Gotta have a big lunch after skipping breakfast all the time.
$70,000 is a lot more than the median individual income. You can probably afford to spend a bit on lunch if you’re single and making that amount.
Yeah if he thinks 70k is poor… Woah buddy
I’m not quite sure how to interpret this. Unless you’re single in a low COL area, 70k in 2026 IS poor. Or, more accurately, it does not give someone everything that defined the post war “middle class” leaving you working poor or just old fashioned poor. The decision in the 90s to tell a technical-truth-lie about inflation to underreport it by 1-2% per year did wonders for juicing the economy, but now it’s time to pay the piper so to speak. Median personal income in 2024 was $45k, but after 30 years (Rule of 70) of underreported inflation it should be almost twice that.
I’m curious: what do you mean by under reported inflation, and do you have any resources to read further?
TLDR version: In the 90s the owners realized that if you lie about inflation you could keep COLA down and pocket the difference. 1-2% a year seems like they’re just skimming the top, but do that over decades and you’ve stolen HALF of incomes, which we are close to reaching. Poor numeracy skills, specifically not understanding exponential growth and the Rule of 69/70/72, has allowed this long con to be run on workers.
Further reading: The BLS uses a host of ‘sounds reasonable’ tools to adjust inflation that were introduced or reworked in the 90s. Hedonic adjustments, OER, substitutions, outlet substitutions, and chained CPI all seem reasonable from a certain angle (which of course is the one BLS presents you), but each one breaks down when confronted with the real world, how human being experience the economy, and time. They’re tools that measure utility in a vacuum, not lifestyle or ripple effect or material reality. Hedonic adjustments is an extra special lie, because it’s a microcosm of the current big economic lie- “yeah, everything is worse now than a few years ago, but look how big your TV/LLM is!”
Also read up on Labor Force Participation Rate, a seemingly reasonable measure which is used to keep unemployment numbers looking better.
“Lies, damn lies, and statistics” - Twain
Also the BLS just isn’t even using actual data for something like 1/3 of the components of the CPI.
Budget cuts, DOGE, no staff to do the actual price surveys.
So, those hedonic adjustments?
At least 1/3 of the data points that go into those hedonic adjustments… well they are just generated by models that say ‘what they should be’.
Look into ‘imputation’ in the actual reports if you want.
It just keeps getting worse, the more onion layers you peel back.
The other one that to me is just laughably stupid is how housing prices are estimated for the purposes of the CPI.
They basically just survey homeowners and ask them ‘how much do you think your home fetch on the rental market?’
This is completely fucking insane imo.
Why not just actually ask people what the monthly total cost of owning their home is?
Oh its because well housing is an investment.
Except that if the monthly total cost of ‘owning’ the home exceeds the amount you think you could rent it out for, well, then you’re basically underwater on a cost flow basis, because, you know, the cost of homeownership is… higher than its equivalent rent.
And if that condition persists… you will likely not be a homeowner for too much longer.
Yep, totally an ‘investment’.
And if you counted actual ongoing homeownership costs, well, then you’d, you know, actually track ongoing homeownership costs, in the price index, that is ostensibly meant to measure … ongoing costs.
It makes no fucking sense, other than as a way of depressing the housing component of the CPI when a housing market implosion is occuring, it assumes things we know are not historically true about the home and rental markets, when a bubble is popping.
Yes! Someone who gets it. It’s worth pointing out that my “1-2% a year” is a highly conservative estimate based on the aspects of CPI that are objectively questioned by respected economists. If we broaden it to more subjective analysis by a wider range of academics it’s 3-4% per year. Finally, if we really step back and ask some big questions, 5% is not outside the realm of possible.
I am guessing that the both of us share in common something like a data anaylst or accountant background, degrees relevant to something like that…
You have to actually understand statistics, math, the relevant background concepts and terms.
Almost no ‘normal’ person bothers with all this, unless they’re getting paid to.
But yeah… actual academic economists have been pulling their hair out over this kind of shit for decades, they have actually complex stances on this stuff and do novel research and such.
But the pop culture version of an economist is basically either A) some kind of corpo sell out who just justifies things for the company B) highly connected old money goober type that ends up at the Fed or a major bank C) fucking larry kudlow or jim cramer D) insane political ideologue who somehow happened to get an econ degree and then entirely use that to be a political ideologue.
Anyway, what I remember of game theory with imperfect information strongly suggests to me that we are all compketely fucked for the forseeable medium term, lol.
I make if I am lucky 35k this year. Fucker if I made double that then I could afford this. But fuck that asshole. Billionaires should never tell us how to live.
He’s not a billionaire. He’s a millionaire trying to suck up to billionaires.
It depends where you live. 70k in a big city area barely covers rent on a studio apartment.
First if you want to spend $28 on lunch do it just to spite big Kev.
I’m single and make about twice that figure and there is zero chance I would spend $28 on lunch let alone on any kind of recurring basis. People just need to do the little things that make them happy, if thats eating out do it.
$28 is like two sushi rolls or two of anything really… hell soda costs $3+ and a burger $15ish
It’s not that hard to spend a lot eating out even for lunch, it’s crazy. Prices have at least doubled in the last few years since covid. Companies are making up for their lost months of profits from shutdown and terrible republican admins fucking up everything and killing regulations and any safeguards or anything consumer friendly. 80% beef costs twice what 95% used to years ago and it’s not stocked anymore
For me the issue is for a five day work week it’s $540 a month, and that’s say a downpipe for my car, for me thats more important.
We’re all grown ups so spend your money where you think it will improve your life. When I was Gen Z’s age I spent more than I should on car stuff because cars are my thing.
Oh for sure and wouldn’t eat like that daily. Just doing is very easy to spend that much eating out even for lunch or breakfast not even dinner
I also think paying over 300/ month on a car is crazy and people getting 8 year loans right now is insane
Obviously, if you’re poor, you don’t deserve any scrap of comfort because it’s a moral failing on your part and definitely not a top down systemic problem that caused it /s
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I’m single and make about twice that figure and there is zero chance I would spend $28 on lunch let alone on any kind of recurring basis.
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People just need to do the little things that make them happy, if thats eating out do it.
How can you suggest 2. If you believe 1.? It’s twice as unreasonable if somebody makes $70,000 and even more for the majority who makes less.
Eating out once in a while is a little thing. Spending $28 on lunch every day is not a little thing anymore.
Because eating out isn’t my thing especially lunch. For me the money spent on eating out is money I’d rather spend on a performance part for my car.
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Per day, that’d be 1/7th of the annual pretax income.
Is it usual in america for people to eat seven meals per day? Explains much if true.
Stupid indeed.
Instead of paying $28 for lunch, they should just eat the rich.
when you toss 'em on the grill, watch out for flare-ups. lots of fat, not a lot of meat.
How about some nice Bourgeoisie Jambalaya or Technocrat Tacos?
When he was a junior asshole, that $28 meal would cost $9.
I personally think food inflation has rather exceeded the median rate so it’s probably even less than that; my lived experience says that in 2019 I could get a meal for $15-20 and now it’s $25-30, but the inflation calculator disagrees.
When he was in his twenties, $5 would have been an indulgent lunch, and you’d probably still receive some change
Probably subsidized by the company too
Was gonna say it’s more an indictment on rising food costs than individual choices.
Also the “poor people are poor because they buy slightly nice things” is such a shit argument.
It’s way less than that. In 2013, you could still get a $2 meal deal from Taco Bell that came with a burrito, bag of Doritos, and a drink. That’s $2.80 in today’s money. Then, I remember some dinner prices from places my parents took me when I was a kid. They’re boomers so they love going to all you can eat buffets. Using that calculator, the adult price for an all you can eat pizza buffet at a CiCi’s in 2000 would be $5.69 in today’s money. In 2005, the adult dinner price for an all you can eat buffet at Furr’s Cafeteria would be $8.39 in today’s money. Even in 2013, there was an AYCE Chinese buffet that would be $7 in today’s money. Those are dinner prices. And if you didn’t want to eat like a boomer, there were plenty of cheaper options. But just to put things into perspective a lot of those same things don’t cost $6-9 today. They cost $20+.
Avocado toast all over again. They do this to every generation.
yep, same script - “it’s your fault and you should feel ashamed.”
Projection as always
You got two watches on homie
And each of them probably costs well into the 6-figure range.
We’re not poor because of what we spend, and they fucking know it.
Its $28 because you rich assholes ruin everything
Hands up who isn’t making anywhere near 70k.
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I wasn’t for most of my life until I finally was and then I became disabled shortly thereafter, prompting the government to decide that I should live on sub-poverty wages which aren’t enough to feed myself because it’s easier and cheaper for them if I just die.
And whose fault is it that lunch costs $28???
It’s insulting that this guy says 70k like it’s a low salary (for “kids” as he says). I make a quarter of that. I also know a lot more retired old people who never made close to that in their lifetime than ones who did make that much
And if I did make that much it would still feel insulting because I’m pretty sure most people making 70k can easily afford weekly $28 lunches…
Edit: Just saw that this motherfucker is wearing two expensive watches on the photo… absolutely repulsive person
Adjusted for inflation the average worker in the 80’s and 90’s made way more than 70k a yr. I made 60k in 2000, that’s $120k today.
Yeah the fact that the wages are stagnating is another thing, I’m just saying from where me and most of the people of all ages in my life are standing, 70k is a lot.
Depends on the city you live in and your situation. Single in a small town 70k good. Family of 4 in the city and you wouldn’t even qualify for a home loan and are probably in assistance.
70k is 3,5k/mo after taxes in my country. Doesnt really matter where you live with that you could be paying 2500 in rent and still be loaded for the month. Look all I’m saying is this O’Leary guy is a fucking prick and most people never see 70k in their lifetime
You say “loaded” but you wouldn’t be able to pay for college without debt, wouldn’t be able to buy a house, wouldn’t be able to afford to retire, or save much, couldn’t afford vacations, and couldn’t even afford a new economy car.
That isn’t loaded, that’s being poor.
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This is exactly what is expected to happen. People complaining/arguing but not complaining/arguing about the correct issue.
70k by everyone’s standards other than the top 1% is a lot of money, because we have always had to focus on surviving and can make that amount work. Life isnt going to be roses, but it will be life. It really does come down to buying power, but also priority. Back in the 70/80s buying tech (tvs, computers) was insanely expensive. Now you can pick up a 65in for like 200usd. Back in the 90s a new car was under 10k. Now a decent car bought new is 35/40k. Housing…I am not even going to touch it. I bought a 5 bedroom 2400sq ft for 89k in PA in the early 2000s, now that house on zillow is 350k. I only had it a year and I sold it for 85k after closing and everything. Prices for things have flipped for a lot of items that used to be luxury compared to necessity. That’s how we can afford avocado toast because we can only afford eggs/bread/ and a single avocado.
I dont want to start a 2nd argument, and I am not confident I am getting my point across. I just feel all that are here arguing should not be arguing amongst ourselves since we are essentially in the same boat amd should be putting our efforts at the real issue.
A lot of older folks made more than 70k by a fair margin when you account for buying power and quality of life.
You have to adjust numbers for more then just inflation if you want a remotely accurate comparison.
Detached from reality old dude strikes again. It’s easy enough for a single meal at a fast food drive through to be $15 these days.
It’s wild that these elites are shitting on people spending $27 on a meal…
It’s not 2017, that doesn’t buy you much of a meal.
The cheapest food in my town I can think of is still a solid $8-9. And that is for a very unappetizing sandwich. A small upgrade to a chain “Jersey Mike’s Sub” puts you back $11.15 before tax - no drink, no chips.
Around me, the only meal you can get for under $10 is banh mi. I’m very grateful for those reasonable prices, but I’m also not exaggerating.
My work recently treated my group of coworkers to subs, but I don’t eat meat and didn’t have any. Instead, my manager said she’d reimburse me, and broke down the price of the sandwiches (which everyone else split) to calculate $7 per person. So I was given $7 Doordash credit.
$7. On Doordash. The fuck am I supposed to do with that?
I guess because you use the word ‘town’ that a shitty chain sub might actually be a true upgrade, but for anyone in even a smallish city, look around for little hole in the wall independent restaurants because I guarantee you can get much better food for much cheaper than the shit you’ll get at chain restaurants. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 5 sub shops and delis in my area that will give you a much bigger better sandwich than subway, for a little over half the price. Then there’s shawarma shops, Chinese take ours that will fill up the take out container so full that it’s too much to eat in a sitting, burger places where you can sit down and have a burger and a beer for the price of a McDonald’s meal and it’ll be twice the size, pizza joints with walk in specials where you can get a small pizza for the price of a slice at pizza-pizza, Caribbean restaurants where there isn’t even a fast food alternative, fucking lots of places. Don’t settle for some bullshit just because it’s familiar.
Just don’t eat takeout/restaurant food then. Here in canada you can easily make meals for less than 5$ per portion, much less if you don’t eat meat.
Hell just buying precooked food at the grocery store costs ~7$ for a high-quality meal. I can’t imagine anyone paying 27$ for a regular meal.
Oh no! Another asshole billionaire who is out of touch with reality. Whatever will we do?
Bruh, I wish I made $70,000/yr. It was what I went to college for after all only for the entire world to change after 4 years, now I can’t afford myself and in debt.
Regardless, this is ignoring the fact that inflation has increased the cost of groceries in general, not just lunch. Even though Trump ran on it, apparently inflation never actually happened now that he’s in office. The collective amnesia from the right when it benefits them is just infuriating
What did you study
Computer Science
What’s the struggle finding a good job?
I just got rejected after 8 rounds of interviews with 5 years and management experience in my field. It is not a good time to be job searching in tech.
8 rounds??? In a row??
Welcome to tech. It’s pretty fucking ridiculous.
(For example, I just got a position where the primary duty is to support an information system I designed and built for them and I still had to do 3 rounds of interview)
We’ve only done multiple rounds of interviews for very impressive candidates that are already a big yes, where they’re being shown to progressively higher ranking staff as a “wow you gotta meet this person”
This is a big tech company
What were the three rounds for? Did the interviewers see it as a farce?
Trust me, I’ve tried since graduating in 2024 to get a job within the field I studied. There’s a lot of CS jobs, but absolutely none for a entry level position. I’ve long given up for now, especially since a recession might finally hit the second I actually get a good job and then I’d be completely unemployed. Maybe I’ll use what I studied in the future but it doesn’t look like it for now.
Before your objection that I should’ve gotten an internship during college as well to get actual work experience rather than just doing really well in my classes, I tried. I used to spend just as much time trying to get an internship than actually studying only for me to never get any kind of response let alone a fucking interview. That’s the depressing part, I saw this coming, tried my best to avoid it, only for my work learning additional skills outside of class to make me more appealing and constantly applying for jobs to have all been for nothing. I spent so much time I could have been doing to build an actual social life only to get smacked with reality
I don’t know much about your situation and your specific skills, but one way to get experience in many CS jobs is doing work on a FOSS project or starting your own. At least it would help keeping your skills sharp and updated. But i know that this takes a lot of effort and it’s unpaid work, which might not be possible if you actually have to do something to pay the rent.
I’ve considered developing my own FOSS application. If I were to ever do one, it would be focused on being something that Linux Mobile or Ubuntu Touch doesn’t already have since they don’t have much support yet. Thought about making some kind of Linux application in general, but any idea I came up with either has already been or definitely couldn’t be maintained long term by just one person.
I do work full time already, but switching from Android to either Droidian or Ubuntu Touch after the great lockdown will probably make me want to make the experience on them better anyway. So yeah, definitely been throwing around the idea of getting involved in the FOSS community, but don’t want to contribute to an already existing project since I’m not THAT confident in my programming skills just yet.
Like the other commenter said, do you have any projects you’ve been working on that could showcase your skills or add some weight to your resume? Are you applying for software engineering roles? Is the city you’re applying in unfit for tech?
I haven’t been actively applying as of recently, but I have done plenty in the past 2 years. The state I currently live in perhaps might no longer be fit for tech, not entirely sure anymore, but I was applying for jobs way outside of my home state as well since I’d be willing to move pretty far for an opportunity. I am considering working on a project in the future within the FOSS community
