Me seeing the second ‘once in a lifetime’ recession in my lifetime.
There will be a third, no worries ☺️.
Shit will just get worse and worse.
I think what happened is some people got smart and figured they stand to make a lot of money in a recession.
Nah, the boom bust cycle happens due to the contradictions inherent to capitalism. They are speeding up because the contradictions get sharper as capitalism progresses. Marx developed this understanding 200 years ago, check it out:
“When the expansion of production outruns its profitability, when existing conditions of exploitation preclude a further profitable capital-expansion or what amounts to the same thing, an increase of accumulation does not increase the mass of surplus-value or profits, an absolute over-accumulation has occurred and the accumulation process comes to a halt. This interruption of the accumulation or its stagnation constitutes the capitalist crisis. It represents an overproduction of capital with respect to the degree of exploitation. From the point of view of profitability at this stage, existing capital is at the same time too small and too large. It is too large in relation to the existing surplus-value and it is not large enough to overcome the lack of surplus-value. Capital has only been over-produced in relation to profitability. This is not a material overproduction for the world in this respect is undercapitalised [73]. This stresses once again the central contradiction between the commodity as a use-value and as an exchange-value, between production for use and that for profit.” https://www.marxists.org/subject/economy/authors/yaffed/1972/mtccs/mtccs3.htm
Let me take a moment to comment not specifically on this but on my own disillusionment. It’s a strange personal experience to be raised believing that the evils of Marxism is this boogeyman of economic, social, and moral disenfranchisement, but then, I look around myself and observe the supposed ravages, but there is no shadow of Marxism to be found–it’s capitalism. It’s a strange thing to behold not unlike having been raised by ultra-religious and reaching the age where it becomes clear that there exist questions for which that system has no good answer.
If only there was a school of thought and associated branches of science that lay out the systemic shortcomings which necessitate this condition since the 18hundreds and on which a solution absolutely can be build.
But alas its consequences entail the discontinuation of global exploitation and the dethroning of the capital class who benefit from it and who exert control over the political, media, and academic classes thought to be necessary to bring about systemic changes.
IDK, ask the companies who refuse to pay fair wages and the government who refuses to force them to do so?
It’s not like the government is exactly paying fair wages themselves either. Ask any teacher, nurse, researcher or anyone else working in the public sector.
As a scientist, I’d get a major wage increase if I’d switch to the private sector.
Not meaning that as a complaint
I feel like you have a legitimate basis for complaint. I’m a fucking school bus driver and the only reason I make less than you is that I only get 20 hours a week. The more senior drivers who work 40+ hours a week make close to $60K (with health insurance and a pension).
Maybe Physicists should join the Teamsters with us lol.
Just a small bit of nuance that I neglected to give before, I do live in Sweden and $43k gets you much further in Sweden than in the US.
It’s a above median income, which is about $38k. (Both numbers are rounded, in total im line 6k above median per year). But still very significantly below what I can get with my same degree in industry.
It’s a known thing in academia, the pay is not great. Even very high ranking professors, who essentially could have a CEO-like position in industry, still don’t crack six digits here.
also because I’m poor as fuck
Probably soon I’m going to be just like them by next year
