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One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

bbc.com

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Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#451

Post by kcartlidge »

armitron wrote: post #375
dragonwriter wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the end of the day, Americans still pay, and pay more They pay less in taxes, by a wide margin. They also get less for them, by a wide margin, particularly (but not exclusively) in healthcare.

Really? I have top of the line healthcare through my employer in the US, which also covers my wife and teenage daughters, which costs me essentially nothing. NHS in the UK is collapsing, but even if it didn't, qualitatively it's orders of magnitude worse than what one would receive in the US through one's employer: Months to years for an appointment, incompetent doctors and a bureaucracy that puts Kafka to shame. htt…

That may be the reality that some experience, I obviously couldn't say they are wrong.

But it isn't always the case. Where we live the NHS is excellent, appointments are fine, doctors are competent, and we've had no issues with bureaucracy. There is literally nothing I'd complain about, and we have double-digit interactions with the NHS each year.

The only fly in the ointment is the recent nurse strike happened on a day the wife was scheduled for some surgery, so that was cancelled. But I support them in that, and the rescheduled date is less than a month later.

There are issues everywhere, but there's no way I'd swap any of it for the US version. And always bear in mind that negative talk sells more papers/gets more eyeballs than positive.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#452

Post by bombcar »

OkayPhysicist wrote: post #438
bombcar wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People in CA would go to In-n-Out anyway. https://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/in-n-out-prices/ at (2.46 3+2.16 3+1.87 2) 1.0725 = $18.88. Even if you double the fries because they're not "large" you're still under $25. Five Guys is batshit insane.

Five Guys and In N Out are competing in different market niches. In N Out is operating in the fast food bracket, competing with McDonalds and Jack In The Box (both of which it's cheaper than, remarkably). Five Guys is trying to be a more premium burger place, in the fast-casual market. In that niche, we can compare it to Panera or Blaze Pizza or the like, where a $15-20/person bill isn't unusual at all.

I understand the market they're obviously aiming at, but it feels like a cheap In-n-Out replacement around here. For those prices I'd go to a roadhouse or Smashburger or the local bars or similar.

They do have that weird soda robot, so there's that.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#453

Post by andy_ppp »

asdfman123 wrote: post #446
andy_ppp wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like American exceptionalism - I'm not sure the prison industry or the water industry being more competitive is good or that they are less corrupt than the state running them. Corruption of markets happens because of no regulation or because of too much regulation. I personally think where to draw this line is an art and very difficult in an extremely polarised country like the US.

No, it's not. You have to be careful about American exceptionalism, but America really did/still does lead the world in a lot of things. It's still pretty good on the corruption index, although getting worse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index .

I don’t think capturing broadband markets and preventing other players entering would count on that scale as corruption although the sums of money involved are not doubt astonishing. You’re talking about something different to the context we were in as far as I can tell.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#454

Post by dragonwriter »

ohgodplsno wrote: post #429
dragonwriter wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the US, someone earning $155,000 USD (Equivalent to 125 GBP) will also be paying 6.2% in social security taxes, 1.45% in medicare taxes, and then another 6.2% in social security taxes (employer’s portion), and 1.45% in medicare taxes (employer’s portion). In the UK, there is also National Insurance tax on top of income tax, which works similarly (but is a bit more complicated.) The employer share is 13.8%, which…

Pretending that the employer is paying taxes for the employees is doublespeak popularized by large companies to justify why they want to stop paying it. It is not taxes. It's a contribution to a functioning society. Otherwise, employers would get access to employees with NHS without putting a penny in.

> It is not taxes. It's a contribution to a functioning society

That’s what taxes in general are, so the second half does not support the first.

> Otherwise, employers would get access to employees with NHS without putting a penny in.

The idea that payroll taxes are a fee that employers pay the State for “access” to workers and that this is a defense rather than a criticism of the scheme is... interesting.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#455

Post by OkayPhysicist »

epiccoleman wrote: post #385
ahallock wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's gotten to the point that I cook at home because the quality does not match the price anymore. And I'm lazy and work a comfy tech job, so you know it's gotten bad. Paid over $8 today for a slice of cheese pizza (regular size, not jumbo) and a small drink--this is in Cleveland, OH It's ridiculous.

I wonder how this kind of thing will affect low-mid tier sit down chain restaurants (think Red Robin, Chili's, BJ's, etc). Right now, to take my family to one of these restaurants for dinner would cost on the order of $100. At that price, I may as well just stomach the extra $30-50 and go get a nice meal at one of the local independent restaurants. The food and atmosphere will certainly be better. My in-laws took us…

The family dining segment (cheap sitdown fair) is a shambling corpse. They weren't doing well pre-COVID, because each successive generation is proving less and less willing to sacrifice food quality for table service. At the price point restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and their ilk operate at ($15-30/head), you can get substantially better food at a fast-casual (above fast food, but no table service) restaurant, and people are clearly choosing to do so. Nicer sit-down restaurants (in the ~$40+/head price range) are still doing alright.

Then COVID hit, and "going out to eat" was pummeled: fast-casual restaurants weathered the storm alright-ish, because they likely already had a non-trivial takeout segment, and were attracting people based on their food. Family dining, who's main selling point is table service, were slaughtered.

The outlook continues to be bleak for them, since they're being squeezed out of the market: cut costs by making worse food, and they cement their laughingstock status, cut costs by cutting back on staff and they jeopardize what little remains of their customer demand, or raise prices and further reduce their value proposition versus going to a nicer sit-down restaurant.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#456

Post by 76SlashDolphin »

traceroute66 wrote: post #318
jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

To be perfectly frank, most people in the UK (and elsewhere really) just need to learn how to cook ! From a UK perspective, being able to cook achieves: a) The ability to buy raw ingredients in bulk b) You can cook dishes that last you multiple meals (and NO, this does not mean eating the same thing) c) You can make soups and stocks from bones (all you need is bones, cheap vegetables, cheap spicing, and water) d) VAT…

The issue is that cooking becomes more enjoyable and fast if you have a well-stocked large kitchen which not many can have due to size constraints or budget constraints. Then there's also cleaning which is never enjoyable and takes a big chunk of time. Cooking is definitely efficient at 3 or more people, can have tradeoffs with 2 people and makes little sense if you live alone or with non-cooperating flatmates.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#457

Post by asdfman123 »

andy_ppp wrote: post #453
asdfman123 wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's not. You have to be careful about American exceptionalism, but America really did/still does lead the world in a lot of things. It's still pretty good on the corruption index, although getting worse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index .

I don’t think capturing broadband markets and preventing other players entering would count on that scale as corruption although the sums of money involved are not doubt astonishing. You’re talking about something different to the context we were in as far as I can tell.

Actually, believing this kind of monopolistic behavior is in any way unique to Americans is a perverse form of exceptionalism

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#458

Post by xenospn »

pcurve wrote: post #331
EddieEngineers wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Five Guys has always been that price, but I agree with your point. As a Brit, the US is pretty crazy too though. I just saw a single broccoli for $7 at a grocery store in Palo Alto. On my $172k salary I pay $59k in taxes which is roughly $1k more than I'd pay in the UK but in the UK that includes national insurance while in the US I pay health insurance on top. So while taxes sound crazy in the UK it's not actually d…

agreed. US price is bat shit crazy. 'some' things are reasonably affordable in the U.S., like processed food in bulk, grains, dairy, etc. But eating out, rent, service labor, healthcare, are insane.

Rent is definitely insane. If I wasn't in tech I'd be miserable.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#459

Post by ClumsyPilot »

ahallock wrote: post #210
jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

It's gotten to the point that I cook at home because the quality does not match the price anymore. And I'm lazy and work a comfy tech job, so you know it's gotten bad. Paid over $8 today for a slice of cheese pizza (regular size, not jumbo) and a small drink--this is in Cleveland, OH It's ridiculous.

> It's gotten to the point that I cook at home because the quality does not match the price anymore

This. I paid ~$130 for dinner the other day, and it taste worse than a meal I regularly cook at home. And I suck at cooking

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#460

Post by ClumsyPilot »

dmje wrote: post #330
jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

Tax blaming is b/s. The problem in the UK is that not enough rich people are being taxed. Meanwhile, shareholders are crapping all over normals (see story today about the water companies dumping waste and then passing on £10bn bill to their customers). The Tory gov insists that privatisation is the key - meanwhile the NHS falls on its ass, schools are crumbling, trains are late and expensive and shit. Don't get me st…

> Meanwhile, shareholders are crapping all over normals (see story today about the water companies dumping waste and then passing on £10bn bill to their customers

This has been so egrigeous, water companies are literal monopolies that have been braking the law and there are no consequences.

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