So here goes... Pre WWII there was more or less unfettered capitalism. That was wildly unstable because of capital flowing in and out of countries and regions. Eventually ended in disaster with the great depression, communism, fascism, world war and so forth. FDR's crew came in at Bretton Woods and said enough of this shit. They locked down finance and didn't allow free capital flows. They tamped down on speculation. Put finance in a box and made it a boring utility. They also forced capital and workers to the table made capital give the workers stability and a share of the increases in productivity. And it was great for 30 years. Then the 70s happened. Inflation was high because the workers had a lot of power to demand increases. Only way businesses could keep up was to raise prices. The investor class hated this because it fucked up their spreads and profit was crushed. They staged a revolt. Propped up a B actor as their spokesman President. Deregulated everything, broke the Bretton Woods walls and globalized labor, capital. Workers had no power because the company could just stay take what we give you or we'll move the jobs to Mexico, India, wherever. Stopped enforcing anti trust so every industry became three companies with monopoly rents. To prevent demand from falling off a cliff, in comes the banks to give everyone a HELOC and 8 credit cards. That fell apart in 2008. We have been kicking the can down the road every since, propping up the economy with enormous government intervention. End result. Same shit as 1930. Vast majority of people are poor and angry as hell, a handful in the professional manager class do alright, a few have insane wealth. Do you think we are going to get a reversion to something like the Bretton Woods system or do we need the world wars and Nazis and so forth before capital will budge? TC - $260
Take life one day at a time, you aren’t going to extrapolate the future of the world based on a number of historical details you can count on one hand
This is Blind. Where 90% of the people won’t understand anything from your post and will only look for your TC number to feel better or worse about their own lives.
FDR started the ponzi scheme known as social security. Reagan pulled the country out of Jimmy Carter's stagflation. My first car loan at the end of the Carter administration was 22.5%. OP, you are right regarding recent administrations' kicking the can down the road in terms of balanced budgets and debt.
Your narrative is only one interpretation. For example, “investor class” isn’t just an aristocracy. It also applies to stage of life. If you’re old, you’d probably prefer to be able to make it on your savings rather than hope the government will be charitable enough to keep social security going. The 70s had bigger problems than labor flexing its muscle. If the cost of production goes too high, foreign competitors eat your lunch. Tariffs to counter that are a tax you pay that ensure your quality of living is lower. If you’re concerned about wars, just remember: you can vote your way into socialism, but if you don’t like the results you have to shoot your way out.
How can anyone vote their way into socialism? When has that or anything remotely resembling that ever been on the ballot?... Take a program like universal government paid health care... which isn't really socialist, but as close as we get. Despite an avalanche of propaganda from the health care industry, it is wildly popular. Majority of GOP, independents, Dems and the population as a whole support it. Can we get it? No.
Universal coverage and affordability are popular. The dark side of single payer is that it’s single point of influence. Resources are finite, and you don’t want the government managing them. If you think people are hostile to immigrants now, just wait until anyone who can step across the border is entitled to $10,000/yr worth of healthcare coverage. Once again, the socialists run out of other peoples money.
I would challenge that a vast majority of people are poor. The median household income is 67k. I lived in some of the most expensive cities in the US and spent significantly less than that. Living on that money in an median us city even with a family of 4 is no where near poor. These days we call poor not being able to afford luxury goods that were unfathomable a century ago
$67,000 for a family of four? That is like maybe $4,000 a month after taxes. I guess if you lived modestly you could make it work, but two things - 1) That isn't a guaranteed $67,000 for life. You could get fired tomorrow. Now what? You are not going to have savings, or very little. That uncertainty is the worst part. 2) 50% of the population makes less than that amount.
Inflation adjusted my family grew up on < 50k, but we weren't struggling to survive. We ate out multiple times a week, owned the newest Nintendo consoles, went on vacations once a year, etc. Were there things we couldn't afford as soon as others? Sure, but they are luxury. The basics someone needs to live in a median cost of living area don't cost that much. The issue is everyone wants the newest iphone/laptop/car otherwise they are poor.
Yeah, Bretton Woods was deregulation. Lol. With one single move they have centralized and ultimately regulated half of the global economy (money supply) and made it dependent on the government like never in a history.
I didn't say Bretton Woods was deregulation.
You are not getting Bretton woods without ww3
Well, I would guess most people using this app will leave Western Countries before anything happens. Unless there is a dues ex machina, America is and will continue to collapse from the long ago relative global standards of living seen in 1950s. Partly this was inevitable, and partly as you described was poor governance. Ironically, the best outcome for Americans is the US will quietly and slowly look more like BRICS where many live in squalor and a handful live rich enough to send their kids to foreign countries for school and work. Worst-case scenario, America goes fanatically nativist and many of us would be robbed by the state then deported if not lined up and shot in the streets. Why? Many of our professions, like finance and software, are the reason for the symptomatic problems like wealth disparity and anti-nativist policies. But try not worry too much. Like someone else said, don’t lose the present to your future. Happy NYE!
I think we need to end central banking. You know, the anti-capitalists who enable warfare/welfare states, caused the Great Depression, and constantly debase the currency at the behest of their government friends.
AMA
Yesterday
2300
I have worked at TikTok US core tech for 3 years. AMA.
Cars
Yesterday
1499
Cyber truck killer: Chinese version of EV truck
India
8h
2291
Why is it so G*damn difficult to move money out of India
Health & Wellness
6h
615
Issues with sleep
Tech Industry
Yesterday
2890
I do tech screens at Google. AMA
TLDR or GTFO
There you go
Neither of you read. 😂