General Politics Discussion (XI) [ARCHIVED] World • Page 1524

All the restaurants in Chicago close because landlords jack up the rent. It's such a predatory system that only benefits people who offer nothing to society.

 

The last couple years downtown where I live has closed a lot of my favorite restaurants that have been around since I moved here in 2016, and it's just a ghost town. The bars used to be hopping late at night with people all over the sidewalks, but it's just dead at night now. Sad to see. They keep trying to gentrify shit here that has pushed out so many people who have lived here for decades with rising property taxes and the homeless population has grown tremendously with needles littered all over the place

I'm actually shocked my rent is only going up $75 this year while apartments downtown from me like 3-5 mins away are $2500-3000+. I'll be paying $1700 for a renovated 2 bedroom, can't complain too much these days

 

but what if a block didn't have a bank and a pharmacy on it we'd all perish

 

the stuff specifically at the Delmar loop closing down has been because of this on the county side since the landlords (mostly Wash U but some others as well) on that side of the divide jack up rent prices meanwhile the city side of that street is thriving with a brand new complex with mini golf and a dispensary across the street from the long standing venue I grew up at. But throughout the rest of the city and county I’ve seen well into double digit local staples close their doors or sell to new owners or file for bankruptcy just since the start of the year. I’m not sure what it is driving it but it’s anxiety inducing working in the industry even if I’m quite certain my job is stable for a good while it’s bad for the health of the wider food service working community for all these businesses to be closing I already know way more industry workers are either out of a job or working two jobs more than ever before. Like it’s hard for certain people to find work because other people who would normally have one job are picking up a second and businesses are trying to pay as few people as possible so they aren’t hiring like they used to. It was just a completely different vibe when I was job hunting this summer than it usually is and I got astronomically lucky with the job I landed

 

I hope all the rich people sent there get eaten by Xenomorphs

 

It's been a PITA trying to find a good value living space around Richmond Heights, Fox Park, or Overland. Hell, we've even looked at 1 BA condos around Lindell just to have a place to crash if we decide to do extended stays in the city, but the astronomical HOA fees are too bitter to swallow.

Here in Phelps County, we're building 500+ new homes, but with McBride... apparently they are not well received for the work they've done in StL...

 

a self sustaining city on mars filled with all of Elon Musk's cybertruck driving worshippers sounds like a best case scenario for earth

 

Musk being abandoned on Mars sounds like a best case scenario for earth

 

Walz says Gaza demonstrators are protesting for 'all the right reasons' while condemning Hamas

 

Had the thought of why the US doesn’t have its own sovereign wealth fund, asking ChatGPT this, and the response makes sense

“The U.S. federal government does not have its own sovereign wealth fund (SWF) for several reasons:

1. **Political Philosophy**: The U.S. has traditionally leaned toward free-market capitalism, where the private sector is seen as the main driver of wealth creation and economic growth. There is a general reluctance to have the federal government control large portions of private enterprise or investment markets. This contrasts with countries like Norway or the UAE, where state control over natural resources has made sovereign wealth funds more feasible.

2. **Fiscal Policy Focus**: The U.S. government has typically focused more on taxation and debt financing than on saving and investing surplus revenues. The national debt is quite large, so rather than creating a fund, surplus revenues (when they exist) are often directed toward reducing debt. A sovereign wealth fund usually requires significant budget surpluses, which the U.S. has rarely had in recent decades.

3. **Revenue Sources**: Many countries that have sovereign wealth funds derive their revenue from abundant natural resources, like oil (e.g., Norway, Saudi Arabia, UAE). The U.S. has a diversified economy and does not have the kind of concentrated natural resource wealth that typically seeds sovereign wealth funds. While the U.S. has natural resources, the profits from these industries are more distributed across private companies rather than being funneled into the state.

4. **Federal Reserve and Pension Funds**: The U.S. has a powerful central bank (the Federal Reserve), which manages monetary policy and the federal balance sheet in ways that some countries might use a sovereign wealth fund to achieve. Additionally, public sector pension funds like those for federal employees (e.g., the Thrift Savings Plan) and state funds (like CalPERS) already invest in a manner somewhat similar to a sovereign wealth fund, although they are not federal funds.

5. **Political Opposition**: The idea of a sovereign wealth fund for the U.S. has been proposed in the past, but it often faces political opposition. Critics argue that it could lead to too much government involvement in private enterprise, and there are concerns over how such a fund would be managed to avoid political influence or cronyism.

6. **State Funds**: Some U.S. states, like Alaska (Alaska Permanent Fund), have their own sovereign wealth funds, but the federal government has not followed suit. Alaska’s fund, for example, is funded by oil revenues and used to pay dividends to its citizens.

In summary, the U.S. government’s focus on debt management, a free-market philosophy, the lack of a single dominant natural resource for revenue, and political opposition have prevented the establishment of a federal sovereign wealth fund.”

 

you can’t reform this. if abolishing the police isn’t one of your core principal beliefs we are not on the same team.

 

On vacation with my gf and her family and they are the most typical generic libs and it’s insufferable at times.

 

Everyone should watch Rebel Ridge

 

Do they call him Drumpf?

 

Orange Man Bad

 

no joke this is basically what’s happening.

 

It’s incredibly frustrating because you don’t even have to commit to details on a policy page! Just vague assertions of how you’ll accomplish some broad goals is usually what you get on a lot of campaign pages. Some are more detailed than others and those are usually the better ones, but not having one at all as we’re getting into mid September soon is just dumb

 

Why are people telling me to vote for this

 

Because democracy is at stake. /s

 

Leaving open the best of both worlds possibility where both Kamala and Stein win Nevada