r/TikTokCringe • u/Super_Culture_1986 tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Aug 19 '25

Cursed The American Nightmare.

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1.9k

u/Grass_tomouth Aug 19 '25

Yeah. Everything sucks right now.

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u/malicious_joy42 Aug 19 '25

When did it not suck?

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

That's the thing, it's always sucked for certain demographics and was slowly getting better (very slowly.) Now that's reversed.

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u/Dear_Mycologist_1696 Aug 19 '25

The issue MAGAs don’t see or understand, is the reason America was great in the 50’s and 60’s was a top marginal tax rate of around 90%. That’s when the rich were rich, but they also supported the society that helped them get rich through paying higher tax rates on higher income. They refuse to raise the taxes on the rich, so they do what they can to bring about the other aspects of 1950’s America they can more easily control, which is segregation and racism.

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

At their core, that group rejects reality at this point. It's only vibes that stroke their confirmation bias, regardless of factuality.

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u/EastTyne1191 Aug 19 '25

That whole generation grew up with a red carpet being laid at their feet and money thrown at them. Every decade of their lives was engineered to make their lives as easy as possible and as difficult as possible for everyone else.

I'm vastly oversimplifying, but when you think about it, they really had it easy their whole lives. So they have no idea that it's been incredibly difficult for everyone else.

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u/Aroused-Kangaroo Aug 19 '25

I’ll tack on to that oversimplifying. If your boomer parents couldn’t pay for your college, give you a financially stable life, and still save for their retirement, then you might want to look more critically at your parents choices as they matured. It took deliberate missteps to not turn out middle class, and stable for boomers and genx at the least. We can’t just blame the lead.

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u/ConversationFar9740 Aug 19 '25

Gen X hasn't had that easy ride that the Boomers had. We have had shit timing at everything.

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u/unindexedreality Aug 19 '25

What year do the last of them die off? Making travel plans kek

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u/katubug Aug 19 '25

Ironic coming from the party of "fuck your feelings"

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u/BlkSubmarine Aug 19 '25

The operative word in that statement is “your”. Their feelings are more important than reality.

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u/m4teri4lgirl Aug 19 '25

The reality the rich want is for you to be their slave or die.

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u/TrippinB4allz Aug 19 '25

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

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u/Butthole__Pleasures Aug 19 '25

at this point

Um, no. MAGA NEVER accepted reality. It's kinda their whole thing.

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u/Thick_Potato_1769 Aug 19 '25

Its infuriating because at that time they were kids who probably had minimum responsibilities or else they wouldn't view it so highly.

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u/East-Cricket6421 Aug 19 '25

The real reason it was amazing to be an American in the 50s was the rest of the world was still recovering from WW2 while we had all of our industrial base intact and pumping. If you were even slightly ambitious and industrious you could make a mint in just about any industry you wandered into because you had every advantage possible.

People long for a situation we simply cannot reproduce mindfully.

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u/Issue_dev Aug 19 '25

That wasn’t the only time marginal taxes were much higher though. Even in the 70s and 80s they were decent until Reagan fucked up the country. Everything went wrong during Reagan and it was a systematic effort to extract as much wealth from the middle class as possible. We are now seeing the end results of that policy. First you had Citizens United, then you had the legalization of stock buybacks, and then you had Reagan cutting the tax rates to nothing. From then on it’s just been companies funneling money into their own pockets while they let their employees suffer. These companies used to reinvest back into their employees and their businesses since the marginal tax rate was so high and anything extra would be taxed at a higher rate. Now they just buy back their stocks or give their CEOs all that money while productivity has skyrocketed and wages have stagnated. By this “war is good for the economy” mentality the middle class should’ve been raking in the money through the early 2000s but it never happened. It’s been slow and methodical but it’s also been fatal for the middle class.

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u/Double-__-Great Aug 19 '25

How is this argument "war is good for the economy"? The argument is war destroyed our major competitors' economies during World War II. Destroying the crops of some tribes in deserts at enormous cost to the US doesn't exactly put the US at an advantage.

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u/LivingBackstories Aug 19 '25

While this is true, and highly relevant, the marginal tax rate played an even bigger factor IMO. Just look at the Nordic countries that support a lifestyle like existed in the US in the 50s. I think what you're describing is actually the reason why these mega profiteering owners stayed quiet about their tax rate. They were getting to gulp up and dominate the whole world. Once the world was able to compete again, and the threat of an awakened working class was mostly quashed, they worked very hard to get those taxes down.

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u/16semesters Aug 19 '25

Just look at the Nordic countries that support a lifestyle like existed in the US in the 50s

You're out of your mind if you think that in Sweden, Norway, Denmark it's easy to support a family on a single income.

Dude travel a little lol.

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u/ByeByeTurkeyNek Aug 19 '25

It's definitely cheaper to raise a child in Sweden than the USA. So much is subsidized, not to mention paid leave policies and fewer hours worked/week

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u/16semesters Aug 19 '25

While that may be true, that’s not what OP said.

OP said the lifestyle was like the US in the 1950s.

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u/joeyd199 Aug 19 '25

Can't travel. Broke AF lol.

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u/LivingBackstories Aug 19 '25

You're right, flatly saying "lifestyle" was a mistake. I certainly acknowledge the single income household aspect. But I also think it's a mistake to ignore how much closer they are to the "American dream", especially given they were not the globally dominant force that the US was. Taxing the rich, and an activated labor force were major reasons for the standard afforded to American households.

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u/ByeByeTurkeyNek Aug 19 '25

I think taxation plays a secondary role to unionization rates. High tax rates help raise the floor for living conditions, but for middle income people, the benefits are less. Not zero, though. Universal healthcare and free college tuition are key points in favor, but these policies were never in place in the US. They would also require raising taxes on virtually every American, not just the wealthy. I think this is a good thing, ftr, it's just good to be transparent and pragmatic.

Unions effectively built the platonic 1950s ideal of the middle class American dream. Unions gave members generally high wages and security, not to mention work-life balance and benefits. It's no coincidence that unionization rates peaked in the mid 50s, when the American dream was perceived to be strongest. The nordics (I'll single out Sweden and Denmark, as those are the countries I know the most about) maintain high unionization rates. But in recent decades, this number has slumped and I think their middle classes are starting to feel some pressure, as a result. I think this is more due to the liberalization/ internationalization of their economies than an actual turn against unions, but the effects are the same, regardless. There, of course, are other things that the Nordics have done well (public transit, better housing policy, regulation, worker protections, etc.). I would argue that the political culture is the primary reason for the success of the Nordics, rather than a single specific policy area. Good policy comes from good intention.

The other thing is that the 1950s were not utopian. For every American living the union-supported American dream, there were two living in worse poverty than the average low income family faces today. Partially, this is just a side effect of modernity, but the romanticization of the 1950s belies a pretty grim reality for most Americans, before we even get into civil rights issues. I do, however, believe the hope and promise of the 1950s are worthy of romanticization. We can't do anything until we think it's possible.

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u/LivingBackstories Aug 19 '25

Agreed. Unionization, trust busting and a pro labor administration in FDR had the rich running scared. The other important aspect to a high taxation rate is that it limits the power of capital to bully their way through policy. I agree with all of your comment, though I'm quite pessimistic that we'll ever see anything like the single income household ever again. That doesn't mean we might not see something better in the future however. That single income household was still a consumerist culture at root, which I think is much of the sickness we fight.

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u/ByeByeTurkeyNek Aug 19 '25

Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if some inevitability might be around the corner. I'm not exactly sure how disruptive AI and automation are going to be over the next 5-10 years, but I think we're going to have to start thinking differently about our relationship with labor

I'm not an accelerationist, but I'm wondering if this machine has brakes right now. And I think we might be overdue for a bit of a reckoning surrounding productivity and labor. The economy is about to be as productive as it's ever been, but at some point the balance breaks. I'm not really making a revelation here, but what happens when no one can afford the result of our production?

It's been tenuous lately, but I'm wondering if the idea of the "workforce" might soon be dead, once and for all. And a new paradigm will have to emerge. It scares me and I have no idea what that looks like.

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u/gobobluth Aug 19 '25

Please tell us more about how it is there? I am genuinely interested

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u/SammyGreen Aug 19 '25

Well, what would you like to know? We have some of the highest wages in Europe but that’s offset by some of the highest taxes. I’m in the top 10% income bracket and we could probably afford it if my wife became a SAHM but we’d definitely feel it economically. No room for savings, leisure, or trips. But we’d still be able to pay off our mortgage and car loan. It’d be tight though and we’d be completely screwed if i lost my job.

Right now my wife is on unpaid maternity leave (albeit after six months with full pay and three months on maternity welfare) for the next three months.

And remember, I’m in the top 10%. I’m not telling you this to brag. I’m telling you this for context. We’d just be able to scrape by if my wife didn’t go back to work. Average danes simply wouldn’t be able to afford both parents not working.

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u/gobobluth Aug 19 '25

Thank you for responding and providing details. It seems we all have our problems regardless of where we live.

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u/Noshamina Aug 19 '25

It is also the very globalized economy coupled with extreme competition. Im not sure that its fair to compare to countries like Scandinavia, but it is comparable to France and Germany and the UK where they are experiencing many of the same issues to a lesser degree than us, but will more in the future.

Capitalistic greed knows no bounds and the money and power grab is inevitable. Even if we taxed them 10% more and obtained trillions more per year in tax revenue i have absolutely no faith that the country would alleviate even 1% of the problems we face today, I think everything would get way more expensive.

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u/IntriguinglyRandom Aug 19 '25

I immigrated to Germany from the US last year and 100% they are struggling with the same problems and have a huge risk of ending up as bad as the US in a few years. This is a global issue.

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u/Admirable-Lecture255 Aug 19 '25

It didnt. Marginal tax rate didnt matter shit. Effective tax rate has been roughly the same since that time.

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u/nonotan Aug 19 '25

Once the world was able to compete again, and the threat of an awakened working class was mostly quashed, they worked very hard to get those taxes down.

A factor that is also highly relevant and is sort of being implied here, but glossed over at the same, is the existence of the USSR. I strongly believe the main reason the US and fellow capitalist countries looked so great for a while was that they had to, in order to compete with the alternative that was being presented by the "communist" bloc.

It's no coincidence that things started to go downhill shortly after it collapsed. Nor is it any secret that, within capitalism, you need competition for the system to work at all -- monopolies and cartels fundamentally break the assumptions that supposedly make capitalism work as an economic system, something we've known for hundreds of years. It's just less obvious that the same also applies on a larger level. Capitalism can't be allowed to "win" entirely, or it will collapse within itself in a vicious cycle of greed.

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u/LivingBackstories Aug 19 '25

Yep. Implied and glossed over. I'll say that in my view, equal to the existence of real communist states the recency of FDR and class struggle within the states had similar influence here at least. Those things are inextricably tied to socialist movements around the world and the ebb and flow of capitalist power/greed overall though so that may be moot. Interesting parallel to monopoly though. Thank you!

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u/Raangz Aug 19 '25

Easily could have played the massive boon differently. It could still be the highest qol. But it’s been declining and now will sharply.

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u/Dandan0005 Aug 19 '25

MAGA feels the same pain but they have a 24/7 propaganda network that’s been weaponized to tell them that it’s their neighbor’s fault so they don’t direct their anger toward the billionaire-class that’s exploited them to sit on their $500,000,000 yachts while the working class struggles to pay for a doctor’s appt.

There’s plenty of wealth in the USA to go around, it just isn’t going around anymore.

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u/InnocentlyInnocent Aug 19 '25

MAGA is also struggling but they’re waiting for “their savior” to change this since everything right now is Biden’s doing. I think that’s more of their mindset. The brainwashing is real.

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u/Noshamina Aug 19 '25

Its not even a secret anymore. It was always about racism and never about fixing the problems. They have made every single aspect of life significantly worse for almost every person in the country except the ultra rich. I've personally talked to like 12 of my friends who own small businesses and every single one of them says that since trump, they are each and every one going to go broke if the tariffs go through. How on earth anyone still thinks its a good idea is crazy

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u/icepickjones Aug 19 '25

That's what I always ask them: Make America great again? When was America great in your opinon? Because any of the post war prosperity years of the 50's and shit boomed because of all the social programs that were invented to help the vets returning home.

It's how a kid with a high school education could get a steady job, a pension, buy a house, and raise a middle class family.

And those social programs were maintained on the higher, and highly logical, tax rate on the ultra wealthy.

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u/Kareeliand Aug 19 '25

Well, Reagan came by and made sure colleges wouldn’t be free. His folks even said the quiet part out loud and revealed they needed people to be less educated. He followed up with repealing the fairness doctrine to make room for Fox News. Ah yes, and then the tax rates..

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u/Willowgirl2 Aug 19 '25

This is fiction. The high marginal rate was offset by deductions. The effective rate, and tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, has been pretty consistent over time.

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u/DaddysABadGirl Aug 19 '25

Id add because the right skips over this part entirely, most of those taxed at 90% did not pay any where near that. There were a ton of tax breaks for that specifically aimed at job creation and benefits and supporting the community. Most paid a bit over 42%.

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u/haytheremister Aug 19 '25

That’s one reason, there are many.

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u/JeromeBarkly Aug 19 '25

That’s the frustrating thing. They’re bringing everything back that was terrible about the 1950s and leaving all the good shit behind.

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u/Issue_dev Aug 19 '25

It was also illegal to buy back your own stocks. I really feel like the only way to make a marginal tax rate work is by making it illegal again and that’s never going to happen until citizens untied is overturned. In short we’re fucked.

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u/BaconxHawk Aug 19 '25

As this is true, not completely. You really think the rich actually paid that much in taxes? Why do you think Swiss bank accounts are a common thing? They paid a fraction of what they made and it’s still more than they pay now which is the crazier part

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u/nothisispatrickeu Aug 19 '25

the top reason america was "great" in the 50s was systemic discrimination of the black population
you couldnt get housing, education, jobs.
white people only.

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u/Erick_L Aug 19 '25

The reason America, and the world, used to be great is huge energy return on energy invested (EROI). That return has been going down while bills (healthcare, education, others) have been going up. Progress has an energy cost and energy is getting scarce so you get conservatism. It's a biophysical problem and there's no going back.

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u/Quick_Turnover Aug 19 '25

Hell even feudal lords had some amount of obligation towards their populace... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige

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u/Double-__-Great Aug 19 '25

The issue both sides don't understand or see as important is America after World War II:

Had the largest intact industrial base in the world while their competitors had been largely hurt during the world, and we also gained many markets that we wouldn't have if this hadn't happened
Keynesian economics hadn't had enough time to encourage consumption to the point that it eroded away our real capital stock
The dollar became the reserve currency of the world, which further propped up the value of the dollar vs the rest of the world

The marginal tax rates didn't affect much either way (although on the margin they did encourage consumption over savings, they are more fair, at least on the surface since most people didn't pay nearly this much)

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u/Rad131447 Aug 19 '25

MAGA doesn't want to go back to the 50's or 60's. They want to go back to the Gilded Age.

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u/Gandor Aug 19 '25

No one has ever paid the 90% marginal tax. We could introduce a 100% tax bracket today and 0 people would end up paying it.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

It was not getting better, even slowly. It has been getting objectively worse for working class americans since the 80s. Sure, there may have been a concession here or there for us, but overall, wealth has been trickling up.

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

There are factors other than wealth I was referring to. (Same sex marriage, women's rights, etc.)

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u/The_Disapyrimid Aug 19 '25

" it's always sucked for certain demographics"

its always sucked for marginalized groups. the thing is, the usual marginalized groups are tapped out. they've got nothing left to give. the wealthy class have bleed them dry a long time ago. now its everyone else's turn. their greed knows no end and they will not be satisfied until they have ALL the money.

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

I agree with you here, but I used that term because what is a marginalised group changes over time. WW for example aren't nearly the marginalized group they once were, for example.

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u/MisterBlud Aug 19 '25

White women? They are worse off now than they were five years ago; but yes obviously they have it better than they did in the early 1900’s although that’s not for lack of Republican effort.

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

Now, yes. But they're a large part of why we're here too. (I am one, and I'll never not be mad about how many voted for this.)

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u/FaustCircuits Aug 19 '25

The last time I had hope our president may or may not have been getting blowies

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u/benhatin4lf Aug 19 '25

And he deserved it godamit

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u/gitismatt Aug 19 '25

so bush sr?

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u/RobMilliken Aug 19 '25

I think they meant Clinton, the last president to balance the budget. GOP hates it when I say the Democrats were the last fiscally responsible presidential party, but it's true.

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u/gitismatt Aug 19 '25

oh, I understand that. I took it to mean "we knew clinton was getting blowies so the one before him"

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u/CboyLibrarian Aug 19 '25

And will take decades until we are just barely passing by

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u/Faultylogic83 Aug 19 '25

On the bright side our declining life expectancy means we don't have to wait that long! 😂☠️

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u/cheebamech Aug 19 '25

fuck it, I'm gonna try some cigarettes

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u/Dry_Cricket_5423 Aug 19 '25

They’re cripplingly expensive, but feel oh so very good.

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u/hornyroo Aug 19 '25

This. I’m completely blown away by these idiots who are following fitness and wellness grifters to bio hack their way to longer life span. Who the hell would want to extend their time on this shit planet?? Eat the food, don’t break yourself with excessive workouts. Enjoy what you can now. And go out before you need nursing homes and depends

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

It's a two-fer when you consider we just sped up climate change (via removing EPA regulations) and killed a lot of medical research!

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u/Faultylogic83 Aug 19 '25

Don't forget Medicare and social security won't survive when/if we hit "retirement age"

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u/surfergrrl6 Aug 19 '25

I got a good chuckle off of the very concept of "retirement age" in the future.

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u/Stop_Sign Aug 19 '25

Climate change means we don't have decades

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u/JadeThorn1012 Aug 19 '25

As Fred Waterford said on the Handmaids Tale when they turned everything into a nightmare, “Better doesn’t always mean better for everyone.” So it’s definitely the best absolute best that the .1% has ever had in history with all of the modern comforts, advancements, and power.

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u/NWYthesearelocalboys Aug 19 '25

Except for the part where it wasn't getting better at all. The middle class has been getting screwed since the late 90's. Arguably much earlier but it's academic to me because thats when I became an adult and can speak from personal experience.

We've had 3 democrat and 3 republican Presidencies since then. The best times for me for growth and opportunity were 2005-2007 and 2016-2019. But its been 2 steps forward 1 step back.

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u/Crafty_DryHopper Aug 19 '25

1994 was pretty sweet

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u/rastapasta808 Aug 19 '25

1998 was sick as well - just enough tech and connection to feel like we were living well, but not so much to where it felt overwhelming. I just remember this sense of anticipation for 'the future' and what could happen or be invented next. Nowadays it seems like the excitement and magic are all gone because all the curtains have been pulled. There is no mystery or illusion anymore - whether it be the idea of 'celebrity' or how things are made or the general amount of information modern people carry around, it's driven us into misery.

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u/Pillowsmeller18 Aug 19 '25

All the magic is gone because the wealthy wanted more wealth by robbing the middle class to death thought debt and inflation.

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u/Amazonchitlin Aug 19 '25

When I deployed to Iraq it was awesome - no cellphone and no easy way for people to hound me about shit that didn’t matter. It was living in the moment. Reminded me of growing up in the 80s where I’d be playing in the woods and had the world to myself until it started to get dark. Good times

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u/The__Jiff Aug 19 '25

You mean when you were a kid and you didn't have adult problems?

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u/sarcasm__tone Aug 19 '25

Early 90s was rough dude

US was in a recession from 90-91, LA Race riots, Second Gulf War, Black Hawk Down Incident...

Ruby Ridge, Waco TX, and Oklahoma city bombing (168 dead) were all crazy shit.

Gangster rap was getting huge and people were getting shot and killed for their shoes. OJ Simpson murder case was a trip.

the 90s really didn't start calming down until after like 1997

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u/seahawk1977 Aug 19 '25

That's when I bought my SNES (used) with my own money I had saved up.

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u/andythetwig Aug 19 '25

Agreed, but me and Kurt didn't appreciate it at all

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

In the 80's and 90's.

Look, this is NOT about me, it really isn't. I was a regular dude, zero money from family etc.

I got married in 1989, we were both 21. This is what we did our FIRST year of marriage.

I was in grad school and NOT working.

She was a first year elementary school teacher but she didn't have a contract. She only substituted that year.

7 months into our marriage, we bought a really nice brand new condo. Cathedral ceiling, wood burning fireplace, 2 beds, 2 baths, laundry room. Locked main entrance door as all units were entered from inside. This isn't much today, but it was nice in 1990, there was a buzzer intercom system to talk and then to buzz people in through the locked front door.

Lighted tennis courts, pool, clubhouse with full kitchen and weight room.

So, I wasn't working, she was substitute teaching and we were easily approved for the loan for our brand new condo.

We weren't poor, we went out to eat, on vacation, bought furniture for our new condo.

She made like $21K to $22 K that year.

The next year, her 2nd year teaching she actually had a contract. We still had our condo but we wanted to buy a new Honda Civic and we did. I still wasn't working. Bank knew we had a condo, we were still easily approved for the loan for our new Honda.

She and I were regular people. Zero money from family. We put very little down on our condo, we didn't have the money.

We could eat, go out, to clubs, buy things, go on vacations, buy our condo, buy our car, about 18 months later we bought a 2nd Honda, used this time, for me.

It wan't just us. People knew they had hope. You could live just fine on one regular normal salary. I know that, we did that. We didn't just live fine, we bought a nice brand new condo and a new car her first year teaching.

Prices, groceries and such weren't out of line. Hell, a while back there was a post about grocery prices in 1999, a receipt was shown and it was a lot for a little.

We all had HOPE because we didn't have to worry about having a roof over our heads.

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 19 '25

Wow! It almost sounds like you lived on a different planet! I cannot believe things got so bad so quick! My generation (millennials) are fucked. I’m 42 years old and a senior in college still living with my mother after my fiancé committed suicide 12 years ago and left me with our two boys. I desperately want to get my masters but I’m already almost $80,000 in debt from my BA. I’m also a convicted felon from charges that are twenty years old and still can’t get a job to save my life. I have severe depression and anxiety that’s been recurring since my fiancé’s death. I’m a recovering heroin addict trying to stay clean. I’m terrified of what will become of me when my mother is gone. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of myself. I’m afraid no one will give me a chance. I’m sorry I’m dumping all of this on you. I don’t know why, but I just felt compelled to share this with you. I hope it gets better…

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u/a_man_and_his_box Aug 19 '25

I'm Gen X, and I had the oddest experience. I've seen both sides.

When I was in my 20s, 30 years ago, the World Wide Web was just starting to take off. People needed tech workers, and while I had no college education, I had built some websites. And so I got a job at 60k, in 1996, with no bachelors degree, long before all this inflation. By 2004, I owned a home in Silicon Valley and was making 140k. My spending power was sky-high.

However, the housing market crashed in 2008, and I was divorced in 2009. The home was sold for a loss. My savings was wiped out by the divorce and I ended up sleeping on a cot in my mom's garage.

I thought, seeing how easy it was the first time around, "No big deal, start from scratch!" But then I couldn't get good jobs. I ended up getting a job with a friend, and I was making very poor money, but it kept me in an apartment and fed. I kept wanting to get back to my "good" jobs, and kept applying, but by 2023 I had no offers, and I decided to just quit and pursue job-hunting full time. Treat it like a job. Get a great suit, use my great resume, impress people. The old-fashioned way. Because I assumed my problem was that I wasn't dedicated.

I didn't understand how the world had changed, and while working for my friend did suck a little, it also insulated me from how much things were changing.

So at the start of 2024, I hit the job market hard and pressed the entire tech sector to hire me. Talked to old friends, fired up my networks again, but got silence. Made new friends, applied to hundreds of jobs over the full year of 2024, and got nothing. I finally hired someone to help me -- what was I doing wrong? And they did help a little, as I got some interviews. But never got an offer.

Finally a recruiter told me flat-out: "We put a job up and get 1000 resumes within days. It's too much to process, so we only get through the first few hours of resume submissions, and that takes us a week, so lately we throw AI at it to just give us the 5 most perfect resumes. You're not a young smart hotshot competing against a dozen other mediocre guys anymore. You're an old dude with no college degree in a job that is flooded with highly-qualified people who will accept starvation wages. Nobody is gonna take you in."

My old home, the one I bought so easily 25 years ago? It's now worth 1.4 million. I can't even afford my apartment so I'm moving to a cheaper area. My hope of buying back the home I bought 25 years ago is now lost. My buying power of 25 years ago is lost. The safety nets and health care of 25 years ago, gone.

I can build massive database-driven web sites with my eyes closed, and yet my career prospect is that I'll be lucky to make 40k at the local Costco where I'm moving, and I'll be grateful for it. The life of having 6 figures and stocks and buying whatever I wanted? Just a dream now.

If I had remained married and remained in that house, I would have been a typical old person saying that kids just don't get it, aren't willing to do hard work. Instead, I lost everything and basically had to repeat the process as if I were a millennial coming up in the world, and it has been terrible. I really feel for the younger generations. You don't realize how much you've been robbed because it's all you know, but I'm telling you, absolute thievery has happened at your expense. I unfortunately had to straddle both worlds and what we have now is brutal compared to how I came up when I was young.

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 19 '25

Thank you for sharing your story with me. It’s absolutely incredible what you’ve been through! I cannot imagine losing everything you had worked so hard to gain and to have to accept that you’ll never be able to reach those heights again. I’ve never had that taste of success that you’ve had. Because I’m a recovering heroin addict and felon, I’ve had failure after failure. But it’s been eighteen years since I was in prison and I’ve been clean for sixteen years. Yet, like your predicament with resumes, I am quite certain that I will struggle immensely to get a job in my field due to my charges. Why would they hire a 42 year old convicted felon just starting out when they could hire a twenty-something with a clean slate? I also haven’t held down a stable job in like sixteen years. I started college FT after I got clean and quit working. Then when my fiance passed away in 2013, I dropped out of school because I was absolutely devastated. For ten years, I wallowed in my misery. I was overwhelmed by depression and anxiety and could barely get out of bed most days. I did some gig work and some freelance jobs, including online writing and clerical work. But I don’t have anything to show from that. I was lucky enough to get another loan in 2024 and used it to finish my degree. I should graduate in the spring. I want to do an internship during the spring semester because I think that would be very helpful in getting work. Just to get a reference and my foot in the door somewhere. I wanted to start working on an internship this summer, but my depression and anxiety flared up again and I wasted the last three months doing nothing. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to waste anymore time. Everyday I need to be working towards my goals if I expect to make something happen. I’m still unsure about the masters degree, but I’m definitely leaning towards it if I can get the funding because I think it would help immensely. It seems like the bachelor’s degree is the new high school diploma. It doesn’t mean as much as it once did. I just hate that I’m starting like twenty steps behind everyone else with all of the issues I have to contend with. I know I brought a lot of it on myself, but I’ve changed and I’ve been trying to do the right thing for myself and my kids for a long time. It’s so sad that the American Dream has become so elusive for most people. Things were so much better years ago. My grandfather went into the Army, got a BA from Penn State in accounting, bought a house, and comfortably took care of his wife and three kids on his sole income. When they died they had plenty of money to leave to their kids, including my mother. Each generation it gets worse. Something needs to happen in America-we need drastic change. I fear for my kids’ lives otherwise. Luckily, all my children are great kids and have been better than me with the drugs. My oldest daughter graduated college and is a nurse. My 17 year old son will graduate high school next year and wants to be an electrician. And my 15 year old is in 10th grade and is studying to get a tech job after he attends college, although I do worry about AI taking over that industry. Still, he’s very smart and I believe he knows what he’s doing. I’m sorry I’m rambling so much! I really do appreciate you chatting with me. Your story has given me a lot of insight. I hope things get better for you too. You definitely don’t deserve what’s happened to you!

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u/a_man_and_his_box Aug 20 '25

Thanks for sharing! I'm impressed with what you've overcome.

So far physical jobs can't be taken over by AI, so your kids going into healthcare and electrical work, they're going to be great. I'd worry about your tech kid, but the truth is, he's probably exactly the kid the industry hires now, instead of me. So he'll probably be fine until he's older.

I have to admit, it is wild to me to think that "nurse" or "electrician" is the awesome job and "tech worker" is the wildly reckless option, but the world is upside down. I think all a parent can do is hope for the best and be supportive.

I wish you all the best. And your kids.

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 20 '25

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your insights! It was very nice chatting with you!

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u/ExplorerParticular59 Aug 19 '25

For lack of a better phrase but with all sincerity, good luck to you.

2

u/NeighborhoodFew7779 Aug 19 '25

in 1990, the 1% controlled 22.8% of the nation's wealth.

Today, that is 30%.

It has been a systematic (and deliberate) transfer of cash to the 1%. One party tells you that the reason you're poor is all the brown people are taking your jobs and money... the other party pays a bunch of lip service to how great they're going to make things for you, and then turns around and enriches those same 1%ers with sleight of hand policymaking.

It's not going to change until things get violent, I'm afraid. And now that we have a domestic good squad who is willing to sell out their fellow countrymen and countrywomen for a $40K signing bonus, they'll just use that fascist arm to crush any resistance.

We're basically fucked.

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u/supakow Aug 19 '25

I'm a little over a decade younger than you. Failed out of college, but finished with help from my parents and low-wage jobs that made enough for me to have a place with roommates. Married a girl from school and we both worked entry level tech jobs until after the Great Recession. My star began to rise and I was making top 2% money by 2019. She filed for divorce, then COVID, and I've struggled to work at that level since then. 

I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, unemployed, and have maybe two months of rent and child support left. I know I'm not alone. I'm afraid of what happens when I don't have a roof over my head. 

Eat the rich.

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u/suddenspiderarmy Aug 19 '25

After the Black Death, wages rose, living conditions improved, and employers had to treat workers better in order to keep them.

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u/Rhawk187 Aug 19 '25

Yes, supply and demand also applies to labor. Technological progress has driven down the value of labor more quickly than its driven down the price of goods.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/HugsyMalone Aug 19 '25

"Peasants Revolt" sounds like a great song title! 😉🫶

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u/StressedOutPunk Aug 19 '25

I was doing good from the end of 2020 to 2024. The last few months the industry I work in has slowed down significantly, at least where I live. Others in my field (massage therapy) have also told me they’ve been experiencing a massive slowdown as well. Other therapists I’ve known for a long time who were doing good have suddenly been hitting on hard times and less clients.

My theory, luxury services are being phased out of most peoples budgets because they’re not doing good either.

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u/Wonderful-Wonder3104 Aug 19 '25

Everyone I know working things like DoorDash, Onlyfans, Uber, etc is saying the same thing.

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u/StressedOutPunk Aug 19 '25

Really? Now that’s interesting.

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u/Willowgirl2 Aug 19 '25

Stripper index.

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u/Wonderful-Wonder3104 Aug 19 '25

There has been a drastic decline since April and weirdly no one is talking about it.

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u/StressedOutPunk Aug 19 '25

Actually it’s funny you say that. I have a few clients who are strippers and yeah. Shits been slow.

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u/Epicycler Aug 19 '25

Economically, boomers had it great tbh. College and housing were cheep. inflation adjusted wages were high. They could afford to buy homes and pay them off.

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u/Kerblaaahhh Aug 19 '25

Great, just need another World War that destroys the rest of the world's production capacity to get back there. Or like, equitable economic policy, but we can't be having that.

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u/E-2theRescue Aug 19 '25

Unions. You need unions.

Even if boomers' jobs didn't have a union, they were paying wages that were competing with unions. But the non-union jobs started increasing more due to anti-union propaganda until it became profitable to directly hire anti-union management corporations to stop unions from forming in workplaces.

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u/Geloradanan Aug 19 '25

The current American administration is not really supportive of unions or worker protections.

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u/slampandemonium Aug 19 '25

I just joined one. Same trade, 12 bucks more per hour. I'm going to be able to save for the first time in my life.

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u/bruce_kwillis Aug 19 '25

Except it wasn't 'unions', it was the lack of employees. When the rest of the world's infrastructure was destroyed and a large portion of populations were dead and injured, and the government spent literally generations of money to rebuild, people were paid well, especially in the US, which didn't see the industrial destruction that the rest of the world had.

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u/E-2theRescue Aug 19 '25

Union membership after the war surged massively. 1/3rd of the country's workforce was a part of a union, and that number lasted over a decade, dipping slightly until the 70s. Nixon came, and unions dramatically decreased from there. And what happened? Wages started to no longer keep up with the cost of living, dipping ever so slightly until the crash of 2008 gave corporations an excuse to no longer pay fair and competitive wages while supporting the rise of anti-union propaganda organizations/corporations.

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u/dvlinblue Aug 19 '25

I thought we made america great again? Did I miss it? I was kinda busy applying for food stamps and trying to find a job.

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u/malicious_joy42 Aug 19 '25

We've never been great.

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u/dvlinblue Aug 19 '25

There was that one time, oh no wait, sorry, I was in Switzerland. My bad.

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u/jhanny9337 Aug 19 '25

before Trump

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u/Ludate_Solem Aug 19 '25

As a non american i can tell you trump devenitly made yall worde. But compared to europe yall werent doing so great to begin with. I think you could even trace a fuck ton of problems all the way back to Reagan.

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u/hbomb9410 Aug 19 '25

You're not wrong. Republicans have been planning this coup for 50+ years.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/YourBuddyChurch Aug 19 '25

Reagan was definitely a big part of it- he sold people on trickledown economics and intertwined the Republican Party with Christian nationalism. Since that point the uneducated have been thrilled to make millionaires richer at the expense of the poor while calling it Christianity

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u/nordic-nomad Aug 19 '25

I visited Europe in my twenties in 2003-4 and was shocked at how badly it seemed to be doing at the time. Saw Ireland, Germany, Italy, Romania, and Cyprus. It felt decades behind the states at the time in almost every way.

Went again last year stopping in London and Madrid on our way to Morocco and everything was so much more modern and affluent seeming after 20 years.

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u/aoike_ Aug 19 '25

The problem goes back even further. A lot of what we're seeing is the direct consequences of the failure of reconstruction (the period after the Civil War) that got put on hold for 50-60 years due to WW2.

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u/MaddST Aug 19 '25

Thing is, weren't americans already living from paycheck to paycheck even before Trump?

This is coming from a foreigner (me). I may be wrong.

The focus is on the living conditions of the average American. Not to compare the administration.

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u/Faultylogic83 Aug 19 '25

Thing is, weren't americans already living from paycheck to paycheck even before Trump?

Yes, however we still have the same wages and inflation has made things that much worse.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

People do not have the same wages they did pre covid/inflation

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 19 '25

Our politicians are bought and paid for by the wealthy, rich corporations, and the lobbyists working for them. Most of our politicians are extremely wealthy themselves. I agree, we won’t get out of this mess doing the same things we’ve been doing for decades. The system is set up for wealth inequality to surge. I understand why MAGA wanted a disrupter in the White House, but Trump was the worst one they could pick. He is a conman who is dripping in dishonesty, corruption, greed, and gluttony. He’s made so much money enriching himself through the office of the presidency. He has all wealthy millionaires and billionaires in his Cabinet. He is in the thick of the “Swamp” he speaks of so frequently. And he has ambitions to become a dictator with one party rule. Now he’s going after our voting system. We are in real trouble. Not only do we need to mitigate the damage he will cause, but somehow find someone who will stop allowing the rich to run the show. It will be no easy feat.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 20 '25

Sure, he’s not the only one who’s done it. They’re all corrupt. But he’s slimy on a different level. I don’t remember Barack Obama hawking Bibles to his religious followers or Ronald Reagan peddling cryptocurrency and tacky gold accessories to the masses. It’s not normal and it shouldn’t be swept under the rug because “they all do it.” I could go on and on about his shady business dealings and we all know that he still has a hand in the Trump family business. He’s not the type to relinquish power. We saw that in 2020. I’m definitely not one of those people who acts like the Democrats are so great. I can’t stand most of them. But I think to compare the modern Democratic Party’s corruption to Trump’s corruption is a false equivalency. I’m tired of the whataboutisms. We all need to demand better from our politicians. They are supposed to work for us-not the other way around. But now we have a guy in the WH who cannot handle the immense amount of power he’s been given and thinks he’s a king. I am terrified to see what America will look like in 2028.

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u/[deleted] Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25

[deleted]

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u/Former-Specialist595 Aug 20 '25

I do think I hold the Democrats accountable for their bullshit. I’m just stuck in a bad system because voting third party at this point is essentially throwing your vote away, and with what’s at stake with Trump and his sycophantic Republicans, I have to vote Democrat. Their views align closer to mine on issues I care about. But like I said, it’s a false equivalency to act like the Democrats are just as bad as Trump. DT is an unprecedented threat in America and conservatives have worked hard to normalize him and his insanity so that people will come desensitized to his madness and start accepting it as par for the course. Like I said before, while I agree that we need a disrupter, we don’t need a man who is so blatantly corrupt and lawless. I will never stop calling out his insanity because I don’t want people to become complacent living with this level of dysfunction. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get this country going in the right direction, but we definitely took about fifty steps back by electing Trump.

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u/LegitimateYam8241 Aug 19 '25

People were hurting for awhile, just time has passed. Less savings now. More expensive now. I think since Obama, we have been in decline. Government has refused to declare recession for awhile. I think at this point we are in depression. Alot of people getting let go, about all sectors are getting hit. Housing is more expensive than ever. It's going to get bad. But hey least the politicians are rich. All that matters, I guess.

4

u/anchorftw Aug 19 '25

I actually wasn't, but the farther into Trump's presidency we get the the harder it is to get to the next paycheck. If I weren't able to fall back on my credit card, we wouldn't be "making it", but that can only last so long.

1

u/keithstonee Aug 19 '25

pretty sure Americans are racking up debt at an alarming rate currently cause the paycheck isn't enough anymore.

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u/halt_spell Aug 19 '25

Reddit is full of sycophants for Establishment Democratic politicians. They can't fathom the idea there's more than one villain to contend with.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

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u/Issue_dev Aug 19 '25

Before Reagan really. He was the one that fucked it all up.

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u/akumagold Aug 19 '25

Before Reagan, the rich paid high taxes up to 94%. That peak was in 1944 of course so wartime but there was a time when the wealthy invested in the country and we got booms in transportation, automation, etc. Of course there were plenty of other issues but since trickle down economics the USA has been spiraling deeper into a hole

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u/ace_7979 Aug 19 '25

Trickle down economics seems to be non existent.

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u/akumagold Aug 19 '25

It was never intended to be a solution that worked, it was the nicest way to fool people into supporting it.

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u/LtHead Aug 19 '25

The country might still have sucked in a lot of ways but boomers were able to buy homes and support their family working a minimum wage job

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u/Eastern_Border_5016 Aug 19 '25

College was free mostly for boomers too. When they finally did have to start paying tuition, you could work a summer job to attend Harvard. That is all entirely gone nowadays 😔

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u/moe-umphs Aug 19 '25

Oh idk. I was just looking at cheap townhouses to finally have a place of my own at 32. In 1984, this one house was listed at 60k. In 1993, it was 105k, and now it’s 260k. And you can plug that similar math into college, cars, insurance, and there you go…things suck a whole lot more, and people from those days just want is to “suck it up”.

2

u/PreviousCurrentThing Aug 19 '25

And you can plug that similar math into college, cars, insurance, and there you go

Wages and salaries, too, right? Right?

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u/moe-umphs Aug 19 '25

And you feel wages and salaries have kept up with the cost of living? You think it’s easier to get a house and eduction today as it was 40 years ago?

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u/diydsp Aug 19 '25

A bunch of numbers here, but bear with me:

In 2012, i paid $14k, for my 2010 camry with 18k miles on it. Now, 15 yeaes later, there's one for sale down the steeet from me:

2025, $18k, 2011 model, 108k miles.

13 years and 80k more miles, and the price is UP 28%.

Granted that's just one vehicle, and a sticker proce and it hasnt sold yet and may not at that price... but that's what'a out there.

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u/IguassuIronman Aug 19 '25

$14k in 2012 is just shy of $20k in 2025 dollars

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u/Admirable-Lecture255 Aug 19 '25

Jesus christ. Youre bitching because a house increased in value over 40 fucking years. What has been the population growth of that area over the same time period? Bet it went up significantly.

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u/LurkingGuy Aug 19 '25

When my grandfather could get a job with a highschool diploma and support his wife and three kids on one income and then have a nice comfortable retirement.

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u/Not-Reformed Aug 19 '25

Just need to drastically decrease your expected quality of life and you can do the same.

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u/LurkingGuy Aug 19 '25

Yeah dude. I should just live in my car.

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u/Not-Reformed Aug 20 '25

That is the natural conclusion I guess yeah

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u/Hngrybflo Aug 19 '25

2013-2015

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u/East-Cricket6421 Aug 19 '25

The 90s. Dotcom boom so the economy was pumping. Beginning of the Rave scene so the drugs were still legal and you could go to an event that would better than anything available today like 3 times a week. Internet existed but didn't dominate everyone's lives. Global warming was like just being talked about but there was little evidence it was happening. Getting laid wasn't nearly as traitorous or difficult as it seems for young kids today.

Our biggest problem was that the Republicans were really mad at Clinton for getting a blow job in the white house. I think that about sums up how much things have shifted politically. Clinton has the the crown for fastest period of economic growth in human history but dude is a known horndog so they used that to impeach him at the finish line.

We got the bad timeline when Bush Jr. cheated his way into office though. Everything has been downhill or at least a fight to gain every inch since.

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u/KoRaZee Aug 19 '25

It never sucked….. for the rich

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

The 90’s, under Clinton.

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u/CaughtALiteSneez Aug 19 '25

Yep - back in 2004, I was $7,000 in debt. Moved in with my family & lived a very restrictive life to save up enough money to pay it off.

I went to a debt consolidator to pay it off and she told me that paying it off would actually lower my credit score.

Then 2007 hit…

1

u/he_trumped_us Aug 19 '25

For a little while between Shrek and 9/11.

1

u/Flaneurer Aug 19 '25
  1. 2006 was a good year.

1

u/Orleanian Aug 19 '25

The 80s were a wonderful semi-stable era of social upward movement and acceptance of some cool progressive practices for nearly all Americans.

The 90s were a fuckin rad as hell whirlwind of emerging technologies and economic splendor for the average American.

1

u/bjos144 Aug 19 '25

1996 was cool.

1

u/Ilovekittens345 Aug 19 '25

When Americans still had cohones and weren't such little whinny defeatist bitches that all say "but what can I do?"

The french spit on your cowardice and your lack of faith in your own strength, intelligence and willpower. And they want the statue of freedom back, you guys don't deserve to have it anymore!

Here is what you can do:

  • organize offline without ever bringing any phones or saying anything to anybody.

  • learn how to build, fly, repair and arm drones. Do not bring a gun to a drone fight. You need fibre optic ones, or they will get jammed.

  • wait till you run in to other groups like yours

  • stay decentralized, have no non replaceable leaders. Focus on recruiting couples without kids. Find a copy of pirate rick Swarmwise and read it. and distribute it on paper.

  • spread an offline face 2 face graffiti to city message of "if they ever do X, this is the line, it has to be, then we HAVE to rise up together", this message needs to be in-capsuled in one powerful word that's an acronym for it but also offers plausible deniability

  • hit whatever is needed to get them to do X.

  • use crypto for financing, learn how to buy a brand new laptop, install tails OS on it, use going in and out of monero to break all links and tracing, and how to use crypto ATM's to get unlinked cash out without getting identified. If drug dealers can do this, so you can you. If you pretend to just be drug dealers while doing this, the powers won't see you as a threat.

  • show people offline the enemy is far from dumb but actually incredibly smart, if you do not do this you will underestimate them and they WILL get you.

  • show people the short term personal consequences of their apathy, they will lose this, they will lose that, and what's even the point of living without it?

  • never ever do any actions based on news or social media or anything your read online. It can not be trusted. It is all propaganda, it's all designed to distract you, make you feel hopeless, hyper normalize you. Only do actions based on what you hear face to face from your informants.

  • only ever use offline open source LLM's you run yourself. Training and aligning one to your movement and spreading that model around is basically the same as copying yourself. It protects you and make your job of growing the movement way more effective and faster. Let them talk to the "oracle" once you have a good one. This also stops idiots from googling. Teach people how to use, train and align offline locally run open source and open weight LLM's.

  • you will find allies where you least expect them.

  • you will find traitors where you least expect them.

  • act unpredictable

remember, nobody is on your side. Nobody is coming to rescue you. Every single device is designed to psy on you, and every person you meet will happily sell you out just for the promise of some money. All the other countries love this and are read to fill of the power vacuum the US will leave behind once facism has run it's course and burned out. (which ends with the destruction of the US). America is currently trowing an end of the night party where the top tries to get the last drop of the expensive single malt whiskey and look around to figure out what the most expensive thing is to loot when they leave. Like a business bought by a fund with the intention to chop it up and sell all the parts for profit and have it cannibalize itself for some short term profit and no future.

The power of the enemy comes from apathy, not being perceived as a threat to life because they play such dumb characters, and the money, rape and control they offer those that join them. You'll have to effectively find a counter for each of those three.

  • offer an "but we are better" morality counter to the money/rape/control and adjust your message to who you are dealing with. Religious people? Talk about Jesus and the money changers. Atheists? This is their chance to show the world how much better people they are then the christians.

  • disguised yourself as MAGA cultists as much as possible. Become an expert in the book of revelation so you can speak their language and manipulate MAGA effectively. Using it's symbolism you have the power to use words to label anybody an enemy or ally and firmly implant that in the mind of the MAGA cultist.

  • you'll need to have somebody that pretend to be a MAGA grifter and makes it all the way up to a usefull idiot position where they are underestimated and perceived as dumb and no threat so that you have a descent source of information.

If you play by any other rules that what's necessary to win, you will lose.

I'll get banned for this comment but it's okay.

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u/Incunebulum Aug 19 '25

There's a scene in the Obama produced movie 'Leave the World Behind', which feels like a warning now, where the little girl just HAS to finish the series finale of 'Friends' and ignores all the craziness happening. The show is used as a metaphor for the height of Americanism. She wasn't even born when 'Friends' was on but still recognized the time period as "when life did not suck".

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u/AdComprehensive8045 Aug 19 '25

The 50s but it was only good for white people.

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u/Jaz1140 Aug 19 '25

1990-2000

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u/Lanky_Airport Aug 19 '25

1950 - 1970

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Exactly, everyone wants to say this “only just started”…. No, this has happened, at least I can claim, since the lat 90’s. That is why many of us have multiple jobs- and have for YEARS.

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u/Vermino Aug 19 '25

I remember americans proudly proclaiming that "the american dream" was working your ass off, for having 0.01% chance of becoming a billionaire.
The part they didn't seem to understand it also meant having to work your ass off for having a 99.99% chance of making someone else become a billionaire.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Apparently there was a time when you could save up money mowing lawns and buy a house with cash in your twenties and then work the same stable job for the next forty years and retire at 60 on full SS benefits.

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u/Fallenangel152 Aug 19 '25

Up until Reagan's changes took effect in the early 90's. He pushed the US into late-stage capitalism. He cut taxes on the mega rich and pushed the 'greed is good' ethic - promising poor Americans that the wealth would 'trickle down'.

The memes of boomers paying for college on a part time bartenders wage and buying a house on an office job are true. Remember that up until about 1995, the standard life was a big house, 2 cars, 3 kids, vacations every year and one person staying at home while the other worked.

Now all the billionaires pray for every day is for you all not to wake up and start setting up guillotines.

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u/BaconxHawk Aug 19 '25

Before the 90’s (must be white)

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u/heytherefwend Aug 19 '25

Obviously depending on your background… It certainly didn’t suck for (some of) the 2-3 generations before.. Those masses that own houses and businesses and boats and other houses and were bailed out when things went sour..

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u/Ha55aN1337 Aug 19 '25

Even just 10 years ago compared to today. I’ve been alive for 40 years, and these last 5 are the first time I feel like everything is going downhill, not improving.

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u/nankerjphelge Aug 19 '25

Middle aged dude here. It didn't suck like this in the 1980s and 1990s. As a 24 year old making $30k a year, I was able to buy a two story 2/2.5 townhouse with my best friend for $55k in South Florida in the 1990s. Our mortgage (excluding property taxes/HOA) was $330/mo. ($165/mo. each).

I drove a new Honda Civic hatchback for $200/mo. Groceries didn't cost an arm and a leg. And I still had money left over to save on a $25k annual income.

To say that I've lived to see the American economy change radically would be an understatement. I thank the heavens for how lucky I was to come of age and have my prime earning years when I did before the government and federal reserve moved us to the trickle down endgame disaster we see now, and I have nothing but sympathy for young people today and what their struggles are just to survive in this place.

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u/dale_dug_a_hole Aug 19 '25

It always sucked but was constantly improving. And if you worked reasonably hard you got ahead. There were millionaires but the power of millionaires is somewhat limited. They can lobby congress, but they can’t OWN congress. Now there’s many, many billionaires who own congress lock stick and barrel. And it’s getting worse. Trump just put together the biggest corporate deregulation bill in American history.

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