Don't forget about the absolutely massive wealth transfer that happened: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/16/richest-1percent-amassed-almost-two-thirds-of-new-wealth-created-since-2020-oxfam.html

This isn't inflation. This is greed. Record profits with soul crushing wages. Governments that allow this are complicit. We need heavy windfall taxes

Those are here for the same reason...

People act like inflation is the invisible hand of the market, this is capitalism, companies will charge whatever they want to maximize profits, and that rarely results in a lower price.

Like, if you made thingamajigs, and if you made as many as you could (10 million) and sold as much as you could to saturate the market and end up making 10 million, that's less profit than if you charged $5 a piece and only sold 2 million. Same income, much lower overhead.

So you cut staffing and make 1/5th of what you can because that maximizes profit.

Which is fine until your thingamajig is something that people need like food, water, or shelter. If you're putting profit over production, then people who can't afford it have to go without.

It's literally what's going on with insulin. This is t a hypothetical, this is what's been happening for a long time.

It's just with the same few giant corporations making everything, if just one does, the other 2-4 giant corporations crunch the same numbers and come up with the same plan.

Something that used to be called price fixing is suddenly just "internal analytics"

I could have bought a decent house alone, albeit uncomfortably. But I was happy enough in my condo. Now I have a wife and dual income, and we'd have to really stretch for a shitty house on the outskirts. And neither of our wages have changed much.

I am reminded of that quote along the lines of “it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.” I did everything right, and had a more than adequate emergency fund.

But then my house vaporized that emergency fund… and only then did COVID happen and I lost my job twice. So that’s roughly three “holy shit thank god we saved for a rainy day” events in three years.

I’m sure I will be in “just save money” mode some day in the future. Lots of shit left to clean up right now though.

If you stop eating Starbucks and drinking avocado toasts, you will be fine

Man, some of them have had to delay that second private jet purchase until next year.

Speaking of, where did that money come from?

Did they just print it?

Weird how when it comes to helping the working class, taxing the rich is never an option. But when it comes to helping the ruling class, you can tax the working class and print money.

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After buying kayaks with their COVID checks, their outdoor gear addiction has spiraled out of control

They are living out of them.

Rent price coordinator website says I can get $6,922/month for my shed that's partially submerged, I'll be fair and ask $6,900/month as that's a nicer number!

/s

1 billionaire is too many billionaires

Compost, grow, consume. Give the earth its tithe.

I think some people, myself included, managed to stay stable, so that's probably a big chunk of it. I got a new job in June 2020 that was enough of a raise to make up for inflation, so while I'm not ahead of where I was 3 years ago, I was at least in the same mediocre position I started in. That said, I've had $3k in dental bills since July because dental insurance is pretty much a scam, soooo I'm now officially fucked, but I was doing ok.

People like me and my wife. Wife is in healthcare and I am in automation. Wife gets as much overtime as she wants and I got several pay raises as suddenly companies found that they couldn't depend on just buying the same things forever and ran out of workers.

Oh don't worry I am sure the boot is ready to crush us both like a bug. Just ignoring us for the time being.