- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- programmer_humor@programming.dev
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WTF happened in 1971‽
In 1974, Congress re-wrote the tax code, and baked in Trickle Down Economics, and the permanent financial landscape improved greatly for the wealthy. The rest of us were dealing with high inflation (Remember Ford’s WIN buttons - Whip Inflation Now?), gas lines caused by the OPEC oil embargo, interest rates over 20%, etc., and didn’t recognize what was happening.
So when Reagan came along and pushed Trickle Down Economics, it was already in place, and ramping up, he was just introducing it, and selling it to the American people, and it became standard dogma for a long time.
The result has been a decades long re-distribution of wealth to the upper incomes, at the direct detriment of the working and middle-class.
That’s why it appears to start before Reagan - because it did.
New York Mag: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2020/09/rand-study-how-high-is-inequality-us.html
Fast Money: https://www.fastcompany.com/90550015/we-were-shocked-rand-study-uncovers-massive-income-shift-to-the-top-1
That can’t be accurate. The reality is way worse. The top 1% wouldn’t even be visible on the chart at that scale. What am I missing?
Rate of change in 2021 (last data point on this graph) is nearly vertical. Five years of that would put a few zeros at the end of that figure, which is exactly what happened.
Even before 2021, the disparity was already so great it wouldn’t have fit.
Built-in obsolescence should be illegal. It’s so wasteful
Hmm, there are some products that should have a defined “end of life”. For instance, computer networking hardware which will eventually be outdated and no longer get security updates. The trick is, the EOL date should be clearly marked on the product at the point of sale so that the buyer can make an informed decision.
This is built-in obsolescence, but it’s better than the current situation where Cisco will sell you a firewall at full price and then decide 6 months later that they aren’t supporting that model anymore and you have to buy a new one.
Not only that, but you can’t even use price as a proxy for quality anymore. Choosing to splash out on something you want to last just means you’re going to be more disappointed when it inevitably breaks.
This is what got me. I started a really well paying job so me and the wife decided to splurge on some better, name brand appliances. I’ve replaced every single one in less than 5 years. Fuck GE, fuck LG, and definitely fuck Samsung.
My rule is if they’ve ever made a TV or a Cell Phone I’ll NEVER buy their appliance.
But you got all those sweet touchscreens and stuff right?
I wonder if there are good brands still. Bosch? Miele?
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Personally, I like the industrial kitchen look. Now I just need 10 grand.
The boots theory is dead
