Why is everything in consumer / American life so fucking shitty now - and companies literally just say 'oh bc profit margins' and we're now expected to swallow that and sympathize?

like I went to taco bell and they didn’t even have napkins out. they had the other stuff just no napkins, I assume because some fucking ghoul noticed people liked taking them for their cars so now we just don’t get napkins! so they can save $100 per quarter rather than provide the barest minimum quality of life features.

Lophostemon,

I was just thinking how captured the basic necessity of hydration has become. So many people have become fooled into emptying their pockets to buy soda etc. and the idea of merely drinking normal water is not enough. Plus the lack of enforcement to regulate a universally clean water supply to all areas. I mean… clean accessible water is a super basic foundation of civilisation. Now corporations have diverted that need into profit and almost certainly helped derail any plans to ensure that water is safe and drinkable.

soggy_kitty,

Stop your consumerism, vote with your wallet

bennieandthez, (edited )
@bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml avatar

You now live in the monopolist stage of capitalism, aka imperialism.

Read “imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism by Lenin” for more insights.

wowwoweowza,

It’s all disgusting out there.

My wife and I kicked all fast food 2010.

We use a crock pot for beans. Buy tortillas etc. We can beat Taco Bell burritos with zero worry about disease.

We transmuted our disgust for corporate hegemony into carefully crafted campaign designed to rise above it as much as possible.

And we’re not saints. Still using abuser Amazon because fuck. But we try and I ride right in by fast food faces feeling so good not to give them an effing dime.

Zibitee,

If you’ve never operated or owned a restaurant before, it’s because the top 3 expenses in a restaurant are: food, labor, and paper. Controlling paper usage helps control costs significantly. That’s why.

orcrist,

Capitalism is the answer. Greed, unchecked profits.

Bluefrog1313,

$$$$$

crashfrog,

The American consumer is the worst-behaved, most deranged, most thievery-prone they’ve ever been in history. “The customer is always right” thinking is endemic. Roving bands of Karens are straight-up assaulting workers. People want everything for free and figure “gratis” means “loot an entire two-armed carry.” Not to even get started on the fucking shoplifting!

When people abuse a privilege, you take the privilege away, from everyone. It’s pretty simple. If you want a retail experience where you feel privileged and taken care of then you need to be going to places that have some kind of mechanism to keep the hoi polloi away. A membership fee, an unusual location, some kind of barrier to entry.

TimewornTraveler,

bruh they just didn’t have napkins, the employees probably just didn’t give a shit

I mean things are getting shittier but you’re complaining about napkins?

Seasoned_Greetings,

I think the point is more that we live in a time where “because we cut napkins to add pennies to our bottom line” is an answer we have to seriously consider. Even if it isn’t the case, it’s plausible enough to be awful.

eletes,
@eletes@sh.itjust.works avatar

We’re in a modern gilded age. There are no consequences for modern day robber barons.

LostWon, (edited )

To add to this – Cory Doctorow, the very guy who coined the term “enshittification,” has written about this. (Been meaning to read some of his books to see his explanations on how to fight it but I’m still getting through another book right now so I’ve only seen vids and read a sample.)

KingThrillgore,
@KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml avatar

Its hard to believe a fucking nobody bank like SVB collapsing could do this.

AlexWIWA,

Also everything breaks in five years at best. Doesn’t matter how much you spend, basically everything is shit quality minimum viable products.

weeeeum,

This is why I never buy anything with lithium batteries, and my career is a computer repair technician. When the batteries die, they are often irreplaceable even by an expert. The entire inside of so many “smart” and wireless devices are drowned in industrial adhesive and can only be destructively disassembled. Watch ifixit’s videos on air pods teardowns, they are impossible to repair.

AlexWIWA,

Same. I won’t buy anything that isn’t repairable unless it’s like a one time need

weeeeum,

Lol I wish I had that luxury.

I do actually

Wood working tools

moonsnotreal,
@moonsnotreal@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Thankfully on most laptops the battery is easy to replace. The keyboards though…

weeeeum,

Oh yeah the keyboards are almost always rough. Sometimes if the laptop is old enough you can simply undo a couple screws and the keyboard will pop right out. Nowadays they are all riveted in so you have to buy the whole lower assembly and gut the machine and transplant it to the new assembly.

It always hurts to tell customers that fixing a single broken key is like 200-300$ (often on cheap laptops).

SelfHigh5,

Planned obsolescence keeps us consuming.

AlexWIWA,

I also think there’s a general lack of QA. Whether it’s a bug or a feature, they’re trying to push things out so fast now that shit breaks even if they don’t intentionally plan obsolescence.

Planned obsolescence is definitely a modern travesty though. It really ought to be illegal

GiddyGap,

The US has not set up a system that compensates properly. Most European countries have a security net in place when capitalism squeezes regular people. The US does not. You’re on your own.

buzz,
@buzz@lemmy.world avatar

So what are you doing about it?

interdimensionalmeme,

Well you know all those boomers retiring ? They not doing work anymore but that’s not the worst of it. Now they are spending that retirement money instead of stashing it.

So they’re selling their stocks and now the companies need cash or demonstrate profit growth or else their share prices will tank.

RememberTheApollo_,

Got a source for the claim that a boomer stock sell off is driving factor? I would have just made greed the motivator.

Spending money is good for the economy. Retiring is good for the economy, that means someone else gets that higher pay job slot. Retirees should be living off of dividends, 401ks and IRAs, not volatile stock sell offs.

inetknght,

Retirees should be living off of dividends, 401ks and IRAs, not volatile stock sell offs.

If you’re only going to live another 10 or 20 years but you have $1M stashed… do you take the $1M now and buy a fancy house? Or do you keep that $1M going for the… checks math … few tens of thousands of dollars it’ll earn in yearly dividends? Meanwhile your daughter needs a new hair-do, your son is living in your basement again, and your wife… well she’s your wife. And she wants that new car that you promised you’d get her when you retire.

I guess it’s back to the grind instead.

crashfrog,

If you’re only going to live another 10 or 20 years but you have $1M stashed… do you take the $1M now and buy a fancy house? Or do you keep that $1M going for the… checks math … few tens of thousands of dollars it’ll earn in yearly dividends?

Borrow against the value of the securities, obviously, like people with actual money do.

Sometimes it’s so obvious that only poors use the internet.

inetknght,

Borrow against the value of the securities, obviously

Yeah, borrow against the value of the securities!

Who will pay the debt when I die? My children via the estate? My children via the bank’s increasingly higher fees? My children via taxpayer-funded loan “forgiveness”? Sounds like a Bernie Madoff scheme to me. Best keep my money under the mattress.

crashfrog,

Who will pay the debt when I die?

Your estate, via the value of the securities at sale, whose value will have increased in the intervening time. What do you think is the downside, here?

inetknght,

You’re trying to tell me that borrowing against securities solves the problem. But it only moves the problem.

If I borrow against the securities, I get cash. I use that cash. I now have zero cash (again). Then I die a horribly quiet death with megabucks owed for loans against the securities. The estate does not have cash to pay back those loans. You’re saying those securities would be sold… for more profit than what I borrowed against? Then it sounds like I didn’t borrow against their full value. And if I did borrow against their full value, then the loan cannot be paid back because the cash is spent.

crashfrog,

But it only moves the problem.

Yes, it moves the problem until after you’re dead, and it moves the problem into the future when the value of your securities will have substantially grown, thereby reducing the real cost of your house. Both of those things are good!

If I borrow against the securities, I get cash. I use that cash. I now have zero cash (again).

You have zero cash plus a property asset. The value of that asset will grow as well. Both the asset and your securities are, in fact, growing in value at an interest rate that’s greater than the interest you’re paying on the loan.

So you’re getting free money. It doesn’t come from nowhere, of course; it comes from the future people who buy your securities. They essentially paid you in the past to buy a house, and they’ll be paid to have done so by people who need to enter the securities market later on (by buying securities.)

inetknght,

You have zero cash plus a property asset. The value of that asset will grow as well.

Well okay I did ask about buying a fancy house so I think it’s a reasonable assumption.

But I want to change the argument move the goalpost. Let’s suppose I bought a fancy house and the housing market bubble finally burst… and that the house is now worth 1/3 of what I bought it for. That loss of value caused a massive heart attack and definitely caused death.

Or let’s say I spent the money on hookers and blow. Might as well go out with a bang, after all.

Now all of that value truly is gone. Sucks to be my kids I guess. But at least I had a fun time, right?

crashfrog,

Now all of that value truly is gone. Sucks to be my kids I guess.

Why do you think it sucks to be your kids? They inherit a free fancy house and any of your securities that weren’t sold to pay the note.

I mean, it sucks for them that their cool dad is dead, but maybe they take comfort in the fact that you went out doing what you loved (raw dog nutting into bitches.)

RememberTheApollo_,

First: Don’t take financial advice from randos on the internet. Second: What you said is not a person who is financially ready to retire. It’s a number, not an age, as they say. You should not be retiring with $1M solely in stocks. That’s bad planning (and too low of a number these days). You need multiple millions spread out over stocks, bonds, your residence, and retirement accounts like 401Ks and IRAs. A million dollars is a number we need to have a conversation about in this country, because everyone wants to hate on millionaires. Want to know what a million dollars is? $430k house that you bought when it was $250k. ~$270k in retirement savings, each, for 2 people. 2 paid off 10 year old cars. How rich does that sound? They’re technically millionaires with their assets. Not so rich when you put it like that.

No, you don’t buy a fancy house when you are retiring, that’s when you downsize so you don’t have a huge tax/utilities overhead, a big yard to take care of, and a huge house to maintain that you may have a hard time getting around in as you age. Your daughter is an adult, she needs to get her shit together. Son needs to pay a share of all utilities and whatever other expenses he’s costing if he’s not disabled. Wife needs to be on board with the finances or everyone in this scenario is a dumbass.

If you have a straight million dollars invested and earning 5% you’ll make $50k a year to cover all your bills. $50K someplace really cheap to live (which probably won’t be desirable or near qualty services like hospitals as you age) will get you by with no frills. 5% is conservative, a lot of optimists choose higher numbers or historic averages, but this is when you hae no job and are getting old, you need to be very conservative with estimates. $1.5M in straight interest bearing accounts at 5% gets you $75k, a much more reasonable number with a paid off house in a decent area. Got house payments still? Might want to grab that WalMart greeter job to keep that expense at bay. $2.0M will let you live a nice lifestyle, fly to visit the grandkids once in a while, have a small bass boat or whatever to go fish in you spare time, and live in a pretty nice place.

These are my numbers. There are boing to be plenty of people with different opinions and targets, but I thing $2.0M+ is a safer number that will still cover you even if the market rolls back on you for a while.

Tell the girl to pay for her own haircut, get her a salon gift card for her birthday. Tell the son to get a job at Starbucks.

inetknght,

First: Don’t take financial advice from randos on the internet

Just a conversation, man :)

I didn’t even know someone could borrow against securities. Sounds like I need to have a discussion with my finance guy…

… speaking of finance guys, I should find one.

A million dollars is a number we need to have a conversation about in this country, because everyone wants to hate on millionaires.

Sure, let’s talk about that.

People who hate on millionaires are making arguments a million hours too late (for many of the reasons you stated). The rage these days is to hate on billionaires.

Cannacheques,

Nah I think if you took a short holiday stay camping you might think of a good middle ground. People are often not as short sighted as you would expect them to be, otherwise society would not have become as gloriously complex and full of unsustainable systems as today

Cannacheques,

Meh, if they’re selling it, the company will have certain people simply set up a trust fund with beneficiaries being key employees or research and development team players, then strategically buy back shares at low prices and use the company shares as leverage for their next big idea at whatever company meet up happens. Think Defcon but limited to internal players. Even at a loss, the company will generally become self sustaining so long as the players on the team have a minimum degree of commitment

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