Honestly, just health care in general being locked behind insurance to the point where people conflate the two conceots entirely!

Dental insurance in most cases is closer to what health insurance should be: an entirely optional, and generally affordable, policy that can offset major expenses. Not an expense that rivals housing in magnitude and is required for most people just to access the basic care needed by nearly everyone.

This makes perfect sense from the supply side. Very few (younger) people need expensive medical care, so we can pool the risk. Almost everyone needs some, regular dental care, so it's more like a savings account than insurance. I'm not claiming that the insurance systems in any given country aren't exploitative, just that medical and dental insurance should be different.

Seriously this. The success of a public service shouldn't be how much revenue is generated or shareholder value is gained. We as a society are the shareholders and deserve infrastructure that works for us. Corporations have pushed the idea that lower taxes is better, but when you have to spend more to a company to get basic necessities, you're not really coming out on top buddy.

Regan really did a number on the US. Broad privatization of public services, with all the wrong incentives in place. Which was then a vicious cycle of people hating their experience with public services -> politicians cut their funding -> service gets worse -> people hate their experience -> repeat until all your taxes have been siphoned to private entities and your govt is in shambles.

Listened to a really good podcast episode on this recently

https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/ep-236-manufactured-austerity-and-the-media-assisted-public-private-partnership-rip-off

Nobody wants public school anymore and the private schools are booming. Source: am private school teacher

Insurance is nothing but a legal protection racket. The only difference is when you lapse on your protection money, the insurers don't go and blow your kneecaps out, although United Health has effectively killed people who lapsed on payments before or denied them potentially life-saving drugs.

As a concept or in practice?

Where the fuck do you live? In switzerland your average new house costs around 300-400k

It's not only speculation, it's also because some locations are a lot more wanted by many people to live there: right next to a big park, walkable neighbourhood, city amenities nearby but few city problems, no highway audible when sleeping with open window et cetera et cetera. More people want to live in prime locations than prime location housing is available.

The big scam are the insane prices for run down shoebox-apartments in shitty locations.

Location matters though. It wouldn't make sense for a house to cost as much as it does to make. Though obviously prices have become completely detached from reality.

that's why you stiff em the last month's rent

What the fuck? So it's just a deposit you're garuanteed to not get back? What if you don't "miss" anything when cleaning up? You're not getting your money back anyway so why clean anything when you're moving out?

Florida does both

subset of capitalism

In most cases I agree with you, but what about a musician who makes passive income off of people streaming their music, or people who buy my fonts?

Or you're squeezing all the value and more out of the asset and users, while increasing externalities

The car is a tool to move yourself and your family/friends from place A to place B. But James Bond, Batman, rap videos made a status symbol of it. They created a modern mythology around it.

The transformation of the automobile from a means of transport into a luminous totem of status is a near-perfect case study of what Pierre Bourdieu theorised as the conversion and misrecognition of capital.

Bourdieu argued that capital presents itself in three fundamental guises: economic capital (money, assets), cultural capital (knowledge, taste, credentials), and social capital (networks, group membership). These are not static silos; they are constantly converted into one another to legitimise and reproduce social hierarchies. The car, in its purest state, is merely objectified economic capital, a purchased good with a clear use-value: to move from A to B. But the moment it enters the cultural field, it is inscribed with meaning, and it becomes a vehicle for symbolic capital, which Bourdieu defined as the form the other capitals take when they are perceived and recognised as legitimate.

https://archive.org/stream/bourdieu-the-forms-of-capital-1/Bourdieu%20The%20Forms%20of%20Capital-1_djvu.txt

And recycling most plastics. End up in a landfill because its cheaper than actually recycling them.

This. I have opinions on waste management, please indulge a little rant, if you will?

In my city they also now have us pay for the privilege of dumping residual waste. It's worth noting that residual residential waste is stuffed into a silo - the users bring it to a collection point, and open it with an RFID key card. You're sent a bill for each time this is opened.

It's also worth noting that the plastic bin, if it looks like they can't sort it, they will toss it in general waste.

These factors combine into a situation where:

• Tossing things in the recycling bin has it end up in gen waste anyway
• It's cheaper for the end user to dump their residual waste inappropriately, either by stuffing it into recycling despite not going there, or by dumping it in the bushes somewhere

Imo, fixes would include the following:

• At the very least, using the general waste silo should not come with extra costs
• Recyclables and residual waste should be merged into a single waste flow, which is to be recycled in general.
• We should make work of actual plastic recycling at a commercial scale.

Ohhh, this one 100 times. That nonsense about consumers' plastic straws killing all the ocean's turtles while only contributing 0.03% of all plastic pollution to the ocean, whereas commercial fishery nets constitute nearly 46% of the Pacific Garbage Patch was one of the biggest industry psyops of all time, and people fell for it hook, line and sinker (no pun intended).

Impressed ot took this long. Every other comment is just describing capitalism working as designed, fucking over the poor to ensure a working class. Maybe do something about the torment nexus if you dont want to live under it?

I once had a professor who gave assignments with the last several editions page numbers because he thought it was bullshit too.

This is why I try, if possible, to find them online for free. That's been my first step whenever needed. Last time I needed a book and lab access code, it cost a little over $150USD!

But it works! Supposedly. Don't poke holes in the JC penney story.

I honestly don't understand that, I have always rounded up for money going out and down for money coming in. So if I see something priced at $3.25 my brain thinks $4, and if I earn $3.25 my brain thinks $3 dollars.

Anything priced: tax not included

Insurance- paying for something you might never need but required to be available JUST IN CASE. eyeroll

The Dutch East India Company is still alive and well.

Only if you don’t have insider info.

This is what I came here to say! It generates zero wealth, and only serves to move wealth from one person to another.

I worked 64 hours a week to pay for my College Tuition.

That is plus 18 hours of classes, and 18 hours of studies a week.

This was for the cheapest college near me at a rate of $4000 a semester.

I love being slaved to the point my grades were low only because of my work. When I saved enough / got scholarships, I was able to stop working, and my grades became a 4.

So in summary, slaving to afford a chance to have a low grade compared to those with wealth who can get to focus all their time to college.

Show me a working alternative that’s actually been implemented in the real and I’ll happily shift.

Until then I’ll happily stick with a well-regulated, Nordic-style market economy.

Some places are worse for this than others. London, for example, chews up 20-somethings in shitty accommodation, underpaid jobs and plenty of places to spend the few pennies you’ve got left. Eventually, 95% leave the city to actually build a life after they’ve realised that London will never deliver a suitable lifestyle for them.

Ah cool, this is the first answer that isnt actually just capitalism.

Are people still out there buying new ink cartridges every time they need to print something? I was sick of that s*** in 2019 and returned my printer to Costco and I'm never buying another printer again.

Just a polite reminder that if you only need to print a few papers, it's probably cheaper/easier/free to use the printer at local library! Mine does it for like 15 cents a paper, or for free if you have your own paper! Much less hassle than buying a good printer, sorting the ink situation and then fighting with that machine..

What should just be a little plastic box containing ink has a tiny computer inside to prove to the printer it's not counterfeit. All so that the manufacture can have their give-the-razor-for-free-sell-the-blades business model, enforced by the anti-circumvention part of copyright law.

Loan interests and money I disagree with. Unless we get to a point where everything is in abundance and commerce isn't needed anymore I feel like a common item we can agree the value of for goods and services is a pretty neat idea.

Similarly I don't think interest is inherently evil. If i lend you money to buy something large that will take years to pay off, I wouldn't want to lose a bunch of money with inflation. But predatory rates that bet on you defaulting can burn in hell. It's disgusting that the whole fintech industry exists purely to maximise interest and debt at the cost of those who depends on those services the most.

Aka wage theft

Depends on the country I believe. I've got a refund for my sixth eye surgery a couple of months ago thanks to my insurance.

As a scientist, yes, it is a horrible scam. The scientists give them rights to the paper for free. The reviewers review for free. Then they charge other people to look at it. And now they came up with open access where the scientists have to pay out of pocket (aka usually with public funds) for the whole process. Meanwhile the review process gets worse and worse, and their profit margin gets bigger and bigger. Last time for a 'high impact' journal, I had people in Sri Lanka copy editing my article writing messages to me in broken English. It is all a horrific scam

Implies that you don't deserve to live. But they also make a large number of cheaper ways to live illegal. Buy some woodland away from town and live in a tent or caravan? No, can't have you doing that.

You mean democracy in the US, not all over the world.

It isn't secret societies, it is class society. Capitalists rule over production and the government, that is the state, runs the political institutions that keep the masses of people out of power, while keeping the rich calling most of the shots.

Democracy contradicts class society, but it is a stage in a process. Democracy needs to be defended. This version of "democracy," with parliaments and congresses and presidents, has always been the form of democracy that the rich owners have wanted, because it serves their interests. Now maybe less so, but the problem with it isnt its democratic nature, but in fact that it is largely, by design and historic precedence, democracy for the rich.

And in capitalism, the interests of the rich and poor are opposite, by nature. What is good for them is bad for us, because the more we work and the less they pay us, the richer they get. It isnt that democracy is a "sham", but their democracy is designed for the rich freaks, whether or not they are baby eating occultists, or Mormons, or engineers. If you want to have power you have to put people below you, and if you want to keep power you have to continually put people under you at an increasing rate. If not, someone will steal your power, because if they didn't, someone would steal both of your power. Everyone competes, that's how the system gets everyone to cooperate.

But parliamentary democracy was an improvement over monarchies. Within that framework, the rest of us were able to struggle for more rights, people could fight for freedom with solidarity.

The rich, including members of elitist occultist secret groups, want rid of it. They think more cops and more surveillance will make it so they don't have to deal with costly civil infrastructure, they will just use direct force to control everyone, not just the lower classes and heavily exploited people. They want rid of democracy because the profits aren't coming in fast enough, which is why guys like Trump who are really good at legal crime, bleeding and butchering corporate empires for personal and investor gain, are given the reigns of real power. To bleed and butcher the social democracies of EU and planned economies of East Asia, to cash every check and strongarm every loan, that has been written by every president and supreme court ruling for the past 70-100 years.

Climate catastrophe is inevitable, the social contract is expired. The only chance we have is to show solidarity together and organize for the power of workers and everybody who has it rough working for some faceless corporation, depending on dwindling govt welfare or shitty min wage paychecks. Its happened before and it will happen again. We need better forms of democracy that serve our interests not theirs. Organization and leadership from below, not rule from above. The basis for it is solidarity, not elections or parliament. And the rich hate and fear other forms of democracy, especially forms of mass democracy.

The rich want us to reject democracy the way they have. They've been maintaining this system that disenfranchises most people, and now they think they can get a better deal. But as they cut away at the institutions that maintained our bare-minimum "civil society" they cut away the illusions that made people feel safe, or at least hopeful. But that doesn't mean that the illusions won't get replaced with new ones, like that democracy is a sham.

Democracy doesn't exist unless we fight for it. People stopped fighting and so it started slipping away. Rationalizing the loss of our rights as a good thing is not the right kind of defeatism. As long as the rich exist, the poor exist; and the poorer we are the richer they get. The only way to fight and win is to organize on the basis of the best interests of an international working class, and the most potent offense and defense our class has is progressive, mass democracy.

When my father died a while back we decided to cremate him. The amount of money they suggested we spend on a casket that was literally going up in smoke was ridiculous.

similar problems in aged care honestly. Many people would rather sign away the equity in their parents' estate to an aged care provider, then actually care for their aging parents in their time of absolute vulnerability.

Aren't hospitals mostly free? Or tax payer funded.

Humorously, hospitals really don't want you to die when you're there. It's a lot of paperwork. Nothing kicks the social worker or case manager into overdrive like the doctor saying there is much less than 6 months left to live on the hospice paperwork.

Everyone thinks that you are supposed to go to the hospital when you are dying

Do they? I often hear of people wanting to die at home if they have the choice, there is also hospice care. Hospital would only make sense if you have something that might be possible to treat, at least at the point of deciding to go.

Glad to have the NHS though, so there is no cost to worry about. Pretty sure you can get cremated for under £1k, you don't need to get a gold plated box.

Not entirely true, socialist countries have managed to do it or severely limit it.

And if that scam will never go away, I just want to know who is on the earning end of that scam, and how can I become that person.

Why did you say the same thing three times?

i think people are still mad about shrinkflation and rightfully see it as a scam.

nothing a couple more decades of it can't solve though.

Tbf we should always aim for slight inflation. You want to incentivize people to use their money on things so it circulates, and it being slightly depreciating is the best way to do that.

If it was the best option long term to just stuff money into a mattress and sit on it for a decade then that has it's own problems

It’s all part of the plan to pacify you…and others. People have been convinced they can solve everything with some calm chat and a hug.

Religion is tricky. Most people search for meaning in life, and religions are an answer to that need.

But linking religion to nations is the root of evil. Not being Catholic in Italy will cause you a lot of headaches, for example, yet you should be able to choose any religion you like and follow it freely.

So I would say the real issue is the interplay between religion and power, and discrimination on religious grounds.

A lot of it is having bikes wherever, and not having to worry about securing it.

our city had a great service when it was manual bikes. you could get a yearly membership for about the cost of a monthly bus pass. allowed for one hour but you could dock and undock anywhere to restart the clock. No per minut or per mile fee. Once they started doing e-bikes the problem is they stopped stocking regular bikes as much and now you don't know if any will be at a docking station when you get there and the ebikes have an extra cost outside of the membership.

Here in China, the yellow scooters/ebikes cost about 40 cents for a 30 minute ride.

In Japan, I think the LUUP scooters were 1.50 USD for the first 30 minutes, but you could get a monthly pass that capped how much you could get charged.

People hire bikes for a commute? I only ever saw bike hires as something you might do on holiday or a trip somewhere. Not daily.

Where I live they also have these very restricted service areas where you have to be in if you want to be able to park the scooter, otherwise the app simply won't let you end the session and pay. Not sure how they even determine these areas, I wouldn't be surprised if the competing scooter companies here have their own territory and keep people locked in for the mutual benefit of the companies and at the cost of anyone wanting to commute with these things.

And aside from all that, as you said they are extremely expensive even for a ride around the block, and also very dangerous if the roads are designed with only cars in mind.

AI subscriptions

Came here for that answer. Large concentrations of wealth generate structural power that can distort political decisions and markets in a way that serves to perpetuate itself. This creates a virtuous circle in which capital shapes return conditions / regulation / access advantages in such a way as to systematically favour further capital growth.

Preach

Just to get the context. Are you writing about the United States of America, some other countries or the West in general?

A related controversial topic related to education is the Bologna Process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_Process

Progressive tax (based on income as well as the value of the item) isn't a scam. Flat fee is a scam (eg: a hypothetical 0.02 cents to support veterans). Percentage based taxes like sales tax aren't much better. Cliff based tax like luxury taxes are better but not as good as progressive taxes

I like tipping (in the US). I feel like servers would be a lot less friendly if they weren't so directly incentivized to be nice. Plus I've been treated somewhat gruffly by servers in countries that do not have tips. Maybe that is just dislike of U.S. citizens.

I wouldn't call that a scam. (Modern) Cordless power tools are fucking incredible despite the branded batteries being a rip-off. I literally have corded tools that I don't even use because extension cords are a real pain in the ass some times.

I hate how the batteries are always incompatible with every other tool except (sometimes) the ones by the same manufacturer. Its tempting to get a petrol generator instead and just use corded tools.

Ugh, I didn't even think to check, but that's a pretty bare history. I've noticed some shitty questions lately, like the generic reddit drivel the other day about 'what do you miss about pre-internet?'

How do you think used cars exist if there aren’t people that buy new ones?

And… owning a home? Huh?

cotton swabs?

Is anyone really accepting it?

I sure ain't.

But if you dip each bit of that value in butter....

FUCK I FORGOT TO PLANT AN ARTICHOKE BUSH LAST NOVEMBER IM RUINED

i'm gonna have to buy artichokes this year my life is over.

Big-box stores are a scam, period. Their whole business model is driving smaller local shops out of business and becoming the only game in town, and then completely screwing that town over when they leave.

NJB has a whole video on this.