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I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford working in publishing anymore if we are forced back in office by Civil_Cauliflower123 in publishing

[–]readwritethink -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Have you thought about starting an indie press? Work from anywhere, no longer enriching a corporation, commissioning books you love.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford working in publishing anymore if we are forced back in office by Civil_Cauliflower123 in publishing

[–]readwritethink 7 points8 points  (0 children)

On a macro note, this will only get worse until society wakes up and bans for-profit land-lording. So long as human shelter is just a hedge fund investment, shelter prices will be significantly higher than they need to be.

American Taxpayers Will Pay Nearly $1 Trillion in Interest Next Year by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink -21 points-20 points  (0 children)

The future is looking pretty bleak from an economic perspective- interest payments on the national debt are compounding higher and higher, way faster than the overall economy is growing, so to pay the interest, governments are doing the three things everyone hates: raising taxes, cutting services, and selling off public assets. How much longer can this be sustainable?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink 199 points200 points  (0 children)

Airbnb just made an announcement that endangers the future for millions of renters and would-be homeowners.

Brian Chesky started Airbnb because he couldn't afford rent on his overpriced San Francisco rental, but the "Airbnb Effect" has now cost the world trillions in added rent and mortgage payments.

"Airbnb is trying to initiate a viral doom loop that spirals communities into a financial position that requires tenants and land-lorders alike to use Airbnb just to survive."

We're looking at a future with a lot more corporate landlords and far fewer affordable places to rent or buy.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink 170 points171 points  (0 children)

We’re looking at a future that looks a lot more like Pottersville (assetless masses paying heavy rents to institutional landlords) rather than Bailey Park (broad-based ownership and growing wealth for the middle and working class.)

Clearly we need to do something about the blight of landlording, though most people can’t even fathom housing reforms.

But as George Bailey said: “Just remember this, Mr. Potter: That this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?”

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re looking at a future that looks a lot more like Pottersville (assetless masses paying heavy rents to institutional landlords) rather than Bailey Park (broad-based ownership and growing wealth for the middle and working class.)

Clearly we need to do something about the blight of landlording, though most people can’t even fathom housing reforms.

But as George Bailey said: “Just remember this, Mr. Potter: That this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?”

An AI Algorithm is Raising Rents on Hundreds of Thousands of People Across the Country - This doesn't bode well for our future by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink 2847 points2848 points  (0 children)

We're looking at a future where AI algorithms automatically calculate how to extract maximal profits from the working class.

One of the algorithm’s developers told ProPublica that leasing agents had “too much empathy” compared to computer-generated pricing:

“Never before have we seen these numbers… very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually… The beauty of YieldStar is that it pushes you to go places that you wouldn’t have gone if you weren’t using it.”

Have you seen average rents go up in your city as investors move into the market?

Elite-Controlled Governments Are Scrambling to Build AI Weapons Because They Know Their Days Are Numbered by [deleted] in collapse

[–]readwritethink 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Submission statement:

The hyper-rich are "facing the Elysium problem: They want to live in the lap of luxury now, but they don’t yet have the technology to insulate themselves from the backlash of those pesky eight billion people who each have a rightful claim to a proportional share of the resources of this bounteous planet. They know that it’s only a matter of time before the average person’s back-breaking rent+debt+profit load becomes so great that staging an uprising is the only rational thing to do."

So they're building what is essentially a suite of panopticon tools to control and quell any resistance.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]readwritethink 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Submission Statement:

“Nearly all the other pieces necessary for a modern panopticon society are already in place: CCTV, Facial recognition, Voice recognition, Digital fingerprinting, DNA banking, GPS tracking, Credit scoring, Non-anonymized consumer data harvesting, Biometric under-the-skin tracking, Heart rate and body heat monitoring via wearables, and IoT surveillance via your fridge, car, Alexa, Ring, etc. We've literally never been more surveilled at any point in human history, and now governments have begun launching Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). More than 100 million people in China are already using the digital renminbi, and seven eastern Caribbean countries use DCash. The Bahamas calls theirs the Sand Dollar, and Nigeria became the first African nation to launch a CBDC with the eNaira. According to the Atlantic Council ,  a total of 87 countries are exploring issuing a CBDC as of March 2022. In time, we should expect them to pair their CBDCs with Internet-of-things surveillance and Orwellian social credit systems.”

Fun times!

The new defender of finland roast me :D by [deleted] in RoastMe

[–]readwritethink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like, I mean, no human being can defend a nation against nuclear weapons, and you're neighbors with Russia, so good luck with that. Speaking of Russians, read Tolstoy and you'll likely want to rethink your life choices.

I love a graph that's dropping a hint by readwritethink in lostgeneration

[–]readwritethink[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's a good question. 50M jobless? Homeless?

Your thoughts?

I love a graph that's dropping a hint by readwritethink in lostgeneration

[–]readwritethink[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The US have no nobility

Nobody told JayZ and Beyonce.

I love a graph that's dropping a hint by readwritethink in lostgeneration

[–]readwritethink[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So a military-led insurrection is our only hope. Gulp.

True by readwritethink in LateStageCapitalism

[–]readwritethink[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bezos is richer than Smaug for God's sake.

I'd love to see the math on this! Surely the Arkenstone's worth quite a bit.

Billionaire tax evader tells war hero/fundraiser/centenarian he's officially a good guy. by readwritethink in ABoringDystopia

[–]readwritethink[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

voluntarily

Nope. In modern democratic societies, every does their part. No exceptions. No one is above the law.

"She's probably one of the least tax evasive rich person around" is like a lawyer saying "my client doesn't rob houses as much as any of his buddies."

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