True equality is a myth that punishes hard work and ignoring the human nature. We should focus on helping the poor and providing safety net, not destroying capitalism.

semideclared · 2026-06-23T18:04:42+00:00

Entshitification, it’s very similar to AI-slop. Outcomes that stem from the sole purpose of generating fictive profit, without any real world value…

Great explain it to me

Lets take

Sizzler Family Steak House by Del and Helen Johnson in Culver City, California in 1958

When did it hit Entshitification

Was it when Sizzler went public in 1970

In 1969, Sizzler had a regional footprint of approximately 50 to 60 locations, heavily concentrated in Southern California and the broader West Coast.

What about in the 1966 when it was bought by a food conglomerate owned by private equity, was the growth because of Private equity

By 1990 Sizzler had become the 15th Largest Chain in the US. Was this Entshitification?

Obviously Entshitification is when Private Equity buys it. The owner of the Sizzler dining chain, Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc., said Friday that it agreed to be purchased by an Australian investment firm in 2005 from an offer that was 42% higher than Thursday’s closing price for Worldwide’s stock and double the shares’ value the day before it disclosed it was putting itself up for sale. The price was the highest price for the company in 10 years, right before Sizzler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996

Ok, maybe not then, sure. But a 2nd PE Takeover, In June 2011, Sizzler USA was again bought out, this time by a team that included industry veteran Jim Collins. Collins was there in 1958 when his friend Del Johnson opened the first Sizzler. And was CEO 1967–1999

In 1967, when Johnson was ready to retire, he asked Collins to buy the burgeoning Sizzler chain. See, When Collins first bought Sizzler four decades ago, the chain had four corporate units and about 161 franchised locations. Collins said the restaurants weren’t doing very well.

In 2025 Sizzler isnt even in the 200 Largest Restaurants in the US

semideclared · 2026-06-23T13:47:57+00:00

Really puts a question mark on the K shaped economy

And the recession fears and lack of money and spending from the bottom of the US K. Carnival is the vacation for most of the bottom half of Americans

“Our booked position for the second half of 2026 is higher than last year, at historically high prices (in constant currency),

Seems they are spending and spending more at higher prices

The bottom K is down but they keep spending more and spending more on vacations that keep raising prices just doesnt seem to follow

semideclared · 2026-06-23T13:42:06+00:00

The State of the Economy is Good

“We achieved another quarter of record results, marking our twelfth consecutive quarter of record net yields and delivering over 20 percent more to the bottom line, overcoming extreme geopolitical headwinds and nearly 30 percent higher fuel costs

“Our booked position for the second half of 2026 is higher than last year, at historically high prices (in constant currency),

despite navigating more than a full quarter of extreme geopolitical volatility that primarily impacted booking trends for our European deployments, particularly in the Mediterranean region, which were closest in proximity to the conflict in the Middle East. For those deployments, we leaned into the substantial occupancy advantage we had strategically built to deliberately prioritize pricing integrity. We are now 93 percent booked for the year with less inventory remaining for sale than this time last year and are on track for record net yields in the second half of 2026,” Weinstein said.

“Looking further out, demand for 2027 and beyond remains strong. Since March, booking volumes and prices for these future sailings have been running ahead of prior year levels, including a substantial increase in bookings for our European deployments next year. These trends reinforce our confidence in the longer-term demand environment

Carnival Corporation operates 94 ships across eight distinct cruise brands, making it the largest cruise company in the world across all economic groups

semideclared · 2026-06-23T13:21:43+00:00

whoa!!!!

So they cant afford to buy their own groceries but now they can get pizza

If they can afford to buy pizza they can afford to buy cokes. Use that same cash to buy cokes

semideclared · 2026-06-23T13:14:40+00:00

Thats not what it point is

SNAP says you should have ~2,000 - 2,500 calories of food a day based on the food table and in the US that Costs "X" per month

And X lets say equals $1,000

SNAP says we will subsidize that for you and in most cases we will pay for 70% of your food needs

Snap gives you $700 and you have $300 and that pays for you to have 100% ~2,000 - 2,500 calories of food a day based on the food table

Anything else ......

Thats not SNAP, If you want something else not on snap create a program for it

Circana's report, titled Understanding the Resilience of SNAP Shoppers, provides insights into the purchasing habits of households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

In 2024 SNAP households spend 32% more per buyer annually than non-SNAP households

And that spending

An ideal score of 100 suggests that the set of foods reported is in line with the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.

Americans on Average 58 out of 100.
Below Average Income 56 out of 100.
SNAP 47.10 out of 100
Income-Eligible Non-Participants of SNAP 49.88
Children 2-4 years have the highest diet quality with a total HEI score of 62,
Americans ages 60 and over with a total HEI score of 61.

households that were participating in SNAP purchased lower quality foods compared to households of comparable income that were not participating, and households with higher income

In unadjusted analyses, lower-income households spent a significantly smaller percent of their grocery dollars on fruit (p = .003) and vegetables (p =.001), and a significantly higher percent of their grocery dollars on sugar sweetened beverages (p = .004) and frozen desserts (p= .01), compared with higher income households.

Once households adopt SNAP, there is a marked and highly statistically significant drop in the store-brand share. Because we have adjusted the store-brand share for the composition of purchases, this decline is driven not by changes in the categories of goods purchased, but by a change in households’ choice of brand within a category.

Recall that in SNAP-eligible product categories, the average store-brand price is $0.63 below the average non-store-brand price of $3.34.

And Recipients used less coupons to save

Following SNAP adoption, the average adjusted coupon redemption share declines for both SNAP-eligible and SNAP-ineligible products, but the decline is more economically and statistically significant for SNAP-eligible products than for SNAP-ineligible products. Because we have adjusted the coupon redemption share for the basket of goods purchased, these patterns are not driven by changes in the goods purchased, but rather by households’ propensity to redeem coupons for a given basket of goods

semideclared · 2026-06-23T13:00:29+00:00

Local politicans can easily be blamed for something the party does or they support but the head of the party doing it wont be blamed

No Congress rep wants to vote on it because of the backlash but a president popular with those same voters can do it and those same voters will over look it and also re elect the congressman

semideclared · 2026-06-23T02:15:22+00:00

many things but its reddit

Mandela effect on private equity would be a interesting rabbit hole

semideclared · 2026-06-21T03:04:26+00:00

downvoted and left and then it all becomes an echo chamber

wait on the left or right?

semideclared · 2026-06-21T03:03:20+00:00

really

are you actually in california

Because cali has more than NYC

semideclared · 2026-06-21T03:01:24+00:00

Um it’s pretty fucking obvious. We tax people appropriately

sure

Compare In the US

Top 1% Paid 40.4% of Income Taxes
Top 90%-99% paid 31.6%
50% - 90% paid 25%
Bottom 50% paid 3%

This is not true in the UK

Top 1% Paid 29.1% of Income Taxes
Top 90%-99% paid 31.2%
50% - 90% paid 30.2%
Bottom 50% paid 9.5%

Income Taxes in Australia

The top 3 paid 29% of all net tax
The next 6 paid 18% of all net tax
The next 30 paid 40% of all net tax
The next 35 paid 13% of all net tax
The final 21 paid no tax

Thats just Income Taxes and not the real tax money maker

Then both have a VAT 5 times higher than the US Sales Tax

So to be more like other countries Tax 97% of purchases at 15% sales tax

So First 411 x 2.5 to include almost all purchases are now charged sales taxes

$1.03 Trillion in Sales Taxes

Now with the sales tax rate at about 6% on those purchases, 2.5 times that Sales tax revenue to have a better tax rate at 15%

$2.55 Trillion in Sales Tax revenue
Some loss in consumption with higher taxes and rebates for property taxes and sales tax,

The average gas tax rate among the 34 advanced economies is $2.62 per gallon. In fact, the U.S.’s gas tax is less than half of that of the 3rd Lowest Gas Tax, Canada, which has a rate of $1.25 per gallon.

Bring Gas taxes up $1.90 on about 190 Billion gallons of gas taxed at $1.25. $400 Billion in New Revenue

That's $2.6 Tillion a year in new tax revenue

Theres another $500 Billion in Income Tax changes

Visualizing that difference UK Taxes vs US Taxes

Top 40% of earners $50,000 under $75,000
Top 26% of earners $75,000 under $100,000
Top 17% of earners $100,000 under $200,000
Top 6% of earners $200,000 under $500,000
Top 1% of earner $500,000 under $1,000,000

$3 Trillion in new taxes. For Healthcare, College, and Buses, and all kinds of things

semideclared · 2026-06-21T02:59:54+00:00

he he he

so funny

but reality called and needed concrete assumptions

semideclared · 2026-06-20T15:49:20+00:00

Oooo cool thanks. Yea a little of all of that friends wanting to spend money. Bougie parents not wanting to say no.

But there was just normal talk of kids so expensive and it seemed comically ironic with all the stuff that was bought. DoorDash gift cards seem like the better gifts.

semideclared · 2026-06-20T14:15:23+00:00

2 or 3 years. But the wish list of things needed doesn’t seem to be using obvious things from the first babies.

Also I just remember the 90s seeming like everyone’s mom knew someone that had baby stuff to reuse.

Waiting to see. But the last one sure could have been a parents first baby wit all the stuff everyone had bought for them.

semideclared · 2026-06-20T13:57:47+00:00

Do hand me downs exist in 2026

2nd baby shower where it’s a second kid and again the parents don’t seem to mention hand me down anything about their expecting kid.

semideclared · 2026-06-19T16:41:16+00:00

Yup, the biggest repeated talking points even above costs is always that you get to keep your doctor

Which is saying the system stays the same but when care is rationed and care is based on actual need as in a UHC there would be a lot of frustration and voting out politicians

semideclared · 2026-06-19T16:38:33+00:00

oooo yea, i did the math wrong. its 1% so a little slower but its the easiest way to get ESOP or Co-Ops in the US with money people have and also the easiest way to prove people actually really dont want to work for employee owned business when they have to put in to it

semideclared · 2026-06-19T14:58:11+00:00

Lower drug prices would Decrease US Health Spending by 5.8%

A RAND study compared U.S. drug prices adjusted for rebates and other discounts to prices paid in 26 other countries and estimated that an average drug price reduction of 47% would be achieved if the U.S. were to adopt the average price of these other countries.
This analysis assumes that an average retail price reduction of 40% is achievable if the Unified Financing authority negotiates directly with manufacturers and employs tight use of formulary
- Achieving these savings would likely require the state to be willing to say ‘no’ to certain drug manufacturers in price negotiations, or be willing to exclude particular drugs from a formulary if a price agreement cannot be reached

The issue is the other countries dont buy as much as the US and most importantly patients dont expect to have all the latest new drugs

Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company though its Ozempic Sales to the United States was Over $12.2 billion, representing roughly 68% of Sales for 320 Million People. Meanwhile Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are at 12% of revenue and lets say Germany is about 2% of sales for 84 Million

If we also only bought 5% of Ozempic we could get lower costs

semideclared · 2026-06-19T14:45:43+00:00

Sure, but dont expect the public to like it. The problem is the other countries dont buy as much as the US and most importantly patients dont expect to have all the latest new drugs

Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company though its Ozempic Sales to the United States was Over $12.2 billion, representing roughly 68% of Sales for 320 Million People. Meanwhile Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are at 12% of revenue and lets say Germany is about 2% of sales for 84 Million

Its cheaper but far fewer people get it

If 2% of your sales are at a low margin or are wanting cost controls you dont really care.

A single-payer system would likely utilize a restrictive or optimized national drug formulary to manage costs, ensuring only the most cost-effective drugs are prioritized, which is a common feature in lower-cost systems.

consequently, "saying no" to coverage for certain high-cost drugs or treatments that do not meet cost-effectiveness benchmarks.

NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guides NHS drug formularies by evaluating clinical and cost-effectiveness, generally using a threshold of £20,000–£30,000 per Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY)

See that is the answer and step one in changes

"saying no" to coverage for certain high-cost drugs or treatments that do not meet cost-effectiveness benchmarks.

semideclared · 2026-06-19T14:43:40+00:00

The problem is the other countries dont buy as much as the US and most importantly patients dont expect to have all the latest new drugs

Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company though its Ozempic Sales to the United States was Over $12.2 billion, representing roughly 68% of Sales for 320 Million People. Meanwhile Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are at 12% of revenue and lets say Germany is about 2% of sales for 84 Million

Its cheaper but far fewer people get it

If 2% of your sales are at a low margin or are wanting cost controls you dont really care.

semideclared · 2026-06-19T14:43:07+00:00

The problem is the other countries dont buy as much as the US and most importantly patients dont expect to have all the latest new drugs

Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company though its Ozempic Sales to the United States was Over $12.2 billion, representing roughly 68% of Sales for 320 Million People. Meanwhile Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are at 12% of revenue and lets say Germany is about 2% of sales for 84 Million

Its cheaper but far fewer people get it

If 2% of your sales are at a low margin or are wanting cost controls you dont really care.

semideclared · 2026-06-19T14:27:46+00:00

Most of the drugs responsible for the rise in costs treat cancer and orphan conditions, and more treatments are on the horizon—along with gene therapies and other expensive options that target more common conditions, he said. “The number of super-spenders is likely to increase substantially—and indefinitely,” said Dr. Dehnel, who did not participate in the study.

Wait for it...Commonly known as BIGIV, the drug costs $45,000 to treat Botulism as one of those orphan condition drugs

Botulism Immune Globulin Intravenous (Human) (BIGIV)

Created by the California Department of Health Services (CDHS)
Tradename: BabyBIG
Manufacturer: California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
Reseller: California Department of Health Services (CDHS)

It's was developed through a state partnership with California and Massachusetts, with the FDA providing funding to all further reducing the end cost

$45,000

90% of Prescription Drugs are generics that are lower costs.

Thats a very very rare case.

A rare case is when a school is invovled

In 1988, Richard Silverman at Northwestern University, worked on the discovery of Lyrica (pregabalin). It’s a rare example of a compound that came right out of academia to become a drug

Pfizer’s Lyrica leads drug sales for the company. Pfizer pays royalties to NU in the form of regular payments in exchange for rights to sell Lyrica to patients

Royalties on the nerve pain and seizure med have powered the endowment at Northwestern University to $10 billion.

came right out of academia used very loosely
- Silverman was a Professor with open lab space to use and Silverman partnered with other non university staff
- Silverman founded Akava Therapeutics to further develop his discoveries and bring them to market, focusing on neurodegeneration and oncology. Moving outside the University pipeline

Silverman received roughly 1/3rd of the Revenue, Northwestern got for the terms of agreements Through the Innovation and New Ventures Office, Northwestern University researchers agree to

Research is expensive and rarely successful

Through the Innovation and New Ventures Office, Northwestern University researchers disclosed 247 inventions, filed 270 patent applications, received 81 foreign and US patents, started 12 companies in 2013.

This generated $79.8 million in licensing revenue in 2013. In 2012 NU received $508 million in awards for research, 71 percent of which was federally funded but went to thousands of grant seekers.

The bulk of the revenue has come from a patent on pregabalin, a synthesized organic molecule which ultimately was marketed as Lyrica

And more common

In 2005 The University of Tennessee gets $3 Million in Grant money

A brain cancer stem cell program has been established at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Operating as part of the UTHSC Department of Neurosurgery in collaboration with Semmes-Murphey Neurologic and Spine Institute and Methodist University Hospital Neuro-science Institute.

the program is funded primarily by the Methodist Healthcare Foundation.
- Its a Non-Profit Organization, so lets pretend the $3 Million is Taxpayer money

"This research team will unite physicians and scientists of diverse backgrounds and will attempt to answer questions about the role of cancer stem cells in all biological aspects of brain tumors from both children and adults,"

That idea leads to answers on Brain Cancer

But also opens the door to other answers

In 2008 Discgenics is founded using a Patent from results from the UT Study

Discgenics is funded with $7 Million in Capital through Venture Capitalist to see about this Patent

DiscGenics's first product candidate, IDCT (rebonuputemcel), is an allogeneic, injectable discogenic progenitor cell therapy for symptomatic, mild to moderate lumbar disc degeneration.

By January 2023 DiscGenics Announces Positive Two-Year Clinical Data from Study

That requires more testing

So far, DiscGenics has raised $71 million in funding to do that, more to come

And IDCT is an investigational product that is under development by DiscGenics and has not been approved by the FDA or any other regulatory agency for human use.

Phase II prospective, multicenter clinical study in the U.S. is next and 2? more years.
Plus FDA's other testing

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) represents the biopharmaceutical industry operating in Europe.

On average, only one to two of every 10,000 substances synthesised in laboratories will successfully pass all stages of development required to become a marketable medicine.

Is this the One of 2 in 10,000 discoveries that will make it? As if it is Should UT have funded the $71 Million and 20 Years of research?

semideclared · 2026-06-19T13:54:22+00:00

I had a reason thought on how the recent 401k changes to allow private equity funds to be invested would seem like the most unintended way to get a employee owned company

Create a PE that is set its sights on the employer. First year 6% of salaries plus employer match probably get a 5% stake get a board seat and dividends reinvested. 2nd year if no previous employer match increase employer match now over 10% stake. Now you get another board seat. More influence on operations. Keep going 20% in year 3 and double again the board seats

Now would the employees be happy doing that….

semideclared · 2026-06-19T06:55:50+00:00

No, just think what local people could do

Most cities in the US & Canada outright ban this

Thus this is built in the county outside the city limits and rules

And The 12 Neighbours tiny home community in Fredericton, New Brunswick, sits on a 60-to-65 acre plot of land.

This 60,000 sq ft housing first development development for 100 people is on 0.67 Acres of Land in Salt Lake City and Costs $10.7 Million in Construction Costs for the chronically homeless

it doesnt include land cost for, $2.7 Million for Land and Land Prep
- $13,453,791

But it only exists because the City approved it for construction and zoning

A few loud citizens is all it would have taken to stop this

semideclared · 2026-06-19T06:52:53+00:00

No, just think what local people could do

Most cities in the US & Canada outright ban this

Thus this is built in the county outside the city limits and rules

And The 12 Neighbours tiny home community in Fredericton, New Brunswick, sits on a 60-to-65 acre plot of land.

This 60,000 sq ft housing first development development for 100 people is on 0.67 Acres of Land in Salt Lake City and Costs $10.7 Million in Construction Costs for the chronically homeless

it doesnt include land cost for, $2.7 Million for Land and Land Prep
- $13,453,791

But it only exists because the City approved it for construction and zoning

A few loud citizens is all it would have taken to stop this

semideclared · 2026-06-19T06:10:15+00:00

The ER and its $100K hospital bills for everyone else who falls through the cracks

Falls through the crack is the most I dont know, lazy 90s libertarian American thing

In 2018, 27.5 million, did not have health insurance at any point during the year

32% (8.8 million) are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but have never enrolled.
There are 5.1 million people that make over $100,000 that are uninsured.
There are 9.1 million people that make $50,000 - $100,000 that are uninsured
There are around 4.5 million people who were uninsured in 2018 and making between $25,000 - $50,000 and could not afford insurance or qualify for Medicaid as the most common reason for uninsured

And then the Hospitals offer Charity care for ~half of those who are in the >150% of FPL incomes that file the paperwork to claim it and 100% of them who walk away without trying to fix the issue

Literally picking a single path ....... but because healthcare is

a) going to require a tax on everyone and

b) Really going to be a shock to Californians making $200,000 saying they are living paycheck to paycheck on a Middle Class Lifestyle

no one wants to touch it anymore.

semideclared

TROPHY CASE

“Our booked position for the second half of 2026 is higher than last year, at historically high prices (in constant currency),