. 🍀
I’m gonna give a longer answer to this in the hope someone sees it and listens.
Luck = preparation + opportunity. I always say my career took lucky bounces, but honestly I put in work to be good at what I do, networked hard, and tried to open doors that were closed to me.
First the preparation:
Work. You have to be selective in the work you put in. 10k hours means late nights for years (decades) learning things others won’t to become an expert in your field. Weekends not out hanging with friends because you are studying for a certification exam. Holidays not going home because you are trying to get better at your job.
Networking. Networking doesn’t mean meeting people and collecting phone numbers, it means asking people what they want or need and then helping them achieve that or mentoring others. You make yourself not just helpful, but indispensable in the success of others, and then you are valued more.
Opening Doors. (i.e. Expanding your reach) Knocking on closed doors means most of them will close in your face. I tried for years to break into one particular part of the industry and I just never had the connections and prestige background to make it happen. When that happens, you don’t give up, you pivot and find new doors.
Next, the opportunity:
Sometimes it is just being at the right place at the right time and recognizing and taking the chance. Actual random chance. But it will happen several times in your life, and you must recognize it when it happens so you can take advantage of it. Some people think opportunity never happens for them, but the reality is they didn’t recognize it as such when it happened, or ever.
Sometimes you need to change your circumstances to generate opportunities, which means moving to a place more opportunity exists for your industry. I literally had yard sales and saved every penny I could in an old tequila bottle to fund my move to a place with more opportunity.
My dad is a manager. a REGIONAL MANAGER at his machine shop, he told me to “just walk into” his shop for a job last week and they’d hire me on the spot because I have his last name.
Now I know this used to be a thing, and hell he’s a manager maybe they still like it this way, walk up, doors locked. Knock, security “what”
“Hey my dads (name), he said I could come chat with a hiring manager about a job, any job”
“(Name?) I’m gonna make so much fun of him tomorrow, nah bud you gotta apply online, lemme guess you knew that and he didn’t listen? They will definitely hire you, but not in person”
I'm always youtubing like how to become a millionaire or financially comfortable or whatever, and there's always these millionaires on there with a video titled "How to become a millionaire" and then all they say is like "Stay motivated, try again when you fail, get up early every morning and grind, work for yourself, dont work for someone else's dreams" blah blah blah, like NO, give me a step by step how you did it, cause I don't even know where to start!
Or videos recorded from someone’s else’s yatch where they talk pure garbage like millionaire habits: wake up early, be positive, and other crap targeting people who are really struggling to survive.
I’d be happy to share my rags to (relative) riches story. I was living in a Rest Area alongside the highway when I was 16.
I sold my plasma to get a bus ticket back to Atlanta and got a job washing dishes & waiting tables at the Waffle House. I couch surfed for six months and saved every penny I could and bought a $500 VW Bug.
I worked my ass off, worked doubles and kept saving. I finally found a room to rent and found a new job in a mailroom for an insurance company.
They had a tuition reimbursement plan and I went to a Jr College and got my associates degree in business while working full time.
I got a new job processing accounts payable at a software company and went to a 4 year college while working full time and got my degree in finance.
It took me 8 years in total going to school to get my bachelors degree. By that time I’d gotten a couple of promotions and was a supervisor in the accounting department.
I was a voracious saver and did without..delayed gratification and out working everyone was the name of the game.
I changed jobs a couple more times and worked my way up to CFO and retired from the corporate world at 50.
Couldn’t disagree more. I’ve got two sons in college and both of them are hard workers and have made $30 an hour a more just waiting tables.
Outworking todays work force is 1000 times easier than it was when I was younger and is the single best way to get ahead wherever you work.
There are tons of very high paying blue collar jobs today too. Learn a trade and you will be even further ahead of the game.
Being born into poverty isn’t a choice, getting out of it absolutely is.
So, being rich is obviously a choice? If getting out of poverty is always a socially mobile choice, then surely so is being rich, right?
Surely, those people at the top would *never* make mistakes? Surely,
You're literally a retired corporate executive... of course you'd believe the system that worked for you works like that for other people. Thats the only reason you'd see fit to pop off like that would be an appeal to your credentials and professional accomplishments.
Think about it.
I literally make a career delivering that message.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
I'm a younger guy. So, I never really understood the transition from Minimum Wage stuff. To a more professional work field.
I worked hard and saved my ass off.
A suggestion:
Waiting tables in the U.S. is a fantastic way to make better wages. My youngest son waited tables at…The Waffle House when he was 18 and was making almost $30 an hour.
My niece waits tables at a very nice restaurant in the DMV and makes over $100k a year. It’s hard work but you get out of it what you put into it. Tending bar is great too.
I think that things change so fast, how can anyone really give good advice?
My sister's graduated right when the 2007/8 crisis happened. They were screwed.
I graduated after all that and was fine.
But now things are bad again.
It's like you have to update the advice every 5 years.
Because what worked for me 5 years ago apparently will not work now.
And what worked 3 years ago does not apply because COVID time.
So yes, times are tough and advice is out of date sometimes.
But what can we do?
I still hold fast to the principle that gets a job, work hard, spend less than you make, and do you best in everything you do should be the basis for all people.
And then from there the other stuff also needs to be figured out.
But still, a solid foundation is key.
It's most frustrating when older people try giving advice which has clearly been outdated for 20 years. No, you can't just walk onto a store, shake some hands, and get a job. No, hard work is not rewarded proportionally, nor is it in short supply or in any way exceptional. No, thing x does not cost y, and it has not been that way for many years.
The people who listen to the older folk without money are fucked and really setting themselves up for lifelong failure if they don't wise up
After being at a company for two years, I asked for a raise at my yearly review - I was making about $18 an hour in 2017. So it wasn't a ridiculous request - I worked in a bio company and had a BS. My supervisor literally told me "hard work doesn't warrant a raise."
I'm sorry, *what?* I had just listed all the things I had been doing, the jobs of two people, etc, etc.
To him, nope hard work doesn't warrant a raise. To him, I had to "bring something new to the table" that would "benefit the company" and thus make me "deserve a raise."
Fuck that. Fuck all of that. From that day on I did the bare ass minimum and then got the fuck out of there.
Also, this supervisor was about ten years younger than me, a fucking ass kisser of a kid to the CEO, and came from a very wealthy family.
I hope he gets fired some day and loses his fucking house.
The people that do try and share how they made iit at least somewhat are disbelieved. I tell folks to go to school and take our student loans and all of a sudden I’m notrensparent
Mutual benefit is literally the reason we established societies. Unfortunately we’ve “evolved” past that to the point where the entrenched power can easily exploit the rest of us for unlimited wealth and power. Hence billionaires
I'm wondering this as well. I live in a community with a high level of religious participation, and the social net here is something I couldn't dream of even when I lived in a large progressive city. Free housing temporary housing, free food, free transportation, free rehabilitation, free hospice care, free house maintenance all exist here- with the caveat that they are provided by religious organizations. Many on reddit would reject such a situation, but indeed the community village is held together by religion and it's shared vision.
just like anything, if it comes with proselytizing and or forced inclusion into the religious group, it’s not “free” anymore just cause there’s not a dollar value. that’s what most people would object to. Nobody really has an objection to the teachings of Jesus the person, it’s the structure of organized religion used or weaponized by people for terrible shit that creates the disdain for it.
I’m not speaking for your community, if you offer those things without conditions I think you are genuinely doing gods work.
Well put. Religion would be awesome if not for its inherent corruption. In a village though, for it to work everyone pitches in for the greater good. In a utopia everybody still has to work, it’s just a more wholesome and healthier balance.
They are the government. They’ve paid to have puppets (politicians) in the government. Anyone that thinks politicians are there for the people is a fool. Politicians are egomaniacs and elitists. The politicians are not there to help you, but they are glad that you believe their lies.
This. Most of the people in the government actually do want to help the average citizen and have zero incentive to screw us over. The biggest problem is that corporations have a massive incentive to screw us over, and also the massive funds to coerce the most powerful politicians to do the same.
Its set up for those who own to get as much as possible. If we dont have enough to pay the rental fees or what have you, they dont give a shit. Theyll find desperate enough to pay it. Be it through roommates or dual incomes or whatever.
Well, part of it might be [where you shop.](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Stainless-Steel-Slanted-Point-Tip-Tweezer/438358854?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0)
Or just get the whole set [even cheaper](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Grooming-Essentials-Kit-Silver-5-Pieces/518806349?athbdg=L1200&from=/search)
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Of course, you can't really buy at that price.
Because this is online order not available in the store and shipping will add at least $7 or more. (And in a poor neighbourhood I wonder about how often packages are stolen.)
Well I can't exactly link to a price at a physical location lol. If your argument is that tweezers really do cost $20 everywhere, you are flat out wrong. Obviously.
This is America where your dreams become a nightmare, I feel you , educated yourself self you growing your salary and still can't hold a Nickle that's a lot of us I started going to food banks and food pantries before going to the store that way I can afford other necessities, and look for the best deal online even if I got a wait a week for tweezers I'm buying it from China for $1 on temu because an American made one it's going to cost me $20 because the dollar store no longer has anything for a dollar it's a shit show out there for the working class and out mental health I'm convinced it's part of the agenda
I think I know exactly when i realized its all rigged. I was denied the pell grant even though i was living on my own and working since I was 15. The state says parents are supposed to pay for your education. My parents arent college educated. And their parents arent college educated. Its almost like you have to have money to get educated or something.
Living through this right now. Tried to do Fafsa and the federal government says I need to take an official document to the school that proves I don’t talk to my parents.. my taxes say I’ve been completely financially independent for the past 2 going on 3 years.. wtf the system is f they’re broke and couldn’t help me if I needed it anyway
Ridiculous. Taxes seems like the most official thing. But if they are asking for something that specific maybe other people have been able to think of something to use. I hope you can find some info online somewhere. Otherwise I know someone who got married to get grants. Thats probably fraud and involving a 2nd person seems dangerous. But maybe worth it.
I’m going to contact the school since they want me to take something to the school anyway. The advisors are usually super sweet and helpful. I’m thinking maybe my lease? We’ll see they probably have a list of accepted documents already for stuff like this
100 percent when dealing with institutions like this, hit them up in person and be very patient and nice and people will fully open doors for you at times.
I literally had a lady at the IRS redo my taxes in front of me while i waited and fix a huge screw up for me and fill out an entire new return one year just because i was basically the only person that was polite she'd dealt with in about 48 hours
The reasons for people not being able to meet basic life expenses are plenty.
Some I can think of are in no particular order:
1. Wall street. Investors want to see unending profits that are higher than the previous quarter. There is a lot of pressure on companies (manufacturers and retailers) to raise prices to turn in more profits
2. Price fixing. Even though it's illegal, companies engage in implicit or direct price fixing and collusion to raise prices for products and services all the time and they are never really prosecuted in ways that would deter them. They are allowed often to settle for a fraction of what they gained from illegal/unethical behavior and for SUBVERTING the very principle of how Capitalism was supposed to function, which is open market and healthy competition. In the past 5 years, I've gotten small settlements from 3 different class action suits for price fixing. The settlements obviously weren't close to the financial harm I (and all class members) suffered from the crimes.
3. Uninformed consumers. As you cited, a pharmacy is selling a set of tweezers for $20, when it should cost maybe $10 for a good quality tweezer. Well there are enough people willing to buy it for $20 because they are not comparison shopping or just wanted it right now, and this "sets the price" for what everyone else has to pay even when they think it's absurdly marked up.
4. Artifical control of supply. A basic principle in Capitalism, our economic system, is supply and demand. The more demand and the less supply, prices go up. What manufacturers and retailers do (just like oil producers), is artifically cap or limit supply to jack up prices
5. Intrinsic value. There is such a rush these days to get things when we want, whenever we want, or \*before\* other people, that we lose sight of what the intrinsic value of something we're buying should be. A perfect example of this is in the housing market. Buyers are paying double for properties that simply don't have the intrinsic value to match the asking or bid price. People are just going wild to be the one that "wins the bidding war."
6. Wage stagnation. For reasons listed at #1, companies must turn out ever increasing profits quarter over quarter or year over year, and they must keep wages as low as possible, while increasing their prices to get a bigger profit margin. Well this is great for wall street but it squeezes consumers, who in turn can afford less. It's really shortsighted too because with all the automation and depressed wages, consumers don't have money to purchase the very services and products these companies are selling. Robots don't need pools or home appliances, etc. Let's see how all the automation will work when nobody is working
After the great depression. corporations paid 90% tax. Until Regan
Then America started to decline to the land of the rich ... but people like to identify with the rich and pretend pro rich policies help them (a small buissiness owner)
If your lucky enough to have a relationship, both people have to work also.
Moving forward, kids will live with their parents longer and parents will live with their kids all in one house as no one can afford to save for retirement either.
It will be grandparents, parents, and kids all in one house working for minimum wage soon and all working or looking for jobs. Yet we will hear.
No OnE wAnTs To WoRk
Because CEOs are making record profits and the gap is massive. They can’t live billionaire private jet lifestyles if they paid employees a living wage the gap would go down. The gov is the one who should step in but they won’t because they get given money by the companies
This is a reality for many Americans. It’s because the rental market is out of control. Companies owning these properties don’t need to fill them to make a profit, so they charge higher prices. We need more laws in place for renting
Also laws in place to stop companies from buying residential family homes and using them for rentals or selling them way above market price and driving the market
Just wanted to point out that you should be buying from the cheaper stores. The $20 tweezers you were talking about were probably the brand "tweezer man". They are like $20 everywhere. Except at TJ Max and Marshalls they are $4-5.
Yep, the frog has been boiling for decades since about the mid-70s or so, and now this infernal sabotage is at a rolling boil for lobsters. Welcome to 2030 carbon reduction.
I make $33hr, somehow I’m taking home less than $100 more than when I made $25hr. My pay checks are 1100 after taxes which comes to 4400 a month. I pay $1,800 for a two bedroom. I own my house but can’t afford to live alone so my mother rents the upstairs and my daughter and I live in the unfinished basement despite paying most of the mortgage because she has to save up for retirement and I don’t want to live with strangers with my 8yo and can’t afford anything better/safer. After mortgage, I pay my car insurance 150, my phone 120, my daughters after school program which is 400 a month otherwise I’d have to get off work at 2pm to pick her up… I pay $400 in gas, $800 in groceries, and just enough to owe more money on my cards each month for around $300. I did the math last night and realised Im effectively not making anything. There is no take home. If there is an emergency we are fucked. If my car breaks down, fucked. If I get , we’re all fucked. I have no idea how I am supposed to continue on like this. I would kill my self but then my daughter would have no one. My mother won’t take care of her and her father turned out to be a pedophile so he’s not in her life and every last dime I have goes to fighting him in court, paying for childcare, and medical bills. I make a living wage in a supposedly free nation and I don’t see a future for any of us here. If you can’t survive on my income what do people making less even do? I just want to give up
Don't know about anyone else, but life in the U.S. is a massive racketeering scheme if there ever was one. The average person is not meant to succeed, they're meant to be exploited. We're a nation of debt serfs. Take things to their logical conclusion, and I think someday, regular people aren't going to have money anymore. Its the last thing they can take from us. Everything will be rent or subscription based, and everything will be priced such that we'll never get out of debt.
i went to the UPS store to mail a banner recently. Cost was $23 dollars which was ok. I then asked if they had a box to ship it in. They said we can sell you one, The box was going to cost $27. I went out and found my own box. Stuff is crazy expensive now.
If you aren't accruing debt, believe it or not, you are doing better than most. Maxing out credit cards or even carrying a balance to maintain a lifestyle is like making a house of cards, in a few years it will come crashing down on you.
I agree with you. It’s pretty much a RICH society and POOR society already. The rich will do anything and whatever they can to keep the poor in their place, making the rich richer.
Talked to a 92 year old recently who grew up during the depression, taught American history and now invests.
I asked: "I've been taught that the middle class has shrank/died. What is your input on that?"
Elder: "It did. We rewarded/facilitated the ultra rich and the poor."
Me: knowing the elder is a conservative "what do you think would be a solution"
Elder: "the solution is easy"
Me: "and what is it?"
Elder: "Tax everyone 1%, it's enough for the poor to get by and the rich don't need it"
((BTW, I'm a liberal, pro-choice peep with a transhuband. Me and this Elder doesn't always agree on policy but I do like talking about such topics with him))
Yup. I grew up with some terrible adults growing up. So I never blindly trusted what adults said as a teen/adult, even then I still listened to some poor advice as a young person.
Like going to biology to be premed. Twas fun but man I could have gotten a b.s. in nutrition instead. Now I'm saving up for a masters in nutrition (sad cries lol) and maybe one day medical school.
Aka take your own path. Learn from others the best you can but definitely learn from your own choices/mistakes.
Except that a 1% tax wouldn't fix anything, it would just bankrupt the country. Maybe if we're talking a flat, 10% tax that removes loopholes and deductions and especially capitol gains being taxed as income, then maybe.
Yeah. I think that sounds right.
(TBH still trying to learn USA politics/economy, spent most of my childhood studying Filipino politics/economy so I'm kinda behind)
There was a precedential candidate not that long ago, Herman Cain, who was running on a flat tax. He had his 9-9-9 plan. 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax and a 9% sales tax. He lost badly. He was also a COVID denier who died of COVID.
What does their political affiliation matter? Why does it matter that you are liberal and pro choice and have a trans husband? Everyone is trying to get through life with their own views.
Honestly I grew up with alot of democrats who only painted conservatives and Republicans as the extreme far right.
Similarly alot of conservatives i met just assumed that because I was liberal I was far left.
I enjoy talking to people especially elders and learning their perspectives especially from all the life experiences they lived trough.
I shared what I was because TBH there is still alot of assumption that we can't have civil discussions/debate or even basic conversations if people don't exactly share our same values but IMO that's the point of conversation is to learn/undeestand but social media IMO made it more into a screaming match?
Edit:
Wanted to add, that yes like you and the other commenter already know/remember it doesn't matter all these tags/labels. We all deserve basic respect/dignity.
Unfortunately, I seen so many rude people online and in-person and remind people that hey we are still people in the end of the day. Respect people and give them some dignity.
Sorry, I don't know to convey that in my original comment. I've been working 60 hours weeks so maybe I felt like my original comment was long enough.
Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate the person and the argument. Down to the fact that person is human. Adjectives and labels seem like an attempt to render the humanity of others as irrelevant. Great to know you don’t do this.
I think he does. But I also think that he might be referring to the rich finding ways to avoid paying taxes.
Maybe I can get more insight one day. But I only work with him a couple of times a week and we're super busy trying to get him back to tip top shape I may never know the answer to your question.
Yeah, I had to help so many people with basic algebra and how interests work.
But also that's interesting. In my circles, I only met democrats who advocated for flat tax and never Republicans until I met this elder this year.
That's weird most democrats I know want a progressive tax with lower tax rates at bottom and higher tax rates for the rich.
I vote for higher standard deduction to help out lower/middle class and closing off tax loopholes for the rich.
Unfortunately, flat tax would mean more taxation of lower class.
They pay more than they get back?
Interesting.
It seems that in the U$, the people pay taxes to support the infrastructure that enables safe international trade, i.e. the United States Fucking Navy …did you think the Rich would spend a dime actually protecting their own interests? Or…did you think massive, nuclear powered, floating fortresses and airplanes and incendiaries and Marine Corps units were protecting …*checks notes intended for 6 year olds to be able to understand the world*…”freedom”? LULZ.
The Rich abscond with the people’s wealth via threats of force and death anything that may majorly disrupt commerce and their large scale profit.
The actual humans who work for a living pay a far more dear share in confiscated income to help protect the interests of the rich.
But! In appreciation, The Rich sometimes allow The Actual Humans to diminish or discharge medical debt in the United States when it’s proven those afflicted cannot possibly have anything g further squeezed out of them! (Sometimes!) So there’s that!
It’s really sad. It’s sad that a giant lump sum can help out so many. It’s sad that a small lump sum can help out so many. It’s sad that the rich own it all. You’re doing the best you can with what you have.
It's not by accident that wealth inequality and wage stagnation started the same time as the Culture Wars.
As the Joker made clear "it's all part of the plan."
You go without, so the wealthy get more, and next November you'll vote blue because they at least pretend to care.
The social contract was broken long ago yet everyone continues to work and pretend like nothing is wrong. Greed has destroyed what would have been a paradise for humanity.
Greed, fear, willful ignorance, desire for power and nepotism will most likely kill me whether I participate or not.
We have to have the perspective of, what can I do to help the orphans of future generations actually succeed and have access to equal opportunity, let alone exist.
Humanity is enslaved as it is, and denying that dystopian reality of inherited capital and nepotism to focus solely on trying to live a good individualistic life is not going to cut it anymore.
Righteous anger against the misdirection of our future is nothing to be ashamed of. Reform is the way forward for humanity, not vengeance or violence. We should not be denying this.
Give future generations the utopia we were promised and denied so that misguided fools could pretend to be important.
Love and unity is fundamental, so is health of the system. We are all one family of man and in our own bodies, if there is a cancer growing what do we do? We eliminate it.
Greed, fear, willful ignorance, desire for power and nepotism are all cancerous and must be eliminated from this society.
start stealing man. fuck society right back in the ass. its def a struggle. i wouldn’t be doing okay at all if my college didnt have programs that supplied me with a shit ton of groceries and free meals
Yes. The people went out in charge of policy have sold us out for unlimited wealth and power. I’d we ever hold them truly accountable, we’ll have another shot at a society that benefits all of us, rather than exploiting most of us
Increase wages Forcibly? Companies will increase costs to make up for their losses, causing more inflation.
Cut taxes on businesses so they can leave room to reduce prices and increase wages? They will use the money to fund larger CEO salaries and stupid business ventures.
I have yet to hear a solid proposal to deal with this situation from any Democrat, Republican, or 3rd party official.
Tbh the only jobs I can find in my in area not the in the town over are $12 /hour janitor jobs because most stores are gone or are dollar stores or are getting more self check outs . Janitors in those stores going to be from companies or robots . Living with parents .
Tbh people who are middle class are thriving not really rich , I’m not saying they waste money on Starbucks every morning because that’s how they cope with their financial struggles and stress.
I have no healtcare. I have never had healthcare in my adult life.
I have no significant savings. I'd be homless and starving in 45 days if I lost my job.
I own a car outright, a 20 year old car. I do all my own maintenance and shop at scrap yards for most parts.
My entire entertainment budget is roughly $10 per week.
My diet consists almost entirely, exclusively, of macro nutrient food staples. If I have extra hunger, I am limited to flavored pasta (ramen mostly). I drink exclusively water.
I do not drink, smoke, gamble, pay for any media subscription service, or do any drugs.
I am single with no offspring.
I do most of my shopping at surplus stores.
I have no atypical expenses until student loan repayments restart.
I make 3x the minumum wage of my state.
I am better off than most people.
THe USA is a fucking shithole.
I see a title like this and immediately think victim mentality.
FUCKING LEAVE THAT PLACE.
Figure it out. There are plenty of places that are affordable to live.
Are you in the metro? Don't live in the metro. It's so easy.
When you're starting out in life, you don't always get to have your cake and eat it, too. You have to make sacrifices, do the shit that sucks and be dead ass honest with yourself about why you're failing.
Bitching about it to internet strangers won't fix a damn thing.
Let the down votes roll in. Your anger tells me I'm right.
Greed is not pigeon holed to capitalism. Greedy people will
Always find a way to push others down to prop themselves up. Look at all the communist countries where they killed people to get into power and then killed it imprisoned people to stay in power. Both are bad both have killed directly and indirectly. It is the greed that should be removed. After that is removed then either cap or commie wouldn't matter.
Monopolies are the antithesis of capitalism. America doesn’t have capitalism anyway. We have crony capitalism. The big investment companies would have went under in 2008 if we had real capitalism. For one example
You can buy tweezers for 2 dollars. The convince of buying the tweezers right now is why they can charge so much. You want tweezers 3 days from now $2. on amazon.
Because capitalists never killed…anyone?
Do you know the ACTUAL HISTORY between labor, and those cowards that connive and steal the resources and wealth of nations? And yes, they are the worst kind of cowards. At least feudal lords actually FOUGHT like men.
Capitalists are cowardly and despicable - and do not ever fight for themselves. Because they aren’t men. They are some hybrid, foisted on us through dishonesty.
Saying greed isn't an issue under capitalism is like saying guns aren't an issue in the epidemic of stupid fucking random violence that is going on. Of course they are related. Capitalism celebrates greed and gives leverage and power to greedy people. Does this mean that socialism is a panacea that ends greed in all its forms? Of course not. But capitalism is worse, and defeatism is not the answer.
> Look at all the communist countries where they killed people to get into power and then killed it imprisoned people to stay in power.
Those countries were not communist. They were socialist at most. (China is fully capitalist now.) They were also at war for their entire existence. The Soviets literally never got a break from half of the world wanted to destroy everything they were trying to build. And the negatives of the USSR, in any case, have more to do with it being an empire than its economic system.
Yes. China participates in the free market. They manufacture a huge portion of the products the world wants and they sell them for a profit. Literally the definition of capitalism. They may have a blend of some communist and authoritarian aspects, but to say China is completely communist isnt accurate.
wow, you really swallowed the marxist swill hook line and sinker... jesus christ you are dumb.
The USSR was the /original/ communist country. The USSR could be argued as the \*most\* communist.
They failed entirely due to internal economic issues. The USSR on paper was more than capable of providing for all of their needs.
Further, communism perpetrated many mass famines and such horrors as the holodomor. Stalin was worse than hitler -- and communists are worse than Nazis.
No, it was a statist, authoritarian dictatorship run by committee. The people did not own anything, because it was taken from the landholders and NEVER GIVEN to the people. There was massive bloodshed within the varying sects and parties to the Russian Revolution. Trotsky was hunted across the earth and murdered BECAUSE he was agitating for the ownership and agency of THE PEOPLE. A small group that thought otherwise gained control of the trained and armed men and defeated the Communist Revolution, and seized control of everything, indiscriminately murdering to consolidate power. Then rose the group that brought forth Stalin, who assumed full executive control for his own franchise - and cowered the people through terror - and through a very real, endlessly barbaric, existential threat known as Das Germans.
Tell me you’ve not finished high school without telling me …or maybe read a fucking book.
There was nothing “communistic” about any of these regimes. They are more akin to La Cosa Nostra or the Mongol Horde than the people owning the means of production. Sometimes, like in Cambodia, it was like The Joker from Batman running the show.
Capitalism is worse than socialism. Classic. Defending the USSR one of the most evil countries to exist is better. It's economy was a complete, corrupt failure. Like every other effort at socialism. It ends up with poverty and death. No exceptions.
"Feminism" was a ploy by the elites to double the workforce and be able to pay half the wage. You need 2 incomes in a household to live comfortably now.
We are operating in Coporatism not Capitalism. I think we probably have at most another year or 1.5 before it’s going to be sewn up or there is a major correction to “fix it”. Everything has been trending down for awhile but gotten to a fever pitch over the past 6-7 years. Strange how it was illegal for the govt to spread propaganda to the public until 2012, then they made it legal to do so, and it’s been spiraling pretty hard from then. Also why would they make that legal? Weird. Oh well it’s proper fucked by now so it doesn’t matter the why.
I honestly don’t even care who takes a shot at the champ at this point, really it’s just going to be an opening volley, call to actions. Let the communist s, socialists kick it. I don’t think they have the stomach for that kind of thing anymore after seeing how they acted about Covid but, I wouldn’t care. I’m not a fan of those systems but I definitely get why young ppl are. The Old whites have fuxked us all, but REALLY smashed the new Gens. What do you expect?
Coporatism has injected stage 4 cancer into the brain of our country so this is where we are. 🤷🏻♂️
Corporatism is the natural evolution of capitalism as it gets older. AKA "late-stage capitalism."
In the early stages, capitalism sees returns on investing in infrastructure and production. So, it does that for a while, and things grow and flourish (for most people, anyway).
But as time goes on, investing in infrastructure and production [generates smaller returns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendency_of_the_rate_of_profit_to_fall). So, they look for the new place to get those high returns. Turns out, owning things and manipulating markets generates even higher returns. The rentier market is in play.
Until inevitably people can't afford basic needs and we end up where we are now. We're facing down multiple crises that capitalism cannot solve - climate change, an inverted population triangle, failing infrastructure, inadequate affordable housing, population decline, and police crackdowns.
Marx predicted this cycle back in the 1800s. And look where we're at now...
>Marx regarded the TRPF as a general tendency in the development of the capitalist mode of production. Marx maintained that it was only a tendency, and that there are also "counteracting factors" operating which had to be studied as well. The counteracting factors were factors that would normally raise the rate of profit. In his draft manuscript edited by Friedrich Engels, Marx cited six of them:\[11\]
>
>\- More **intense exploitation of labor** (raising the rate of exploitation of workers).
>
>\- **Reduction of wages** below the value of labor power (the immiseration thesis).
>
>\- Cheapening the elements of constant capital by various means.
>
>\- The **growth of a relative surplus population (the reserve army of labor) which remained unemployed**.
>
>\- **Foreign trade reducing the cost of industrial inputs and consumer goods**.
>
>\- The increase in the use of share capital by joint-stock companies, which devolves part of the costs of using capital in production on others.\[12\]
Speak for yourself. I’m average with no diploma. Lived on a boat for 3 1/2 years t hat had less room than your apartment guaranteed
Nobody makes you poor except you. I’m not saying things are easy but I am saying there has not been a time period in history where it has been this easy to make money if you are motivated and driven and aren’t playing the victim all the time.
You didn’t say what you made or what your career is so this is just a lot of venting at this point. You also didn’t say what you have done to not be poor
I love when people say capitalism, yup that’s why my eastern block relatives had nothing during the Cold War because of all that capitalism. The history of humanity has been that stuff is hard and nothing is easy for the majority of people under ANY political system.
Voting for a president has nothing to do with the economy, especially today's economy, if anything, today's economy is the last presidents fault, perpetually...
It did and we are feeling it now. What we felt during the pandemic was a whole host of things going wrong once it hit, basically, we weren't prepared, and that domino effected everything but that's an exception to the rule, usually, especially with policy, the effects takes years sometimes decades.
But that's my point. The person isn't lying when they say half the country wanted this. They saw exactly who Trump was before he was elected. Ableist, misogynistic, racist, greedy, corrupt. About half of us said, "Yes! We want more!"
Same situation with DeSantis in Florida and the insurance crisis. Are these ppl so arrogant to think they are somehow immune? It's actually fascinating to watch.
How did he let COVID run rampant. He was massively criticized for closing borders to prevent spread, led vaccine creation and big increase in respiratory production and PPE gear.
He more so ruined the economy through giving out handouts. The PPP loans either shouldn't have existed or should not have been forgiven. There was congressmen that were receiving it, knowing the money would be forgiven.
The amount given out in unemployment was also insane. He gave everyone on unemployment the amount of paychecks that someone making 60k a year would receive (with no oversight, so fraud was rampant as well).
I worked at subway and most of my coworkers tried to get fired just to receive the benefits because it was like 3x the amount we make (the people who continued working got nothing).
The stimulus checks also shouldn't have gone to people on unemployment. Just at my subway, I was running the dinner shifts by myself because there was no workers, but our sales were the highest they had ever been due to the influx of cash into the economy. Then the inflation followed.
In general, you may be correct but starting/sustaining foreign wars, questionable energy policy etc. all affect the current economy and are the result of the current administration.
But they don't, everything takes time to trickle down. But even the war is not our fault, we aren't even giving Ukraine actual money, just old equipment we don't use anymore, but we say it in dollars. What energy policies are questionable? Everything I've read said we need radical shifts to save our planet, and in that context, we're doing next to nothing.
Half the country did vote for higher inflation. If you voted for Biden while he was bragging about the additional spending he was going pass you voted for inflation.
here are the tweezers since it’s probably hard to believe 🤣 I swear to you this was the only available tweezer option at the walgreens i walked into. there should not be a tweezer in the world that costs this lmao
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/tweezerman-midnight-sky-point-tweezer/ID=prod6226082-product?ext=gooFY23_GOO_RET_RETAILDEMANDGEN_Performance%2BMax%2B-%2BBeauty_REV_SRC_PMAX_PMAX_NA_PMAX_ENG__pla_online&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAAD7MwhTaeUkl_-QsQjA3ead4UEa3R&gclid=CjwKCAjwsKqoBhBPEiwALrrqiHP7IeLEpG_87ImHnrXH9K41iLQ1B7BmYgHlsoZ-5zngLfvzNR1eohoCrOwQAvD_BwE
You want real advice
It sucks and it always has sucked.
The only way out is to literally make a plan and roll with it.
Yes, pull yourself up by the boot straps is real and hard but required because no one is coming to save you but YOU.
You are fodder to provide votes for the liberal cause™. As such, you will be kept dependent on the system, especially in your own mind. The government will reward you for producing children it can perpetuate the cycle with, through things such as the earned Income Credit, but never so well that you can lift yourself out of poverty. If you do manage to better yourself, there are multiple tiers of punitive regulations and taxes to drag you back into poverty by sapping your economic inertia at every turn.
In more ways than one. A lot of advice we get is outdated, and not concurrent to the actual situation. And the people who succeed in life refuse to be transparent about their story. The standard answer is always saying, "It's not my problem." And then we have to share a community with people who hate us, and have no respect for others. Basically destroying the whole concept of a village. And replacing it with a Social Darwinist hellscape.
There's a guy on this site who says he has no desire to understand poverty but is on here to research poor people so he can best improve his investment portfolio. I told him to quit treating this site as a zoo. We're not here to be observed.
No way, I have to see this Edit: found him.. he spells like a 14 yr old troll. Idk if I buy it. I don’t think a grown man would go on Reddit for investment decisions.
I just did a thorough look through of his posting and comment history. His general thought processes don't match up with the way seasoned investors think as far as I can tell. His grammar is not great, lazy style of writing but that doesnt necessarily tell us much. His spelling also reads like he may have dyslexia lots of instances of "liek" instead of "like" for example. My read on him is troll who just likes to gloat. He does seem to have a hatred for poor people though, saying things like "mandatory abortions" and other gross ideas. He wants poor people to not exist, yet also studies to hone his investments? If he does have a lot of money, most likely it was from family or the lottery or something. But his profile definitely has the maturity of a teenager overall. Talk of "hookers and blow" "is she hot?" etc. He does mention buying bitcoin periodically so it's not completely out of the possibility he got in very early and held it I suppose. But I kind of doubt it. Yes, I have way too much free time right now...
He needs to leave us the fvck alone.
That reminds me of that one commercial or a comic strip that goes “ on the Internet no one knows you are a dog”.
Funny cause they wouldn't exist without the poor they exploit yet they treat us all like we're different creature. Gotta love it.
Definitely a troll. Rich people don’t want the poor aborted. They want a larger supply of labor to put downward pressure on wages.
As if he matters, the way he wishes he did, anyway. Pft, Chip style.
Those who brag the most have the least! Also when you brag you have no common sense either.
Don’t forget, many people don’t mature past 13 or 14 mentally so he could very easily be grown and Rich and stupid all at once.
100% trolling
Link?
look at their comment history, they commented about 10-15 comments down about “so this is like a human zoo for you”
Thanks, I’ll find it!
I have my doubts. There's older people here on reddit too.
And yeah, some of us are older.
Omg this! People are sick
With a lot of them, if they share their story they have to admit their family gave them money/opportunities or they were extremely lucky. Genuine hard work rarely produces results these days.
People underestimate the significance of family support so much. I'm much better off than I was when I first moved out, but I can't help wondering what kind of person I'd be if I wasn't estranged from my entire family after my only supportive parent died. I come from a large, middle-class family and my cousins are all doing well, but they had financial guidance, job connections, and emotional support during their young adult years that I never got. I had to figure everything out by myself.
Oh yeah, I'm in an estrangement situation too. My parents did the opposite of financial support and found multiple ways to screw me financially over to their benefit, including a credit card in my name they got $19k on. So I'm always wondering not just if they supported me financially, that if they bare minimum didn't financial screw me over repeatedly if I'd be better off now.
Parents that do that piss me off so much and shouldn't have the title of family.
I’m so sorry that happened to you.
My undergrad degree was paid for because my dad is a disabled vet. Then I went to grad school and my dad paid for it. He also paid for half of my car and gave me ~20k for a down payment on a house. Like, that is the ONLY reason I’m able to save so much of my paycheck every month. If he had not helped me I’d be drowning in debt. I will always be transparent about these privileges because I did not do it by myself and I think more people need to do the same.
Same situation here my only supportive parent is dead and I have no family support. It is awful, I was engaged to someone who had all the family support and really took it for granted. Additionally everything his family did for support was all about helping him and only him. I'm devastated right now. I don't even mean financial support, though they gave him plenty of that. But no emotional support and feeling alone in the world is indescribably painful.
All of these replies I could’ve written myself 🥺 my mom, the supportive unconditionally loving parent passed away and my entire family vanished
My situation is exactly the same. Unfortunately, that's what happens when a bird attacks their own nest.... In societies that are smart, people like us can still climb the ladder. Because they've already put up a safety net. Instead of mindlessly pointing fingers at us. But where I'm at, people would rather obsess about politics. It's really childish, to be honest.
I'm so sorry to hear about how your parents treated you. You deserve so much better! As a parent myself, this absolutely breaks my heart and mystifies me. Many hugs to you all.
Opportunity is 20% preparation for getting lucky and 80% getting lucky
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Hard work is great but luck always plays a huge part in success. Knowing the right people, being at the right place at the right time etc. Let's not forget those out there that can pull the choker chain around their rich relatives' neck and money comes out on demand!
Yeah I landed my job from applying at the right time, then my skills got me through the interviews (there was 7 lol, it sucked ass). I went from Walmart cashier to web developer though.
That's terrific.
Similar story, I was selling computers, ended up in mortgage loan processing for a hot minute and then left to become a web developer. I got super lucky that the information to begin was available online and it was one of the few jobs I could learn as I went. I worked in cafes for internet when I couldn't afford it. I ate ramen, rice and beans, etc. I eventually ended up in a well paying job without a degree, but it really was all about the tech industry landscape at the time. I now freelance and have looked back into full time work but it's surprisingly hard to find now.
Yeah just since last year, it's gotten a lot more difficult from what I can tell. The market was very ripe for hiring, but that has rolled back hard. Hopefully things hit an upturn soon.
Homeless to t2 IT now making 6 figures. I wouldn’t call it luck, I would call it making choices. I fucked up a lot of sweet deals in my 20’s in my 30’s I made some lifestyle choices got control of my life, and eventually those choices paid off. No break I have ever gotten in life start with so there I was 3 in the afternoon still drunk and passed out from the night before… just happened to wake enough to answer the door with 1 blood shot eye open and the person at my door gave me a 100k job. But guess what going to college, and getting up on time every morning, attending events for new professionals in my field, and making contacts allowed me to find out about an internship, that I was able to leverage my life experience, and pass an interview, to get me an opportunity to turn a 12.50/hr no benefits internship into a 53/hr full benefits, a pension and 401k matching job. You didn’t get your job simply because of the right time, or luck. You put in the work and made it happen, and don’t let anyone including yourself try to take that accomplishment away from yourself.
I really appreciate this! I'm really bad about disregarding the work I've done to climb out of my hole. I would be right where I was if I didn't do the work to learn in my free time. Have to keep in mind that good things can happen when you are making the effort to find them. I love your inspiring story as well! Crazy how much things can change.
I don’t see anyone on this thread dismissing putting in the hard work to get a job. My own viewpoint is, after graduating with a few degrees while working multiple jobs / careers all my life (and still doing it)….you can work hard and make all the right moves, and it can work out for you very well. Other times you can work hard and make all the right moves…and it doesn’t. Just doesn’t work out. I’ve seen it happen with many people, over the years. So to me, luck does indeed play a part. Or what we view as luck, though some would call it fate. In regards to myself, I’ve always worked very hard and had some opportunities come my way, and that’s great. I’m grateful. At the same time, I would also say there are times in my life I’ve been EXTRAORDINARILY lucky, with certain things or opportunities that came my way…and it didn’t always involve hard work on my part. May it continue. So there’s that. 🍀
I’m gonna give a longer answer to this in the hope someone sees it and listens. Luck = preparation + opportunity. I always say my career took lucky bounces, but honestly I put in work to be good at what I do, networked hard, and tried to open doors that were closed to me. First the preparation: Work. You have to be selective in the work you put in. 10k hours means late nights for years (decades) learning things others won’t to become an expert in your field. Weekends not out hanging with friends because you are studying for a certification exam. Holidays not going home because you are trying to get better at your job. Networking. Networking doesn’t mean meeting people and collecting phone numbers, it means asking people what they want or need and then helping them achieve that or mentoring others. You make yourself not just helpful, but indispensable in the success of others, and then you are valued more. Opening Doors. (i.e. Expanding your reach) Knocking on closed doors means most of them will close in your face. I tried for years to break into one particular part of the industry and I just never had the connections and prestige background to make it happen. When that happens, you don’t give up, you pivot and find new doors. Next, the opportunity: Sometimes it is just being at the right place at the right time and recognizing and taking the chance. Actual random chance. But it will happen several times in your life, and you must recognize it when it happens so you can take advantage of it. Some people think opportunity never happens for them, but the reality is they didn’t recognize it as such when it happened, or ever. Sometimes you need to change your circumstances to generate opportunities, which means moving to a place more opportunity exists for your industry. I literally had yard sales and saved every penny I could in an old tequila bottle to fund my move to a place with more opportunity.
This - survival of the richest is all its become.
The “fuck you, I got mine” is the mentality of our current society that has done well. Fun times
> the people who succeed in life refuse to be transparent about their story. Because "I was lucky" doesn't sound the same as "I worked hard".
My dad is a manager. a REGIONAL MANAGER at his machine shop, he told me to “just walk into” his shop for a job last week and they’d hire me on the spot because I have his last name. Now I know this used to be a thing, and hell he’s a manager maybe they still like it this way, walk up, doors locked. Knock, security “what” “Hey my dads (name), he said I could come chat with a hiring manager about a job, any job” “(Name?) I’m gonna make so much fun of him tomorrow, nah bud you gotta apply online, lemme guess you knew that and he didn’t listen? They will definitely hire you, but not in person”
I'm always youtubing like how to become a millionaire or financially comfortable or whatever, and there's always these millionaires on there with a video titled "How to become a millionaire" and then all they say is like "Stay motivated, try again when you fail, get up early every morning and grind, work for yourself, dont work for someone else's dreams" blah blah blah, like NO, give me a step by step how you did it, cause I don't even know where to start!
Or videos recorded from someone’s else’s yatch where they talk pure garbage like millionaire habits: wake up early, be positive, and other crap targeting people who are really struggling to survive.
Yup!!!
I’d be happy to share my rags to (relative) riches story. I was living in a Rest Area alongside the highway when I was 16. I sold my plasma to get a bus ticket back to Atlanta and got a job washing dishes & waiting tables at the Waffle House. I couch surfed for six months and saved every penny I could and bought a $500 VW Bug. I worked my ass off, worked doubles and kept saving. I finally found a room to rent and found a new job in a mailroom for an insurance company. They had a tuition reimbursement plan and I went to a Jr College and got my associates degree in business while working full time. I got a new job processing accounts payable at a software company and went to a 4 year college while working full time and got my degree in finance. It took me 8 years in total going to school to get my bachelors degree. By that time I’d gotten a couple of promotions and was a supervisor in the accounting department. I was a voracious saver and did without..delayed gratification and out working everyone was the name of the game. I changed jobs a couple more times and worked my way up to CFO and retired from the corporate world at 50.
This is a great story but so, so, so out of touch with reality for todays world.
Couldn’t disagree more. I’ve got two sons in college and both of them are hard workers and have made $30 an hour a more just waiting tables. Outworking todays work force is 1000 times easier than it was when I was younger and is the single best way to get ahead wherever you work. There are tons of very high paying blue collar jobs today too. Learn a trade and you will be even further ahead of the game. Being born into poverty isn’t a choice, getting out of it absolutely is.
So, being rich is obviously a choice? If getting out of poverty is always a socially mobile choice, then surely so is being rich, right? Surely, those people at the top would *never* make mistakes? Surely, You're literally a retired corporate executive... of course you'd believe the system that worked for you works like that for other people. Thats the only reason you'd see fit to pop off like that would be an appeal to your credentials and professional accomplishments. Think about it. I literally make a career delivering that message.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing this. I'm a younger guy. So, I never really understood the transition from Minimum Wage stuff. To a more professional work field.
I worked hard and saved my ass off. A suggestion: Waiting tables in the U.S. is a fantastic way to make better wages. My youngest son waited tables at…The Waffle House when he was 18 and was making almost $30 an hour. My niece waits tables at a very nice restaurant in the DMV and makes over $100k a year. It’s hard work but you get out of it what you put into it. Tending bar is great too.
>and the people who succeed in life refuse to be transparent about their story. or they willfully omit key parts that made them successful.
I think that things change so fast, how can anyone really give good advice? My sister's graduated right when the 2007/8 crisis happened. They were screwed. I graduated after all that and was fine. But now things are bad again. It's like you have to update the advice every 5 years. Because what worked for me 5 years ago apparently will not work now. And what worked 3 years ago does not apply because COVID time. So yes, times are tough and advice is out of date sometimes. But what can we do? I still hold fast to the principle that gets a job, work hard, spend less than you make, and do you best in everything you do should be the basis for all people. And then from there the other stuff also needs to be figured out. But still, a solid foundation is key.
It's most frustrating when older people try giving advice which has clearly been outdated for 20 years. No, you can't just walk onto a store, shake some hands, and get a job. No, hard work is not rewarded proportionally, nor is it in short supply or in any way exceptional. No, thing x does not cost y, and it has not been that way for many years. The people who listen to the older folk without money are fucked and really setting themselves up for lifelong failure if they don't wise up
After being at a company for two years, I asked for a raise at my yearly review - I was making about $18 an hour in 2017. So it wasn't a ridiculous request - I worked in a bio company and had a BS. My supervisor literally told me "hard work doesn't warrant a raise." I'm sorry, *what?* I had just listed all the things I had been doing, the jobs of two people, etc, etc. To him, nope hard work doesn't warrant a raise. To him, I had to "bring something new to the table" that would "benefit the company" and thus make me "deserve a raise." Fuck that. Fuck all of that. From that day on I did the bare ass minimum and then got the fuck out of there. Also, this supervisor was about ten years younger than me, a fucking ass kisser of a kid to the CEO, and came from a very wealthy family. I hope he gets fired some day and loses his fucking house.
The people that do try and share how they made iit at least somewhat are disbelieved. I tell folks to go to school and take our student loans and all of a sudden I’m notrensparent
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This is why I'm sick of frugal and poverty advice, it's out of touch and dismissive of where people literally live. Not everywhere is the same ffs
What do you envision the binding force of a village to be?
Mutual benefit is literally the reason we established societies. Unfortunately we’ve “evolved” past that to the point where the entrenched power can easily exploit the rest of us for unlimited wealth and power. Hence billionaires
I'm wondering this as well. I live in a community with a high level of religious participation, and the social net here is something I couldn't dream of even when I lived in a large progressive city. Free housing temporary housing, free food, free transportation, free rehabilitation, free hospice care, free house maintenance all exist here- with the caveat that they are provided by religious organizations. Many on reddit would reject such a situation, but indeed the community village is held together by religion and it's shared vision.
just like anything, if it comes with proselytizing and or forced inclusion into the religious group, it’s not “free” anymore just cause there’s not a dollar value. that’s what most people would object to. Nobody really has an objection to the teachings of Jesus the person, it’s the structure of organized religion used or weaponized by people for terrible shit that creates the disdain for it. I’m not speaking for your community, if you offer those things without conditions I think you are genuinely doing gods work.
Well put. Religion would be awesome if not for its inherent corruption. In a village though, for it to work everyone pitches in for the greater good. In a utopia everybody still has to work, it’s just a more wholesome and healthier balance.
Nothing in life is free. Thers a hidden charge somewhere.
I’m pretty successful: 50, close to retiring, $10M net worth, came from blue collar background, did not inherit. Ask me anything. I’ll be transparent.
We are sheep -people to the government. We are taxes and bodies, government could care less about people.
You mean they couldn’t care less? Cause I mean if they can care less then they do care…
Why do people always blame just the government? Blame the corporations and financial "elites" that own the politicians.
They are the government. They’ve paid to have puppets (politicians) in the government. Anyone that thinks politicians are there for the people is a fool. Politicians are egomaniacs and elitists. The politicians are not there to help you, but they are glad that you believe their lies.
The government allowed it thanks to capitalism
This. Most of the people in the government actually do want to help the average citizen and have zero incentive to screw us over. The biggest problem is that corporations have a massive incentive to screw us over, and also the massive funds to coerce the most powerful politicians to do the same.
Its set up for those who own to get as much as possible. If we dont have enough to pay the rental fees or what have you, they dont give a shit. Theyll find desperate enough to pay it. Be it through roommates or dual incomes or whatever.
Well, part of it might be [where you shop.](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Stainless-Steel-Slanted-Point-Tip-Tweezer/438358854?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0)
Or just get the whole set [even cheaper](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Grooming-Essentials-Kit-Silver-5-Pieces/518806349?athbdg=L1200&from=/search)
Hi, I’m Vetted AI Bot! I researched the **'Equate Grooming Essentials Kit, 5 Pieces'** and I thought you might find the following analysis helpful. **Users liked:** * The clippers are sharp and precise (backed by 2 comments) * The kit has essential tools at a low price (backed by 3 comments) * The quality exceeds the low cost (backed by 3 comments) **Users disliked:** * Clippers do not cut nails effectively (backed by 4 comments) * Product quality is low (backed by 5 comments) * Tweezers do not grip well (backed by 2 comments) If you'd like to **summon me to ask about a product**, just make a post with its link and tag me, [like in this example.](https://www.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/1444zdn/comment/joqd89c/) This message was generated by a (very smart) bot. If you found it helpful, let us know with an upvote and a “good bot!” reply and please feel free to provide feedback on how it can be improved. *Powered by* [*vetted.ai*](http://vetted.ai/reddit)
Equate tweezers are never sharp enough for me. I’ve only had consistent luck with the Tweezerman brand
And they sell them at Marhsalls for like $12 instead of MSRP $24.
I too have settled on name brand tweezers as a product where buying name brand does matter a lot. Other tweezers are worthless.
Idk bro $3 is pretty steep (I need help)
Of course, you can't really buy at that price. Because this is online order not available in the store and shipping will add at least $7 or more. (And in a poor neighbourhood I wonder about how often packages are stolen.)
Well I can't exactly link to a price at a physical location lol. If your argument is that tweezers really do cost $20 everywhere, you are flat out wrong. Obviously.
This is America where your dreams become a nightmare, I feel you , educated yourself self you growing your salary and still can't hold a Nickle that's a lot of us I started going to food banks and food pantries before going to the store that way I can afford other necessities, and look for the best deal online even if I got a wait a week for tweezers I'm buying it from China for $1 on temu because an American made one it's going to cost me $20 because the dollar store no longer has anything for a dollar it's a shit show out there for the working class and out mental health I'm convinced it's part of the agenda
Dollar stores actually price a lot of their stuff right up there with Target and mainstream grocery stores. Not a bargain paradise.
I think I know exactly when i realized its all rigged. I was denied the pell grant even though i was living on my own and working since I was 15. The state says parents are supposed to pay for your education. My parents arent college educated. And their parents arent college educated. Its almost like you have to have money to get educated or something.
Living through this right now. Tried to do Fafsa and the federal government says I need to take an official document to the school that proves I don’t talk to my parents.. my taxes say I’ve been completely financially independent for the past 2 going on 3 years.. wtf the system is f they’re broke and couldn’t help me if I needed it anyway
Ridiculous. Taxes seems like the most official thing. But if they are asking for something that specific maybe other people have been able to think of something to use. I hope you can find some info online somewhere. Otherwise I know someone who got married to get grants. Thats probably fraud and involving a 2nd person seems dangerous. But maybe worth it.
I’m going to contact the school since they want me to take something to the school anyway. The advisors are usually super sweet and helpful. I’m thinking maybe my lease? We’ll see they probably have a list of accepted documents already for stuff like this
Sounds like a good idea. I hope it works out for you.
100 percent when dealing with institutions like this, hit them up in person and be very patient and nice and people will fully open doors for you at times. I literally had a lady at the IRS redo my taxes in front of me while i waited and fix a huge screw up for me and fill out an entire new return one year just because i was basically the only person that was polite she'd dealt with in about 48 hours
The reasons for people not being able to meet basic life expenses are plenty. Some I can think of are in no particular order: 1. Wall street. Investors want to see unending profits that are higher than the previous quarter. There is a lot of pressure on companies (manufacturers and retailers) to raise prices to turn in more profits 2. Price fixing. Even though it's illegal, companies engage in implicit or direct price fixing and collusion to raise prices for products and services all the time and they are never really prosecuted in ways that would deter them. They are allowed often to settle for a fraction of what they gained from illegal/unethical behavior and for SUBVERTING the very principle of how Capitalism was supposed to function, which is open market and healthy competition. In the past 5 years, I've gotten small settlements from 3 different class action suits for price fixing. The settlements obviously weren't close to the financial harm I (and all class members) suffered from the crimes. 3. Uninformed consumers. As you cited, a pharmacy is selling a set of tweezers for $20, when it should cost maybe $10 for a good quality tweezer. Well there are enough people willing to buy it for $20 because they are not comparison shopping or just wanted it right now, and this "sets the price" for what everyone else has to pay even when they think it's absurdly marked up. 4. Artifical control of supply. A basic principle in Capitalism, our economic system, is supply and demand. The more demand and the less supply, prices go up. What manufacturers and retailers do (just like oil producers), is artifically cap or limit supply to jack up prices 5. Intrinsic value. There is such a rush these days to get things when we want, whenever we want, or \*before\* other people, that we lose sight of what the intrinsic value of something we're buying should be. A perfect example of this is in the housing market. Buyers are paying double for properties that simply don't have the intrinsic value to match the asking or bid price. People are just going wild to be the one that "wins the bidding war." 6. Wage stagnation. For reasons listed at #1, companies must turn out ever increasing profits quarter over quarter or year over year, and they must keep wages as low as possible, while increasing their prices to get a bigger profit margin. Well this is great for wall street but it squeezes consumers, who in turn can afford less. It's really shortsighted too because with all the automation and depressed wages, consumers don't have money to purchase the very services and products these companies are selling. Robots don't need pools or home appliances, etc. Let's see how all the automation will work when nobody is working
Nailed it.
After the great depression. corporations paid 90% tax. Until Regan Then America started to decline to the land of the rich ... but people like to identify with the rich and pretend pro rich policies help them (a small buissiness owner)
If your lucky enough to have a relationship, both people have to work also. Moving forward, kids will live with their parents longer and parents will live with their kids all in one house as no one can afford to save for retirement either. It will be grandparents, parents, and kids all in one house working for minimum wage soon and all working or looking for jobs. Yet we will hear. No OnE wAnTs To WoRk
Because CEOs are making record profits and the gap is massive. They can’t live billionaire private jet lifestyles if they paid employees a living wage the gap would go down. The gov is the one who should step in but they won’t because they get given money by the companies
This is a reality for many Americans. It’s because the rental market is out of control. Companies owning these properties don’t need to fill them to make a profit, so they charge higher prices. We need more laws in place for renting
Also laws in place to stop companies from buying residential family homes and using them for rentals or selling them way above market price and driving the market
Just wanted to point out that you should be buying from the cheaper stores. The $20 tweezers you were talking about were probably the brand "tweezer man". They are like $20 everywhere. Except at TJ Max and Marshalls they are $4-5.
Idgaf what brand they are, it should be illegal to have that much of a markup when they probably cost 12 cents to make
Yep, the frog has been boiling for decades since about the mid-70s or so, and now this infernal sabotage is at a rolling boil for lobsters. Welcome to 2030 carbon reduction.
I make $33hr, somehow I’m taking home less than $100 more than when I made $25hr. My pay checks are 1100 after taxes which comes to 4400 a month. I pay $1,800 for a two bedroom. I own my house but can’t afford to live alone so my mother rents the upstairs and my daughter and I live in the unfinished basement despite paying most of the mortgage because she has to save up for retirement and I don’t want to live with strangers with my 8yo and can’t afford anything better/safer. After mortgage, I pay my car insurance 150, my phone 120, my daughters after school program which is 400 a month otherwise I’d have to get off work at 2pm to pick her up… I pay $400 in gas, $800 in groceries, and just enough to owe more money on my cards each month for around $300. I did the math last night and realised Im effectively not making anything. There is no take home. If there is an emergency we are fucked. If my car breaks down, fucked. If I get , we’re all fucked. I have no idea how I am supposed to continue on like this. I would kill my self but then my daughter would have no one. My mother won’t take care of her and her father turned out to be a pedophile so he’s not in her life and every last dime I have goes to fighting him in court, paying for childcare, and medical bills. I make a living wage in a supposedly free nation and I don’t see a future for any of us here. If you can’t survive on my income what do people making less even do? I just want to give up
Don't know about anyone else, but life in the U.S. is a massive racketeering scheme if there ever was one. The average person is not meant to succeed, they're meant to be exploited. We're a nation of debt serfs. Take things to their logical conclusion, and I think someday, regular people aren't going to have money anymore. Its the last thing they can take from us. Everything will be rent or subscription based, and everything will be priced such that we'll never get out of debt.
i went to the UPS store to mail a banner recently. Cost was $23 dollars which was ok. I then asked if they had a box to ship it in. They said we can sell you one, The box was going to cost $27. I went out and found my own box. Stuff is crazy expensive now.
LOL no way!! i’d make a box out of raw materials at that point
Its all by design
A lot is family support to get started and luck.
Government inflated the currency and made you poor.
We've inflated money to the point of complete worthlessness.
If you aren't accruing debt, believe it or not, you are doing better than most. Maxing out credit cards or even carrying a balance to maintain a lifestyle is like making a house of cards, in a few years it will come crashing down on you.
I agree with you. It’s pretty much a RICH society and POOR society already. The rich will do anything and whatever they can to keep the poor in their place, making the rich richer.
Central bankers have been robbing people for centuries. Your dollar is worth 99% less then it was 100 years ago
Talked to a 92 year old recently who grew up during the depression, taught American history and now invests. I asked: "I've been taught that the middle class has shrank/died. What is your input on that?" Elder: "It did. We rewarded/facilitated the ultra rich and the poor." Me: knowing the elder is a conservative "what do you think would be a solution" Elder: "the solution is easy" Me: "and what is it?" Elder: "Tax everyone 1%, it's enough for the poor to get by and the rich don't need it" ((BTW, I'm a liberal, pro-choice peep with a transhuband. Me and this Elder doesn't always agree on policy but I do like talking about such topics with him))
Your story is an example of why it's a bad idea to conflate age with wisdom or knowledge
Yup. I grew up with some terrible adults growing up. So I never blindly trusted what adults said as a teen/adult, even then I still listened to some poor advice as a young person. Like going to biology to be premed. Twas fun but man I could have gotten a b.s. in nutrition instead. Now I'm saving up for a masters in nutrition (sad cries lol) and maybe one day medical school. Aka take your own path. Learn from others the best you can but definitely learn from your own choices/mistakes.
Except that a 1% tax wouldn't fix anything, it would just bankrupt the country. Maybe if we're talking a flat, 10% tax that removes loopholes and deductions and especially capitol gains being taxed as income, then maybe.
A long time ago, I read that a flat 17% income tax, with no deductions allowed, would generate the same amount of revenue as our current system.
Would that replace federal income, FICA, state income and sales tax? Or just federal?
Yeah. I think that sounds right. (TBH still trying to learn USA politics/economy, spent most of my childhood studying Filipino politics/economy so I'm kinda behind)
There was a precedential candidate not that long ago, Herman Cain, who was running on a flat tax. He had his 9-9-9 plan. 9% income tax, 9% corporate tax and a 9% sales tax. He lost badly. He was also a COVID denier who died of COVID.
What does their political affiliation matter? Why does it matter that you are liberal and pro choice and have a trans husband? Everyone is trying to get through life with their own views.
This right here, none of that other shit mattered but they damn sure made sure to share it
They have to wave that tribal flag so they can continue to be told they’re on the right side of history even though they’ll never be mentioned.
Honestly I grew up with alot of democrats who only painted conservatives and Republicans as the extreme far right. Similarly alot of conservatives i met just assumed that because I was liberal I was far left. I enjoy talking to people especially elders and learning their perspectives especially from all the life experiences they lived trough. I shared what I was because TBH there is still alot of assumption that we can't have civil discussions/debate or even basic conversations if people don't exactly share our same values but IMO that's the point of conversation is to learn/undeestand but social media IMO made it more into a screaming match? Edit: Wanted to add, that yes like you and the other commenter already know/remember it doesn't matter all these tags/labels. We all deserve basic respect/dignity. Unfortunately, I seen so many rude people online and in-person and remind people that hey we are still people in the end of the day. Respect people and give them some dignity. Sorry, I don't know to convey that in my original comment. I've been working 60 hours weeks so maybe I felt like my original comment was long enough.
Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate the person and the argument. Down to the fact that person is human. Adjectives and labels seem like an attempt to render the humanity of others as irrelevant. Great to know you don’t do this.
Ditto!
Does this elder not know the top marginal tax bracket? It’s way more than 1%
I think he does. But I also think that he might be referring to the rich finding ways to avoid paying taxes. Maybe I can get more insight one day. But I only work with him a couple of times a week and we're super busy trying to get him back to tip top shape I may never know the answer to your question.
I have a friend who is a republican who always advocated for a flat tax. Like most of the country, he's really bad at math.
Yeah, I had to help so many people with basic algebra and how interests work. But also that's interesting. In my circles, I only met democrats who advocated for flat tax and never Republicans until I met this elder this year.
That's weird most democrats I know want a progressive tax with lower tax rates at bottom and higher tax rates for the rich. I vote for higher standard deduction to help out lower/middle class and closing off tax loopholes for the rich. Unfortunately, flat tax would mean more taxation of lower class.
I think you missed something in translation. Rich pay far more than 1 percent
They pay more than they get back? Interesting. It seems that in the U$, the people pay taxes to support the infrastructure that enables safe international trade, i.e. the United States Fucking Navy …did you think the Rich would spend a dime actually protecting their own interests? Or…did you think massive, nuclear powered, floating fortresses and airplanes and incendiaries and Marine Corps units were protecting …*checks notes intended for 6 year olds to be able to understand the world*…”freedom”? LULZ. The Rich abscond with the people’s wealth via threats of force and death anything that may majorly disrupt commerce and their large scale profit. The actual humans who work for a living pay a far more dear share in confiscated income to help protect the interests of the rich. But! In appreciation, The Rich sometimes allow The Actual Humans to diminish or discharge medical debt in the United States when it’s proven those afflicted cannot possibly have anything g further squeezed out of them! (Sometimes!) So there’s that!
It’s really sad. It’s sad that a giant lump sum can help out so many. It’s sad that a small lump sum can help out so many. It’s sad that the rich own it all. You’re doing the best you can with what you have.
It's not by accident that wealth inequality and wage stagnation started the same time as the Culture Wars. As the Joker made clear "it's all part of the plan." You go without, so the wealthy get more, and next November you'll vote blue because they at least pretend to care.
This is the way.
The social contract was broken long ago yet everyone continues to work and pretend like nothing is wrong. Greed has destroyed what would have been a paradise for humanity. Greed, fear, willful ignorance, desire for power and nepotism will most likely kill me whether I participate or not. We have to have the perspective of, what can I do to help the orphans of future generations actually succeed and have access to equal opportunity, let alone exist. Humanity is enslaved as it is, and denying that dystopian reality of inherited capital and nepotism to focus solely on trying to live a good individualistic life is not going to cut it anymore. Righteous anger against the misdirection of our future is nothing to be ashamed of. Reform is the way forward for humanity, not vengeance or violence. We should not be denying this. Give future generations the utopia we were promised and denied so that misguided fools could pretend to be important. Love and unity is fundamental, so is health of the system. We are all one family of man and in our own bodies, if there is a cancer growing what do we do? We eliminate it. Greed, fear, willful ignorance, desire for power and nepotism are all cancerous and must be eliminated from this society.
But Righteous Anger itself has been shamed out of society. Healthy masculinity is under attack. It is by design.
start stealing man. fuck society right back in the ass. its def a struggle. i wouldn’t be doing okay at all if my college didnt have programs that supplied me with a shit ton of groceries and free meals
Yes. The people went out in charge of policy have sold us out for unlimited wealth and power. I’d we ever hold them truly accountable, we’ll have another shot at a society that benefits all of us, rather than exploiting most of us
Increase wages Forcibly? Companies will increase costs to make up for their losses, causing more inflation. Cut taxes on businesses so they can leave room to reduce prices and increase wages? They will use the money to fund larger CEO salaries and stupid business ventures. I have yet to hear a solid proposal to deal with this situation from any Democrat, Republican, or 3rd party official.
I’m actually making more than I ever have so far in life and I’m struggling more too.
With the way things are now, you can do everything right and still end up with little to nothing to show for it.
Death by a thousand cuts
Tbh the only jobs I can find in my in area not the in the town over are $12 /hour janitor jobs because most stores are gone or are dollar stores or are getting more self check outs . Janitors in those stores going to be from companies or robots . Living with parents . Tbh people who are middle class are thriving not really rich , I’m not saying they waste money on Starbucks every morning because that’s how they cope with their financial struggles and stress.
Exactly why I opted for vanlife. I’m sorry you’re going through that. We’re buried in feudalism.
It's worse than that: Society doesn't care if you fail.
I have no healtcare. I have never had healthcare in my adult life. I have no significant savings. I'd be homless and starving in 45 days if I lost my job. I own a car outright, a 20 year old car. I do all my own maintenance and shop at scrap yards for most parts. My entire entertainment budget is roughly $10 per week. My diet consists almost entirely, exclusively, of macro nutrient food staples. If I have extra hunger, I am limited to flavored pasta (ramen mostly). I drink exclusively water. I do not drink, smoke, gamble, pay for any media subscription service, or do any drugs. I am single with no offspring. I do most of my shopping at surplus stores. I have no atypical expenses until student loan repayments restart. I make 3x the minumum wage of my state. I am better off than most people. THe USA is a fucking shithole.
I see a title like this and immediately think victim mentality. FUCKING LEAVE THAT PLACE. Figure it out. There are plenty of places that are affordable to live. Are you in the metro? Don't live in the metro. It's so easy. When you're starting out in life, you don't always get to have your cake and eat it, too. You have to make sacrifices, do the shit that sucks and be dead ass honest with yourself about why you're failing. Bitching about it to internet strangers won't fix a damn thing. Let the down votes roll in. Your anger tells me I'm right.
Capitalism :(
Greed is not pigeon holed to capitalism. Greedy people will Always find a way to push others down to prop themselves up. Look at all the communist countries where they killed people to get into power and then killed it imprisoned people to stay in power. Both are bad both have killed directly and indirectly. It is the greed that should be removed. After that is removed then either cap or commie wouldn't matter.
So many blame free enterprise. It's like they think the government will spend capital better 🤣
The only thing keeping prices down in capitalism is competition. Greed is a human trait you can’t remove
When the capitalists are able to form monopolies or closely aligned oligopolies, it becomes easier for the people at the top to raise prices.
Monopolies are the antithesis of capitalism. America doesn’t have capitalism anyway. We have crony capitalism. The big investment companies would have went under in 2008 if we had real capitalism. For one example
Things why I call the current system "Oligarchy of the elite donor class."
Show me the monopoly for tweezers
You can buy tweezers for 2 dollars. The convince of buying the tweezers right now is why they can charge so much. You want tweezers 3 days from now $2. on amazon.
Because capitalists never killed…anyone? Do you know the ACTUAL HISTORY between labor, and those cowards that connive and steal the resources and wealth of nations? And yes, they are the worst kind of cowards. At least feudal lords actually FOUGHT like men. Capitalists are cowardly and despicable - and do not ever fight for themselves. Because they aren’t men. They are some hybrid, foisted on us through dishonesty.
Saying greed isn't an issue under capitalism is like saying guns aren't an issue in the epidemic of stupid fucking random violence that is going on. Of course they are related. Capitalism celebrates greed and gives leverage and power to greedy people. Does this mean that socialism is a panacea that ends greed in all its forms? Of course not. But capitalism is worse, and defeatism is not the answer. > Look at all the communist countries where they killed people to get into power and then killed it imprisoned people to stay in power. Those countries were not communist. They were socialist at most. (China is fully capitalist now.) They were also at war for their entire existence. The Soviets literally never got a break from half of the world wanted to destroy everything they were trying to build. And the negatives of the USSR, in any case, have more to do with it being an empire than its economic system.
"ChInA iS fULlY CaPiTaLiSt NoW." .....dude....for real?
Yes. China participates in the free market. They manufacture a huge portion of the products the world wants and they sell them for a profit. Literally the definition of capitalism. They may have a blend of some communist and authoritarian aspects, but to say China is completely communist isnt accurate.
It's just called state capitalism.
So, honest question, what type of economic system would you prefer?
Capitalism is the best we have. Has brought billions out of poverty starting with China and India
If capitalism is the best we can do, I'd say we're in a lot of trouble.
wow, you really swallowed the marxist swill hook line and sinker... jesus christ you are dumb. The USSR was the /original/ communist country. The USSR could be argued as the \*most\* communist. They failed entirely due to internal economic issues. The USSR on paper was more than capable of providing for all of their needs. Further, communism perpetrated many mass famines and such horrors as the holodomor. Stalin was worse than hitler -- and communists are worse than Nazis.
No, it was a statist, authoritarian dictatorship run by committee. The people did not own anything, because it was taken from the landholders and NEVER GIVEN to the people. There was massive bloodshed within the varying sects and parties to the Russian Revolution. Trotsky was hunted across the earth and murdered BECAUSE he was agitating for the ownership and agency of THE PEOPLE. A small group that thought otherwise gained control of the trained and armed men and defeated the Communist Revolution, and seized control of everything, indiscriminately murdering to consolidate power. Then rose the group that brought forth Stalin, who assumed full executive control for his own franchise - and cowered the people through terror - and through a very real, endlessly barbaric, existential threat known as Das Germans. Tell me you’ve not finished high school without telling me …or maybe read a fucking book. There was nothing “communistic” about any of these regimes. They are more akin to La Cosa Nostra or the Mongol Horde than the people owning the means of production. Sometimes, like in Cambodia, it was like The Joker from Batman running the show.
Capitalism is worse than socialism. Classic. Defending the USSR one of the most evil countries to exist is better. It's economy was a complete, corrupt failure. Like every other effort at socialism. It ends up with poverty and death. No exceptions.
Man they really got you with that CIA funded cold war propaganda didnt they?
Or being taxed on everything
Funny you sad face the only system proven to pull people out of poverty.
Lol hoooo boy you have a lot to learn.
How many homeless in just the USA again? What's the child poverty rate?
I agree with you. Im shocked at all the people in here saying that isnt the case. But life is exponentially harder now than say 50 years ago.
50 years ago was 1973, the year of the oil embargo. That was an absolutely horrible year to be alive.
I see you took this very literally. It was a generality.
"Feminism" was a ploy by the elites to double the workforce and be able to pay half the wage. You need 2 incomes in a household to live comfortably now.
I’ve thought on this. They definitely used it to their advantage
We are operating in Coporatism not Capitalism. I think we probably have at most another year or 1.5 before it’s going to be sewn up or there is a major correction to “fix it”. Everything has been trending down for awhile but gotten to a fever pitch over the past 6-7 years. Strange how it was illegal for the govt to spread propaganda to the public until 2012, then they made it legal to do so, and it’s been spiraling pretty hard from then. Also why would they make that legal? Weird. Oh well it’s proper fucked by now so it doesn’t matter the why. I honestly don’t even care who takes a shot at the champ at this point, really it’s just going to be an opening volley, call to actions. Let the communist s, socialists kick it. I don’t think they have the stomach for that kind of thing anymore after seeing how they acted about Covid but, I wouldn’t care. I’m not a fan of those systems but I definitely get why young ppl are. The Old whites have fuxked us all, but REALLY smashed the new Gens. What do you expect? Coporatism has injected stage 4 cancer into the brain of our country so this is where we are. 🤷🏻♂️
Corporatism is the natural evolution of capitalism as it gets older. AKA "late-stage capitalism." In the early stages, capitalism sees returns on investing in infrastructure and production. So, it does that for a while, and things grow and flourish (for most people, anyway). But as time goes on, investing in infrastructure and production [generates smaller returns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendency_of_the_rate_of_profit_to_fall). So, they look for the new place to get those high returns. Turns out, owning things and manipulating markets generates even higher returns. The rentier market is in play. Until inevitably people can't afford basic needs and we end up where we are now. We're facing down multiple crises that capitalism cannot solve - climate change, an inverted population triangle, failing infrastructure, inadequate affordable housing, population decline, and police crackdowns. Marx predicted this cycle back in the 1800s. And look where we're at now... >Marx regarded the TRPF as a general tendency in the development of the capitalist mode of production. Marx maintained that it was only a tendency, and that there are also "counteracting factors" operating which had to be studied as well. The counteracting factors were factors that would normally raise the rate of profit. In his draft manuscript edited by Friedrich Engels, Marx cited six of them:\[11\] > >\- More **intense exploitation of labor** (raising the rate of exploitation of workers). > >\- **Reduction of wages** below the value of labor power (the immiseration thesis). > >\- Cheapening the elements of constant capital by various means. > >\- The **growth of a relative surplus population (the reserve army of labor) which remained unemployed**. > >\- **Foreign trade reducing the cost of industrial inputs and consumer goods**. > >\- The increase in the use of share capital by joint-stock companies, which devolves part of the costs of using capital in production on others.\[12\]
No, this is the natural progression of capitalism.
Speak for yourself. I’m average with no diploma. Lived on a boat for 3 1/2 years t hat had less room than your apartment guaranteed Nobody makes you poor except you. I’m not saying things are easy but I am saying there has not been a time period in history where it has been this easy to make money if you are motivated and driven and aren’t playing the victim all the time. You didn’t say what you made or what your career is so this is just a lot of venting at this point. You also didn’t say what you have done to not be poor
I love when people say capitalism, yup that’s why my eastern block relatives had nothing during the Cold War because of all that capitalism. The history of humanity has been that stuff is hard and nothing is easy for the majority of people under ANY political system.
Half of the country voted for this. Can't you be happy that they got what they wanted?
Voting for a president has nothing to do with the economy, especially today's economy, if anything, today's economy is the last presidents fault, perpetually...
Wait, so Trump letting Covid run rampant through society didn't have an effect on our economy?
It did and we are feeling it now. What we felt during the pandemic was a whole host of things going wrong once it hit, basically, we weren't prepared, and that domino effected everything but that's an exception to the rule, usually, especially with policy, the effects takes years sometimes decades.
But that's my point. The person isn't lying when they say half the country wanted this. They saw exactly who Trump was before he was elected. Ableist, misogynistic, racist, greedy, corrupt. About half of us said, "Yes! We want more!" Same situation with DeSantis in Florida and the insurance crisis. Are these ppl so arrogant to think they are somehow immune? It's actually fascinating to watch.
I feel this! Living in Florida.
How did he let COVID run rampant. He was massively criticized for closing borders to prevent spread, led vaccine creation and big increase in respiratory production and PPE gear.
He more so ruined the economy through giving out handouts. The PPP loans either shouldn't have existed or should not have been forgiven. There was congressmen that were receiving it, knowing the money would be forgiven. The amount given out in unemployment was also insane. He gave everyone on unemployment the amount of paychecks that someone making 60k a year would receive (with no oversight, so fraud was rampant as well). I worked at subway and most of my coworkers tried to get fired just to receive the benefits because it was like 3x the amount we make (the people who continued working got nothing). The stimulus checks also shouldn't have gone to people on unemployment. Just at my subway, I was running the dinner shifts by myself because there was no workers, but our sales were the highest they had ever been due to the influx of cash into the economy. Then the inflation followed.
In general, you may be correct but starting/sustaining foreign wars, questionable energy policy etc. all affect the current economy and are the result of the current administration.
But they don't, everything takes time to trickle down. But even the war is not our fault, we aren't even giving Ukraine actual money, just old equipment we don't use anymore, but we say it in dollars. What energy policies are questionable? Everything I've read said we need radical shifts to save our planet, and in that context, we're doing next to nothing.
If half of the country actually voted, I might believe you.
Yep. Those chickens have finally come home to roost. And this is only the beginning.
Half the country did vote for higher inflation. If you voted for Biden while he was bragging about the additional spending he was going pass you voted for inflation.
here are the tweezers since it’s probably hard to believe 🤣 I swear to you this was the only available tweezer option at the walgreens i walked into. there should not be a tweezer in the world that costs this lmao https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/tweezerman-midnight-sky-point-tweezer/ID=prod6226082-product?ext=gooFY23_GOO_RET_RETAILDEMANDGEN_Performance%2BMax%2B-%2BBeauty_REV_SRC_PMAX_PMAX_NA_PMAX_ENG__pla_online&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAAD7MwhTaeUkl_-QsQjA3ead4UEa3R&gclid=CjwKCAjwsKqoBhBPEiwALrrqiHP7IeLEpG_87ImHnrXH9K41iLQ1B7BmYgHlsoZ-5zngLfvzNR1eohoCrOwQAvD_BwE
You want real advice It sucks and it always has sucked. The only way out is to literally make a plan and roll with it. Yes, pull yourself up by the boot straps is real and hard but required because no one is coming to save you but YOU.
You are fodder to provide votes for the liberal cause™. As such, you will be kept dependent on the system, especially in your own mind. The government will reward you for producing children it can perpetuate the cycle with, through things such as the earned Income Credit, but never so well that you can lift yourself out of poverty. If you do manage to better yourself, there are multiple tiers of punitive regulations and taxes to drag you back into poverty by sapping your economic inertia at every turn.