[Propaganda] 59% of Americans wrongly think the U.S. is in a recession, report finds
[Propaganda] 59% of Americans wrongly think the U.S. is in a recession, report finds
Although the economy is growing, consumers remain somewhat pessimistic.
"No you see, idiot, uneducated worker, the economy is doing great actually. Now go back to the your 3rd job's shift to barely make ends meet."
Media companies are owned by billionaires. They're protecting their investments. The "News" has operated this way for decades.
A recession is a word with a specific economic definition and measurement.
It sounds like you're saying that if people feel like there's a recession, it should be called one. That's not a good idea.
If a majority of your population feels like they're in a recession then you have economic problems and dictionary definitions make no difference.
Stick around in these threads long enough and someone will come and post statistical proof that how you feel is anecdotal and of absolutely no bearing on realty. So at what point do you stop caring about the "definition" of recession and realize that maybe it's not measured in a way that promotes a health society rather than just a healthy economy?
Record profits and millions uninsured. Record profits and crumbling infrastructure. Record profits and mass layoffs. Maybe it's fucked?
When the media talks about recession (same as your papers, your favourite news site, it's the media in general), they mean "shit's bad and you're struggling". Same in school, when you learn about a recession, you learn about the simplified definition. That's fine. I don't care what your economics book is saying, I deal with real science, not imaginary shit.
So when people start complaining because their living conditions are getting worse, the same media and the people who suck up to them for some reason (wink wink) come back with "akshully, I think you'll find things aren't that bad because technically, this is not a recession".
The same thing happens when a government counts "unemployment". They define it in such ridiculously restrictive ways that every time they report on it, it magically goes down.
"Oh, you've gotten out of bed at least once in the past 12 hours? Well, that's a job, buddy! Well done, you're now self-employed and can't be counted as unemployed." Telling me "unemployment" is down is meaningless and I couldn't care less. Telling me "it's not a recession so everything is fine, trust me bro" is just as meaningless.
"Growth is no longer economic; increasing GDP does not necessarily increase human welfare." — In Defense of Degrowth by Giorgos Kallis
If low wages and multiple jobs make for a recession, we've been in a recession since before I was born.
How many americans can even define what a recession is?
Let me answer your question with another question: "how many Americans actually know the difference between, 'you're' and 'your' or 'two', 'too', and 'to'?
Last I checked the media has said that we were on the very edge of a recession every day for the past 5 years. I guess if you say it long enough, some people will believe you and eventually you'll be right.
Gee... I wonder who's spreading that lie? Gosh... I wonder who could benefit from the telling of such lies.
I wonder...