There is a Secret Economic Crisis and, for some unknown reason, nobody wants to talk about it. And I don’t know why and I really want to know. Who is hiding it and for what reasons?
Whether by design or not, is up to you to decide. I don’t feel like forcing my private beliefs on others is going to change or affect the situation. But, if we look back, it all started at the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2019. In reality, it started a lot earlier with price gauging on shelter (properties/aka real state) and other basic survival needs.
It got a lot worst during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mom and Pop’s shops were forced to close down while large corporations received million-dollar bailouts, and the public (not in the vast majority of countries), got about a grand to fend off for themselves on a months-long pandemic. It is always good to remember that the public at large was supposed to have a nest egg for rainy days, but multi-billion dollar corporations couldn’t survive a month without Federal Bailouts. That, of course, includes companies owned in full or part, by politicians. Sometimes shareholders or board members. Not to mention the massive profits politicians all over made via stock investments in companies like Pfizer et al. The blatant corruption was there. It happened. And all of them got to keep their job despite it all.
During the Pandemic, we saw incredible price rises in eggs, toilet paper, sanitary items, petrol, etc. Petrol and gas in general was put down and understood to be a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, accelerated by international sanctions and the intentional blow-up of the pipeline Nordstream-2. Whoever did it and why is up for you to decide.
It wasn’t only the small family shops that were hit during this period. Entire families (a lot of them with children) were laid off and, consequently, their homes repossessed.
Within all this uncertainty and market collapse, companies like Blackrock and Vanguard swept in to by the properties and spare banks the collapse. That did not stop banks from collapsing. A combination of mismanagement, over lending, and Ponzi schemes like NFT’s and cryptocurrencies accelerated the collapse.
Ever since, most of the Western World decided to enter into a never-ending conflict between Ukraine and Russia. While tragic, it appears it did not have the desired effect. The fucks given about the conflict in Ukraine-Russia was, and is, entirely dependent on our comfort -meaning the West. The increase cost of basic utilities was explained away as the lack of “essential workers” (in this case, drivers), combined with their getting sick and also those who, for whatever private reasons, chose not to vaccinate and were, consequently, forced out of their jobs.
The crisis didn’t came about because of Coronavirus. Nor because a few corporate elites decided to buy a bunch of houses. In reality, it was a combination of factors that dragged on for a few years before the catalysts of the pandemic finally unfolded and exploded all over the working class, resulting in a trillionaire transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the already super-wealthy.
But here is what we all understand: we are in an economic crisis. A recession, if you like. This has been obvious for a while, but even more so since the thousands of tech layoffs across the board (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.), which had then cascaded into other sectors of the economy.
This is further fueled by companies that are perpetually looking for employment but never hiring. Therefore, subjecting their staff to skeleton crews on minimum wages, unhealthy working conditions and, in turn, mass resignations. And every one out there is left scrambling and pulling their hairs and screaming “nobody wants to work anymore!“. This aspect also puts a psychological dump into those who are actively seeking employment.
Coronavirus was not the spark of the Economic Crisis. It was the catalyst of a full-on global economic crisis. A combination of factors whose ripple effect has been felt upon every strata of society.
My generation remembers the 2008 economic crisis. And the generations before us remember even worst times. Back in 2008 we all got fucked. But at least, we all knew what was happening. The price gauging didn’t come down after the “return to normal” from the Coronavirus era. We all got stuck paying exorbitant prices even when factories were, once again, fully stocked. We are all left paying more for every day things while earning less overall. Therefore, less disposable income.
In common-folk speak, it means that we are all fucked. Everywhere. This is not just a US thing or a European thing or even a Chinese thing, in which a vast majority of the working population are choosing to lay flat as one of the many means of protest.
Families and friends lost their shops, their jobs, their houses. And none of this is showing any signs of slowing down. If anything we are reaching a tipping point. Specially with the house market (both purchases and rentals). Sooner or later the bubble is going to burst. For now, it keeps inflating. But there will come a moment the tension won’t be able to contain it.
The Economic Crisis is here. We all know it. We all feel it every day. And yet, every newspaper from New York to Timbuktu is telling us all how great the economy is doing. How strong the market is; how many millions of jobs are being created, etc.
When you stop to think about it, you have to wonder who the economy is going great for in the current climate. Because it certainly is not for the working class.
And when you think of this, the byproduct of these thoughts is why are newspapers (radio, tv, etc.) in general hiding the fact that we are in a recession period? Who exactly is benefiting here from hiding the the truth? Governments? Corporations?
Half of Millennials don’t own and will never own a house. The situation is even bleaker for Gen X and alpha; who grew up already knowing that they will never own anything, let alone afford luxuries like retiring.
So, I am left wondering: why is the press pretending everything is top-notch and everybody is living their best lives?