“Just getting by” – Feudalism 2.0

26 Oct “Just getting by” – Feudalism 2.0

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-outpaces-income.html

Make up your mind, CNBC. Which is it?

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/29/fewer-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-starts-to-ease.html

Our media talks out of both sides of its mouth, I swear.

So . . . that escalated.

This is one reason why I think it’s important to ignore what the fat cats say. Usually, it’s either hot air or intentional misinformation, IMO. Watch what they do. If they are patting you on the head and saying, “Now, now. Everything’s gonna be just fine” as they are building bunkers and hoarding food and gold, what does that tell you?
–https://medium.com/@sara_causey/looky-over-here-at-the-labor-market-b0093d3d78f7

“As rising prices continue to outpace wage gains, families are finding less cushion in their monthly budget.

As of September, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — near the 64% historic high hit in March. A year ago, the number of adults who felt strained was closer to 57%.

‘Consumers are not able to keep up with the pace that inflation is increasing,’ said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer.

‘Being employed is no longer enough for the everyday American,’ Nayar said. ‘Wage growth has been inadequate, leaving more consumers than ever with little to nothing left over after managing monthly expenses.'” (emphasis mine)
–https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-outpaces-income.html

Exactly. Being employed is no longer enough. Now sure – I could sit here and tell you about the importance of cultivating side hustles or trying to come up with a game plan to fleece other people. (Jim Clair lays out the blueprint of how so-called success gurus do it here: https://jimclair.com/billcomplete1-why-successful-people-dont-teach-success/)

But I’d rather ask the question of WHY has it come down to this? When we look at the size of the middle class in 1971 versus 2021:

Image courtesy of Pew. The entire article can be found here: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/

it’s clear that fewer people are middle class. Meanwhile, there are more lower income and upper income individuals, which lends itself to the conclusion: more people are joining the wealthy class and the low income class, but fewer are becoming middle class. Perhaps the old yarn is true: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

“When asked how often tenants leave her parks, she answered:

‘When they die. They stay forever, they have no place to go.’

As Esther Sullivan, author of Manufactured Insecurity, says:

‘The vulnerability of these residents is part of the business model. This is a captive class of tenant.’

And the opportunity for exploitation is huge:

20 million poor Americans live in trailer parks.”
–https://survivingtomorrow.org/not-content-to-destroy-affordable-housing-investors-are-now-buying-trailer-parks-and-jacking-rents-f1e9b5d2a60b

The thing is: when you look at one full-time job not being enough to sustain you, the manufactured insecurity goes beyond renting an apartment or a trailer. It starts to look more like workplace feudalism + living situation feudalism = feudalism.