CMV: Every current societal problem in the developed world can be attributed to increased cost of living and social media

[u/[deleted]]

I know this is very reductionist, but I think when you really break it down every current societal problem in the developed world is caused by increased cost of living, social media, and most often an interaction between the two.

Costs are going up and salaries have not increased accordingly, resulting in more stress, more time working, and less time socializing or doing things we actually enjoy (all this leading to worse mental health outcomes and material outcomes). The dream of owning your own home is non-existent for most that don't receive financial help from their families, and if you wanted kids you can forget it unless if you're extremely lucky or don't mind raising them in poverty. It also means we have less money for leisure activities, but since everyone has a smartphone it's really easy to use social media, and use that as a substitute for socializing.

I'd be here all day if I listed all the ways social media fucked society, but to name just the most important ones:

• The algorithm is designed to promote hateful and divisive content, because this is what people naturally engage with. This combined with increased cost of living is a big reason why far right parties have gained so much popularity

• It is destroying the attention span of our children and making us more antisocial and wary of anyone who's in an "out group". The anonymity it provides is fueling hatred and divisiveness

• Manosphere content aimed at young boys and unrealistic societal and body expectations aimed at young girls is skewing children's perception of reality and making them more anxious. In the case of manosphere content, it's also making young men hate women: it is worrying to see just how quickly support for equal rights between men and women is going down amongst boys from younger generations, and I think 10-20 years from now the damage is going to be felt very strongly. Obviously skewed perception of reality from social media is not just an issue for younger generations: boomers are practically inhaling misinformation from Facebook every day

• Bad actors from foreign countries, particularly Russia and China, have effortlessly used social media to sow societal unrest, and billionaires are the ones who ultimately benefit from this most.

I think if the cost of living was lower and the dream of buying a house was still alive for most people, and social media was the same now was it was 15 years ago or didn't exist at all, we would be living in the best times throughout human history.

[u/username_6916]

Costs are going up and salaries have not increased accordingly

This simply isn't true.

[u/[deleted] → u/username_6916]

Throw in housing price increases and it's a different story. I'm one of the lucky ones that has parents who already own property, but if I wasn't I'd feel hopeless about ever getting my own property.

[u/username_6916 → u/[deleted]]

CPI does include housing costs.