I know an Elon Musk STEM-lord fanboy who literally told me "you can't use the pandemic to judge how bad capitalism is."
Vaccine distribution is intentionally slowed because it is made to be profited off of instead of equitably distributed
“Yes but that’s not REAL capitalism”
He's definitely one of those "REAL CAPITALISM NOT CRONY!" type of smooth-brained idiot.
There's an element of truth to that only in that the system works best when absolutely nothing is going wrong when maximum gluttony can be achieved. Any time there's even the slightest bit of trouble it's an absolute cluster fuck.
Ignoring that seemingly a bunch of R*dditor nerds can create ripples in it for the memes.
Most of the jobs that were lost are low paid, service work. A lot of that initial spike was temporary layoffs as well. People who matter to the media and politicians have not been affected very much. In 2008/2009, a lot of the jobs losses were managerial, so it got a lot more attention.
It is continuously shocking how reviewing past events of my life through the lense of class changes it. Yes you're absolutely right, as bad as the 2009 recession was I can't help but agree with you. It was different than other bubbles/crashes in the past not just in scale, but because PMCs were structurally hit.
Who, whom?
The average Leftist has zero fucking understanding of class relationships in this country. The "99%" slogan is catchy, but it has been incredibly damaging to discourse.
It’s great waking up and living on to every job board and not having a single job to apply to that isn’t door dash
It really is supposed to get significantly worse this year as the consequences start to catch up to our actions
I honestly believe this. 2020 was bad, but people had savings, could take on additional debt, got some stimulus, had temporary rent freezes, etc. 2021 is going to be astronomically worse. Even if everyone suddenly becomes employed...that debt isn't going away. Rent is going to be due, and it's not going to be one month of rent, it's going to be "now you owe the whole of last year, with interest." Credit card debt is going to start defaulting. Savings is gone. Stimulus ain't coming.
Even if you assume COVID itself is wrapping up (which it isn't), we're still only seeing the tip of the iceberg
Unemployment numbers are also hard to gauge at this point because some people have been out of work for so long they no longer count as unemployed which totally is a form of measurement that makes sense.
Lots of smaller businesses are also on the verge of going under as they reach the end of their credit lines. Up to 1/4 here in NYC and 2/5 of restaurants
For reference to anyone reading this, the U6 unemployment measure is the "real" one that includes long-term and under-employment
And now with the vaccine out (even though the rollout is horrendous), the powers that be can point to it as a justification for removing any kind of rent freezes and stimulus checks.
You're have a far, far, far too pessimistic view of society that completely fucks up your perception of reality. The Left in general has this as a persistent problem....... We're always the first to freak out over shit, the last to get out heads out of our asses, and persistently falling behind the eight ball. It's completely against the idea of "dialectical thinking" to always be repeating whatever bullshit nonsense the Democrats said in the past and try to hold them to account, but we keep doing it anyway.
Most Americans do not rent. If your thinking in terms of "making rent", you've already lost. Most Americans did not lose their job under Covid, and those that did got a $600 check every week for 26 weeks on top of unemployment.
The real issues facing people are the same as they were pre-Covid: Skyrocketing housing costs with absolutely nothing affordable being built to alleviate the issue. Unaffordable healthcare. Unaffordable childcare. Most people have a job, and face those issues. Losing a $12/hr service job is a drop in the bucket, and focusing relief on the small minority still out of work is such a God damn waste that makes us look terrible.
This might be the most :LIB: take I have ever seen on this site. Congrats!
Ignoring reality and never changing your analysis as conditions unfold is the essence of dialectical materialism :)
The reality is I have homeless friends with master's degrees made homeless by COVID. Their material conditions do not matter any less than anyone elses and saying we should ignore them for the greater good is exactly what a lib would say.
The real issues facing people are the same as they were pre-Covid: Skyrocketing housing costs with absolutely nothing affordable being built to alleviate the issue.
Lmao what is this lib take on chapo dot chat? You're not going to solve the housing crisis by building more homes (no matter how "affordable" lmao). There's already a surplus of housing, the issue is that it's being hoarded by a group of capitalists to create false scarcity. The housing crisis won't be solved until there's no longer a housing market - until then, capitalists will leverage housing to make a profit like any other commodity.
Unaffordable healthcare
I agree it's a problem that healthcare is unaffordable, but why do I suspect you hope it becomes "more afforable" and not "free"?
Unaffordable childcare
"We just need to build more affordable childcare!"
This is all extra funny since you start your take complaining about how the left is always "repeating whatever bullshit nonsense the Democrats said in the past": When's the last time you've heard anyone outside of the Democratic party champion "more affordable housing" lol?
