Thanks for watching! This is edited from a stream I did recently - they give me a a chance to go into a bit more detail compared to the video, and usually cover a couple more angles. Plus I love hearing your opinions too. I stream on Fridays @ 7.15pm EST :)
5:20 I mean "Class based differnces" aren't bad, it's just that now it's pushed to an extreme that's also bad. Like you should be rewarded for doing good, coming up with a new innovative idea and creating a product people want should mean you get rewarded for that. But now companies are creating monopolies and just hoarding wealth which destroys economies.
When I was an exchange student in Poland, we had a class that dealt with global inequality and poverty. the professor sent us a test to see if our perceptions of our socioeconomic status meet the reality in our countries according to the OECD measures. More than 80 percent of us misplaced themselves by putting themselves higher than they are. Nobody wants to be working/lower class. the name itself feels derogatory and there is a misguided belief that middle class people can make vertical moves to the upper sides. you cannot; more people die lower than they started out ever.
I hate that rich people say things like "why should we have to pay to take care of poor people." The poor people are the sole reason they have their wealth. Worker producitvity skyrocketed promoting more profits and production for companies. But... We dont see any of that excess profit. The current world is poor people paying to let rich people indulge in their lavish and wasteful lives...
Not to mention those wealthy people are also accumulating all the wealth at the cost of the people. It's been awhile since I saw this inormation, but the average american only made 1.4 million dollars in their entire lifetime. So, we can treat that as 'the value of a life.'. CEO's....WHEN BEING FIRED... get MILLIONIS and MILLIONS in golden parachutes. When they FAIL they make many people's life worths of wealth in one shot. Let alone all the bonuses they get during their time. The disparity in pay is absolute.
@@Alchemical_Axolotl"Do you know how to operate a combine harvester? That can be a complicated thing. If you know how to do that, then you deserve to get paid the big bucks." I fail to see how my example is any less valid than yours, and yet the CEO of Perdue makes MUCH more than any of the individual farmers. Both are jobs that require specialized knowledge and experience. Management typically also involves a business degree, while farming requires working long hours in the hot sun, physical stamina, etc. You can argue about what is more difficult, but truly without the real workers, there is no business. Why then do the managers and executives keep ALL of the excess profit, while the workers are the most essential part and they earn a barely-livable wage? Moreover, a farmer can reap dozens of times more using modern equipment than with a scythe as was done centuries ago. The farmer still makes a modest living, having just enough to feed and house the family. The enormous gains in productivity of the farmer are paid out as dividends to the shareholders, who didn't produce anything at all, and the farmer sees none of it.
@@pablogriswold421 capitalism is a religion to these people. There's no point in arguing with them. Your argument is great for a reasonable person, though.
You speak as if everything are in their own deserved places and nothing should be done. The old empires had their glory days but all fell because they failed to understand the common people woe. You speak as if the poor people ARE getting access to the same resource to better themselves in the game. The game is not fair. Is it meant to be fair? Mb not, but ignore it long enough and see what happens.
Yes the reality that this is all carefully planned and cultivated seems to be absent from discussion. Probably because there's not much we feel we can do about it?
Your channel is criminally underrated. There also seems to be an inequality to the distribution of UA-cam views. I hope you find the success that you deserve.
@@TheBrazilRules comedy is how wisdom breaks through rigidity. That's why jesters were so useful to royalty. They needed a check, but couldn't face the music without a little humor. Where irony can't be found to support your position, woe to you.
@@TheBrazilRules Its completely true, just watch the video? He gives direct evidence as to why but you think it's not pertinent? Class divides are getting larger...
How people are feeling IS the economic reality. The fact that there is no recession in the stock market just proves there’s a disconnect between the Finance economy and the REAL economy. Calling it a “Vibecession” makes it sound like the real drop in standard of living of normal people is not real.
I don't think that's how it works tho. Yes the economy is great. But the reason why that doesn't get passed on to regular people isn't because of some magic disconnect, it's because of greed. Major companies are still using covid as an excuse to keep prices up. Their making their money and they aren't passing that along in benefits and wages. Currently I am a manager in a non-union, blue color job, and I have to say it sucks when labor costs are obviously way down so that the suits can make that extra dime. I blame corporations greed. Just look at Biden's inflation reduction act. It largely worked, keeping inflation lower than the rest of the world... The only people who have not fallen in line - corporations.
@@THEBATMAN28AHH yeah. But you’re not disagreeing with me. The overall health of the economy is completely divorced from the lived experience of everyday people. Trust me I’m not dumb enough to blame this all on Biden. This is far more deep rooted and has come into existence since the age of neoliberalism. The finance sectors have lapped the real economy and left everyday working people behind. What I’m saying is the tools used to measure the “health” of an economy all while people’s material conditions are literally getting worse is a bad tool. I do know how the economy works. I’m just saying it and the tools that are used to measure it don’t work for every day people.
I'm from a low income family in the US. I was the first in my family to graduate with a bachelor's and I've just graduated from an Ivy League law school that is known for producing top corporate lawyers. I've been amazed, throughout my time here, to learn about so many things that the rich know to do in order to retain, shelter or increase their wealth, but that those of us on the lower rungs of the societal ladder have absolutely no idea about and honestly don't even have access to. Most people aren't able to afford an Ivy League-trained tax lawyer to advise them. I've tried to explain some of these things to my family, but they don't always understand. It's like all this knowledge is locked away and all they see is that "nobody" can afford groceries anymore. There are so many people who think Trump's policies will help the little guy out, when the problem is that they don't actually understand how the US economy and tax system works - if they did, they would realize that many of his proposed policies for this upcoming term actually help the rich far more than they help the poor. You do a great job explaining what's actually going on.
I live along the rust belt. Where I'm from, it feels like we've been in a recession for at least the past 20 years. The people in the suburbs seem like they're doing alright, as they seem like they're still somewhat insulated from the chaos. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to be doing worse every year. I would imagine that's why it's so hard for people in the US to agree on anything, because our standards of life can still differ greatly. I'm not sure how long that's gonna last though.
I also live in the rust belt. Compared to the coasts, we have been very close to recession since 9/11. Just look at the economic/population growth numbers for Michigan, where I'm from. The best years are pretty much flat. One thing I notice is the general decline of the maintenance of homes. Even in suburbs that are doing "ok", fewer people can afford to maintain their properties.
Tired of the "recession is coming!" threat. Recessive periods come along with equivalent market opportunities if you are well informed and equipped, I've seen folks amass wealth in the midst of economic turmoil and even pull it off easily in favorable conditions. Invariably, the collapse is getting somebody somewhere rich
i agree with you and safest approach i feel to go about it is to diversify investments. By spreading investments across different asset classes, like bonds, real estate, and international stocks, they can reduce the impact of a market meltdown. its important to seek the guidance of an expert
A lot of folks downplay the role of advisors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850k.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
“ Sophia Maurine Lanting is the coach that guides me, She has years of financial market experience, you can use something else but for me her strategy works hence my result. She provides entry and exit point for the securities I focus on.
Finding financial advisors like Sophia Maurine Lanting who can assist you shape your portfolio would be a very creative option. There will be difficult times ahead, and prudent personal money management will be essential to navigating them.
Im an industrial electrician in Louisiana in the U.S. i get to watch every singe day as the industrial plant i work at continues to refuse to give money to the contractor i work for despite wanting us to install 2 ENTIRE new assembly lines. They are constantly drip feeding funds to us, giving just enough to keep the skeleton crew we have from leaving but never enough to feel secure in our jobs. They constantly force upper managment to make hard budgeting decisions and to "trim the fat". Meanwhile they have record breaking global profits.
@@pointfrogg it's definitely psychological manipulation. They basically try to squeeze as much blood from the stone as they can until someone stops them. It's the EXACT reason why unions were formed and are important. If the company my contractor works for had its way. I would be getting paid near minimum wage for the work I do.
This is probably why young people are much more aware of the problem and solution because they persevere themselves at the bottom of the ladder. They have also been aware of how the job they want over the years is not giving as much compensation as it used to. Meaning they know why they are earning less is nothing to do with their performance.
We are also aware of the unfairness of the job market. So many people meet or exceed qualification standards, only to be denied or outright ghosted by the companies they are applying for. If there is one thing Millennials, Gen Z, and soon to be Gen Alpha can agree on, it's that the state of the job market and our economy is far worse than the economists at the top say it is. I genuinely wonder where things are going because our system is already permanently deformed (plastic deformation) and is on the verge of snapping.
We are in a recession, our government just won't admit it. If everyone around is talking about how expensive everything is, how theyre struggling, but the tv tells you everything is fine, that should make you raise questions
Except recession has an actual definition. Your point should be that recession isn't the important measurement of economic well-being. Trying to redefine a term established by economists to measure overall growth is not going to work.
@@seandavies5130 well it is adequate for their purposes, because they are not trying to figure out how well people are doing under it, only whether it is expanding at an increasing or decreasing rate. You can quibble with how they measure GDP but that won't affect the fact that it misses what you and I care about.
@@seandavies5130 oh yeah you are absolutely right, they gaslight us with it. Though that's mostly the media, owned by the people who are doing fine and especially when GDP is growing.
Im from Australia and this all heavily rings true. We had those serious lockdowns through covid and I was able to work as "I ran" (manager was never around and I was alone) the bakery at one of the Big 2 supermarket chains. Their profits sky rocketed to astronomical figues and as a thank you i got a 1c pay increase and stress induced chronic fatigue. They kept cutting staffing numbers because they are chasing the numbers they hit during these covid lockdowns. Coupled with this, my brother in law has his own business and is doing really well for himself which is great (cant relate). He brought a car off of a politician for say 40k. This car was free from tax payers. So this politician just earnt 40k just cause. Sounds nice. We really are meat for the grinder.
I agree that an unequal wealth distribution is the problem, but I have one criticism: I wouldn’t call it “how people feel about the economy,” but instead “the actual material condition(s) of the working/lower classes.” Calling it a Vibecession feels akin to like, gaslighting, although I hate to use that word, lol. It’s not just a gut feeling, but something tangible! It’s a cognitive-dissonance-cession if we really want to put a buzzword to it.
For many reasons. First GDP is one of the worst metrics to go by, it's easily manipulated and hollow. Second because a country is rich, doesn't mean its citizens are, that's a good sign of authoritarian country, weather it be pure government authority or mixed with corporations, it doesn't matter. Instead of looking at GDP, look at the purchasing power of the median person compared to the prices of homes, food, clothing, cars and other everyday items. From the 4 I listed only clothing is not expensive, while the other 3 are unaffordable, even to people with above average income.
@@wafercrackerjack880 yeah. If I sold you a chair for 5$ and then you sold me that chair back for 5$ and we repeated that, we just added 20$ to the GDP, but in reality nothing really happened. When the government prints money that also goes to the GDP... Stock transactions go to the GDP... etc, etc.
The recession is here, where do investors look at for wealth gains now? mortgage rates still on the rise with higher imports and lower exports, yet the Fed is to lessen cost. Something will eventually break if they keep raising interests and quantitative tightening.
if you want to hold on to cash, put it in a safe deposit box, if you want assets, buy things people need in a shtf society, food, ammo, wood, water filters, tools, have a skill at building and fixing
when we go into recession, tech will do poorly as a sector considering what's going on in the world, while defense stocks should be doing good, but always do your own research, or speak to a valid advisor before investing your money
Agreed, I've always delegated my excesses to a pro, ever since suffering portfolio steep-down amid covid-19 outbreak. As of today, I'm semi-retired with barely 25% short of my $1m retirement goal after subsequent investments, and only work 7.5 hours a week.
truly appreciate the implementation of ideas and strategies that result to unmeasurable progress, thus the search for a reputable advisor, mind sharing info of this person guiding you please?
Certainly, there are a handful of experts in the field. I've experimented with a few over the past years, but I've stuck with Stacy Lynn Staples for about five years now, and her performance has been consistently impressive.She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
This completely changed my thinking on the topic. I was in camp "we are measuring the economy wrong." Of course, like so many things, the system is indeed working fine. It's just a bad system. Great stuff.
@@AK255. Free things like public education, roads, libraries, the military, firefighters, the police, healthcare, and a social safety net? Or free things like government subsidies, bail-outs and tax cuts for corporations awash with money? People want a government that works for _them,_ not the super-rich. That's what America was built on, the idea of "We The People." Not "we, the billionaires" or "we, the corporations", which is what your country seems to have morphed into.
Billionaires pay millionaires to lie right to your face so you never organize with your fellow poors to challenge the status quo benefiting the rich and hurting you.
Yeah i find that term very condescending and patronizing. It’s just a plain old recession. Stop gaslighting the proletariat; there’s more of us than there are of the Richie’s.
Marco Rubio famously said that "America is a nation of haves and soon-to-haves". He implied that everyone, regardless of race, gender or class can become rich, but the reality is that becoming rich is not something you can control. Genetics, upbringings and environment play the most important parts in determining your future, not some gaslighting phrases by politicians who have already made it.
You don't need to be rich to have a good life. And actually, most people would be miserable if they became rich. How do I know? Just take notice of how many people vote for politicians just because they promised welfare. These people want no responsibility, and being rich is responsibility.
@@user-jw6yh4ev4n Sht th fck up. Go out exercise. Workd harder than everyone else. Save money. Put it into the stock market at good prices or just give it over to buffett. Eat healthy. Most things are under your control. You are lying to yourself. You must be a liberal given your attitude...
The middle 'class' is such a stupid term. It's inherently subjective and arbitrary. It's designed to remove you from assigning your relationship to the means of production.
We have the highest tax on the average family since WW2 and at the same time the lowest top rate of tax since WW2 and up until very recently the lowest rate of corporation tax in 50 years.
Wages from labor shouldn't be taxed at all. Only income from investments and capital should ever be taxed. Our tax system is inverted so that it punishes those who work and rewards those who sit on their ass (the wealthy.)
@@Ella-g2m 100+ years ago, incomes weren't even taxed at all, because record keeping wasn't good enough to enable it. Land was taxed because it's pretty difficult for someone to deny that they own land. Oh how the tables have turned.
It surprises me why everybody gets really worked up about recession and inflation data. Inflation has always existed, and people have been using investments to beat the inflation. The stock market return, for example, always beats inflation. I heard of someone who invested $121k last October, and has grown the portfolio by more than $400k. I need recommendations that can give me similar return.
I would avoid index funds, mutual funds, and specific stocks for the time being. Right now, the best option is a fixed income of five percent. Put money aside for the times when the market really starts to bounce back. most importantly consider financial advisory for informed buying and selling decisions.
A lot of folks downplay the role of advlsors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850k.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
Viviana Marisa Coelho is her name. She is regarded as a genius in her area and works for Empower Financial Services. By looking her up online, you can quickly verify her level of experience. She is well knowledgeable about financial markets.
Some things to note about this situation is that unemployment measures people looking for a job, not people who don’t have a job. Also the stock market since Covid essentially measures the stock prices of big corporations since the Covid money printing and shutting down of small businesses funneled peoples money into Amazon and Walmart (since they were the only real stores left open), which then got funneled into the stock market since that’s what the rich like using their money on. That’s why we aren’t in a recession despite so many people struggling to get by. It’s essentially two different economies that are side by side (Capital vs The Real Economy). Invariably these bubbles burst. Every 40 years brings economic woes and 80 years brings a governmental switch up (George Friedman has a theory on this). People want the numbers to reflect reality and are understandably impatient due to how desperate they are for their problems to be taken seriously.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatit's not exact, but humans, and their systems, do tend to operate on remarkably consistent cycles. Humans aren't really hardwired to handled prosperity or destitution for long periods of time, as they tend to breed aberrant thought patterns and behaviors that disconnect us from reality. Basically, the whole "hard times breed strong men..." saying rings pretty true throughout history. Downturns are absolute necessities within systems as they help weed out broken, ill-fitted, or otherwise ineffectual elements within. Our current political system effectively incentivizes kicking the proverbial can down the road - both so a given party or politician can maintain power and so your average person can minimize their immediate discomfort. Money printing to cover government spending or to bail out over-leverage / mismanagement financial institutions are obvious examples of this can kicking behavior, but so are things like the mass importation of foreign peoples or offshoring manufacturing.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat It’s not like a laundry machine. It’s just people aren’t stupid enough to literally starve to death nor forsake having kids without getting violent. It’s either the rich makes concessions or a French Revolution type scenario happens. People essentially keep having their money taken by the rich through taxes, government bailouts, inflation, dramatic increases of worker supply vs demand, and stock market manipulation (2008 - Covid). As well as laws being made to make competition with these corporations or the government basically impossible. The thing is the government is going to go bankrupt, the corporations compliant in lobbying the government for tax payer money are essentially zombie corporations or making irrational decisions that are alienating the customer base that buys from them, and the people have been seeing their money losing value dramatically compared to increased costs. These are inherently unsustainable since they aren’t creating anything tangible, while stealing or regulating from those that are. It’s not just an economic issue. These are direct causes for political polarization, which is driving this economic and government change.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat (my original reply got deleted so here) Its called homeostasis so it is how it works. If people were getting exactly what they needed all the time then it would be different, but we live in a universe of entropy and scarcity. When people live in plenty they start doing what they can to safe guard what they have (historically using tax breaks and corruption to do so). When people live in poverty or are pushed into poverty by said corruption they get pissed. There’s a reason we have polarization right now as we are deadlocked between two different groups of sub-elites who can’t get their old benefits back and want to “drain the swamp”. It’s not that just magically every 40-80 years the economy crashes by the whim of fairy-dust or something, but rather how the economy was back then can’t logically make sense in a world where industrial jobs and college degrees aren’t safe bets, where the internet is a big part of the economy, and giants like Amazon have most peoples money since the small businesses got shut down on top of inflation. These things can’t remain stable since people aren’t stupid enough to literally starve without fighting. The rich lobbyists will either have to concede or their buildings will burn due to peoples desperation. Edit: (sources are “Suicide of the West” by Jonah Goldberg, “Bullsh*t jobs” by David graeber, “Alienated America” by Tim carney, summaries of Peter Turchins and George Friedmans books from Hoser and Whatifalthist, summarized versions of the 2008 financial crisis from Cold Fusion and Dj peach cobbler, a summary of Thomas Sowells work from now deleted UA-camr Political Juice, and little information from my high school classes. I can get individual links for videos if you want, but these books and videos informed my thinking on the matter.)
I wish so badly that people could listen to and understand this video before voting. And understand that it’s not a bad economy that makes your day to day life harder, it’s the growing inequality of resource and wealth distribution that means you suffer. Thank you for putting this so clearly, it really clarified things for me
It's because we live in two economies: The economy of the Investors and Owning Classes, and the economy of everyone else. If you own things, the Economy has never been better. Property is going up, profits are going up, Your investments are returning growth... If you work for a living, everything is on fire and it sucks. Wages are stagnant, the price of everything has exploded, And you're going to have to start making difficult choices around the house Despite working two jobs and a side hustle.
I agree with the thesis but find it bizarre that you accept the term "middle class" and contrast it with "working class". Class is a relationship to capital, not an income bracket. One can be working class and middle income at the same time. If you want to redefine these terms, that's fine, but explain it up front (or somewhere). I still can't tell exactly what you mean by them.
As a young, self sufficient person today, it is a constant battle just to keep my economic position from declining. The crazy part is that, compared to my peers, I'm doing quite well. My expenses are well managed, i have a modest savings, and finally am going to be back to a sustainable income after a layoff. I still haven't been able to use my supposedly "in demand" degree, but at this point I'm just glad to know I'll be getting a consistent paycheck. Most of my friends have been pushed to move back home by skyrocketing rent prices, and we're really just thankful to have jobs at all. Staying in one place is growth, by comparison.
i've been looking forward to this video ever since you posted the community post. Super interesting because i've seen a bunch of video essays and tik toks just outright stating that we are in a recession.
Not that we want an "equal economy", it's just that those working so much harder than others at the top are getting left out in the cold. Like you said, 2/3 of new wealth is gained by the top 1%, but think about those assets the bottom 99% will never get access to and use to build their own wealth...
1) If "middle class", wasn't defined nominally then the question is meaningless, to me middle class literally encompasses everyone above the poverty line to people earning high 6 figures, it's a broad class bracket and a better question would've been to ask where they think they are in relation to the top 1%, 10% and the 50th perctile and bottom 10%, you should also ask after this to describe their class bracket through a list of available options or to use a personal descritpor, i.e. destitute, low income, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, wealthy, rich, etc. Asking one question on "middle class" stithout defining it in relation to something is meaningless and creates distorted and invalid data. 2) The vibecession doesn't exist, people think the economy is shit because it is shit (for them) economists will tout about how the economy is doing so good and its purely psychological but they're not favtoring in inequality into their analysis which is quite literally INSANE.
"The middle class" is an empty concept used to divide people from their interests. Middle of what? Working and rich? If you go to work to pay your bills because you can't live from interest, dividends, and capital gains, the class you're in is working. But they call people "middle" class to get them to think "oh, well I'm not working class, I'm better," and not vote for candidates pushing working class policies.
Incredible video. Really hitting the nail on the head here, particularly with the emphasis on the importance of perceptions. One critique though - it's not that people 'want to believe' they're middle-class, they just massively overestimate the number of people who are poorer than themselves. Their perception is 'well I may be struggling, but... I'm lucky really. I bet them lot have it even tougher!' But 'them lot' is actually much smaller than people realise. When I show people the distribution of wealth in the UK - directly sourced from the ONS - they simply refuse to believe it. They can't accept that median net household wealth is >£300k, that 1 in 4 pensioners are millionaires, or that only 10% of people have less than £20k household net wealth. There must be something wrong with the statistics because poor people are everywhere, aren't they? And they're actually lucky by comparison... aren't they...?
The root cause is inflating the amount of currency, which is distributing wealth from those on static wages and holding that currency, to those who understand the corrupted system and leverage debt to buy up limited assets, as currency inflates there is more currency chasing the same amount of limited assets, so those assets appreciate in currency denominated price. For a specific example, if you buy real estate and rent it out, inflating currency amount causes a rise in real estate price so you can demand a higher monthly rent price, making it easier to pay off the loan for that real estate and not only that, now that you have an asset whose price is rising you can use it as a leverage to borrow even more, so it compounds as long as you are not leveraged too much and forced to default if economic conditions change.
I foresee a recession lasting 2-3 years, and if inflation continues to surge, the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates soon. Inflation is causing various issues worldwide, such as food shortages, scarcities of diesel and heating fuel, and significant spikes in housing prices, leading to a potential financial market crash. This global downturn could have long-lasting repercussions. Given the current inflation rate of approximately 9%, my main worry is how to optimize my savings and retirement fund, which has remained stagnant at around $300,000, yielding almost no gains for quite some time.
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I’m sure the idea of an invstment-Adviser might sound controversial to a few, but a new study by Motley-fool found out that demand for Financial-Advisers sky-rocketed by over 42% since the pandemic and based on firsthand encounter I can say for certain their skillsets are topnotch. I've accrued north of 580k within 16-months from an initially stagnant Portf0lio worth 85k.
Inflation is over 5% here in the UK, but as we know it's definitely way more than the Government would like to admit. My plan is to earn more passive income and ride this out, can your Investment-adviser assist?
‘’Aileen Gertrude Tippy’’ is her name. She is regarded as a genius in her area and works for Empower Financial Services. She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
I just stumbled upon your channel recently, but I have to say it’s awesome. I subscribed almost immediately. You’re doing high quality work and not getting the views you deserve. Keep pushing dude👍
Thank you for opening my eyes just that much wider! I hope worker dignity will be starting to be something pushed again. I feel like we saw a smidgeon of that around the first covid year…
McDonald’s is $20 and the bag of rice I bought for $14 last January was $25 this may. The rice is still about 0.05UsD a day for 3 meals with rice. But it’s at the grocery store and rent day where people feel the economy. Nobody cares about the Dow Jones, the only ones of us who do are the equivalent of speed running mythic raiders in world of Warcraft who do it blindfolded in Korean because it gives it a 0.06% faster load speed 3:12 I was in Japan in July, and the owner of the guest house was lamenting a 20yen increase in price on the vending machines from her time in college… in the 80s. People feel the economy in the prices they remember. I remember $4 Big Macs and real dollar menus
“The Poor Man's Comfort” How can twenty-six people possess more Money than half of the population? How is it so many world leaders swore To fix their poverty-ridden nation? Why does it fall on the poorest people To pay with their lives for the rich man's spoil? How can the rich man pray to the steeple As God's children fall victim to turmoil? Can the one percent hear the world screaming When they walk upon our red bloodied ground? Do they feel the slowing of hearts beating As death reaps the poor, starved, homeless, drowned? Now the wealthy bathe in their bloodless bath Soon they will drown in their angry God's wrath I wrote this in high school a couple years back and I feel like it fits
My mom (ethnically we're Russian Jews, my other side of extended family are Ukrainians) wants us to move to USA, while I always pivoted on living in Europe if Israel is not available for many cultural and sociological reasons. She's enterpreneurial and ambitious in her late 50s, cancer survivor and top-manager in national level fast fashion companies of 30 years. I am in IT, much more laid back and have neurological issues that require work-life balance to prevent burnouts and breakdowns that can render me inactive for months. And every time she brings it up I put her cousin's, observing Jew who moved to the States in 90s, built a wealthy life there, but can't retire now because of insurance costs, case before her and ask 'Mom, and what happens if one of us gets really sick? You're not young, I am not sturdy, da died aged 40 to ALS, we can't afford getting ill there. I can't afford giving birth there. Is this what you want for me?'. Russia has African level of wealth inequality. I am not looking to live in another empire that fails terribly to adress internal issues of its population in this or next lifetime. The world may burn, I ain't coming close to any supapowahs, no matter how bustling their economies may get on paper, because I only want piece and quiet life. Leave this rat race, guys and gals, save yourselves, move if you can.
@@funkymunky you can live a decent life for $1000 a month in Vietnam, live kinda-sorta ok in Moscow renting flat in a commie block on the outskirts or live in cupboard in NY. Who's wealthy? Is it only money that counts? Or maybe other things count, like language and marketable skills, diaspora present to provide support and services, your original citizenship providing protection worldwide for yearly tax, ability to prove education by taking exam instead of spending years in local college. Wealth inequality, which this video covered extensively, maybe?
Excellent video, people always say "its better than ever" yeah, for the select few. Society should be judged on the average person or even better, the worst off, the entire point of living as a group is to help each other through hard times and ensure the least amount of people suffer.
Very good analysis! I have always accepted that the system of promotion and wealth distribution was not fair in this country. Rich people are some of the laziest people among us!
The simplest answer is the metrics economists use dont xare at all about human suffering or quality of life. Meanwhile, since thats all we care about, we use our level of financial struggle to guage the economy, and they dont
Thank you for the usual high quality videos Fads! It's always good to see a new video from you :) I do want to push back slightly, not on the conclusion, that something needs to change, that much is obvious... But to ask the question WHAT needs to change? Otherwise we start going down the doomer cycle all over again. Your channel has always been realistic, but positive. This one though... I don't see the usual ray of light from you. Is everything all okay?
I think to answer that question, it's important to first understand why inequality has grown so much. I'd recommend checking out the channel Gary's Economics, he has some great videos explaining how wealth flows around society. The way things are set up currently in countries like the US and UK, it is inevitable that more and more wealth gets accumulated by the people at the very top, while the rest of society gets poorer. I'm convinced that it's impossible for this to change without taxing wealth and thereby redistributing it to everyone else. Fixing the housing market to make it easier for normal people to buy a home, and harder for rich people to buy loads of houses, would also go a long way towards improving the quality of life of the average person.
I like this video and your vids in general but sometimes it feels like you look so closely at numbers and graphs you miss the bigger picture behind then
This is such an important video, it needs a lot more views. It's criminal how absent the issues of class and inequality are from so much of so called left wing politics today.
"Most people aren't actually middle class in the way they want to believe they are. If we are willing to accept that, then we can start to actually inquire why a system that's performing great isn't necessarily reflecting those results. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that "I'm not earning a lot of money because the economy is doing badly," we need to figure out how to transition to a mode of thinking where we can accept that the economy is doing well, but it's a distribution problem rather than a wealth problem. Our perceptions of class affect how fair we believe the economy inherently is, and therefore influence how we frame our own financial performance within the wider scheme of things. People will go to great lengths to maintain this perception of being middle class."
So, Honestly I personally tend to use difficulty of getting a job and layoffs as my main subjective indicators of how well the "economy" is doing. Often times wages are better when the economy is doing worse if you can actually keep/get a job. Companies have just stopped hiring. They were slow to hire for the last couple years. But hiring rates and unemployment has gotten even worse since this spring. However, on the good side companies are firing less. And most of the mass layoffs are in the cylical tech sector for programmers and such. The perception of a recession is useful, because it makes workers less likely to quit jobs they hate in search of better paying ones. (Which is componded by the difficulty in finding a new job.)
A very interesting video as always. I'm going to try going a little philosophical here, hope you can forgive the amateur and underdeveloped attempt... As someone seemingly determined to struggle in life, I like to believe and promote all things "good" like fairer financial distribution, improving parenting in order to reduce childhood PTSD and that kind of thing. However, there is something in my psyche that pushes back which comes from trying to take it to a logical conclusion: imagining a world of happy equality and confident trauma free people, life would cease to have meaning. It is the very challenges that so frustrate me that make life "worthwhile". So I guess the takeaway is that I need not do anything, but the whole reason I am here is to do my best to do something.
GDP has never been a good measure of how the people in a nation itself are doing. When your gdp is only bouyed by people forced to get muliple jobs, investment, and mass migration, theres a issue.
If you dont have a mortage.....you are not middle class. No matter what your salary. Cash earnings are not wealth or assetts, they are a means of exchange.
In the current world, the key to financial success is to do work that the market wants, not what one wants to do personally, or is most comfortable doing. There are so few people who actually do this, it means that the opportunities are abundant.
The fact the government had an entire decade of low interest rate loans where they could have done huge investment in housing, technology, transport yet instead did nothing, is very depressing. Almost as much as how much money we lost, by not setting up a sovereign wealth fund like norway did with it's oil. Edit : saying Norway population is smaller is a revelation to nobody it is worth £1.15 tillion, it is nothing to dismiss. Let alone the fact it is our oil.
I am holding a cash position right now, of about 300k. I know a dip is supposed to be the buying opportunity, so whats the best stocks to dive into, in this recession?
Diversification is key to good investing even in downturns. I personally dabble in stocks, and my first rule is survival before flipping for chunky gains. I suggest you seek professional advice
Ideally, advisors are perfect reps for investing jobs and at first-hand experience, my portfolio has yielded over 350%, since covid-outbreak to date, summing up nearly $1m.
we are 100% in a recession. the issue here is purely semantic and the fact that the rich and powerful are the metric for how the economy is doing and not the average person.
There is no theory being used, the economy is doing well* but to the wrong people, Housing prices are still at record highs, Food prices still going up. The issue is that the benefits of a growing economy are not being transferred to the right people... You would assume that Innovation would lead to falling prices on everything but that has not been the case. Also it is a wealth problem, the Uk has a very high wealth inequality which means the top 1% own roughly 50% of land and buildings, this allows them to keep increasing prices on the houses they sell/rents since effectively they have a monopoly
For the people in comments criticizing the existance of the notion of middle class. In my experience it is always left leaning politicians that keep proposing new definitions of middle class that decrease the lower barrier to be considered part of it. It is all populism and is not a problem with the term itself.
In any society that values private property more than than anything else, the consolidation of wealth is inevitable. Anti-trust laws are little more than words on paper, as profound societal catastrophe is necessary to motivate their enforcement.
instead of measuring the economy, we should measure income inequality. That's usually more closely correlated with happiness, and is probably why we feel things are bad.
Thanks for watching! This is edited from a stream I did recently - they give me a a chance to go into a bit more detail compared to the video, and usually cover a couple more angles. Plus I love hearing your opinions too.
I stream on Fridays @ 7.15pm EST :)
5:20
I mean "Class based differnces" aren't bad, it's just that now it's pushed to an extreme that's also bad.
Like you should be rewarded for doing good, coming up with a new innovative idea and creating a product people want should mean you get rewarded for that.
But now companies are creating monopolies and just hoarding wealth which destroys economies.
When I was an exchange student in Poland, we had a class that dealt with global inequality and poverty. the professor sent us a test to see if our perceptions of our socioeconomic status meet the reality in our countries according to the OECD measures. More than 80 percent of us misplaced themselves by putting themselves higher than they are.
Nobody wants to be working/lower class. the name itself feels derogatory and there is a misguided belief that middle class people can make vertical moves to the upper sides. you cannot; more people die lower than they started out ever.
im proud of being working/lower class :D
If you don't believe that you can escape the rat race, you won't escape the rat race.
thats just a lie. In all recorded history of mankind no other time nor system had higher upwards vertical movements than Capitalism.
Just invest
@@mansur_ali if you don't believe you can make it out of the rat race, then you won't make it out of the rat race
"The purpose of a system is what it does, not what we want it to do"
Best line of the whole thing.
There is no middle class. There is the class that relies on their work to survive, and the class that doesnt.
Over the last decade 60% of all wealth created went to the top 1%.
It’s time to rise.
@@madduxnagel6935 But not in a pacifist way. Pacifism led to where we are now.
@@rattlehead999 Oh I’m 100% with you.
@@rattlehead999 FR the change we need now has only ever come from drawing blood from the people who caused the problems
@@yourunclejohn984 yup.
I hate that rich people say things like "why should we have to pay to take care of poor people." The poor people are the sole reason they have their wealth. Worker producitvity skyrocketed promoting more profits and production for companies. But... We dont see any of that excess profit. The current world is poor people paying to let rich people indulge in their lavish and wasteful lives...
Not to mention those wealthy people are also accumulating all the wealth at the cost of the people. It's been awhile since I saw this inormation, but the average american only made 1.4 million dollars in their entire lifetime. So, we can treat that as 'the value of a life.'. CEO's....WHEN BEING FIRED... get MILLIONIS and MILLIONS in golden parachutes. When they FAIL they make many people's life worths of wealth in one shot. Let alone all the bonuses they get during their time. The disparity in pay is absolute.
It's actually poor people that take care of rich people.
@@Alchemical_Axolotl"Do you know how to operate a combine harvester? That can be a complicated thing. If you know how to do that, then you deserve to get paid the big bucks."
I fail to see how my example is any less valid than yours, and yet the CEO of Perdue makes MUCH more than any of the individual farmers. Both are jobs that require specialized knowledge and experience. Management typically also involves a business degree, while farming requires working long hours in the hot sun, physical stamina, etc. You can argue about what is more difficult, but truly without the real workers, there is no business. Why then do the managers and executives keep ALL of the excess profit, while the workers are the most essential part and they earn a barely-livable wage?
Moreover, a farmer can reap dozens of times more using modern equipment than with a scythe as was done centuries ago. The farmer still makes a modest living, having just enough to feed and house the family. The enormous gains in productivity of the farmer are paid out as dividends to the shareholders, who didn't produce anything at all, and the farmer sees none of it.
@@pablogriswold421 capitalism is a religion to these people. There's no point in arguing with them.
Your argument is great for a reasonable person, though.
You speak as if everything are in their own deserved places and nothing should be done. The old empires had their glory days but all fell because they failed to understand the common people woe.
You speak as if the poor people ARE getting access to the same resource to better themselves in the game. The game is not fair. Is it meant to be fair? Mb not, but ignore it long enough and see what happens.
The system is working like it should, thats why it itself needs to change
Yes the reality that this is all carefully planned and cultivated seems to be absent from discussion. Probably because there's not much we feel we can do about it?
Federalism was a mistake. It's so much harder to try to fix the American Empire than it would be to fix individual states
@@rueautumn8303it was in plain sight. We call it government subsidies. We paid for corporate expansion
Your channel is criminally underrated. There also seems to be an inequality to the distribution of UA-cam views. I hope you find the success that you deserve.
Hard agree! I had one of his videos pop up in my recommended this morning, glad it did! I'm subscribed now and look forward to seeing the growth!
"And that's why they call it the American dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it."
-George Carlin
Just like Rage Against, the cons have abandoned George Carlin for pointing out the flaw in their religion. Capitalism is doomed to an awful death
It's sad that people are up voting a joke as if it is this age old wisdom...
@@TheBrazilRules comedy is how wisdom breaks through rigidity. That's why jesters were so useful to royalty. They needed a check, but couldn't face the music without a little humor.
Where irony can't be found to support your position, woe to you.
@@TheBrazilRules Its completely true, just watch the video? He gives direct evidence as to why but you think it's not pertinent? Class divides are getting larger...
@@TheBrazilRules Humans arent good at taking things bluntly...
How people are feeling IS the economic reality. The fact that there is no recession in the stock market just proves there’s a disconnect between the Finance economy and the REAL economy. Calling it a “Vibecession” makes it sound like the real drop in standard of living of normal people is not real.
@thetaxgawd dumb ass alert the economy has been bad since Reagan
I don't think that's how it works tho. Yes the economy is great. But the reason why that doesn't get passed on to regular people isn't because of some magic disconnect, it's because of greed. Major companies are still using covid as an excuse to keep prices up. Their making their money and they aren't passing that along in benefits and wages. Currently I am a manager in a non-union, blue color job, and I have to say it sucks when labor costs are obviously way down so that the suits can make that extra dime. I blame corporations greed.
Just look at Biden's inflation reduction act. It largely worked, keeping inflation lower than the rest of the world... The only people who have not fallen in line - corporations.
@@THEBATMAN28AHHRationality? In my America?
In all seriousness, thank you for giving me a touch of hope while I live in a MAGA state.
@@Captaintrippz lol. Honestly in my opinion anyone making less than 80k should not be voting red.
@@THEBATMAN28AHH yeah. But you’re not disagreeing with me. The overall health of the economy is completely divorced from the lived experience of everyday people. Trust me I’m not dumb enough to blame this all on Biden. This is far more deep rooted and has come into existence since the age of neoliberalism. The finance sectors have lapped the real economy and left everyday working people behind. What I’m saying is the tools used to measure the “health” of an economy all while people’s material conditions are literally getting worse is a bad tool. I do know how the economy works. I’m just saying it and the tools that are used to measure it don’t work for every day people.
I'm from a low income family in the US. I was the first in my family to graduate with a bachelor's and I've just graduated from an Ivy League law school that is known for producing top corporate lawyers. I've been amazed, throughout my time here, to learn about so many things that the rich know to do in order to retain, shelter or increase their wealth, but that those of us on the lower rungs of the societal ladder have absolutely no idea about and honestly don't even have access to. Most people aren't able to afford an Ivy League-trained tax lawyer to advise them. I've tried to explain some of these things to my family, but they don't always understand. It's like all this knowledge is locked away and all they see is that "nobody" can afford groceries anymore. There are so many people who think Trump's policies will help the little guy out, when the problem is that they don't actually understand how the US economy and tax system works - if they did, they would realize that many of his proposed policies for this upcoming term actually help the rich far more than they help the poor. You do a great job explaining what's actually going on.
Thank you. How can I learn?
I live along the rust belt. Where I'm from, it feels like we've been in a recession for at least the past 20 years. The people in the suburbs seem like they're doing alright, as they seem like they're still somewhat insulated from the chaos. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to be doing worse every year. I would imagine that's why it's so hard for people in the US to agree on anything, because our standards of life can still differ greatly. I'm not sure how long that's gonna last though.
I also live in the rust belt. Compared to the coasts, we have been very close to recession since 9/11. Just look at the economic/population growth numbers for Michigan, where I'm from. The best years are pretty much flat. One thing I notice is the general decline of the maintenance of homes. Even in suburbs that are doing "ok", fewer people can afford to maintain their properties.
I’m in Los Angeles and i feel exactly the same as you guys and have noticed the same here in the big city. Its everywhere.
Tired of the "recession is coming!" threat. Recessive periods come along with equivalent market opportunities if you are well informed and equipped, I've seen folks amass wealth in the midst of economic turmoil and even pull it off easily in favorable conditions. Invariably, the collapse is getting somebody somewhere rich
i agree with you and safest approach i feel to go about it is to diversify investments. By spreading investments across different asset classes, like bonds, real estate, and international stocks, they can reduce the impact of a market meltdown. its important to seek the guidance of an expert
A lot of folks downplay the role of advisors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850k.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
“ Sophia Maurine Lanting is the coach that guides me, She has years of financial market experience, you can use something else but for me her strategy works hence my result. She provides entry and exit point for the securities I focus on.
Finding financial advisors like Sophia Maurine Lanting who can assist you shape your portfolio would be a very creative option. There will be difficult times ahead, and prudent personal money management will be essential to navigating them.
Im an industrial electrician in Louisiana in the U.S. i get to watch every singe day as the industrial plant i work at continues to refuse to give money to the contractor i work for despite wanting us to install 2 ENTIRE new assembly lines. They are constantly drip feeding funds to us, giving just enough to keep the skeleton crew we have from leaving but never enough to feel secure in our jobs. They constantly force upper managment to make hard budgeting decisions and to "trim the fat". Meanwhile they have record breaking global profits.
Maybe an overreaction but I lowkey consider this psychological torture.
@@pointfrogg it's definitely psychological manipulation. They basically try to squeeze as much blood from the stone as they can until someone stops them. It's the EXACT reason why unions were formed and are important. If the company my contractor works for had its way. I would be getting paid near minimum wage for the work I do.
This is probably why young people are much more aware of the problem and solution because they persevere themselves at the bottom of the ladder. They have also been aware of how the job they want over the years is not giving as much compensation as it used to. Meaning they know why they are earning less is nothing to do with their performance.
We are also aware of the unfairness of the job market. So many people meet or exceed qualification standards, only to be denied or outright ghosted by the companies they are applying for.
If there is one thing Millennials, Gen Z, and soon to be Gen Alpha can agree on, it's that the state of the job market and our economy is far worse than the economists at the top say it is.
I genuinely wonder where things are going because our system is already permanently deformed (plastic deformation) and is on the verge of snapping.
I don't think anyone benefits from the "lower" and "middle" class distinction other than the upper class.
I agree with that, the gap is too big
The only classes there are are the bourgeoisie and the working class.
We are in a recession, our government just won't admit it.
If everyone around is talking about how expensive everything is, how theyre struggling, but the tv tells you everything is fine, that should make you raise questions
Except recession has an actual definition. Your point should be that recession isn't the important measurement of economic well-being. Trying to redefine a term established by economists to measure overall growth is not going to work.
@@BDnevernind You are assuming that the way they measure it is adequate
@@seandavies5130 well it is adequate for their purposes, because they are not trying to figure out how well people are doing under it, only whether it is expanding at an increasing or decreasing rate. You can quibble with how they measure GDP but that won't affect the fact that it misses what you and I care about.
@@BDnevernind then we agree 😂 I would add that I don't think they usually admit that the measures aren't working for our purposes
@@seandavies5130 oh yeah you are absolutely right, they gaslight us with it. Though that's mostly the media, owned by the people who are doing fine and especially when GDP is growing.
Im from Australia and this all heavily rings true. We had those serious lockdowns through covid and I was able to work as "I ran" (manager was never around and I was alone) the bakery at one of the Big 2 supermarket chains. Their profits sky rocketed to astronomical figues and as a thank you i got a 1c pay increase and stress induced chronic fatigue. They kept cutting staffing numbers because they are chasing the numbers they hit during these covid lockdowns. Coupled with this, my brother in law has his own business and is doing really well for himself which is great (cant relate). He brought a car off of a politician for say 40k. This car was free from tax payers. So this politician just earnt 40k just cause. Sounds nice. We really are meat for the grinder.
Colesworth?
I agree that an unequal wealth distribution is the problem, but I have one criticism: I wouldn’t call it “how people feel about the economy,” but instead “the actual material condition(s) of the working/lower classes.” Calling it a Vibecession feels akin to like, gaslighting, although I hate to use that word, lol. It’s not just a gut feeling, but something tangible! It’s a cognitive-dissonance-cession if we really want to put a buzzword to it.
I also dislike the term Vibescession for exactly this reason. Scanlon buries the lead with this term.
For many reasons. First GDP is one of the worst metrics to go by, it's easily manipulated and hollow.
Second because a country is rich, doesn't mean its citizens are, that's a good sign of authoritarian country, weather it be pure government authority or mixed with corporations, it doesn't matter.
Instead of looking at GDP, look at the purchasing power of the median person compared to the prices of homes, food, clothing, cars and other everyday items. From the 4 I listed only clothing is not expensive, while the other 3 are unaffordable, even to people with above average income.
And yet, you use it to show how rich you are compared to other countries.
@@wafercrackerjack880 yeah. If I sold you a chair for 5$ and then you sold me that chair back for 5$ and we repeated that, we just added 20$ to the GDP, but in reality nothing really happened. When the government prints money that also goes to the GDP... Stock transactions go to the GDP... etc, etc.
@@rattlehead999 i wanna disagree but i can't since I understand things in french
Its easy for corporations to claim the economy is great when they imported 10 million+ people that will work for scraps.
Masterfully said.
The recession is here, where do investors look at for wealth gains now? mortgage rates still on the rise with higher imports and lower exports, yet the Fed is to lessen cost. Something will eventually break if they keep raising interests and quantitative tightening.
if you want to hold on to cash, put it in a safe deposit box, if you want assets, buy things people need in a shtf society, food, ammo, wood, water filters, tools, have a skill at building and fixing
when we go into recession, tech will do poorly as a sector considering what's going on in the world, while defense stocks should be doing good, but always do your own research, or speak to a valid advisor before investing your money
Agreed, I've always delegated my excesses to a pro, ever since suffering portfolio steep-down amid covid-19 outbreak. As of today, I'm semi-retired with barely 25% short of my $1m retirement goal after subsequent investments, and only work 7.5 hours a week.
truly appreciate the implementation of ideas and strategies that result to unmeasurable progress, thus the search for a reputable advisor, mind sharing info of this person guiding you please?
Certainly, there are a handful of experts in the field. I've experimented with a few over the past years, but I've stuck with Stacy Lynn Staples for about five years now, and her performance has been consistently impressive.She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
This completely changed my thinking on the topic. I was in camp "we are measuring the economy wrong." Of course, like so many things, the system is indeed working fine. It's just a bad system. Great stuff.
Short answer: a few rich bastards have taken all the pie.
Turns out the invisible hand is just the greedy fingers of the rich
short answer: People want free things but don't wanna take any responsibility.
@@AK255. Free things like public education, roads, libraries, the military, firefighters, the police, healthcare, and a social safety net? Or free things like government subsidies, bail-outs and tax cuts for corporations awash with money?
People want a government that works for _them,_ not the super-rich. That's what America was built on, the idea of "We The People." Not "we, the billionaires" or "we, the corporations", which is what your country seems to have morphed into.
@@AK255.Oh, so we're writing fan fiction for the economy now, are we?
Pull your head out.
@@AK255. You are incapable of learning.
The economy is a sick nightmare that I'm desperate to wake up from. I hate this crap so much.
Housing doesn't feel expensive it is expensive vibecession my ass
Billionaires pay millionaires to lie right to your face so you never organize with your fellow poors to challenge the status quo benefiting the rich and hurting you.
Yeah i find that term very condescending and patronizing. It’s just a plain old recession. Stop gaslighting the proletariat; there’s more of us than there are of the Richie’s.
Marco Rubio famously said that "America is a nation of haves and soon-to-haves". He implied that everyone, regardless of race, gender or class can become rich, but the reality is that becoming rich is not something you can control. Genetics, upbringings and environment play the most important parts in determining your future, not some gaslighting phrases by politicians who have already made it.
You don't need to be rich to have a good life. And actually, most people would be miserable if they became rich.
How do I know? Just take notice of how many people vote for politicians just because they promised welfare. These people want no responsibility, and being rich is responsibility.
@@Atombender Genetics?
@@MrTooEarnestOnline Yes genetics, why tf is thst hard for you to understand? most of your life is determined by your genetics.
@@user-jw6yh4ev4n I wholeheartedly disagree mate but sure.
@@user-jw6yh4ev4n Sht th fck up. Go out exercise. Workd harder than everyone else. Save money. Put it into the stock market at good prices or just give it over to buffett. Eat healthy. Most things are under your control. You are lying to yourself. You must be a liberal given your attitude...
This is the best and clearest explanation of the decoupling of the economy from workers' well-being that I've seen in a long time! Excellent video! ❤
The middle 'class' is such a stupid term. It's inherently subjective and arbitrary. It's designed to remove you from assigning your relationship to the means of production.
The three class system is just propaganda. The only two classes that exist are the bourgeoisie and the working class.
"The purpose of a system is what it does; not what we want it to do."
Exceptionally well put.
We have the highest tax on the average family since WW2 and at the same time the lowest top rate of tax since WW2 and up until very recently the lowest rate of corporation tax in 50 years.
When did the taxes increase, though?
@@iExploder corporation tax went up this year
Wages from labor shouldn't be taxed at all. Only income from investments and capital should ever be taxed. Our tax system is inverted so that it punishes those who work and rewards those who sit on their ass (the wealthy.)
@@Ella-g2m 100+ years ago, incomes weren't even taxed at all, because record keeping wasn't good enough to enable it. Land was taxed because it's pretty difficult for someone to deny that they own land. Oh how the tables have turned.
This is fantastically made, I'm glad you took the time to do this.
The system is working - just as intended
It surprises me why everybody gets really worked up about recession and inflation data. Inflation has always existed, and people have been using investments to beat the inflation. The stock market return, for example, always beats inflation. I heard of someone who invested $121k last October, and has grown the portfolio by more than $400k. I need recommendations that can give me similar return.
I would avoid index funds, mutual funds, and specific stocks for the time being. Right now, the best option is a fixed income of five percent. Put money aside for the times when the market really starts to bounce back. most importantly consider financial advisory for informed buying and selling decisions.
A lot of folks downplay the role of advlsors until being burnt by their own emotions. I remember couple summers back, after my lengthy divorce, I needed a good boost to help my business stay afloat, hence I researched for licensed advisors and came across someone of utmost qualifications. She's helped grow my reserve notwithstanding inflation, from $275k to $850k.
This is definitely considerable! think you could suggest any professional/advisors i can get on the phone with? i'm in dire need of proper portfolio allocation
Viviana Marisa Coelho is her name. She is regarded as a genius in her area and works for Empower Financial Services. By looking her up online, you can quickly verify her level of experience. She is well knowledgeable about financial markets.
She appears to be well-educated and well-read. I ran an online search on her name and came across her website; thank you for sharing.
Well edited sir. You're a true gentleman and a scholar!
Some things to note about this situation is that unemployment measures people looking for a job, not people who don’t have a job.
Also the stock market since Covid essentially measures the stock prices of big corporations since the Covid money printing and shutting down of small businesses funneled peoples money into Amazon and Walmart (since they were the only real stores left open), which then got funneled into the stock market since that’s what the rich like using their money on.
That’s why we aren’t in a recession despite so many people struggling to get by. It’s essentially two different economies that are side by side (Capital vs The Real Economy).
Invariably these bubbles burst. Every 40 years brings economic woes and 80 years brings a governmental switch up (George Friedman has a theory on this).
People want the numbers to reflect reality and are understandably impatient due to how desperate they are for their problems to be taken seriously.
Anyone who thinks history is running like a laundry machine on a timer is a fool.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoatit's not exact, but humans, and their systems, do tend to operate on remarkably consistent cycles. Humans aren't really hardwired to handled prosperity or destitution for long periods of time, as they tend to breed aberrant thought patterns and behaviors that disconnect us from reality.
Basically, the whole "hard times breed strong men..." saying rings pretty true throughout history.
Downturns are absolute necessities within systems as they help weed out broken, ill-fitted, or otherwise ineffectual elements within. Our current political system effectively incentivizes kicking the proverbial can down the road - both so a given party or politician can maintain power and so your average person can minimize their immediate discomfort. Money printing to cover government spending or to bail out over-leverage / mismanagement financial institutions are obvious examples of this can kicking behavior, but so are things like the mass importation of foreign peoples or offshoring manufacturing.
@@spnked9516 No they don't, anyone who told you that is a fool trying to read tea leaves. That's not how anything works.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat It’s not like a laundry machine. It’s just people aren’t stupid enough to literally starve to death nor forsake having kids without getting violent. It’s either the rich makes concessions or a French Revolution type scenario happens.
People essentially keep having their money taken by the rich through taxes, government bailouts, inflation, dramatic increases of worker supply vs demand, and stock market manipulation (2008 - Covid). As well as laws being made to make competition with these corporations or the government basically impossible.
The thing is the government is going to go bankrupt, the corporations compliant in lobbying the government for tax payer money are essentially zombie corporations or making irrational decisions that are alienating the customer base that buys from them, and the people have been seeing their money losing value dramatically compared to increased costs. These are inherently unsustainable since they aren’t creating anything tangible, while stealing or regulating from those that are.
It’s not just an economic issue. These are direct causes for political polarization, which is driving this economic and government change.
@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat (my original reply got deleted so here)
Its called homeostasis so it is how it works. If people were getting exactly what they needed all the time then it would be different, but we live in a universe of entropy and scarcity.
When people live in plenty they start doing what they can to safe guard what they have (historically using tax breaks and corruption to do so). When people live in poverty or are pushed into poverty by said corruption they get pissed. There’s a reason we have polarization right now as we are deadlocked between two different groups of sub-elites who can’t get their old benefits back and want to “drain the swamp”.
It’s not that just magically every 40-80 years the economy crashes by the whim of fairy-dust or something, but rather how the economy was back then can’t logically make sense in a world where industrial jobs and college degrees aren’t safe bets, where the internet is a big part of the economy, and giants like Amazon have most peoples money since the small businesses got shut down on top of inflation.
These things can’t remain stable since people aren’t stupid enough to literally starve without fighting. The rich lobbyists will either have to concede or their buildings will burn due to peoples desperation.
Edit: (sources are “Suicide of the West” by Jonah Goldberg, “Bullsh*t jobs” by David graeber, “Alienated America” by Tim carney, summaries of Peter Turchins and George Friedmans books from Hoser and Whatifalthist, summarized versions of the 2008 financial crisis from Cold Fusion and Dj peach cobbler, a summary of Thomas Sowells work from now deleted UA-camr Political Juice, and little information from my high school classes.
I can get individual links for videos if you want, but these books and videos informed my thinking on the matter.)
I am actually happy i came across this video. You talk about deep stuff that everyone can relate to.
I should not be seeing people spend half my minimum wage paycheck on 12 items that aren't meat.
Can you clarify what you mean here?
@@KayKayBayForeverHe doesn't like how a rich person just wastes money that for him would take half a month of hard work to get.
This channel is amazing. Thanks for the perspective shift. Important stuff.
This is the secons video of yours recomended to me and im loving the way you reason and research, you my friend have earned yourself a sub
Fads is quickly becoming one of my favourite channels
I wish so badly that people could listen to and understand this video before voting. And understand that it’s not a bad economy that makes your day to day life harder, it’s the growing inequality of resource and wealth distribution that means you suffer. Thank you for putting this so clearly, it really clarified things for me
Just came across your channel and binged it entirely.
Great work bro.
I am so glad I found this channel. Insightful, delivered soundly, edited well, nicely paced. Please keep it up!!
It's because we live in two economies: The economy of the Investors and Owning Classes, and the economy of everyone else.
If you own things, the Economy has never been better. Property is going up, profits are going up, Your investments are returning growth...
If you work for a living, everything is on fire and it sucks. Wages are stagnant, the price of everything has exploded, And you're going to have to start making difficult choices around the house Despite working two jobs and a side hustle.
Stumbled upon your 'nobody wants kids anymore' video, hopped onto this one, subscribed and now I might binge. Underrated is an understatement.
Straight to the point, clear and concise! Instant like!
I agree with the thesis but find it bizarre that you accept the term "middle class" and contrast it with "working class". Class is a relationship to capital, not an income bracket. One can be working class and middle income at the same time. If you want to redefine these terms, that's fine, but explain it up front (or somewhere). I still can't tell exactly what you mean by them.
Agreed. That’s me. I put in hours but I live comfortably. I tend to call myself lower middle class.
Thank you for researching and planning this video’s structure so well. Excellent quality! I hope your message continues to reach people.
You are so smart and I am inspired by your content! Thank you and looking forward to seeing more of your informative videos.
As a young, self sufficient person today, it is a constant battle just to keep my economic position from declining. The crazy part is that, compared to my peers, I'm doing quite well. My expenses are well managed, i have a modest savings, and finally am going to be back to a sustainable income after a layoff. I still haven't been able to use my supposedly "in demand" degree, but at this point I'm just glad to know I'll be getting a consistent paycheck. Most of my friends have been pushed to move back home by skyrocketing rent prices, and we're really just thankful to have jobs at all. Staying in one place is growth, by comparison.
i've been looking forward to this video ever since you posted the community post. Super interesting because i've seen a bunch of video essays and tik toks just outright stating that we are in a recession.
Not that we want an "equal economy", it's just that those working so much harder than others at the top are getting left out in the cold.
Like you said, 2/3 of new wealth is gained by the top 1%, but think about those assets the bottom 99% will never get access to and use to build their own wealth...
1) If "middle class", wasn't defined nominally then the question is meaningless, to me middle class literally encompasses everyone above the poverty line to people earning high 6 figures, it's a broad class bracket and a better question would've been to ask where they think they are in relation to the top 1%, 10% and the 50th perctile and bottom 10%, you should also ask after this to describe their class bracket through a list of available options or to use a personal descritpor, i.e. destitute, low income, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class, wealthy, rich, etc. Asking one question on "middle class" stithout defining it in relation to something is meaningless and creates distorted and invalid data.
2) The vibecession doesn't exist, people think the economy is shit because it is shit (for them) economists will tout about how the economy is doing so good and its purely psychological but they're not favtoring in inequality into their analysis which is quite literally INSANE.
"The middle class" is an empty concept used to divide people from their interests. Middle of what? Working and rich? If you go to work to pay your bills because you can't live from interest, dividends, and capital gains, the class you're in is working. But they call people "middle" class to get them to think "oh, well I'm not working class, I'm better," and not vote for candidates pushing working class policies.
If food bank usage is at record highs in the UK I don’t think the economy is healthy.
Incredible video. Really hitting the nail on the head here, particularly with the emphasis on the importance of perceptions.
One critique though - it's not that people 'want to believe' they're middle-class, they just massively overestimate the number of people who are poorer than themselves. Their perception is 'well I may be struggling, but... I'm lucky really. I bet them lot have it even tougher!'
But 'them lot' is actually much smaller than people realise. When I show people the distribution of wealth in the UK - directly sourced from the ONS - they simply refuse to believe it. They can't accept that median net household wealth is >£300k, that 1 in 4 pensioners are millionaires, or that only 10% of people have less than £20k household net wealth. There must be something wrong with the statistics because poor people are everywhere, aren't they? And they're actually lucky by comparison... aren't they...?
"The purpose of the system is simply what it does, its not what we wanted to be" im going to jot it down in my commonplace book
The root cause is inflating the amount of currency, which is distributing wealth from those on static wages and holding that currency, to those who understand the corrupted system and leverage debt to buy up limited assets, as currency inflates there is more currency chasing the same amount of limited assets, so those assets appreciate in currency denominated price.
For a specific example, if you buy real estate and rent it out, inflating currency amount causes a rise in real estate price so you can demand a higher monthly rent price, making it easier to pay off the loan for that real estate and not only that, now that you have an asset whose price is rising you can use it as a leverage to borrow even more, so it compounds as long as you are not leveraged too much and forced to default if economic conditions change.
spot on
Sure, we need to balance the budget, which likely isn't going to happen this term.
I foresee a recession lasting 2-3 years, and if inflation continues to surge, the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates soon. Inflation is causing various issues worldwide, such as food shortages, scarcities of diesel and heating fuel, and significant spikes in housing prices, leading to a potential financial market crash. This global downturn could have long-lasting repercussions. Given the current inflation rate of approximately 9%, my main worry is how to optimize my savings and retirement fund, which has remained stagnant at around $300,000, yielding almost no gains for quite some time.
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I’m sure the idea of an invstment-Adviser might sound controversial to a few, but a new study by Motley-fool found out that demand for Financial-Advisers sky-rocketed by over 42% since the pandemic and based on firsthand encounter I can say for certain their skillsets are topnotch. I've accrued north of 580k within 16-months from an initially stagnant Portf0lio worth 85k.
Inflation is over 5% here in the UK, but as we know it's definitely way more than the Government would like to admit. My plan is to earn more passive income and ride this out, can your Investment-adviser assist?
‘’Aileen Gertrude Tippy’’ is her name. She is regarded as a genius in her area and works for Empower Financial Services. She’s quite known in her field, look-her up.
Thanks a lot for this suggestion. I needed this myself, I looked her up, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.
This is so well done! My only request is if you could link your sources in the description!
I dream of a class conscious America
I just stumbled upon your channel recently, but I have to say it’s awesome. I subscribed almost immediately. You’re doing high quality work and not getting the views you deserve. Keep pushing dude👍
Keep up the good work. I love your videos and your approach.
Thank you for opening my eyes just that much wider! I hope worker dignity will be starting to be something pushed again. I feel like we saw a smidgeon of that around the first covid year…
McDonald’s is $20 and the bag of rice I bought for $14 last January was $25 this may. The rice is still about 0.05UsD a day for 3 meals with rice. But it’s at the grocery store and rent day where people feel the economy. Nobody cares about the Dow Jones, the only ones of us who do are the equivalent of speed running mythic raiders in world of Warcraft who do it blindfolded in Korean because it gives it a 0.06% faster load speed 3:12 I was in Japan in July, and the owner of the guest house was lamenting a 20yen increase in price on the vending machines from her time in college… in the 80s. People feel the economy in the prices they remember. I remember $4 Big Macs and real dollar menus
Your work is valuable, thank you for sharing it
i mean it makes sense. No ones wants to believe or admit they are in the lower class. We are humans of emotion!
“The Poor Man's Comfort”
How can twenty-six people possess more
Money than half of the population?
How is it so many world leaders swore
To fix their poverty-ridden nation?
Why does it fall on the poorest people
To pay with their lives for the rich man's spoil?
How can the rich man pray to the steeple
As God's children fall victim to turmoil?
Can the one percent hear the world screaming
When they walk upon our red bloodied ground?
Do they feel the slowing of hearts beating
As death reaps the poor, starved, homeless, drowned?
Now the wealthy bathe in their bloodless bath
Soon they will drown in their angry God's wrath
I wrote this in high school a couple years back and I feel like it fits
very well done video, this was my first video i've seen from you and im confident it won't be the last (:
My mom (ethnically we're Russian Jews, my other side of extended family are Ukrainians) wants us to move to USA, while I always pivoted on living in Europe if Israel is not available for many cultural and sociological reasons. She's enterpreneurial and ambitious in her late 50s, cancer survivor and top-manager in national level fast fashion companies of 30 years. I am in IT, much more laid back and have neurological issues that require work-life balance to prevent burnouts and breakdowns that can render me inactive for months. And every time she brings it up I put her cousin's, observing Jew who moved to the States in 90s, built a wealthy life there, but can't retire now because of insurance costs, case before her and ask 'Mom, and what happens if one of us gets really sick? You're not young, I am not sturdy, da died aged 40 to ALS, we can't afford getting ill there. I can't afford giving birth there. Is this what you want for me?'.
Russia has African level of wealth inequality. I am not looking to live in another empire that fails terribly to adress internal issues of its population in this or next lifetime. The world may burn, I ain't coming close to any supapowahs, no matter how bustling their economies may get on paper, because I only want piece and quiet life. Leave this rat race, guys and gals, save yourselves, move if you can.
Interesting, and I sympathize, but only the rich can move. Wish you and your mom well.
I would recommend either germany, the netherlands or austria. Good Luck
@@mirai9150 I'll stick with Slavic countries, thanks.
@@VerminaeSupremacy ok cool. But good luck anyways
@@funkymunky you can live a decent life for $1000 a month in Vietnam, live kinda-sorta ok in Moscow renting flat in a commie block on the outskirts or live in cupboard in NY. Who's wealthy? Is it only money that counts? Or maybe other things count, like language and marketable skills, diaspora present to provide support and services, your original citizenship providing protection worldwide for yearly tax, ability to prove education by taking exam instead of spending years in local college. Wealth inequality, which this video covered extensively, maybe?
Excellent video, people always say "its better than ever" yeah, for the select few. Society should be judged on the average person or even better, the worst off, the entire point of living as a group is to help each other through hard times and ensure the least amount of people suffer.
Very good analysis! I have always accepted that the system of promotion and wealth distribution was not fair in this country. Rich people are some of the laziest people among us!
Amazing videos, glad my algorithm put me onto your channel. Subscribed!!
We ARE in a recession and we have been since 2022.
The simplest answer is the metrics economists use dont xare at all about human suffering or quality of life. Meanwhile, since thats all we care about, we use our level of financial struggle to guage the economy, and they dont
Thank you for the usual high quality videos Fads! It's always good to see a new video from you :)
I do want to push back slightly, not on the conclusion, that something needs to change, that much is obvious... But to ask the question WHAT needs to change? Otherwise we start going down the doomer cycle all over again.
Your channel has always been realistic, but positive. This one though... I don't see the usual ray of light from you. Is everything all okay?
I think to answer that question, it's important to first understand why inequality has grown so much. I'd recommend checking out the channel Gary's Economics, he has some great videos explaining how wealth flows around society.
The way things are set up currently in countries like the US and UK, it is inevitable that more and more wealth gets accumulated by the people at the very top, while the rest of society gets poorer. I'm convinced that it's impossible for this to change without taxing wealth and thereby redistributing it to everyone else. Fixing the housing market to make it easier for normal people to buy a home, and harder for rich people to buy loads of houses, would also go a long way towards improving the quality of life of the average person.
I like this video and your vids in general but sometimes it feels like you look so closely at numbers and graphs you miss the bigger picture behind then
This is such an important video, it needs a lot more views. It's criminal how absent the issues of class and inequality are from so much of so called left wing politics today.
"Most people aren't actually middle class in the way they want to believe they are. If we are willing to accept that, then we can start to actually inquire why a system that's performing great isn't necessarily reflecting those results. Instead of jumping to the conclusion that "I'm not earning a lot of money because the economy is doing badly," we need to figure out how to transition to a mode of thinking where we can accept that the economy is doing well, but it's a distribution problem rather than a wealth problem.
Our perceptions of class affect how fair we believe the economy inherently is, and therefore influence how we frame our own financial performance within the wider scheme of things. People will go to great lengths to maintain this perception of being middle class."
Thank you for the thought provoking content!
So, Honestly I personally tend to use difficulty of getting a job and layoffs as my main subjective indicators of how well the "economy" is doing.
Often times wages are better when the economy is doing worse if you can actually keep/get a job.
Companies have just stopped hiring. They were slow to hire for the last couple years. But hiring rates and unemployment has gotten even worse since this spring.
However, on the good side companies are firing less. And most of the mass layoffs are in the cylical tech sector for programmers and such.
The perception of a recession is useful, because it makes workers less likely to quit jobs they hate in search of better paying ones.
(Which is componded by the difficulty in finding a new job.)
A very interesting video as always. I'm going to try going a little philosophical here, hope you can forgive the amateur and underdeveloped attempt...
As someone seemingly determined to struggle in life, I like to believe and promote all things "good" like fairer financial distribution, improving parenting in order to reduce childhood PTSD and that kind of thing. However, there is something in my psyche that pushes back which comes from trying to take it to a logical conclusion: imagining a world of happy equality and confident trauma free people, life would cease to have meaning. It is the very challenges that so frustrate me that make life "worthwhile". So I guess the takeaway is that I need not do anything, but the whole reason I am here is to do my best to do something.
GDP has never been a good measure of how the people in a nation itself are doing. When your gdp is only bouyed by people forced to get muliple jobs, investment, and mass migration, theres a issue.
The problem is inflation adjusted income. it's been crumbling for 40 years
Intelligent commentary, thanks.
I like looking at the economy from a psychological perspective
Have you seen house prices? Rent prices? How the fuck is this not a recession?
If you dont have a mortage.....you are not middle class. No matter what your salary. Cash earnings are not wealth or assetts, they are a means of exchange.
If you own your real estate outright...
In the current world, the key to financial success is to do work that the market wants, not what one wants to do personally, or is most comfortable doing. There are so few people who actually do this, it means that the opportunities are abundant.
The fact the government had an entire decade of low interest rate loans where they could have done huge investment in housing, technology, transport yet instead did nothing, is very depressing. Almost as much as how much money we lost, by not setting up a sovereign wealth fund like norway did with it's oil.
Edit : saying Norway population is smaller is a revelation to nobody it is worth £1.15 tillion, it is nothing to dismiss. Let alone the fact it is our oil.
I am holding a cash position right now, of about 300k. I know a dip is supposed to be the buying opportunity, so whats the best stocks to dive into, in this recession?
Diversification is key to good investing even in downturns. I personally dabble in stocks, and my first rule is survival before flipping for chunky gains. I suggest you seek professional advice
Ideally, advisors are perfect reps for investing jobs and at first-hand experience, my portfolio has yielded over 350%, since covid-outbreak to date, summing up nearly $1m.
Mind sharing details of your advisor please? I'm in dire need of one.
Aaron Morgan Bell
Google his name
Love your videos! Thank you.
we are 100% in a recession. the issue here is purely semantic and the fact that the rich and powerful are the metric for how the economy is doing and not the average person.
There is no theory being used, the economy is doing well* but to the wrong people, Housing prices are still at record highs, Food prices still going up.
The issue is that the benefits of a growing economy are not being transferred to the right people... You would assume that Innovation would lead to falling prices on everything but that has not been the case.
Also it is a wealth problem, the Uk has a very high wealth inequality which means the top 1% own roughly 50% of land and buildings, this allows them to keep increasing prices on the houses they sell/rents since effectively they have a monopoly
You’re a really cool guy, thank you for informing us :)
For the people in comments criticizing the existance of the notion of middle class. In my experience it is always left leaning politicians that keep proposing new definitions of middle class that decrease the lower barrier to be considered part of it. It is all populism and is not a problem with the term itself.
In any society that values private property more than than anything else, the consolidation of wealth is inevitable. Anti-trust laws are little more than words on paper, as profound societal catastrophe is necessary to motivate their enforcement.
instead of measuring the economy, we should measure income inequality. That's usually more closely correlated with happiness, and is probably why we feel things are bad.
Also inflation hits the poor hardest. rich peoples assets just adjust the poor don’t have that insulator
Nope, they create, government prints money to bail them out
We are in a recession
Thank you for uploading such an insightful and interesting video 🙂