Posts by James Anderson5

Jonathan Barnes5 said:It seems most of you haven't spent much time handling the daily grind of retail trading, yet somehow you possess an intuitive grasp of how high-stakes options play out on a massive scale.🙏
I suppose it’s because you've all devoured Michael Lewis's work...😁..

To be honest, I don't quite understand why a handful of you don't just power through all three levels of the CFA program and dive straight into the feast of collecting management fees. It would certainly be a kindness to the rest of this forum if you did.

Alternatively, you could join the ranks of the big investment banks and go after conquering the market head-on.

And who says none of us haven't finished the CFA and traded seriously? Besides, what exactly makes you think that guarantees anyone's success on Wall Street... 🤣

Well, I can see you really know your stuff, so I won't say another word... 😁

Plus, we ended up tanking some of our own banks that actually had real potential, all while letting the big state institutions crumble under bad management and shady loans... but I guess that's all in the past now.

If I remember correctly, the Swiss franc was one of the last currencies partially backed by gold, maybe around 10%... this whole other situation just feels like a massive manipulation designed to benefit the most powerful players.

Take LIBOR, for example. Major banks like Deutsche Bank and Barclays had to pay huge fines for rigging those interest rates on the London interbank market, and they only faced consequences because the U.S. government stepped in and sued them.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...s-libor-probes

It’s the same story with gold prices. We all know what happened with the subprime crisis, and we definitely know who ended up footing the bill. It makes you wonder how much of the economic success in Western nations is actually due to efficient systems versus things like neo-colonialism, financial manipulation, or even using intelligence agencies for economic gain... nobody really does a deep dive into that. Even our own economy would look different if we were paying interest on bonds like the Americans have been doing for the last 20 years. The same goes for the financing costs for our businesses and citizens, whether it's mortgages or personal loans. Sure, we dealt with higher interest rates because we were labeled a high-risk economy, but when you realize the same agencies giving us those ratings were also slapping AAA labels on ultra-junk American bonds, it really makes you think...

Justin James10 said:Sure, James Anderson5 might be right about political pressure, but there’s just no amount of leverage that could force everyone to switch over to using dollars. At the end of the day, it all boils down to trust in a currency. It’s the exact same story when you look at bonds. Honestly, isn't this starting to sound a bit like a conspiracy theory?

As for those bureaucrats holding onto their cushy jobs—they actually have to work incredibly hard just to get fired, which feels like an impossible mission. I even know a philosophy professor who hasn't taught a class in four years, yet the university can't find a way to let him go. It’s a constant game of cat and mouse! Meanwhile, his paycheck hits his account like clockwork. Don't you think these collective bargaining agreements are just fundamentally broken?

We’re never going to see eye to eye on conspiracy theories. If you follow the economy, like Morgan Foster mentioned, certain patterns become pretty obvious. You aren't going to find smoking gun evidence laid out for you, just like you won't find clear explanations for specific political maneuvers here in the States. No one is foolish enough to walk through those steps step-by-step on national news. Instead, you just watch the policies unfold and look at the results. Don't forget how much tension there was recently when it came out that US intelligence agencies were spying on German leaders, or how the French complained about US agencies influencing international business bids. As I said before, you can see the fallout from these kinds of moves right here at home, looking back at the massive corporate collapses we've seen. It’s worth noting that meetings with major investment firms were happening long before those big financial crises hit, which suggests things were being coordinated well in advance. There are endless examples of this worldwide. At the end of the day, the idea of a "free market" is a joke that doesn't exist in reality. It's almost ironic seeing it championed by a country whose foundations are built on such questionable history...

When it comes to bonds, I mean, what kind of sane fund manager would stack them that heavily? You’d think they’d be diversifying to hedge against the massive US national debt... not to mention those artificial credit ratings. Between that and how rigged the global financial system feels—and our own stock market too—it really makes you question if the "free market" and the American economy are even functioning the way we're told. And don't even get me started on derivatives; that whole thing looks like one giant Ponzi scheme. Even with China, you can't influence their bond market easily, though they probably overleveraged themselves early on just to secure trade deals with the West... which forced them to buy back their own holdings later just to stop their portfolios from tanking. Still, they're definitely trying to find ways to move away from being so tied to the dollar...

Justin James10 said:But really, how else could one possibly describe the narrative of a decaying West?

Life isn't exactly black and white, though maybe that's just how things feel around here. We're stuck in this strange mix of old-school bureaucracy and a pretty stripped-down version of capitalism... Communism hasn't worked historically, but I don't see this global brand of capitalism as the answer either. It seems to lack any real ethics, leading to massive abuses that affect everyone. What good is a system that ultimately destroys our oceans, wipes out biodiversity, and leaves us with pollution we won't fix for centuries? And when you consider that the top 1% holds half the world's wealth, you have to wonder what kind of future that builds for humanity. Even the feudal lords used to understand their social responsibility a bit better than today's billionaires...

Justin James10 said:Iran keeps making these threats... but if they’re so against it, why are they still selling oil in those hated dollars? Is someone forcing their hand? Honestly, they should just switch to the Euro—then maybe they’ll have something real to worry about, like a labor strike in Greece or some economic shift in a place like Florida...

Nobody buys US Treasury bonds because they're staring down the barrel of a gun; people buy them because the market actually trusts the world's leading superpower. You won't see anyone rushing out to buy bonds from a mid-sized state like Ohio...

Maybe take a closer look at the whole topic first and draw some conclusions on your own... otherwise, if I answer you point by point, we could be debating this for weeks. At any rate, the market just doesn't trust the superpower right now, which is why there's an attempt to move away from US Treasuries—but that doesn't just happen overnight. And let's be real, the US isn't exactly forcing anyone's hand. Even back home, a vulture fund like Knighthead Capital managed to pull in massive profits from companies like Agrokor in record time...

I just saw this news about the potential takeover of Agrokora... looks like things are moving fast with the restructuring...

If you honestly think American politics plays zero role here, you’re being pretty naive... It's just like when we decide which fighter jets to buy, why we buy them, and what they cost. When Americans are out there redrawing borders, running airstrikes, and training foreign militaries, you can't seriously believe it doesn't impact the demand for the dollar. Our entire economy basically hinges on it...

Anthony Jackson2 said:Why just slash it—let's kill the minimum wage entirely 🤣

I can already see the job postings for assembly line workers: three shifts, $500 a month, and plenty of whining because nobody wants to work. 🙂

In China, they do it for $25 an hour 🙂

just so some guy can afford a new car or a yacht—they'll probably just import labor from overseas.

The other day I was driving through Chicago and saw some demolition going on near where an old dealership used to be—reminded me of that story about the worker who shot his boss because the guy bought a luxury car instead of paying wages. That's the kind of "entrepreneur" we're supposed to accommodate here. How many of these types do you think are actually looking to outsource labor?

It's a shame it was just an isolated incident—if more people had gotten what they deserved, maybe things would look different today.

That’s a pretty broad generalization... Under U.S. labor laws, withholding pay is a serious offense that can lead to massive fines or even jail time. Sometimes the issue is just that an employee wasn't properly documented, or maybe the boss prioritized a lease payment on a new truck over payroll—and if those payments fail, the bank takes the vehicle anyway. Technically, there's no excuse for skipping payroll unless the business account is completely frozen, but even then, once funds hit the account, that paycheck becomes the priority to avoid legal trouble. If nothing happens, it usually boilsni down to either a lack of reporting or issues within the local regulatory agencies...

I don't think the answer lies in putting more pressure on business owners like you might suggest. Instead, we should focus on cutting taxes and creating the best possible environment for entrepreneurship... If we do that, any employer who mistreats their staff without cause will face real competition from people who would be more than happy to hire those skilled workers. Just look at how this country treats its small businesses. For example, if you run a tiny LLC and fail to keep perfect time logs for yourself and one employee, you could be slapped with a massive fine of around $10,000...$33Because wasting time managing some useless Excel spreadsheet you don't even need will likely lead a small business owner straight into bankruptcy, debt, or legal trouble over the next decade or two. If that happens, who exactly is that entrepreneur supposed to take their frustrations out on?

And look at public administration—hardly anyone faces consequences for any of the nonsense they pull. You could spend all day staring out a window, stealing office supplies, or calling in fake sick days, and most people won't even get fired. Take that one municipal agency in Chicago, for example; they had an entire crew using fake degrees, but when the employer tried to fire them, they actually sued and got their jobs back without facing any penalties at all...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/fake-degrees-scandal/

It’s just draining resources from the government and everyone else trying to work a real job, and it's happening everywhere...

Justin James10 said:This whole conspiracy theory about printing dollars is honestly laughable. Why on earth do you think the entire world relies on the USD? Is it really just the result of some grand conspiracy or brute force?

Why bring up conspiracies when the data is right there for anyone to see?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._external_debt

Just looking at U.S. external debt: $18,624,000,000,000. That makes the States by far the most indebted nation on the planet, followed by the UK at $7,852,460,000,000—and those numbers climb even higher once you factor in domestic debt. By late 2017, they had already topped $20 trillion...

And here is the U.S. M3 money supply, which is basically just a simplified look at how much cash is out there. You can definitely spot a massive jump over the last decade, right?

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MABMM301USM189S

I’m not sure if you're an economics expert or not, but even from a layman's perspective, try to imagine what would happen if the rest of the world suddenly stopped buying U.S. Treasury bonds, or demanded much higher returns because they suddenly viewed the country as too risky. Also, remember how those major rating agencies were handing out top-tier ratings to subprime mortgage bonds right before everything collapsed in 2008? It makes you wonder if the U.S. has a vested interest in making sure the dollar stays the global standard...

Then again, if you watch what's happening with gold markets, you might guess why China and India have been quietly stockpiling reserves for years without saying exactly how much they have, or why Iran threatened to trade oil in Euros instead...

Sure, the American economy isn't completely hollow, but a huge part of its engine is fueled by printing money...

It’s a bit like the economic model used in Israel; people write all sorts of things about them, yet they just signed a $38 billion military aid deal with the U.S. in 2016, despite having received about $34 billion in total economic aid since 1946...

https://www.theatlantic.com/internat...ry-aid/500192/

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf

Of course, I'm not saying we can't learn a thing or two about business from them—there is actually quite a lot to learn, and they are worlds away from us—but every coin has two sides...

Justin James10 said:And what exactly should we be aiming for? Venezuela?

I’ve truly never understood this intense anti-American sentiment among people here. We love to poke fun at them, acting like they’re just some foolish, decaying West. But isn't the reality actually quite different? Perhaps we are the ones lacking direction, living in a society that is truly struggling.

We could talk about the U.S. economy, too—it’s the most indebted nation on earth, staying a superpower by leaning heavily on its bonds and the dollar as the global reserve currency. If that falls apart, they'd crash just like Greece did. Plus, it's such a massive market that even the simplest ideas can take off, which can be a bit deceptive. But when it comes to things like culture, social cohesion, the healthcare system, or the obsession with guns... those are all things I’d never want to see in my own backyard. Not to mention playing world police just to protect economic interests—kind of like how big corporations try to dominate local markets back home...

The main thing we need to focus on here is following what brightpilot6 suggested: less regulation, fewer tax burdens, and getting rid of those draconian penalties and predatory taxes hitting small businesses. That would go a long way toward jumpstarting the economy, provided we also fix the legal system...

Amanda Evans2 said:It’s nothing more than pure usury, ladies and gentlemen.

🤣

Jessica Gonzalez said:There’s no doubt that American society is much cleaner than what you see in Europe. I don't mean that crime doesn't exist—there's actually so much of it it's hard to wrap your head around—but life just moves much more practically and efficiently there. For starters, people get paid by the hour because employers want to know exactly what they're paying for.

Just one small difference, though, to show you what real business looks like. It might seem minor, but I guess it reveals a completely different worldview.

On one hand: I used to work at a hostel in Chicago, which was the only one in the city back then and, naturally, it was state-run. It was a crazy operation, but I didn't stay long. Basically, for every single guest, I had to manually write their info on three different forms. Name, last name, DOB, home state, ID number, check-in/out dates, etc. Those papers were supposedly sent to the police, the hostel archives, and the local tourism board, but in reality, they probably just went straight into the trash. I mean, does anyone honestly think anyone ever reads or checks those? 🤣 Also, if you were a resident of Chicago, you weren't allowed to stay at that hostel, even if your house had just burned down. That's just how the rules worked; people would bring their girlfriends there. 🤣 So, you show up with cash, you want a room, you want to pay upfront to fill the place during the off-season, and you still can't?

On the other hand: In America, when you check into any kind of lodging—whether it’s a roadside motel, a hostel, a boutique hotel, or a massive place like the Bellagio where you might see celebrities gambling at 3 AM—nobody ever asks you for ID or thinks to scribble down your personal details. They just ask for a credit card, swipe it quickly through the machine, hand you the key, and say, "Have a nice day, sir."

I suppose anyone who understands this simple comparison sees the whole picture. We are maybe a hundred years away from even grasping the concept of "business," let alone actually practicing it.

That's pretty much the reality, though I suppose there are a few exceptions out there. Generally speaking in the US, nine out of ten people sitting on massive wealth either acquired it through shady dealings or inherited it. And even those who made their money unethically usually end up blowing it all because they can't manage a legitimate business...

Tourism is the perfect example of how we struggle to think beyond just collecting passive rent...

Anthony Jackson2 said:I wouldn't call it communist—more of a socialist mindset. And yeah, I agree the government sticks its nose into everything too much (answering Justin James10 directly), but while the state needs to let the market breathe, it ultimately serves the citizens, not just big capital. Total liberalization would be madness—even much stronger economies couldn't handle it, let alone ours.

Living standards in America are climbing, costs go up every year, and wages just aren't keeping pace. People keep pushing for tax reforms and lowering payroll taxes—and while I agree we need them, I'm skeptical they'll actually put money in workers' pockets here. It'll probably just end up lining someone else's pockets instead. Closing the market to cheap foreign labor is honestly the simplest way for the state to protect workers and force these "entrepreneurs" to pay what the market actually demands. If they can't afford it, someone else will take their spot. This is especially true for the hospitality industry; we break records for tourism revenue every single year, yet I get the feeling seasonal wages are actually dropping. It's absurd, which is why I'm firmly against bringing in cheap labor for that sector.

For years, employers exploited people, and now that the tide is turning, suddenly everyone wants the government to step in. They shouldn't. Let them figure it out themselves. James Anderson5 was laughing, but let's be real—it was the employers who drove people out of the country; the government just helped along.

Let's be real, total deregulation doesn't actually exist anywhere in the world—it's just a myth. Even here in the States, you've got massive subsidies flowing into the financial sector and the auto industry, not to mention how deeply the government is intertwined with big oil, pharma, and all those other powerful lobbies...

You're saying that closing off the market for cheap labor is the easiest way for the government to protect workers' rights and force these "entrepreneurs" to pay what the market actually demands. If they can't afford it, someone else will just step up to take their spot. That seems especially true for the tourism industry—we hit record numbers for hotel stays and revenue every single year, yet I get the feeling that seasonal wages are actually dropping year after year...

Trust me, your average small business owner just can't afford to hire someone at full pay, cover all those taxes, and report the actual salary without going broke. I could put together a quick mock financial statement for you if you want to see what I mean... Tax burdens here in the States are brutal compared to some other places, and honestly, who would move to such an expensive, bureaucratic mess to offer local employers a better alternative? There’s just no incentive for that. Even looking at how major companies like Tesla scout locations, if the government doesn't step up with real incentives, nobody's going to bother showing up...

Capital always looks for the most competitive places to do business, and clearly, that isn't America due to various long-standing issues... It’s no surprise that the current policies and business climate have directly led to people leaving the country...

It’s hard to really tackle the whole issue of people leaving the country in a few quick posts without oversimplifying things... But honestly, the American economy started heading down the wrong path back in the 90s, starting with all that shady corporate privatization, and then they just tried to buy social peace by pushing everyone into early retirement or bloating the government payroll...

The cycle just keeps spinning with rising crime rates, bloated government bureaucracy, and a judicial system that's losing its integrity. We've drifted away from true free enterprise and straight into crony capitalism, where you can't even land a major contract without playing politics... It feels like a tiny, well-connected elite runs everything, and they have zero incentive to change things. In fact, they probably prefer seeing people move away, since it makes keeping their grip on power much easier...

Anthony Jackson2 said:Spot on—you either have a market or you don't. If you can't attract customers, you fail. That's just capitalism at work.

Begging the government for a handout? That's communism. We good?

Yep, that's exactly where we stand...

Sandra Johnson58 said:I mean, first off, people are kind of clueless and usually head straight for Dublin, which is insanely expensive to live in. It’s the exact same deal as when people move to Munich in Germany. My sister went to a smaller city instead and she’s doing pretty well for herself, though she does have a college degree and knows the language, so that helps. I had this buddy go to Ireland too, but he started out in some tiny town working at a local brewery, then eventually moved out to some little rural village—maybe just a couple thousand people—to work on a big farm. Now he’s a foreman there and honestly lives really well, plus his rent is basically nothing.😁

I totally agree. So many people just don't plan things out properly, which probably explains why they end up leaving feeling completely burnt out... It doesn't help that they don't have anyone looking out for them to help ease the load or point them in the right direction...

I think a smaller town is definitely the way to go. Rent is so much cheaper there, and most other costs—aside from maybe car insurance—are either lower or about the same as they are here...

Anthony Jackson2 said:Hold on a second.

So, according to this, anyone refusing to work for peanuts is a communist—while the "employers" who can't find cheap labor and beg the government for subsidies are all big-shot capitalists.🙏 🙏

Don't you think there's a heavy dose of that old-school collectivist mindset still running things here in America? I mean, look at how people land jobs in government agencies or major corporations—it’s often all about political connections rather than merit. Plus, such a huge chunk of the economy is state-run, and that influence only grows when the government starts micromanaging massive conglomerates like Walmart or Amazon...

The whole market and tax system is upside down; just look at how public sector salaries often outpace the private sector. Does that seem normal to you?

That entire logic leads to claims that private sector workers are underpaid simply because bosses won't give them more. But the market should handle those shifts. The government's job should be to provide the best possible environment for businesses to operate stably, so they can actually turn a profit. From there, healthy competition should naturally drive up wages as companies vie for talent if they have the means...

Morgan Foster said:Sure, you could do that, but it really comes down to personal math at this point. You just have to look at what you're earning versus what you can save. I know people who spent five years chasing those modest German pensions, just hoping that the current American standards would stay the same forever...

I also know folks who moved to Germany in their 50s just to build up a retirement fund. It’s hard to make broad statements, but it’s good to know there's an option out there if you feel stuck here. A lot of it really depends on your career path...

Matthew Young35 said:Sure, people are fools, and they tend to drift toward wherever life feels a little less heavy—even if things aren't actually any better there.
I know plenty of folks who packed up for Ireland, Germany, or Norway, and none of them have even looked back. Honestly, why would they? It doesn't even cross their minds to come home.

I actually know a few folks who did come back, specifically from Ireland, mostly because they were single and dealing with those insane rent prices—they were working service jobs and weren't afraid to grind...

Morgan Foster said:A single guy living on $2,000 a month—and even then, he’s coming up short at first 🙏

I don't know... I was giving him advice yesterday, but honestly, what do people like this even expect? In my opinion, the internet is largely to blame for this downward spiral in society. Seriously—for the last decade or so, everyone’s dealing with some kind of crisis, acting like they're too good for hard work or actual education, yet they're too lazy to even look up basic information for a tiny little step forward in life...
Anyway, I'm going to take a quick stroll over to visit the crew in Germany. I'll be back in a few days 🙏

From what I hear from people who actually moved, most folks are probably bringing in closer to $1,300-$1,500 rather than $2,000 at first—not exactly high-paying gigs. If rent is running him $600-$800, he might be left with $500-$700, which honestly isn't much more than what he could make right here in a place like Chicago or somewhere on the coast...

Living solo in Germany doesn't seem worth much on an average salary, but for a family? If both partners work and one can pull in something like $3,300 a month—which is totally doable for healthcare workers—then there's really no question about it.

The situation here is complicated; it isn't just about people being lazy, location matters immensely too. Living in Chicago is one thing, the Midwest is another, and then you have the coast...

Jessica Gonzalez said:I'm not so sure about that. I guess some people work simply to cover their basic needs, no matter what those might be. Like, a hunter-gatherer in the Amazon might hunt just to stay alive, but most Americans work because they want to afford more and live better. Believe it or not, even in places where the government might offer things like universal basic income, I suspect many people would still choose to work so they can earn more. Maybe certain groups might rely on social safety nets, but it seems like some cultures just aren't big fans of hard work.

Actually, a huge chunk of Americans are basically living on social security already, especially since the average retirement age in the US is only around 53, which covers a massive part of that demographic. It's the same story with everyone working in big public administration roles, like government agencies and state-owned corporations...

There are actually some pretty solid analytical articles written on this topic if anyone feels like reading up on it...

ruggedjackal46 said:It’s not some deep moral crisis or a lack of willpower. People aren't abandoning their homes and moving to Germany just because they're fed up with the local political cronyism or the way the system is rigged for insiders. They aren't running away from home out of spite. They're doing it because they have to. In Germany, washing dishes earns you a paycheck that actually means something—money you can actually send back to support your family. Back here? You can barely make enough to cover your own groceries. At the end of the day, it isn't philosophy; it's just simple math.

Well, part of that is true, but I know plenty of people who left simply because they couldn't stand the social climate or the lack of career growth... maybe it's hard to generalize like that...

Jessica Gonzalez said:But then again, what kind of unemployment are we talking about? I guess it varies. My cousin, who spent five years in rehab after some pretty heavy drug use, is actually juggling three different jobs right now. He might not have any specialized skills, but he’s definitely willing to put in the work.

It’s definitely true that a lot of people just don't want to work—whether it's due to the culture, political cronyism, or just pure laziness—but the reality is they'll run from a job like the plague...

Jessica Gonzalez said:I don't think this is really a paradox or anything strange at all. Determining unemployment numbers is tricky because it isn't such a straightforward category. Some people are genuinely looking for work and just can't find anything, while others could start working right now but choose not to because the pay is too low or the commute is too long. Then you have people working under the table who are technically counted as unemployed, and so on. To be honest, I don't actually know anyone who is unemployed—not even among my relatives or friends. My mom was out of work for a bit, but she didn't really want to work anyway, so she probably would have preferred to just retire early. I think one friend of mine is still unemployed, but that’s mostly because he got passed over at every single job he applied for. I think an influential member on this forum even tried to set up an interview for him once, but he showed up to the meeting wearing a tracksuit, haha. I guess it's only people like that who stay unemployed. Most other people could probably find a job in a different industry by tomorrow if they had to. It feels like around here, there's a certain stigma against working construction or in hospitality; people would rather go work abroad or juggle five different side hustles just to make ends meet. In the States, during the recession, we saw managers who used to handle millions of dollars delivering pizzas, and nobody thought twice about it. Or look at how Uber drivers in places like Sri Lanka might be competing for passengers at 5:00 AM. It's not even a formal company, just freelance driving in older cars, and while the earnings might seem low by our standards, they're out there doing it and making progress. Even in Mexico, people often spend an hour or two after their office jobs driving people around for a little extra cash just to provide for their kids. In Dubai, taxi drivers work from 4:00 AM until 11:00 PM, and there are thousands of them. But I suppose some people just think they're too good for certain types of work.

I guess salary levels aren't actually the main issue here. Even though our GDP per capita is much lower than somewhere like the Czech Republic, wages seem to be right around the same level. If you look at productivity, they might actually be a bit too high. Personally, I earn a pretty great salary by international standards, even though I'm not in management or some high-level specialist role. The real problem seems to be the cost of living. There isn't enough competition, and maybe because of general consumer habits, we end up overpaying for basic necessities. It reminds me of how things work in Poland; their wages might be slightly lower, but their retail prices are about 20-30% cheaper, so you can actually buy more with the same amount of money. It was interesting to see how quickly retailers started running massive sales once a major player like Walmart faced a sudden slump. Also, people in cities like New York or San Francisco paying $3,000 or $4,000 a month for an apartment and acting like that's perfectly normal—it’s wild, I guess. 🤣

I guess people around here tend to talk a big game but don't always follow through with the work. Honestly, there's not much drive for it. At my company, people are practically begging for field assignments in some of the wealthiest US suburbs, and I think it's a missed opportunity. You could easily tuck away an extra $2,000 in a month, yet nobody seems to want to go. These trips only last a week or two, maybe a couple of months at most. Personally, I think it sounds like a great deal—you get to see the world and make some solid cash at the same time.

So, who should we actually trust to get the job done? It’s always a gamble... 😁It’s honestly wild when you see all those crowds at federal agencies and government offices pulling in $150k or more...$5.00 If you don't want any real responsibility or hard work, you'll just end up feeling cheated... they’d probably rather go wash dishes in Germany, where it feels like things are actually fair...

The whole system here feels like it’s rigged by corruption that just eats away at people's integrity. It's no secret that the construction industry has been driven by shady dealings for years, keeping housing prices artificially high just so certain groups can maximize their profits through these little cartels... You see the exact same pattern with the big banks, the food industry, and pretty much everything else. Just look at those ridiculous utility surcharges or how they're hiking up electricity rates under the guise of "green energy"—it's obvious to anyone watching who's actually getting rich off those wind farm concessions...

The justice system is pretty much broken too, and honestly, the public is just split between those deeply entrenched insiders who have everything rigged in their favor and everyone else who's left disorganized and struggling to push for real change...

Justin James10 said:Honestly, Americans are hopelessly stuck in that outdated mindset. Everyone seems to be part of it; maybe even those claiming to be conservatives are actually more radical than anyone else when it comes to these ideas. It’s absolute chaos.🤦

I guess that's why they're so intense, since so many people rely on political connections just to get by...

Peter Thompson4 said:Are you kidding me right now? That is exactly what I'm telling you! The actual dollar amount doesn't matter—what matters is the ratio between your paycheck and the cost of living. But then again, like someone else mentioned, everyone is basically getting screwed over anyway. I honestly hate my own damn degree sometimes; I swear, forget the whole thing, because if you're just working to survive, you're nothing more than a slave. And let's be real, it's total bullshit here that having a college degree feels almost meaningless since everybody has one, yet even with a degree, you're still treated like a nobody, let alone if you only finished high school.

In any civilized country, you can live a normal life with just a high school diploma, whereas having a degree actually puts you a step above them.

But it's only here where like 90% of society holds a degree, yet it's also only here where it's socially unacceptable to demand better treatment or fight for a higher wage without being totally crushed for it. You aren't allowed to push back; you're expected to just smile and stay humble because someone was "kind enough" to give you a job in the first place. Who gives a damn about a fair salary, right?

Honestly, about 90% of these degrees from fake business schools—especially those private ones like some overpriced local community colleges—aren't worth a dime. What did they actually earn by getting that piece of paper? And since when did we start calling ourselves a civilized nation...

Matthew Young35 said:If we’re just talking about minor particles, then who can blame them? Should they have studied harder?
It’s happening all across America, affecting every profession imaginable. Software engineers, economists, philosophers, sysadmins, even cashiers... Everyone is being systematically undercut.

But does anyone actually care? The mindset is always the same: just bring in workers from Mexico to do the job, while Americans head off to Germany where they won't be underpaid.

What really gets under my skin is that we're talking about massive corporations pulling in astronomical profits... yet when it comes to fair wages, they couldn't care less. They'll happily let the government facilitate importing labor from Mexico instead.

It feels like doctors and nurses are some of the first ones getting shortchanged instead of service workers or waitstaff... A resident physician earns about the same as a city bus driver, which just isn't right given how things should work in America. You have some executive at a massive conglomerate in Chicago making way more than a neurosurgeon, even though most of them barely lift a finger and have a fraction of the education or responsibility. It seems like this whole system was built to create these gaps just to buy votes, which is why we end up with a political landscape that protects the status quo...

Some people are probably going to act like greedy bosses are the only reason wages are low here in America... they just can't seem to let go of that old communist mindset... 😁