this post was submitted on 31 May 2024
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A Boring Dystopia
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The response to this is that inflation is a market force working against the downward pressure of demand. There is a limit to the amount prices can go up before people stop buying altogether.
Another inflationary force is greed, funneling additional profits into the pockets of the 0.1%.
Let the inflation due to minimum wage be X, and the inflation due to greed be Y, and the maximum total inflation be Z. X+Y=Z
Of course there are other variables, but in a general sense, if X goes up, Y must go down. If X does not go up, Y does.
So yes there will be inflation, but increasing wages takes more money from the ownership and puts it into the pockets of the bottom 99.9% where it will do far more good.
And in case it wasn't clear, this is precisely why the oligarchy opposes increasing the minimum wage. It has nothing to do with inflation, and everything to do with they make less money.
Except that they have studies that prove that they make more money when they increase wages. Tons of em since the '70s have shown that putting more money in the hands of the poor just means that the rich get to skim off even more money. They oppose thriving wages because they want suffering.
It really is absurd... It's like basic fucking logic... You have more money, so you have more money to SPEND. Who benefits from more spending? Those that own the things we're buying!
But no... I need more more more more and fuck you for wanting a normal life. Daddy needs another private island. Git Gud suckers, just be a CEO!
You're confusing a rising tide with a water hose. We absolutely know that increasing wages is good for the economy, but that helps everyone. Oligarchs benefit financially from poverty, even if the economy suffers. As you said, they want suffering, because it allows them to exploit people. Capitalism is the idea that one with means can leverage their position to capture disproportionate value from effort of others. Don't confuse capitalism with the economy. Capitalists always make money, and they don't necessarily make more money when the economy is thriving.
Not when those items are necessities, like food. Damn us poor people and our need to...checks notes...eat.
McDonald's is not a necessity. The price went up for one reason only: people will pay it. Is it that hard to make a hamburger or go to a basic deli? You can get a better sandwich and drink at the supermarket.
It absolutely can be in food deserts, and the food deserts are growing.
A desert full of food and it's growing? Doesn't sound like a problem to me!
(I understand what it really is) :P
I'm not talking specifically about McDonalds.
Up here in Canada, One of our largest retail grocery chains has been under fire recently for those same practices. That's more what I'm referring to.
They will charge what people are willing to pay, and not a dollar more. That number changes based on a wide variety of factors, but you're right that there is a baseline necessity to eat. The thing is, food and shelter are the last lines, and we're already seeing the strain on those.
People aren't going to the movies, they're not buying cars, they're not going on vacations, and small businesses everywhere are suffering. So now, finally, the grocers and restaurants are coming under fire because they have hit the upper limit of what people will accept.
Watch as they all "find ways" to cut costs and improve their value proposition. They will try to convince you that they are in this with us, but there will be a trade off. Buy in bulk, offering the same prices that you used to get buying normal quantities. Join our discount club, with recurring fees and personalized advertising using your spending habits. Get the store brand, which is expected to be of lower quality so you can't complain when your breakfast cereal is mostly pulped cellulose.
I am the laziest man on earth and even I gave serious thought to planting a garden this year...that's where we're at.
I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. We do a fair bit of cooking but rent a pretty small apartment. We started growing our herbs. The basil isn't doing so hot (I think some asshole bugs were eating it while it was outside so we brought it in) but the rosemary is doing great! I also have a peace lily that I nursed back to health somewhat.
If I were in the position to start a garden, I would pick some pretty easy stuff to start with. A lot of vegetables are pretty set and forget so long as you defend them from critters at the start and keep bugs away. The most important factor is to grow stuff you actually want to cook and eat. Maybe make your very own vegetable tier list and then find out the difficulty level of everything that's in your S, A, and B tiers. Then just make a solid attempt at one or two as a practice run (or proof of concept) before investing next year in what you wish you'd had this year. If dipshits could figure it out 300 years ago, then I'm sure you could do a passable job learning it and executing it in your spare time with the power of virtually all human knowledge in your pocket.