I’ve been noticing a recurring sentiment among Americans - frustration and disillusionment with the economy. Despite having gone to school, earned a solid education, and worked hard, many feel they can’t get ahead or even come close to the standard of living their parents enjoyed.
I’m curious - is this experience unique to the United States, or do people in other countries share similar frustrations?
Do people in Europe, Australia, Canada, or elsewhere feel like they’re stuck in a rut, unable to achieve financial stability or mobility despite their best efforts?
Are there any countries or regions that seem to be doing things differently, where education and hard work can still lead to a comfortable life?
Let’s hear from our international community - what’s your experience with economic mobility (or lack thereof) in your country?"
i’m brazilian, my brother moved to Portugal some years ago and his quality of life improved dramatically. He used to live near a bank that was robbed pretty frequently and that was pretty frightening
Even though he moved to another country, my bro isn’t rich (sure seems that way though, compared to living standards here lol). It’s just that there you can be not rich and still have quality of life, safety and be able to actually afford things.
I’m currently living in Brazil and rly what worries me most is that one day I will want/need to live alone but rent can be very expensive (i’ll probably never own a home or even my own apartment, this is unacceptable and it’s the reality we live in), and the minimum wage in Brazil (and probably lots of other countries) is absolutely dogshit.
I’m Brazilian too, now living in Australia
I think what’s happening over there now is something that Brazilians are used to since the 80s at least, when the prosperity of the earlier decades wrapped up. So I’m told by Brazilian boomers, given I was a kid in the 80s.
So yep I’m thinking to myself that US is getting to officially belong to the 3rd world.
The rich don’t stay rich by letting other people join their club
We are reaching the limits of an “infinite growth” mindset. You can’t make money infinitely, which is why we are witness unprecedented amounts of shrinkflation, price gouging, and of course, enshitification. And housing prices.
The theory behind capitalism doesn’t require infinite growth. A society could have continual “profit” based on the use of renewable resources. The explanation for why we’re constantly expanding our exploitation of the planet is a little more complex than just an inherent trait of the economic system. That’s kind of a nasty oversimplification that people apply.
An old unattributed saying, “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” Often attributed to Kenneth Boulding but there’s no real sources for that.
To quote a certain Ed Zitron:
The only thing that grows forever is cancer
The only infinite growth I could think of is just bitcoin and shit. Just dilute gambling.
That’s not infinite. Bitcoin is just one of many participants in the wider currency market. The bet of people speculating on Bitcoin is that its market share in the market will continue to grow. So the absolute upper limit of its valuation is basically that of the global currency market. In more practical/realistic terms, it has technical constraints as-is that limit its use as a day-to-day currency, which limit it to a lower point, since other currencies have to be used for small transactions, and hence, have to take some other portion of the global currency market. And so on.
Not exactly gambling. Rather, the market is trying to anticipate and calculate these shifts in valuation. Individual participants may try to catch it early to get a good deal. Many will fail, including buying at a bad deal. People will get caught up in hype because it’s a novel invention as opposed to some same-for-same replacement. That’s just the price determination mechanism. Currency shifts, and market adjustments in general, are messy. Any time one currency dies, there’s a flight to others.
Disclaimer: I have zero Bitcoin. Also this is just explaining mechanisms, not justifying or supporting them.
the 22 people with 12 digits in their net worth don’t want you to have a spot at the table. they’d sooner kill you than risk letting you have upward mobility
Take some of it with caution. Powerful forces are amplifying unhappiness.
Some things suck. No area is thriving. Dictators are taking power and there are several distressing wars.
Things have been worse and improved, but it us not a straight line.
Yeah the more I learn history the I feel we are in an imperfect but exceptionally opportune time.
Not being coy: can you help me understand the word choice of “opportune”?
I’ve recently become fascinated by history and the underpinned stories that really get to the answers to the WHY questions.
We can organize easier and for things we wouldn’t have even known were happening in the past. The Internet and our understand of how to interact with it is not very mature. That takes generational knowledge imo. Things are more chaotic and unprecedented than ever, and we at least have the opportunity to be more informed than at any other time in history. I think we can learn from the past and even if we fail we’ll hopefully have helped future generations by giving them a good case study.
