Reading in the economics sub as the title says about how the fed and Jerome Powell plan to tackle inflation it just really hit me hard.
For quite awhile now I have figured out that they plan to only throw us enough crumbs, and keep us fighting amongst ourselves for those crumbs to make it impossible to effect any real change.
I think there is a reason that workers in USA have it worse than workers in most western European countries. I think this gives the the people pulling the strings on the economy greater leverage.
They are actively planning to increase unemployment to reduce demand hoping that will reduce inflation just enough.
What bothers me the most is how this tactic keeps us fighting amongst ourselves for a leg up. This system of incentive is inherently evil. Reminds me of the old joke that Reagan repeated about the guys camping and while sleeping in the tent are woken up by the sound of a bear right outside.
One guy jumps out of the sleeping bag and immediately starts putting his running shoes on. Second guy says “what are you doing? you can't outrun a bear' First guy says ” I don't have to outrun a bear I just have to outrun you…”
The incentive to be so cutthroat is overwhelming in this society. This is why we have homelessness. This is why we don't have universal health care. This is why for the average worker in the USA you are so screwed. This is where the attitude that burger flippers don't deserve a living wage comes from and to be fair it works. This is why the united states is the richest country, and yet for many in this country who aren't really cut out to be predatory there is no hope for the future.
We have just missed the window of opportunity to do something positive because now that the people that pull the strings on the economy are trying to correct the huge mistake of flooding the economy with so much money since 2007 and 2020 by putting downward pressure on jobs and wages and demand for goods the worst off among us are about to get raped.
It's depressing to realize yet once again just how well this society controls us. Freedom my ass. One poster says it very succinctly that we are a socialist country already but in the US socialism is only for the risk when the taxpayers bail out the too big to fail. The reward is privatized hence the bazillionaires Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg…
What is wrong with me? Why does it bother me that so many people are so incentivized to screw the person right next to them so as just to be only slightly better off? No wonder I am not successful. See I paid attention when I was little and my Mama taught me to treat others as I wanted to be treated. I don't have it in me to exploit other people and it would seem that evolution in modern society will cause those teachings and that attitude to be extinct. No wonder we have mass shootings of children in schools, this is how it manifests itself.
The more I learn about how it works, the details of it the worse I feel. The more empathy you have for others, the more you try to be a decent human the more you are screwed. This is the incentive and it is very powerful in late stage capitalism. We are doomed to the extinction of decency.