During the height of COVID, rental assistance, job assistance, food assistance and more were given to those in need. Student loan payments were paused. The US did not collapse due to these policies. In fact, consumer spending went up.
So, given that these things are possible and even economically favorable, one can only conclude that ending them benefits some small but powerful portion of the populace who wants to keep the rest of us under control and in relative, if not full-on, poverty.
@ubiquity75 No, although a co-worker did a few times before a tight deadline.
(This is one of the more annoying aspects of my current job - the deadlines are given by the potential customers, and it is up to us how to adhere to them.)
Twisted fallacy right here -“Once again, for the ownership class, and “good enough” to generate profit…” from which customers with which disposable income, when you only employ statistical calculator named “Artificial Intelligence”.? That is such a galacticly stupid decision, driven by avarice.
Businesses need to have paying customers to generate profits. Cash hoarders don’t spend, they expect to be given for everything for free.
@ubiquity75 well, most of the people losing jobs are not getting them back in the reinforcement part, or the data cleaning, or any other parts of the chain… for them is a displacement.
But I take your point.
@juandesant It needn’t be that literal or dramatic.
Law Firm:
Briefs must be written and filed. ChatGPT does a great job creating them, but also makes up precedent-setting cases and other factual material. Firm decides to move to it, and paralegals are now considered to be fact-checkers and auxiliary aids to the AI-generated process. Except the work requires the same knowledge, education and skills that it did before. But mgmt reclassifies it nonetheless.
@ubiquity75 > But there is no “generative AI” without human labor, so look to find where it is.
Honestly one of my short-to-mid-term research Qs is to do exactly that. We'll see how it goes.
Attached: 1 image This #debtceiling manufactured crisis playing out in Washington D.C. with days to go, is targeting unspent #COVID relief funds. *This needs ongoing scrutiny* as the virus is still spreading, immunity for this pathogen wanes, and the emergency phase left scars that are just now emerging and need to be addressed. #COVID #publichealth https://www.npr.org/2023/05/31/1178996725/debt-ceiling-deal-unspent-covid-relief-money-democrats-republicans
@paulcrabtree If you mean Trump’s tax cuts for the super rich, then sure. If you mean social programs like feeding children and helping people be housed, you should know that so-called discretionary spending is 33% of all government spending, and 50% of _that_ 33% is military spending, which was not reduced in any capacity in spite of hand-wringing about the debt ceiling.
In other words, you’re wrong.
@ubiquity75 The end of these programs—and who was so eager to see them end—made it very clear to me how capital sees its place in capitalism:
Capital’s goal isn’t prosperity. Capital sees our prosperity, to the extent we enjoy any, as a byproduct, as waste. And it will come for that waste as soon as it can.
@ubiquity75 A really good public FB post on the subject:
@ubiquity75 Yes, but supply did not go up to match increased spending (partly because of the pandemic), so we got inflation.
But it just means the powers that be are fucked up in a different way.
"We gave poor people money and they bought a lot of food for their kids and now food costs more."
"Should we produce more food?"
"Nah, just give them less money."
the rich need us downtrodden and at their mercy.
they cant give us too much time to think and organize a revolt against their wealth hoarding.
they gave generated a system of debt slavery, homelessness and job tied healthcare.
they will continue to perpetuate it.
they don't need the money but like the status quo.
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