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Trends. We see trends everywhere. Fashion Trends tell us what garments are so cool that you the average citizen can never afford them. Because obviously coolness has a dollar amount and it’s associated with the amount of commas in the number. More commas, more money, more problems, but also more coolness.
We also have the trend of your exes showing up in your life again just when things are looking good to shake things up! Take a hint exes, and just move on! It’ll be ok. We’re all happy now and you can happy too, but not with us. I know that got a bit too real for some of you, but we’re going to be ok.
One of largest trends that a lot of people seem to ignore is the trends of Capitalism. Much like the fashion trends these trends are only for cool people. In terms of Capitalism, coolness is determined by how close to death you are, where do you land on the sociopathy spectrum and whether or not you look like the Monopoly man.
Speaking of which, why haven’t we seen the Monopoly Woman yet? Seems like the second that feminism started trending, elites would have assimilated that idea to make money off and avoid the pitchforks! I want to see a Monopoly Woman! Sociopathy and Greed doesn’t really see gender, only humans are obsessed with what gender is greedier than the other. The Competition of Greed is the epitome of Greed. That’s the only way to win Greed and the board game Monopoly!
Anyway, according to my favorite Economist, Dr. Richard Wolff, there is a trend in Capitalism that apparently only the Soothsayers in the upper classes can see; Market Crashes. In the realm of Capitalism the market will crash every 7-8 years. The last crash was in 2008 and now Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are calling for another crash in the next year or so.
Ok, is it odd to anyone else that Big Banks and Financial Institutions are basically calling for an economic downturn, but still want us to invest in this economy which is going to fail? This is like taking a flight and as you get to the airport, the wings of the plane are on fire. Don’t get on the flight! Get some answers about why the wings are on fire but we’re still told to get on the flight & buckle our seatbelts like that’s going to do anything! All that’s saying is that we have to strap into our demise!
Based on this information alone, the only product that should flying off the shelves is mattresses so we can hide all our hard earned minimum wage money from the Big Banks that ONCE AGAIN area hedging their bets against the economy they run.
As Professor Wolff points out, this is exactly what this market needs because at this point the driving force of the market is debt. Not only in the advent of credit cards, but also the fact that the ‘08 crash was a product of the debt bubble bursting. And it doesn’t matter if you had a receipt, there was no returning that.
I mean after 08 a lot of us said “Hey guys here you can have this economy back. We think it’s broken and we didn’t do anything to it. In fact we actually left it at your place a few weeks before it broke! We didn’t really even get to use to that much.”
And the banks said “No, you guys keep that one. We’re going to go to the government and ask for a new one that works for us instead. Our bill is in the mail. Also can you cover lunch this one, we’re super short right now. Don’t worry you’ll be propped back up in no time when we push Trickle Down again!“
Debt is also important because it creates a cycle of desperation to land jobs at any pay rate. After the crash a lot of people had to return to job market and they did it by taking whatever job they could. This also happened to college kids who couldn’t get a job with their degree, so they worked whatever jobs were available. It’s like dating your best friend, because they’re just there all the time. There’s no real passion, but there is a lot of convenience and a membership card!
That’s what getting jobs at Sears or any fast food restaurant or Starbucks is. They’re just there all the time. Eventually we go, “FINE! Yes, I’ll settle. Maybe now my mom will stop being disappointed in me!”
I had this problem. Not the best friend issue. I was in the best friend zone which is like the Negative Zone from Marvel Comics and the Phantom Zone from DC comics combined, but specifically for your heart and penis. I had the problem of not getting a job in my degree. I worked at a shoe store with a very expensive Graphic Design degree. And the people that were buying $200 leather shoes, that they can only afford because they were part of the problem, didn’t care that I thought the logo of the brand looked a little too aged and didn’t fit the contemporary trends in design.
Creating desperation to accept people back into the job market is essential for Capitalism to funnel money upward like a reverse tornado that blows through creating more inequality in its path rather than destruction. The destruction is just a by-product. Like how cursing and death threats are by product of the traffic created by a light dusting of snow.
People lost jobs in 2008 & 2009. A lot of them are now back in the labor force, but a lot white men about 30-55 didn’t make it back in because they wanted better jobs or at least the same quality of jobs they had before. But eventually the wells of compassion dry up and out of desperation they take the job at a lower pay. This means the corporations don’t have to raise wages as long as they create a desperate economic condition.
This is like the abusive ex that reminds you that the reason you’ve been single for a year after they dated you isn’t because you’re more career oriented and got your life back in order, but it’s because you’re unlovable and only their magic genitalia can save you. You are loveable and you’re worth it. Economically and Romantically. Don’t date Capitalism again. Not until they go see Socialism for a few therapy sessions.
Ok, so we’ve got an idea of some of the problems surround the trends in Capitalism and how they affect the job market, but what can we do about this? What are some solutions to this problem? Are they just perpetual trends that we can’t get rid of like the indefinite return of ponchos and jean jackets!? Will Capitalism ever stop calling! We’ve blocked the number like 12 times! Take a hint!
Well no, not really. This might surprise you but there is a rich person that is on the side of the working class. Nick Hanauer, whom some of you may know from his “Banned TED Talk”, addresses how we can work on a Middle Out Economics. But before we get to that let’s learn a little more about Nick Hanauer himself. Why should we trust someone from the upper crust of society? Side note you should always trust the upper crust of pies because they’re delicious!
Hanauer is an entrepreneur who invested in various companies and started several innovative companies over the years. He was the first non-family member to invest in Amazon. He put in about $45,000 and was on the board till about 2000. He left, cashing out his stocks at over $300 million, which begs the question: Was Nick Hanauer restraining the greed and evil of Jeff Bezos!? And since Hanauer was the first non-family member to invest in Amazon, does that mean if we look into the genetics of the Bezos family that we might be able to find a gene for evil? And let’s be honest, doesn’t Bezos just look like a younger Monopoly Man?
Hanauer has co-founded over a dozen companies, including aQuantitative, which he sold to Microsoft for $6.4 billion. He’s been a constant advocate for a $15 minimum wage and has spent a lot of time funding ideas and ventures that have interested him rather than just making himself richer and richer.
Imagine if most people were able to earn this kind of money. What would we invest in? If you claim that all people will do is sit at home all day eating Cheetos, masturbating and playing video games while occasionally learning how to play Wonderwall on the acoustic guitar, you’re no better than King Republican & NeoCon Poster Boy, Paul Ryan. You also don’t have any faith in humanity and are contributing to the problem of keeping people unenthused in their passions and their own intelligence.
Look at Nick Hanauer who had billions of dollars. He didn’t have to do anything. He could’ve sat at home and pleasured himself to his rendition of Oasis covers, but he’s not. He’s looking for a better purpose for himself. The purpose is help people reach a place where the work they do matches the pay they get. He’s investing in people to be on an equal footing so they can invest in things that interest them. Nick Hanauer is one of the proofs that progressive economic strategies will work!
Ok, so what the hell is Middle Out Economics. This idea rejects the neo-classical model of the Capitalist economy that has booms and busts and works mechanically. It basically suggests that working on bolster the middle class will mean a consistently steady economy. So this trend of banks & financial institutions predicting a crash wouldn’t be the norm, and neither would it be accepted.
It means that by encouraging those in the lower and middle classes, companies can fund and invest in their employees who drive innovative progresses forward, rather than exploit them for the vague idea of the greater good. The advancements we’d make go up exponentially and it starts by paying employees what they’re actually worth rather than a meager amount so you keep the majority of the fruits of labor.
Hanauer’s idea is pretty simple really. If you pay someone a LIVABLE wage, then the employees themselves will be able to afford the company’s products. Right now, they can’t. Which means there’s no money moving around in the economy. Rich people don’t buy stuff at a higher rate than poor people, in fact they probably buy less. They themselves are the average consumer. Which means for having all that wealth they don’t do much more than me or you to improve the economy. Despite the fact that they are far more capable of doing more to help the economy than me or you.
In fact by hoarding that much wealth they’re doing a disservice to the economy because there’s now less capital moving the gears of Capitalism. Which in turns why Capitalism has to invent things like credit, debt, and is renewing the newest season of hoarders. Which is of course focusing on how the wealthy have hoarded their money and are crippling economies. It’ll have to be a YouTube show because most corporate TV stations won’t show you the truth. And eventually it’ll be deplatformed for calling bankers and corporate elites a bunch a Money Grubbing Greed Parasites giving society the constant diarrhea of inequality. Should be a pretty good show.
Growing income inequalities will lead to a Neo-Feudalist State. That’s what happened in France back in the day. People who were at the bottom led a violent revolution to equalize the economy to get a more prosperous life and if the trends of the current economic regime continues, that’s exactly where we’re headed. There’s no examples of lasting inequalities, they will lead to a violent revolution or police state. And look at France again! They dawned on bright vests to let the elites know that we’re here and we see your bullshit and we ain’t takin’ any more of it!
Middle Out economics would mean that economy isn’t in a constant state of flux. Nature is about balance, and we’re a part of nature henceforth we should act like it. We’ve created an economic force that rests in imbalance and is due to implode. And based on the way things are right now, we’re racing to see which concept will win out. Which Amazon is going to be the global force. The forest that holds more secrets that vastness of the internet or the website that’s collapsing both the internet and the human soul.
Giving people a LIVABLE wage would mean that cooks and servers of high end restaurants can afford the food they cook rather than be Slaves to Gluttons. Apple employees can afford the computers and phones they make, fix and sell, without going into debt or giving up a few meals. And sure I know there’s a few of us out there that would give up a few meals for the ability to tweet with our thoughts, but we shouldn’t have to.
And by the way, tweeting at the speed of thoughts would be the worst idea ever. Do you know what’s in our thoughts? Twitter would become a porn, revenge and an Oasis cover band site in a matter of seconds.
The opposition of idea claims that giving the rich tax breaks and allowing them reinvest in their employees is the way you boost the economy. If that idea was valid, it would’ve worked out the last 30 times we tried it. Tax cuts to rich only help the rich get richer and wear their avarice on their sleeve like shitty insignia of inequality.
Since 1980, the wages of CEOs have increased by 500%, and the wages of the worker stay stagnant. The minimum wage hasn’t gone up in a lot of states in over a decade, meanwhile the price of damn near everything keeps going up. Trickle down isn’t working when the top has all the money and there’s none for those making them the money. Paying people a livable wage means less unemployment, less welfare state, better tax payers and more innovation for all of us to enjoy.
And this has proven to work. Washington State, where Nick Hanauer has participated in rallies for a $15/hr livable wage, has shown improvement by increasing wages. Washington state’s minimum wage is $12/hour as of the start of 2019, compared to $9.32 in 2014. Unemployment is 4.6% which is 2% lower than what it was in 2014 when his TED Talk came out! Increasing the minimum wage decreased unemployment. Which means if we actually get to a LIVABLE wage, which is over $15/hour at this point, we’d probably have way less unemployment!
And the term ‘Trickle Down’ should’ve alarmed us in the 80s! All they said was a small droplets of money would return to the people, infrequently. Like the economy has a swollen prostate. And the rich are causing it to keep swelling up. Someone stimulate it so it releases what we need to survive!
Side bar: I’m not saying we need semen to survive. It’s just an analogy so all the third wave feminist can put their tablets down and relax.
There’s proof time and time again that Trickle Down Economics doesn’t work. In fact Dr. Richard Wolff suggests a Trickle Up Economics. These are ideas that were presented in the FDR days. Giving people jobs that matter. Automation is coming whether we like it or not, and that’s going to lead to another round of job loss and market crashes, unless we figure out how to get more Nick Hanauer’s to invest in innovations created by the middle class!
If we invest in the people and things like the idea of a Green New Deal, which would mean a new crop of jobs that create a sense of purpose, pay well with benefits, you’d have a populous that can afford to keep the economy stimulated and chugging along. That means they spend money on culture, education, arts and the government! With Middle Out & Trickle Up Economics we might not go extinct and be worthwhile to the planet again.
Sidenote again! I’m aware there are some issues the Green New Deal presented by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and the New Democrats, but I’m more talking about the concept of having good paying jobs in the world of sustainable energies and ideas.
What most people don’t realize is that even a CEO is replaceable. If everyone is supposed to be able to climb up the ladder and get richer and have a better life, if upward mobility is true, then plutocrats are just as replaceable as everyone else. And if that were the case then these plutocrats would be in for the idea of buffering up the middle class so they’re not fully replaced. Perhaps we should automate the rich. Maybe a robot would run a corporation more ethically because it would realize the concept of greed is counter productive. The trend of Poverty should be the rarity not the wealth of meaningful well paid jobs for the people.