Any time someone complains about the rising cost of everything, they are told that the “market” is responsible, and “supply-and-demand” have meant that people simply need to develop more of something to bring down its costs. “Supply-and-demand” has been a pat answer for all things economic for centuries, and it makes sense, in theory: there is a lot, so people do not want it. The problem with this easy answer is that the more people believe it, the easier it is to coerce people into allowing more violence to occur in the name of acquiring “more.” In recent times, humanity is being confronted with whether there is actual demand for certain things, or merely the appearance of demand manipulated by multiple entities.
Because the pandemic is fresh on the minds of all, consider what companies did to improve their market worth when incomes were wildly inconsistent: stock buybacks. Companies purchased their own stocks so that when people were examining the company holdings, it looked like everyone wanted to invest. Nothing about that company had changed, except perhaps that some employees had been let go because they were deemed “extra” or “redundant.” However, because the company was able to purchase its own stocks–sometimes using federal money–people were given the appearance that the company was highly desirable.
Another example of the appearance of demand is when those same companies post jobs that they have no intention of filling. Remember that currently, there are a bunch of self-righteous individuals bleating that nobody wants to work, and that all the younger generations are lazy. What they fail to mention, since they need the lie to seem plausible, is that first of all, most jobs do not pay the cost of living because some antiquated procedures set the salaries. Furthermore, they only post jobs to appear as if they want to expand their employee base, making them seem attractive. The fact that the term “ghost job” exists should represent that corporations have no excuses; they are simply dragging their feet or have nothing to offer in the way of financially stabilizing employment. They are just dissatisfied that people are not leaning into their insecurities and internalizing the “laziness” propaganda.
To qualify for these jobs, many are still requiring college degrees–not because they genuinely believe that someone needs four years of rigorous study, but because they want a barrier for “certain” applicants. As such, college tuition has continue to rise, and student loans are still high in demand. Why? Investment companies gamble on student loan portfolios, and people get rich as graduates default. In all honesty, no one really needs a college degree anymore, especially since most of the classes are taught by struggling graduate students and adjuncts while the tenured few still serve as billboards. Only misguided individuals still try and sell college as a road to professional and financial stability, giving the appearance that a degree is useful. For those sneering that trades still have reliable and high income, union busting and resource degradation are real, and those issues make trades unreliable.
The price of housing also appears to be based on supply-and-demand, but fortunately, people seem to be wising up to the reality that property management companies are just greedy. Instead of neighborhoods full of individuals building community, neighborhoods are full of deliberately empty spaces waiting for unreasonable demands to be met. Sadly, these properties are bought for two reasons that are highly extractive. First, companies are able to extort a great deal of money in rent. Second, the financial industry gambles on mortgages, and people get rich when mortgages are paid on time. A theme of people getting rich on the purported responsibility of others should be wildly apparent at this time.
Finally, the manipulation of the supply itself is proof that supply-and-demand is propagandic rhetoric using to project the bad behavior of the “elites” onto the working classes. Most people know by now that De Beers hoarded diamonds for over seventy years, which is one of the reasons why younger people are disinterested in diamonds. It was also recently discovered that Amazon destroyed millions of its items, and while it had a clever lie about running out of storage space, the truth was about making sure that the prices could be manipulated.
The real reason that people are opting out of chasing the “American Dream” or the “municipal dream,” or whatever “dream” is that thanks to this idiotic “principle,” life has become a nightmare. Economics has simply been a rationalization for oppression and destruction and that has not only always been true, but was merged with religion to become part of belief systems. People charge what they want, and because some people are greedy, everyone has been made to suffer. Unfortunately, under imperialism, accountability has always been slow to nonexistent.
Chasing A Dying Empire 