Reformed computer programmer here (born in the 70’s, techie in the 90’s). My laptop is 16 years old and runs Linux. My phone is an 8-year old refurb I got off Amazon for $80. And I now do ham radio. I even send emails over RF just because I like knowing I can communicate with voice or text without needing cell service or an internet connection.
“Isms” tend to end badly for everyone. All of them.
We (the middle class) went from capturing 25% of GDP in the 60’s and 70’s to capturing 7% today. Wealth inequality is the highest it’s been since 1929. The only metals getting purchased now are the ones going into datacenters, which will likely only get paid off by a further reduction of our GDP capture once these companies go belly-up.
I hear you on that one. Retirement savings? I don’t really know what that is and in all honesty I think it’s an urban legend…
What really gets me is the debt tranching. Same game as '08 just with datacenter loans instead of mortgages and much bigger numbers. These guys have over $662 billion in debt OFF BOOK, which is 113% of their on-balance-sheet debt. That’s according to Moody’s. But other numbers are even more disgusting, Meta’s hidden debt is around $420 billion – three times its transparent debt. Who’s going to get stuck with all this debt once it pops? The same people who got stuck with the MBS bill. You and me.
Both parties make their money by serving their puppet masters who steal money from us. The middle class used to capture 25% of GDP back in the 70’s. Now we’re lucky to capture 7%. And we’ve had plenty of politicians from both sides that just made the problem worse. It’s not Dem’s vs. Rep’s, it’s the rich enslaving the poor. Always has been, always will be.
There’s tons of value! Venture capitalists and tech firms sinking their last dimes into circular debt… The government changing finance rules so investment firms can sink your 401k retirement funds into unregulated private equity firms so they can sink YOUR last dime into AI… Investment banks tranching bad AI debt and reselling it just like they did back in '08 with mortgage-backed securities… There’s tons of value. You just need an Enron mindset…
Right now I don’t think either side is looking out for the average American citizen or the longevity of the country. My next vote is no confidence.
In 40 years, GenZ will be the new Boomers. They won’t understand the new Generation D (for “dummy”) that’s too lazy to make their own bowl of cereal without a robot doing it for them. GenD will call GenZ out of touch because they choose to bathe themselves alone rather than shower with a bathing robot. GenZ will reminisce about the brief time they drove their own car, how this new generation just doesn’t understand, and the few remaining GenX’ers will one-up them from the retirement home with talk about stick shifts. Oh, how that new lazy generation knows nothing about the hellscape of manually vacuuming the house. Or having a job. GenD will put down GenZ about not knowing how to live in a fully-automated world, while GenZ quips back about how they were the ones that built that fully-automated world. The big generational debate will be on whether or not to elect robots to Congress or just have AI run the country. And that GenD should liquidate and redistribute the wealth GenZ is hoarding. I hope I’m still around, and I hope there’s popcorn!!! :-)
Both political parties suck.
Back in the 70s the American worker captured 25% of global wealth. Right now, we capture about 7%. It’s not because a single generation is “withholding” the wealth. It’s because the large corporations (the ones backing AOC) have gotten too powerful. So long as she keeps pointing her finger at a single generation instead of the corporations that are actually responsible, she keeps her masters happy and gets more campaign dollars.
Cracks me up – the people who scream the loudest about overgeneralization (ie: Ageism) are the ones practicing it the most. The Nazis did it with the Jews, and now AOC wants to do it with an entire generation. The modern liberal movement was actually started by Boomers. Hippies? Boomers. Sanders? Boomer. Funny how people can label an entire generation over the acts of a few.
I made a website of sorts with a page for new hams. There’s links to a cheap study guide and a free one, should have all the info you need. There are also some cheaper ham radio reviews, when I first got in I was on a severe budget. But the “New Hams” page tells you everything you need to know. The hobby can seem like a lot when you’re new (there is A LOT of directions to go in ham radio). Feel free to ask if you have questions, you can post here or my email at the bottom of the page: https://sites.google.com/view/ki5ona/new-hams?authuser=0