Victorian levels of poverty will return to the UK

[@veritysmart]

The worst part is the people working hardest are getting the least remuneration for their efforts and then shamed in the media for not taking more hours, more work despite the poverty wages. 40% of people in work need state support. That’s a reflection of greed not poor work ethics by working people. This is being done by design, by greed.

[@amorepsyche808]

Joos at the TOP speculating with interests!

[@OffGridInvestor]

It ALSO doesn't help that SO MUCH of the government money is wasted on foreigners and strange causes and minorities who arrived last week. But British wages are a complete joke versus living costs.

[@laurayarbrough4646]

@@veritysmart damn! That sounds absolutely horrible!

[@frusia123]

​@@OffGridInvestorThis is exactly what has led your country to this state. You believing that the foreigners are to blame. This is exactly what the rich want you to believe, the Daily Mail owner, your lords and your aristocrats want you to blame the poor Pole working his a-se off for Amazon, and to blame the poor Pakistani cooking your curry, because as long as you're blaming the foreigners, your masters are free to enjoy the money they're stealing from you. And nothing is going to change for as long as you fail to see the reality of your situation.

[@Little_old_me]

It's an agenda wef

[@blastypowpow]

SAME EXACT THING IS HAPPENING IN THE USA! Enormous wealth inequality is going to drive many of here into that kind of poverty. Poverty is an issue you NEVER hear politicians talk about here. What about in the UK?

[@Canuckmom128]

That’s a big part of the reason why Kamala lost the Election, and now the U.S. is saddled for AT LEAST 4 years, with a Christo-Fascist 1% Club, including the Ketamine addled Elon Musk, running the show. Because 70 Million Americans are dumb enough to believe that Republicans give a flying fig about the middle class. It’s going to be Nazi Germany meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets Mad Max. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤯😱

[@rdallas81]

It's THEIR money! We are not owed anything! This deception about people and money is a deception used to keep you thinking you're missing out on something.

[@alexcardosa8079]

Unfortunately sometimes countries must collapse to get the kind of hate that deals with the rich. Because no way it’s going to get better with just voting and passive resistance.

[@spikem5950]

​@@rdallas81🤡

[@kawag6356]

@@rdallas81It is our money! Are you serious? This is disgraceful

[@joltjolt5060]

An average house used to cost 1 year's salary, in 1970. 2 year's salary in 1980. 3 year's salary in 1990. Now, it's 10 Year's salary.

[@xrockangelx]

A lot more than that in many places (like most places here in California)

[@peterkimani3364]

@@joltjolt5060 don't worry every 300 to 400 years there's a great reset.

[@goshawk4340]

​@@xrockangelx a lot of parts in Texas aren't affordable anymore.

[@komninosm]

​​@@peterkimani3364 Butlerian Jihad incoming 😅

[@yeralmuzika]

Yeah I was doing the math, for a habitual average home that would cost around $160k+. My partner and I would need to save up at least $60k each just to knock it down and be able to pay it off lmao. That's just impossible unless you're like a lawyer or a doctor!

[@Voltair101]

In the USA Luigi Mangione found the fastest most economical way to solve wealth inequality.

[@riskinhos]

really? because last time I checked trump won and is giving a massive tax cut to billionaires.

[@RandyBaumery-s4i]

@@Voltair101 it's actually the fastest way to solve personal conflicts too.

[@SheenHunter-SeattleFreeze]

Hahah that's one choice yes

[@Lizapiza-o3n]

The worst part is this is happening because 'someone' felt that making 20 million when they could be making 40 million was oppression. 😤

[@ScrumptiousSam]

That's the worst part!? You sound like a 16 year old girl

[@AL-pc1rb]

It doesn't help that the average voter struggles with numbers and has somehow been convinced that their interests are in line with those of the super rich. They hear "raise taxes on billionaires" and they respond "omg nooooo first they came for the billionaires and then there was no one left to speak for me!!"

[@goldflo91]

@@Lizapiza-o3n It's called gaslighting fron the rich, with victimhood

[@benfowler1134]

These scum are out IN FORCE on LinkedIn right now, kicking off about the rise in the CGT rate.

[@kallista5194]

​​​​​​@@AL-pc1rb and they do believe the American Pipedream that they, too, will one day be billionaires and They won't want to be taxed Then. The same people buy all the infomercial "Make Millions Overnight with My Magic Course" truly thinking they will be millionaires immediately upon using it, with the billions just rolling in after that. Interestingly, this is how a lot of predatory real estate investing, house flipping, and investment schemes started, as fad get- rich- quick techniques turned desperate people into exploitative entrepreneurs, with vision boards of vast feudal empires. Notice how MLMs also mimic a vassal structure? It is like entropy for civilizations: we fall & revert, revolt & rebuild, over & over. Any structure that funnels the wealth of its base population ever upward to a top that never flows any back down, destabilizes its foundation and will inevitably collapse.

[@LizbetNene]

Victorian era illnesses associated with malnutrition have been on the rise for years now. Thank you for speaking out Gary.

[@mylesg7278]

@@LizbetNene such as a lack of vitamin A. It's no accident.

[@MrMaboboz]

My son just recovered from Scarlet fever a few weeks ago, couldn't believe it when GP gave us the diagnosis........I was like, "what year is this"?

[@smith2781]

The annoying thing is they give you free vitamin tablets in prison but don’t to poor people who can’t afford to eat properly. They cost £2 for 90 tablets in pound shops.

[@cortanathelawless1848]

How about more people take responsibility for their nutrition. Of course you'll get malnutrition if all you eat is frozen pizza.

[@eddiel7635]

bollocks

[@yeahbuddy4712]

Years ago when I was 18, I wanted to make food cart business in my town center. The council were so unhelpful, so unwilling. There was absolutely no encouragement towards me, as a young person trying to make a business. It was almost like the council officer I was dealing with was protecting her own town, like she owned it personally. Fast forward many years later, the town has become a ghost town, almost every shop is empty or closing down. What was ironic was the excuses I was given for a rejection was because the town didn't need another food establishment and wouldn't fit in..but funnily two new mcdonalds popped up. Joke. No encouragement for entrepreneur aspirations.

[@AYam-y8q]

@@yeahbuddy4712 Yeah, they didn't want your potential food cart to take away even a hundred pounds worth of business from the corporate restaurants. Even when they have no choice but to grant someone a license, then they impose harsh health and safety regulations (esp. for food) that are aimed at putting you out of business by costing you so much money because they require you to upgrade your business model to appease the regulations or by paying hefty fines for endless infractions. _The big corporations are the ones who actually lobbied for these strict health and safety regulations!_ They know they are the only ones who can afford the _constant requirements_ for new upgrades and fines - so they eliminate their competition by influencing, and thus, weaponizing legislature.

[@anettemor1730]

corruption.

[@sheepishmclemmingston5550]

You see the common denominator in these issues? Sure, the wealthy, ruling Elite are a huge issue. That is apparent. But who is it that is ALWAYS at the helm? Who is it that sanctions, denies, lawback and legislate ALL these issues? Seen it yet? I'll tell you who it is...its your Governmental entities and those individuals residing within the halls of governance themselves! That's who has ALLOWED all of this to not only ensue, but to perpetuate and expand unendingly. Those who were selected, elected, however it was to "represent" us, the regular folk who make up the population, the same who ACTUALLY produce and create the metrics that fuel society and economy. And instead of "Representing" us, they have instead hijacked, extorted, and schemed ALL it is WE the people have worked so hard to create and aquire for ourselves. They did NOTHING to create or even EARN anything, and yet now see them continuing to commandeer EVERYTHING. Leaving us destitute and destroyed eventually. And that will come sooner, than later.

[@eksbocks9438]

I know how it feels. They ask a lot out of us. But we aren't given even basic human decency in return.

[@nooneinparticular3370]

One of the many ills of big government facilitated by the lie of democracy.

[@jenbreck3577]

This really started with Thatcher and Reagan and their lie of "trickle down" economics.

[@Gannicus006]

Stop the nonsense this started when democrats embraced globalism with weak and bad policies.

[@Gannicus006]

Nah this started when the dems embraced globalism it created weak and bad policies that did not prioritized thr citizens needs.

[@bizygirl1]

@@jenbreck3577 Absolutely!

[@chelabuford7106]

EXACTLY 💯

[@maryeckel9682]

@@jenbreck3577 yep! Watched it happen, saw it coming all those years ago.

[@diealovesveggies1762]

👋🏻 Hi, here from America. Most working class citizens here are 1 inconvenience (car part going out, having to pay for parts and repairs, missing work or being fired due to increasingly unfair attendance policies and no protection for workers) away from the poverty of which you speak. Here is to hoping that things change for the better soon, because I am barely making it.

[@MsJMHS]

@@diealovesveggies1762 I am also a US citizen, recently postpartum. I had complications at the end of my pregnancy, and I needed my husband to stay home to watch our other children because I was unable to. It has been almost 3 months since I gave birth, and we still have not financially recovered. He only took a week off work with FMLA (which is unpaid for anyone reading this). We planned on having another child, but almost ending up homeless with 2 small children and a newborn really messed me up, so I chose surgical sterilization. And yet some people are still confused about why the birth rate is falling. It's all connected to wealth inequality.

[@Fellagha-d9z]

You have the chance to break the 2 party system in America election , you can do it, time to reject the dems and the rep , introduce another which in time will grow in power. Its a long process but it will worth it !

[@Patson20]

Honestly in the US that's almost entirely due to terrible spending habits. I'll use people I know personally for examples. Out of all my coworkers I'm the only one that brings a lunch from home every day. I'm also the only one that makes coffee at home. So every single day every single one of my coworkers spend about 20 dollars every 8 hours for food coffee and drinks. Then half of them will stop and pick up fast food on the way home from work for supper. So now we're at 30 dollars a day in just food and junk. Thats almost 800 a month In trash food per person. Meanwhile I cook full meals ahead of time for a price of about 2.75 per meal. I bring my own coffee at about 15 cents per day, I bring my own snacks at about 75 cents per day. My breakfast I cook at home is 1.50 per meal, my supper is roughly 2 dollars. So my total food consumption cost per day is $7.15 or the cost of one of my coworkers coffees at the coffee shop. I can eat for four days for what they spend eating for one day. If they spent their money more responsibly they could have a fully funded emergency fund like I do.

[@1MarkKeller]

​@Patson20 Those people going to lunch, keep those restaurants open, and their workers employed. Who knows why they don't or can't meal prep ahead of time, everyone's lives and time spent from work are different.

[@Patson20]

@1MarkKeller yea bud you're part of the problem. As long as you attempt to defend and justify reckless spending everyone will be broke and their lives will continue to get worse. It's no different than defending alcoholics with "you don't know how bad their day was"...and I do know their circumstances, We spend half our lives here together at work doing 12s and I've worked with them for over 5 years. You know how much time it takes me to make my meal preps? Literally the exact same time it takes to make a single meal for two. I made 7 days worth of lunches last night, it took 15 min with prep and preheating.

[@notyourordinarygran]

Povetty exists, not because we cannot feed the poor, but because we can never satisfy the rich.

[@JMSsssssss]

WORD

[@Brianboru-k8y]

@@notyourordinarygran untrue. Take responsibility for your life. Stop being jealous. Government waste is the problem super rich work hard employing their money to work for them, employing you. A few rich bludgers don't cost any more than poor bludger.

[@povertybay3260]

Yep the game is rigged the only thing growing faster than new billionaires is people living under bridges. The 1% make the rules and there is nothing truer than the rich want more

[@dansvok3872]

@@Brianboru-k8y rich people need to take responsibility and stop playing with debt money then we get inflation to middle class

[@ganemrahman3424]

Th rich also start wars society can’t afford. Look at what’s happening in the Middle East. Who benefits the most? Not the actual people fighting and dying, but the arms manufacturers and war profiteers

[@ohkay7418]

The problem is both in the UK and America is that we sent all of our jobs overseas who is so much better to have somebody get paid 2 cents for doing a job than two dollars

[@Cduboi61]

“Nobody is connecting these two things”. Everyone is aware of it, they just choose to ignore it because addressing it would be considered “socialism” and “anti-capitalist”

[@Cduboi61]

Also the rich just pays the government to make policy in their favor via lobbying so there is really just nothing we can do.

[@Mayfitz]

Sophistry,your so right!

[@lnkc1310]

Exactly!

[@Bruhbruhbruh-rn9qv]

That, and the small problem that the group of elites he’s referring to happen to own all of the traditional and social media

[@kenrickman6697]

You’re right. And somehow they haven’t figured out (despite massive evidence to support it) that neither socialism nor anti-capitalism are bad things. Unless you’re already on top, of course. Then they’re awful, because you can’t take even more money out of the economy.

[@nickthebeardedwonder]

Most sensible thing iv seen in a long time, a man not distracted and looking at the real issue

[@Munin497]

@@nickthebeardedwonder Claiming the government is underfunded and blaming the rich is to be as distracted from the real issues as you could possibly be. The useless parts of the government growing out of control and all productive parts of society getting tied up in harmful regulations, red tape and taxes is the problem and he's effectively cheering it on.

[@Cerinaya]

It's happening all over. Most US families are living paycheck to paycheck or just above. Food prices are crazy, rent/housing is near impossibly high, health care is ridiculous, wages are stagnating and the at will work policies mean that people can be fired for almost any reason the boss comes up with. It paints a bleak picture for the future. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class is fading because it is drowning underneath the massive amounts of debt that inflation is pushing.

[@Billy-the-Kid]

All planned. Don't complain, you've done it yourself(The USA people). It says it's a democracy country right? So do something about it.

[@mel3687]

@@Billy-the-Kid They just DID. Or haven’t you been paying attention? They voted out the Democrat party control in every branch of government (the Supreme Court justices having been selected by a Republican), all because the corporate captured Democrats promised to maintain the status quo, to double down on identity politics, to feed the military industrial machine, to keep open borders and to weaponize the media/justice system/internet. The Americans spoke in overwhelming unity and fired the incumbent party. Way to keep up with the times. And to think Americans are always the ones ridiculed for their cultural unawareness…

[@AlienLivesMatter]

Hear hear, happening in Australia too.

[@EmptyWasabi]

@@Billy-the-Kid yes, let’s “bootstraps” our way through multi-billion dollar, capitalist propaganda and convince the brainwashed, ignorant masses that the ideology they are fed every day is incorrect. I’ll get right on that. It’ll certainly work out and they won’t just double down on their ideas of billionaire worship. We program people here from childhood to see anything left wing as communism. Republicans constantly muddy the water by calling democrats “left wing radicals” lol gimme a break. The democrats are center right on 99% of issues. We’re cooked.

[@EmptyWasabi]

I should also add that both parties are there to protect the capital owning class, so there’s zero chance there will ever be a challenge to that via electoral politics.

[@theokr89]

This guy's been talking sense for years. More people need to pay attention, it's free.

[@aurasphereDavid]

Same thing happening on Canada. (And many other countries) It's like all governments and rich of the world consulted each other and decided to do the same thing all over the world, at the same time.

[@danielgrauberger649]

@@aurasphereDavid nah bruv i would say its nature of capitalism

[@farhaanali5311]

@aurasphereDavid capitalism is cannibalistic in nature, unchecked greed always destroys everything in its reach

[@galinageorgieva8554]

Not the governments, the puppeteers that control the governments

[@thebigo2605]

@@aurasphereDavid almost like a bunch if important and rich people are all part if the same international think tank, the WEF.

[@zenboy1612]

@@aurasphereDavid endless immigration

[@BlueBearOne]

I've been discussing this same problem in the U.S. for the past 5-10 years. When the middle class is cannibalized, civilizations fall.

[@Natta44]

I wonder if this has happened with literally every ancient advanced human society. The rich hoard too much, the poor rebel, society collapses and we start all over again.

[@BlueBearOne]

@@Natta44 Strangely, and I kid you not, my intuition was leading me to this same thought as I wrote that comment. Interesting.

[@otheh2636]

@Natta44 Yes, historically, this is what happens. The fall of the Roman empire seems to be the poster child for what's happening in the West.

[@Patson20]

​@@Natta44typically it's the rich become too disconnected from the average citizen in their opulence, squander away the nation's wealth which causes a depression and suffering, or this causes them to start unwinnable wars that agitate the population or cause invasions and collapse. We're close to the state of France before the French revolution, but not very. They had a LOT of starvation first.

[@oraclerex]

@Patson20 Correct, I believe the rich ruling class are also aware of this and thus we still don't have mass starvations. Basically they are playing a risky game of trying to squeeze as much as they can from the population without causing it to revolt.

[@jacobnauman5801]

Yeah, this is happening across many developed countries. The US especially. I mean, I've been building a 13'X16' cabin in the corner of a cow field out of mostly free pallets and other reclaimed materials for myself and my partner and kids to live in. It doesn't matter how hard I work, I CANNOT afford to provide for them. I'm just lucky enough to know someone that owns a big cow field. We were in this field in a decent tent over the winter. Hopefully we can save up money for our own land while we live there, but the way prices keep going up I'm pretty sure my savings will be for nothing. Gotta try, though. Meanwhile I've been watching everyone that already had money getting more in this area. Brand new, big houses being built up and down the back roads. Proctor and Gamble gets handed millions to expand their plant as if they couldn't afford it. Everybody my age is lucky to make rent even with roommates, and they work their asses off and can't afford food or gas. I apply for jobs where people say they're understaffed, and I hear nothing. I get lucky and get an interview, and hear nothing. Ask my friend who works there, and they say they still haven't filled the position weeks later.

[@Saiege]

Im triple licensed and i cant even get a response back from any of the places I've applied at. RN's are taking over our line of work (has nothing to do with RN's scope of practice, but they see it as easy money to make and don't even have to go to school. They just get trained) meanwhile the people that did go to school, tested, train and have worked in this field for over 10 years, can't work. People have stopped spending money on unnecessary services which has hit my wallet as that's my main income. And now I'm suffering immensely. All the stores are feeling it too.

[@JT-gi8rx]

It should get better with Trump as president. He plans on giving tax cuts to corporations who bring manufacturing back to America, so should mean more job availability. The corporations should be able to play their employees better if they’re getting these tax cuts as well. Have you looked at working on oil rigs? In Canada there’s always work available if you want to work on the rigs, and they’re very high paying jobs. I would look at working a job like that until you have a lot of savings, then start your own business. A good option is something like a pesticide business, getting rid of bugs or rodents in homes or businesses. Another good option is a septic sucking business, all you’d need is to buy a septic sucking truck and start advertising. As your business grows, buy another truck and hire a driver for that one.

[@bendy6626]

@@jacobnauman5801 Jobs offered, my resume is perfect fit, get called for interviews multiple times, goes very well, am told they will call me with an offer "next week" -- but I hear nothing. Been going on since July '24. Same thing...and position stays open. Never had a problem finding work pre-2020. Now .... ?

[@Demmie-nl2qh]

This has been deeply discussed on job search forums and many of us have come to the conclusion that a lot of job ads are fake :( Some are there harvesting your data to sell. Others are trying to make their company look like it's expanding. Still more are hiring internally but have to post it to 'the public' first. It's a racket.

[@OG-BIG-SHEPHERD.]

Make sure to treat the foundation for termites because if you haven't, that cabin will be a brittle, hollow shell in 15 years!

[@sanjayshah7776]

We need a law that people or companies cannot own more than 5 residential properties, (not including flats). This buying up of numerous properties across England has pushed up house prices and continues to push up house prices to eye watering levels.......Kids growing up and being born in UK, will not be able to afford houses....or spend most of their life paying off a mortgage. INEQUALITY OF HOUSING STOCK ON THE HANDS OF A FEW PEOPLE, NEEDS TO CHANGE....for the good of this country

[@codymedford4308]

@@sanjayshah7776 same here in the US. Hell even renting a place is going from costing a third of what you make to half. Modern day slavery is what this is.

[@Julesy980]

@@sanjayshah7776 UK needs remigration.

[@AnneWilkynson]

Canada also... sorry folks but capitalism isn't working.

[@AnneWilkynson]

​@Julesy980 No, that's not the problem, and has nothing to do with this.. you're just a racist.

[@daisytwotoes]

Why let them own five? Why does anyone need more than one house?

[@MarcCano-m9u]

Thank you for bringing up this topic

[@llockertpro]

Most logical person out there helping ordinary people connect the dots. Hope they're listening

[@richardpowell1425]

@@llockertpro they know 100%. The super-rich control them and they are hoping the average voter doesn’t figure it out.

[@Redditor6079]

Dots like government reckless spending with money it doesn't actually have devalues the currency, bringing in entire countries worth of "refugees" saturates the already overburdened labor pool leading to decreased wages, increased demand for housing, higher housing prices and the resulting consumerism from such a large influx of "refugees" means the businesses that were already established now make boatloads more from the increased demand? Go figure! That's not a "rich" vs "poor" situation bud, that's a "your government absolutely shafted your people" so they could get more votes and tax dollars situation and now they're frothing at the mouth from all the gullible plebs pushing for State expansion so they can "solve" the problem when in reality the government is going to milk the "rich" for everything they can get and leave the "poor" high and dry.

[@dah8789]

This is happening in Canada 😢, middle class has just been going off the graph. No more secure living in middle class here. Everyone's worrying about getting through the next month's bills and digging themselves into more and more debt. The taxes , the utilities, the fees for basic municipal/provincial services, tuition, cost of books for students. Insurance costs...I can go on and on. And I haven't even gotten into the healthcare system.

[@miclau-p4n]

Let's all just stop consuming for a week. See how this puts a dent in things. It's possible! People have the power, but they giving it away!

[@RoseyTucker]

@@dah8789 You are exaggerating

[@jamdrensefrenzy]

This is happening all over the world, but fear not, it's the end of the human world for all humans, as greed is our worst flaw, the greedy will suffer the most, since they have so much to lose

[@dah8789]

@jamdrensefrenzy that's true, it is unfortunately happening everywhere 😕

[@trudimclaren4301]

Here in NZ too. I frankly give the world 10yrs max before it's uninhabitable as well.

[@Atlastheyote222]

Same thing is happening here in Australia. The rich are getting stupidly rich, and the middle class is being squished down into the lower class. These big companies want a nice docile workforce who is so desperate to work that they'll do it for pennies.

[@superexplosiva2001]

what are the rich saving for? Do they have to prove that they are on top of the rest of the people? We need to stop worshipping and stop vilifying other concepts of economies. Capitalism is going to be our doom.

[@mirakoshskyrider7445]

given that the Australian middle class in in such debt, low/no income with no debt are the middle class now. its flipped.

[@benwilliams3539]

Dont blame companies, they aren't causing it. It's progressive ideas such as ultra high tax, too many social programs spending money and too high immigration taking jobs and homes from Australians. Stop lying bro.

[@TasmaniaIsAHole]

It's crazy that a $100k income today is considered as "just enough". And if you have a mortgage then you're paying a good third of your net income in repayments. Possibly more depending on the area. It's bad.

[@coco-nabi]

Same thing happening in South Korea and we’ve hit the lowest ever birth rate recorded in history. Not to mention the crazy high housing prices due to the competition to live in the capital city (Seoul) where majority of the population lives. The super rich is getting richer and richer, while middle class is collapsing like it’s a joke. And Koreans usually work overtime like it’s a default except for large corporations, and they are really burnt out. Young gen Zs are choosing not to work but stay at their parents’ cuz they can’t buy their own property. This wealth inequality seems to be happening on a global scale and unfortunately, there seems to be almost no hope that it’s gonna get even slightly better.

[@theresebortzfield188]

Great statement absolutely correct. wealth inequality causes more upheaval for countries than any other reason

[@rampaginwalrus]

Organize. Unite. Do not be divided by petty differences. Change is easy, we only need to unite and demand it.

[@mendax2014]

@@rampaginwalrus but what about genders and religions and all the garbage ideas that don't matter. I want to discuss and debate those trivialities.

[@rampaginwalrus]

@@mendax2014 While we're at it, we can blame all of our problems on our fellow members of the working class who have just as little influence on the system as we do. We'll know them when we see them because they'll have a different skin color or a different way of dressing or talking. Yeah, it's definitely THEIR fault we're living paycheck to paycheck. That's what the millionaire news anchors and politicians told me. Why would they lie?

[@polybian_bicycle]

​​@@mendax2014 But those arn't trivialities either. They are very important to people, and the very reasn why it is so easy for the few to exploit those against the masses. Any sane leftist program would start by demanding a full stop to migration.

[@mohamedaityoussef9965]

@@rampaginwalrus oh man not again :(

[@susanmiller7560]

I would have given you a big thumbs up, except that you said that change is easy. It's not and it's not going to be. We're all going to have to sacrifice for change.

[@grizzlybear4]

It has already happened here in the USA. And the answer has been to blame homeless and destitute people, saying they are all on drugs.

[@susanmercurio1060]

That's a protection for the middle class, so that they can avoid thinking, "There but for the grace of God go I." What they do think is, " *I'm* not on drugs. *I'm* not an alcoholic. So then *I* won't become homeless."

[@LifeBetweenTheDash]

@@susanmercurio1060...and yet it's only a matter of time.

[@duvessa2003]

“They don’t want to change.” is another lie I hear.

[@keirfarnum6811]

@@susanmercurio1060 They don’t realize that’s backward thinking. The people who are homeless that use drugs often do so to deal with being homeless. And it’s far less of the homeless population than people think. Blaming the homeless for the problems of the middle class is insane. Homeless people didn’t cause home prices to skyrocket; wealthy people did.

[@susanmercurio1060]

@@keirfarnum6811 Thank you. I only got housing a year ago after being homeless for four years. I was in my 70s the whole time. And I wasn't on drugs or an alcoholic either, although I did drink more than I usually do. Most people don't think about the homeless using as a way to deal with the trauma of homelessness.

[@tonedowne]

The clue here is referencing Victorian levels of poverty. That was a time when Britain was at its richest and most powerful, yet none of that wealth and power found its way to the general population. This was the time where “laissez faire” economics dominated, and it’s where it’s return, in the form of neo liberalism, has been steadily taking us. The postwar socialist reconstruction of Britain was the only time when the spoils of empire and industrialisation were shared with the general population.

[@peachyjam9440]

There was never a socialist period in Britain, it was social democracy, if it was socialism the laissez faire capitalism couldn't come back without a coup

[@stuartloggins3691]

I agree with you. It's happening everywhere. It's happening at my house. We've got about $80,000 a year going through this house and there is nothing fancy here. No new car no fancy furniture. Only we do have good food. And that's it.

[@silverkay-cx4iy]

What's worse is it was completely planned and deliberate. I heard it 10 years ago and it all unfolded.

[@irenapesula7772]

@@silverkay-cx4iy it was called the conspiracy theory then and it's still now.

[@LifeBetweenTheDash]

I remember in the 70's when a Corporate executive said they were giving raises to their workers because of the unbelievable profits made that year. Now today all we hear is shareholder value. I must give more profits to the shareholders. 😵‍💫😡

[@blackbird7679]

@@LifeBetweenTheDash Yes, indeed. Even take out loans to pay dividends to their shareholders like Thames Water did.

[@SeanSoraghan]

U will own nothing and be happy.

[@johnwright9372]

It started with Thatcher and Reagan. I think they actually believed the myth that a rising tide lifts all boats. Well it bloody well doesn't if you have drained the harbour.

[@klarasee806]

Dickens, chess game… these are great pictures that everyone can understand. Dystopian, but so on point, and it applies not only to Great Britain.

[@Dondizle]

Something that's stuck with me. In an episode of Naruto, Shikamaru is playing a game of Shogi (like chess) with Asuma. Asuma asks Shikamaru, "Who represents the king?" Shikamaru replied, "The people."

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

​@@Dondizle If Naruto were fair, Rock Lee would have been the protagonist (Shikamaru was going to be a high ranking Hidden leaf policy maker, either way). However, inheriting a fox demon and essentially being royalty goes a long way.

[@mairedaly4926]

We've been politically distracted by race, religion & sexuality, when all it's really about is the rich & the poor

[@Potencyfunction]

As an educated person who knows human rights, I wouldn t focus so much into their diverting the mass media trough those racial and cultural or sexual non-sense muvements. Because they are legal already. The population shall focus instead on welfare . What a fuck is that to make meeting and scandal for something that is already legal? Why do they faith for ? They faith for sexual eqquality? that is already legal. So where is the puropse out from thier stupidity?

[@aaa-gt8by]

Definitely right and there's no disputing it.

[@AleXoEx0]

The government just imports people who already expect way lower standards. Then those imported people become the majority. Simple solution for them.

[@fuckoff4705]

wait i know this one, what issssss class reductionism?

[@fuckoff4705]

@hyubre rich people are so happy you think like this, they've paid news channels for you to think like this, they want you to think you're part of a counterculture but you're not, you don't have a coherent argument but are still arguing that we shouldnt tax the rich.

[@Roger_Ramjet]

Subtitles available. In English?

[@Venus-gn5oi]

Agree with everything except that “nobody connects these two things”. Many people actually do just they don’t have the necessary power to make a change and the ones that do, they don’t care.

[@robinkaye9763]

@@Venus-gn5oi … we do have the power when we band together. We outnumber the robber barons and ruling class exponentially. The problem is that people believe the lies of the oligarchs and we remain divided. United we stand… divided we all fall.

[@seanjones2456]

We could have had the common sense to not elect a conman criminal that will have 14 billionaires in his administration.

[@AlcasSin]

They will be called and shunned as commies

[@martinmalecki3302]

The monopol media ignores it deliberately, thats all. They are all worthless. Greeting from germany.

[@carmencita.k]

I was diagnosed with a Respiratory condition June 2023 and I was put on UC,I was in disbelief as I felt I was treated like I didn't want to work,I was living on £273.00 per month to pay for food and all household bills,I am still paying my debts off 16 months later,what that does to a person's psyche is shocking,all pride is gone,living on the bread line is horrific and inhuman,having to go cap in hand to a food bank,I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[@sr2291]

How did you go to the food bank? Do you have a car?

[@kawag6356]

@@sr2291shut it

[@xaman972]

I'm not even gonna say what is happening where I am and to me. But the kind of poverty that's gonna come...expect people to die from malnutrition or downright starved.

[@serpilkaddy1609]

@@sr2291 How is your question relevant? Just curious 🤔

[@sr2291]

@serpilkaddy1609 How do you get the food home with no car?

[@gymjampooky]

Id say the biggest factor that knowone talks about is how much first time home buyers need to put a deposit down on a house its actually unattainable!!! Kids in 10 years time buying a house will need 150000 deposit on a traditional three bed . Whilst being paid shit wages. Surely this would tell you that its economically not working.But also personal debt is also ridiculous buying shit to impress people you dont even like

[@Dominic-gd1gc]

Yes this is exactly it. They should limit companies buying up residential property and reduce red tape for building houses. In Canada, where I live, they came up with the solution of letting you borrow more instead of the obvious, build more houses and reduce immigration and international student acceptance. So everything is in the gutter over here.

[@damianmousley2098]

Same as in Australia

[@ntl9974]

Stop buying homes

[@dennisgreene5369]

Not sure that is true. My mortgage in 1982 was ten times my salary - it was substantial but then again inflation was running at something like 20% and mortgage rates were higher than ten per cent - hence debt levels were decreasing in treal terms. Agree with the wider point about wealth distribution. Too many international players now who are giving very little back.

[@MOI-qq8zc]

Corporations took advantage during the COVID pandemic thinking , rightly, that no one would notice prices rising exponentially

[@Lotuspoint1087]

@@MOI-qq8zc bet the created it to make money.

[@lornawilliams-astley2716]

Covid was a great time for greedy corporations. Here in Australia, Woolworths, Coles hiked up food prices. Then, you had businesses being subsidised by the government. When Covid ended, the government made small businesses pay money back, yet greedy big businesses like Harvey Norman, who should never have received millions of dollars as a hand out, turned around and refused to pay that money back. The government hounded small business but allowed Harvey Norman to keep that money. Gerry Harvey is a big donor to the Australian Liberal party. Australia's middle class is slowly disappearing. You're either filthy rich or miserably poor. There's no happy medium.

[@kerry9125]

That's not what happened. The government stopped "non essential" people from going to work and kept businesses from operating. A lot of goods weren't being produced. That created supply-chain issues. During this time, the government paid people not to work. That destroyed productivity and sparked the inflation problem we still have. In retrospect, it was a terrible way to handle the pandemic.

[@phillipzx3754]

Yet Trump supporters are silly enough to believe corporations will accept lower profits FOR HIM! 🤣

[@MOI-qq8zc]

@ right? 🤣🤣

[@gomenaros]

Historically speaking, wealth inequalities lead to revolutions when things weren't livable anymore.

[@arasharfa]

guess why theyre investing in surveillance technology and policing?

[@s.a3898]

​@@arasharfa people will just do the same thing as ULEZ cameras. Break them or cover them.

[@GoodVibes51]

We Brits are 1. Too lazy to do anything ( relatively) 2. Too absorbed chasing unreachable standards to act as if we are rich 3. Too polite to actually say anything and be rude about it.

[@eddielewis8074]

Dont cry becos other groups been crying for a while, now poverty increasing amongst the main population u crying. Joker.

[@arasharfa]

@@s.a3898 it's built into our society, biometric theft is everywhere. meta data from online activity can be used against us.

[@zefft.f4010]

Upper Class: Things are better than ever. Middle Class: Things are rough. Working Class: Welp. Guess I'll die.

[@BoostedPastime]

When the working class does, we all die.

[@Fiercefighter2]

@@zefft.f4010 doesn't the working class include the lower and middle classes?

[@zefft.f4010]

@@Fiercefighter2 I would say so. Maybe 'lower class' would have been a more accurate choice of words. But big parts of the middle class would not agree and tend to side with the upper class, because they think they're actually closer to a billionaire than a homeless person or a minimum wage worker. It's partially the reason why (along with culture war issues that often also capture the poor) the upper class can rely on the electorate to vote against their own interests.

[@vl1180]

@@Fiercefighter2yes . There is the rich and then the working class. No inbetween.

[@nicholaspostlethwaite9554]

Nonsense. The lowest classes now are living like kings in comparison to the past they are spoilt rotten!

[@Dannyvirk]

Same s__t in New Zealand, our leaders just handed around $US8 billion to the rich and the landlords. This was done by cancelling the construction of infrastructure, such the building of hospitals, public transportation and taking on billions in govt. debt.

[@kkaterina12]

I have an unbelievable story of abuse from NHS, 10 years of fighting to get diagnosed with cancer, and now recently waiting year an a half for needed scans and I wish I could go private to save my life but I can't. So I rely on very people who traumatised me to my core.

[@alexandraw6264]

Wouldn’t you prefer for the NHS to be better, with low wait times and able to provide everything you need, rather than paying exorbitant prices for private insurance?

[@kkaterina12]

@alexandraw6264 I would absolutely prefer for NHS to be better. But it's a third time that NHS making an incorrect diagnosis. Telling me that I don't have cancer when I had. They told that because they did cheap testing instead of what I needed. When I pushed for what was needed cancer was shown.

[@RoofLight00]

@@kkaterina12 I had a misdiagnosis from a doctor about angina then had a heart attack months later, ended up nearly dying in Oxford st London, luckily I was just round the corner from Guys and St Thomas’s who saved my life. I don’t blame anyone but the government and 14 years of austerity and conservative administrations for the state of our NHS.

[@ianstuart5660]

@@kkaterina12 Very sad, sending ❤️❤️ from Canada!

[@kkaterina12]

@@ianstuart5660 thank you

[@duvaunewhite2267]

It's not just the U.K., it's the world. No one is against folks being rich, but if you're rich, and everyone around you is in peril, suffering, hungry and sick, how much fun is that. How do you sleep at night, and how do you not have concerns of your own safety. Once the world reach that level of poverty, there will be greater risk of lawlessness. People will die, but they will no longer feel like they have anything to lose 😢😢😢😢

[@bendy6626]

Wouldn't want to be a CEO about now, either.

[@duvaunewhite2267]

@bendy6626 So agree! If half of these guys would forego these astronomical salaries, the companies could pay their employees decent/livable wages.

[@gabrielgamer4458]

@@bendy6626 You’re right, I don’t want to be in a position where I do basically nothing but nod my head at meetings for 6 hours before I go to sleep increasing my salary by yet another 10,000 bucks

[@cryptocsguy9282]

As a person who wants to one day start their own tech company i do a whole lot of stuff that i certainly wouldn't describe as nothing. I do my research on economics & finance so i can understand the principles of how businesses are supposed to work in a capitalist society with regards to debt , gaining access to investment , thinking about the difference between the benefits of a public vs private company. I'd also have to think about human resources such as maternity/paternity leave, employee bonuses , dealing with issues like harassment ect & all of that stuff applies to businesses in general. Then on top of that specific to the tech industry I also study software & electronics engineering, to say a CEO does nothing besides nod their head in meetings shows insane levels of ignorance about how a business actually works & I can say that from the perspective of someone who has put serious mental effort into thinking about actually doing so.gabrielgamer4458

[@chickenfoot2423]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@cryptocsguy9282 yes, CEOs do stuff, but in fairness, you're coming at it from the perspective of building a small business from scratch, which is not what they're talking about. the CEOs hoarding the wealth are not spending their day dealing with maternity leave or HR stuff, that's not their job and they have people to work out the logistics for them. Policies change but not very often.

[@GwendolynPorter-w6c]

He's absolutely right! Same going on this side of the pond!😮😮😮😮

[@marcus813]

Same thing here in the US. Here in Florida, housing costs in particular have skyrocketed and wages aren't that high.

[@janton42]

"...and nobody's connecting these two things" Literally everyone has connected those two things, bro. You aren't the first to notice the game is rigged. This is fairly common knowledge, man, but most people are powerless to change it whether they connect those two things or not.

[@ianstuart5660]

Exactly!

[@davidschmidt270]

@@janton42 most don't care....just let me get what I can get.....but pretty soon, you'll not have even that!

[@joylastname3035]

@janton42 literally everyone? All I hear is blaming immigrants. 70+ million Americans just reelected a wealthy man who gave his top buddies massive tax cuts before, promises to do it again, has said he doesn't pay overtime, and sees unions as a bad thing, has no plan on how to alleviate suffering and his idea of gov is to take away what ppl already have. Brexit happened because the British didn't want immigrants. Everyone hides behind "economic anxiety" to cast xenophobic votes by voting the worst possible option.

[@dlilwon]

We are not powerless, we are distracted

[@janton42]

@dlilwon fair point! Distraction and division keeps us powerless to make substantial change. This guy is pointing out the inequity in the system like he discovered it, though, and we all know that the system is stacked against most people. His arrogance annoys me, but I guess it's keeping with European tradition - a white guy learns something, and he "discovered" it. Doesn't matter how many people already knew that thing, the white guy found it. It's his now.

[@pedrofornell4915]

The problem is too difficult to start a business. Taxes are way to high, rich people have mechanisms to avoid them. Normal people don’t.

[@marcks-3980]

Their first mistake was shipping British manufacturing overseas, leaving British workers without jobs. But as always, the company owners just want to do whatever they can to make an extra pound for themselves.

[@irenapesula7772]

That was not a mistake for them but for the people and the nation.it happened all over western countries.

[@alexisl9426]

Now the mega rich factory owners from overseas are coming to the west to increase their wealth and exploit the poor.

[@OllieTattersall]

@@marcks-3980 That's globalisation for you. All of a sudden this market force opens up where the same goods can be made for a fraction of the price. It is so bad that the likes of M&S suits, for example, are made using British wool, but the wool is exported to the Far East, the suit made, and then imported back to UK. Beggars belief.

[@TheErikjsm]

even if that was the case manufacruring will never be back not in the us not in the uk not any major western country. you will destroy your economy by "bringing back" jobs in a global trade system like we have. who would want to export and buy brittish items over ones that are 1/3 the price and chineese made one unleds you match the shitty conditions china maintains to keep their cost so low that is. no point in even discussing the topic really.

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

As a factory owner wouldn't you consider to lower your expenses? It is about politics, not business owners. If your government had been smart enough they would have made a better policies towards business and labour laws - to make sure some parts of business are still conducted inside the country, or goods produced abroad should face an additional tax.

[@veronicacarmody115]

It isn’t just Great Britain, the USA is in dire straits also.

[@oliverjameshall2288]

It also seems like the ultra wealthy have got used to the extravagance and an entire industry has been built to entertain them; bugattis, private jets, private islands etc etc. So theyre not going to ever have enough and wont give it up without a fight. Taking back utilities would be a good start.

[@susanmercurio1060]

If you will read The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen, you will find that he talks about why the rich need to own more and more. Very interesting

[@LifeBetweenTheDash]

​@@susanmercurio1060 Thx. I'll do that

[@duvessa2003]

Hear! Hear!

[@markshrimpton3138]

As someone said, ‘Britain is a poor country with a few rich people living in it’.

[@roseannemain9957]

@@markshrimpton3138 with ever more uber rich people initially every day.

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

"....... and controlling/ruling over it." needs to be added at the end.

[@johntoplis879]

You've obviously not travelled much, including those that liked the comment.

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

@@johntoplis879 Correct, and that is because, as markshrimpton said, most of us are too poor to travel! ;-D

[@johntoplis879]

@@ralphhathaway-coley5460 I disagree. I grew up on a council estate and most people have the means to travel. It's never been more accessible. That a side, in this information age there is no excuse for people to make ignorant comments when 20 mins of research would show we are not a poor country compared to most out there.

[@valeriemacphail9180]

Thanks for mentioning my best beloved author, the literary genius Charles Dickens.

[@garyseconomics]

Great author, one of my favorites as well

[@valeriebrown6079]

It’s not the increase in debt (savings) that’s the problem. It’s that the debt was not used to upgrade infrastructure and rebuild the NHS and education. The money created by the government could have done all these things and that would have made ordinary people better off. Instead, it was diverted straight into the, mainly offshore, bank accounts of the super rich.

[@deputyvanhalen6386]

If profit can be made from catastrophes then don't be surprised when catastrophes get repeated.

[@Dalabombana]

Indeed. Shock / disaster capitalism. Naomi Klein is correct.

[@stuffhappens5681]

@@deputyvanhalen6386 “Never let a crises go to waste.” -Rahm Emanuel former Democrat mayor of Chicago. His brother Dr Ezekiel Emanuel famously stated, “Nobody should live past 75.”

[@Squeegee88]

​@stuffhappens5681 finish the quote.

[@stuffhappens5681]

@@Squeegee88 You first

[@Kataharrison6974]

Good point.

[@dmoore8595]

It's not just in the UK. It's in the US as well.

[@vallivieira6632]

@@dmoore8595 Thanks for sharing this. I'm learning that there are so many people in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U K in this situation. How have we allowed this to happen?

[@dmoore8595]

@vallivieira6632 we trusted our elected leaders, as we Americans say:They got in bed with wealthy banks and corporations. They were "protected" while they grew massive wealth, systematically destroying the quality of life for the middle class.

[@silviadarling3622]

​@@vallivieira6632I think earlier these countries went to other people's countries: took their gold, killed the people or made them slaves. But those countries are very very poor, now. So poor: try to move away, for example to the USA or UK.

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

This is everywhere, I live in Ukraine and we had this problem for decades, but our situation is worsened by high corruption, oligarchy and now war.

[@mom.left.me.at.michaels9951]

Hope America can figure this out too. Trickle down economics has never worked.

[@66gassy66]

So Whats the answer ????

[@xavierorriss921]

Luigi Mangione gave a pretty good example.

[@goshawk4340]

Wealth inequality is a real problem. At the same time normal working people buy a lot of stuff from Amazon or big block stores. This accelerates how much money goes to the top bracket of asset owners.

[@thatoneguy378]

@@goshawk4340 this right here. If folks would just stop supporting these companies things would be better.

[@E_MZ_]

@@thatoneguy378 yes yes if only folks would stop supporting these monopolies who own everything already and charge the lowest prices

[@geobus3307]

When monopolies exist the people do no have a choice. Don't tell people not to use them. There are no real alternatives. That's the definition of monopoly!

[@ckevorkianxo]

@@goshawk4340 yeah you sound like you need to stop consuming the state propaganda, and come back down to reality. If it was that simple, it wouldn’t be crushing all these dominant countries. Crazy concept

[@maiqueashworth]

This is worldwide. It's so important to understand this. And if we get it sorted in the UK, we can help poorer countries see this. What's frustrating is that if we gave ordinary people a chance to make a decent life, we all become richer. There is so much wasted talent where people are struggling to survive- people don't have the wherewithal to train for a trade in which they can really contribute to society. And when you look at somewhere like Brazil and other countries around the world they end up with enormous security problems - muggings, kidnappings, crime of all kinds, homelessness. Compare that with countries where the wealth distribution is more even like the Scandinavian countries. Low crime. Opportunity.

[@collybeans586]

No its not world wide. Its west wide

[@Tezzmeuster]

This will never change,the world is obssesed by money. Most young Poor people will sell their souls for wealth. The problem with money is that we have been forced into using it.

[@samsby14]

Sweden is now one of the most violent countries in europe now, but thats due to certain immigration demographics.

[@WarrenPeaceOG]

It's Neoliberalism and Western "harmonization of trade." I think it's funny that when they did this in the 19th century, the economics was called Liberalism. The world of Dickens is to Liberalism as our world is to Neo-Liberalism

[@maiqueashworth]

@@Tezzmeuster If young people become obsessed with money it's because they live in a society obsessed with money. But it doesn't have to be like that. I know a lot of amazing, caring young people who are not like that at all. People become obsessed with money because of fear and pain. We can help them to be happy with themselves.

[@camelotenglishtuition6394]

it's by design

[@bridgetveldhuis4473]

Yes! WEF!

[@ISureDont]

You will own nothing and be happy

[@slapjuice]

the Victorian age was amazing for the UK and Empire? We also had no immigrants... what's the complaint about

[@cou60]

​@@slapjuiceYeah, can't wait to send my three year olds to clean chimneys

[@Tedi652]

​@@slapjuicebot

[@notintohandles]

What a concise summation of the current situation.

[@mokumhammer]

The days of the working classes enjoying their well earned money on a better life than their parents - is over. We are one or two generations away from reverting back to Victorian poverty (imo)

[@daedaluxe]

Yeah that's your opinion, we're not one or two generations away, we're literally the generation, lol.

[@slapjuice]

the Victorian age was amazing for the UK and Empire? We also had no immigrants... what's the complaint about

[@HamnaTabuu]

The UK is a nation of immigrants and their descendants over the centuries. Celts, Romans, Danes, Normans, Huguenots... From all over the world. The House of Saxe-Cobourg. Our PMs, MPs, military, police, medics, scientists, builders, bankers, educators... Also a nation that created lots of emigrants too.

[@calumbell2276]

@@slapjuice Yeah it was amazing relative to what was before it, not what we have now...

[@slapjuice]

@@calumbell2276 Now we have dinghy, immigrants and a country we don't recognise! Victorian era looked pretty amazing

[@irene-jb7jc]

Yes Britain is a 3 World Country now? The amount of poverty in this country is unreal. And I'm talking from experience I grew up motherless, and in poverty

[@ryan.1990]

So let's import thousands of people in to the country! The logic of leftists baffles me

[@Jon14141]

Sorry to hear that.

[@DSmith468]

Yes, Britain is becoming increasingly poorer. But wealth inequality is going down every year. USA where wealth inequality is increasing has an average wage that outgrow ours every year. Funny that, it’s almost like European style socialism makes everybody poorer

[@LordBaktor]

That "and nobody is connecting these two things" seems a little pretentious. We all know these things but not many of us are in a position to do anything of impact about them.

[@noseboop4354]

There's plenty you can do. You can vote. You can contribute or volunteer for political groups that advocate for you (unions / worker's party / etc). If all else fails, you can pull a Bastilles. But you won't, because you're too addicted to videogames and KZbin.

[@LordBaktor]

@@noseboop4354 I said "anything of impact" and you start with "you can vote" lol. None of those things you mention have any real impact except pulling a Bastille, which I can't do on my own anyways, which brings me back to my original comment of being in no position to do anything.

[@susannapavelkova1265]

@@noseboop4354 Voting is not democratic in UK. FPTP is a rigged system so that won't help. Unions have had their teeth pulled. Demonstration is becoming almost illegal. And when you're working two jobs and/or you've a family , there's literally no time or energy. So what else do you suggest? I'll wait.....

[@Rockbo47]

​@@noseboop4354 good job uniting mate. Just throw shade at random people on the internet, is that how you're helping is it?

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

​@@noseboop4354good point, they are concerned but not enough - there are plenty of tasty burgers in the fridge to eat and comfy chairs to put their butts in, they want someone to come and deal with all their problems.

[@agitatedbiscuit]

it’s so disturbing that so many countries are having (or refusing to have) this conversation

[@lalec589]

Thank you Gary for explaining the disastrous effects of wealth inequality. Without exaggeration we're going down to that Oliver Twist time fast.

[@SEANPOL203]

This mega rich are content with this being the future of the UK🇬🇧

[@aidenfielding9709]

Let's see how content they are when the poor start breaking into their houses to steal all of their things on a weekly basis

[@slapjuice]

​@@aidenfielding9709That already happens in London...

[@chazprouk]

That’s such a wrong way to be thinking. They need customers to sell to so why would they want them poor?

[@slapjuice]

@@chazprouk The mega rich in my area are all these fancy lot with their degrees who are drs and lawyers etc. All need to pay a lot more taxes!

[@MnemonicCarrier]

@@slapjuice Trying to get more taxes from the wealthy will never work - ever! You're chasing unicorns. The super wealthy will simply move somewhere else.

[@we8608]

I knew life was going to be hard, but it never occurred to me that it could be impossible. How does one even begin to prepare themselves for the impossible? It's as if we've become the living dead.

[@thegoodpimps]

The world is getting better and better. The individual nations are worse and worse, it’s just down which being perceived as your life

[@ChinaConsultingTravelBlog]

Most people allow their wealth to flow out themselves. Expensive, unnecessary items and taking on debt to purchase them.

[@BurritoSupreme42]

@ChinaConsultingTravelBlog and then they're loans become charged off or their interest balloons out of control. No one talks about these "victims". Living standards collapse largely due to one's own ignorance and greed

[@MangoBalloon]

@@BurritoSupreme42 Yeah, because banks and the entities giving out loans are not to blame, only people. Anything to misdirect the blame from the leeches and parasites at the top. Goddamned bootlickers.

[@annastusser9181]

I’m American and work at a facility that distributes food, clothing, and other essentials and we’re almost here. 😢

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@annastusser9181 go cross the border to Mexico 🇲🇽 & see even worse levels of poverty

[@Jon14141]

Well done to you

[@itellsya]

Living standards are collapsing, and have been for a decade and more - it's wild that some people think that, for some reason, life will suddenly start to get better at some point 'soon'.

[@mattcorrigan2449]

Its already happening...look at the growth of food banks

[@pinball7113]

The majority of people who use food banks are due to sanctions on benefits or people leaving a job and waiting on said benefits, junkies who lie and pretend they need help with food because they have used their money on drugs etc. not because of poverty in itself.

[@jamesblackshaw132]

Are food banks growing????

[@mclovin3725]

@@jamesblackshaw132 think rheyre sating the amount of people relying on them

[@jamesblackshaw132]

@@mclovin3725 U mean all the benefit claimants who hear free food and come running

[@thebenevolentsun6575]

That's more to do with politicians trying to buy votes than it is the actual need for them.

[@tysoncable]

The average income is 44,000 GBP. As an Australian living in London, I've asked everyone I meet how people afford to live here, and the answers are always the same - no idea.

[@shashipancholi]

occurs to me, if financial institutions can build an investment strategy based on the assumptions: wealth inequality will continue to grow and working class families will struggle to survive, they will be highly motivated to create a self fulfilling prophesy and ensure their strategy succeeds

[@newernever7294]

It's already happening! In the Victoria times, sanitation workers became disgruntled about low pay. So they would leave the sewers untreated and allow sewage to overflow. It would then leak into the water pipes that people use for drinking and everyday activities. Thus, leading to sickness and outbreak of diseases. Now today, you have boroughs like Tower Hamlets that are underfunded and can't provide efficient services like refuse collection. So the workers can go on strike for a whole two weeks. Tower Hamlets already has one of the highest rates of homelessness in London. When you combine that with open exposure to trash left out in the streets, toppled with an underserved NHS, do not be surprised when they start reporting outbreaks of a plague near you.

[@slapjuice]

the Victorian age was amazing for the UK and Empire? We also had no immigrants... what's the complaint about

[@Coneman3]

Victorian age was only good for the rich, you are probably one of those selfish rich people with crazy political ideas

[@Tedi652]

We're nowhere near Victorian times.

[@Coneman3]

The country was far less wealthy overall in Victorian times. Most people were poor. There are a lot of rich people now and some super rich. We could easily erase poverty now, but deliberate policies keep many poor so the rich keep getting richer.

[@slapjuice]

@@Coneman3 so that means times today are really good and people complain for no reason? so what are these good old days everyone refers too?

[@tradojx]

Ha, some of us were trying to yell this before our U.S. election yet they still voted in the man whose only concern is that him and his friends get even richer.

[@s.2196]

@@tradojx you must've missed the consequences of the previous election bud, cause the past 3+ years have SUCKED

[@snakeeyesraw]

​@@s.2196Guessing you're not very familiar with history and economics. Maybe do some reading when you're broke next year.

[@ryan.1990]

Trump lives in your mind rent free. Sad!

[@snakeeyesraw]

@ryan.1990 Parrot af

[@richrich2862]

How is inequality dealt with in a society as a whole?

[@buildingcollege]

Thatcher said she was going to return Britain to Victorian values and she meant it. We have the hunger, we have the poverty, the disease. Now we need the innovation and optimism and growth.

[@Groovytunes96]

I would rather have Victorian values than 3rd world values any day.

[@Grandmagray-i3j]

@@buildingcollege Thatcher's got nothing to do with it. She died years ago and the 14 years of Tory Government was not a proper Tory Government it was a socialist Tory Government. It's only going to get worse under this Labour Government.

[@wallenrod9017]

If you had victorian values you would also have victorian growth rate unlike today.

[@TheAcad3mic]

It's hilarious that you think British government want to do anything but carry on finding out how to increase the wealth of billionaires while squeezing common people for as much as possible until we start a very traditional revolution.

[@Eddigarero75]

@@Groovytunes96clearly have no idea how they lived then😂

[@johnwright9372]

The neoliberal economic model was adopted all over the world over the last 45 years. Most capital, technology and skilled jobs were exported to the cheapest sources of production. A permanent underclass has appeared with generations under one roof who are unemployed, unskilled, poorly educated with poor health care, broken public services, inadequate pensions, low wages and a dire shortage of affordable housing.

[@gerhard7323]

Yep. It was a deliberate policy all underpinned by a quasi-plausible harsh-but-fair free market narrative that enough people believed in partly because it often appealed to their own (short term) interests.

[@coopsnz1]

uk more left today not right

[@gerhard7323]

@@coopsnz1 A case could possibly be made that is culturally, but certainly not economically. The debt mongers now reign supreme to the point where even a takeaway pizza can be bought in installments with potential interest attached. Don't confuse increasing debt excess and record higher taxation with 'the Left'. Go back to the supposedly 'miserable' 1970s if you want to see how much debt there was in the UK, particularly public debt in relation to GDP. Making money from debt creation with interest attached is more than ever the name of the game now and only the wealthier sections of society can afford to play it whilst the poorer sections are forced to endure its deleterious consequences and pay for it.

[@markbailey5393]

Someone doesn't know their arse from their elbow. ​@coopsnz1

[@coopsnz1]

@@markbailey5393 less home owership because that what socialism policy causes , end goal communism no one own a home

[@Starvile888]

We can't vote our way out of this. Starmer and Sunak are just different wings of the same bird. The electorate can choose the flightpath but the destination is already predetermined

[@KlungeMasterJay]

Very well said. Different wings of the same bird is the perfect analogy

[@humanwithaplaylist]

Greens exist what is wrong with you

[@humanwithaplaylist]

​@@KlungeMasterJayno. It's incorrect because both parties are right wing.

[@humanwithaplaylist]

kzbin.info/aero/PLDGgx5xDVBylwy4F1ftFr5uvgjPOIjOaN

[@KlungeMasterJay]

@@humanwithaplaylist okay 🤣 Starmer is Labour and Labour sits centre-left of the political spectrum so shut up and learn before you open your mouth.

[@iandavidson1]

Wow! Who is this guy? Really interesting

[@denysnuttall1706]

Not just wealth,two tier policing ,two tier freedom of speech ,we are almost there

[@LifeBetweenTheDash]

We are already there for the lowest among us 😢

[@jonh7054]

The reason why there is a growth in millionaires is because our fiat currency is falling against assets. One ounce of gold May 2004 was £214.57. Today 13th May 2024 it is £1860.32. Gold hasn't really gone up, but our currency is falling in value due to inflation.

[@animateddepression]

Inflation and brexit

[@bitcoinbeast]

Also crypto, without Bitcoin I would be one of those people about to get screwed by our current fiat system

[@robertthompson0]

This is something so overlooked, "millionaire" has kind of lost the meaning it had say back in the 90s. The buying power of 1 million pounds is worlds apart today vs then (or even 10 years ago).

[@TasmaniaIsAHole]

Interest rates will be lowered to almost nothing again soon enough and the fiat scam will begin all over again.

[@spyder_man]

BTC will save you

[@omp365]

Why can’t we just say what it is? Private families own the printing presses for their own gain. The end.

[@domdouse3575]

This is happening all across the world. And it needs to be addressed asap!

[@melindawilliams6624]

I can't tell you how elated i am to finally see that people are recognizing the real issues affecting the world. It has always been Rich, Greedy and unfair against everyday working class. CONGRATULATIONS WORLD. 🎉

[@DSmith468]

Really? 30 years ago the USA, Uk and EU had about the same average wage. The USA carried on not worrying about wealth inequality, while the UK and EU introduced higher taxes, redtape, and bureaucracy et cetera to try and narrow it. The average wage in the USA is now about 30% higher than ours. The US economy is booming while m the UK and EU are declining and look like being in decline for decades to come. I know what I’d rather have

[@highpointadvisors9314]

@@DSmith468 In the words of William Wallace [in the movie, "Braveheart"], FREEDOM!!!

[@highpointadvisors9314]

@@DSmith468 It's so-o-o about time FACTS were introduced into this conversation!!!

[@maryfountain4202]

74% of jobs created since the financial crisis have gone to foreign born workers. Govt DEI targets? 45% of British companies are now owned by foreign corporations (with their accounts and taxes paid overseas). The group paying most taxes are those earning £180k plus, which in London isn't huge. What's clobbering the middle classes - the combination of the cost of higher education, and inflated asset prices i.e inflation created by loose money policies which has gone into the housing market, add in ultra high immigration. It isn't so much about the existence of the wealthy 1% (mostly business owners) but the social engineering that's allowed all this to happen, much of it created over the last 30 years.

[@polybian_bicycle]

Amen. Increasing poverty, exploding wealth for the rich and mass migration are all connected.

[@dr.a.m.]

Can you dare to say the name of the group that did this social engineering in the UK ?

[@philippine6168]

You're absolutely right people should remember: poverty is not an accident, a coincidence or an inevitability. It is something which is manufactured by the ruling class and the government system which everyone needs to take risks to overcome by investing, i pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life too 🙏🙏🙏

[@adasohas]

you've remind me of what someone once said "The mind is the man, the poor is in it and the rich is it too". This sentence is the secret of most successful investors. I once attended similar and ever since then been waxing strong financially, and i most tell you the truth..investment is the key that can secure your family future.

[@KleinMoore]

that's why I always urge everyone to start investing somewhere now no matter how small, this is literally the time for that, forget material things, don't get tempted,i became more better the moment i realized this.

[@Soboj-oy8me]

yeah investment is the key to sustaining your financial longevity but going into any Investment without a proper guidance of a good financial advisor can lead to a great lost too

[@theresathomas3849]

Obviously these investment may requires more cash and concentration to start too

[@JosiahHelloy]

Obviously often times we just look for what to invest in and usually encounter these problem. It's either the money is too huge for what I want to invest or it could require more than expected

[@ahmedazimi2662]

This guy has opened my eyes and has really give me a proper education on economy.

[@Gledge9]

" Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses" one of the most chilling lines from A Christmas Carol .

[@MustardAndFries]

Everyone can diagnose this problem but no one wants to address why wages have been repressed to the benefit of the elite and who is politically supporting that system

[@daysofend]

There's also the question of whether there really is enough to rebalance, and if there is, not to triggering ecological failures.

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

Yes, there is more than enough. The productive capacity of humanity has never been greater nor more sophisticated, and there is absolutely no contradiction between meeting the basic material needs of all while turning around the environmental devastation of capitalism. China's population is in decline precisely because of the vast improvement in material conditions over the last forty years. That as material conditions improve, people have fewer children has been proven many times over many decades in numerous cultures. If capitalism's need for cheap labour were eliminated, living standards could improve for the existing population as investment could focus on implementing environmentally sensitive, labour-saving technologies and production processes, eliminating drudgery and dangerous work while preserving the planet as a livable home for both humanity and those we share it with. It can be done if the collective will is there. And it had better be done, and soon, if the planet is to have a future.

[@mat5267]

Mass immigration is a part of why wages have stagnated. There is a huge surplus of labour. Supply and demand. Factor in the 2008 crash and 2020 furlough and you have a near bankrupt economy

[@chads2219]

​@@GrimenoughtomaketherobotcryChina literally forced people to have no more than 1 child (all wanted to keep a boy, so hardly any women in comparison now). Now they are wanting their people to have more children. So not sure what you are even talking about here.

[@chads2219]

Because no one can fix the fiat money system that creates inflation and thus creates the constant increase in the wealth gap making the rich richer and poor poorer. And a revolution is about the only way to change the money system, because those whom own the FED banks worldwide won't allow it without a fight.

[@MrPernell27]

Same thing has been happening here in America since Regan was in office. It’s ridiculous. There are many area in America that look like 3rd world poverty. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Yet the poor keep voting for the same assholes that have legislated them in this condition. ‘ it’s a good thing banking is done behind closed doors. If the American people really knew what we did they’d come after us with pitchforks’- GHWB

[@eternal.260]

So what’s his solution exactly?

[@Anthony-nu5oc]

The worst part is that there are absolutely necessary infrastructure investments that need to be made now that are being ignored because we don’t have the money to pay for them.

[@econrith]

The problem being that is exactly what we see our politicians doing. They act not for us, but for the conglomerate. We need to remeber that the conglomerate is also a super structure for food delivery , energy delivery. If government debt explodes that is good as that is government spending to the economy, is it not ?

[@umayoub5]

Definitely politicians must change the way they do things and stop taking under cover corrupt cash payments

[@randydueck889]

Spot on. The system is so broken, voting can't fix it.

[@whitewittock]

Democracy is the only solution you have, you only get to vote for a dictator once

[@justgarry5485]

That’s definitely the case when we only have two cheeks of the same arse to choose from.

[@harrycampbell7594]

This is the thing with Democracy , things will happen you don't like

[@ISureDont]

@@whitewittockif only it was actually democracy. Even local politicians partake in menacing and retaliating when opponents try to take their spot. They use the local police force and harass the ones that actually want to help. Another win for police I guess. The confirmation of their status as seperate from the people.

[@jimmyfaulkner5746]

He made his money breaking the system he's saying is broken , should stick his soppy wolly hat on so it's obvious what a cunning stunt he is

[@georgerendell7292]

But what do we actually do about it? How do we actually change this? All we ever do is talk

[@Audience-Perspective]

Extremely effective communicator

[@Tarotcooks]

👍

[@Thomas-dn8dr]

Well said. It's a problem throughout the Western World. I'm a 50 yr old Australian and the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last 20 years. I'm working longer hours than I've ever worked and I still struggle to pay for a basic living standard. I see no end to it.

[@robertedney3892]

The full video is brilliant, very intelligent man

[@slapjuice]

he sounds like a crack addict

[@halvincarris1026]

He literally said nothing 😂😂 "Oliver f*cking Twist" yeah right genius 😂😂😂😂😂

[@tomjones8715]

And a hypocrite

[@chimbu4852]

@@tomjones8715 ahahha, he quit when he realised what he was doing. you missed the point of the video

[@tomjones8715]

@@chimbu4852 no he quit when he had made enough

[@halnorwood6978]

Just ran the numbers on ONS for both countries, people look at the US as have and have nots, they have a more even distribution outside the top 1%. Wealth is more unequal in the UK than the US.