• Ashyr
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    32
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    “Even if you’re working and your wages are up, your rent costs more, your groceries cost more, your gas costs more, everything costs more,” said Tedd Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. “So people don’t feel like they’re getting ahead."

    Inflation is how it happened. People can’t afford to live and there will be a reckoning when the bubble bursts. The rich steal at their own peril, capitalism must consume itself.

    Also, Tedd, people don’t feel like they can’t get ahead because they can’t. That’s not a feeling, that’s a fact.

    • Wooster@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      Serious question:

      Would anything short of that lead to reform? I’m not eager for a second Great Depression, but considering we can’t even pretend to get climate change under control, I can’t see the 1% changing their policies until it hurts them, and bad.

      • Spacehooks@reddthat.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I doubt it ww3 going to lead to fallout or madmax. Maybe now that the boomers are dropping finally we can see some change. I don’t see any reforms happening until 2028 and then it will take years to go into effect. I’m hoping the reductions of population is going to save us.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    We had to do a refinance of our mortgage to cover credit card bills. And it wasn’t enough to cover the thousands we owe in medical debt. Ain’t America grand?

    • grue@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      If you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean by “had to?”

      Turning unsecured debt (credit cards) into secured debt (mortgage) is such a generally-regarded-as-bad move that I couldn’t imagine doing it unless I was ordered to do so by a court. Given that a having a mortgage implies that one already owns a house and therefore doesn’t necessarily need good credit in the same way a renter does, I suspect I’d be more inclined to just default on the unsecured debt instead.

      That goes double for the medical debt (including avoiding even transforming it into credit card debt), since IIRC it’s even harder for the creditors to collect on and in some cases is no longer even allowed to affect your credit score.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        “Had to” because we couldn’t keep up the payments any other way. We’re down to a single income, which doesn’t help. And my wife- who technically owns the house herself- has impeccable credit. Defaulting on the debt would destroy that. If we want any hope of moving, we have to be able to afford a mortgage. We can’t do that yet even though we want to, but if she defaulted on the debt, we’ll definitely be stuck here forever. Defaulting on medical debt may not affect her credit rating, but defaulting on credit card debt sure as hell would.

        • grue@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Hmm, I can see how having a desire to move in the short term would change things.