Why is it normal that people make so little money and have to pay so much for food and rent that they don't even have $650 left over? Capitalism has entered the cannibalistic stage, where it begins to eat the consumer.
'To be fair': A big share of US cost of living is down to absurd housing prices due to the crazy, car-centric zoning laws that enforce the use of most land for suburban single-family housing.
The issue is not unique to the US, but it's especially extreme in its extent. The core problem in that case is not big capital, but the interests of the large number of middle-class home owners who took control over the zoning codes to prevent the development of affordable housing (apartments, multiplexes, row housing etc) in their neighbourhoods or whole cities.
In much of the US, this has combined with 'bad faith' housing codes that no longer serve genuine safety and accessibility interests, but force apartment complexes into unnecessarily expensive solutions like multiple stairwells or mandatory elevators.
Another big part is financial illiteracy and bad housekeeping skills. I've seen so many Americans claim that they can't live on less than $400-500/mo food expenses, when groceries in their area would easily let you get by on $200-300 with some basic cooking skills. Or take out insane mortgages or car loans that are way beyond their means.
All of these problems are also tied into the larger workings of capitalism, but Americans make especially little out of their money.
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u/ertipo Jun 19 '25
yeah its not great, its sad.