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Comment by 0zemp2c | Hacker News Reader

stagflation...its in Germany, coming to the US...there is only one way out: we get poorer

The US is not getting poorer nor is inflation still out of control

this is called "hopium" one-liner.. look at the demographics.. twelve billionaires and 2.6 million adults having trouble paying monthly bills in my US West coastal area. Asset bubbles notably residential housing. capital-flight..

There is a trend that some people lean heavily on government intervention to solve their problems, rather than exercising personal initiative. This dependence can exacerbate issues in densely populated regions, where high living costs, limited housing, and food security concerns are rampant, despite surprisingly low out-migration rates.

However, alternatives are readily available. Inland areas beyond the coastlines offer affordable living and plentiful housing.

> There is a trend that some people lean heavily on government intervention to solve their problems

But enough about government subsidies given to Elon!

> some people lean heavily on government intervention to solve their problems

this lecture is better pointed at the naive.. look at system rules in place, benefiting "stall" politics and high tax on labor, local govt zoning, and access to capital projects. You explain to me how "Noah's Bagels" makes multi-hundred franchise with high-end remodelling, to sell bagels. A person "exercising personal initiative" goes out of business in less than half a year! Also construction contractors..

hollow platitudes work when the system is flush.. dont be surprised to get serious pushback with that

Government is not able to fix the peoples' problems. Entrenched poverty and homelessness has been a problem in New York [3] and California for decades, but even though the same party has been in power for similar decades -- New York has been under single-party control since 1975 [1] and California since 1959 [2] -- the problems remain. There is no motivation to solve the peoples' problems, only "lectures pointed at the naive" around election time.

For the individual, the only realistic option is out-migration to lower density areas.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Ne...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Ca...

[3] https://council.nyc.gov/data/homeless/

> New York has been under Democrat control since 1975 [1] and California since 1959 [2] -

Neither of those claims are supported by those links (and even the control that actually is shown by those links may be misleading, in that it ignores things like “controlling all of the separately elected executive offices and having majorities in both houses of the legislature is insufficient to govern California since it takes a legislative supermajority to make tax changes that involve any increases, and, prior to 2014, to even pass an annual budget”.)

An inability to operate government even under single-party conditions strengthens my argument.

Its not “single party conditions” if another party holds enough seats to block critical legislation.

Feel free to post a source for your claims that the party with 5+ decades of majority control is excused from its failures to alleviate the problems of its most desperate citizens because of spoiler votes.

In any case, the fact that that situation is even possible is support enough for folks to move to lower density areas.

> The US is not getting poorer

then why am I being asked to bail out a generation's college loans?

then why is food bank use at an all time high?

then why are more six-figure earners reporting to be living paycheck-to-paycheck?

then why is personal credit card debt at an all time high?

The US as a whole can get richer while the average citizen gets poorer through the power of inequality.

> then why am I being asked to bail out a generation's college loans?

Because handing out money tend to give votes.

> then why am I being asked to bail out a generation's college loans

because the previous generations fucked it up and pulled the ladders up behind them.

Last two are because of YOLO spending. There is high inflation in useless luxury goods like fancy bags.

> then why am I being asked to bail out a generation's college loans?

Wouldn't that fit perfectly with the comment you're responding to? Because the money is there. In fact I'd expect us to be bailing people out as we get richer. Less govern

> then why is food bank use at an all time high?

Food insecurity is no where near an all time high. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/fo...

So perhaps there are just more people! (Anything can be an "all time high" or "record X" if you ignore this fact). Or local trust in food banks has risen. Or food banks have more money now to hand out more food.

> then why are more six-figure earners reporting to be living paycheck-to-paycheck?

Because the popular report you're citing here, sponsored by lending service LendingClub, includes buying groceries on a credit card as "living paycheck to paycheck" even if you're paying it off each month and only doing it for the points.

> then why is personal credit card debt at an all time high?

Because there are more people! Or are you actually talking about debt as a percent of income which is a more realistic stat? Because people spend less on their debt now than almost ever. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP

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