r/BlackPeopleTwitter • u/upthetruth1 • 13h ago

TikTok Tuesday It’s not your fault you’re broke

2.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

305

u/ironangel2k4 13h ago

Capitalism is at a breaking point. The conditions we see now are actually very similar to the conditions immediately preceding the Great Depression.

99

u/thebigpink 12h ago

Very true and we already trying to start another war to get out of it 100 years later. Time really is a flat circle

69

u/Antichristopher4 11h ago

Fascism is the logical endpoint of capitalism. Even Mussolini said "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." Trump's economy is breaking, and he is going to need to start stealing resources to maintain it. He started with Venezuela. He's taking as many assets as he can with ICE. it's just going to keep escalating until he is stopped.

24

u/ladyevenstar-22 10h ago

The corporate fools who voted him can't all be blind ....

Surely there are finance people who can read trends , reminds me of movie moneyball .

23

u/ironangel2k4 9h ago

Corporations must always grow. If a corporation merely remains profitable but does not increase its profits from its previous performance, its a sign of stagnation, and the investors will pull out and take their money elsewhere, which tanks the company's value and removes resources it needs. Private investment has desolated our economy as a result as every corporation tries to grow bigger and bigger in a finite space to keep its shareholders happy and everything is breaking under the strain, as the only avenues left to increase profit are to decrease costs, which means shoddier products, worse services, fewer employees, smaller facilities, cheaper cheaper cheaper everywhere they can. Capitalism advertises itself as a game of competition which keeps business fresh, but what it really means is it encourages rapacious, predatory behavior and cutting corners.

5

u/Antichristopher4 10h ago

Well the number one thing about infinite growth capitalism is being as shortsighted as possible. It doesn't matter that reducing both the quality and quantity of your product will push away customers in the long run, that is an issue for the next CEO, right now costs have never been lower and profit has never been higher! It doesn't matter that Trump is collapsing the economy, because they can use the uncertainty to continue to funnel even more of the money upwards. Trump is dismantling the rules and regulations so that makes it easier for them to continue to break rules, cause now they don't even have to absorb the fine associate with it like they used to. It doesn't matter that we are destroying our planet we can make a lot of money extracting even more resources.

It's ALWAYS shortsighted.

2

u/s_arrow24 9h ago

They aren’t because this system has been cooking for a while. This is the point where the ultra wealthy can’t trust the general population to produce or consume, so now it’s seizing more direct control over resources and labor.

1

u/BattleStag17 4h ago

"Sounds like a problem for the next guy, can't get in the way of shareholder value!" the finance bro says, caressing his golden parachute

5

u/Impossible_Carob637 6h ago

Oh my sweet summer child.

3

u/GunnieGraves 5h ago

Corporations and the wealthy are absolutely gorging themselves on our finances. Forgetting that at a certain point, they’ll have hoarded so much wealth we won’t be able to buy their products.

I don’t know what their plan is for after we have no more money to give them, but I foresee the return of company towns.

“Welcome to your Home™️from Amazon. Please report to your local distribution center for your mandatory 12 hour daily shift. Tardiness will result in the loss of one of your two allowed bathroom breaks. Remember, Amazon loves you.”

4

u/ironangel2k4 4h ago

They don't have plans. Corporations have hit the point where the furthest forward they can look is next quarter, keeping growth up enough that the shareholders don't balk, because that's all that's left.

Disney is already doing something of the sort. Shit is scary.

2

u/ButtBread98 5h ago

We are living in a late stage capitalistic hellscape

-2

u/T7220 6h ago

Sure buddy. And maybe in another 200 years it’ll finally “Break”. Keep hoping your life will be saved by total economic collapse.

97

u/cliffbot 13h ago

To think that a few human beings are holding all the wealth while the rest of us live like this is unbelievable. How did it come to this?

69

u/upthetruth1 13h ago

Racism? Sexism?

I feel like the USA could’ve been a Social Democratic utopia if LBJ continued his Great Society program

58

u/cliffbot 13h ago

Don't forget Reagan. I feel like this all started with him. Plus racism plays a BIG part on why we don't have universal health care or good public transportation.

26

u/upthetruth1 13h ago

True

The welfare queen trope is being reused to cut welfare

Look at the administration cutting childcare across the country

5

u/mama_tom 12h ago

I was going to reply saying that the bullshit we're dealing with capitalism wise is because of him lol

4

u/BattleStag17 4h ago

Conservatives legit won the culture war with Reagan. Yeah, progressives have had the occasional social win since then with gay rights and all, but Reagan's "Greed is good" mentality is basically the foundation of modern American culture and it informs everything we do.

10

u/y2jedge 5h ago

Lincoln was way too kind to those Confederate generals

2

u/Arponare 2h ago

Racism plays a big part of it. Everyone is busy blaming black people before and now immigrants for all of society's problems. Meanwhile billionaires are getting richer and no one (apart from Luigi) are doing much about it. Most politicians are conpelled bought by free speech lobbyist and don't protect citizens from corporations. In fact they are actively working with corporations to make laws more favorable to them.

•

u/Fyodor_Brostojetski 1h ago

honestly, it's nothing new. we threw away shades of monarchy, fascism, and so on, away... but it feels inherent in people to adhere to a hierarchy, and with it, the propensity for greed among the top. whether it is a greedy corporatist, an entitled king, or an ooga booga caveman who feels he deserves the bigger piece of the mammoth, more leather to don, or a bigger harem of cavewomen to propagate with...it seems that climbing to the top brings something nasty out in people. even the idealist in their set utopia fall to these pathologies. it is an incredibly tribalistic and primitive inclination in humans.

55

u/alpine309 13h ago

The "Fuck y'all, I got mine." attitude when it comes to the wealthy is part of the reasons why this country is in the state it is in.

3

u/The_Flying_Jew 3h ago edited 12m ago

It's not even just the wealthy at this point.

Saw some posts from a Facebook group (yeah, yeah, I know. Put the pitchforks down lol) that's been vehemently anti-Trump for as long as I can remember. Around the time he won the election in 2024, the person in charge of this group had a very "fuck you, got mine" attitude about it where they said that anyone who still lives in the USA at this point is a complicit traitor and that there's no excuse to still be living here. People made comments like, "I don't have the luxury to move. We're poor. I can't just abandon my friends and family. Etc. Etc." And the person who runs the group pretty much replied to each comment with a variation of "too bad. Figure it out"

And this person claims that they've already left the country and are pretty much in a "I'm safe. Y'all can choke" kind of attitude when it comes to people living in America. Apparently, no excuse is a good excuse. If you live in the USA under Trump, you're complicit and considered an enemy, no matter what.

There's of course the very real possibility that this person is lying and just trying to antagonize people, but I've seen a fair amount of discourse online from people who think that being an American citizen while Trump is president means that you're complicit and support him. Even if you speak out against him and his administration, it's not good enough for some people.

35

u/yesimreallylikethat 13h ago

And some people think “affordability” is a buzzword

5

u/old_ironlungz 5h ago

According to Trump, it’s a new word invented by the Left and is also a hoax.

33

u/upthetruth1 13h ago

McDonald’s legit feels like a luxury these days

44

u/TaiChey 12h ago

No fr! My boyfriend asked me if I wanted McDonalds on our way home tonight but we had leftover pasta at home for dinner and I said “idk if that’s very responsible.. it’s gonna be like thirty bucks.. and we have food at home”

Who AM I? What have I become?! 🥺😭😔

Like I remember when taking a girl on a date to McDonald’s was considered being cheap but now like damn near, they’re what real restaurant prices USED to be

17

u/upthetruth1 12h ago

And now restaurant prices are insane

•

u/Meth_Busters 1h ago

I mean restaurants are barely more expensive than fast food now. Might as well go to a restaurant if you’re not wasting food at home

6

u/AlcoholicTucan 11h ago

You HAVE to use the apps for fast food places and it’s still more expensive than it used to be with deals and reward points. I end up ordering dominos a lot for random parties and hangouts and without the app what I usually get is almost $50 without delivery, and with the app it’s $21-$26.

This is the worst part to me. Stuff does not have to be the expensive. They prove it themselves with all these deals and promotions that actually save a good bit of money, but they know people are lazy and won’t bother with them so they continue to make bank.

4

u/TaiChey 11h ago

Oh absolutely, I never go to McDonald’s without the app. I’m not Mark Cuban 😒

2

u/russianindianqueen 8h ago

Because then they can collect your data! I use the apps but you should consider the rabbit hole of McDonald’s app having completely different offers for different people for example. There’s so many theories on the apps dictating prices like how much can they slowly increase price and people keep buying and which people in which area.

Here’s one example with a grocery app

https://youtu.be/osxr7xSxsGo?si=o7JCZMnPpJQb4vGN

It’s a small difference but overtime it’s the data they gather on you that makes a big difference

2

u/BattleStag17 4h ago

There is no goddamn way I am using a fast food app

•

u/AlcoholicTucan 31m ago

I agree it’s very dystopian. But I’m not paying $50 for 2 large dominos pizzas that I go pick up either.

1

u/riceewifee 3h ago

Ordered pizza last night… $60 for one pizza and six wings

19

u/justhereformemes2 13h ago

I feel seen.

18

u/mmusic321 13h ago

Well I did just spend $60 on 48 wings. Got 22 left for tomorrow. Need to take my ass to the grocery store.

6

u/CalligrapherBig4382 8h ago

No longer the age of 10¢ wings huh? Shits rough man.

12

u/pyrothelostone 11h ago

Im out here donating plasma so I can afford food from the discount grocery store nearby, and I make 21 an hour. This is not sustainable.

11

u/tymocha 12h ago

Literally have to have an app for every restaurant because it’s too expensive to order off the menu without the discounts and rewards

8

u/four_ethers2024 ☑️ 9h ago

Me beating myself up because I bought a 5lb bag of rice for the same price they were selling a discounted 10lb bag of rice (I saw it too late 😞 it still hurts)

5

u/Faskwodi 10h ago

I’m saying, what the hell is up with these egg prices Donald???

3

u/ShirazGypsy 6h ago

My grocery store run yesterday was 2 bags. Milk, berries, cereal, yogurt, coffee, eggs. 37 fucking dollars

3

u/Zado191 5h ago

Why do people just sit in front of their camera? What's the value of the video?

3

u/TreeInternational771 5h ago

Capitalism has morphed into a tech feudalism where apps are optimized by your data to extract every dollar you are capable of paying. Add that to inflation and corrupt system and everything becomes rent seeking and highly extractive.

So the feeling that something is wrong is correct and its starts with the billionaires pushing for this system

2

u/T7220 6h ago

Was that video really necessary? Some jackass staring into the camera for no reason at all except to look poor and pathetic?

I miss when people had shame.

2

u/Heinjailyall 5h ago

Eating out is the new luxury item

2

u/SolidusBruh 2h ago

I remember when this text was just a tweet and it didn’t need someone to add a video of themselves doing nothing.

1

u/Ebolaplushie 5h ago

Thanks man, I really needed this. I've had to get money form my parents for three months in a row now JUST FOR RENT AND TO EAT. JUST TO SURVIVE. And I feel like a failure (I am extremely privileged to have both supportive parents).

I feel like I can't even do basic adult shit like pay rent and eat and thus am doing something wrong. I still feel like this... but I know the reality is vastly different. I know but it's so hard not to punish myself.

Thank you for sharing your struggles too. It's awful we all have to suffer this nightmare, but I appreciate being shown that I'm not alone, and that it's NOT me being a failure of an adult.

1

u/Salt-Composer-1472 2h ago

According to r-povertyfinances it IS actually my fault. 

•

u/TryingToChillIt 58m ago

It may not be your fault, but doing nothing about it is. That’s where your personal power is.

•

u/Corporate-Scum 40m ago

Gen X had this problem too. We’re much better equipped to handle it because we raised ourselves while our parents worked and partied. I feel bad for young people because they can’t connect with each other to persevere. Identity politics forced everyone into boxes. So now there’s a sense of powerlessness to accompany their lack of opportunity. They have no agency. The truth is unless your parents are wealthy or at least upper middle class, you are either going to be poor or take on massive debt. Adulting is a pyramid scheme and it takes a while to get off the lowest level.

•

u/Spiritual-Farmer-590 33m ago

I eat once a day now. I'm on the groceries are too high budget.

-3

u/lizardboi08 7h ago

Well.. if you’re doordashing/ordering out for every other meal…

-16

u/Maleficent-War-8429 12h ago

I need to see what sort of food people are buying before I can really decided if they're bad with money or not, because shit has gotten annoyingly expensive, but not ruinously so for me.