• Des [she/her, they/them]
    hexbear
    55
    4 months ago

    you think even a semi-conscious government would recognize treats are the only glue holding the tattered remains of american "culture" and cohesion together and would have put a stop to this particular type of gouging (even if just the food sector) using the various tools available

    but nope. speedrun this thing lets do it. how about that supreme court case coming up about destroying the concept of unions being legal entities

    • TechnoUnionTypeBeat [he/him, they/them]
      hexbear
      59
      4 months ago

      People act as if "bread and circuses" was this scam the Roman Empire ran to keep the people as complacent sheeps or whatever, without realizing that being fed and being entertained are basically the only two things people care about, and that anyone who provides that is going to avoid collapse

      The Roman Empire didn't fall because it tried to keep everyone placated with bread and circuses, it fell because it could no longer provide that stability to its people

      • Tunnelvision [they/them]
        hexbear
        19
        4 months ago

        Yeah anytime someone mentions bread and circuses it’s always with the smug aura of “couldn’t be me, I’m too smart to be fooled like that” like bitch we’re in the YouTube comment section what the hell do you think the circus is?

      • EelBolshevikism [none/use name]
        hexbear
        2
        4 months ago

        without realizing that being fed and being entertained

        Not true- they’re just the two things most likely to lead to revolution if they fail! Otherwise you just get silent suffering

  • HamManBad [he/him]
    hexbear
    49
    4 months ago

    It's ok comrades, Uncle Joe Biden has sent a strongly worded letter to corporate bosses to please stop with shrinkflation. We are saved biden-leftist

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      40
      4 months ago

      My favorite moment in politics lately was when a reporter asked the press secretary

      "Have you considered any actions other than "conversations""

      It was about Palestine but it applies to pretty much everything and boy howdy did that question piss off the press secretary. I'm pretty sure the official transcript included sputtering

      • ElChapoDeChapo [he/him, comrade/them]
        hexbear
        18
        4 months ago

        One of the few things that brings me joy lately is knowing that Genocide Joe himself will likely die of old age without ever facing justice (aside from losing the election) but these little twerps like the press secretaries whose hands are just as covered in innocent blood will live long enough that we can get some payback, someday

  • FALGSConaut [comrade/them]
    hexbear
    46
    4 months ago

    Ngl the slop getting more expensive was a significant factor that got me to stop eating fast food. At least when it was cheap I could tell myself there was a benefit to the garbage I was eating, but even the "deals" stopped being worth it.

      • Optimus_Subprime [he/him, they/them]
        hexbear
        23
        4 months ago

        when the bread is gone I hope the circus is worth it.

        Well, with The Marvels doing poorly at the box office and streaming basically being shitty, the circus isn't really working either.

    • Evilbunbun [none/use name]
      hexagon
      hexbear
      11
      4 months ago

      Yeah the fast food staples like wendys, taco bell, mickey ds etc have pretty much lost the purpose of “cheap”

      Id rather just spend an extra 2 bucks and go somewhere fast casually like Qdoba or something. Or Sandwich places (jersey mikes da best)

  • KhanCipher [none/use name]
    hexbear
    41
    4 months ago

    >4 food items

    >$25

    That's only true if you buy the items individually which seems to be very common with how many people i overhear the order of in the drive thru.

    But I know for a fact that you can get a cheesy gordita crunch, beefy 5 layer, cheesy fiesta potatoes, and a medium (+$0.10 to make it a large) drink for $7 (in the taco bell app, it's the 'build your own cravings box'). Welcome to what I like to dub the "pizza place monetization scheme", where prices are inflated to shit and back unless you know or research the magic code and/or corporate advertises the magic code.

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      39
      4 months ago

      Not coming at you personally but I keep seeing this posted when people talk about fast food prices.

      It shouldn't take a dedicated app, advanced planning and signing away your rights to a class action lawsuit to not get charged $8 for 1 item of fast food slop

      It's like if somebody responded to a complaint about grocery prices with a link to that extreme couponing show and said they didn't know why people were complaining.

      Not that I'm trying to take fast food that seriously, just not eating the stuff is pretty easy when there isn't any of it for 40 miles in any direction but this slop was the closest thing to a creature comfort for a lot of people who are struggling.

      • ElChapoDeChapo [he/him, comrade/them]
        hexbear
        20
        4 months ago

        This is true and the fact that you need to navigate a bunch of bullshit for an affordable meal seems like it also functions as an anti-homeless measure for the companies

    • Dessa [she/her]
      hexbear
      24
      4 months ago

      I don't want fast food dlc. I just want a fucking taco

    • @Raebxeh
      hexbear
      22
      4 months ago

      What’s the name of that TikTok guy who gets paid to share food discount codes but acts like they’re secrets and bugs that the company forgot to fix?

    • Smeagolicious [they/them]
      hexbear
      8
      4 months ago

      i didn't know about the build a box shit, that's new tech to me. I always just got dollar menu items previously

  • RyanGosling [none/use name]
    hexbear
    37
    4 months ago

    Biden ameria is what Happened...... the rise in food pri ces, the defunding of police, the unemployment, sending our taxes to fund Hunter's war against Putin in Ukraine.... it's all apart of The communist agenda.

    • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
      hexbear
      1
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Fake News.

      It’s because we don’t have a functioning congress that will pass laws to regulate this kind of predatory behavior.

      This is what party politics and capitalism devolves into. Expensive fast food, greed marketed as inflation, and record emissions while the Supreme Court slowly chips away at our collective rights.

      At this point our only fix would be to elect enough representatives who will vote against their best interest to repeal citizens united, so politicians cannot be bought by corporations, so we can pass some long overdue shit like stricter monopoly laws, rental price hike limits and profit regulations.

      Unfortunately the majority of them right now are acting in the best interest of their largest donors, and THATS the problem. Unfortunately, too many of us think this is sports so nothing gets done.

        • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
          hexbear
          1
          edit-2
          4 months ago

          Orrrrrrr we can just participate in our electoral process more and be more aware of who the people we cast votes for and what they’re beholden to, but that’s not sexy enough for hexbear users.

              • oregoncom [he/him]
                hexbear
                31
                4 months ago

                You're talking about electoralism when this is an issue where the vast majority of voters have nobody to vote for that actually aligns with their interests. Do you vote for Biden the senile Zionist or Trump the deranged Zionist?

                You want to work within the system? Make a billion dollars doing something morally depraved and bribe the politcians yourself. It's just as unrealistic as voooooting your way to progress and more effective.

                • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
                  hexbear
                  1
                  4 months ago

                  I voted for Bernie each time and don’t give a shit about the other candidates. If enough people did that we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

          • Dessa [she/her]
            hexbear
            33
            4 months ago

            I remember believing that. Then I saw the Democratic party cheat and gaslight the public into thinking theres any real democracy in their primary.

            It's Joever, dude. Democracy is dead

            • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
              hexbear
              1
              4 months ago

              Yeah I don’t really care about party politics so I’m not going to go further into what x or y party does, I’m just saying between engaging in a flawed system and replacing it with another system it will always be easier to engage in what already exists.

              • Dessa [she/her]
                hexbear
                31
                4 months ago

                That's an assumption you've made, and its not factual. It's a supposition of fact that you shpuld treat with appropriate skepticism

                • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
                  hexbear
                  1
                  edit-2
                  4 months ago

                  It’s not an assumption it’s literally how basically everything in this universe works.

                  It’s generally easier to fix something than completely redo it. Less materials, less energy expenditure, less time.

                  I can use whatever analogy you want but the fact is it would be much easier to get more active in local politics and make a positive change that way than tear the whole system down and hope it doesn’t fall victim to the same power-hungry tyrants in another form.

              • Tunnelvision [they/them]
                hexbear
                13
                4 months ago

                it will always be easier to engage in what already exists.

                Yes, that’s why everyone in this thread is explaining to you why that’s bad.

                • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]
                  hexbear
                  7
                  4 months ago

                  michael-laugh exactly! It is super easy to just vote. But it doesn't change anything. Doing easy things are not going to fix anything

          • oregoncom [he/him]
            hexbear
            28
            4 months ago

            You: "I disagree with Ogodei Khan's's policies and the Mongol Empire is collapsing on multiple fronts, if only we declare Kublai Khan the Great Khan at the Kurultai then the true will of the people will prevail and the empire will be cured!"

            • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
              hexbear
              1
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              I mean it’s that or burn it all down, and at our current rate of economic and ecological breakdown we don’t really have the time or resources to form a better structure.

              It’s much more economical for example, to repair the climate than it would be to terraform another planet. At a much smaller scale, it’s easier to fix the system than replace it.

              If we can’t even decide on basic shit like “is the earth warming at a rate that is hostile to life” or “is Taylor Swift a psyop” how are we supposed to form a new cohesive government? It’s going to be hard enough electing decent people to any structure you can think of.

              • Dessa [she/her]
                hexbear
                31
                edit-2
                4 months ago

                at our current rate of economic and ecological breakdown we don’t really have the time or resources to form a better structure.

                Which is why we need to do a slow incrementalism by voting?

                • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
                  hexbear
                  1
                  4 months ago

                  I’m on board for anything better that we can realistically accomplish in the next decade that can guarantee long term prosperity for the people and also is not subject to greedy and power-hungry officials.

              • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]
                hexbear
                24
                4 months ago

                it’s easier to fix the system than replace it.

                If we can’t even decide on basic shit like “is the earth warming at a rate that is hostile to life” how are we supposed to form a new cohesive government? It’s going to be hard enough electing decent people to any structure you can think of.

                You yourself are making our point for why liberal democracy cannot fix itself. We can't form a "cohesive government" as you say within this system. That's why its necessary for this system to end.

                You will never be able to elect "decent people" because you, us, the people do not have a say in who they get to vote for. This government does not exist for us, and it is not a democracy for us. And it never will be, until the power of capital is broken

                • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
                  hexbear
                  2
                  4 months ago

                  When your way has been implemented, and the system is overthrown, and all is just and fair, how are you going to protect this revolution from the next one?

                  As you said, the government doesn’t work for us. I don’t know of any structure that truly does because they all rely on those given power to use it responsibly and relinquish it eventually, which will always be subject to corruption.

                  But the alternative is anarchy, and that’s not going to work either.

          • D61 [any]
            hexbear
            25
            4 months ago

            "Who am I supposed to vote for Ben, Aquaman?"

          • sharedburdens [she/her, comrade/them]
            hexbear
            15
            4 months ago

            be more aware of who the people we cast votes for and what they’re beholden to, but that’s not sexy enough for hexbear users.

            They're all bloodthirsty zionists and neocons

      • oregoncom [he/him]
        hexbear
        32
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        People are clowning on you because of the naive electoralism and because you come from a reddit-logo instance but you're not completely wrong. You just need to go a step further and realize that what the system is doing now is what it was designed to do. Working within it is not going to get you anywhere. Also the guy you're replying to is joking.

        • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]
          hexbear
          36
          4 months ago

          You just need to go a step further and realize that what the system is doing now is what it was designed to do

          That's the key thing with all well meaning lib arguements. They believe their system is broken, when in fact its working perfectly and it was never their system to begin with

          • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
            hexbear
            1
            4 months ago

            Important distinction to be made here:

            It’s broken for the people.

            It’s working for those in power.

            I have yet to hear a tenable solution from anyone in this thread, seems y’all just like trolling on others rather than have productive discussions. That just makes people less inclined to listen to you until you sink further into your own echo chamber.

            • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]
              hexbear
              34
              edit-2
              4 months ago

              It’s broken for the people.

              It’s working for those in power.

              Thats how liberal democracy is intended to work you fucking lib shit!!!!!!

              That's what i just said and you read and you still don't get it, because you don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about

              echo chamber

              No communist in the west lives in an echo chamber. We hear your view - the fatalistic lib, capitalist realism veiw everywhere. You literally live in an echo chamber - its called the US, the most propagandized nation on earth

              • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
                hexbear
                1
                4 months ago

                You have to think that about yourself because it’s a protection mechanism.

                How swollen is your amygdala right now?

                It’s funny cause the same system you’re railing against is what incenses you enough to get on my ass for daring people simply exercise their right to vote. So I guess it is working, even on you 😂

                • BurgerPunk [he/him, comrade/them]
                  hexbear
                  33
                  edit-2
                  4 months ago

                  I have no clue what any of that means. I think its some kind of nerd way to say "no u" with a little emoji to show how not big mad you are right now. Go back to reddit

                • Tunnelvision [they/them]
                  hexbear
                  19
                  4 months ago

                  Damn I really thought we could have saved this one 😔

                  🎶Don’t save her, she don’t wanna be saved, don’t save her she don’t wanna be saved🎶

            • Poison_Ivy [comrade/them]
              hexbear
              3
              4 months ago

              Dont worry comrade ill make sure to vote for Hillary Clinton in this election since you people got mad at me for not doing so in 2016

        • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
          hexbear
          1
          4 months ago

          I don’t really care, it doesn’t make them any more right 🤣

          Is that what you got from what i said? Not the part where every other economic system mentioned here suffers from the exact same issues that the current system does? I have yet to hear anything constructive, just full on trolling and 12 year old understanding of global politics mixed with confident ignorance

          • oregoncom [he/him]
            hexbear
            22
            4 months ago

            I don’t really care, it doesn’t make them any more right 🤣

            rage-cry

            ^ you right now.

        • @BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
          hexbear
          1
          4 months ago

          Bruh your instance has to exist for you to have a community because everyone else knows how poorly thought out your content is.

          Or is Big Lemmy just out to get you?

          • oregoncom [he/him]
            hexbear
            31
            4 months ago

            The software you're using was written by a communist lmao. Lemmy was just us and Lemmygrad/lemmy.ml for years before you rddit NPCs decided to freak out over some rddit bullshit and make a thousand reddit clones. Now every once in a while we get to see you basement dwellers accidentally walk outside your echo chamber and freak out.

          • Maoo [none/use name]
            hexbear
            16
            4 months ago

            everyone else

            15 liberals that couldn't put an original thought together to save their lives.

      • Maoo [none/use name]
        hexbear
        19
        4 months ago

        Get a load of this lib.

        Congress functions to serve the owner class and has for its entire existence. It started out serving, exclusively, white land-owning men as part of a slave nation.

        It will not do anything else, ever. It is baked in and will only stop doing so when the owner class itself is subjugated, something that will only happen via revolution. It would be nice if that wasn't necessary and the ruling class could just let their power get voted out, but we don't have the luxury of such fantasies.

      • sharedburdens [she/her, comrade/them]
        hexbear
        15
        4 months ago

        The only fix? Voting harder? You're really tipping your hand when it comes to your total lack of imagination or investment in actually improving things.

  • StellarTabi [none/use name]
    hexbear
    36
    4 months ago

    tacobell really jacked up their prices recently tho. lots of dollar things are now 2,3,4 etc.

    • sir_this_is_a_wendys [he/him]
      hexbear
      15
      4 months ago

      They actually kind of have. I know lots of people IRL (including me) who have stopped going because the whole purpose of TB was to be cheap and edible (it was low quality but still tasty).

      • edge [he/him]
        hexbear
        6
        4 months ago

        $6 for way too many calories worth of crunchwrap, burrito, potatoes, and a drink still seems pretty good to me. That's like two and a half meals if you have self control.

  • Egon [they/them]
    hexbear
    31
    4 months ago

    > picture of taco.
    > nearly 200 comments and half as many upbears.

    Oh no

  • Thordros [he/him, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    25
    4 months ago

    My mystery flavor five for a buck ramen from the dollar store got 10% smaller a month ago. I'm furious. It's how I keep the lights on while feeding the kids real food.

    It's also technically vegan ramen? Or at least, I can't identify any animal products in the chemical soup on the label. Oh well, I'll keep eating that slop.

  • poppy_apocalypse [he/him, any]
    hexbear
    25
    4 months ago

    i bought 2 chalupa supremes yesterday. Cashier said $13.45. I was like, "Not the combo, just the chalupas." Not to long ago 13 bucks would feed a family at taco bell. It's getting ridiculous.

  • @theposterformerlyknownasgood
    hexbear
    23
    4 months ago

    This is a hexbear thread about food, as such I shall not be reading it. A curse upon all your houses.

    • oregoncom [he/him]
      hexbear
      10
      4 months ago

      it's a regular American hard shell taco with somehting resembling naan bread wrapped around it for some reason.

      • SpiderFarmer [he/him]
        hexbear
        14
        4 months ago

        I've made this at home with better ingedients+the taco bell sauce they sell in groceries. It absolutely slaps. If you're gonna mock Mexican cuisine, may as well commit.

        • oregoncom [he/him]
          hexbear
          11
          4 months ago

          I think people are just confused by what Mexican dish a "taco bell gordita" is even supposed to be emulating.

          • D61 [any]
            hexbear
            7
            4 months ago

            Its the "flat tire repair kit" for a failing hard taco...

        • crispy_lol [he/him]
          hexbear
          10
          4 months ago

          Tortilla a protein and onion lime and cilantro you got urself a fine supper

  • FuckyWucky [none/use name]
    hexbear
    22
    4 months ago

    These people complain about inflation when the real problem is low/stagnant real wages.

    • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]
      hexbear
      21
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      I think people in the US have been conditioned to expect low inflation forever, because inflation was concentrated on assets and large expenditures like Health, Education, Housing and so on. It's cultural inertia, really. Down here we are 30 years removed from a hyperinflation crisis, so even media discourse considers wether or not the minimal wage rises above or according to inflation. We also have all the problems you have, like shrinkflation and lowering quality of foodstuffs. And arguably ours are worse. But the discourse of 'what happened, I used to be able to buy a penny' is never done with the implication that inflation itself is simply wrong for existing.

      • Florn [they/them]
        hexbear
        7
        4 months ago

        You might be overthinking it. Most people call any increase in price "inflation" and leave it at that.

        • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]
          hexbear
          9
          4 months ago

          What I'm saying is that the way americans talk about inflation feels dramatic and sheltered. If I didn't know any better I'd think americans simply have 0 inflation, but I know it's confined to costs of living which the government doesn't subsidize. Ie, anything but cars and gas. It's all very

          Show

          • Dessa [she/her]
            hexbear
            8
            edit-2
            4 months ago

            Homeless population is exploding. I guess in a literal sense, we're accustomed to being sheltered, but I don't see what's dramatic about economic insecurity from stagnant wages and rising prices. "I am genuinely at risk of sleeping under a bridge" seems like a rational fear to me.

            • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]
              hexbear
              6
              4 months ago

              I remember growing up and watching a foreign movie from the US and finding it strange that families would do grocery shopping on a weekly basis. That felt like such a waste of gas. It was later that I realized that our own culture of monthly shopping arose after the periods of hyperinflation, especially due to the Volcker Shock in the 80s. There's a lot of small ways in which long term economic prospects shape our culture at large. And unlike what some romantic writers seem to think, American optimism is not inherent to people in the US. It's something that came into being out of historical circumstances.

              I don't think american decline or even it's relative decline is written on stone. But if the post 80s libertarian policies aren't reversed, I can see a traumatic situation akin to that of Britain's stagnation. A total cultural shock. As a foreigner that's what I'm seeing. People surprised at shrinkflation, inflation and even older boomers shocked that the baseline welfare state they voted out of existence does not, indeed, exist any more. This isn't a criticism mind you. I think we here at the periphery are so used to rational fears, as you put it, that we normalize these things.

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      21
      4 months ago

      Wage growth is totally dogshit but that's been true for 30 years. This inflation stuff really is fucking crazy. You can barely walk out of a grocery store for less than $60. Everything has gone up damn near 50% in the last two years between prices going up and pirti9ns of literally everything going down.

      Enshitificiation really is in full swing.

      • FuckyWucky [none/use name]
        hexbear
        9
        4 months ago

        Yea, i meant, low real wages. If inflation is 10% and wages increase 20% thats still good. but in this case there is no counter to inflation in form of increase in wages.