Trump Thread 2.0

[ForcedFirebird]

Almost like we are living somewhere between Orwell 1984 the Calhoun's Experiment.

Worst part is, history repeats itself, and everyone is too busy to watch the patterns. The economy is very much 1984-ish. Most of the genpop can't see past the previous/past 2yr, nevermind watching generational cycles.

Either way, we have politicians that have been in office for 30-40-50 years. There's no one to blame? No one set of policies? Just look at who controlled the government over the past 70yrs. It's in plain sight, factual statistics that are at anyone's phone.

Reagan always a liberal, see why he switched parties. When the left moves too far left,the centers become right.

Just like this "pandemic". I'm not saying it didn't hurt and/or kill people, but anytime I hear about comparisons to 1918, I just remember that the population in the US actually DROPPED in 1918-1921, while 100yrs later the population growth has not changed in the last several years.

Personally, I feel I have always been very central. Now, many people call me extreme right? It's crazy times.

[roguetoaster]

^
Well, those board members are important, and the end user has no other choice than to buy our product, so, yeah, eat it consumers.

OTOH, the consumers are really dumb, won't make changes rapidly, and can't generally figure how they fit in, so I guess they're just asking to be boned.

It's basically a perfect self predating system with consumers fighting themselves for products, and too lazy to research other than familiar products. But one day the base of the pyramid will get too weak to support the bulk above, then, boom, dystopian corporate sci-fi future.

On a brighter note we'll get to actively destroy corps, but only at the behest of our chosen, somehow better, corp.

[MrBurgundy]

Certainly +1.

So many things leading up to the inflation & the markets we see now-- the recent ones are most especially the Fed, that out of control money printing machine, the response at the onset of the pandemic -- which was December 2019. War in Ukraine exacerbates it a bit. Mr. Sleeve this is just a continuation.

lmao

Still gotta blame Trump for something right? lmao

...the response to the pandemic in 2019... get the fuck out of here, man.

Everyone is getting priced gouged.. the housing marked is fucked because of Wall street and oil companies are fucking us at the pump and bringing in 300% profits this year? They've profited like 35 billion dollars in their first quarter in 2022...

Everything is so much more expensive now, but it's not because of inflation.

[phillipj]

... Today is built on years/decades of policy in the past, and no one is free of blame for failures or can take sole credit for any type of recovery. ...

Certainly +1.

So many things leading up to the inflation & the markets we see now-- the recent ones are most especially the Fed, that out of control money printing machine, the response at the onset of the pandemic -- which was December 2019. War in Ukraine exacerbates it a bit. Mr. Sleeve this is just a continuation.

[MrBurgundy]

Also I wish Elon Musk would shut his freaking mouth and just run his companies. But I digress..

lol

[nando]

Funny thing is the USD has actually strengthened vs other currencies recently. And it's painted as either a good/bad thing depending on which outlet reports on it - it's either bad, because exports do better with a weaker dollar, or good, because it gives us a better deal on imports. I swear all financial reporting is schizophrenic. For example: video card prices are too high! I can't wait for them to drop - damn the miners! Oh, prices are dropping? the end is nigh! bitcoin is dead! they're all going to go bankrupt!

It's absolutely ridiculous. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

Sorry to hear mrsleeve if you're not doing as great financially - with the way oil prices are, I'd think you'd be doing OK. we've been super busy here. I'm only awake right now because I'm working and I needed a break while the computer ran something for me. We even got some mid-stream work starting up and that was dead all through the Trump admin (ironically). Oil prices are always a double edged sword to me - when the price temporarily went negative during the start of Covid, I was pretty sure I'd be homeless, but it didn't end up working out that way. Oh, and adjusted for inflation (hah!), gas prices are still lower than they were in 2008.

I don't really panic about the markets either, I learned I'm really bad at timing the highs, but it's easy to see when everyone is freaking out and to buy when things are low. I doubled my rate of savings and it timed nicely with the downturn. But it did make me a little more aware that when I get older and closer to wanting to retire, I'm going to want to reduce that risk. I can afford the huge down swing in the markets now because I don't need that money for another 10 years at least.

Also I wish Elon Musk would shut his freaking mouth and just run his companies. But I digress..

[ForcedFirebird]

To say this inflation has been building up isn't entirely true. From 2020-2022 the US "printed" 28% more money (10% just in 2020 alone $44.9t to $50.3t). What did everyone think was going to happen?

Common sense says that money is worth 70% of what it was two years ago, we are lucky to see 8.x% and 10.x% on the indexes. That's a whole 'nother story, anyways. Public inflation rates has had the formula updated 3x since Carter - each time making appear less than it is. If you use 1980's formulas we are about 16%. In the 80's the index was calc'd by purchases a specific set of commodities, services, energy use and the like. Then, they started allowing "substitutions", you know, like hamburger meat is as good as filet since they are both beef. All you have to do is look at your receipts/debit transactions from <2020 and compare.

8% inflation? Then why did my power bill increase 20% in Jan and will again in October. My vehicles take 2x as much to fill, our grocery budget hasn't changed, but now we are substituting and going without (still have three teens at home). Dog food has doubled (when we can find it), chicken has almost tripled, beef doubled, the list goes on. Sure the wife got a 6% merit raise, and I bumped shop prices a bit, but the bottom line it's not enough.

As soon as the gov't announced they were handing out checks, I KNEW the dollar was going to tank. Most of the public didn't "need" that money, many businesses that are owned by friends were fully functional during the closures, they all got checks, wife and I worked the entire time, we got checks. Then those that didn't need the money started blowing it on stocks/crypto, home renovations and the like (lumber shortage/price spike), updating their cars (price spike), upgrading homes (price spike).

I think it's a bipartisan issue, we all want term limits, and we all know who makes the policies, and we all know who has had the real control. Let's get all the career fart dusting q-tips out.

[roguetoaster]

I am not even going to start with anything in depth, safe to say over the last 24 months, I have lost my ass in many ways. I am still getting by but inflation is devouring what little liquid savings I still have, and the markets are taking the rest with it. I am not going to get into the missteps this admin seems to make on a near daily basis that we are all collectively paying for and will continue to for years to come.

To you more left leaning types, please some how explain to me how this is now better!!!

It's not better now, but it's not like any administration really controls pricing, markets, or world events.

Today is built on years/decades of policy in the past, and no one is free of blame for failures or can take sole credit for any type of recovery.

The events of today may also be the corporate/market response to increased wages and anticipation of future wage increases/employee costs while still serving the ever important profit margin/profit projection.

There's no one thing we can point at as the causation or the solution, but we do know that our current system (political and economic) is not effective at serving us.

How can we fix it? Vote all ideologues out, vote all of the old guard out, vote in those who are willing to hear input from all sides and make thoughtful policy. Although likely impossible, dismantle speculative investments and trading. Invest for a longer term and allow companies to take a loss in a year or two in order to grow in ten without compromising their ability to acquire credit. Ban crypto, NFTs, and the like. Revoke insane corporate tax credits, nonprofit statuses for special interests, prohibit large scale public subsidizing of private ventures. Hold CEOs criminally liable for corporate wrongdoing. Fix gerrymandering. Create term limits everywhere, limit the campaign season, prevent private, screened, or pooled donations. Make voting mandatory. Completely overhaul our healthcare system to make sure that all children, mothers, and families are completely covered from preventive care onward. House all of those in need. Rethink our current incarceration incentivizing prosecution system to allow people to recover from errors rather than condemning them to the scrap heap of humanity. Welcome immigrants, educate them, recognize their value. Provide basic public college degree programs for free to all those who test in, provide real vocational certification programs for all who want them for free.

The list goes on and on and on, and I don't think any of it has been fixed in my 34 years here.

Edit:

Something is better now, US service personnel are now no longer dying in a nation we couldn't convert to a western standard ever, no matter what we did.

[mrsleeve]

I am not even going to start with anything in depth, safe to say over the last 24 months, I have lost my ass in many ways. I am still getting by but inflation is devouring what little liquid savings I still have, and the markets are taking the rest with it. I am not going to get into the missteps this admin seems to make on a near daily basis that we are all collectively paying for and will continue to for years to come.

To you more left leaning types, please some how explain to me how this is now better!!!

[2mAn]

Hey Corporations are people too

[MrBurgundy]

Our government serves corporations and not the people.

America is a corporate oligarchy

[2mAn]

All politicians are giant pieces of sh*t... WAKE UP.

facts.

a third option is more and more necessary and until we have one it’s always “anybody but ....”

[roguetoaster]

It's like we took everything Washington said in his farewell and absolutely did the opposite for the majority of the following 226 years.

[MrBurgundy]

^that’s the honest truth right there.

[Schnitzer318is]

All politicians are giant pieces of sh*t. Every admin I live through... is the worst one I've lived through. They all (blue and red) want to shrink the middle class to keep the rich, rich.... and the poors, poor. They don't want any in between. Biden is a POS, Trump was a POS, Obama was a POS, etc. Until we stop fighting each other and vote the motherf*ckers out... we're boned. If you are Dem idealistic... vote against the Dem incumbent with another one. If you are Rep idealistic... vote against the Rep incumbent with another one. But this is all just a pipe dream... people like thinking everything will be fine with minimal effort, and it's far easier to buy the lie and fight amongst ourselves than realize we have been fed, and bought, a lie. Dems lied to us. Reps lied to us. I have voted for both. It's two heads of the same monster. If you want to save the Republic, vote independent, or against the incumbent.

/rant sorry, been drinking. Tired of having to home school because our school district sucks (even though prop taxes have doubled in 4 years), tired of people thinking covid is the end of the world, tired of people thinking masks are evil and useless, tired of both parties spending us into oblivion, and most of all, tired of neighbors arguing that their chosen rich elites are better than the other's chosen rich elites. WAKE UP.