• Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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    2 years ago

    If you’re looking for a Western apologist look elsewhere. That being said ‘food insecurity’ is in no way comparable to starving. We have the fattest poor people on the planet. There are a million and one ways to get food in the United States regardless of how broke you are. Also the inflation driving the ‘hand to mouth’ argument in the article is driven primarily by financial irresponsibility by the central planners in the US. Money printer go brrr.

    The “overemployment” article is referring specifically to remote workers. That’s not to keep up with inflation. That’s free money. A ton of people started doing that during covid. Ive been at companies where they had to fire people because they weren’t doing anything and just collecting a check. It was a huge joke online for over a year. I’m not denying that there are people that work two jobs but a lot of that is because they are competing with an endless deluge of low skilled labor pouring into the country everyday.

    The problem with American debt is most of it is unsecured student debt. 300k mortgage debt is healthy if you have collateral. The solution is simple. Don’t give 18 year olds 100k loans. When the government guarantees a loan for anything the price for that thing will increase dramatically in an economy driven by greed.

    I’m the first one to say that the US should be more protective of the worker and stymie limitless immigration that undercuts the value of work but Communism or whatever term you feel like using to justify a centrally planned economy is equally wrong in the opposite direction. The answer is unsatisfying but it’s a mix. How that mix is proportioned will depend on the culture of the people and what they value. Then as a people they can decide what to incentivize. At some point though you have to give individuals the ability to reap what they personally have sowed even if it is more (or less) than their neighbor.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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      2 years ago

      You can spin it however you like, but the reality is that a quarter of people in US don’t have enough food to eat. There are tent cities all across the country due to rampant homelessness. Healthcare in inaccessible and regularly bankrupts people. Cuba has none of these problems. In fact, Cuba ranks as world’s most sustainable developed country.

      Communism works while capitalism creates failed states like the US. That’s the reality of the world.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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          2 years ago

          You have to specify for whom US or Cuba is a better place to live. Millions of people in US have far worse lives than people in Cuba despite the fact that US has an incomparable amount of wealth. Given the resources that Cuba has available to it, there is no question that Cuba does a much better job than US ensuring that they’re used to improve the lives of the majority.

        • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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          2 years ago

          Not for me or anyone I know. USA is pretty sweet especially in rural areas.

      • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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        2 years ago

        In contrast to international trends, people in America who live in the most poverty-dense counties are those most prone to obesity

        obesity-associated chronic disease accounts for 70% of U.S. health costs

        Halting U.S. diabesity epidemic and curtailing its health cost may necessitate addressing poverty.

        https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/60/11/2667/33452/Poverty-and-Obesity-in-the-U-S

        Homelessness

        Cuba has an innovative housing plan. Evict people and bulldoze their houses to the ground.

        Sustainable development

        The anthills in my backyard are sustainably developed too. Cuba’s crumbling infrastructure is on par with the most retrograde, backwaters of the first and second world. A power infrastructure with rolling blackouts and 60,000 cars for 11 million people. Nothing is more sustainable than living, more or less, in the past. It’s also no surprise because eco-tourism is the only moneymaker except for, maybe, cigars.

        I’m not going to convince you that Cuba is defunct, repressive kleptocracy and you’re not going to convince me that Cuba’s ideals somehow transcend the record numbers of people trying to gtfo

        Cuba isnt the same as truly tragic country like Haiti but it’s pretty bad. The people are educated but they are destitute and have no opportunities. Repealing sanctions would help but it won’t fix the cause of their woes. I hope for the best. They are our neighbors.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
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          2 years ago

          You keep on doing the coping there. You’re a real champ at it. At least we can agree that what US has done to Cuba and Haiti is indeed tragic. If only these countries were allowed to develop without the oppression of the empire. Good thing US is headed for the collapse, so the rest of the world can finally breathe.

          • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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            2 years ago

            Not sure which part of what I said is ‘cope’ but okay.

            Re: American collapse I expect it will be less of a collapse and more of a controlled descent ala a hang glider.

              • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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                2 years ago

                Lmao. Don’t worry about my expectations. You’re the one who’s going to be really fucking bummed when you find out a post-American hegemony world is more of the same old shit.

    • m532@lemmy.ml
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      2 years ago

      You want to starve poor people, so you are a murderer.

        • m532@lemmy.ml
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          2 years ago

          Your post came across to me as “poor people in usa have more than enough to eat, so they can’t starve”

          • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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            2 years ago

            They do have enough to eat. That’s the whole point of the article. People don’t starve to death in the United States. You can go to food banks, churches, meal halls etc not to mention welfare and free school lunches. Food is limitless.

            Obesity is one of the biggest problems for Americas poor so that should tell you something.

            America has a lot of problems but access to food is not one of them.

            https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article/60/11/2667/33452/Poverty-and-Obesity-in-the-U-S

            • m532@lemmy.ml
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              2 years ago

              Then why do they work? The whole economy there runs on the threat of starving. With the horrible work conditions poor people face there, they would not work in those conditions if they were unable to starve.

              • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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                2 years ago

                Many of them don’t work and live in public housing. The ones who do work do so to have a higher quality of life. Living off of government handouts is not glamorous. Public housing complexes and inner city slums are notoriously crime ridden. The overwhelming majority of non-suicide gun deaths occur in these areas due to drug addiction etc.

                The rural poor have similar problems but there is far less violence.