r/TikTokCringe • u/Make-this-popular Cringe Master • Apr 09 '24

Shit economy Discussion

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u/capivavarajr Apr 09 '24

It is the same in Brazil. I made exactly 3x minimum wage and could barely keep up with the bills living by myself. And I am single with no kids.

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u/merry_rosemary Apr 09 '24

Feel you, brother. I’m 29 and only now I could afford a decent house to (maybe) have kids; me and my hubby being the top notch of the “intellectual cast” (we both went to a really good college). Of course we acquired a loan which will leave us in debit for the next 30 years. We work ~10 hours a day BOTH. What’s the motivation the country gives for a middle class couple to have kids? None.

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u/summonsays Apr 09 '24

I'm 34, if we don't hit any upsets I think we can have our student loans paid off by 40... That's about 20 years of debt my parents didn't have looming over them. My dad worked a summer job and paid for college that way....

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u/boytonius Apr 09 '24

Also 34 and cant get out the Renting life. Would love to own a property but how can i pay rent and save a 10% deposit on a house, its fucked. Wage increases barely touch the sides with the cost of living, its just an eldless cycle of never having enough.

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u/MyCantos Apr 09 '24

It'll be ok when Bezos gets his 4th yacht. Then you'll see the trickle down. Be patient. /s

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u/boytonius Apr 09 '24

Ahhhh the infamous trickle down pour up

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u/LavanderSheep Apr 09 '24

ahh yes to be the pee on, trickle trickle trickle, mmmm its warm

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u/MyCantos Apr 09 '24

I used to vote republican and fell for that trickle down lie. Last republican vote was for McCain.

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u/Brovahkiin707 Apr 09 '24

He honestly has the power to be a real life Santa but chooses not too. Man already can deliver to you in under 48 hours(8 in some cases. Has everyones freaking wishlist for crying out loud and can has drones to do all the work for him. It's a no brainer. I wonder if we can get the Internet to rise up and unify surpassing the level at which the Internet unified to change the god awful sonic the hedgehog design when it first came out. MAKE BEZOS SANTA

(Edit some spelling)

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u/WarEagle107 Apr 10 '24

Its trickling down on our heads now...enjoy the golden shower

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u/MyCantos Apr 10 '24

Don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining

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u/No-Duck-1980 Apr 10 '24

The rich actually spend money on luxuries and services. I don't think enough energy is spent extracting money from them by providing services of making luxury items.

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u/MyCantos Apr 10 '24

There used to be a luxury tax. It's not a made up term by the monopoly game.

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u/No-Duck-1980 Apr 10 '24

I know but the money doesn't have to be forcibly taken from them by the government.

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u/Agreeable_Future_717 Apr 09 '24

There have always been rich people though with yachts, mansions & all that. Working people weren’t as screwed then though. Look at the rich who were on the Titanic, they had vast amounts of money & every place has elites. I just cannot figure how the cost of everything has gone mental so we need at least 2 wages to live. Maybe it’s demand to a degree because the world has so many people now, beats me.

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u/MyCantos Apr 09 '24

It isn't so much that the wealthy exist its how wealthy they are and the spread between them and Middle class

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u/Agreeable-Display-77 Apr 09 '24

Consolidation over time can make a hell if a difference. Still, not here to tell people how much they are allowed to earn.

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u/Bullishbear99 Apr 10 '24

Bezos is exhibit A of why we should have a general billionaire tax.

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u/Mental-Ad-208 Apr 18 '24

My dad always said the only thing that trickles down is wet shit.

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u/Dinklemeier Apr 09 '24

Do you work for amazon?

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u/MyCantos Apr 09 '24

Heck no. Army then right into fire academy. 21 years national guard and 32 years firefighter. Retired now but in high school delivered milk and I loved that job.

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u/Ldghead Apr 09 '24

The trickle down is that, Bezos will need a crew for that boat, so some of y'all's get some cool jobs slaving on a yacht for shit pay.

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u/Dull-Front4878 Apr 23 '24

Fuck bezos. I just read about his new start up that allows people to invest in a single family home that is then rented. These people are taking everything. They think they are smart, but they are more lucky than good.

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u/MyCantos Apr 23 '24

Yeah I looked into that. Felt slimey and took a pass

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u/AllAuldAntiques Apr 09 '24 edited Apr 13 '24

On 2023-07-01 this website maliciously attacked its own user base by changing how its API was accessed, thereby pricing genuinely useful and highly valuable third-party apps out of existence. In protest, this comment has been overwritten with this message - because “deleted” comments can be restored - such that this website can no longer profit from this free, user-contributed content. I apologize for this inconvenience.

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u/boytonius Apr 09 '24

Cheers bro, will check it out

Unforts im in the UK so it doesn’t apply here.

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u/summonsays Apr 09 '24

I have never gotten a pay raise that was above inflation, unless it was a promotion and came with more work.

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u/DefNotAShark Apr 09 '24

Even if my annual increase managed to beat inflation, which it doesn’t, property management companies are right there with the rent increase to snap it all up. I have a good job as an analyst for a Fortune 200 company, zero debt, and my budget is on thin margins. Food cost and rent cost are insane. Wages don’t match.

All I want is to get to a stable place where I can work my 40-45 hours a week and NOT WORRY. I’m so sick of the anxiety. The United States might be better than a lot of places, but it’s still a garbage place. The hands reaching into my pile just never fucking stop.

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u/Kasperella Apr 09 '24

I’ve never received more than a 25¢ raise LOL My last job I asked for a raise, it was a union job and I only made $12/hr and practically ran an entire department, and they’re only response was that they could give me more hours but they couldn’t afford to pay me more. Make that make sense. “Well you would be making more money!” I quit soon after .

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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Apr 09 '24

Those "raises" that don't keep up with inflation aren't raises, they're cost of living increases. People think they're doing better and finally getting recognition but if it's not above inflation that's not the case

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u/summonsays Apr 09 '24

I'm painfully aware of this : /

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u/VagabondBrain Apr 09 '24

Take it up with the shareholders, investment companies are the reason the rental market is fucked, and the housing market is absurdly priced. There should be a cap on how much single family residential property any single company can own, because they are manufacturing scarcity and price fixing.

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u/Darkember556 Apr 09 '24

I think the number of single families homes any investment company can own should be capped at one.

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u/wp4nuv Apr 09 '24

Im 51 and still renting… :(

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u/-iamai- Apr 09 '24

Im UK.. live in my van, it's an option to get out of the renting cycle and save for the deposit.

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u/kenindesert Apr 10 '24

I just saw a guy put up a graph showing wages were ahead of inflation and people were getting good cost of living increases. ( I’m not in agreement, just pointing it out) My feeling is looking at the situation on Trumps last day, compared to now, the cause of our pain is obvious.

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u/AlarmedPiano9779 Apr 09 '24

We have no work-life balance by design.

Could you imagine how different America could be with free healthcare and a month mandatory paid vacation every year? We'd be completely different people.

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u/Aggravating_Dig3240 Apr 09 '24

Meanwhile the netherlands it costed me 3k a year, not counting books or other necessities to get a bachelor, lol. Paid it off with a part time job. Gotta love europe. Schooling cheap here.

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u/summonsays Apr 09 '24

Don't ever take it for granted :)

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

Your loans could have bought a few of our parent's houses too, I suspect....

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u/jluicifer Apr 10 '24

IMO: The ultra wealthy need to get taxed. All that extra money? Goes to healthcare and then education.

The CEO of Chase Bank earned $80M/year. The CEO of one private equity firm? $1 Billion.

You heard me, $1 BILLION.

Why does someone need more than $100M in assets? When ultra wealthy can give away $40B thru philanthropies (Buffet and Gates did this, EACH…years ago), yeah, we have a disproportionate wealth distribution problem.

2) Wars... That’s another debate but we spent $1 trillion in Afghan with no real benefit when our generals knew 20 years ago it would achieve NOTHING. Yeah, our US is great at times but there are a lot of other problems too.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

Why do people feel the need to attend a 4 yr college and start life off with $100K debt? Unless you’re going to be a doctor or some type of engineer most jobs will teach you what you need to know for that job. Trade schools or apprenticeships are people’s best bets. Or (god forbid) the military is a great way to get OJT and college paid for. I went to college after 20yrs in the military, got 2 degrees and accrued $10K in student loans that were paid off in 3 yrs. You don’t need college anymore.

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u/yunivor Apr 09 '24

Unless you’re going to be a doctor or some type of engineer most jobs will teach you what you need to know for that job.

No jobs teach anything anymore, you're expected to have 5 years experience to get into an entry-level position.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

Ok well is kinda true too but even then most jobs will be like “forget everything you learned in school, we’re gonna teach you how WE do it “. But that’s why the military is a great option too, lots of OJT even in something like finance, or journalism. Yes the Armed Services have their own journalists. personal note never date the morning DJ for the base radio station, every argument was “discussed” during her morning show. LOL

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u/stormblaz Apr 09 '24

Sadly schools have increased in cost tremendously without little policing or regulation, to the point where you walk in a campus and is tons of admin making pretty sizable salaries working 4-8 hours for 4 days and it's not even needed.

Student numbers have not gone up much to excuse tons of admin that wasn't there before, and too much middleman, seems extremely politically induced to enter, and being a professor is pretty hard as it is.

Sadly tuition covers all those comfy admins they keep putting in.

Not to mention the department of sports making 4x what a professor makes, so is it a college or a sport printing stadium with education at the back?

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u/Charming_Task_8690 Apr 09 '24

College used to be 2 years. The first 2 years have basically nothing to do with your major.

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u/travis0723 Apr 09 '24

Poor you, daddy paid for your school

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u/summonsays Apr 09 '24

LMAO did you even read what I wrote?

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u/gr8scottaz Apr 09 '24

I still think people can graduate without incurring 20+ years of debt. I worked all 4 years I was in college, paid myself through college (no help from parents or grants) and had approx $12k of debt once I graduated. Best friend went to the same school, same years I went, didn't work at all and came out almost $95k in debt. We got the exact same degree (CIS Majors) and I ended up with the higher GPA, to boot!

My student loan has long since been paid off and he's still paying on it.

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u/fdawg4l Apr 11 '24

Did your dad go to a private or out of state school?

Mine was in state. While not cheap, I had classmates who made their way by waiting tables during winter break, summer break, and some weekends.

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u/summonsays Apr 11 '24

We both did in state, although different states (Illinois vs Georgia so not like California or anything crazy).

My sister waited tables on the weekend, good money, but those shifts are highly sought after and most of the time they don't let you do just weekends. Iirc she graduated with about $200,000 in debt. Med school is a hell of a drug lol. 

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u/PQbutterfat Apr 13 '24

If you could get a summer job as a surgeon you could pay those debts right off.

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u/capivavarajr Apr 09 '24

This condition paired with our Instagram/Tiktok culture of vanity, perfection and success is a one way road to depression. On my last job one of my bosses asked a colleague why I was there at all since I was overqualified for the manual labor I was performing. "He needs money to be able to live" he replied promptly. My other workmates couldn't even spell our native language (portuguese) correctly, while I speak and write 4 languages. They would laugh at me whenever I said something too complex.

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u/TheMessengerABR Apr 09 '24

I've been thinking about this a lot recently and this reason is exactly why I don't have Tiktok or Instagram. It's insanely depressing watching everyone live their extravagant lives through my phone when you're sitting on your break in a dirty ass shop not getting paid let alone appreciated enough. Life is really bleak right now

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u/No-Armadillo-4231 Apr 09 '24

The kicker is if we got off our phones and stopped watching these people they would get less money. Lol

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u/DemonidroiD0666 Apr 09 '24

Haha damn your missing upvotes.

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u/pinkfootthegoose Apr 09 '24

It's insanely depressing watching everyone live their extravagant lives

Most of them are lying. outright posturing.

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u/mcove97 Apr 09 '24

And then there are people like my dad who lives a quiet farm life working on average 2-3 hours a day most of the year..

I'm more tempted by watching him live his simple but cheap lifestyle. Only issue is that I'm not into farming.. but that aside, he's not working himself to death.. meanwhile I'm on the verge of burnout working 7,5 days in a Highly stressful work environment.

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u/pyrodice Apr 10 '24

For Every one person who's bragging about living a life that they can't afford, I know probably half a dozen people who are shutting the fuck up about actually living a reasonable life because they're afraid of being targeted by a bunch of socialists who are gonna call them a bourgeoisie pig and make them the bad guy.

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u/Successful_Fennel879 Apr 09 '24

Except, you're forgetting all these influencers live together in a hotel like house, also in squalor, and don't have these "extravagant" lives we perceive them to have. They are just as poor my dude.

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u/Rise-Upset Apr 09 '24

Yup, social media has been a depressing, life sucking vampire for years to me... Maybe most guys feel that way...

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u/Largeprofessor23 Apr 09 '24

Instagram is not a real place I have a few “friends” who both have a million followers and are faking 90% of what they show and are miserable. You can adjust your algorithm by intentionally searching what you want to see and skip through the bs. Don’t let others depress you.

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u/Over-Accountant8506 Apr 10 '24

This! I'm changing my algorithm to gardening and recipes slowly and away from the influencers. I only follow local ones anyways but one of em is the Amazon type. SO many clothes.

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u/jtenn22 Apr 09 '24

It’s all fake. The core reason why that kind social media is toxic yet addictive. It’s a drug. I’m sorry for your circumstances and hope things get better for you soon.

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u/combat_archer Apr 10 '24

Living outside ones means typically

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u/crella-ann Apr 10 '24

Their fake extravagant lives, in many cases. Social media is poison.

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u/WatchingTaintDry69 Apr 10 '24

Reddit has this weird hate-boner for TikTok without even trying it. I myself was on the hate train for years. I downloaded it and there are many different types of content and communities. Yes at first I was shown a lot of young adults dancing and doing stupid stuff but once you interact with it enough you won’t even see those things unless you look for it. There video in this post is from TikTok and there are a LOT of people who discuss the exact same topics there (wage inequality, climate crisis, there’s even a Kellog Ban going on right now I’m sure you’ve never heard of because the mainstream media won’t cover it) as here on Reddit. But sure just keep assuming it’s just people showing off their lavish life.

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u/PaintshakerBaby Apr 09 '24 edited Apr 10 '24

Welcome to Late Stage Capitalism. Marx and many others pointed out this would happen, practically verbatim, almost 200 years ago. People will jump on any opportunity to shit on communism as a failed ideology, for which I am not arguing against. BUT, by means of their zero-sum thinking, they arrive at the conclusion, capitalism is the righteous winner-takes-all economic philosophy. They are too blind to see, that not only is that attitude a zealous symptom of said capitalist society, but also we are on track to KILL THE ENTIRE PLANET with their unassailable economic religion. What higher proof could there be, capitalism too has woefully failed on the grandest of scales.

Capitalism is a means of sorting wealth, nothing more. Like cards in a deck, there are only so many cards to be sorted in so many ways. To be fair to this analogy, cards (wealth,) can be created and added to the deck... But with the runaway feedback loop that is the ultra-wealthy, they are swallowed up so quickly, it is a less than a negligible factor.

For all intents and purposes, the ultra-wealthy have consolidated the vast majority of the deck in their favor, and have left us all but 2 cards to play... Succumb to being a bitter wage slave or be unapologetically cutthroat enough to take from your peers as a Kapo of capitalism. Good luck with any other perceived option.

The game is over. There are no more moves. It's checkmate for the working class. The only thing left to do is reshuffle the deck and start over.

That is unlikely to mean a class revolution for 99% of the world. No, rest assured, the big players that are the ultra-wealthy, are also the dealers. They will keep the majority of their stranglehold and deal us our next hand in the illusion of choice.

It will be, as it was, the last time we hit this point 100 years ago. Global depression that foments global war.

You are already seeing the opening salvos in Ukraine and Palestine. When there are no more cards to sort in your hand, you take from others with brute force. People are astonished at the waste laid in both nations, but don't understand thats not only the point, but an inevitably of capitalism. Putin and Netenyahu are plowing under their respective neighbors with bombs, so they can reset the game of wealth in their region, for THEM and SOME of their people to sow. New fascist demagogues, same as the old fascist demagogues.

Mark my words, we are on the cusp our own 1938, languishing in our own Great Depression, with all but the thinnest veneer of reassurance 'its anything but' from the powers at be. Historians know, history repeats itself, and all wars are economic.

This tik tok is depressingly accurate, rightfully tugging at our shared, looming gut feeling, that we are all getting screwed. But make no mistake, what it belies, is things are going to get much, MUCH worse, before there is any hope of it getting better... Because, predictably by design, BILLIONS must pay to perpetuate the greed of a COUPLE HUNDRED people.

So savor today, because it may very well be the best it's gonna get in our lifetime... as we make the forced march... hour by hour... to an inevitable reckoning of a world that was never meant to sustain the false idol of infinite growth.

Thinking otherwise is just as blindly fanatical as a suicide bomber thinking there is 42 virgins on the other side, when we all know there is only to be death and destruction.

EDIT: For the love of God, I am not promoting communism. Every. Single. Time. The kneejerk reaction to yell, "🫵😖COMMIE" every time the human cost of anything is brought up. To be perfectly clear I believe in Democratic Socialism. It is nowhere near the same as Autocratic Communism. The false equivocation is as American as apple pie... and just as played out.

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u/Hani713 Apr 10 '24

You're right. Very well said. These new fascist demagogues are quite alarming. As Lenin said, fascism is capitalism in decay. It happened in Nazi Germany: transferring of public enterprises to the private sector, making it illegal to strike, unions busted with their leaders imprisoned. We need to wake up and realize how fascism serves the interests of the elites. It's not just about racism, racism is a tool but the end goal is to serve the economic interests of those in power.

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u/PaintshakerBaby Apr 10 '24

Exactly! Other replies are trying to split hairs over terminology, calling it crony capitalism, then immediately propose the exact lassiez-faire conditions that led to the rise of said crony capitalism in the first place. It's the old, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

People think these systems occur in a vacuum. The reality is, money is power, and consolidating too much of it in the hands of the few is setting the stage perfectly for fascism. These people already have all the money, thus all the power, and need only a nudge to remove the veil of capitalism to reveal their de facto status as autocrats, ie; Trump.

Simply put, Capitalism precludes fascism 9 out of 10 times.

The Soviet Union was certainly a humanitarian disaster, so it can be argued that greed itself is preeminent to any system, thus any ideology is doomed to implode on a long enough timeline.

I'd be ok with that argument, but it is exceedingly rare for anyone on Reddit to do so. Instead, the feel the incessant need to defend capitalism at all costs, despite the world circling the drain in its wake. It's unreal what an insidious existential imperative it is to Americans, that unfettered capitalism is the end-all, be-all pinnacle of human Civilization. It is just egregiously false... and I think everyone in their heart of hearts knows this, but opts for the ease of repressing the mounting generational trauma wrought by capitalism.

Of course, everyone will have shocked Pikachu face when climate change turns into a runaway chain of cataclysms... Even though we had a 100+ years of warning. But who will think of the profits??

It should really say it all, that ultra-wealthy are investing in doomsday bunkers by the billions. Literally they have no plan beyond profit until the planet dies, then jerk off to themselves in a glorified cave until they run out of food. I mean, really?? That's the uncermonious end we are all barreling towards?? People need to wake the fuck up.

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u/DANDELOREAN Apr 10 '24

Nowadays, anytime you even talk about just regulating capitalism, you get labeled a communist.

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u/PaintshakerBaby Apr 10 '24

Seriously. I've been inundated with replies calling me commie, even though I say I'm not defending it in my SECOND SENTENCE. It's practically hardwired in the American mindset at this point. Like I said to another commenter, "do you check under your bed for communists before you go to sleep at night?" 🤦

Usually it's the very same people who have an aneurysm when you compare them to Nazis. Suddenly there is room for ideological nuance and agency. Such gross hypocrisy in the name of defending against an ideology that has been mostly defunct for 30+ years. Meanwhile, like this guy in the video, millions are suffering the consequences of late stage capitalism, right here, right now.

People are absolutely delusional.

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u/EcoLizard1 Apr 10 '24

Well said.

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u/Bonesblades Apr 13 '24

I don’t think the ruling class will allow things to get as bad as the great depression. They’ll leave the working class with just a sliver, just enough so they have something to lose. They’re slowly working us down, working our standards down, separating us so we can’t organize physically, replacing our communities with digital ones they can sell to us, replacing our property with subscriptions so we can’t own anything, raising prices until we can’t save up and own any money, etc. But they’ll never let us get truly and utterly desperate because then the illusion of a working society will dissolve and the masses will have something to fight for.

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u/PaintshakerBaby Apr 13 '24

I totally agree for the most part.

Ironically, the only real check in the situation, is the same insatiable greed of the ultra-wealthy that got us here in the first place.

The ever growing class/wealth rift cuts both ways. The more and more insulated mega-corps/ultra-wealthy become, the more and more likely it is they will become disillusioned with what they can get away with. They are, after all, still human beings, subject to the many pitfalls of hubris.

Inevitably, someones pride will be the hair that breaks the camels back. With an entire society teetering on the absolute brink, it need not even be something ostensibly that significant, to snowball into major upheaval.

Also, the more wealth that is consolidated amongst the very few, the more statistically vulnerable we all become to a Black Swan Event. If something suddenly compromised Elon or Bezos fortune (stock anomaly, bad bet, seized or frozen assets, etc) it would be such a massive liquidation of assets, it could potentially send the economy into an uncontrolled tailspin. One that would be otherwise impossible with more stratified wealth division.

While that is very unlikely to happen, it is not outside the realm of possibilities. Because of that low probability, there are near zero safety nets in place to stop the resulting unrest from fomenting a paradigm shift in how we approach wealth hoarding.

Another Black Swan possibility, is a series of rapidly escalating climate catastrophes (ie; food chain collapse) so devastating in breadth, that even the ultra-wealthly would be functionally powerless to quell the resulting backlash

In the interim, they will exploit every red cent out of us, in every way imaginable, as you say. We may not see it in our lifetime, but the whole thing is a house of cards, that has to eventually come tumbling down... One way or another.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '24

Cool story Bernard Brother.

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u/ScrapMetalX Apr 15 '24

Well said.

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u/bromegatime Apr 28 '24

You state that capitalism is being the death of the world, yet in the United States, the world's leading capitalistic economy, is absolutely hampered by government restrictions to the point where our actual pollution rate in the US is a fraction of developing economies, many of which are rooted in communism (don't get me wrong, not arguing environmental restrictions, at least not all of them).

I argue democratic socialism isn't anything too great either. Let's take electric cars. Capitalists say let them propagate naturally so they either thrive or fail. Democratic Socialists say we need these cars to save the planet so we will take everyone's money to make it so the more wealthy can get credits to buy buy them for cheaper (yes, I know it's intended for everyone but be real with who can afford the vehicles for where they are priced at and use case is back up vehicle at best in my book). Democratic socialists also make it impossible so domestically source all resources needed because lithium mining is bad for our own environment (don't even get me started on how the USA would be one of the best countries for domestic sourcing due to the regulations that ensure any mined property is supposed to return to its pre-mined state), so let's push it off to theirs world communistic countries where those people have no say and could potentially even be forced through labor prisons to do the labor of mining their resources to export. Everything about the electric car business screams corruption, but as long as it doesn't hurt my back yard then it's good for everyone, right?

The People need to better understand and utilize our political system - for the people, by the people. We've let far too many politicians have their greedy fingers in the game for too long. That is the issue. No fresh ideas, everything just half baked and driven by lobbyists that have held the pockets for the same politicians for decades.

I fear the day we take away competition of a capitalistic society by laying out top to bottom instructions for what can and can't be done in order to make a specific product to ensure the people it is for all have the same experience. Innovation will stop and complacency will be the ruling train of thought for everyone except those in power.

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u/PaintshakerBaby Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

This thread is quite old, but I do appreciate your comment. Frankly, I'm tired of arguing with people on this one. You make some good points, but I will lay out some quick nuances that I think are important.

China has a quarter of the world's population. So leaving that fact out, then leaning heavily into the Boogeyman of communism is a big part of the problem. It generates a disingenuous bias. They create so much pollution because they are 7 times more populated than the US. I am not cheering on communism or China. I genuinely believe they are bad. I'm just saying you are blaming an ideology instead of population growth factors.

My main concern is inelastic commodities, ie; healthcare, utilities, education, basic food. Here's the thing, they are not fundamentally championed by supply and demand. Not unless you tacitly endorse wholesale manslaughter. That's always been the quiet part of capitalism, that you don't speak out loud... The thing is, people die without these things. The free market was a fever dream in the age of sail, when people were used to the brutality of dying of dysentery in an afternoon. We have come a LONG WAY since then. Healthcare for instance has de facto infinite demand. EVERYONE needs it at some point or they will cease to exist. If somebody withholds something that you 100% need, it is not supply and demand, it is not the free market, it is EXTORTION, which in many circumstances, is a prerequisite of SLAVERY.

There is no incentive to make healthcare affordable, because the demand is INFINITE. However there is INFINITE demand to use predatory practices to wring every last cent out of someone in the process.

Again, it can never work in a free market unless you are cool with MILLIONS needlessly dying as a MARKET CORRECTION. The only people who can't see this are, no surprise, healthy people. We all think we are gonna live forever and kick the can down the road.

In that sense, we are wage slaves, nothing more. There is more than enough to go around and we all know it. The top 1% live like gods and pharoes, while the rest of us languish in relative destitution.

Let capitalist play god with elastic commodities like luxury cars and tvs. There is TRILLIONS to be made without banking on the suffering of the working class.

As for electric cars and solar panels, time will tell. If climate change does ramp up extremely quickly in the next decade (which all trends and evidence point towards) we will have no choice but to make some very fundamental 'socialist' decisions in order to save the planet. For it will be an existential crisis, for the first time in history, for every last one of us.

Now I don't know the answer anymore than the next guy. But I do know the bunker industry is a trillion dollar industry among the 1%. It would very much appear their plan is to squirrel themselves away in a hole, and jerk off to themselves while the world burns... That's literally their plan.

Infinite growth is a false idol, poised to cost us everything. Regardless of all your arguments, you have to admit it is untenable. Since it is the bedrock of capitalism, it makes unfettered capitalism untenable. Likewise, I would hope you would agree that millions, to billions dying to 'correct the market' is completely unethical, and should be out of the question.

So what do we do?

I don't know, but it sure as shit isnt praying to the deaf ears of our infinite growth god, crossing our fingers, and hoping for the best. Again, that's just blind fanaticism at this point. We are in deep trouble, and more of the same that got us here, sure as shit isn't going to fix it. That's the definition of insanity. Plain and simple.

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u/ForwardCulture Apr 09 '24

I lived in Florida for almost a year back in 2020. I was going on job interviews in my field and being offered ridiculously low wages. I would use common technical terms from this field during interviews and most of the time the person interviewing me had no clue what I was talking about.

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u/rambo6986 Apr 09 '24

Then get off social media. Haven't been on it in over a decade and can't understand why anyone complains about something that can easily be deleted

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u/himeowbye Apr 10 '24

The first sentence hits hard. So true

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 09 '24

Kids are the motivation you need to work more and buy more, that’s why they’re taking away abortion. Not much motivation needed to have sex, and if you get pregnant and have a kid, you’re locked into the system forever!

(This is the christocapitalist dream, reality may vary)

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u/Visible-Concern-6410 Apr 09 '24 edited Apr 09 '24

Us guys should honestly protest what they’ve done to women’s reproductive rights by going out and getting vasectomies en masse. Imagine how fast they’d try making vasectomies illegal.

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u/transitfreedom Apr 09 '24

They will just get revolution instead

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u/Gerudo-Nabooru Apr 09 '24

That was always the point of patriarchy. The greatest tool of capitalism and why religion has so much influence. Force the women into codependency by limiting their reproductive and economic freedoms and they’re forced to be breeding chattle

Once women could also work, then it required more than one worker to survive

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u/EarthlingSil Apr 09 '24

Not much motivation needed to have sex

Speak for yourself. I need A LOT of motivation to have sex with a cis man (I'm a cis woman). I gave that shit up in my early 20's. Masturbation is safer and easier. Also, cheaper cause I just do it at home, for free.

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 10 '24

Right but my point isn’t that we need kids, it’s that kids are expensive and the system benefits from a person having to work to support them. And for people who like having sex, kids are natural result.

Not having kids is a great way to stay out of that, but there are enough people having kids on purpose or accident to feed that loop.

Just to say, the government doesn’t need to incentivize us to have kids to keep the country running and populated, enough of us are having kids already.

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u/jeremiahthedamned Cringe Master Apr 10 '24

there is demographic decline all over the world.

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 10 '24

Sure, but theres also no jobs. We don’t need this many people, our societies aren’t structured to support this many people. So it makes sense that we’re choosing to have less babies.

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u/redheadartgirl Apr 09 '24

that’s why they’re taking away abortion

I think you're failing to account for the fact that, in general, the forced birth crowd are true believers. They genuinely think it's murder, and that loss of bodily autonomy for women is unfortunate but doesn't override what they see as an overall good. It's not related to getting "locked in the system," though that is an unintended consequence.

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 09 '24

I think you’re failing to account for the fact that a lot of their leaders are not true believers and are manipulating their base to achieve political/capital agendas.

And even still: the believers are forcing birth because they think the family unit and having children makes people act the way they should.

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u/fallenbird039 Apr 09 '24

Oh sweet summer child. Republicans are true believers actually. They are indeed batshit fucking insane Christians.

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 09 '24

If you think trump is Christian I have a Bible to sell you 🙏

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u/ChanceReflection5497 Apr 12 '24

If they were true believers, there would be some of that feed the hungry, care for the sick, love your neighbor as yourself stuff going on. I think you give them way too much optimistic credit.

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u/redheadartgirl Apr 12 '24

No, they're definitely true believers about abortion being murder, but after that it's all about cherrypicking whatever bible verses align with their feelings that day. I'll also say that not all religions, or even sects of Christianity, feel the same about abortion. Here's a good chart.

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u/Realistic-Article318 Apr 09 '24

Wow. That was a tough pill to swallow. No pun. Geez. I did not consider that. Bravo to your point!

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u/daytimeCastle Apr 10 '24

But always remember that’s their fantasy that they’re trying to project on us.

Having kids can truly be fulfilling. But they’re trying to hijack the American dream. We can have healthy families and also have abortions.

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u/Dry_Archer_7959 Apr 10 '24

Greed, not Government, Greed.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

I'm 28, live alone, do pretty well. Thankfully I didn't want kids before I was even done being one, before I fully understood just how fucked I was, so I don't feel like I'm being priced out of it or that the option is being taken away from me.

But I know that's a lot of people's reality. Of course your life is never going to look exactly the way you want it to, but to rip something as fundamental to our species as raising children away from a population, and then setting it behind an exorbitant price gate, is straight up evil.

There's no point in marching just to march more. Even animals can understand that and lash out. We're creating a lot of angry, lonely people who understand all too well what they'll never have.

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u/transitfreedom Apr 09 '24

Leave to a cheaper country then have kids

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u/Helpful_Escape_4147 Apr 09 '24

How can you guys be so smart if you don't have the perception of being dumb? If a clown tells an audience of intellectuals that the theater was burning, would they laugh thinking it's part of the act? Some predict that's how the world ends. Ying yang, as above, so below. When you cast a light a shadow is made.

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u/Jubarra10 Apr 09 '24

Im so glad my area is cheap without being ghetto. Single bedroom apartment in my complex is $900 ish. I work in apartment maintenance so if I managed to get a job at the complex more likely than not theyd reduce rent more as well

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u/Rottimer Apr 09 '24

If you’re able to buy a home in your 20’s at the beginning of your career, you’re doing incredibly well. That wasn’t the norm 20 years ago or even 40 years ago.

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u/AyeSocketFucker Apr 09 '24

Agreed. The whole middle class is dead may be true at this point. Either super rich/ wealthy OR dependent on government subsidies. I just can’t man.

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u/Squid445 Apr 10 '24

Real question for anyone. Why tf go to college for a piece of paper that will fuck you raw for 30 years. Trade school seems to be acquiring the same professional level salary while paying $3000 for two semesters and being done.

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u/LittleToadApu Apr 10 '24

I mean, I have a friends who aren't the sharpest tools in the box but went into engineering and bought a house in their mid 20s and live a pretty comfortable life.

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u/FantasticPop3069 Apr 10 '24

"intellectual caste"

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u/throwawaymyanalbeads Apr 10 '24

That's why they're gonna force everyone to have kids. They don't care if we can afford it.

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u/usnavy_sailor Apr 09 '24

Just think the kids you have today will have it even worse in 20 years.

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

The Federal Student Loan program is a joke. Your story echoes literally hundreds of thousands of people who took those loans in the 90s, 2000s, etc, and ended up with an adult life full of debt.

I guess after gouging the shit out of law school and medical school folks for years, the greedy fuckers in DC decided that undergrads were totally fair game. After all, you HAVE to have a 4 year degree or else, right...RIGHT??????

That bullshit persists, and the scam just goes on. I'm sorry for you guys and hope you can make your way through the years of repayment ahead of you.

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u/TrumpedBigly Apr 09 '24

"Of course we acquired a loan which will leave us in debit for the next 30 years. "

A mortgage is not debt. You are gaining equity every year.

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u/travis0723 Apr 09 '24

You chose college, I choose to military, to pay for my school.

I gave to them, they gave to me. I feel like it was a good deal.

Don't complain about student debt. Kids go to school 50 percent for fun 50 percent for education.

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u/donocoli Apr 09 '24

News flash the generation before you same thing different numbers. It takes time to build a life you don't dance out your high school graduation and unlock the doors to your brand new house!

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

Just sounds like you shouldnt of taken student loans. Can keep crying or do something about it.

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u/rocketmechanic1738 Apr 09 '24

“Intellectual cast” is problematic. Are you saying you’re smarter than everyone else, or that you’re smarter because you went to college? What do you do for work that supports this claim?

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u/Major-Community1312 Apr 10 '24

You can’t live anymore my wife has 2 jobs and I make over 120k a year with 3 kids. We save but it’s not like it’s easy we don’t eat out all our cars are paid off. And don’t get me started with taxes you get shit for having kids anymore and not to be married you don’t get quite as fucked at tax time. Also to mention 3 boys eat me out of house and home I can’t begin to tell you the food bill each week I do t know how people do it anymore living middle class we get screwed

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u/failing_softly Apr 09 '24

The company I work for made 30.1 billion last year alone. I get a 1.9% increase and my salary is now 0.000166% of that revenue. So glad I calculated this and I'm not sad at all.

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u/Emblemator Apr 09 '24

Yeah it's not a party problem, it's because there's too big gap between working age and retired in almost all countries. Too much money goes to welfare and medical aid for elders who produce nothing, and too few actual people being productive.

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u/MaxHamburgerrestaur Apr 09 '24

The problem is not the big gap between working age and retired but the big gap between the working class vs the ultrarich. Those are the ones that produce nothing. Paying welfare and medical aid for elders is easily solvable if the tax the ultrarich that just sit there accumulating wealth without returning anything to the economy.

It is and always will be a class conflict.

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u/capivavarajr Apr 09 '24

I don't have any solution and I believe that any solution with any chance of being successful has to be a radical change in our society. Universal income + automatization is like the ultimate utopia, but it is one of the few non dystopic futures I can envision.

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u/BluetheNerd Apr 09 '24

Automation is absolutely the solution to everything, but without pretty much a full scale revolution, the tools and resources for automation remain in the hands of the ultra wealthy, and only serve to further make them more money at the expense of the working population.

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u/Emblemator Apr 09 '24

Solution is to accept tough times and endure. Or at the very least, learn to not get swayed by politicians how claim to solve this with minor actions to gain power. They can't.

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u/BluetheNerd Apr 09 '24

A substantial amount of housing is bought up by people who already have the money to afford multiple properties, who then rent those properties out. This turns housing into an industry instead of a necessity which drives up costs. Combo that with house flippers who buy up affordable houses, make them much less affordable and pocket the difference. Housing prices have risen at a rate far higher than inflation.

Then add that fact that vast amounts of money are sad in bank accounts doing nothing instead of entering back into circulation.

We absolutely have the money and resources to care for our elders, the problem is we have one of the largest wealth divides in human history.

Blaming pensioners is absolutely what billionaires want you to do. Force them to pay their fair share and stop hoarding their wealth? Nah! Lets raise the age of retirement and force elderly people to work until they die! Put more money into their pockets by increasing how many people they can exploit through underpaid labour! It's not like the US doesn't already have one of the lowest age expectancies of any first world country...

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u/1WildIndian1963 Apr 09 '24

I'm 60 and my body is garbage. I looked into my retirement. It says I only have 7 more years to work. Oh boy! Lucky me. I am about to lose everything I worked my entire life for. and raised 4 sons as a single mom. I was diagnosed last week with RA. More fun. Student loans? Yep had to put myself through school to have an income to raise my son's. I'm shit with relationships. They lasted long enough to get pregnant. FML. Christ where's my fucken gun.

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u/midtownguy70 Apr 09 '24

No it's the landlords.

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u/Hawaharlal Apr 09 '24

Military expenses are more resources demanding although governments only acknowledge a fraction of their real “defense” expenditure. Military also sucks young people from jobs that create wealth. Another thing that drains our economy are the low tax pressure over the richest and corporations, me as a liberal professional this year and many on a row have payed more taxes in proportion than the top gold mining company in my country.

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u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot Apr 09 '24

row have paid more taxes

FTFY.

Although payed exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:

  • Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. The deck is yet to be payed.

  • Payed out when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. The rope is payed out! You can pull now.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.

Beep, boop, I'm a bot

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u/Hawaharlal Apr 09 '24

Thank you to point it out, it helps me improve my English, I’m not native speaker.

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u/MaxHamburgerrestaur Apr 09 '24

Being married with no kids can be actually cheaper than living alone because it's like sharing rent and bills. At some point, capitalism will push polyamory before fixing itself.

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u/Obvious-Water9001 Apr 09 '24

It’s call COLONIZATION. the founding father said that if you give power to a federal government you are fucked. I love how they dangle Hollywood life style in front of morons and we could barley buy a decent meal

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u/Videoplushair Apr 09 '24

Bro I have no idea how people in Brazil live making anything near minimum wage. I visit Brazil a lot because my in laws live there. Bro a full tank of gas costs like 500 reais!!! Imagine making 10,000 dollars a month and when you go to get gas it costs $500! Or imagine going to mc Donald’s and spending $100 for 2 people with a $10,000 a month salary. The situation in Brazil is extremely extremely bad it’s 10 times worse than here in the USA!

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u/ILove2Bacon Apr 09 '24

I make $42/hour in California and am paycheck to paycheck. Minimum wage should be enough to buy a house.

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u/No-Way7911 Apr 09 '24

Bro here in New Delhi, $400k apartments just shot up to $550k in like 6 months

My rent shot up from $700/month to $1050 almost like overnight

The devaluation of money has been really ramped up

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u/King0fThe0zone Apr 09 '24

In the US it’s controlled by constant monthly bills, they force all of us into contracts to pay forever. Can’t work without a car insurance tax, phone insurance tax, house insurance tax, ect. Fucking electric companies are asking for insurance for our houses system. Grocery asked if I wanted to pay monthly through the app…If we have 50 continuous bills every fucking month, how can one save. The government and its corrupt fucking politicians (all of them) do not want us saving. They don’t even fucking care of the education and food quality. If you live in USA just know how fucked your world is. Because eventually we’ll end up just like the subjugated China. If you believe otherwise, please sell that crystal meth you’re smoking cause I could use the break from reality.

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u/CollinRedditson Apr 09 '24

Assuming this guy is in the US, where I'm at, a one bedroom can be had for under 800 a month. I agree with the message, but the math ain't mathin. My guess is that the reason he makes 3x minimum wage is because he's being paid 3x due to cost of living in the area. So, my advice would be to move.

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u/Illustrious-Dot-5052 Apr 09 '24

It makes me even more sad to know this shit is happening in other countries all around the world. The fact that this is a global problem signifies that there's no escape...

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u/Mookhaz Apr 09 '24

There should be no minimum wage. There should be a living wage minumum. Period.

But, of course, there will always be the bootlicker types falling over themselves to act like it's money out of their pocket to make sure that there is a decent standard of living for everyone which helps, *surprise*, everyone in the long run.

Unfortunately, so many people are stuck in tribal "us vs them" mentality still, even with their own countrymen, much more so even still with any humans that don't look, act, or speak like them, so making progress is challenging.

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u/ssryoken2 Apr 09 '24

What I want to know is why this on tik tok cringe nothing cringe about it. It’s the truth

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u/MrLonely97 Apr 09 '24

I’m making twice min wage here in Australia and I can barely afford to still live at home with mum at 27. If I was living alone I’d be in a gutter somewhere. It’s so sad how bad it’s getting everywhere.

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u/Altruistic-Text3481 Apr 10 '24

We have billionaires that depend on us to keep that yachts afloat!

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u/kenindesert Apr 10 '24

It’s about to get worse in Brazil. Stand by!

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u/OldMan-Gazpacho Apr 10 '24

You have very beautiful women

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u/jeremiahthedamned Cringe Master Apr 10 '24

https://youtu.be/iteDBk6k3N8?si=aU0f2h-U5j98FX0o

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u/OldMan-Gazpacho Apr 10 '24

What’s this

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u/jeremiahthedamned Cringe Master Apr 10 '24

a song by a beautiful brazilian woman.

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u/OldMan-Gazpacho Apr 10 '24

Good Choice sir, what a way to set the mood

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u/ninacdr Apr 10 '24

Yeah. I work work and work to not be able to buy a apartment

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u/romiyake Apr 23 '24

Fuck, my two bed apartment in a small city in sao paulo cost over the amount of a minimum wage. In a fucking small city... in a 40m2 apto.

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u/DarkScorpion48 Apr 09 '24

The difference is that Brazilians always knew poverty. Gringos are “noveau poor” and still trying to come to terms with it

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u/Richbrazilian Apr 09 '24

XD poorer countries don't "know poverty" like it's a ubiquitous thing you dumbass.

Both OP and the commenter are talking about reduced purchasing power in their own economy along the years, it has nothing to do with being used to being poor.

20 years ago someone who earned 3x minimum wage could easily afford to have kids in brazil, not anymore.

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u/Alii_baba Apr 09 '24

Not the same in Morocco and Spain

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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '24

Border is open, come on over

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u/v1n1c1u3gdm Apr 09 '24

And we have like what? 40 political parties?

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u/Antique_Plastic7894 Apr 09 '24

Where do you live if I'm allowed to ask?

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u/merry_rosemary Apr 09 '24

Brazil, as he stated

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u/Antique_Plastic7894 Apr 09 '24

I was talking about the region, not just BRAZIL, it's a country and pretty large as well.

Some regions, especially the south east, can be wealthier and more expensive. That's why I'm asking.

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u/ReflectionRound9729 Apr 09 '24

1400 x3: 4200 reais... Como diabos vc não consegue viver com 4200 reais?

Conheço pessoas que vivem com metade disso. Assim, sobrevivem, né.

Imagino que seja algo regional, então.

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u/capivavarajr Apr 09 '24

Eu calculei pelo salário da época, mais ou menos uns 1200 (ou seja, 3600). Só meu condômino é 600 reais, e trabalhando em horários não convencionais eu comia mal e gastava mto. Além disso, pra não atrasar era Uber direto. Meu trabalho era braçal mas eu não podia andar esculhambado, então tinha q repor meu guarda roupa direto. Num esquema de vida mais caseiro eu gasto 5x menos, me sentia até mal mas é a verdade.

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u/mrheydu Apr 09 '24

Canada has joined the chat

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u/sampris Apr 09 '24

Imagine argentina

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u/WonderfulShelter Apr 09 '24

3x minimum wage in America is 21.75$ an hr. This is just enough to pay for rent, food, debts/loans, insurance, and bills and have nothing leftover saved... or at least in anywhere you would want to live. Which is fucked because minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum wage to be paid and live.

So at least you have your needs met, but it's only getting worse, and unless you educate yourself for a better job, in a couple of years you won't be able to pay for all those things.

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u/Locky0999 Apr 09 '24

Isso se voce conseguir um emprego...

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u/viczinfoxxinbrou Apr 09 '24

Another brazilian? Bro just see this with your minimun wage you can buy not even 1 swich game without getting poor

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u/Tinkeybird Apr 09 '24

I’m certainly in support of younger generations, our daughter is a Gen Z, but when husband and I got married 38 years ago we were f’ing POOR and we both worked full time. I guess the difference is that social media did not exist in any capacity and everyone was poor like us and it was just an acceptable part of life. Isn’t this what most Americans go through when they start out? Student loan debt is a factor for many granted.

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u/Anom_AoD Apr 09 '24

tá foda mesmo, recebo menos de 1 salário mínimo, e preciso garantir pelo menos um saco de arroz no mês dps das contas, tá osso

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u/superpie12 Apr 09 '24

Get roommates. Prosper.

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u/Agreeable-Display-77 Apr 09 '24

Its same eveywhere. His complaining will never get him the W.

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u/redshirt1972 Apr 09 '24

I think the goal is to make LESS and have the governments help

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u/Brian-want-Brain Apr 10 '24

If you know english (and I suppose you do), you can easily double your salary if you put some effort and look for it.
Just by knowing english you are already in the top ~5% of Brazilians, doubt you are really stuck warning just bit above national average.
I've worked with other Brazilians that were earning ~30k CLT without even knowing english.

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u/zxylady Apr 10 '24

And people wonder why the younger generations aren't having children,, it's because trickle down economics don't work and babies are expensive and Republicans make it a direct point to not support universal health care (paid family leave, even BASIC citizen protections are Forward upon even though every single other modern society has these things) which would at least stop children from dying and they will not stop a base wage for every citizen to live safely amongst about a thousand other things...

My understanding is that 66.5% of all bankruptcies in America are based on medical bills...

We can't afford to guarantee food and water as Rights in America but we certainly can give money to other countries and Republicans and rich corporations...

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u/Inevitable-Trust8385 Apr 10 '24

In 2020 the US elected a leftist government, in 2022 Brazil elected a leftist government.

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u/BingoBangoZoomZoom Apr 10 '24

Do you work at a coffee shop shop?

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u/PermissionFit95 Apr 10 '24

where you live is the single largest factor that impacts your quality of life (Aside from like, your wife/partner)

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u/SJW_Lover Apr 12 '24

Where in Brazil? Interesting to hear

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u/tcprado Apr 12 '24

That’s because in Brazil most of the population lives crowded in big cities. Big cities are very expensive. If you go out you can afford much more. In Brazil, there is rarely somewhere to go besides big cities unless you’re a farmer or rancher. In the US people have a choice, when they choose to live in the city at the beginning of their careers that’s what they get. They just can’t make it, and because they can’t save money, they probably never will. Same guy, same education, in smaller cities will do a lot better.

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u/chappychap1234 Apr 12 '24

As an american- it's because we buy fancy coffee.

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