Why America Is Becoming Increasingly Anticapitalist

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#america #capitalism #visualeconomik

[@calebbliss8626]

most of it comes down to the outrageous prices for housing, outrageous cost to go to college, and outrageous healthcare costs.

[@calebbliss8626]

and also on top of that GDP per capita can be misleading. Because even though the total GDP is going up, the amount of that GDP that is going to average people is getting smaller and smaller as the %1ers are getting larger and larger percentages of the wealth in America.

[@xiphoid2011]

@@calebbliss8626 I agree, he should have used median household income instead to demonstrate the point. Using MEDIAN means it's the income of the 50th percentile, the most mediocre of the people, removing both the 1% and the super poor. But the result would also prove his point though, showing today's Americans are richer than ever before.

[@eng.edwardc2910]

Ya this KZbin channel often gets the analysis wrong. I'm More convinced it's a propaganda platform. Like all lies they start off with wrong data. The USA economy isn't growing and real wages aren't growing they've been falling since 1971. Government money printing mean asset inflation has made millennials poor. And things are even worse for gen Z who are thrown into homelessness and festering drug pandemic Like a true colonizer they gaslight us and as they steal our livelihoods they blame us for it

[@cxngo8124]

and climate change. Most climate activists are pushing for another economic system

[@Leto2ndAtreides]

Housing is being restricted by people living longer - problem everywhere. Our social systems just aren't designed for long lived humans. Healthcare is complicated. But in a land where you get sued easily (and also where most of the world's medical research gets done), many costs are higher... The costs could be cut by making the standards more reasonable. As for college... If the government hadn't created a system where people could get loans that they would then not be able to get rid of, this problem wouldn't have emerged. Of course, it's hard to fix once it has already happened. But education will still get disrupted over time - in large part due to AI. Medicine will likely get hit by AI also. Housing is likely just not going to get better very easily, if you want to stay in a good city.

[@fongangamassana6034]

The issue with the theory presented here (too many people want to be part of the elite ) is that when you listen to real people, people who struggle to make ends meet you realize that they don’t want to be elite . They just want to not suffer, it’s very different

[@OnlineEnglish-wl5rp]

I've always thought the principle issue in America is the concept of the "loser" - that if you're unemployed or on a low income it's ALL YOUR FAULT. Rather than the fact that the economy has a very obvious structure to it and that that structure is determined by very powerful people

[@FacePlant1324]

That is a cost of living issue even before COVID-19 and all the inflation. Rent was really outrageously expensive and buying a house was for the elite or upper middle class only no one else could afford it. Housing has gone up at least 2 times faster than wages and college costs have increased 5-10 faster than wages. Meanwhile, the few .01 percent own almost all the money. Over 50% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. While some of that is lifestyle creep. 2000 a month for rent, crippleing student loans, the inability to buy a house or save for retirement, something that frustrates most Americans. Most of Europe is suffering from the same issues.

[@xiphoid2011]

Housing in the US is still among the cheapest in the entire world, especially far cheaper than in Asia. Yet Asians in Asia making far less money are saving 30-40% of the income. We joke about how bad Americans are with money, and coming to America and see it's true is really kind of shocking. In Asia, when someone only make $1000 a month, he/she will share an one bedroom apartment with 3 other people, eat instant noodles, not buy anything, and always save some money each month. I notice this kind of life style adjustment doesn't really happen in the US, not sharing a room, not stop eating out, just charge it on credit cards... Even more shocking is seeing how people say "I'm broke" openly and almost proudly, when it would be too shameful to speak of in Asia. Yeah, this is one of those culture shock.

[@cedricdellafaille1361]

Buying a house is a joke... Americans really cry they need to save 6-7years to pay off a house.. well try 40years full time wage to buy a house in europe

[@xiphoid2011]

Add couple more example of American financial habits that shocks us Asians. (1) bad/unrealistic advice from teachers and parents to "follow your heart/passion" Please don't choose what to study using your heart. Choose a degree that pays well and you don't hate, most common a STEM degree. (2) taking out more student loans than that job pays in a year. So $80K total for an engineering degree that pays $100k/yr is good. $50k for a social study degree that pays $30k/yr is bad.

[@xiphoid2011]

@@cedricdellafaille1361 Same in Asia, 30-40 years of salary to buy a house. Of course that's why Asian housing is unaffordable even for extremely frugal and prodigious savers, so whole family of relatives put their savings together to help the newly wed buy his home, with the expectation that he will do the same when another is getting married.

[@Lando-kx6so]

​@@xiphoid2011that's nonesense

[@AB-jd5rz]

I work at a university and this point needs to be made way more often; with the skyrocketing cost of a 4 year degree in the US and the far worse job prospects of someone with a bachelor's degree in humanities or social sciences, those degrees aren't worth the cost/benefit ratio anymore if you have to take on debt to do it. Combine that with the fact that most young people view home ownership as unattainable unless you're wealthy and of course you're going to get anticapitalism.

[@davybear4116]

The issue is most of the Universities in the United States are public institutions which are gouging their students. Most of the issues that afflict the American people today are the result of Federal policies which have created winners and losers. The universities have gotten so expensive because Federal Financial aid has taken the responsibility of higher education funding out of the hands of the States. The States can continue to jack up tuition and the Feds and public pay the price. The cost of housing in part is because many States have heavily restricted new home construction and others lack the economic power to avoid speculators from other States. Some of the smaller less economically dynamic States are effectively being colonized by citizens from larger, wealthier States.

[@theoldgods8229]

Humanities and social studies? Learn to STEM and you won’t have a problem finding a job. The US has to import thousands of immigrants to fill those jobs every year

[@romanmir01]

which is stupid, because the problem of high prices is created by collectivism, by governments getting into debt, printing money to provide unsustainable services, not by private ownership and operation of property (capitalism). It is not the private property owners and businesses that cause this massive inflation but governments and manipulation of money and prices. Capitalism gets the blame, the politicians get a pass and the system decides it must do more collectivism, ends up printing more money and issuing more debt, everything gets worse and then some authoritarian savior figure comes to power, implements a dictatorship and starts wars to concentrate power further. We have seen this before, it will happen again because people do not understand issues, blame wrong things, implement wrong ideas that eventually destroy everything.

[@eng.edwardc2910]

​@@theoldgods8229 no stem are getting laid off in droves.

[@gungan5822]

Nobody will ever convince me that social science is actual science. The scientific method doesn't apply. These worthless degrees need to go.

[@winconfig]

Americans don't earn almost sixty percent more than compared to the past. When adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage would be almost thirty dollars per hour. Most of us are earning fifty percent below wage, in that regard.

[@davidalearmonth]

Thank you! I was wondering where the heck he was getting his data. I make way less than my parents did, and that's even in real dollars, before further adjusting for inflation.

[@winconfig]

@@davidalearmonth So the original minimum wage was about 1.25 dollars an hour, based on silver piece quarters. Might have been a little more. I can't remember, but you get the idea. Like ten years ago, I heard that statistic and I believe it was about 25 or $27 at the time. So I think I'm safely assuming about thirty dollars in purchasing power for today. Also, the metrics that many governments use to determine poverty have not been adjusted since the 1990s. They haven't made these adjustments with the numbers because it would be a scary reflection on how bad the economy actually is. As for me, I know I can work 7 days per week and only earn about $3,000 per month after tax. This surely is not enough money for me to even be on my own, still. And as for how the government tracks certain purchasing Powers relative to inflation, they use the price of milk, eggs and a few other standard hoods to determine relative purchasing power in today's money. This is obviously a terrible idea since most people purchase more than just milk and eggs (Edit: which both are heavily subsidized, still by the government). Bonus: houses and tuition have increased like 200 percent (minimum) relative to inflation. This means for those two things, you'd need like a 220 percent increase in your wage just to pay for those two items. Edit No. 2: you can do research and finding recent bills that talk about the above and you'll be see recent implementations of the bills that may make me seem incorrect (like cots of living and wage adjustment bills). The underlying math used to find resulting numbers mostly haven't been adjusted in thirty years - regarding the 'core items'. Government is basically using old data and implementing laws, rules and regulations of the information from decades ago and applying that logic to today. I Hope I explained that correctly.

[@NeostormXLMAX]

this channel is neoliberal propaganda what did you expect

[@ldub288]

Inflation and wage stagnation equals slavery. Period. Most people aren't doing better than previous generations. I don't know wth this guy is going on about.

[@Prikoliz]

@@NeostormXLMAX , thanks for pointing this out. Ignoring inflation on video that's coming from "Visual Economik" is outrageous and shameful. I am reporting this video.

[@decus9544]

I think a lot of it comes down to housing, Capitalism has property ownership at it's core, if the majority of any given group can't afford to own property, then they are likely inclined to feel that 'maybe the system is working, but only for the elite/ not for me', or otherwise to feel that they're not really part of the system at all.

[@angrydragon4574]

That's because it isn't working for the middle class when your rent costs as much as you earn in a month.

[@decus9544]

@@angrydragon4574 I don't disagree with you, I'd define things a little differently and say that, regardless of occupation, that a person who can not afford property is not middle class at all, and would thus say that the middle class has shrunk much more than most people would say, but at its core we agree.

[@alexandermurmann3644]

That's why we need land value tax. No need to toss the baby out with the bath water

[@disposabull]

@@decus9544 The middle class can afford property, but they want a McMansion in the best area while they did a degree in woke studies, work as a barista and spend all their free time smoking weed and playing video games.

[@decus9544]

@@disposabull That is a very simplistic and ill-formed opinion, rather than acknowledge it, I'll instead give you the opportunity to reflect upon it and how you have demeaned yourself by stating it.

[@enonh82]

This contradicts every other study that claim real wages haven’t risen since the 70’s. Indeed back then normally 1 parent could sustain an entire family. This sounds like a bunch of BS.

[@cassandradevine4752]

Even if real wages have increased by 50%, that doesn't mean it's kept pace with the cost of living. Student debt and housing are probably the biggest factors in making life unaffordable for young people. Also, it would be helpful to see how real wages have changed among younger generations and the middle class because I suspect the GDP statistic from this video is skewed by extremely high salaries among the top 1%.

[@Lando-kx6so]

They just love to leave these very important details out

[@mrx2062]

Real wages means after inflation I think ...

[@Lando-kx6so]

@@mrx2062 real wages have mostly been stagnant since the 1970s

[@innosam123]

Real wages *include* inflation already…

[@cassandradevine4752]

@@innosam123 ​ @mrx2062 real wages include CPI inflation but not cost of living increases which are often higher than CPI

[@BosonCollider]

The issue is that the basket of goods used to calculate inflation has not been rebalanced enough. Housing dwarfs all other expenses, but the basket of goods that is typically used continues to assign the same weights to different categories of expenses.

[@Xamufam]

Its not capitalism people are angry about it's that everything is so expensive (corporatism). We also have a broken monetary system that causes inflation and lets banks take risks they shouldn't be able too.

[@ifeoluwaadeoye6557]

You're just describing capitalism with extra steps.

[@TheSandkastenverbot]

Look at the inflation rate of the US since 1900. What you see is record low inflation since 1984 until very recently. And the high inflation of the last few years was not caused by the "monetary system" but by medium sized supply side shock

[@Chris-pq3wp]

​​​@@TheSandkastenverbotthe monetary system caused an asset bubble in the housing market making housing unaffordable

[@Phoenixguy357]

So capitalism. Got it

[@gmac8586]

Um, you know you just described what Capitalism is right?

[@CaptainManic2010]

They never once mentioned inflation during the income segment between 70's and now. We are experiencing unprecedented wealth PER CAPITA....and more and more of that percentage is leaning towards the 1% earning that revenue.

[@IndustrialBonecraft]

This whole video is just a massive sidestep around the core problems. Falling back on statistical manipulation, and a series of boomer-style misdirection-based arguments. Might as well be listening to Fox. Averages are a terrible metric for calculating wages because the needle is moved so wildly out of position by the top percentages, that the supposed "average" wage bears no resemblance to reality. Take London - the average wage is supposedly £40,000. That's bollocks. The number of people far far below that figure is massively higher than the number of people above it, but because the top salaries are in the multi-millions and the huge financial sector is full of inflated wage packets you get an average salary that looks completely reasonable. Then take the same thing and apply it to the whole of the UK and you get a more extreme version of the same problem - if the mean wage in London is far below the cited average, then the mean wage for the country outside of London is spectacularly lower than the cited average UK wage. The same is true of America. That same rhetoric that relies on people not questioning the statistics is covering up for a systemic problem that is global. That also completely ignores the fact that, relative to inflation, millenials actually earn significantly less than the boomers - about 50% less since the 60s and 70s, according to Fortune magazine. Then add to that, the massive amount of debt that American, and increasingly European, Millenials and Gen Z are now de facto saddled with. Increases in property prices have excluded the same cohorts from the one asset that appears to be of consistent worth: a house, and it's also just bloody sad that a house is no longer seen as a place in which to live, it is just another asset to collect. That might not even be too big a problem if the rental market wasn't completely broken. However, as we all know, it is now not in the business of providing shelter, but extracting wealth. This whole thing revolves around stupid boomer logic from people who have already dragged the ladder up behind them and then burnt it. Nobody who lived through the last twenty years went to University expected to make it into the economic top 10% - it was obviously not the way things were going. All anybody wanted was to survive reasonably comfortably. Owing to the fact that the global economy has configured itself to suck up as much wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 10%, and the ridiculous acceleration of that accrual and hoarding over the past three years, exacerbated by the inflation spike, has created an environment that is actively culling sections of the population who fall below an actively rising financial line. Like it or not, the current economy is a fucking death race. Naturally, people want out. There isn't actually a better alternative, but if people think the situation they're in is actively hostile to their existence, they will look for literally any other option. Because that's survival. So the problem is still very simple: If you exclude two entire generations of people from the system you rely on, and give them, effectively, no future to look forward to, then you get what you - quite literally - fucking pay for. This is basically a paper-thin deflection piece for an inherently entropic system that is in the active process of eating itself.

[@Irtaza9993]

Thank you!

[@MCorpReview]

When u start to lose a game, it’s time to change a the game 😂

[@plomox1234]

Young Americans are "richer" and more educated than any generation before and yet we can't afford to own a home which is one of the largest ways to hold their wealth. We get squeezed by rent and building no equity and groceries that are more expensive than ever. No home to call our own and living paycheck to paycheck hurts alot more than the affordability of consumer goods.

[@dutchy1121]

Let's break it down into real numbers, in 1965 one earned about $5000 a year with a decent salary, could buy a house for $7000 and a car for $2000. Now fast forward to today, I can earn $200k a year but come nowhere close to affording a house that is $1.2M I can find one in some run down neighborhood I could afford but would never want to live there. Oh, and the car costs $40K.

[@pablosel3857]

1.2M? In california? You can find much cheaper options in decent places. Though, 200k is a lot, few people earn that much.

[@sinan2.71]

Good one! I have 3 nephews in their 30's who all own homes, have jobs, no degrees, no businesses. And I have 4, nieces and nephews, who are in their 30's who don't own homes and do have degrees. I guarantee you they had different expectations, and it is the ones with degrees who had the higher expectations.

[@samthesuspect]

To start I am a firm believer in capitalism, so my parents bought their house in 1989 which is pretty close. So you comparing modern workers to their parents from the '90s, that house cost $60,000 when they bought it, it's now worth $325,000, so I mean it's great that I'm making 50% more than my parents, but an equivalent house cost over 5x as much. It just seems like inflation for wages is the last thing to hit when it comes to business expenses, and as a worker I feel that.

[@wyle2614]

Mentioning salary growth without the context of rising cost of living is misleading. A means nothing without B and vice versa.

[@innosam123]

He did. It’s called ‘real’ wages. Adjusted to inflation.

[@IanHobday]

"Average American" is meaningless when income inequality is so staggeringly high. That really is the crux of the problem, and unless it is effectively addressed more and more people will reject the system that no longer works for the "average American".

[@Johnjackjack]

THIS honestly this video point of view was dumb and i see why the video theory is not popular comaped to others

[@petersill6908]

even more meaningless if you look at wealth inequality

[@owenthomas5103]

"Besides young people" NO! Milenials are NOT young. Many of us are reaching the end of our fertility having never seen an economy in which an average person could afford a family 🤬

[@EuphoricDan]

"low skill jobs like bricklayer" bruh, I'm bricklayer

[@DeviousDumplin]

This theory really rhymes with the first wave of radical, socialist politics during the revolutions of 1848. Basically, the university system in continental europe had expanded as a result of massive investments in education. The new universities over-produced well educated workers which left hundreds of thousands of unemployed, middle class students with ample time to commit towards radical politics, and a sense of entitlement to a certain standard of living. I suspect that is what is going on in the west right now. Too many students graduated with too few skills and not enough prestigious jobs for them to all occupy. I say this as a history major, who loved his degree, but it was a poor financial decision.

[@assholeyeng]

not only people make less, but they can afford less with what they make

[@obi0914]

I know of a plumber, a city trash worker, and hell, even a big box retial assistance manager who lived better than most college grads.

[@starmaninthegrave485]

Did you guys just blame rich kids for anticapitalist beliefs? It's us, the poor people

[@Mir-gw6kj]

how did they get through the entire video without mentioning that wage stagnation has made it such that a single income is no longer enough to make rent for a single bedroom apartment anywhere

[@sreenivasamadenahall]

It is the income disparities, a bit of boredom, long education years, long work hours, lack of past experiences and situations , fears incessantly flooded by various media and accentuated by algorithm driven social media!

[@xlukas93]

Journalist: "hey young person, why are you unhappy?" Young person: "because of the education and housing prices, I will be in debt for rest of my life, I can't even go bankrupt, and still will not be able to own small apartment to live in. I was doing everything right, instead of bars I was sitting studying, I must take extreme loans to afford to study and every time I make some move for down payment, housing prices go up. I just don't want to be homeless and bankrupt even if I do everything right" Economic "experts": "it's complete mystery why they are unhappy, probably they want better status" What an idiotic take my guys...

[@zurielsss]

Millennials saw the Gen X work their butts off for 2 decades and still can’t afford a house and barely keeping up with car payments. They are rejecting the system. Can’t blame them

[@evials9123]

Yall realize college is optional, right? Student loans have always been expensive, but as the number of people with college degrees increase, the demand for them goes down, making them harder to pay off. There are legitimate criticisms but blaming student loans is not one of them

[@vod96]

3:15 - Minecraft proves that abolishing child labour was a mistake. The children yearn for the mines

[@enonh82]

😂😂😂😂 omg

[@scottdavis3571]

LOL!

[@spunkinator5000]

I'm very surprised he didn't even mention wealth inequality

[@wyle2614]

Yes, nothing on cost of living either... Very misleading video.

[@xiphoid2011]

@@wyle2614 cost of living while is up, but when you adjust income for inflation, today's income is still the highest it has been after accounting for inflation. I really think it's the spending pattern of the typical young has changed. Far more easy to spend money on the phone on every thing, unlike previous generations that has to go to the store to shop. Americans need to learn financial literally.

[@padiau78]

He kind of did when he mentioned that people judge their own wealth by comparing themselves to others. Wealth inequality is a problem, but it is wrong to think that I am poor just because someone else earns more or has the bigger car than I do. We have to judge our wealth by what we have, not by what we don't have. And if we do that, most of us are clearly better off than we used to be a couple of decades ago. Take health care as an example. Yes, it is getting more and more expensive (and in some cases for the wrong reasons). But we also get much better health care today and a lot of things that would have killed us 50 years ago can now be cured.

[@theobserver3753]

If they have not gained money from illicit means then I don’t see the problem. It just means they do business smarter not harder

[@parkyercarcass]

a channel that is inherently dedicated to saying "capitalism good" put out a bad-faith video about the problems with capitalism and didn't address its core contradictions? really? what a surprise... anyways...

[@doopersooper]

You forgot a couple key factors when calculating growth of GDP. While GDP per capita has increased since 1990 and continues to increase, you didn't take into account the relative cost of housing and goods that people expect to be able to afford and act as hallmarks of success and entry into the middle class. The average income compared to costs of living and home ownership has continuously fallen since the 90s. Also, you touched on the comparison of wealth between members of society as a keystone to happiness, but you didn't drive the point home by explaining how the Gini coefficient has also risen in the West, and how the greater socioeconomic division impacts us culturally. Overall, I liked your explanation of other interesting points.

[@bcdaron]

I love that he's stating all these manipulated government figures while ignoring people's lived feelings. It's like don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

[@peopleofearth6250]

Follow your own advice and shut up.

[@Whoahio]

​@@peopleofearth6250 way to contribute nothing

[@peopleofearth6250]

@@Whoahio You aren't owed contributions.

[@Whoahio]

@@peopleofearth6250 is everything you do a waste?

[@peopleofearth6250]

@@Whoahio A waste for who? Nothing I do could ever possibly be a waste for me. If that upsets you then cry harder.

[@BladePwner]

I believe the problem of cost of living affordability of young people is not related with the economic system (capitalism or socialism or anything in between) but mostly to do with demographics. We live in a gerontocracy, where the cultural and economic influence lies almost entirely in the older population. In the video, it is stated that in the 70s America was more prosperous and that the economy was growing, which coincides with the biggest number of active tax-paying workers entering into the economy. Nowadays, that demographic is the biggest net receiver of tax support and the biggest electoral group in the developed world. One example is the average age of the Senate at 64, the oldest in recorded history. This has several effects: - Economic trends will shift to accommodate the older generation's interest, such as bigger spending on pensions (especially in Europe) and healthcare. - Cultural trends will not be focused on the younger and fertile population, making the acquisition of wealth and formation of families more difficult for this generation. The effect of these trends can be seen in the housing crisis, where the number of new house constructions started dwindling at the turn of the century in most developed countries, and houses are now seen as an investment tool instead of a place to start your life and raise a family; in the education system, where it has largely been under invested and sold to the highest bidder and turned into a debt hole; and the healthcare crisis. It is not a coincidence that in the USA, the healthcare costs are enormous since most of the patients entering a hospital are old people and are willing and able to pay for the costs (or, in other words, supply and demand). In Europe, the tax burden of the healthcare system on active tax-paying people is enormous and continues to increase in most countries. These problems are not unique to the USA. In Europe, almost all countries are facing the same issues to different degrees, even those that have social democracy measures built into their economies, so I would say that it is not a matter of economic system. Curiously, they all face the same demographic problems, which makes you think. I do not want to blame every crisis we are living through on the demographics, since they are complex and have a lot more factors that ought to be taken into account, but I believe that if the demographics issue was solved tomorrow, the consequences of this crisis would decrease significantly. EDIT: typo

[@paavoilves5416]

Yep. Here in Finland we grew the most in the 70's and 80's (boomers enter the workforce), the 90's was bad but 00's was quite good mostly because of Nokia until the late 00's. Our healthcare spending has been on the rise for quite a while now and our economy has been stagnant for 15yrs. We have a huge amount of boomers that are starting to mostly retire from the workforce so I guess the worst time is on our hands right now. Our public sector is bloated and sucks down A LOT of taxpayer money. Old people tend to vote for collectivist populist parties like the social democrats or the Finn's party (a Finland belongs to Finns type of a party). Gladly our current government is trying to ease the markets and slim the public sector down a bit. Maybe we can come out of this rut in the next 10yrs or something.

[@darthsigil]

The issue is consumerism, inequality and living a live that is meaningful. You can’t put all college degrees under one umbrella. They are not equal. Also, technology has eliminated jobs, but it has also created jobs. Moreover, America has its own form of Capitalism. This capitalism business/money before people. It is exploitative. The wealth isn’t distributed like it was in the past or currently in Europe. American Capitalism has made the consumer the product. Americans are technically consuming themselves. There are so many jobs that are redundant or simply unnecessary. They exist to drive the economy. During the pandemic people got time to assess their lives. Many weren’t happy with either their job, career, spouse, residence or a combo of each.

[@verablack3137]

Every year I make more and more but housing costs go up so much that I am now less able to buy a house than I ever have been. To say that our current incomes have been keeping up is absolutely ludicrous.

[@snackplissken8192]

I like the idea by Vanderbilt University's Dr. Nathan A. Jacobs. He suggests that accreditation, which schools earn based on the work of individual scholars, should stay with the scholar him or herself instead of going to the college. That would allow scholars to offer their services in innovative and more cost-effective ways than through the ossified university system currently does. If obtaining a degree in some field of study were to become as cheap today (proportionally) as it was in the 50s, it would be much easier for people to gain degrees that are useful well-paying for middle class jobs and new programs could better align the needs of employers with that of job-seekers. I've learned more interesting and useful things about the humanities through KZbin videos, podcasts, and the works of scholars they recommended or featured than I ever did in college. Imagine how much more would be out there if scholars could offer their audience credit for engaging with their work. I think the university system is holding back the democratization of knowledge as much as advancing it today, and changing accreditation may be a key to getting both teachers and students a high educational value for their efforts and money. At the very least, it could seriously reduce the opportunity costs of education.

[@escomz]

You have missed one extremely important thing, housing in the 70s was only 2-3 years of an average persons salary, now it's up to 12 years plus! Also, you are right that wages have gone up slightly since 1990s, but the cost of living which includes food and cars etc is exponentially much more expensive unaffordable unlike in the 70s. I don't know why you have missed this extremely important Point

[@jquest3329]

Fr this is so out-of-touch with reality. At least twice they're like "here's this graph with line go up, line go up=good; people make more money now!". The working class could afford to own houses and have kids in previous decades, that's the point; people just want to be able to afford basic life things.

[@isoboy2125]

A system where you can earn much, much more collecting rent and dividends from private ownership than you ever can putting in actual hard work... What do you think happens to people who put in hard work?

[@lincolneels]

Wealth inequality is the #1 driving force behind anti-capitalism movements. 3 richest Americans having the same wealth as the bottom 50% of the entire population is a staggering stat.

[@SP95]

That is called jealousy, not inequality.

[@ArcaneCannonChey]

While I think the endcap argument is certainly a big contributor, they wouldn't be nearly as successful if people didn't feel stepped on enough already. I think higher wages and more available housing would solve most problems. Not every body wants to be millionaire, I mean they do but given the means to live comfortably they won't see the need to risk everything in order to achieve it. I'd be happy with a house of my own, and job I don't hate.

[@dallasweaver4061]

The anti-capitalist politicians seem to get rich just like all politicians. It is just "good sounding" buzzwords. The regulatory state has taken over already and that is just bureaucratic incompetence in action.

[@Ryanandboys]

I'm afraid you are 100% correct

[@earthwormscrawl]

It's also modern media and social media. Young people see images of everyone being wealthy and having fascinating lives that are non-stop entertainment. Aside from the fact that most of it is a lie, it's never pointed out to them that these pampered celebrities are backed up by an army of low paid workers. More pople are paid dirt wages to clean Oprah Winfrey's houses and businesses than there are people who to get to be Oprah Winfrey. They're all part of her "lifestyle", but on one person really has the good life.

[@cedricdellafaille1361]

They are also the most dangerous politicians. Read between their words : put your real name next to your online nickname AKA we know who you are, if you now say something bad from our "democratic left wing" government we will come with the FBI to arrest you. There is also now evidence that the FBI litterally scattered the windows and tried to blame someone for it, during the trump protest. While all protestors said to stop and its illegal. Meanwhile Biden say these trump protestors are barbaric and is proud that the total years of jailtime is around 180years.... He put innocent people in jail and he's proud of it. It's on video in a speech Dear lord... This is our president

[@dougingham7154]

Depends on the country. Being a politician in the UK is hardly seen as a road to wealth. And if you look at the figureheads of the economic left/reformists in the UK & US - Corbyn, Sanders, OAC, etc - you could hardly call them profiteers.

[@pebblepod30]

Nothing wrong or "capitalist" by being well paid (not billionaire donor classl for doing actual work. Where do ppl get this bizaare idea? No Socialist (ie democracy in economic power) channel promotes that wacky idea. Only elitist capitalist channels are where i hear this rediculous claim.

[@ronnyc4380]

I agree with previous comments about the impact of costs of living, but would like to add in another factor leading to a sense that the system is failing people: the idea, promoted by the boomer generation of parents, that everyone can and should pursue their passion, with the implication that work should be personally fulfilling. Earlier generations were happy to make a good living.

[@ryanedgerton1982]

Your video tries to make a psychological issue out of an economic one. Here's the reality on the ground: wages have been functionally stagnant for the last twenty years or more, while the cost of living has skyrocketed. Moreover, the current generation of 20 and 30 year olds grew up in a time where virtually everyone was telling them they *had* to get a college degree and that it would pay off in the end, but virtually no one was discussing how the cost and complexity of getting that degree had increased in leaps and bounds since their parents' school days. The combination of these two factors has seen a generation that was pushed into accruing debt they never understood via jobs that aren't paying what they should. Put simply, anticapitalist sentiment is based on broken promises and a system that has exploited an entire generation for the comfort and profit of those who are already at the top of the socioeconomic ladder. Why wouldn't we feel betrayed when the future we were promised was pulled out from under us??

[@innosam123]

Untrue. Real Median Household income has increased from their stagnation period from the mid-2000s since 2015. The problem was the Great Recession and the slow recovery made a big dent in household income.

[@ryanedgerton1982]

@@innosam123 -- You go ahead and tell all the Millennials that their lived experience is wrong because statistics says so. See how well that goes over. Meanwhile I'll be on the sidelines laughing at how detached from reality you are.

[@innosam123]

@@ryanedgerton1982 “Lived Experience” lol

[@ionnanskilliorus6877]

It's the huge student loan bills and not being able to get on the property ladder, even after working hard for years.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

I was a mechanic/machinist at an aerospace company in the 80"s. I've owned my own Machine shop since them. Doing well at 65 now.

[@deonrose6132]

It comes down to 3 main factors. Pay rate, housing expenses, and the cost of college are big things to look at. The average workers in PA make about $30 a year before taxes or around $1.9k an month after taxes with average house costs for an apartment around $1k a month vs only $600 just 20 years ago in the pittsburgh area. That doesn't even factor in utilities, loan replacement, transportation, food, and the list can go on. With average house prices at over $400k and a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour giving companies less reason to increase pay rates works here are trying to afford modern necessity off 1990's income and thats not sustainable.

[@bscu0493]

How can you claim to examen anti capitalist sentiment and not look at income inequality as the primary driver?

[@tabithan2978]

When market failures proliferate we lose faith. Healthcare and pharma is the best example. Just compare us to every other developed country.

[@divinedemonj]

The discussion about how dangerous young well-off children angry at the system is so universally true about disruptions. It was a prime mover of the beginnings of the Bolshevik revolution and also a key gatekeeper of young reactionary movements like the alt right and young progressive movements like white liberal takeover of “woke” advocacy.

[@DrNutbag]

I agree with the thoughts explained in this video. People are frustrated that they’re unable to achieve what they were ‘promised’ and their solution is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I recently was having an argument with an anticapitalist friend and he brought up these same things about jobs sucking. I asked him how socialism would fix that and he had no answer when I reminded him that work still needs to get done and the alternative isn’t to “chill and do whatever”.

[@doujinflip]

America was here before basically 100 years ago during the age of laissez-faire trusts. Young (and not so young) workers would protest for better pay and conditions, and managers responded with police-backed violence. An anarcho-communist movement grew as a result, and political takeover was ultimately stopped by compromises of collectivization programs such as strengthened labor unions and the advent of Social Security. Such "socialism" would have to be revisited before younger generations remain enchanted by more extreme leftist ideas when they end up replacing those in power in due course.

[@dorianodet8064]

Salaries rising is a pointless metric. Show statistic about what people can buy with said salaries.

[@danwilson12]

Paid more but wages have not kept up with inflation by double digit percentages

[@fongangamassana6034]

The first point about GDP per capita rising over the years is one that’s been disputed manytimes now and doesn’t stand . Yes GDP per capita rose but so did inequality (by leaps and bounds too!) . And rather than looking just at GDP why not look at the increase in productivity compared to the increase in real wages overtime? People are several times more productive but don’t earn proportionally more .

[@x210582]

I´ve no clue, but i liked the way you presented your Ideas ;)

[@kfox9650]

Using averages in this economy is willful ignorance. Housing cost, the healthcare entire system, and wages. You cant use averages with the duel economy we have between the upper and low classes. My state, the average wage is 96k a year but the median is 37k. The current rent is 1.5-2k a month. The minimum wage is the federally minimum.

[@sourabhmayekar3354]

Great information

[@nfuryboss]

Education and healthcare costs in the US are out of control. Access to healthcare is being controlled by employers and big healthcare and insurance providers. Going to college might put potential graduates into long-term debt without significantly improving their wages or salaries. Today, we have a glut of Computer science and tech workers in the US and less of folks with practical vocational skills. It might actually be better for some of the current crop of high school students to be in a professional vocational school instead of generic college degrees. I don't see a world where everyone in the US should sit behind the desk to program while we are lacking workers in shipbuilding and semiconductor manufacturing. Just putting more bright college graduates to work in social media doesn't really produce goods and products suitable for exports, other than driving more ads and possible gaming addictions. Just saying.

[@Whoahio]

Working 12 hours shifts, 5 days a week just to buy the necessities, with no money to save, while the my bosses live in florida with more than a surplus of cash without lifting a finger will do that to people. I will also add that three people who work with me have been maimed at my job in the last year, and my job doesnt employ even 50 people. The working conditions are awful, and just about everyone i know who is my age aside from my fiancee, works in factories and warehouses. Most of which dont have even close to the conditions that offices have, with many office workers being allowed to work from home.

[@1Quixi1]

Tbh, desk job is not for everyone, I think there should be more effort put into picking the right job for a person... make more publicity for some of the dying jobs (even though they are high in demand) that just might fit specific individuals and remove the stigma around these professions. Crunching numbers or memorizing book segments isn't for everyone, and person might be happier and even make more money working a job where he has more physical activity even though he needs to get dirty...

[@1Quixi1]

Also (I'm not from the USA) but in my country universities are incentivized to take as many students as they can regardless of the level of knowledge one possesses (and drop them later). I think there should be greater screening before accepting students into unis. (I feel like the situation might be similar in the USA where as long as the students can pay up they will accept them (ofc except the more prestigious ones where one needs both money and knowledge)).

[@sommerled1]

Another issue in regards to degrees is that Millennials were told is that it didn't matter what degree you so long as you got one. I have known several people who listened to this advice and got fluff degrees that led them no where and saddled with massive debt. Whereas ones that got practical degrees like engineering, aviation, or computer science have done really well.

[@marengoczar5035]

The problem is asset cost...everything that matters is too expensive

[@beautifully_scarred_lea]

GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND CORPORATE WELFARE IS ALSO A HUGE PROBLEM

[@aiatgamer375]

At least these days is Europe since there are many candidates with suitable qualifications for engineering jobs, the hiring process basically boils down to knowing someone in advance to get chosen. At least according to one HR firm about 90% of positions are already filled before even being posted.

[@pathos48]

The factors you cited also apply in Europe. However, with the big difference that US universities are very expensive: US students are often burdened by student debt, that will be worsened by health insurance, pension, (hopefully) buying a house and starting a family. Moreover, US tuition fees have been growing, whereas - paradoxically, because they were mostly attended by elites - in the 50s/60s (at least according to Chomsky) they were quite cheap. I would add that universities in the last 60 years became a den of the left, so students are more exposed to discourses that criticize capitalism by cherry picking cases that show its defects. And, also due to social media, millennials have developed a propensity to focus on the negative side of the situation and be overly concerned.

[@Romeo70]

GDP doesn't says anything about what life people have. Inflation eats all. We are worse then before . Corporations are responsible for it. People forgot what the capitalism realy is about.

[@JamielDeAbrew]

Wages going up doesn’t mean much if the cost of a home and university education increase by more.

[@scipioafricanus2]

it is failing because like collectivism it concentrates wealth and power into the hands of ever fewer elites who in the case of capitalism are corporate managers whereas in collectivism they are party bureaucrats or apparatchiks. Only distributism/syndicalism is sustainable which distributes productive property, knowledge, skills and capital widely across members of society as Hilaire Belloc so wisely observed a century ago.

[@kbrilhart]

The 'Occupy' movement that arose during the 2008 financial crisis posited that the cause of the crisis was the "Banksters' and nothing else. Anybody with a good knowledge of the history of housing policy, including the policy changes made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower the requirements to get a mortgage (i.e. the 'no doc' loan, buy a house with a mere $500 out of pocket, etc.) knew that this was preposterous. Naturally, no bank is going to ignore the money to be made and allow their competition to eat their lunch, but they wouldn't be making these bad mortgages without doing all they can to ensure the stability of the financial system. What they did, wasn't enough. But the narrative was out there and most people shut their minds after hearing it and went back to class where they kept hearing the oppressor/oppressed narrative applied to the rising woke ideologies. It doesn't take much more to form a weak mind into becoming a quasi-Marxist.

[@rishireddy8878]

The truth is that colleges and degrees are not created equal. A computer science graduate from RPI will easily land a six figure job after graduating.

[@nesseihtgnay9419]

Now Americans dont just want to go to college, now Americans want to start business and create and innovate technology and others, the US the country that innovated, invent and create everything

[@limwsv]

Every culture throughout time runs into this problem and attempts to solve it through different means. Middle Roman empire where the emperor promulgated edicts that children have to follow the trade of their parents to ensure that enough laborers/tradesman remain in those industries to continue to service the Roman elites. Obviously, India caste system is another response to the same problem where religion and social conflate together to reinforce the same structures that Roman's tried to impose. The Chinese dynasties and the Tokugawa period have sumptuary laws that dictates what you can consume, how you can dress and where you can live.

[@patrickvernon4766]

Not that everyone wants to be elite but wants participation and in America that is simply not allowed

[@ekgrulez1]

Very interesting points made in this video, but one thing that wasn't mentioned is the amount of debt a college graduate has. The cost of going to college is much more expansive than back in the '70s or '80s.

[@montypythonator]

The KGB. Look at Yuri Bezmenov

[@yoXneo]

I wonder if the reason why people are being "paid more" than the 90s is bc people are working 2 to 3 jobs instead of 1? Just a thought 🤔

[@badluck5647]

Workers are more productive due American education and technology. However, these graphs ignore how cost of living has outpaced salaries.

[@yoXneo]

@@badluck5647 exactly 💯, the money and desire to work and make a living is there.... everything else has just gone up. It's like giving people the same training and equipment for a 1 mile race when they are now racing at a 10 mile race. It feels the same to some, sure, but the stamina and mindset has to be adjusted

[@Ryanandboys]

That's not actually true working hours are down.. The average American doesn't actually work full time or even close to it We still work more than the average European.

[@badluck5647]

@@Ryanandboys That is because companies prefer a bunch of part time workers over full time workers as it give companies a lot more flexibility.

[@JukaDominator]

It is not. In fact average work hours have also fallen.

[@matthewjohnson1510]

Inflation and income disparity may bely the GDP per capita. Thank you for this video.

[@theconversationalpainter2020]

The GDP is bigger than in the 60s but people are benefiting from it less than they did then.

[@MatthewGraham027]

Housing, healthcare & higher education are real economic problems besides cultural issues.

[@sovietballeditz]

As someone who is a immigrant in America as a communist i can agree

[@tontj]

I think wealth distribution is the problem. Knowing that Elon can screw up 40 billion dollar and still live comfortable is mind blowing. While other member of the society live paycheck to paycheck.

[@parkyercarcass]

so the problem with capitalism is the capitalism... got it!

[@nightsazrael]

Hello inflation negates any supposed gains in salary.

[@alexanderdubmertens]

Why isn't there a presidential candidate to stand up against Rockwell?

[@ilyabochkov]

Hi, very good and concise, but if I may suggest - you speak very quickly, and that is good - helps with message density, but you show graphs and tables, which is even better, yet you talk over them so quickly that I need to pause the video every time. May I suggest you limit the dull videos of some happy shoppers and keep those graphs on the screen more, same is with the presenter - he is great, but, sorry - economics is about data (graphs and tables), but not the evening show with models😅

[@danmcnerney7886]

What kind of business is your business is your rags to riches story, but without us, what else can work. Your rags to your riches are always you.

[@aaronbecker5617]

A lot of people still work "low skill" jobs and I'm not sure if their wages have risen to keep up with inflation

[@Johnjackjack]

The answer to that is no! and in my opinion this is all that people care about. Am i making more real wages then I was 5 years ago and the answer to this is NO they are not

[@xiphoid2011]

One of the biggest reason most young today doesn't know just how badly the anti-capitalist system failed. When I was growing up in the 80s, the USSR was still around, so anything up to millennials skill kind of remember seeing just how socialism sucked and failed spectacularly. We grew up knowing that while capitalism has flaws, elites, problems, but it at least works. Now we have younger generations who never knew that, only seen the flaws of capitalism, now day dreaming about those far worse and failed systems.

[@gregoryferraro7379]

I think that without the foil of Communism to keep it in check, Capitalism's flaws have grown out of control. Soviet style communism failed, yes, but now it's obvious American style Capitalism is a failure too. Time for something new.

[@Methylglyoxal]

You say it like the only alternative to capitalism is a failed communist dictatorship lol

[@rumrunner8019]

I agree. Our system needs deep reforms, but at the same time capitalism is still the best system there is. Young people today are clueless when it comes to how bad socialism was. They should all get a free trip to Cambodia to see the genocide museum, then they'll change their tune.

[@davidstrelec2000]

​@@rumrunner8019 Capitalism is not the best system that there's.

[@davidstrelec2000]

​@@rumrunner8019 You brought up one single country out of several dozens of others that was uniquely bad at implementing socialism that most socialists condemned and distanced themselves from as if it represented socialism accurately in general... nope

[@zurielsss]

Millennials saw the Gen X work their butts off for 2 decades and still can’t afford a house and barely keeping up with car payments. They are rejecting the system. Can’t blame them

[@CitsVariants]

perkele

[@zurielsss]

@@CitsVariants Sorry I am not Finnish even tho I recognize the word 🤣 I just like the profile pic

[@paavoilves5416]

Would be interesting to know if they really think public ownership of the means of production (state control over the workforce) would be the better option.

[@shirishthakare9842]

Dont work for rich. Work for only needed money. Prefer lying flat. Practice minimalist. Be creative and creat small businesses. Take services from small entrepreneurs. Say no to investors, instead go for crowd/public funding. Say no to costly education. learn from AI, books, youtube. Have knowledge of food forest, farming etc. Grow own food. Find free energy sources. Save money. Prefer hut than flat. Enjoy life than creating money instead creat own resources. Share it.

[@xlukas93]

When talking about increasing incomes, GDP etc... What about this experiment: Make a ratio between average income and median income in 70s and now, for young people. If the ratio is getting bigger, there is your answer. Then make a ration between price of square foot in housing property and median income of the young people. If it's getting bigger over the decades. There are your answers. Even without people looking for status or their egos

[@youngloenoe]

People are getting into debt so that they can work for a corporation that will lay them off on a whim.

[@raimonestanol8234]

as everyone else is pointing out, we don't like the inflation and the worse life conditions, not so much worse jobs per se, but how many houses per decade can you buy now with the same jobs? And healthcare and education and everything is devaluing the salary...

[@louismacleod3342]

I bet the economy does look ok when the people doing the worst disappear from the statistics whenever they give up on jobs, rent and home ownership. (if you don't have a legitimate job and credit then you are not allowed to live anywhere, etc).

[@daneemax]

I've always wondered why the American youth couldn't just study in another English speaking country where tuition is cheaper if they REALLY wanted a degree. The rest of the world does it - youth who have scholarships or money to go to college overseas do just that, and you find a diverse student population in unis in Australia, Singapore, HK, Philippines, UK, etc. and an underrepresentation of American overseas students. Do they think that the only choice they have is to study in the US or not study at all? Or are American kids just not mentally / emotionally capable of living on their own in another country with another culture even if the language they'll be speaking most of the time is still English?

[@ShroomheadOne]

With the cost of living disproportionately rising compared to what it was in the 1970s (and 50+ years of inflation), yes people are earning more but their money is also worth FAR FAR less. So much less in fact that you could buy a top trim ford mustang in 1969 for the equivalent of $22000 in today's money but if you want a 2022 model now it's north of $50000. The USA's median income in 1970 was $9870. That is equivalent to > $80000 in today's money. In 2019 the median USA citizen's income was $31133. So yeah even though unemployment is lower than it ever was... I think to millenials disillusioned with capitalism (guilty) it looks like people are just getting paid far less than what their grandparents and parents got back in the day, compared to what things cost now.

[@Unazaki]

I feel that your economic argument missed out 1 key argument that many people these days put forward, which is that while GDP per Capital has been growing, a lot of that growth is being captured by those at the very top of the economic pyramid while everyone else is left with an increasingly smaller share of the economic gains. Your theory about expectations and the changes in the educational system and it’s connected employment prospects does seem valid, but I believe that it alone cannot explain why socialism is on the rise in America.

[@donjadorsey275]

This take from you guys feels really out of touch with the truth of things tbh. We have an affordability problem in America to put things simply. It doesn’t really have anything to do with job satisfaction people feel that you should be able to afford to live with any job you get period. And people feel that the government should be more willing to to support its citizens in need. America has a homeless crisis, healthcare crisis, gun violence epidemic, and much more. This sentiment is here because it’s become all the more clear that the way of things simply do not work

[@miroslavhoudek7085]

If you are a young American and you look at Norway or something, I don't find it at all surprising that the conclusion is: "life could suck much much less". I'd rather live my life moderately poor in a country with good systems than rich in the middle of a landfill on fire.

[@miroslavhoudek7085]

@@Leah-ju8ht for sure, good life has its downsides. People somehow kill themselves more in countries with good quality of life. But I'd still take much chances in Norway ...

[@tootsiepujie]

Good video! Concise & analytical. Young people want quality of life, not work drudgery with mediocre compensation. The only degrees worth having are in STEM. It's time to overhaul the income tax system and make everyone pay their fair share.., if you love America.

[@user-nc2qj2jc5q]

Wall street is not Main street ✊