5 ms·

And 3 million depend on food banks. Things are getting tough for lots of people and that's with extremely high levels of employment. Not sure this will go well

by jarym 3y ago

And 3 million depend on food banks. Things are getting tough for lots of people and that's with extremely high levels of employment. Not sure this will go well if there is a recession that causes the jobless rate to increase.

uoaei 3y ago
Employment metrics make less sense now that poorly-paid gig work is ubiquitous. Just because you "have a job" doesn't mean you'll be able to afford basic necessities.
- Nextgrid 3y ago
  Potential counterpoint: most gig work is on a contract/self-employed basis and may not be included in "employment" metrics.
  - soperj 3y ago
    If they're not looking for a job, then they would be.
- ars 3y ago
  > poorly-paid gig work The gig workers I know do it because they like the money, it's the best money available to them. So I don't know about the "poorly-paid" part, there's so much demand for gig work people complain they can't find enough of it.
  - uoaei 3y ago
    Wishful thinking doesn't make for convincing rhetoric.
yazzku 3y ago
> Things are getting tough for lots of people and that's with extremely high levels of employment. Capitalism has succeeded then.
- spir 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - yoyohello13 3y ago
    With lobbying, campaign financing, and regulatory capture, the rich and corporations effectively are the government.
  - popinman322 3y ago
    > That rising inequality is leading to poverty is a failure of government, not corporations or capitalism. Why introduce a layer of indirection by blaming the rich or corporations, when the rules are made by government? Blame the government directly. This implies that capitalism is not capable of self-regulation and therefore requires government intervention. It follows that this is a joint failure of capitalism and governments to reduce negative externalities that lead to high wealth inequality. > Let reddit handle the economic ignorance. Please don't include implicit ad hominem jabs at other posters. You could have omitted your first sentence with no loss to your argument.
  - sangnoir 3y ago
    So good things are a result of capitalism, and the bad concomitant outcomes are due to "globalization, AI" and "failure of government"? Perhaps there is a link between the cheap Walmart milk in your fridge, record Walmart profits, automation (self-checkout), hardball supplier negotiations and rising inequality as indicated by Walmart employees also being on SNAP.
  - CapstanRoller 3y ago
    Which country was first in space, and led space-related innovation? Capitalism didn't invent or produce computers or milk. Workers did. Capitalism is just a wealth distribution mechanism on top of innovation and labor that only concerns itself with how the wealth generated by workers is distributed. We can choose other mechanisms of wealth distribution.
andy_ppp 3y ago
Don’t worry, everyone is suffering - we’re all in this together… For example we’re set to have the highest private jet sales on record this year https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/private-jet-sales-likely-to-reach-highest-ever-level-this-year-report-says https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/private-jet-sa... Almost as if COVID caused a huge redistribution of money from the poor to the wealthy.
- rabuse 3y ago
  All by design. Kill all small businesses by shutting them down, and get purchased by giant megacorps when they're worth nothing.
  - thr-nrg 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - mrguyorama 3y ago
      Clearly a conspiracy, which is why all the assassins were objectively incompetent, only succeeded by sheer stupid luck, and both Germany and Austro-Hungary were itching and planning to start a war regardless. Ferdinand's death didn't cause WW1, it just started it.
      - thr-nrg 3y ago
        And yet they were still more competent than the Austrian secret services because they, you know, managed to kill their target.
  - slig 3y ago
    Don't forget the money printing machine at maximum speed.
  - dukeyukey 3y ago
    Although small businesses didn't really shut down, at least that I could see. Pubs sold delivery beer, restaurants went full-on collection and delivery, coffee shops turned into walk-throughs. Tougher time absolutely, but almost all the visible small businesses in my area survived lockdown.
agumonkey 3y ago
French news recently reported 26% of people skipping meals and not feeling fed. Mind boggling system failure when you can have smartphones for 100bucks but not enough income to pay bills and food regularly.

by jarym 3y ago

uoaei 3y ago

Employment metrics make less sense now that poorly-paid gig work is ubiquitous. Just because you "have a job" doesn't mean you'll be able to afford basic necessities.

Nextgrid 3y ago
Potential counterpoint: most gig work is on a contract/self-employed basis and may not be included in "employment" metrics.
- soperj 3y ago
  If they're not looking for a job, then they would be.
ars 3y ago
> poorly-paid gig work The gig workers I know do it because they like the money, it's the best money available to them. So I don't know about the "poorly-paid" part, there's so much demand for gig work people complain they can't find enough of it.
- uoaei 3y ago
  Wishful thinking doesn't make for convincing rhetoric.

yazzku 3y ago

> Things are getting tough for lots of people and that's with extremely high levels of employment. Capitalism has succeeded then.

spir 3y ago
[flagged]
- yoyohello13 3y ago
  With lobbying, campaign financing, and regulatory capture, the rich and corporations effectively are the government.
- popinman322 3y ago
  > That rising inequality is leading to poverty is a failure of government, not corporations or capitalism. Why introduce a layer of indirection by blaming the rich or corporations, when the rules are made by government? Blame the government directly. This implies that capitalism is not capable of self-regulation and therefore requires government intervention. It follows that this is a joint failure of capitalism and governments to reduce negative externalities that lead to high wealth inequality. > Let reddit handle the economic ignorance. Please don't include implicit ad hominem jabs at other posters. You could have omitted your first sentence with no loss to your argument.
- sangnoir 3y ago
  So good things are a result of capitalism, and the bad concomitant outcomes are due to "globalization, AI" and "failure of government"? Perhaps there is a link between the cheap Walmart milk in your fridge, record Walmart profits, automation (self-checkout), hardball supplier negotiations and rising inequality as indicated by Walmart employees also being on SNAP.
- CapstanRoller 3y ago
  Which country was first in space, and led space-related innovation? Capitalism didn't invent or produce computers or milk. Workers did. Capitalism is just a wealth distribution mechanism on top of innovation and labor that only concerns itself with how the wealth generated by workers is distributed. We can choose other mechanisms of wealth distribution.

andy_ppp 3y ago

Don’t worry, everyone is suffering - we’re all in this together… For example we’re set to have the highest private jet sales on record this year https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/private-jet-sales-likely-to-reach-highest-ever-level-this-year-report-says https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/private-jet-sa... Almost as if COVID caused a huge redistribution of money from the poor to the wealthy.

rabuse 3y ago
All by design. Kill all small businesses by shutting them down, and get purchased by giant megacorps when they're worth nothing.
- thr-nrg 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    Clearly a conspiracy, which is why all the assassins were objectively incompetent, only succeeded by sheer stupid luck, and both Germany and Austro-Hungary were itching and planning to start a war regardless. Ferdinand's death didn't cause WW1, it just started it.
    - thr-nrg 3y ago
      And yet they were still more competent than the Austrian secret services because they, you know, managed to kill their target.
- slig 3y ago
  Don't forget the money printing machine at maximum speed.
- dukeyukey 3y ago
  Although small businesses didn't really shut down, at least that I could see. Pubs sold delivery beer, restaurants went full-on collection and delivery, coffee shops turned into walk-throughs. Tougher time absolutely, but almost all the visible small businesses in my area survived lockdown.

agumonkey 3y ago

French news recently reported 26% of people skipping meals and not feeling fed. Mind boggling system failure when you can have smartphones for 100bucks but not enough income to pay bills and food regularly.