.. of centralizing things for efficiency though, we tend to start to build fragility into the system as an issue impacting a centralized unit will stop or reduce most or all product of that type. Inertia kicks in and as we scale up the costs often increase astronomically for things- an issue US automakers were broken by (along with poor management and culture) and foreign makers have faced as well as they grew on the world stage. Centralization also generally means centralized ownership- which generally places large amounts of wealth back into the hands of a small number of entities who must then be trusted to use that wealth to create responsibility. I dislike the idea of corporations as people but, we can use the concept here to illustrate that it doesn’t particularly matter if the majority of wealth exists with 10 people in their private funds or 10 corporations in theirs. Either way the same 10 or whatever people are probably making the decisions,

But it ends up in a place where what we see isn’t that a small group holding all the wealth is inclined or even motivated to spend that wealth in ways that are socially or economically beneficial to anyone but themselves or a small group of people. There is a bit of a loop- efficiency in terms of resources and capital as well as logistics and such is generally best achieved through monolithic design. We don’t need or necessarily benefit from having multiple people duplicate work, especially when that work requires costly overhead or large areas to set up production facilities to create goods which can be produced at existing facilities which aren’t operating near full capacity. In simple terms- you and your spouse don’t both need to drive your 7 passenger cars to go to the same bar to have drinks with the two of you. It wastes fuel and other resources and arguably you don’t even both need a vehicle to begin with as you’re duplicating existing costly machinery. In the processes…

I just don’t think people understand the level of wealth disparity- people making $20-50k a year will make around $1-2 million in a lifetime. That means most people in developed countries will earn 1 to MAYBE 5 million dollars in their lives. $30 billion dollars is the life earnings of over 3,000 relatively high paid people. Two big take aways there. The first is that is a HUGE disparity. The second is is that if you put that $30 billion to subsidizing the lives of individuals, you could t even keep a small, rural town cared for a single generation. So of course the answer isn’t “eat the rich,” the net impact of their combined wealth spread out is not actually that huge, and once a generation of people have eaten and drank and consumed most of that money- those resources are gone. We do need to make sure money gets invested into the sort of large scale projects that generate long term benefits and lead to the availability of new resources and support a growing population.

Can we imagine for a moment what might have been done with that money had that company not paid it in bonuses and instead reinvested it in themselves? Created jobs? Invested in more robust supply and distribution? I mean- automakers were hit hard by supply line issues- tens of billions of dollars could have gone a good ways to creating internally controlled and resistant supply lines for example. Or perhaps investing in employees- pensions, training and education budgets, raises or bonuses for those doing the work and so forth. I can think of quite a few uses personally a business like that could put such a sum to… but it went to one guy, who used it on a vanity project that likely caused more economic harm than good.

I don’t know why this got a DV let alone why whoever did it doesn’t seem to have anything constructive or of substance to say. Wealth disparity is a major driving force behind many major economic issues.
Supply chain and distribution are fragile systems and…. In ye Olden days a bit of advice was always to consider wether you wanted a stock that paid dividends. Getting a little bit of money on a successful quarter is a good feeling, but the theory went that companies that didn’t pay dividends reinvested that money into building the business- good for the market and good for your stock value. In theory.
But…. Well… one guy made enough money off his company bonuses that he bought a leading global telecom company for the cost of the gdp of some countries. An existing company his purchase added no value to other than arguably “leadership” and a bunch of lost jobs and the halo effect.

Hating cats… ALL cats…. Yeah. That’s a bit…. Off.

.. from German as we know it or German as has been spoken in centuries. At the same time that these north western protoGerman offshoots were evolving into English, other German languages were evolving into modern German and certain very similar languages. So the two evolved independently but did have some exposure and effect on each other at various points after the initial split from proto German. The languages are more like cousins than siblings. The hardest part of foreign languages for most speakers is pronunciation because the sounds used in different languages and times and such vary. In most cultures children and babies are known to have distinctive pronunciation and truncate words or sounds often after 4+ tears of speech and immersion. Hearing and speaking sounds we aren’t used to isn’t generally easy. So german is like a cousin to English.

Or you just get into theater and have a few “mind expanding” trips and the robes- you don’t know where the robes came from but you know they are right. It’s usually one of the two unless you become a flamboyant reality Tv judge.

lol. That’s a cute and sad and relatable story. For what it is worth I would surely think your cat is adorable as I am sure many do and would. But it’s true- I’ve met people who didn’t like chocolate and there seems to be a wide reach of raisin haters which baffles me (I’m not a monster, I do agree raisins don’t belong in certain things- which is almost any food you bite that has a raisin in it which is not a raisin or does not specifically have “raisin” in the name.) but I suppose the world has many sorts.

I don’t have a crush on her- BUT, that just means more for you, and I do appreciate her acting and interviews and find her to be quite classy and certainly a beautiful woman if not to my personal tastes.

lol. That brings me back.

Certain critical goods or services like real estate and transportation and educations and day care have skyrocketed in price disproportionate to the market and these are things that are all but necessary for the vast majority of people, especially those who hope to improve their lot in life. While paying the astronomically disproportionate prices for those things and the somewhat normal prices for other goods and services, one finds themselves in an affordability crisis.

So that is certainly an affordability crises. One in which even purchasing a car to have a means to transport oneself to economic and life opportunities can be out of reach, and a home is not only further from reach but cad payments are a major method to utilize the credit to build up to being accepted for home ownership. As many “welfare critics” will point out- “poor” people often have iPads and iPhones and- how dare they- perhaps toys for the children or some nice clothes. Even those with very little money can afford these, and outside of Atlas Shrugged fantasy land- these incremental purchases generally won’t take the slightest bite out of something like a home- especially in markets where homes start at $500k+ or more than 10x the average yearly wage for a person. A big ass Tv was $500 or less 10 years ago and is $500 or less today. Trendy sneakers have averaged $100-200 retail since the 90’s and still are. The inflation isn’t really there in appreciable amounts across the board.

So a person who could make the monthly payment towards owning a house is paying more than the cost to own the house to live in it while paying for someone else to own it, and that really doesn’t leave a lot of money to save towards being able to buy a house. And those calculations didn’t even include any budget for personal enjoyment or lord forbid- a person with that situation and dependents like children,
Or existing debts. Ouch.

In the US average is $700+ new car and $500 used. Generally it is recommended one doesn’t spend more than 10% of their monthly income on a car- at $1400 that’s $140 a month- which doesn’t go far. A car costing $140 a month will likely need more upkeep and have a shorter service life as well- other expenses. It is also the case that the fuel mileage is likely to be lower as that usually represents an older less efficient vehicle. A difference of a few MPG can add up to over $700 a year for the average driver who travels 10,000 miles a year. Oh. Don’t forget insurance- and with a loan you’ll need full coverage. Depending on age and driving record and zip- that’s can be average $100-500 a month. You still need to eat. You may want or need basic healthcare or emergency care at some point. If we ignore retirement savings, we still don’t end up with much money to use towards things like investing- in education and training, health and wellness, or things like stocks etc. to try to “dig out.”

.. for if there is a total disaster or a lawsuit (such as a tenant gets hurt on your property etc..) and things like that. Ok. And then you probably want profits. So a house you are paying a $500 note a month on might need to rent for $800+ a month on the low side.
Sooo… if your Tennant can pay $800 a month, and $800 is bigger than $500… why are they renting…? Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to rent- you move a lot or whatever. But… most often it’s because they can’t afford to buy. How can they not afford to buy if they pay $800 in rent and you’re paying $500 to own? Well… they need the credit and savings and such to get the loan. They need the cash for the down and upfront costs. They need the debt to income ratio and savings to get a loan. If your renter makes $1400 a month, that $800 leaves them with $600 a month cash. They need to commute to work (most likely) and buy clothes and household items with that. Pay utilities, likely they own a car so may have a car payment which..

But let’s say the home is $100k and you’re getting at a not lowest but not highest possible $13k including moving costs. And let’s just make it easy and say 0% interest and you’re paying $500 a month out of pocket on the home payment. Ok. Now if you rent that house out- you’re probably going to want to rend it for more that $500 a month. Other than the desire to not be losing money so someone can live in a house you bought- you still probably have property tax, you’ll need to include that in the rent. Houses need things over time so you have to calculate an amount that allows you to save for an eventual roof or water heater etc. renting is a liability. Your remnants will use toilets and doors and such- and things wear down and break even if the tenants take care of things- and more so if they don’t. So you need to budget for that along with various insurance and legal fees and possibly management weeds and taxes that can come with renting. You also may want a little bit of money…

Now consider the economics on a personal level- if a home costs $100,000- this home will generally be fairly small and likely in a rural or otherwise more isolated environment. A minimum down would be 10%- $10,000, but that would also potentially make the loan harder to secure and require the costs of mortgage insurance on top of other costs. But ignore that right now. So $10k going in plus the need to have enough savings to float the loan if you enter hardship. You will need an average around 6% for closing costs and all in you may need 12-16% of the purchase price to get into your home on top of a 10% down since there may be inspections and other costs. Ideally your down will be 25% or more. You’ll also want those savings for any expenses to your new home, and then you’ll want home owners insurance and of course there are bills and likely annual property tax.

Housing is critical in this equation because ideally, less than 30% of income would go to housing, but in competitive markets even those making $60-90k a year can have trouble finding housing for below 40-60% of their income. In less desirable markets the earning potential and average wage is lower, but housing affordability is still an issue. Most places with sizable populations have found themselves facing increasingly visible and numerous homelessness. That isn’t a coincidence. Increasing housing costs place ownership further from the reach of many who must have the down payment, credit, and finances to buy homes that have increased on average by $100k or more over a short period across the board. Stock wealth and other booms along with foreign buyers and property investors push “cash sales” and bidding wars which makes things more difficult. What results is a rental market where to pay costs of ownership and upkeep and make any profits, land lords must charge higher rents.

In fact compared to foreign currency, the USD has been doing favorably on the whole- US travelers have found that most of Asia, much of Europe, and many other places around the globe represent great values for travel and commerce right now. Domestically US wages have somewhat stagnated- following a long standing trend of 40 odd years where income for certain positions and for wealthy too earners has increased while “rank and file” workers have remained static by and large save for occasional minimum wage boosts which help keep the lowest earners just as poor (thanks to inflation) but don’t usually result in boosts to mid tier earners. So at the lowest income there have been increases that largely keep equilibrium and highest earners have seen increases while those in between are still better generally than the lowest earners but are not quite able to keep up.

The puns were appreciated and clever. Lol.
I only recently found out the Babylon bee was conservative. The way most of their jokes read I thought it was making fun of conservative news because many of the headlines and messages were so close to what I see in real conservative news- I thought the joke was in spoofing “Fox” type news and their viewers. Then I saw some of their stuff that clearly poked fun at liberal politicians or ideas and thought: “oh goody. It’s like a more centrist onion and they just look for idiocy across the isles..”
Then I saw MORE of their jokes and was like- “ok… for parody this is getting too spot on…” then I read somewhere a mention of them as conservative/right and was like… ahhh. Lightbulb. So a month or so ago I would t have gotten this joke- but now it is rather funny.

.. perhaps not even then. Soviet Russia was a crap stain tans there were enough brave and intelligent Russians that once the totalitarian grip began to weaken, they took the chance to rod the world and themselves of that crap stain. Sadly, too many Soviets were left and found their way to power and now once more citizens of a “United” Russian government and abroad find themselves suffering at the grand ambitions of the “little czars” that emerged after they overthrew the “greed” and “misdeeds” and “corruption” of the big czar. The one credit I can give the Soviet government is that they fought Nazis and ended a monarchy. To the citizens I can credit many things as they struggle and continue to struggle under a government that is foul and rotten.