Good news! AI will soon fix all of this -- that's why BigTech is spending 2% of GDP on it; they know, and they care.
Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
471–480 of 563 posts
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#472Earlier quoted context omitted.
Keep in mind that anyone can buy stock. And stocks in the US historically outperform passive real estate investing.
Anybody can legally buy stock. It is substantially more difficult to acquire a large amount of stock if you don't earn a lot of money, since there is naturally far less leftover after your expenses are paid. And further, stock can be purchased with dividend payments. So the rich can afford an ever increasing piece of the pie even if they don't labor at all.
It's amazing how much you can accumulate by steady investment, and reinvesting what you have.
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#473I encourage everyone to do the following simple exercise: look at the main stock market in your country, and see how far back you must go for the main index to be half of what it is today. The answer is probably somewhere between 5 and 7 years. Then find salary statistics, and see how much the average salary has increased in the same time. The answer is probably somewhere between 20 and 30%. And it really is as simpl…
Oh, I know what to do: give the means of production to the workers. I'll selflessly volunteer to lead the movement (and eventually be crowned king).
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#474Earlier quoted context omitted.
LoL! https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000FF1101 Current price/lb for chicken is $4.23. But of course that's from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, soooo.... can't trust that can we!
The parent comment said chicken legs, not chicken breast. That's this data series: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000706212 It's currently at $1.82/lb. Assuming that 30% of leg weight is inedible bone, it's more like $2.60 per pound of edible chicken.
So if I don't eat the bones too, I'm leaving nearly a whole dollar on the table? Damn. I can't believe it! I could be saving even more!!! I'm such an idiot.
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#475Earlier quoted context omitted.
You may find it unfathomable to do so, but I already donate quite a bit more than 2.5% of my salary, as well as hours of my time every week, helping people less fortunate than myself. Whatever "reality" you're referring to isn't the same one I'm living in.
Good for you. Doesn't change the reality that most of them don't know how to handle money.
It is a bit funny that you said "see how it works out", I told you I already do it, so you go with a dismissive "Good for you"
Anyways, I doubt anything I can say will ever convince you otherwise, you sound very entrenched in your beliefs.
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#476Earlier quoted context omitted.
Careful with "can". It is possible for the homeless guy on the corner to buy stock in the sense that he is not prohibited from doing so. But on the other hand, the actual fact is that he can not purchase stock.
Right, ability to buy stock is predicated on having the money to do it, after paying for basic necessities. People who work for a living have less money than those who don’t. So when stock prices rise, even workers who can save see less absolute benefit than owners.
You can buy fractional shares from robinhood for $10. The internet has brought a great democratization of access to the stock market.
If you don't have an investment program, the best time to start is right now.
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#477Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah! And they could sell their refrigerators too! They use way too much electricity.
Is there anything someone can do to save money and stretch their budget farther, or are we saying that's all off base?
I'm saying it's blaming the victim to assume the problem is that they aren't frugal enough.
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#478Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So being just barely above the line means that you pay, not that you get. This is the worst place to be in. Why do you think that's how it would work? That's the most simplistic way of thinking about it, instead try to apply the same model of progressive taxation in reverse, you get less benefits the more you earn up to a threshold. Or just implement some form of UBI, there are many models for it as well.
Or we do communism, the right way this time. Last time I've seen communism being implemented the right way was the CHOP/CHAZ in Seattle. It ended up with some actual warlord taking a gun and killing some people. In the middle of the city. Also, who do you think would pay for the UBI. It's not like UBI is some solution that was even implemented anywhere.
Don't jump directly into the red scare through a slippery slope fallacy, it's just intellectually dishonest while being the most boring thought-terminating cliché on this type of discussion.
Wanting to live in a better and more just system, even if we can most realistically just work towards an improved version of capitalism, is probably something most of us can agree upon.
I don't think anyone sane is against people having their needs fulfilled so I don't think anyone sane would look at any system we live under and think "yeah, this is it, we found the perfect system".
So instead of deflecting into communism as a gotcha, why don't we behave as adults, and agree that discussing how to find ways to improve our systems of production, distribution of wealth, how we view the less fortunate, how society can be better overall for all of us, is quite fucking important?
Going directly into the pigeon hole of ideology is just lazy and unimaginative. Humanity did unthinkable achievements already, we can always try to do better, don't be lazy and unimaginative...
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#479I encourage everyone to do the following simple exercise: look at the main stock market in your country, and see how far back you must go for the main index to be half of what it is today. The answer is probably somewhere between 5 and 7 years. Then find salary statistics, and see how much the average salary has increased in the same time. The answer is probably somewhere between 20 and 30%. And it really is as simpl…
... and most of it is taken/given to the owner of the capital, not the provider of labour. I predict that AI will amplify this trend, because it lowers the demand for routine human labor and raises the return on the agentic (e.g. founder) labor that leverages routine labor.
It's going to get dicey when millions are no longer needed for labor or to consume goods (keep the economic engine going). Oh and amoral robots can do the dirty work ...
Re: Food, housing, & health care costs are a source of major stress for many people
#480Americans confuse need with 'nice to have' which leads to the "I don't have money for food/rent/hc" problem. You do not need cable tv or home internet. You do not need an iPhone or top end Samsung. There are many mid-range Android phones much cheaper that can add a MVNO phone plan for around $20/mo that has more than enough data for necessary internet. Key word: necessary. OTA HDTV is available to many millions at th…
It wouldn't be America if people didn't blame the poor for everything. Surely, the housing crisis is just stupid poor people drinking too many lattes, there is certainly no greater issue there, nope.