i am middle aged man, i experienced life since before even computer and smartphone is a thing like today.
back then, i feel that life is much easier, what i mean easier is more simple life, less competition, less stress, fresh environment, and more happiness despite lack of technology.
but right now, everything is just too complicated despite of power of tech, internet, smartphone, and AI helps, i feel that life is much harder right now, what i mean is like competition is everywhere, stressful everyday, crowded city, and i easily depressed these days.
is it just me or everyone else can relate to what happens right now?
Every time your life gets harder, some rich persons life gets easier. Welcome to capitalism.
I’m not even sure if the average rich person’s life is actually getting better by hoarding even more wealth. I tend to believe that being really rich is kind of an illness. Like an addiction where you never feel powerful or rich enough because there’s always someone that’s ahead of you. I feel that capitalism, especially in its current stage, is really bad for everyone.
Thirty-something Norwegian here. I am born into a rich, relatively functioning social democracy with a good welfare state. Buying my own home was a real struggle, even with a good salary. Many of my peers will never own, my younger friends will struggle to ever own, or never.
Unfortunately the welfare state is eroding, prices for everything is increasing heavily, and the private sector is a growing leech on the state.
the real problem is capitalism
May your welfare state never erode enough to remove your Healthcare and turn it into exclusively private!
Bills went up, pay did not keep up.
This is true, but It’s not just that. There is friction built into everything, designed to squeeze as much as possible out of us.
Yeah companies used to pretend to please customers and now they don’t even pretend.
The staff are minimum wage and don’t care because it’s a big corporation so you can’t get good service.
The price is high because the shareholders must be kept happy so you pay over the OSA Odds.
Corners were cut in several places making the product to please the shareholders too and the workers manufacturing got minimum wage in the factory wherever it was located and have zero interest in making good products as a result.
Basically capitalism ate itself
here i am still unable to buy a house or car
There’s a whole lot of awful going on.
My dad used to rant about how government should be run like a business, no, no dad, it really, really should not. Businesses do not care about people, businesses don’t want anything but money, your money, and they will twist, turn, manipulate, lobby, and flat out steal or harm people to get it.
So the next time you call 311, the non emergency police line, or God forbid 911 remember, your call is very important to us, a representative will be with you shortly. If you’d like to take a brief survey after the call just stay on the line. If you’d like to talk to our chat bot Sally just say, hey Sally!
My dad used to rant about how government should be run like a business,
Anyone who sincerely believes that is too fucking ignorant and or stupid to be taken seriously. They’re a hazard to themselves and their polity.
He’s dead so you can relax
Sorry for the lol
My dad used to rant about how government should be run like a business, no, no dad,
The last thing you hear: Sorry but your citizen contract has been revoked in order to meet our 3rd quarter profit target. You have been terminated!
“It was in the user agreement.”
guess your dad regrets his rant now, everything is just business now.
He didn’t live to see any of this bullshit. He died bitching about her emails.
Simpler times.
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People who say what you say have fundamental misunderstandings about how governments work and about how private companies (“businesses”) work.
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I have had a few corporate jobs. Businesses are NOT efficient.
Imagine thinking businesses are efficient in big 26
Yes it is, we are being squeezed! We have less ways out. I’m far better than I ever was, actually have better health, and fitness. Yet, it is hopeless.
i am suprised you still motivated enough to keep health and fitness in check despite of how bad things going on right now
I mostly don’t, my job forced me to be fit and lean. I at most hydrate, shower, and shave. I eat whatever garbage I can, and sleep in a dump.
My father revealed a secret. If he feels it is funny to just have secret income while letting me handle the debt, it’s going to be less funny when I give my 2 weeks in October. Maybe I will survive, or maybe kill myself. Will see.
But I can’t be sane with this kind of job, need to self-correct.
so its forced, i hope all the best for you
im putting groceries on credit. i had a great credit score till this year, i havent even tried making payments on certain things including ER bills. only a matter of time before im bankrupt, and i am also disabled. i have given up on having a future and I’m only 32.
Mid twenties here, same situation. My bank closed my accounts lol
They broke the social contract. The thing that a polite, cooperative society is built on. So now we see what that means as more everyday folk realize it over time.
It’s definitely getting worse, you’re not imagining it.
Yeah, i mean we make more stuff than ever before per capita and all that, and yet we still have to fight harder and harder to survive. How so? We’ll these fucking billionaires are also richer than ever before. Crassus’ wealth is estimated at like $2B in today’s dollars. Rockefeller is estimated at like $300-400B. Musk is more than double that. It’s very clear what’s happening, the rich use the capitalist surplus as a weapon to extract more wealth from the poor.
yeah it’s intentional.
oligarchs are hoarding the resources and getting people to distract themselves by pointing at each other while they stockpile their bunkers.
OP, it’s also going to sound like a cliche, but touch grass. The cancer-like tech companies want to replace your sense of community so that they have more power over you. F them, join a local group, and find yourself feeling more powerful when you have a real community behind you.
see also: misery loves company
Yep! Something about staring into the void, yada yada yada
It’s both: it’s just you and it’s everyone else. In the modern age of relatively fast technological development, people tend to get overwhelmed by change in their later years. But also things are getting worse for almost everyone[1] under late-stage capitalism.
Almost everyone living under capitalism, that is. In China most people’s lives have been getting easier. ↩︎
i am not sure about china but even developed countries such as australia and singapore has their struggles now despite they are one of high income countries.
The United Nations and the World Bank are sure about China.
If you talk to Chinese they have the same complaints though.
Just so we’re clear, China is not a utopia, lol.
Just so we’re clear, no one is saying it is, lol.
You were implying it, so I wanted to clarify.
I wasn’t implying it; you were inferring it.
Just so we’re clear, you may need to retake reading classes lol
Wealth divide is worse. We are also in a time of change geopolitically. Also in a time where powerful actors benefit from creating controversy including media, social medial, political, and geopolitical. We live in interesting times.
Describe a time of geopolitical non-change please.
Well, before smartphones people didn’t get bombarded with bad news all the time. The changes were there but we hardly noticed them. Now they’re being shoved in our schnozes to instill fear and push us all to the far right.
Largely from 1947 to 2020.
The Cold War. Transfer of Hong Kong to China. The collapse of the USSR. Arab/Israeli wars. Vietnam and the Peace Movement. The oil crisis. 9/11. End of Segregation in the US. Womens’ Rights especially after the Pill Gay/Trans Rights The Korean War The Beatles
It’s pretty much constant.
All fairly minor. Now we are leaving the post WW2 era. No one knows what is next.
The Cold War, the threat of “Mutually Assure Destruction” that hung over all of heads for decades until the USSR dissolved, was “fairly minor”???
That has not ended. Russia and China have large supplies of nuclear weapons. Just like WW2, Russia has initiate a war in Europe with China, NK, and Iran as allies. China will invade TW at some point. NK may do the same to SK. All of these allies are nuclear powers except Iran which will be.
I think about it this way.
In 1995 I could leave the house with nothing in my pocket except $10.00 and have a great day. Ride the bus with cash, get food with cash, buy stuff with cash. If I needed a ride there were free phones to car services in most stores.
Today, if I go out the door I need cash, a credit card, and a phone.
i dont have credit card so its manageable but phone is absolute must, most car services apps and cashless payment use it
Back in the day, it was always keep a quarter in your shoe so you could always make a phone call.
I don’t like the idea of having financial information on the phone. No Apple pay. In my area you need a credit card or metro card to get on a bus, so you have to have the phone and the wallet. And cash in case there’s a power blackout
yes, join your local communist party
