Getting a little tired of General Akbar
I'm sick of repeatedly saying it's a trap.
I'm sick of constantly saying that the only meaningful formula of capitalism is unit price minus unit cost times total sales, where total sales is determined by the ability and willingness of the customer base. The lower the price the higher your sales, but this only matters if the higher sales results in higher profits.
Thus my rant against the UBI. Give the consumer class (~ 80% of the population) more money and you are certain to raise prices. If everyone can afford more everything will cost more.
Recently UPS workers got a pay raise to as high as $200k. I am seeing ads for police officers offering as much as $200k. How long before prices rise to as high as only someone making $200k can afford them?
I'm living on Social Security. (Mitt Romney's 47% idle eaters) $15k. Soon there will be things, things that are today common to everyone, that will only be affordable to people making $200k.
We are turning the bottom 80% from one class into two, the consumer class and the barely able to survive class, and automation will replace 70, 80% of the consumer class. There will be consequences.
I am sick of saying it's not income. it's prices. See why now?
Comments
What has been going thru my head today
is the Billy Bragg song in response to the Rich men in Richmond song.
Union workers band together, get raised wages. We are all really glad, really proud of them, etc...
And then, the price of union products and services go up, and the corporate owners make more $ than ever.
The 99% is always financially screwed, whether working at union wages, or living on welfare, or Social Security. Always.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
doh,
the thing is, you did nothing wrong. Poor people are blamed and shamed for doing nothing wrong, but for their financial situation. You paid in SS, which means you worked. You did as expected.
Clearly, you haven't received an inheritance, like, say, Bill Gates, and didn't get lucky with some fluke innovation that you could patent, like, say, Bill Gates.
I saw workers staggering and stumbling around Walmart yesterday, in 105 deg. heat, that had to be in their 80s.
We are a shit country.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The Shock Doctrine is the future of capitalism
You can see it in the discussion around Lahaina:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/lahaina-fire-disaster-capitalism
Step 1: wait 'til stuff is destroyed, which shouldn't be hard given climate change and war
Step 2: bring in "relief"
Step 3: have everything "privatized" into your hands
“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser
Old joke --
New car dealer brags that he loses $200 on every sale. Makes a profit by increasing sales.
(In modern times that's possible as long as full disclosure isn't required.)
I think you are blaming the wrong people
From what I have seen 40 percent of inflation comes directly from corporate profits. Another big chunk comes from supply chain inefficiencies.
The correctness of this assertion is proof that
the theoretical / academic model of capitalism is all wrong.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --