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[-] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 189 points 1 year ago

Because this isn't a strong economy....

The rich are making money, but they're just hoarding it

So amount of money in circulation keeps decreasing, and prices keep increasing because in capitalism if a company isnt increasing profit margins, the stock price isn't going up. And they finally figured out calling corporate greed "inflation" means around 2/3s of the country will accept it

Either we drastically raise taxes soon, or shits about to get really really bad.

Very few people will just sit back and calmly starve to death

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[-] EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 108 points 1 year ago

A strong stock market is not a strong economy. The economy is the flow of money exchanging hands, which is down because people are paid less than ever compared to the cost of living. This leads to starvation.

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[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 90 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Hey NBC, an economy that's not providing the basic necessities for working families is not a strong economy. No matter what the pretty graph says.

[-] 1847953620@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

iT's NoT a ReCeSsIoN (because we don't like you having a word to call it, so we're the ones who get to redefine it however we wish)

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[-] capital@lemmy.world 67 points 1 year ago

Some practical advice for donating to food banks: Give money instead of food.

  1. They know exactly what they need. You don’t.

  2. They have partnerships and buy in bulk which makes that same dollar go further in their hands than in yours.

https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-blog/donating-food-food-bank-consider-cash-instead-canned-goods

That article has changed how I give to food banks since I read it.

[-] sawdustprophet@midwest.social 25 points 1 year ago

I remember reading another factor is that food which people donate is often expired, nearly expired, or undesirable and unlikely to be used before it expires, so often ends up getting thrown away anyway.

[-] EvilEyedPanda@lemmy.world 61 points 1 year ago
[-] jdadam@lemm.ee 54 points 1 year ago

In a household of four with two full time incomes (both teachers, so take that with a grain of salt), we are at the point that the food budget is the only thing left to cut. We have canceled any subscriptions, cut all other spending, and often skip lunch/breakfast or eat Ramen noodles to save the bulk of our money for the kids and feed them better. I'm sick of beans and rice, BTW. Due to the nature of our jobs and the outside of school hours (which we are compensated for), side hustle is not an option. We would like to actually be present and part of our kids lives. I keep getting told "it gets better," but the stress of making the bills and feeding the family is relentless, and that says a lot since we are way more fortunate than most. We need change.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 29 points 1 year ago

"It gets better" is just a bullshit comment to keep you complacent. It doesn't get better unless we make it better.

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[-] brothershamus@kbin.social 53 points 1 year ago

You mean how can some people barely survive while others have millions or even, wtf, billions? NBCnews? That's your question?

Boy that's a question right there NBCnews. Yessir a real head-scratcher. Hmm! Boy howdy, the mind reels at what could be the cause of such a huge imbalance in our society. I suppose we'll just never FUCKING KNOW.

[-] ElleChaise@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

Back to work.

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[-] Wooster@startrek.website 53 points 1 year ago

Utilities have also been on the rise, and this year Ortigoza isn’t planning on turning on the home’s heater, even with temperatures dipping into the 30s at night. Instead, she plans to wear extra clothes around the house and bundle her daughter in blankets.

I just want to say… Don't do that.

If you want burst water pipes, then that is how you do it.

Instead, let your house drop to uncomfortably cold temperatures, but with still a buffer above freezing. The thermostat is only accurate for wherever it's placed in the house. It's not able to tell you what temperature your pipes are at the distant ends of the house.

If you're going to turn the heat off at below freezing, then you need to empty your pipes first, and no one is going to do that.

But yeah… I felt I needed to get that out of the way first.

Anyway, wages and unemployment are getting 'better', but that means very little if it's still not a living wage.

[-] notannpc@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

That’s capitalism working exactly as expected.

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago

Same reason I hate it when the housing market is described at "strong" in Australia? In what way? Is the market providing housing for all who need it? No?

Then it's weak and I'll have none of this "strong" housing market bullshit.

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[-] quams69@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The economy isn't strong, for one. Rich people getting richer isn't indicative of a healthy economy. The entire working class can barely afford their god damned groceries, 40 hours a week isn't even enough to live on for most people.

The economy is dogshit right now. Fuck these corpo ghouls.

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[-] orcrist@lemm.ee 43 points 1 year ago

As we all know, the word "economy" means "rich people's yachts".

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Nice 'economy' you got there. Be a shame if this Dewalt cordless drill with 40mm carbide holesaw happened to it.

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[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago

Good economy: Rich people get much richer. Poor people stay poor despite the good economy.

Bad economy: Poor people pay to keep rich people rich, despite the bad economy.

[-] Surp@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago

Strong for who? The rich?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

We were over at my mother's yesterday and we were talking about grocery prices and my mother asked my wife how much we paid for milk and my wife says she doesn't look, because it doesn't matter when we need milk regardless. I don't look either. It's the same with gas prices. I hear they've gone way down, but I've honestly stopped looking. What difference does it make what a gallon of gas costs when I need that gallon no matter what it costs?

[-] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

I like to pay attention though so you can see firsthand how bad things are getting. I remember selling shoes to old people and all the employees would joke that they all had no sane grip on the fact that prices go up. They'd say at 80 years old, well when I was 30 that used to be $X thats way too high of a price! Its funny though because we will never experience that. We are used to it being this way year to year much less 30 or 40 years from now. So much so that some people dont even check the price anymore, we just know its higher than it used to be automatically. It's sad.

[-] Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

You don't need milk. You do need gas though.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

We don't "need" milk in the sense that it is not necessary for our survival. We need milk in order to keep eating and drinking the things we enjoy eating and drinking. And I don't think it is unreasonable to expect milk in your tea and your cereal.

[-] Adalast@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago

No, you do need milk. Don't let the capitalist propaganda engine tell you that comfort and contentment are not necessary for life. To even insinuate that having milk to put on cereal or in tea is some sort of luxury or indulgence that you should be able to cut out is lunacy. Human beings need comfort as much as we need socialization for emotional and mental maintenance. We need fun and enjoyment. That is why even in modern hunter-gatherer tribes the workload is less than half of ours and they all have full bellies and spend the rest of their time pursuing leisure activities and spending time with their family/community.

(not accusing the person you are replying to, they are a victim too)

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

I don't disagree with you at all. I was sort of trying to say that myself but you put it much better than I did. I can live without any comfort if it means that or death, but it sure would take a toll on me. That's why solitary confinement is such torture.

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[-] Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 1 year ago

Because trickle down economy unsurprisingly doesn't work. Good question tho.

[-] Th4tGuyII@kbin.social 30 points 1 year ago

That's because the economy is strong... for the rich.

The problem is shareholders expect infinite growth from a finite space, and that growth has to come from somewhere.

If you're already producing as many of your product, as cheaply as you can get away with, then the only thing you can do is charge more - but that strategy only works if the worker's wages don't go up with the profits.

As a result prices are going up, but worker's salaries aren't anywhere near as quickly, because the rich are scooping the extra cash and leaving all the working class to starve.

[-] r00ty@kbin.life 13 points 1 year ago

I've been working since the mid 90s and in the corporate sphere since the early 2000s.

From this experience I think we go through cycles. If you remember the 80s we had movies like wall street. "Greed, for want of a better word is good"

I think we're around about that point again. I received a directive from way up top and it was about priorities. Profit, shareholders, reducing cost and then customers. Customers were last and employees not even in the list. Unironically straight up customers last no mention of employees.

Through the 90s it was quite different, investors in people was a big thing, there was a lot of focus on team dynamic, wage rises were good, fully comped end of year parties. This kind of thing.

Then I watched this very slow drift away from this. Entire departments and then offices being closed. Below inflation payrises becoming the norm and the bare minimum from the company. Legal minimum pension match, no end of year anything comped. If lucky you'll get lunch at a corporate meeting.

The only thing that keeps me sane is the hope that we're near the end of the cycle and things turn around. It's depressing at this point.

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[-] FireTower@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

I wish someone had told me the economy was strong again earlier. Here I was thinking that hyper inflation was a bad thing.

[-] Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 year ago

It’s incredible to me that people need over $2k a month for food. I go to Sam’s once a week to replenish supplies and feed a house of six, two adults and four boys between 10-14, on $800-$1000 a month. That includes a ribeye or new york strip dinner every Saturday so theirs still plenty that could be cut. What the hell are people eating?

[-] CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee 36 points 1 year ago

I sound like you, but I bet your answer is that we're buying groceries and preparing a lot of those meals.

Single parents or busy ones that can't do that have to buy ready food.

A classic tale of "it's expensive to be poor".

[-] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

And the costs are beyond just dollars. My wife and I recently started cooking at home (and even growing some food) and I lost 20 pounds. My wife lost 50 pounds. We aren't cooking the healthiest things ever, but we make it at home.

[-] Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So I started looking at prices since my comment and I think you hit the nail on the head. It’s astounding to me what the difference in cost is for premade or hell even just not bulk. I had no idea how much I was saving with a vacuum sealer and apparent luxury of having a large pantry and large standup freezer to go with the kitchen fridge/freezer. I don’t think I could make it through more than a couple days using a top of fridge freezer if that’s all I had. So bulk buying wouldn’t even really be possible as a typical renter. Just the wasted time having to shop multiple times a week (not just grabbing something but legit grocery shopping) sounds miserable and the expense from extra trips doesn’t help any.

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[-] Adeptfuckup@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago

Here's a thought. Maybe. Just. Maybe. There are people that live in the United States that don't own a car to fill to the brim with that amount of supplies. It's difficult to carry that amount of groceries on a crowded and late bus back to your apartment. Delivery you say? Well. That's extra isn't it? Remember to tip or else. See. Not everyone lives like you. In fact. Less and less people live like you everyday. When the tipping point eventually comes. What will you say then?

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[-] Synthead@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

The US doesn't tax properly

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[-] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago
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this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2023
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