this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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A Boring Dystopia

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[–] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 39 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Literally what russians were doing while being loud on internet about how sanctions don't work. You can look foward to anti theft tags on bread soon.

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 9 points 1 day ago

What about shaving items and deodorant?

....yup done already.

[–] Goldholz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 2 days ago

And butter locked up

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

The only time I've used these was on Black Friday, and ultimately, it was worth it.

But they are 100% predatory.

[–] WhatSay@slrpnk.net 8 points 1 day ago

And people have an issue with dumpster diving. Fools

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Right after I got my house I had to basically live on bread and water for the first couple years as the tax situation devolved and resolved. Not above doing it again to keep my home

[–] neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is how I feel. Growing up ramen was too expansive. I have no problem going back there.

I worry about my kids but thankfully my sons favorite meals are my home cooked rice and beans and my homemade veggie stromboli that I can get down to ~$2 for a giant Stromboli if I make my own cheese sauce for it.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I love rice and beans too. Also spaghetti

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 32 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Odd to think if you can't afford food now you could afford it later plus interest.

[–] Monstrosity@lemm.ee 44 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Also odd to think people can put off eating until they have the proper funds.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 13 points 2 days ago (6 children)

I am talking more about the people lending the money, not sure why they think this would be sound lending. People will do far worse then default on a loan to keep eating.

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[–] Laser@feddit.org 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

First off, I fully agree with you. But how people are lured in is that there is no interest if you pay on time, so it's advertised as interest-free. But obviously the business model is built upon people not paying on time, and as such one should calculate that cost into it…

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

This works when talking about seadoos and lifted trucks. When it is food the title of "fool" goes from lendee to lender.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

...and the additional food then.

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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 65 points 2 days ago (12 children)

I keep on wondering who the fuck has the money to be using things like grubhub. I realize its a non sequitor for this article but I really don't see how these businesses stay in business.

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 25 points 2 days ago

Credit card debt is a pathway to many abilities some would consider unnatural

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

People who don't really understand credit cards or have a cognitive disconnect between cost and value when fulfilling their sustenance need.

When people get hangry they don't make good choices.

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[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 42 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The people in power will soon come to realise we are all just 3 warm meals a day away from anarchy.

[–] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What kind of psychopath has three warm meals a day? You cook three times a day? Or do you eat out three times a day? I believe the latter to be more crazy.
I do share the intended sentiment however.

[–] CrackedLinuxISO@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Breakfast: Coffee and toast

Lunch: Toasted sandwich or reheated dinner leftovers

Dinner: Something home-cooked

As someone who usually prefers a hot meal over a cold one, that's my standard fare. It's not a crazy effort.

[–] neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I cook 3 times a day. It's fucking exhausting and I've come to hate my kitchen. But it keeps everyone fed and happy for a fair price.

I also work from home though and mostly cook on company time.

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Have u tried doing like a week of meal prep at a time? I cook a weeks worth of meals every Sunday then don't do anything during the week. U can avoid eating the same thing for a week strait if u have multiple sets of meals ready then u can mix and match to get variety. I do generic protein then generic carbs and generic sides then can mix and match those in all sorts of combination to also increase variety.

[–] neomachino@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago

I actually have a few months ago, I made a bunch of crockpot meals, pre-cooked some fresh veggies, made a few deserts. It was great for a few days.

Then I woke up one morning and my freezer door was wide open. My fridge/freezer is like 25 years old and doesn't really shut properly so it will open if you bump it too hard, I assume a cat jumped up there and got it open. Everything was thawed out and warm, I tried to save what I could but our compost got a lot of it.

It hasn't happened since but I'm a little scared to put a bunch of food in there again. I have been pre chopping all of my veggies though and that's been a huge time saver.

I'm just waiting for one of my fancy friends to get rid of their perfectly good fridge and ask if anyone needs it, then I'll probably try again.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm more worried that they know

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago

I'd they do they clearly overestimate their safety.

[–] MissJinx@lemmy.world 81 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (15 children)

never understood this. If you can't buy it now will you be able to.pay later?! You need groceries every month

[–] deceased@lemmy.ml 83 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If you're living paycheck to paycheck, it takes one unexpected expense and suddenly you're hustling to get food on the table. The cycle then repeats itself.

[–] Landless2029@lemmy.world 54 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I've been there. It's expensive to be poor with little to no way out.

You need a car to work. Cars are expensive. You get a old clunker.
You work and live check to check. Maybe $50 or $100 left over after taxes and expenses. Not really possible to have an emergency fund.
A single injury or car breaking down and you need to borrow money. From family, friends or some shitty company.

Oh and then your yearly raise comes around at $1/hr that barely covers your rent increasing let alone inflation.

[–] veroxii@aussie.zone 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. ... A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. ... But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness.

[–] Landless2029@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

Yep. This tracks.

My issue now with products is planned obsolescence. Any things aren't made to last like they used to. They also have extra technology in them making them harder to repair. Appliances, cars and more.

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[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 25 points 2 days ago (11 children)

Whoops some bill auto-drafted unexpectedly

Your account is negative now, oh and throw a $25 fee on top.

Looks like you're scrounging for dinner tonight. And the rest of the week. Maybe skip some meals because you have no choice.

Shit sucks ass.

[–] JustOneMoreCat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Once I bounced a check to our water company and they refused to take checks or credit cards from me for a YEAR as a punishment. It was a one-time accident after paying on time for around seven years. I literally had to drive my ass down there with cash. It's a small rural water service, not a big corporation - they chose to be complete assholes even after I explained the situation (we had a baby that month and forgot a monthly $ transfer in the chaos).

Same mistake probably cost us $120 in overdraft fees. Society financially punishes people who need money the most and rewards the people who have plenty. It's ridiculous.

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I once had my electricity bill bounce, and they forced me to pay a deposit of $250. So the amount I owed went from $100 to $350. Plus a late fee. And they never return the deposit until I had paid on time for 2 years.

That was a bad time.

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[–] chilicheeselies@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago

If you are at the point where you are buying grocoeries in installments, who cares about paying it back. What good is a good credit score if you cant afford to buy anything anyways. Just survive any way you can at that point

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

Cost of living is too high, put it on credit.

Your alternative is starve now.

Either way, this is about to get a lot more bonkers in roughly the next 30 to 60 days as Just In Time delivery... kinda just, stops working, and grocery stores will have to both raise prices and ration items per customer per week to deal with shortages and try to minimize in-store injuries and deaths.

Go look up a compilations of black friday shopping stampedes.

Imagine that, but for groceries, every time a grocery store restocks.... for the forseeable future.

[–] SpaceShort@feddit.uk 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

That's probably part of why the capital class want fascism. Because if that happens in a democracy, they would have their capital expropriated.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Historically speaking, basically, yes, the capitalist class essentially always sides with a nascent fascist movement as it is opposed to making any truly meaningful concessions to workers.

But it is important to note that fascism is, or arises from... an ostensible capitalist democracy ... in decay.

It arises as a reaction to the over exploitation of the capitalists.

The fascists are always incompetent idiots at actually running anything, actual policy... beyond being brutally indimidating and violent bullies.

But! They promise growth and stability.

Morons believe them. Many of these morons... are the capitalists.

This works well for a while, but eventually, fascist mismanagement leads to the capitalists actually having a whole bunch of their businesses collapse, as the economy broadly suffers, or maybe its war time babyyyy and oh well turns out that its also bad to fund endless foreign invasions and/or be invaded yourself.

But, by then, its too late.

The capitalists sided with the fascists initially, to avoid structural concessions to workers... but now that everything is fucked, and/or dear leader / the party has some incomprehensible zany nonsense plan... well now the capitalists mostly get either outright or functionally nationalized, and lose even more than if they had just gone with the comparatively more minor concessions to workers.

Poison chalice.

Prisoner's Dilemma, game theoretic suboptimal outcome, that humanity just keeps replicating with minor variations and new flavors.

... Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was...

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[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 27 points 2 days ago

Some people don't have the option, and end up relying on these services. It's similar to the payday loan trap. Being poor is expensive.

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[–] DicJacobus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Steve Carrell: HEY... THERES A BUBBLE!

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