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mallorys_cameraPuppets don’t see strings!
Still, viewed from an impersonal perspective—that spacecraft hovering high enough above the ground so that humans are just tiny dots scuttling about a rapidly changing landscape—my whole rehoming saga is an economic phenomenon.
Inflation in the U.S. has proven impossible to control because the biggest factor behind inflation right now is rent—and there is nothing the Federal Reserve can do to control rent.
Five years ago, my income—though not large—was perfectly sufficient. In economic terms, I was comfortably middle class. (And clawing my way back into the middle class after losing everything felt like an enormous accomplishment.)
Now, though, my income feels barely sufficient. It has a fixed component, which I’ve generally relied upon to pay living expenses, and a potentially expandable component, which I’ve generally relied upon for all those little extras. Increasingly, though, that expandable income has had to pay for living expenses—and that will be even more pronounced once I move.
###
We are also at the beginning of what demographers are terming “The Silver Tsunami:” By 2030, for the first time in U.S. history, the number of over 65s will surpass the number of under 18s.
And this is hardly just an American phenomenon. Fertility is plummeting in all of the world’s industrialized nations. The global replacement rate is 2.2 children per woman; American births are now at 1.62, and South Korea, which has the lowest birth rate in the world, is at (ulp) 0.72.
This plays into the whole Rehome Patrizia scenario, too, though I’m not exactly sure how.
(On a parenthetical note, the Silver Tsunami will strike the death knell for capitalism—which, in the 21st century at least, is teetering rather like a pyramid on one end, its gravity-defying balance absolutely dependent upon supplier-induced demand. Because you can’t have supplier-induced demand unless you have a potentially vast market of credulous consumers to peddle the snake oil to.)
###
Anyway…
I’ve rewritten the Hi! I’m fabulous! You really want to live with me! screed and am posting it to as many places as I can think of.
Big net should catch at least one fish, right?
And am generally trying to remain bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about the whole endeavor.
Though the words of my old pal Tim Ware are ringing in my ears: I should have bought real estate first and then dropped acid!
###
Spent much of yesterday in the garden anchoring seedlings and playing with dirt:
Also—and this will give me a shove with my own writing—my pal Susie has decided to become a literary agent.
So, the June novel may have a cheerleader once I finish the (necessary) rewrite.
Still, viewed from an impersonal perspective—that spacecraft hovering high enough above the ground so that humans are just tiny dots scuttling about a rapidly changing landscape—my whole rehoming saga is an economic phenomenon.
Inflation in the U.S. has proven impossible to control because the biggest factor behind inflation right now is rent—and there is nothing the Federal Reserve can do to control rent.
Five years ago, my income—though not large—was perfectly sufficient. In economic terms, I was comfortably middle class. (And clawing my way back into the middle class after losing everything felt like an enormous accomplishment.)
Now, though, my income feels barely sufficient. It has a fixed component, which I’ve generally relied upon to pay living expenses, and a potentially expandable component, which I’ve generally relied upon for all those little extras. Increasingly, though, that expandable income has had to pay for living expenses—and that will be even more pronounced once I move.
###
We are also at the beginning of what demographers are terming “The Silver Tsunami:” By 2030, for the first time in U.S. history, the number of over 65s will surpass the number of under 18s.
And this is hardly just an American phenomenon. Fertility is plummeting in all of the world’s industrialized nations. The global replacement rate is 2.2 children per woman; American births are now at 1.62, and South Korea, which has the lowest birth rate in the world, is at (ulp) 0.72.
This plays into the whole Rehome Patrizia scenario, too, though I’m not exactly sure how.
(On a parenthetical note, the Silver Tsunami will strike the death knell for capitalism—which, in the 21st century at least, is teetering rather like a pyramid on one end, its gravity-defying balance absolutely dependent upon supplier-induced demand. Because you can’t have supplier-induced demand unless you have a potentially vast market of credulous consumers to peddle the snake oil to.)
###
Anyway…
I’ve rewritten the Hi! I’m fabulous! You really want to live with me! screed and am posting it to as many places as I can think of.
Big net should catch at least one fish, right?
And am generally trying to remain bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about the whole endeavor.
Though the words of my old pal Tim Ware are ringing in my ears: I should have bought real estate first and then dropped acid!
###
Spent much of yesterday in the garden anchoring seedlings and playing with dirt:
Also—and this will give me a shove with my own writing—my pal Susie has decided to become a literary agent.
So, the June novel may have a cheerleader once I finish the (necessary) rewrite.
Big nets
Date: 2024-05-16 09:01 pm (UTC)Re: Big nets
Date: 2024-05-18 01:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-18 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-05-19 11:15 am (UTC)In an entry I wrote after this one, I described how just for kicks, I did a linear progression based on current demographic replacement rates and found that in 200 years, Orthodox Jews, Amish, Mormons, & sub-Saharan Africans will comprise 50% of the world's population. 😀
Though Afghanistan also has a really high replacement rate.