Post Gen Z can't retire until this changes
Few understand this.
I'm tired of hearing everyone telling that everything is fine. That those who didn't make it is because its their fault and that they didn't work hard enough. That we should be grateful to live in a time where we have more stuff than ever.
Everyone seems to be missing the point.
The obvious explanation or argument people like to make is that the rich are not taxed enough, but numbers don't add up.1
And its not like we haven't tried it. We did and it didn't work 2, but somehow we still want to keep trying. 3
What is the problem?
Wealth / income inequality, crashing birthrates, lack of opportunities, future senior poverty -- all problems post-gen-z must deal with.
Trying to pin the problem to a single class of people who had more is too lazy, and it works for envious people who wanted it to be true -- not for those who actually want to solve the problem.
Why do we have this problem?
Because greed -- not really. More like historically, if you let it happen it will happen. Lets clarify what I mean by that.
Wealth inequality
Every time the central banks print money, asset prices go up. If it goes up faster than wages, effectively it means people who don't own things now will find it even harder to own things later -- subsequently it means they must keep working and kept in the rat race.
Why do we let central banks print money? Because its a popular thing to do in a democracy, especially when there is unemployment or when people want their pensions. To avoid social troubles, its easier to make fake money, employ people in fake jobs, and kick the can down the road.
The natural outcome is older people owns more, and when the young don't own anything they are forced to work and can't start families -- which means even less contributors to the future economy.
But all of this can still be fixed if young people are just allowed to do things. Yet...
Lack of opportunities
People are not allowed to do things.
It costs a person more to do something than to not do anything. The cost it takes to be trained, to be educated, to own a business license, to own the tools to do the work, to advertise the product, and to pay taxes on top of those sales -- its easier to sit and do nothing.
In fact, the ROI you get for investing all your tuition money in SP500 is more than the ROI you get for going to college, get a degree, and earn a salary premium.
When you actually do want to find a job, you will have to compete with 100 other people, be judged by 1.5% of the corporate population (HR) whether you are even worthy to get through the door -- regardless of your competence.
When you do actually get a job, you realize in 90% of the cases you don't actually do anything useful. You don't make products that help people, and most likely do PowerPoint presentations all day.
When your youth is absorbed into mindless academic grind, soul-crushing job hunt, and conforming to corporations, is it any surprising that no one has time for family and hobbies?
Future senior poverty
What happens when the average person is raised and trained to be dependent on corporate, learns no useful life skills, and can't afford to start a family?
Senior poverty.
Few understand this
Working harder in a corporate and paying more taxes is unlikely to make you rich or solve any civilization problem.
Most companies say that they want to hire for productivity. If that is the case, why does it make sense to spend $200-1000 on job ads (you will fume when you actually know how much it cost to list, let alone hire) instead of increasing the salary of the existing employees?
Most governments say they want to increase GDP. If that is the case, why is the tax codes and regulations get more complicated and more expensive every year?
Most governments think birthrates is a problem. If that is the case, why are they still trying to send every men and women to work in an office?
Most people think that the cost of living is a problem. If that is the case, why are people not rewarding entrepreneurs who are working hard to lower the cost of living (by competing to sell real products and services)? Why are we glorifying consultants and bankers who raises the cost of living (by making regulations even more complicated and expensive)?
There is no other explanation, except that there is an invisible social parasite that doesn't care about outcomes, but rather wants to maximize its power.
If you are in debt, make less than it takes for you to afford an asset, don't learn any life skills, and don't start a family -- you have no choice but to keep working and be dependent on the state or corporation.
You will submit to whatever BS request they tell you. 4
"The kids are fine"
Compared to previous generations, they have cheap technology, they don't have to worry about food, everything is so accessible. GDP is growing every year. Everyone works at a better job than before. They get to see more naked people than all of our ancestors combined.
But its all a sedation, as freedom and critical thought are gradually robbed to continue feeding this sedation. The price is not cheap -- most developed countries have maxed out their debts, stagnant growth, and crashing birth rates.
The argument that the younger generation has a lot of wealth relative to the past misses one important point -- that no wealth is getting destroyed.
But wealth does get destroyed. From people aging, from the transaction cost and destruction of value when bureaucracy, state, corporation try to abuse their power to control employees and bully entrepreneurs.
When you put someone into college for 4 years, make them learn about things that has no demand by the office, make them spend 6 months applying to hundreds of jobs, make them sit on a desk writing emails and PPTX, and have them quit in 1-2 years (that's the AVG turnover), that transaction cost somehow doesn't destroy any wealth?
More examples of irrationality:
- Corporations rather pay 4x the budget of raising salaries of workers to recruitment, job ads, hiring, and onboarding.
- Corporations rather pay consultants 4x the price tag than to hire/promote someone to build in house.
- The average sugarbaby make 4x the median wage. I'll leave you the imagination of who pays for it.
- Why is it always 4x? 5
I don't fear the problems the kids have now. I fear the problems the kids will have when they turn 60. These old and powerless people won't magically go away.
What is the solution?
Reject fake money, reject fake jobs, and reject fake education.
Poverty is a mindset, until you're old -- then you're screwed. Wealth is how much things you can get done in a phone call.
By taking fake money 6, you feel rich for awhile, as everything gets more expensive as fast as you can afford it.
By taking fake jobs, you feel like you'are making a difference, but you are not. Your body gets tired, your mind gets numb, and eventually you become useless and dependent on the state.
By taking fake education, you feel like you know something, but you don't. You are just repeating what others want you to do. You are a mascot for something that is bigger than you.
What needs to change?
Money printing needs to go away.
Fake email jobs needs to go away.
Dual-income needs to go away. 7
The celebrity status and culture of elite education, elite jobs (AKA professional services) needs to go away. 8
What can I change?
Invest in skills.
Create solutions not make up problems.
Take care of your body.
Have a hobby that lets you make useful things.
Be nice to people and have a great reputation, without compromising your truth.
All of these helps you once you are older.
Actually who TF cares?
Just keep doing what has been done. There will totally be no consequences at all.
What matters is if you are already a winner, and you are still winning.
There is no point in history where people get violent when inequality is very big, when there is no opportunities, and when there is no wealth growth.
Most of the people who are screwed already are too old to have any energy to do anything anyway.
Civilization will be fine.
Footnotes
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Taxing 100% from billionaires cant even pay off interest. Taxes are already overpaid. ↩
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A government never collects more than 20% of its GDP, regardless of business conditions. Interestingly, a government didn't start collecting any taxes until 1914 -- the start of federal reserve. ↩
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I suspect the taxation argument is so popular and widely discussed at every point of history is because it is too easy as a concept to understand by laymen -- take those who have and give those who don't -- that also coincidentally seems to work out conveniently for bureaucrats who wants more power and control. If we actually read history, wealth inequality is the start of most conflicts, but to the act of taking more from those who have rarely created good outcomes. ↩
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Incidentally, this is a reason why the prediction of lower working hours by automation is so wrong and didn't happen -- It is all wasted and spent on BS for "rituals" so that a "priest" feel more in control. This is my poetic way of letting you decide what is the modern equivalent of "rituals" and "priests". ↩
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IDK why the ratio is around 4x, but it seems like a common pattern when I try to find the shadow price through surveying, going through company financials and accounting. ↩
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Many succumb to the temptation and premature celebration of making fake money. When you stocks grow 20%, when you home grows 10%. When your consulting job pays $100k. You don't ask how those growth and salary was paid for. You are just grateful that the ship choose to have you on board, until one day you don't belong to the ship. ↩
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Dual income is a natural consequence to higher cost of living. Maybe it will naturally go away when entrepreneurship becomes more rewarding, and money stops being devalued all the time. ↩
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By taking away the social status from a parasiting way of life, we can encourage more productive way of living. Parasite is a strong word, but its functionally true -- the more people employed in professional service industry, the harder it is for others to create wealth. ↩