this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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Chapotraphouse

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But don't worry, you will be at moderate risk of the car breaking down before 10,000 miles and you can't fix the part because it has been deliberately engineered so that mechanics can't fix it and it has to be replaced.

https://xcancel.com/unusual_whales/status/1987985187918192870

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[–] GrouchyGrouse@hexbear.net 41 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Has wealth ever been more stratified? Like really objectively? Because I don’t think it has. I think right now the level of opulence enjoyed by the bourgeoisie would beggar all the Caesars and ancient emperors of China. Meanwhile the poverty of the poorest living human is probably nigh identical to the poorest in antiquity. They have taken an incomprehensible amount. They’re taking more than they have ever taken before.

Because this shit is happening and we’re all paying for it. The environment is paying for it. The biosphere is paying for it. If we seek to change this arrangement? They say…. WhO iS gOnNa PaY fOr it?

Edit: making the late capitalist bourgeoisie is the most expensive fucking thing we have ever done as a species and that sucks. Fuck that sucks so much, dawg.

[–] Carl@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I remember reading many years ago that we had passed the level of wealth stratification in ancient Egypt when the pharaoh owned all of the land by the Nile and leased it to peasants to grow food, so uhh I'm guessing "no".

[–] XxFemboy_Stalin_420_69xX@hexbear.net 9 points 2 days ago (4 children)

how could we possibly know enough about ancient egypt to quantify the wealth stratification at any point in time? sounds made up to me, even if it is believable

[–] Bolshechick@hexbear.net 1 points 15 hours ago

We know more about the economy of ancient Egypt than like any other ancient economy thanks to the climate preserving papyrus. We have much more records.

[–] Carl@hexbear.net 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It's a complex topic that I've only scratched the surface of, and of course with thousands of years of history there were multiple systems with multiple levels of stratification at different times, but during the time of building the pyramids at least we know from written records that the Pharoh in theory had extremely strong, centralized control of the country through a system of ownership of the land and its resources, which allowed them to marshal all of that labor into megaprojects like the pyramids. Later dynasties weren't able to do this, not because they lacked the technology or desire, but because economic control had decentralized to a degree where they simply couldn't control labor the way their predecessors did.

From there there's a lot of extrapolation, assumptions, and estimates, and it's totally valid to say that those estimates are too unreliable or that comparing an ancient economy to the modern one is an apples to oranges comparison and therefore not applicable. If we limit ourselves to just industrial economies the answer to the original question is still "no" but the data is much more concrete.

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[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 28 points 2 days ago

we fixed the affordability crises by increasing the total cost of ownership

[–] FnordPrefect@hexbear.net 29 points 2 days ago (3 children)

anakin-padme-2 That means Ford and GM are actually making 15 year cars, right?

[–] Posadas@hexbear.net 18 points 2 days ago

You will buy the Stellantis cars that breakdown in the first 100 miles and you will like it!

[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago (15 children)

Do cars seriously not hold up 15 years? I'm very obviously not a car toucher, genuine question

[–] Sulvy@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Cars can easily hold up 15 years of regular use if maintained properly.

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[–] jack@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago

EVs will probably last longer because there's so little maintenance and the battery degradation hype is way overblown

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[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 28 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Protip: Get a van with room for an air mattress doubles as a home and only a 15 year loan rather than a 50 think-about-it

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

which loan would you get for a Winnebago?

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago

The 69% apr loan

[–] uSSRI@hexbear.net 9 points 2 days ago

Sublet the passenger seat

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[–] daniyeg@hexbear.net 6 points 1 day ago

it really brings a tear to my eye seeing cars becoming almost as unaffordable in the US as they are here.

[–] godlessworm@hexbear.net 19 points 2 days ago

average younger GOP voter is probably like “wow thats way better than the 300 years at 95% APR i signed for my dodge challenger immediately after i enlisted!!”

[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The rent to own economy is here folks

[–] Posadas@hexbear.net 27 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It's communist to actually own a home.

[–] segfault11@hexbear.net 25 points 2 days ago (1 children)

you joke but home ownership is genuinely higher in china, cuba, and vietnam than in the us

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

higher than the US in all the former communist places too.

[–] SkingradGuard@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago

Oh yeah? But what about FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY? SMH my head silly commies don't understand! Also forgetting that treats are the bedrock of humanity and freedom!

[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 18 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Can't wait for rent to own groceries. When the card gets declined, your stomach gets pumped.

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[–] thefunkycomitatus@hexbear.net 16 points 2 days ago

Brb starting a secular, modern, free-market loan service called "Serf."

[–] mrfugu@hexbear.net 23 points 2 days ago (2 children)

What’s got me fucked up lately is this whole “everything needs to be a subscription” model would be so perfect for trains. The streetcar/light rail lines in most cities used to be mostly privatized but automakers were too concerned with dismantling that shit.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why would anyone want a single-service infrastructure to be privatized? There’s economically and practically only room for one tram line, train line, water line, electrical line, etc. Therefore, competition is unlikely, which means that privatization is going to hurt the service.

[–] mrfugu@hexbear.net 12 points 2 days ago

I’m not saying the current systems should be privatized. Maybe this is just my city and wasn’t the norm across the country, but back in the 20-40s my city was completely covered by around 10 different street car lines run by private companies and not run by the local government. GM later bought all those companies through a shell and phased them out in favor of cars. It wasn’t until years later that the city tried to implement its own light rail.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

well y'see the car is both product and subscription as you're tied to purchasing gas, tires, parts and maintenance, and when it's worn out after being so used to driving you'll probably get a new car

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[–] Owl@hexbear.net 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I did some jank estimates and I think the 50 year mortgage thing would stave off the affordability crisis for about 10 years before we're back to where we are now. Then back to the normal increasingly unaffordable housing. Then a total meltdown of material conditions when those loans start getting past 30 years and people become too old/sick to finish paying off their mortgages.

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

i mean, with current apr, 30 or 50 years doesn't change that much shit deal no?

plus developers would just immediately increase prices even if apr came down.

[–] Owl@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That estimate assumes there'd be a one-time 40% decrease in mortgage/down payment costs, then prices grow at the same rate they've been growing.

It could very well be overly optimistic. I did say it was jank.

[–] plinky@hexbear.net 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

but is it kinda rolling credit, so first years are devoted mainly to paying interest anyway, so it doesn't matter much that principal is spread out longer, the first year apr hard restricts you anyway (that say on 300k home you have to at least be able to pay say 21k in interest with 7% apr, independent of 30 or 50 years + principal a little bit, that part dependent) (without going into calculators, vibey based it would be like 8k vs 6k +21k, 7% drop or some shit)

which, assuming my vibey estimates in correct ballpark, the market will fuck in 2 years of rises as is.

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[–] RedSturgeon@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago

This loan was borrowed by your ancestors 3000 years ago and now you have to pay it off.

[–] SootySootySoot@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago

Renormalise private used car sales at a fraction of the price.

Yeah it's a hassle and there's a chance of buying a rustbucket. Though.. that's already fairly true of dealers too.

[–] Red_October@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Now will people start paying attention to how everything is made to break down faster and not be repairable more and more every year? My last pair of headphones started breaking apart seriously the day I got them and ended up not lasting a year covered in a pound of duct tape. My last pair lasted eleven years and never broke at all. That was the lower end shit too.

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[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 11 points 2 days ago

Soon - legally mandated predatory mortgages for anyone slightly above the poverty line!

/s

[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago (6 children)

If you're in the mood to read a crazy comment.

Horseshoe theory. Here’s where this logically leads: payment in kind (PIK) mortgages and car loans that are securitized and then sold to a government sponsored entity (GSE) that then sells the low risk liquid securities to institutional investors who are required to hold low risk but long duration securities and they are the ultimate bag holders as long duration fixed income is toxic as the Federal Reserve inevitably monetizes the Federal debts that would otherwise be unpayable.

This is, of course, equivalent to the government providing free autos and housing.

[–] dastanktal@hexbear.net 23 points 2 days ago (3 children)

The more I read comments like this, the more I'm thoroughly convinced that people just throw economic terms as gobbledyremoved together to try and say something smart that makes no sense.

It's like when people want to seem smart about computers and start throwing random terms together that they don't understand.

[–] Kefla@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago

Econobabble glorp

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[–] SwitchyandWitchy@hexbear.net 8 points 2 days ago

Healthy economy. Totally not a recession being managed by extending people larger and larger amounts of debt.

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