So sad. In these times.

[applegrove]

Young people in this country are losing their minds with frustration and having nervous breakdowns because they simply can't afford the cost of living in Trump’s America.

"I kill myself working and I can't even pay the bills. All of this is pointless."

— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) 2026-04-14T23:03:00.125Z

[usonian]

1. They know what to do.

I hope.

[Lovie777]

2. And the Republican Party don't care......

[moniss]

3. In my area rent on a one bedroom

not including any utilities is over $1,000 per month. That's for an older building and really old carpeting, paint etc. Add the electric etc. and you know there is no way someone making minimum wage or just above can make that on a month of 40 hour weeks. Let alone pay for food, gas, clothes, laundry and keep a beater car fixed enough to run. Landlords raise hell if they take in roommates.

The newer apartment complexes all start rents for a one bedroom at $1500 or more.

[BurnDoubt]

4. Capitalism gives birth to Communism. It's predatory, and wealth buys power.

But remember: “It’s not Personal… It’s Business.”
Feel better, now?

Rents in Sacramento start around $2200.00.
Don’t forget to tip generously.

[Morbius]

5. It ain't just young people.

Believe me.

[PatrickforB]

6. I suspect we will see a great deal more things like this Kimberly Clark deal. Wall Street and the

the billionaire parasites are squeezing TOO HARD.

I'm glad I'm getting old. It really was easier to get a foothold when I was young. I feel very sorry for the kids coming up in this disgusting end-stage predatory parasitical capitalism. It is horrible for too many people. Because living in poverty is economic violence, the result of a class war Wall Street has waged since the New Deal.

Greed will be the death of our species, but we always do have the choice - to turn to the light or to the darkness of pointless materialism.

Many are now opening their eyes and asking the million dollar question:

Why does it have to be like this?

[orleans]

12. what kimberly clark deal?

as for the million dollar question of "why does it have to be like this?"

answer:
1. it had to be like this because too many people couldn't be bothered getting off their fucking asses to vote.

2. too many people didn't want to vote for the "sleepy joe" party -- they wanted a "change" so they voted for the criminal they already had (possibly because their covid brains forgot how fucked in the head that criminal was)

3. too many people had their brains damaged from covid, (don't tread on me, i'm not giving up my freedom to wear a mask to protect myself, besides covid is a hoax that will just wash away), thanks to trump who didn't give a rat's ass about his cult or anyone else in this country

4. too many people would have rather died than vote for a (yuckie) woman.

5. too many people believed the crap republicans repeatedly told them including the tale about democrats who kill babies and drink their blood in the basement of a pizza parlor

6. too many people are dumb as fuck and proud of it

--sorry. i could go on. is it super obvious that i'm resentful as hell that they fucked this country along with the rest of the world?
(i could just as easily go off on a rant about how they fucked our climate across the last 30 or 40 years but i'll spare everyone reading this)

so what is the kimberly clark deal you speak of?

[PatrickforB]

13. Here you go...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Kimberly-Clark_Distribution_Center_fire

[Skittles]

7. direct result of "trickle down economics"

the ultra-rich pissing on the rest of us

[nuxvomica]

8. I thought we had it bad in the 1970s

That's when I got out of college and started working to support myself. I remember thinking I would never own a house because interest rates were so high. It was a struggle on $110 a week but I managed to get an apartment for $170 a month (plus utilities) while paying off a $3,000 student debt (private school).

Adjusted for inflation, those numbers would be today:

$110 a week pay --> $620.91 a week or $32,287.32 per year
$170 a month rent --> $959.59
$3000 student loan debt --> $16,934

One thing that made us more positive about the future were the yearly minimum wage increases because even though I was paid above minimum wage ($2.75 per hour) employers usually increased the lower pay levels whenever the Federal minimum increased.

Minimum wage in those years (and adjusted for today):
1977: $2.30 --> $12.98
1978: $2.65 --> $14.00
1979: $2.90 --> $14.02
1980: $3.10 --> $13.16
1981: $3.35 --> $12.72
1990: $3.80 --> $9.85

[applegrove]

9. That is so harsh what they have done to minimum wage

[RetiredParatrooper]

10. I remember making $3.35 in the mid-late 80s at McDs

The summer of '85, I got a job installing cable boxes for $8.00 an hour. Those were the BIG BUCKS for a kid between Junior and Senior years in HS.

[RetiredParatrooper]

11. This will last as long as We, the People allow it to

We live in a representative democracy. Thus, we have the government we deserve.