The lockdown rage and the stocks
I just understood why middle-class Americans, even those whose jobs were not affected by the lockdowns, vouch for "the economy" and demand reopening so fervently. Why this bizarre stance of "I do not care how many people will die, just reopen the goddamn thing!" is so widespread. Think about the economy! The airlines! The hotels! The retail!
What are you, a CEO? Why do you vouch for them? You're still a salaryman. Why do you care if Delta Airlines is losing money? They do not care about you, that's for sure.
Delta's losses are their problem; who cares if they go belly up and some other airline will take their place? The people rallying to stop the lockdowns do not look like worrying about wellbeing of Delta employees. They do not even worry that people will die. So... why? They do not have a horse in that race.
Oh. Except they do. A lot of horses.
56% of the Americans own stocks. The percentage is higher among whites and well-to-do people. Having stocks is really easy those days. You signup into your bank app, buy some and watch your portfolio grow. Each day. Every day.
It's addictive. Just like you wake up and check for new Facebook/Twitter likes, you start your day with the Schwab app, hoping to get a little richer today.
Most of the days, you do. "Your net value went up $3k today", huzzah! "2k yesterday". And the day before. Each day, you get a bit closer to paying off your mortgage. To having your pension fund ready. To freedom. To security.
Then suddenly, for some made-up reason, for a strange disease no worse than the flu, the guv'ment shuts everything down.
"-10k today". "-12k tomorrow". "-20k the day after". Red numbers. Declining graph.
Rage. Panic. Shock. More rage.
I want that number to be green again! Do whatever it takes! I do not care what will happen to whom. I do not care how many will be evicted, become homeless or die altogether - just make the number go up.
This entry was originally posted at https://tymofiy.dreamwidth.org/188656.html. Please comment there.
What are you, a CEO? Why do you vouch for them? You're still a salaryman. Why do you care if Delta Airlines is losing money? They do not care about you, that's for sure.
Delta's losses are their problem; who cares if they go belly up and some other airline will take their place? The people rallying to stop the lockdowns do not look like worrying about wellbeing of Delta employees. They do not even worry that people will die. So... why? They do not have a horse in that race.
Oh. Except they do. A lot of horses.
56% of the Americans own stocks. The percentage is higher among whites and well-to-do people. Having stocks is really easy those days. You signup into your bank app, buy some and watch your portfolio grow. Each day. Every day.
It's addictive. Just like you wake up and check for new Facebook/Twitter likes, you start your day with the Schwab app, hoping to get a little richer today.
Most of the days, you do. "Your net value went up $3k today", huzzah! "2k yesterday". And the day before. Each day, you get a bit closer to paying off your mortgage. To having your pension fund ready. To freedom. To security.
Then suddenly, for some made-up reason, for a strange disease no worse than the flu, the guv'ment shuts everything down.
"-10k today". "-12k tomorrow". "-20k the day after". Red numbers. Declining graph.
Rage. Panic. Shock. More rage.
I want that number to be green again! Do whatever it takes! I do not care what will happen to whom. I do not care how many will be evicted, become homeless or die altogether - just make the number go up.
This entry was originally posted at https://tymofiy.dreamwidth.org/188656.html. Please comment there.