site banner
birb_cromble  5d ago (text post)   726 thread views

Qeekly Finance Thread - 2026-09-19

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

Ground Rules

  • Remember that we're all just Internet randos. Don't bet your life savings on a hot tip from this thread.
  • Keep culture war in the culture war thread. Yes, global events may impact our personal finances, but that does not mean we have to incessantly harp on culture war aspects here. If you are going to discuss it, please stick to the practical impacts of it on an individual level.
  • Be kind. Remember that everyone here comes from different circumstances. We all have different resources available and different risk tolerances.
  • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better is better. Celebrate people when they take a step up and work to move their finances in the right direction. Don't flame out because they haven't followed what you consider the optimal path. Everybody has to start somewhere.
2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Why I don't invest in energy, Europe, and especially European energy. They embrace poverty on an almost spiritual level.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/18/eu-europe-fuel-prices-calls-windfall-tax-energy-firms

European governments have discussed imposing a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, as near-record fuel and gas prices pile pressure on leaders desperate to contain mounting public discontent and the challenge of the far right.

With elections due next year in eight EU countries including France, Italy, Spain and Poland, leaders are scrambling to head off the potential fallout from what analysts have warned could be one of the continent’s biggest energy shocks in decades.

Germany’s finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, called on ‌the European Commission at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday to propose possible ways to tax what he described as the excessive profits of oil companies.

"Several member states have been calling for models for a long time,” Klingbeil said, demanding proposals by next month. “People can see how oil companies are exploiting the situation, overcharging and significantly increasing their profits.”

Okay, actually I do invest in Norwegian oil tankers, but don't tell anyone.

Sometimes I really dislike this place. Not enough to try and emigrate (just yet), after all, all my family is here, but I do dislike this place. Well, I don't dislike the place, I dislike what the government is doing to it.

Everyone's blaming Trump, which isn't wrong per se, but which is also no reason for our own government to make the situation even worse. But they can get away with it because everyone's blaming Trump.

My wish is that the United States will provide an immigration pathway for all the "Nicolas, 30 ans" people to seek a better life in the U.S. If we elect Vance in 2028 there is a chance.

Europe hates and punishes the people who keep their society afloat. Let's bring them to America.

It's a shame because Europe has a lot of advantages and is truly beautiful in many ways.

Europe is beautiful, but their population voted in the policies they are suffering from now. If they move to the US, they'd probably vote for the same, and in 10 years, the US will be the same, and there would be nowhere to move to.

I think demographics are destiny, but Europeans migrants will likely have American values. For one, it's already happened. The most right-leaning groups in America are all northern European origin. Secondly, if we select for net payers over net takers, we are going to get a more right-leaning sample.

And the US being more conservative than Europe didn't stop us from allowing our own mass migration that is now destroying the country.

The big worry is a 2028 Democratic sweep which will result in amnesty, mass migration, and permanent victory for the left.

And the US being more conservative than Europe didn't stop us from allowing our own mass migration that is now destroying the country.

True, but right now the balance is teetering around 50/50 - sometimes the left wins, sometimes the right. If we import millions of people who lean even slightly left off center, the right will have no hope at all. They don't need to be DSA voters - they just need to vote for DSA enablers because what they hear sounds good and close to what they had at home. To get over this, one needs massive trauma like one that Eastern Europeans have - convincing those to have communism would be harder, whatever variety it is. But the rest of Europe I don't think realized what they've done yet.

I suspect there's a lot of potential value in the US capturing economic value of would-be migrants in an offshore free-enterprise sphere that doesn't grant them citizenship.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats