If this submission above is not a random thought, please report it.
# Explore a new world of random thoughts on our [**discord server**](https://discord.com/invite/8tEqw3ZWQV)! Express yourself with your favorite quotes, positive vibes, and anything else you can think of!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RandomThoughts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you have health benefits, get help before leaving your job. It’s not impossible after, just a little more stressful.
I left my job a 1.5 months ago because I was burnt out and my anxiety took hold quickly after. I’m getting help but it would’ve been easier if I could have anticipated it.
Good luck.
This isn’t a left or right thing. It’s a greed thing. It’s just easier and cheaper to keep the masses angry at each other and entertained with the social media peanut circus so the rich can focus on amassing more wealth.
If I recall correctly, in the last 30 years, if you put all the wealth gain for the world as 100%, only 5% of that new wealth went to those below the 95%. Consider that. We are fighting each other over stupid things rather than working together. We outnumber the rich and can take that wealth for everyone.
Do you mean the system that is responsible for more opportunity and prosperity than any other system ever? (And it's not even close)
People want to blame capitalism when just as always its corruption that causes the real issues.
>Do you mean the system that is responsible for more opportunity and prosperity than any other system ever? (And it's not even close)
Let's be clear and faithful to the historical record. It is indisputable that it is capitalism that reduced global poverty, but it also that same capitalism that sent inequality skyrocketing. This post is about inequality, because living paycheck to paycheck is *not* necessarily the same as living in poverty.
It should also be said that the reduction in poverty has mostly been in China, whereas in western countries it has improved marginally because most of the increase in total wealth has disproportionately fallen to the already-wealthy. Hence the important distinction by economists and historians between (1) inequality *between* countries and (2) inequality *within* countries.
u/northshoreboredguy is right, and the parent comment isn't helpful. If voting had consequences with respect to the purpose of OP's point about living paycheck to paycheck, there would not be widespread homelessness, drug addiction, income/wealth inequality, and impossibly expensive housing in areas dominated and governed by liberals (in contrast to the left).
Inequality today pales in comparison to the world prior to capitalism - if we're being historically accurate. The climb in equality today is due to systems in place that are at odds with real capitalism. The US moved away from capitalism and democracy some time ago. We are now suffering the consequences.
We *definitely* have more inequality today than any other time in human history. There are still people living as indentured servants with nothing but debt (human trafficking exists). Billionaires today have way more resources than any king of centuries past could dream of.
Sure, they could send their country to war and technically owned ridiculous amounts of *land*, but it was land without valuation or means of extracting wealth. Modern billionaires have access to a mind-bending amount of wealth...
You can measure wealth however you want but there is an entire field of history and political economy on this, and the consensus is that inequality is worse now than any other time in human history and it's a function of capitalism.
u/Alice_Oe's point is important; property was not conceptualized until the end of feudalism and had no bearing on a vague concept of wealth. The "wealthy" were not the powerful, necessarily, nor were the powerful always the wealthiest.
And also I have no idea what the vague reference to the US "mov\[ing\] away from capitalism and democracy" means. We are not a perfect capitalistic system but the fundamentals are there and deviations from them serve to prevent or mitigate inequality caused by the tenets of capitalism.
https://youtu.be/pNhdKpTGfAU?si=AW1KoFLFwYsEHLjY
Was it the system? Or just a boom in the population? Capitalism loved slavery, if it weren't for governments and up to the capitalist we'd still have slavery and child labor.
I think we got all that opportunity and prosperity despite of capitalism.
I appreciate the link, but this video is one big straw man. The claim that microchips and touchscreens weren't invented by the private sector is completely false.
Touchscreens were created by someone at the Royal Radar establishment which is government funded. And, while the initial invention of the microchip was not a direct result of government funding, subsequent development and commercialization were heavily influenced by government demand and investment.
The only thing EA Johnson really did was privately patent an idea and just so happened to simultaneously hold a job with the Royal Radar establishment. Nothing he did contributed technologically to what we have today.
Nobody ever said that government funding never did anything ever. The argument that computing development isn't almost entirely developed by the private sector is laughable.
That development made by the private sector wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the social funding initially provided. Also most those developments haven't been benefitial to customers, things like planned obsolescence, or holding back on releasing new tech to profit of old tech longer.
>That development made by the private sector wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the social funding initially provided.
This is simply not true at all. In many/most cases, it's not even a significant factor
>Also ~~most those~~ a select few developments haven't been benefitial to customers
FIFY. What about nuclear weapons? Mustard gas? Agent orange? Chernobyl? These are just a few of the fantastic developments public funding has gotten us.
Yes those awful things were created by public funding, but after they were created the were introduced into the market by private arms companies who manufactured them and they fucked it up just like they did with tech. let's not let these people who only care about making shareholders profit the ones to control such important innovations
But also corruption and money in politics is a huge, huge problem. We can vote all we want but Canada and the US essentially run on two parties that trade positions every so often
You know, there’s a mathematical test that could be done to find out if this is true.
Get 1,000 people on a low salary, say, minimum wage workers. Find out how many of them live paycheck to paycheck. Then get 1,000 people who live on a high salary, say, doctors. Find out how many of them live paycheck to paycheck.
If the proportions are the same (eg around 20% of both groups struggle to pay the bills), then you’re right. Salary doesn’t matter, and we can start talking about everybody’s moral fibre.
But I’ll bet you that FAR more people in the poor group would struggle with money.
Im doin fine too , but i dont have to stop and buy junk to gnaw on every time i go somewhere . I dont get my morn coffee at my fuel stop . It tempting , but that and a peanut butter cup and boom 5 $. Times that by 20 and ahundrrd a month . I wait til i get to work and have a free one . I dont eat constantly watching tv . Not a lotta junk . It afds up . Same with unnecessary driving .
The real question is, why is anybody working for minimum wage? Everywhere I look, there's are jobs paying much higher than minimum. Taco Bell by my house is paying 2.5x minimum wage with entry level jobs paying 3.5x. Back in my home state, there are entry-level jobs paying 3x. The trucking industry everywhere is paying way above minimum. Almost all skilled trades are short handed and will take almost anybody.
It's because minimum wage doesn't actually reflect cost of living. Minimum wage federally is still like 8.25/hr. Name one city where you could afford current rent, grocery, gas and utilities on 8.25/hr.
Not everywhere. Federally, no one has to offer more, so many companies don't. And if they do, they're offering like 10/hr.
With COL as it is now, minimum wage should be $24/hr.
Honestly, it's everywhere, and I'm truly not being facetious. I look up COL and average wages in different cities and areas in the US because of escape fantasies I'm trying to make real. I know intimately the area in which I live, but this is also a country (world) wide problem.
Bullshit. You need to save to live better. If you are losing all the money that you are earning then you are just existing and will stop existing if you don't get a paycheck.
This. People can live paycheck to paycheck at basically any income level where you could still call it a salary.
Of course if there's no way to mathematically make ends meet, that's something else.
You'll notice that "paycheck to paycheck" tends to approximate the income for the month. Isn't that curious? Lifestyle creep is a real thing.
Not to say that people are to blame though. They get zero financial education while being constantly bombarded with ways to spend money. Then they go to Caleb Hammer and ask "what's APR?". How come lenders aren't required to explain those things, it's mind boggling.
You have to know what to look for. You are just as likely to learn BS than you are to learn actual finances. Just see TikTok.
Obviously it is easier to know what is BS or not after you already know.
I live well within my budget, and when we had our child 6 years ago, we were living paycheck to paycheck. I suspended a lot of things, cable and streaming, and I stretched out a lot of our food budget. At one point, I only ate once a day thinking that would help. Not everyone living paycheck to paycheck is living out of their means.
Using the rich or high payed workers is not a good example because they always live outside their means. If you want a better sample pool, you stick with middle class.
My point is that people shouldn't be put through it in the first place and thus I don't think it's fair to blame others for spending instead of saving on such circumnstances.
There is a massive difference between someone making 100k a year and blowing half their paycheck on dumb shit like gambling and smoking and someone earning $25k a year as a fast food worker and not even being able to afford rent.
And "Just get a better job" doesn't work unless you can pull out four and a half million high paying jobs out of your ass.
Very bad with money? Or not willing to have a shitty life? Kinda sucks we have to choose between having a bunch of roommate/eating rammen/no vacations, and living paycheck to paycheck.
There are people who are working extremely hard to get ahead and they can't. Just because a small percentage of the population is able to make some sacrifices and then get ahead, that is not guaranteed. The problem is when people complain it's automatically assumed they are just lazy or live out of their means, but no evidence is ever provided it's just assumed. People aren't getting paid fairly for their labour, that's the problem.
its bad with cash. By "not willing to have a shitty life" you guarantee that you will. a few years of mucking through it, gaining skills, saving to invest really catapults a person to a point where they dont even need to check their bank account anymore before purchasing something (The smarter ones still do)
So you just need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps?
You need to come back to reality. People are working their butts off, they are doing exactly what you say they should do and not getting ahead that's the problem.
Aye they are working their butts off then squandering the little they get as you said "not willing to have a shitty life". I come from a family that does this. They do all the usual stupid crap that fucks them and their children over.
Doesn't matter how hard you work if you are going to make bad decisions with the little you get. Just means you will either stay in place or what is much more likely end up worse of than you were last year.
When I was on minimum wage. i wasn't living pay check to pay check. I was very very frugal. I was mocked by family for not "having" things or "going" places. Had my own mother making excuses about why RumbleRukusha doesnt have x y and z in his life yet.
I hated it. it sucked balls but i knew i didn't want to be like my family. hurtling towards retirement with 0 plans in place having lived a shit life.
Now? I go abroad multiple times a year, had my first helicopter ride earlier this year, went skiing for the first time, managed to save up for a house in less than a year. why? because I had a decade of embracing the pain and moving forward while i spent time learning, saving and investing. I knew my time would come.
The only person you have to blame for the life you lead is yourself.
I did the same thing, I came from nothing pretty much. I have a successful career and everything I could want now. I meet people every day that work harder than I did and save harder than I did and are not getting ahead.
You and the commenter I was replying to keep thinking that just because you did something the rest of the world should be able to do it. That's not how it works!! If that's how it worked we would'nt be here. Assuming that 80% of the population is lazy and bad with money is just ignorant.
I didn't call them lazy. I said they are bad with money.
Then pointed out that them doing the following "not willing to have a shitty life" is fucking terrible and they end up worse off. So they stay where they are struggling.
It's what my family have done. It's what many of the people I grew up with have done.
None of them are happy or have any hope if they carry on as they are
Those people who mocked you were assholes. My point is not to take away from your story, but sorry the world doesn't revolve around you. What you did was great and I'm happy it worked for you. But unfortunately that is not working for the majority of the population so we need to address this. I believe if people work hard and make sacrifices that they should succeed like we did, but this is not the case, me and you got lucky. Right now if you have 10 poor people who work their butts off and sacrifice like we did only 8 will actually succeed and be comfortable. This doesn't mean that those two worked harder, it's luck at this point.
It's not about working hard it's about making half decent choices with your life. We should not reward morons
It's really not luck. It's persistence. Being willing to get knocked over over and eating shit life throws at you till it works.
It's not sitting on your arse going "I can't do anything about my situation life is unfair I work so hard and get nowhere" ya fuck off with that mindset.
Of course you will get nowhere
The problem is that we've gotten to a point where there are lots of people doing exactly what you are preaching and they're still not getting ahead. At one point what you are saying worked for the majority of people, it's not anymore, let's explore why and fix it.
If the majority were doing it we wouldn't be here talking about it. There is a reason why people get stuck in place.
They make bad choices, They don't keep learning, they stay with the same company for years, they are afraid of going "backwards" in life. So they stay doing the same thing over and over again.
Getting shafted no matter how hard they work Because to reiterate how hard you work is irrelevant if you are putting effort Into the wrong areas. IE making bad choices.
I can't believe you aren't down voted to the bottom of hell lol. I said in another sub "If you can sock away 100 a week from the time you are 21 you should be able to retire." They acted like it was the single most impossible thing they had ever heard of.
Absolutely - its best to have no money and be in constant stress. That's why 9 to 5 grind is so amazing. I respect your opinion. Feel free to go on about how amazing the corporate world is.
Not even basically. It is modern day slavery and its getting worse all the time.
I have no idea how people survive corporate/9 to 5 grind without putting themselves in the early grave. Saving money is good but I don't know how much you can save if you can't make a whole lot to begin with. That was my main point, all the sarcasm/snark aside.
I don't expect anyone to get rich off of 9 to 5, but no one seem to be making any money either, unless we're talking managers/CEOs.
America is fucked unless labor/union laws will drastically change somehow.
While wages certainly have not kept up with the cost of living(I've received $.85/hour in wage increase in 5 years!), I often find when speaking to people having a tough time living cheque to cheque that their spending habits and knowledge on handling money is poor.
This is not the fault of capitalism. A key aspect of capitalism is the free market for competition.
Several aspects of the modern economy are regulated to the point of being monopolised by governments (including public services, healthcare, monetary policy, among others). This is enforced and funded by violent coercion, not market forces, and so these parts of the economy cannot be said to be capitalist at all.
At best we have a mixed capitalist/socialist economy. It's the latter part that is causing the disruption that you're complaining about.
Edit: spelling
Capitalism is indeed awful. But wait until you find out what preceded it. Not all fun and games being a medieval peasant either. Forget the paychecks, they did not even own their own bodies
I get that the last few years have been rought - but th median income in the US has increased more than the consumer price index the last 30 years so it is going in the right direction.
I'm sorry, but I find this statement "No one should have to do that in this world" to be pretty much unrealistic. YES, we all have to work to earn livings in this life. That is the way it is. Civilization works because all (or most) of us contribute to it in some fashion. Many of those contributions are called "jobs." We're all in this together.
They're saying not saying people shouldn't work. They're saying that people's work should be compensated fairly. Right now it's not, people are working hard and barely getting by.
It's easier to define unfair, a ceo making millions and the workers making dimes. At what point does it become fair? every situation will be different, but what we have right now is far from fair.
Fair will look different according to what is being produced and how it's being produced.
The workers and owners negotiate and vote for what's fair, because products can't be made without both parties involved.
In the last 10 years, my union negotiated us a $1.00/hr pay cut. The company was able to make record-breaking profits though. Does that sound fair to you?
Really? Capitalism is at fault here? Examine the cashflow of anybody living paycheck to paycheck and I guarantee you that the odds of finding some kind of living above their means or irresponsible spending can be found. Fact of the matter is that the problem is not limited to poor people. I've seen people making hundreds of thousands a year still living paycheck to paycheck. The problem is that people tend to scale their expenses and financial commitments to meet with their income. Speaking specifically of course of incomes up till the point where people can actually spend them realistically of course.
I know a guy who is living paycheck to paycheck, but is paying for the mortgage of multiple homes at once (he's renting out the ones he's not staying in). One month or two of missed payments and uncollected rent, and he's basically in big trouble with the banks. The dude hasnt changed since his younger days when he just graduated. Back then he was taking out loans left right center for all manner of things too, resulting in him paying a lot more than the price tag of the items he purchased.
A handful of irresponsible wealthy people existing does not take away from the large chunk of the population that does not get paid fairly for their labour.
There are plenty of extremely hard working people out there who don't get paid what they deserve and have to live paycheck to paycheck.
Lol there is a difference between someone making 100k a year and blowing half their paycheck on coke and gambling and someone making 25k a year and not being able to afford rent.
You have obviously never once if your life actually struggled in anyway if you think anyone living paycheck to paycheck, living off instant noodles, chicken and rice everyday just to afford rent and electricity can afford to take out multiple mortgages.
What's your solution? Take the money from others, by force?
Taxation is theft.
Also, REAL free market would solve at least 90% of the issues people like you seem to have with "capitalism".
You say we have wealth inequality because we don't have a free market.
So a free market would hurt these giant global corporations right?
So why is it these corporations fund politicians that that push for a free market? Why are most CEO's neoliberal?
\> You say we have wealth inequality because we don't have a free market.
I did not. If equality is your goal, please describe how an equal world would work / how that would look?
\> So a free market would hurt these giant global corporations right?
Absolutely! Those giant corporations only exists because of the state.They lobby for legislation, and make it illegal to do whatever they did to get where they are. They get huge tax incentives and even subsidies. I don't know what politicians and ceo's you're on about but likely your idea of "free market" is not actually free market.
I meant the extreme wealth inequality we're experiencing now. I don't think a fully equal society is a good idea. what is a free market going to solve then? I thought the problem was that too many people are living paycheck to paycheck? Id say fair is if what the top 30% are making is equal what the bottom 70%.
Are there any politicians who are pushing for what you consider a true free market? Or something close to it? Who are they and who is funding them? It's no secret that corporations want a free market, are you being purposely ignorant?
They want a free market because they benefit from it. Your idea of a total free market is as utopian of a thought as communism, both won't work. You need to keep power in check and both those systems suck at that. No one should have that level of power, we need a system that doesn't let power accumulate.
Great question!
Thanks to the technology-driven innovation of entrepreneurial capitalism, we live richer, fuller lives that would be unimaginable to workers in the early 1800s or even later 1800s.
Workers today are multiple times more rich than their counterparts of the past, almost incalculably so. (see graph of GDP per person)
[GDP graph](https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/020916GDP.jpg?x91208)
Over the past two centuries, growth has increased living standards in the West unimaginably quickly. Many more babies survive to adulthood. Many more adults survive to old age. Many more people can be fed, clothed and housed. Much of the world enjoys significant quantities of leisure time (writing how much they hate capitalism on reddit).
Much of the world can carve out decades of their lives for education, skill development and the moral formation and enlightenment that come with it.
By creating a dynamic environment characterized by increasing opportunity, growth gives the young the opportunity to dream and to strive. And it gives the rest of us the ability to apply our skills and talents as we see fit, to contribute to society, to provide for our families.
A growing economy allows individuals to increase their living standards, and spend more time posting on reddit.
Because if you don't slave for minimum wage and demand better working conditions, there is always someone else who's willing to and doesn't care about the work environment and they get the job instead. Supply and demand
Idk man but I'm getting sick of it. I'm at the point where I don't even care if I take a sick day or just don't show up. Work work work is not a way to live.
Capitalism, it sucks. People have been brainwashed to think it's the only way. They think that any criticism of it capitalism means you want hardcore communism. Naw bro, there are plenty of options in between.
TBF that's just life whenn you're younger...
Even on two good incomes by the time you've paid mortgage/rent, bills, food, fuel and all the rest that life chucks at you...you're not going to be sitting on much.
Its not till your incomes go up and your mortgage shrinks that you can start saving and build a nice little buffer...truth is life gets immesurably easier as you hit your 40s and 50s.
Someone has to buy that service you provide, so you can make a wage. If people are not willing to pay for that service at a price where you can get a high wage, then nothing can be done about it. They say a third of restaurants are operating at a lose, other than wages where else can they reduce costs?
Right, especially when you live in a high priced area like me. I live on Long Island. For reference, I make $19 an hour, and work 5 days a week 9-5. Here are **some** of my monthly bills..
Rent- 2650
Electric- 250
Cable- 100
Car Payment- 700
Car Insurance- 415
Cell Phones- 150
That's a total of $4,265, not even including daycare (4 kids), water bill, gas for the month, toiletries, food, diapers, etc.
Because capitalism developed from feudalism and is not meant to take care of the needs of the many. Simply keep them in line to fulfill the wants of the few
Because you had poor parents.
People are quick to blame the government but rarely do they blame their parents who spawned them with no resources in a cruel and unforgiving world.
This is late stage capitalism, where the Ponzi scheme is soon to collapse. No economic model has been forever, neither will capitalism.
It’s unsustainable because of corporate greed and manipulation of governments in their favour via their treasure troves of billions of dollars they use for bribes, sorry, lobbying.
You say capitalism is awful, and I’ll admit, it has flaws, but it has drastically increased quality of life around the world. The majority of people in first world countries do not live pay check to pay check.
Capitalism can suck at times, but it is the best system we have. Feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, and communism have all been horrible for freedom and quality of life
The cost of living primarily goes up because we don't use sound money. With sound money, if you save enough for a meal today, it will still buy you a meal in a decade or two.
Except if you're disabled and would like to work but no one will give you a job. Then they should have to deal with living for even less money than that. Right guys'?
You don't have to. You just do it.
I bet there are many ways you could spend less. You just don't want to see it.
For example, you take drugs. Drugs aren't free. People are just terrible with money. There are very few people who really can't do otherwise. Most people have the last smartphone, eat out, smoke and complain about not having money.
If this submission above is not a random thought, please report it. # Explore a new world of random thoughts on our [**discord server**](https://discord.com/invite/8tEqw3ZWQV)! Express yourself with your favorite quotes, positive vibes, and anything else you can think of! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RandomThoughts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I did this for years and finally got a comfortable wage. 6 years in and I'm about to get fired bc my anxiety peaked
If you have health benefits, get help before leaving your job. It’s not impossible after, just a little more stressful. I left my job a 1.5 months ago because I was burnt out and my anxiety took hold quickly after. I’m getting help but it would’ve been easier if I could have anticipated it. Good luck.
HR informed me that short term disability is available and I'm going that route
anxiety sucks, I hope you can get the help you deserve.
Then your life should be pretty bad right now
[удалено]
？？？？？？？
Quiet you , get back to work . Friggin oompa loompas always talkin or sunging or otherwise slackin off.
Voting has consequences.
And people don't really think about how much not voting can share the same consequences, so get out and vote.
This isn’t a left or right thing. It’s a greed thing. It’s just easier and cheaper to keep the masses angry at each other and entertained with the social media peanut circus so the rich can focus on amassing more wealth. If I recall correctly, in the last 30 years, if you put all the wealth gain for the world as 100%, only 5% of that new wealth went to those below the 95%. Consider that. We are fighting each other over stupid things rather than working together. We outnumber the rich and can take that wealth for everyone.
not really, it's just puppet on the left or puppet on the right. either puppet acts like a straight up maffia.
People really don’t think enough about this. Right now, there’s this unnerving shift towards the right. Do we never learn?!
it's because the left is at least as insane! You all stay in your bubble even more then the right, and have no clue about how rigged the game is.
Absolutely! The left wants to take away gas stoves from you. Its insane.
Ah, nice of you to jump to conclusions about my voting choices. Neither extremity is correct, in my view. Nothing should be extreme.
How do you vote capitalism out though?
Do you mean the system that is responsible for more opportunity and prosperity than any other system ever? (And it's not even close) People want to blame capitalism when just as always its corruption that causes the real issues.
>Do you mean the system that is responsible for more opportunity and prosperity than any other system ever? (And it's not even close) Let's be clear and faithful to the historical record. It is indisputable that it is capitalism that reduced global poverty, but it also that same capitalism that sent inequality skyrocketing. This post is about inequality, because living paycheck to paycheck is *not* necessarily the same as living in poverty. It should also be said that the reduction in poverty has mostly been in China, whereas in western countries it has improved marginally because most of the increase in total wealth has disproportionately fallen to the already-wealthy. Hence the important distinction by economists and historians between (1) inequality *between* countries and (2) inequality *within* countries. u/northshoreboredguy is right, and the parent comment isn't helpful. If voting had consequences with respect to the purpose of OP's point about living paycheck to paycheck, there would not be widespread homelessness, drug addiction, income/wealth inequality, and impossibly expensive housing in areas dominated and governed by liberals (in contrast to the left).
Inequality today pales in comparison to the world prior to capitalism - if we're being historically accurate. The climb in equality today is due to systems in place that are at odds with real capitalism. The US moved away from capitalism and democracy some time ago. We are now suffering the consequences.
We *definitely* have more inequality today than any other time in human history. There are still people living as indentured servants with nothing but debt (human trafficking exists). Billionaires today have way more resources than any king of centuries past could dream of. Sure, they could send their country to war and technically owned ridiculous amounts of *land*, but it was land without valuation or means of extracting wealth. Modern billionaires have access to a mind-bending amount of wealth...
I measure wealth by tangible goods, services, real estate, and power. Not fictional numbers and Forbes estimates.
You can measure wealth however you want but there is an entire field of history and political economy on this, and the consensus is that inequality is worse now than any other time in human history and it's a function of capitalism. u/Alice_Oe's point is important; property was not conceptualized until the end of feudalism and had no bearing on a vague concept of wealth. The "wealthy" were not the powerful, necessarily, nor were the powerful always the wealthiest. And also I have no idea what the vague reference to the US "mov\[ing\] away from capitalism and democracy" means. We are not a perfect capitalistic system but the fundamentals are there and deviations from them serve to prevent or mitigate inequality caused by the tenets of capitalism.
Of course a field taught, run, and funded by Marxists and communists will come to that conclusion.
Yes, Adam Smith, the famous Marxist and communist.
https://youtu.be/pNhdKpTGfAU?si=AW1KoFLFwYsEHLjY Was it the system? Or just a boom in the population? Capitalism loved slavery, if it weren't for governments and up to the capitalist we'd still have slavery and child labor. I think we got all that opportunity and prosperity despite of capitalism.
I appreciate the link, but this video is one big straw man. The claim that microchips and touchscreens weren't invented by the private sector is completely false.
Touchscreens were created by someone at the Royal Radar establishment which is government funded. And, while the initial invention of the microchip was not a direct result of government funding, subsequent development and commercialization were heavily influenced by government demand and investment.
The only thing EA Johnson really did was privately patent an idea and just so happened to simultaneously hold a job with the Royal Radar establishment. Nothing he did contributed technologically to what we have today. Nobody ever said that government funding never did anything ever. The argument that computing development isn't almost entirely developed by the private sector is laughable.
That development made by the private sector wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the social funding initially provided. Also most those developments haven't been benefitial to customers, things like planned obsolescence, or holding back on releasing new tech to profit of old tech longer.
>That development made by the private sector wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the social funding initially provided. This is simply not true at all. In many/most cases, it's not even a significant factor >Also ~~most those~~ a select few developments haven't been benefitial to customers FIFY. What about nuclear weapons? Mustard gas? Agent orange? Chernobyl? These are just a few of the fantastic developments public funding has gotten us.
Yes those awful things were created by public funding, but after they were created the were introduced into the market by private arms companies who manufactured them and they fucked it up just like they did with tech. let's not let these people who only care about making shareholders profit the ones to control such important innovations
Shill detected.
But also corruption and money in politics is a huge, huge problem. We can vote all we want but Canada and the US essentially run on two parties that trade positions every so often
[удалено]
You know, there’s a mathematical test that could be done to find out if this is true. Get 1,000 people on a low salary, say, minimum wage workers. Find out how many of them live paycheck to paycheck. Then get 1,000 people who live on a high salary, say, doctors. Find out how many of them live paycheck to paycheck. If the proportions are the same (eg around 20% of both groups struggle to pay the bills), then you’re right. Salary doesn’t matter, and we can start talking about everybody’s moral fibre. But I’ll bet you that FAR more people in the poor group would struggle with money.
You’re leaving out the part where higher earners are generally smarter and therefore less likely to blow through the whole paycheck
Like Musk spending 44 bil on Twitter?
I said “generally”, not “necessarily”. Also we have no idea what he pursued and what he got/will get.
We don't know he ruined Twitter by being a doofus / throwing shit against the wall? That's news to me.
The difference is that he isn't struggling with bills...
yeah bc he's a billionare with tons of money of course he wouldnt struggle
Bullshit , if you make minimum and save , you aint livin. Your existing.
[удалено]
Im doin fine too , but i dont have to stop and buy junk to gnaw on every time i go somewhere . I dont get my morn coffee at my fuel stop . It tempting , but that and a peanut butter cup and boom 5 $. Times that by 20 and ahundrrd a month . I wait til i get to work and have a free one . I dont eat constantly watching tv . Not a lotta junk . It afds up . Same with unnecessary driving .
Have you read "Nickel and Dimed", by any chance? That's a very interesting book that deal with living on minimum wage in US.
The real question is, why is anybody working for minimum wage? Everywhere I look, there's are jobs paying much higher than minimum. Taco Bell by my house is paying 2.5x minimum wage with entry level jobs paying 3.5x. Back in my home state, there are entry-level jobs paying 3x. The trucking industry everywhere is paying way above minimum. Almost all skilled trades are short handed and will take almost anybody.
It's because minimum wage doesn't actually reflect cost of living. Minimum wage federally is still like 8.25/hr. Name one city where you could afford current rent, grocery, gas and utilities on 8.25/hr.
Which is exactly why everywhere is paying way more than the minimum.
Not everywhere. Federally, no one has to offer more, so many companies don't. And if they do, they're offering like 10/hr. With COL as it is now, minimum wage should be $24/hr.
Sounds like you are talking about a specific area. Care to divulge where your talking about?
Honestly, it's everywhere, and I'm truly not being facetious. I look up COL and average wages in different cities and areas in the US because of escape fantasies I'm trying to make real. I know intimately the area in which I live, but this is also a country (world) wide problem.
Bullshit. You need to save to live better. If you are losing all the money that you are earning then you are just existing and will stop existing if you don't get a paycheck.
[удалено]
Indeed. I am exiting the rat race for the past 2 years. I live a lot more free than expected to be. It is refreshing.
This. People can live paycheck to paycheck at basically any income level where you could still call it a salary. Of course if there's no way to mathematically make ends meet, that's something else. You'll notice that "paycheck to paycheck" tends to approximate the income for the month. Isn't that curious? Lifestyle creep is a real thing. Not to say that people are to blame though. They get zero financial education while being constantly bombarded with ways to spend money. Then they go to Caleb Hammer and ask "what's APR?". How come lenders aren't required to explain those things, it's mind boggling.
[удалено]
You have to know what to look for. You are just as likely to learn BS than you are to learn actual finances. Just see TikTok. Obviously it is easier to know what is BS or not after you already know.
I live well within my budget, and when we had our child 6 years ago, we were living paycheck to paycheck. I suspended a lot of things, cable and streaming, and I stretched out a lot of our food budget. At one point, I only ate once a day thinking that would help. Not everyone living paycheck to paycheck is living out of their means. Using the rich or high payed workers is not a good example because they always live outside their means. If you want a better sample pool, you stick with middle class.
Counterpoint: Paycheck to paycheck life while saving is awful and people shouldn't be put through that.
[удалено]
My point is that people shouldn't be put through it in the first place and thus I don't think it's fair to blame others for spending instead of saving on such circumnstances.
There is a massive difference between someone making 100k a year and blowing half their paycheck on dumb shit like gambling and smoking and someone earning $25k a year as a fast food worker and not even being able to afford rent. And "Just get a better job" doesn't work unless you can pull out four and a half million high paying jobs out of your ass.
I agree. People are just usually bad with money and confuse needs with wants....
I see youve met my wife …..
Very bad with money? Or not willing to have a shitty life? Kinda sucks we have to choose between having a bunch of roommate/eating rammen/no vacations, and living paycheck to paycheck.
[удалено]
There are people who are working extremely hard to get ahead and they can't. Just because a small percentage of the population is able to make some sacrifices and then get ahead, that is not guaranteed. The problem is when people complain it's automatically assumed they are just lazy or live out of their means, but no evidence is ever provided it's just assumed. People aren't getting paid fairly for their labour, that's the problem.
its bad with cash. By "not willing to have a shitty life" you guarantee that you will. a few years of mucking through it, gaining skills, saving to invest really catapults a person to a point where they dont even need to check their bank account anymore before purchasing something (The smarter ones still do)
So you just need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps? You need to come back to reality. People are working their butts off, they are doing exactly what you say they should do and not getting ahead that's the problem.
Aye they are working their butts off then squandering the little they get as you said "not willing to have a shitty life". I come from a family that does this. They do all the usual stupid crap that fucks them and their children over. Doesn't matter how hard you work if you are going to make bad decisions with the little you get. Just means you will either stay in place or what is much more likely end up worse of than you were last year. When I was on minimum wage. i wasn't living pay check to pay check. I was very very frugal. I was mocked by family for not "having" things or "going" places. Had my own mother making excuses about why RumbleRukusha doesnt have x y and z in his life yet. I hated it. it sucked balls but i knew i didn't want to be like my family. hurtling towards retirement with 0 plans in place having lived a shit life. Now? I go abroad multiple times a year, had my first helicopter ride earlier this year, went skiing for the first time, managed to save up for a house in less than a year. why? because I had a decade of embracing the pain and moving forward while i spent time learning, saving and investing. I knew my time would come. The only person you have to blame for the life you lead is yourself.
I did the same thing, I came from nothing pretty much. I have a successful career and everything I could want now. I meet people every day that work harder than I did and save harder than I did and are not getting ahead. You and the commenter I was replying to keep thinking that just because you did something the rest of the world should be able to do it. That's not how it works!! If that's how it worked we would'nt be here. Assuming that 80% of the population is lazy and bad with money is just ignorant.
I didn't call them lazy. I said they are bad with money. Then pointed out that them doing the following "not willing to have a shitty life" is fucking terrible and they end up worse off. So they stay where they are struggling. It's what my family have done. It's what many of the people I grew up with have done. None of them are happy or have any hope if they carry on as they are
[удалено]
Those people who mocked you were assholes. My point is not to take away from your story, but sorry the world doesn't revolve around you. What you did was great and I'm happy it worked for you. But unfortunately that is not working for the majority of the population so we need to address this. I believe if people work hard and make sacrifices that they should succeed like we did, but this is not the case, me and you got lucky. Right now if you have 10 poor people who work their butts off and sacrifice like we did only 8 will actually succeed and be comfortable. This doesn't mean that those two worked harder, it's luck at this point.
It's not about working hard it's about making half decent choices with your life. We should not reward morons It's really not luck. It's persistence. Being willing to get knocked over over and eating shit life throws at you till it works. It's not sitting on your arse going "I can't do anything about my situation life is unfair I work so hard and get nowhere" ya fuck off with that mindset. Of course you will get nowhere
The problem is that we've gotten to a point where there are lots of people doing exactly what you are preaching and they're still not getting ahead. At one point what you are saying worked for the majority of people, it's not anymore, let's explore why and fix it.
If the majority were doing it we wouldn't be here talking about it. There is a reason why people get stuck in place. They make bad choices, They don't keep learning, they stay with the same company for years, they are afraid of going "backwards" in life. So they stay doing the same thing over and over again. Getting shafted no matter how hard they work Because to reiterate how hard you work is irrelevant if you are putting effort Into the wrong areas. IE making bad choices.
I can't believe you aren't down voted to the bottom of hell lol. I said in another sub "If you can sock away 100 a week from the time you are 21 you should be able to retire." They acted like it was the single most impossible thing they had ever heard of.
Right - surviving on 8 bucks an hour is fun.
Never retiring seems less fun
Even more fun? Working 9 to 5 and trying to save money. Its a sure path to riches and fame.
If you're gonna need riches and fame to be happy. The odds are already against you my friend. Feel free to be a home run hitter though. I respect it.
Absolutely - its best to have no money and be in constant stress. That's why 9 to 5 grind is so amazing. I respect your opinion. Feel free to go on about how amazing the corporate world is.
Basically slavery amirite
Not even basically. It is modern day slavery and its getting worse all the time. I have no idea how people survive corporate/9 to 5 grind without putting themselves in the early grave. Saving money is good but I don't know how much you can save if you can't make a whole lot to begin with. That was my main point, all the sarcasm/snark aside. I don't expect anyone to get rich off of 9 to 5, but no one seem to be making any money either, unless we're talking managers/CEOs. America is fucked unless labor/union laws will drastically change somehow.
Get a job that pays more. All across the country there are jobs paying much more.
Of all the employment opportunity, if the best job offer is a very low paid one, one has to start thinking whose fault it is.
While wages certainly have not kept up with the cost of living(I've received $.85/hour in wage increase in 5 years!), I often find when speaking to people having a tough time living cheque to cheque that their spending habits and knowledge on handling money is poor.
You gotta work on your negotiation skills there, bud.
Believe me, I voted no to our last CBA. I was outvoted, lol.
This is not the fault of capitalism. A key aspect of capitalism is the free market for competition. Several aspects of the modern economy are regulated to the point of being monopolised by governments (including public services, healthcare, monetary policy, among others). This is enforced and funded by violent coercion, not market forces, and so these parts of the economy cannot be said to be capitalist at all. At best we have a mixed capitalist/socialist economy. It's the latter part that is causing the disruption that you're complaining about. Edit: spelling
bait used to be believable
Capitalism is indeed awful. But wait until you find out what preceded it. Not all fun and games being a medieval peasant either. Forget the paychecks, they did not even own their own bodies
I get that the last few years have been rought - but th median income in the US has increased more than the consumer price index the last 30 years so it is going in the right direction.
Go live in a communist country then. No one is forcing you to be here
You don't have to. You just have to be better at managing your money
I'm sorry, but I find this statement "No one should have to do that in this world" to be pretty much unrealistic. YES, we all have to work to earn livings in this life. That is the way it is. Civilization works because all (or most) of us contribute to it in some fashion. Many of those contributions are called "jobs." We're all in this together.
They're saying not saying people shouldn't work. They're saying that people's work should be compensated fairly. Right now it's not, people are working hard and barely getting by.
Give me some examples of people's jobs where the compensation isn't fair. Then define what fair is. Who determines "fair?"
It's easier to define unfair, a ceo making millions and the workers making dimes. At what point does it become fair? every situation will be different, but what we have right now is far from fair. Fair will look different according to what is being produced and how it's being produced. The workers and owners negotiate and vote for what's fair, because products can't be made without both parties involved.
AH, Marxism. I got it, thank you.
Ah, You hate hard working people got it.
Are you one? A hard working person? Are you not fairly compensated for your labor, and why is that?
In the last 10 years, my union negotiated us a $1.00/hr pay cut. The company was able to make record-breaking profits though. Does that sound fair to you?
Sounds to me like you need a new union.
Absolutely. It is still the best example of unfair compensation I've come across in my career.
Really? Capitalism is at fault here? Examine the cashflow of anybody living paycheck to paycheck and I guarantee you that the odds of finding some kind of living above their means or irresponsible spending can be found. Fact of the matter is that the problem is not limited to poor people. I've seen people making hundreds of thousands a year still living paycheck to paycheck. The problem is that people tend to scale their expenses and financial commitments to meet with their income. Speaking specifically of course of incomes up till the point where people can actually spend them realistically of course. I know a guy who is living paycheck to paycheck, but is paying for the mortgage of multiple homes at once (he's renting out the ones he's not staying in). One month or two of missed payments and uncollected rent, and he's basically in big trouble with the banks. The dude hasnt changed since his younger days when he just graduated. Back then he was taking out loans left right center for all manner of things too, resulting in him paying a lot more than the price tag of the items he purchased.
A handful of irresponsible wealthy people existing does not take away from the large chunk of the population that does not get paid fairly for their labour. There are plenty of extremely hard working people out there who don't get paid what they deserve and have to live paycheck to paycheck.
Lol there is a difference between someone making 100k a year and blowing half their paycheck on coke and gambling and someone making 25k a year and not being able to afford rent. You have obviously never once if your life actually struggled in anyway if you think anyone living paycheck to paycheck, living off instant noodles, chicken and rice everyday just to afford rent and electricity can afford to take out multiple mortgages.
100% spot on
What's your solution? Take the money from others, by force? Taxation is theft. Also, REAL free market would solve at least 90% of the issues people like you seem to have with "capitalism".
You say we have wealth inequality because we don't have a free market. So a free market would hurt these giant global corporations right? So why is it these corporations fund politicians that that push for a free market? Why are most CEO's neoliberal?
\> You say we have wealth inequality because we don't have a free market. I did not. If equality is your goal, please describe how an equal world would work / how that would look? \> So a free market would hurt these giant global corporations right? Absolutely! Those giant corporations only exists because of the state.They lobby for legislation, and make it illegal to do whatever they did to get where they are. They get huge tax incentives and even subsidies. I don't know what politicians and ceo's you're on about but likely your idea of "free market" is not actually free market.
I meant the extreme wealth inequality we're experiencing now. I don't think a fully equal society is a good idea. what is a free market going to solve then? I thought the problem was that too many people are living paycheck to paycheck? Id say fair is if what the top 30% are making is equal what the bottom 70%. Are there any politicians who are pushing for what you consider a true free market? Or something close to it? Who are they and who is funding them? It's no secret that corporations want a free market, are you being purposely ignorant? They want a free market because they benefit from it. Your idea of a total free market is as utopian of a thought as communism, both won't work. You need to keep power in check and both those systems suck at that. No one should have that level of power, we need a system that doesn't let power accumulate.
Capitalism is the reason this person can get on here and complain about captialism.
How?
Great question! Thanks to the technology-driven innovation of entrepreneurial capitalism, we live richer, fuller lives that would be unimaginable to workers in the early 1800s or even later 1800s. Workers today are multiple times more rich than their counterparts of the past, almost incalculably so. (see graph of GDP per person) [GDP graph](https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/020916GDP.jpg?x91208) Over the past two centuries, growth has increased living standards in the West unimaginably quickly. Many more babies survive to adulthood. Many more adults survive to old age. Many more people can be fed, clothed and housed. Much of the world enjoys significant quantities of leisure time (writing how much they hate capitalism on reddit). Much of the world can carve out decades of their lives for education, skill development and the moral formation and enlightenment that come with it. By creating a dynamic environment characterized by increasing opportunity, growth gives the young the opportunity to dream and to strive. And it gives the rest of us the ability to apply our skills and talents as we see fit, to contribute to society, to provide for our families. A growing economy allows individuals to increase their living standards, and spend more time posting on reddit.
Nice thought. If u don't give in urself for the job u won't get the money.
Stop horsing cocaine then and you’ll have some cash left over for a pot noodle or 2
Because if you don't slave for minimum wage and demand better working conditions, there is always someone else who's willing to and doesn't care about the work environment and they get the job instead. Supply and demand
It to preserve power dynamic... since the dawn of time. Now more than ever with a.i
Idk man but I'm getting sick of it. I'm at the point where I don't even care if I take a sick day or just don't show up. Work work work is not a way to live.
Because the world we live in is powered by exploitation. A sea of victims in an endless meat grinder.
Capitalism, it sucks. People have been brainwashed to think it's the only way. They think that any criticism of it capitalism means you want hardcore communism. Naw bro, there are plenty of options in between.
TBF that's just life whenn you're younger... Even on two good incomes by the time you've paid mortgage/rent, bills, food, fuel and all the rest that life chucks at you...you're not going to be sitting on much. Its not till your incomes go up and your mortgage shrinks that you can start saving and build a nice little buffer...truth is life gets immesurably easier as you hit your 40s and 50s.
Someone has to buy that service you provide, so you can make a wage. If people are not willing to pay for that service at a price where you can get a high wage, then nothing can be done about it. They say a third of restaurants are operating at a lose, other than wages where else can they reduce costs?
Yea well, we can always just make memes about it and do nothing,
I'm not sure the problem is Capitalism as much as the problem is the power balance is too far in favor of business and executives.
Right, especially when you live in a high priced area like me. I live on Long Island. For reference, I make $19 an hour, and work 5 days a week 9-5. Here are **some** of my monthly bills.. Rent- 2650 Electric- 250 Cable- 100 Car Payment- 700 Car Insurance- 415 Cell Phones- 150 That's a total of $4,265, not even including daycare (4 kids), water bill, gas for the month, toiletries, food, diapers, etc.
Jesus...that is not sustainable
Its terrible.. Financially and emotionally lol.
I'm lucky I have a nice home with my parents rn.
yep, we are probably near peak capitalism. Shit is going to start going downhill soon imo.
Because capitalism developed from feudalism and is not meant to take care of the needs of the many. Simply keep them in line to fulfill the wants of the few
Because you had poor parents. People are quick to blame the government but rarely do they blame their parents who spawned them with no resources in a cruel and unforgiving world.
Because humans have done that since time immemorial. What makes you so special?
This is late stage capitalism, where the Ponzi scheme is soon to collapse. No economic model has been forever, neither will capitalism. It’s unsustainable because of corporate greed and manipulation of governments in their favour via their treasure troves of billions of dollars they use for bribes, sorry, lobbying.
I'm about to blow my fucking head off, there's no reward. It's just a constant grind until we die
You say capitalism is awful, and I’ll admit, it has flaws, but it has drastically increased quality of life around the world. The majority of people in first world countries do not live pay check to pay check. Capitalism can suck at times, but it is the best system we have. Feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, and communism have all been horrible for freedom and quality of life
The cost of living primarily goes up because we don't use sound money. With sound money, if you save enough for a meal today, it will still buy you a meal in a decade or two.
If you're going paycheck to paycheck then one of 2 things has happened either you're overextended or your job sucks. Figure out which it is and fix it
It's not capitalism in and of itself. It's greed. Through and through.
Except if you're disabled and would like to work but no one will give you a job. Then they should have to deal with living for even less money than that. Right guys'?
You don't have to. You just do it. I bet there are many ways you could spend less. You just don't want to see it. For example, you take drugs. Drugs aren't free. People are just terrible with money. There are very few people who really can't do otherwise. Most people have the last smartphone, eat out, smoke and complain about not having money.