I think that's part of the point. The system doesn't want the majority to be able to say no to a job because they were able to save easily and can take time off whenever they feel. On top of the things mentioned here like food and insurance costs there are also other things now like being certified in a field or needing to continue education or paying for permits every year that seem way to calculated in cost which is just another way of keeping you from getting to far ahead.

My family does ok, but we were still cutting it close a few years ago. Today we are looking at new jobs that we hopefully can get and pay more because ours stopped giving raises and inflation has us stuck living paycheck to paycheck.

I wish I could take more than a few weeks off a year to do what I actually enjoy doing for once. 1 of those weeks is a cheap vacation and the other is just spent getting things done because work takes up most of our time. It's stressful and tiring and the longer it goes on the more depressing it becomes.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Another thing to consider. Working folks used to be able to afford really nice things. In 1960, a Rolls Royce was about $20,000 and a Jaguar was about $6,000. A ringside ticket to the first Ali/Fraiser fight was $200. They want peasants scrambling for crumbs, not peers

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Their current philosophy is an incredibly shortsighted mistake. You make money by having a robust consumer class with plenty of disposable income to spend on things they like. If most people are barely affording essentials, there's way less variety in where money ends up. If I'm the executive of Samsung, I want to publicly support better pay and higher taxes, because it means more people can buy my TVs and phones.

I struggle to describe the situation because it actually goes against capitalism. The rich are pursuing the option that gives them less profit and hurts the free market.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Look at the crypto bros.

We've gone so far off the rails in terms of the economy that it boggles the mind.

I was brought with the idea that the old Tsarist system of a few great land owners; a small middle class of minor merchants, tradesmen, white collar civil servants; and a sea of serfs, was always going to be unstable. That's the idea the Right wants for all of us.

[–] BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf 8 points 1 year ago

Till there be property there can be no government, the very end of which is to secure wealth, and to defend the rich from the poor. In this age of shepherds, if one man possessed 500 oxen, and another had none at all, unless there were some government to secure them to him, he would not be allowed to possess them.”

Adam Smith, “ Lectures on Jurisprudence” 1766

All states are unstable, because their function is to secure the wealth of the many in the hands of the few.

[–] Four_lights77@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m sorry but they don’t actually want you to have money. They want you to have credit. Lots and lots of credit if possible. Because then they win twice. Once in the purchases and second in the interest.

[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

True, but that still requires people to have enough disposable income that they're freely buying things. To nail them on interest you want them to spend more than they earn, agreed, but it's all a balance. Go too far, and they'll pull back on spending, and you lose out doubly.

[–] RegularGoose@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

The mistake you're making is thinking that long-term effects are a concern in capitalism. They aren't. The point is for the people at the top to make as much money as possible in as short a time as possible, keep milking the corpse until it rots, then fuck off with your money.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

there's less variety in where money ends up

that's exactly the thing rich corps want. Whatever money and power that's left to go into their coffers.

[–] BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf 1 points 1 year ago

I think you’re missing it because you’re still thinking in a national frame. Capitalists do not. If US workers can’t afford their products, they’ll just sell to Chinese workers. That’s part of why they’re so desperate to get into that market. Capitalism always requires expanding markets. It’s why the web is going through enshittification, also.

There is no nation for a capitalist, they may play at patriotism when it suits their interests, but in reality they will go wherever they can to make as much as they can. If that stops being here, they’ll go elsewhere.