SOURCES:
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/15/biden-economy-bidenomics-poll-republicans-democrats-independents
- https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-poverty-rate-jumped-2022-child-poverty-doubled/story?id=103130527
- https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/31/63percent-of-workers-are-unable-to-pay-a-500-emergency-expense-survey.html
Enjoy your strong economy, everybody!
And yet everybody around me is driving an eighty thousand dollar truck. People and their justification of debt for toys is so strange to me.
Someone once told me “You’re supposed to be in debt, that’s just how things work”
I have avoided debt like the fucking plague. Banks are happy to shackle anyone they can into a life long payment plan, and one day it’s going to all come crashing down.
It depends. You’re supposed to use that debt in as smart way so that in the end, you have more money (liquid or in assets) than before, even taking into account the interest you pay.
Good reasons to take on debt: buy a house (no more money lost in rent + your house will keep increasing in value over time), renovate your house (increasing its value), get solar panels (less money spent on electricity + added value to your house),…
If your situation requires it, a reasonably sized car could be a good investment as well. Less money spent and time wasted on public transport (I’m a big fan of public transport though, don’t get me wrong).
Even student debt could be seen as a good investment. But I just think higher education should be at least affordable for anyone from the get-go.
An oversized car that you don’t really need and loses value as soon as you drive out of the dealership, is not a good reason to take on debt though.
Edit: note that I’m European and not super familiar with the debt culture in the US, where you need to have debt and pay it off for your credit score.
I was just talking to somebody about this. It’s simultaneously so confusing and so depressing. I work hard, try to do everything right but I can’t afford shit. Everyone I know and everyone around me lives in a damn mansion and drives around in 70k nice ass cars. Then they go to the Swiss alps or something for 3 weeks on vacation. I’m over here figuring out how I can make purchasing a camping permit for a 3 day weekend work…
If everyone is in debt they suuure don’t live like it. I just don’t understand it.
it seems to be a global thing too, here in sweden we have people living in huge houses in the middle of nowhere with 2 cars and 3 kids and they have the audacity to wonder why they can’t make their budget come together when prices for things rise slightly…
Some of these people might have family money (trust funds, inheritances, or gifts). Some might be older and more established (meaning they have more savings and less debt, bought their home long ago). Couples in general can afford more than single people. Childless people or people with older children who are now living on their own can afford more than people with kids at home. Some people don’t talk about their moonlighting/side hustles.
And some people have debt.
The problem with your logic is that you don’t know the financial situation of “everyone i know and everyone around me”
That’s not to say they are being smart and wise with their money or that they aren’t struggling. But it’s very easy to have only some context (their vacations, cars, and excess) and make bad inferences on their financial situations.
Have you asked these people, all of them, how they are managing this excess that feels impossible for you to meet yourself? You might find their financial situations are much more complex than appears and you aren’t actually on the same playing field
You’re completely right. It’s more of just how it feels looking around. It just seems like everyone has all this great stuff and lives in these big giant houses and I’m just not able to do that. It’s also probably one of those things where I’m just subconsciously blind to all the other people that aren’t living like that around me.
There are several friends that are definitely living very large and I have absolutely no clue how they are managing it since I know what them and their spouses do for a living. I’d love to know what the hell is really going on but it’s a bit awkward to bring up lol
Yeah, this “can’t afford an x expense” is not at all a sign of wealth, it’s a sign of debt culture that’s gotten better since 08 but it’s very much still alive.
“strong economy” = corporations posted record profits
The missing part of the discussion is always “better for who?”
The benefits of economic activity don’t automatically go to most people. They’re not even the likely ones to benefit from it.
But it’s pretty easy for media and gov propaganda to frame it in generic terms like “the economy is good, look at these hand picked stats that say so!”
“strong economy” = workers getting paid an even smaller share of the value they create
YUP! Too bad once Reagan got in office GDP began to completely separate from wages:
Ah, good. You can see exactly when Reagan fucked everything for everyone but the top earners.
Child poverty increased due to the expiration of the expanded child tax credit passed as a part of the American Rescue Plan. The expanded child tax credit had cut the child poverty level in HALF. Democrats were not able to renew the child tax credit due to opposition from Manchin and Republicans.
The economy is doing well. Hand-wringing over issues that Democrats were not able to address as they did not have enough power in Washington is going to make things worse for everyone.
Fuck Joe Manchin and fuck the system of government that lets him cast children into poverty
So capitalism and its inability to properly weed out its regalith industries has a tendency to co-opt governance at the cost of the people
Anybody with a shred of knowledge about the child tax credit knows exactly this. Biden’s economy is doing fine. It’s republicans repealing democratic policies that make the economy worse.
Tale as old as time.
Strong economy … based on outdated indicators from an era when the overall health of the economy correlated with the economic health of working people.
If you have a hundred people in a room, and you see that they are receiving a delivery of 100 hamburgers, you might conclude that they are all doing fine. But if you look inside the room and find out that ONE guy is hoarding 50 of those hamburgers, and 9 guys are hoarding 40 of the remaining hamburgers, you can plainly see that 90% of the people in that room are just fighting for crumbs.
This isn’t a Biden problem. This is mostly a Republican problem. They have been ACTIVELY FIGHTING TO GET US TO TO THIS POINT, AND WORSE. “Centrist” Democrats also share the blame for not fighting it hard enough.
Fun fact, people who work at Walmart have to use food stamps because Walmart doesn’t pay a living wage.
I actually considered using food stamps when I was working for close to minimum wage several years ago. I never filed the paperwork, but I definitely considered it.
Walmart jobs shouldn’t be minimum wage. I’m amazed they can find employees for what they pay, and the amount of work expected.
I agree. My post was in support of how ridiculously low the minimum wage is compared to cost of living.
Don’t forget Ross. Fuck Ross.
Also student workers in state university systems. They have fucking unions somehow and make considerably less than minimum wage for intellectually challenging, skilled academic jobs with long hours. The admins count on their desperation, because if you don’t take on these jobs regardless of the cost, then you’re not going to get accepted to advanced degree programs or hired as a real professor.
I have no idea how it’s legal.
It is a strong economy … For the capitalists. Unionize for your slice of the pie!
It’s called inequality. The economy is just owned by 10%.
Rich countries have poor people. And poor countries have rich people (see those Russian oligarch).
We have so many new jobs created!
Peasant class with 2+ jobs:
“You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn’t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you’re doing that.” - George W. Bush to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005
But corporations and the hyper rich are doing great, and that seems to be all that matters.
This is just evidence that the economy was never about you. By all accounts that both parties would use, the economy is strong. The issue is it’s never been about us. Just like when Trump and other Republicans touted the stock market as evidence, this isn’t much better.
This is just unregulated extreme capitalism in action.
