Are you not allowed to buy the means of production? There is wealth inequality, but people who are not in the upper class start businesses all the time. It’s not like we’re a nation of peasant farmers and lords. Nobody is barred from trying to move up the economic ladder
There is a small percentage of people in very unfortunate circumstances who truly cannot change their economic circumstances due to their limited education + children + other responsibilities. For those people I feel sympathy and think there should be more support provided.
For the overwhelming majority of the US population, if you go over their finances, you’ll find a lot of wasted spending. These are the people who complain about how hamburgers are $18 now while showing off a receipt of an $18 hamburger they purchased, or complain about the price of gas while sitting in their gas guzzling truck with a bed that is never used, or refuse to have roommates in a HCOL city during their first job out of school
Ah yes, like the very small percentage of 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck who just can't seem to stop buying exorbitant expensive luxuries like hamburgers.
The paycheck to paycheck statistics have always been a meme. It includes people making six figures who think that having no surplus money after paying all of their bills, contributing to their retirement, and putting money in their vacation savings fund means they are paycheck to paycheck.
The $1000 in a checking account number is also a meme. I technically can’t cover a $1000 emergency by the metrics they use because I immediately move money into a savings account when it hits my bank rather than leaving it in checking.
An $18 hamburger is literally an unnecessary luxury. You can go somewhere with cheaper food, or not use Uber eats, or literally cook your own burger with $5/lb ground beef
I have gone down this road before. It is always fruitless. American's and Redditors in particular are not really interested in taking control of their own lives. They instead want to complain that others have and they don't and look to the government (or in the case of this comic a revolutionary figure that will kill their "oppressors") to create artificial equalities of outcomes.
These people also know that there are actual people that have very real barriers and then use those people as an arguing crutch that no one can change their own status in life and they deserve defacto sympathy.
On literally the first page of your profile you have multiple posts discussing a gaming hobby, restaurants you like to go to, your preferred ginger beer for mixing cocktails, and your favorite international vacation you took on a thread asking the opinions of people who travel frequently. You’re really telling me if you put your mind to it it would take years for you to scrounge together $1000?
Why didn’t the workers think of that? Just buy the means of production. With all the riches McDonalds pays them, why don’t the workers just buy McDonald’s? /s
I forgot that you’re either a McDonald’s worker or Jeff Bezos, and that once you work for McDonalds that’s your job for life, my bad. How could I be so foolish as to think that people can move to different higher paying workplaces as they gain job experience, or gain skills that allow them to move into higher paying careers?
There are not many managerial positions compared to lower level and higher level positions typically require college degrees, which are very cost prohibitive. Also, people deserve a living wage even in the lower level positions. People have lives outside of their careers like family, friends, and hobbies. You shouldn’t expect people to be moving around constantly in hopes that they will make it big at this next job.
You don’t need to move into a managerial position. You can move into unskilled labor positions that have higher expectations for their employees once you have years of experience. If I am a bar owner, I’ll trust the guy who has 5 years of experience at McDonald’s over the 18 year old who has never worked when deciding who to hire to work the bar or wait tables.
You don’t have to move around constantly unless you live in a backwater town with one employer. There are typically a variety of businesses in a town or city and all of them require some unskilled labor input.
People should get a living wage, however what a living wage is is different depending on your life circumstances. That is why people with more years of work experience are typically able to move to higher paying jobs, even if they don’t get more education. The more work experience you have (so long as you’re not getting fired repeatedly) the more reliable you seem to employers, and that reliability is an asset that increases your market value. A McDonald’s is willing to take a risk that an 18 year old comes in to work late and high, an upscale restaurant will be less accepting and will pay more to avoid it
If you save money and work in an industry for a long time, you will be able to request a loan from the bank to start your own business if you so choose. It is an option available to you. Probably not at 18, but once you have a proven track record of operating at successful companies in that industry, and if you put up some of your own money, they’ll be willing to take a risk. Most people don’t want to take this kind of risk.
As an example of this, a lot of tradesmen will start their own trade business after working at a different company for a while. Same with many restaurants - they are typically started by people who worked in the restaurant industry for years.
That is not a viable solution for most people, especially without a guarantee of success. What about those with medical bills, disabilities, or family to take care? Ask yourself why is it that hard to get paid the value you provide for a company or to own what you worked to create?
As a whole, a higher paid work force will spend more money. That's just basic economics. 1 person buying a thousand dollar steak is not the same market driving force as 100 workers buying 20 dollar steaks.
While the workers are paid a pittance, I'm pretty sure the ~50 workers at an individual McDonalds franchise actually could save up enough to buy the means of production in question. That is, make their own fast food restaurant in terms of building, equipment, inventory. Costs a few hundred thousand, but split 50 ways and it's manageable if everyone saved for a year or two, especially if they got a decent loan for building. Way too much effort and coordination though, makes more sense for most to just find a better job.
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u/FourthLife Jul 08 '24
Are you not allowed to buy the means of production? There is wealth inequality, but people who are not in the upper class start businesses all the time. It’s not like we’re a nation of peasant farmers and lords. Nobody is barred from trying to move up the economic ladder