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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   23393 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 1, 2025

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I'm neither American nor economy-literate, but no, Scott, my vibes are shit because as a matter of very obvious fact everything is expensive as hell and wages can't keep up and it's been getting worse for years.

I made the right career choices. I earn a solidly above-average wage. And yet every year our family budget grows slimmer. What haven't we cut by >90%? Vacations are cut. Gifts are cut. Entertainment is cut. Clothing is cut. Eating out is cut. Memberships of any sort are cut. We buy food as cheaply as possible. Clothing is second-hand. Toys for the kid are gifts from others. The car gets only essential repairs. Our kitchen fittings get none. We live in a featureless apartment in the middle of nowhere. And yet we accumulate no savings. We can economize as hard as we like and still we live paycheck to paycheck.

Where do the wages go?

Taxes. Rent. Insurance. Kindergarten.

And the rest is for essential purchases like food, gas and...and...no, that's it.

Of course it's Germany, not California. And we fail to do at least one thing that good Germans are supposed to do: Know every damn tax loophole and government handout available. I know, I know, it's a huge character flaw. Any welfare parasite knows his gibs better than I. But this is the difference between our miserable standard of living and being able to save up: Interfacing with the byzantine redistribution systems.

Where do the wages go?

Taxes.

Mood: Der Gesellschaftsvertrag.

It's solidarity, you know. Funding decadence and degeneracy is actually good for society. Don't be ignorant or cruel. You could be one of those poor unfortunates tomorrow! You're just privileged not to need that kind of assistance. Science proves that actually, people who receive welfare usually turn their lives around and become productive, and those who do not become terrible menaces to society. You can afford it. You can't just let them starve in the gutters. We have to pay for culture, else we'll suffer cultural decline, and it's only right that we do it via taxes because else nobody will consider it worthwhile. Be glad you don't have to endure American healthcare. Just emigrate to Somalia. Throwing billions at developing countries is the right thing to do, it makes us friends and buys us influence. The climate! The climate!

We live in the land of flesh pots, and Democracy, good and hard, is nothing more than a matter of deciding what boondoggle to waste everyone else's labor on. It's disgraceful.

Don't you have a one income household? What if your wife handled the benefits? I feel like that is the standard practice.

Anyway, sorry to hear man. I know Germany and the EU generally have it tough economically.

My wife, as well as she means, is somewhat less than consistent when pursuing tasks that cannot be completed in one sitting.

That said, I've given it a shot and asked her to try and get what she can from our taxes. We'll see.

But none of the positive economic indicators apply to European countries? No shit Scotts article on the US doesn't apply! They haven't had years of strong GDP growth or wage growth

Yes. I described my situation to give the Americans here another perspective on the economic malaise. The vibes are bad here, too, I say. Maybe the vibes are bad because the economy is bad, I imply. Maybe the Americans have the same problem, and their indicators are wrong.

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