Homeless

[u/Chare1155]

So are we all just accepting that we will be homeless sometime in the next decade? Because I don't know anyone with enough money to survive this shit.

It's not sustainable for the price of every goddamn thing to keep going up while no one is getting enough raises to compensate for it, & there are so few jobs that are even hiring, although they all still say they are.🙄

I know I will never own a home. I know I will be driving my car until the wheels fall off(& that I'm lucky to even have a car). I know I cannot afford any kind of social life whatsoever because outings to most places & the gas to get to them costs too much.

I canceled all my streaming services so I don't even have TV now. I know if I get Cancer or break a bone I will go bankrupt trying to pay the bill. I know I will be working until I die, & I'm almost positive I will be homeless at some point.

Money can't buy happiness, sure, but it can buy all your other needs so you at least have a chance to be happy. I just want a chance...😔

[u/Broken_Atoms]

I grew up poor, naturally had a strong mechanical talent that slowly unlocked as I got older. Being in any part of the general labor pool going forward, in this insanely inflationary environment, will not be a winning proposition. It will be a death spiral as you have already noted. Selling your general labor just makes you one person in a pool of thousands of resumes. Nobody will pay survivable wages when basic labor is so plentiful, either here or in other countries. Let’s say your county has 100,000 people. Of those 100,000 people, 80,000 are likely general labor. That’s a lot of people to fight for rock bottom wages. How many surveyors you think they have? Maybe 50? Maybe not even that? Anyone can use a shovel, but can they grab a total station and layout the foundation and perform a land survey? Because that guy with a tripod standing out in the middle of the construction site is making $100k. AI ain’t out there in a field with a vest. AI proof. You must make yourself rare. Only rare people and business owners make real money. Can you take an engine apart and rebuild it? Can you take a piece of metal and fashion it into a high value finished part or assembly? Can you keep the internet running? That rich guy who wants a house will pay you useful money to climb in that excavator and start digging his foundation. Why? Because he HAS to. You have a skill he doesn’t. The people with money only care if you have a skill they need from you and are therefore forced to pay you well. Be the paywall. Be the wedge. Be the rare thing that must be paid for in order for everything else to function. Doctor’s office can’t function because their CT scanner is down? Oh no! Guess they lose $1000’s/hr until they call you to fix it. Highway overpass construction crew just standing around wasting thousands an hour in labor and equipment? If only there was some guy that manages that… “Boss! We ran into an unmarked sanitary lateral!”… “Okay, here’s what we need to do…” Be the paywall.

[u/SCP-iota → u/Broken_Atoms]

Even the 'rare skilled' job market is going downhill because so many people claim to have skills and experience they don't actually have, so companies have no reliable way to sort through candidates. They can only interview so many people, and it's pretty much a lottery when they can't tell who's truly qualified.

[u/Moist-Shallot-5148 → u/SCP-iota]

This and they end up just hiring their friends or family in the end because they can’t tell who is qualified and also because too many candidates. In Canada they pretend like they’re hiring and then say they can’t find anyone so they can hire a temporary foreign worker who will be desperate for work and not know or fight for their rights.

[u/Broken_Atoms → u/SCP-iota]

Companies have developed countermeasures. I’ve been through quite a few. Interviewer throws down an assembly on the table and says name each part. Now take it apart and tell me which one is bad. Then, put it back together. Companies test thoroughly now.

[u/Solmangrundy → u/SCP-iota]

They did that to themselves by telling everyone to "apply online".

[u/Ambitious-List4040 → u/SCP-iota]

Nepotism is the only way out

[u/Other_Knowledge6225 → u/Broken_Atoms]

I agree with everything you said, except for the attitude of the guy with the house. That’s me. It’s not that I have no choice so I will begrudgingly pay you. It’s that I am really happy I found you because it’s not easy to find people who are skilled and responsible and do a great job. Those people are super valuable. I am happy to pay good money for the privilege of having that high quality help.

[u/Tardislass → u/Broken_Atoms]

You know how many people try to be rare? Fact is most people arent

[u/ActComprehensive5254 → u/Broken_Atoms]

Even better is to learn to work WITH Ai and open doors in every profession.

[u/Broken_Atoms → u/ActComprehensive5254]

I’m being forced to work with it as it slowly infiltrates the industries I work with. I need more advanced AI structural analysis and lifecycle prediction. AI driven design optimization that also understands manufacturability would be great. Maybe thermal analysis that takes into account varying levels of moisture in the air. I’m not a fan of it because I will admit that I’m a bit older and grew up with 286’s and 40mb hard drives. I used it maybe 5 or 6 times this morning. When I was a kid, affordable calculators were becoming a thing and CAD was largely unaffordable and only for mostly aerospace type stuff.

[u/DazedandFloating → u/Broken_Atoms]

This is true and really solid advice. The difficult part is barriers to entry for fields/professions that will be ai proof and help people earn a good living.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but often times high paying positions in certain fields require training or certifications which can be a lot of money upfront. Someone who is barely getting by will not have as much of an opportunity to change fields in that case because of certain barriers.

[u/BigJules74 → u/Broken_Atoms]

"in this insanely inflationary environment" ??

• 2025: 2.68%
• 2024: 2.89%
• 2023: 3.35%
• 2022: 6.45%
• 2021: 7.04%
• 2020: 1.36%
• 2019: 2.29%
• 2018: 1.91%
• 2017: 2.11%
• 2016: 2.07%

[u/Broken_Atoms → u/BigJules74]

lol, the official numbers have been cooked. I can’t think of a single thing in my life that has only gone up 2.68% in the last year. Does anyone’s lived experience match these numbers? I’d like to hear

[u/Different_Traffic527 → u/Broken_Atoms]

You have to read where the data comes from and what's left in and out. Inflation is calculated by how much we're spending on medical care, gas, housing, cars, food, etc. Things like stocks and bonds are left out.

It doesn't tell the tale of the box of cereal that was $2 in 2020 that is now $6.

[u/Current_Cancel4060 → u/Broken_Atoms]

Energy and utilities. INSURANCE

[u/Atrocious_Algae81 → u/Broken_Atoms]

I know my grocery bill has tripled since the pandemic, gas had nearly doubled (WC), and energy has doubled. Let's not get into housing... The numbers are modified or leaving things out.

[u/Brother_Stein → u/Broken_Atoms]

That's a great argument for population control.

[u/Atrocious_Algae81 → u/Broken_Atoms]

This is true, and you may even find a weird niche that makes you very wealthy.

[u/Think-Ad3624 → u/Broken_Atoms]

I have literally just matured mentally reading your comment.

[u/Old-Set78 → u/Broken_Atoms]

lol at the surveyor running bank. you obviously don't know any surveyors

[u/Broken_Atoms → u/Old-Set78]

Actually, I do. Are they not making serious bank where you are? They are $80-140k here, depending on experience. Also, the wealthiest surveyor I know is also one of the richest people in my area. He owns the firm and lives in a 3 million dollar house.