#Investing in debt for higher returns

[citizencapital]

Debt Investments: Join Our Exclusive Free Live Webinar !

[drdemonprince]

Generally speaking, here are the order of financial priorities:

Build an emergency savings of at least 3 months worth of living expenses

Pay down all high-interest debts, such as credit card debts

Build an emergency savings of 6 months - year worth of expenses.

Place some of your savings in a high-yield savings account (or money market fund) that you can still access easily without penalty if you need that money.

Start considering investing in something that yields a higher rate of return, but requires that you let money just *sit* in that investment for months or years at a time (CDs/bonds/index funds/a 401k [which is really just a type of index fund usually]).

Learn how to let your investments just sit without constantly looking at them or worrying about them! This is a skill that requires time, practice, and sometimes research to develop.

As your circumstances change and your familiarity and comfort with investing grows, tweak your exact investment strategy as needed. (For example, shift some money from index funds to bonds as you get older, or move CD investments to stocks as interest rates go down).

[kleopatra45]

Do you intend to make a post about stellium in the houses on the solar return chart ?

Stelliums in the Houses [Solar Return]

1st House

A 1st House stellium in the solar return chart highlights a year of self-focus and personal development. You'll be driven to assert your identity, make changes to your appearance, or take charge of your life direction. This is a year to focus on self-awareness, personal goals, and how you present yourself to the world. Expect significant changes in how you view yourself and how others perceive you.

2nd House

A stellium in the 2nd House indicates a year of financial focus and re-evaluating your values. Your earning potential, material possessions, and financial stability will be central themes. You may be driven to increase your income, invest in new resources, or reassess what you truly value in life. This is also a year where your self-worth and how it relates to your material wealth will be tested and potentially redefined.

3rd House

When the 3rd House is emphasized by a stellium, communication, learning, and your immediate environment become pivotal. This is a year of increased mental activity, where you might take up new studies, start a writing project, or strengthen relationships with siblings and neighbors. The pace of daily life may quicken, with more travel, social interactions, and exchanges of ideas.

4th House

A 4th House stellium points to a year focused on home, family, and your emotional foundation. You might move, renovate, or invest more energy into your living situation. Family dynamics and your relationship with parents, especially your mother, will play a significant role. This is also a time for inner reflection, dealing with past issues, and strengthening your emotional roots.

5th House

A stellium in the 5th House brings creativity, romance, and self-expression to the forefront. This could be a year of artistic pursuits, new romantic relationships, or a stronger focus on children if you have them. Your desire for pleasure, fun, and taking risks will be heightened. You might feel a strong urge to create something unique or to fully express your individuality in a new way.

6th House

With a 6th House stellium, your work, health, and daily routines become the focus. You might take on new responsibilities at work, become more health-conscious, or make significant changes to your daily habits. This is a year where you are called to service, whether through your job, volunteering, or simply helping others in practical ways. Health and wellness practices may take on new importance.

7th House

A 7th House stellium in the solar return chart emphasizes relationships and partnerships. This could be a year of significant developments in your marriage, business partnerships, or other close relationships. Issues of balance, cooperation, and commitment will come to the surface. You might also attract new partnerships or face challenges that require diplomacy and negotiation.

8th House

The 8th House stellium brings transformation, shared resources, and deep psychological processes into focus. This could be a year of dealing with joint finances, taxes, inheritances, or debts. Intimate relationships might go through profound changes, or you may confront issues of power, control, and taboo subjects. It's a year for deep emotional work, facing fears, and perhaps a symbolic or literal rebirth.

9th House

A stellium in the 9th House highlights a year of expansion through travel, higher education, or spiritual pursuits. You might be drawn to new philosophies, religions, or cultures, seeking to broaden your understanding of the world. This is a time to explore new horizons, whether through physical travel, academic study, or a quest for truth and meaning. Legal matters or international connections may also play a role.

10th House

With a 10th House stellium, career and public life take center stage. This is a year where your professional ambitions, reputation, and long-term goals come into sharp focus. You may receive recognition for your achievements or feel a strong drive to advance in your career. Authority figures, including bosses or even your own role as a leader, will be significant. Expect changes in your public image or career trajectory.

11th House

A stellium in the 11th House emphasizes friendships, social networks, and long-term aspirations. This could be a year where you play a more active role in groups or communities, or where you align yourself with causes and organizations that reflect your ideals. Friendships may become more important, and you could find support for your goals through social connections. Your vision for the future will be a central focus.

12th House

The 12th House stellium points to a year of introspection, spirituality, and dealing with hidden matters. You might feel the need to retreat, focus on your inner life, or confront subconscious patterns. This could be a year of letting go, healing past wounds, or dealing with issues related to confinement, isolation, or endings. Spiritual growth and self-awareness will be key themes, as you prepare for a new cycle of personal development.

I will post 'Stellium in the Signs' soon!

I hope this helps! ♥️

©️kleopatra45

[simply-ivanka]

How the Biden-Harris Economy Left Most Americans Behind

A government spending boom fueled inflation that has crushed real average incomes.

By The Editorial Board -- Wall Street Journal

Kamala Harris plans to roll out her economic priorities in a speech on Friday, though leaks to the press say not to expect much different than the last four years. That’s bad news because the Biden-Harris economic record has left most Americans worse off than they were four years ago. The evidence is indisputable.

President Biden claims that he inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression, but this isn’t close to true. The economy in January 2021 was fast recovering from the pandemic as vaccines rolled out and state lockdowns eased. GDP grew 34.8% in the third quarter of 2020, 4.2% in the fourth, and 5.2% in the first quarter of 2021. By the end of that first quarter, real GDP had returned to its pre-pandemic high. All Mr. Biden had to do was let the recovery unfold.

Instead, Democrats in March 2021 used Covid relief as a pretext to pass $1.9 trillion in new spending. This was more than double Barack Obama’s 2009 spending bonanza. State and local governments were the biggest beneficiaries, receiving $350 billion in direct aid, $122 billion for K-12 schools and $30 billion for mass transit. Insolvent union pension funds received a $86 billion rescue.

The rest was mostly transfer payments to individuals, including a five-month extension of enhanced unemployment benefits, a $3,600 fully refundable child tax credit, $1,400 stimulus payments per person, sweetened Affordable Care Act subsidies, an increased earned income tax credit including for folks who didn’t work, housing subsidies and so much more.

The handouts discouraged the unemployed from returning to work and fueled consumer spending, which was already primed to surge owing to pent-up savings from the Covid lockdowns and spending under Donald Trump. By mid-2021, Americans had $2.3 trillion in “excess savings” relative to pre-pandemic levels—equivalent to roughly 12.5% of disposable income.

So much money chasing too few goods fueled inflation, which was supercharged by the Federal Reserve’s accommodative policy. Historically low mortgage rates drove up housing prices. The White House blamed “corporate greed” for inflation that peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, even as the spending party in Washington continued.

In November 2021, Congress passed a $1 trillion bill full of green pork and more money for states. Then came the $280 billion Chips Act and Mr. Biden’s Green New Deal—aka the Inflation Reduction Act—which Goldman Sachs estimates will cost $1.2 trillion over a decade. Such heaps of government spending have distorted private investment.

While investment in new factories has grown, spending on research and development and new equipment has slowed. Overall private fixed investment has grown at roughly half the rate under Mr. Biden as it did under Mr. Trump. Manufacturing output remains lower than before the pandemic.

Magnifying market misallocations, the Administration conditioned subsidies on businesses advancing its priorities such as paying union-level wages and providing child care to workers. It also boosted food stamps, expanded eligibility for ObamaCare subsidies and waved away hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt. The result: $5.8 trillion in deficits during Mr. Biden’s first three years—about twice as much as during Donald Trump’s—and the highest inflation in four decades.

Prices have increased by nearly 20% since January 2021, compared to 7.8% during the Trump Presidency. Inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings are down 3.9% since Mr. Biden entered office, compared to an increase of 2.6% during Mr. Trump’s first three years. (Real wages increased much more in 2020, but partly owing to statistical artifacts.)

Higher interest rates are finally bringing inflation under control, which is allowing real wages to rise again. But the Federal Reserve had to raise rates higher than it otherwise would have to offset the monetary and fiscal gusher. The higher rates have pushed up mortgage costs for new home buyers.

Three years of inflation and higher interest rates are stretching American pocketbooks, especially for lower income workers. Seriously delinquent auto loans and credit cards are higher than any time since the immediate aftermath of the 2008-09 recession.

Ms. Harris boasts that the economy has added nearly 16 million jobs during the Biden Presidency—compared to about 6.4 million during Mr. Trump’s first three years. But most of these “new” jobs are backfilling losses from the pandemic lockdowns. The U.S. has fewer jobs than it was on track to add before the pandemic.

What’s more, all the Biden-Harris spending has yielded little economic bang for the taxpayer buck. Washington has borrowed more than $400,000 for every additional job added under Mr. Biden compared to Mr. Trump’s first three years. Most new jobs are concentrated in government, healthcare and social assistance—60% of new jobs in the last year.

Administrative agencies are also creating uncertainty by blitzing businesses with costly regulations—for instance, expanding overtime pay, restricting independent contractors, setting stricter emissions limits on power plants and factories, micro-managing broadband buildout and requiring CO2 emissions calculations in environmental reviews.

The economy is still expanding, but business investment has slowed. And although the affluent are doing relatively well because of buoyant asset prices, surveys show that most Americans feel financially insecure. Thus another political paradox of the Biden-Harris years: Socioeconomic disparities have increased.

Ms. Harris is promising the same economic policies with a shinier countenance. Don’t expect better results.

[genshin-side-piece]

Warnings: Minors DNI, 18+, Financial Control, Power Imbalance, Dark themes, mentions of death, My bad writing, Anything Else I Missed

Casually thinking about how Pantalone’s hobbies include toying with the nobles in the Tsaritsa’s court for funsies. The ambitious social climbing families of the court’s lesser houses are always so eager to see their children or themselves rise into Zapolyarny’s more elite circles. Who better to play the role of the benevolent benefactor to the underprivileged during Snezhnaya’s social season than the Regrator himself? He certainly has the money and as far as connections go, there is literally no one he can’t find or buy should he need too. It is the perfect arrangement for those eager to climb or it would be, if they bothered to read the fine print.

Debts and collateral are funny things. Pantalone has no use for endless estates or family jewels. He always accepts Mora, but what use does he have for it when he can manipulate it like vision bearers can the elements? He wishes for something more malleable; something he can shape, something he can mold, something he can control. Those same poor souls who are seeking a better station in life often find themselves under the Regrator’s thumb, shackled to him by a debt they cannot pay. 

He moves them around as he needs, placing them where he feels they will be best suited. From the seediest brothels to the most exclusive salons; Pantalone has eyes and ears throughout the capital, making sure his enemies are always right where he needs them to be. Poised and ready for the fall he has planned for them. 

Such is the case with many, such is the case with you. 

Normally, Pantalone rarely took stock of what his collateral looked like. He didn’t put faces to names or much valuation on individual personalities. His only real interest was risk vs reward. Who had the highest capability to give him the best return on his investment and who would be better left to the frigid conditions of Snezhnaya’s winters should they not be able to deliver what was owed.  That wasn’t to say Pantalone didn’t have an eye for the exceptional though.  While he rarely looked past his papers and figures, he did on occasion have cause to look. You had regrettably given him that cause.

To others like you, your position was an enviable one. You weren’t subjected to the routine that was following targets or hunting up information or even soiling your hands with the blood of those Pantalone had seen fit to end. Instead, you are kept in lavish comfort. Subject to being locked in chains made of diamonds and platinum. Forced to endure his company until like all the rest, your usefulness, much like your tears would run dry. Then and only then would he consider setting you free. He would weigh your debt against all he had taken. Hemming and hawing over his balance sheets, running his calculations until he reached a satisfactory conclusion. 

You could only pray that whatever decision he came to, whether it be an advantageous marriage to one of his higher ranking officers or death, that it was quick. That it was painless, and that it didn’t involve the Doctor.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #23

June 14-21 2024.

On the 12th anniversary of President Obama's DACA program President Biden announced a new pathway to legal status and eventual citizenship for Dreamers. DACA was an executive action by President Obama which deferred any deportation of persons brought to the US as children without legal status. While DACA allowed Dreamers to work legally in the US for the first time, it didn't give them permanent legal status. Now the Biden administration is streamlining the process for employers to apply for work Visas for Dreamers. With Visas Dreamers will for the first time have legal status, the ability to leave and reenter the US legally, and a pathway to a Green Card and eventual citizenship.

President Biden also announced protections for the undocumented spouses and children of US citizens. The new rule allows the spouse, or step-child of a US citizen to apply for lawful permanent residency without having to leaving the country. It's estimated this will help 500,000 undocumented people married to Americans, and 50,000 children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to an American citizen. Current law forces spouses to leave the United States if they're here illegally and wait and unclear period of probation before being allowed to return, but being allowed back is not assured.

The IRS announced that it'll close a tax loophole used by the ultra rich and corporations and believes it'll raise $50 billion in revenue. Known as a "pass-through" has allowed the rich to move money around to avoid taxes in a move the Treasury is calling a shell-game. Pass-throughs have grown by 70% between 2010 and 2019 and the IRS believes it helped the rich avoid paying $160 billion dollars in taxes during that time. The IRS estimates its crack down on these will raise $50 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years.

The EPA and Department of Energy announced $850 million to monitor, measure, quantify and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Methane is the second most common greenhouse gas, responsible for 1/3rd of the global warming. The funding will focus on helping small operators significantly reduce emissions, as well as help more quickly detect and cap methane leaks from low-producing wells. All this comes after the EPA finalized rules to reduce methane emissions by 80% from oil and gas.

The Biden Administration took steps to protect the nations Old Growth Forests. The move will greatly restrict any logging against the 41 million acres of protected land owned by the federal government. The Administration also touted the 20% of America's forests that are in urban settings as parks and the $1.4 billion invested in their protection through the President’s Investing in America agenda.

The Biden Administration released new rules tying government support for clean energy to good paying jobs. If companies want to qualify for massive tax credits they'll have to offer higher wages and better conditions. This move will push union level wages across the green energy sector.

The Department of Education announced large reductions in student loan payments, and even a pause for some, starting in July. For millions of Americans enrolled in the Biden Administration's SAVE plan, starting in July, monthly payments on loans borrowed for undergraduate will be reduced from 10% to 5% of discretionary income. As the department hasn't been able to fully calculate the change for all borrowers at this point it will pause payment for those it hasn't finalized the formula for and they won't have to make a payment till DoE figures it out. The SAVE plan allows many borrowers to make payments as low as $0 a month toward having their loans forgiven. So far the Biden Administration has forgiven $5.5 billion wiping out the debt of 414,000 people enrolled in SAVE.

The Biden Administration celebrated the 1 Millionth pension protected under the American Rescue Plan. Senator Bob Casey joined Biden Administration officials and Union official to announce that thanks to the Butch Lewis Act passed in 2021 the government would be stepping in to secure the pensions of 103,000 Bakery and Confectionery Union workers which were facing a devastating 45% cut. This brings to 1 million the number of workers and retirees whose pensions have been secured by the Biden Administration, which has supported 83 different pension funds protecting them from an average of 37% cut.

The Department of Energy announced $900 million for the next generation of nuclear power. This investment in Gen III+ Small Modular Reactor will help bring about smaller and more flexible nuclear reactors with smaller footprints. Congress also passed a bill meant to streamline nuclear power and help push on to the 4th generation of reactors

Vice President Harris announced a $1.5 billion dollar aid package to Ukraine. $500 million will go toward repairing Ukraine's devastated energy sector which has been disrupted by Russian bombing. $324 million will go toward emergency energy infrastructure repair. $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war.

America pledged $315 million in new aid for Sudan. Sudan's on-going civil war has lead to nearly apocalyptic conditions in the country. Director of USAID, Samantha Power, warned that Sudan could quickly become the largest famine the world has seen since Ethiopia in the early 1980s when a million people died over 2 years. The US aid includes food and water aid as well as malnutrition screening and treatment for young children.

Bonus: Maryland Governor Wes Moore pardoned more than 175,000 people for marijuana convictions. This mirrors President Biden's pardoning of people convicted of federal marijuana charges in 2022 and December 2023. President Biden is not able to pardon people for state level crimes so called on Governors to copy his action and pardon people in their own state. Wes Moore, a Democrat, was elected in 2022 replacing Republican Larry Hogan.

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - January 8-14

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. In Chicago, all city buildings now use 100 percent clean power

“As of January 1, every single one of [Chicago’s municipal buildings] — including 98 fire stations, two international airports, and two of the largest water treatment plants on the planet — is running on renewable energy, thanks largely to Illinois’ newest and largest solar farm.”

2. California Rice Fields Offer Threatened Migratory Waterbirds a Lifeline

“Cranes need nighttime roosting sites flooded to a depth of about 3 to 9 inches, so they can easily hear or feel predators moving through the water. [... Bird Returns pays] farmers to flood their fields during critical migration periods [... and] provide foraging sites by leaving harvested rice or corn fields untilled, so cranes can access the leftover grain.”

3. New York Climate Superfund Becomes Law

“[Funds recovered “from major oil and gas companies” will be used to pay for] the restoration of stormwater drainage and sewage treatment systems, upgrades to transit systems, roads and bridges, the installation of green spaces to mitigate city heat islands and even medical coverage and preventative health programs for illnesses and injuries induced by climate change.”

4. Austin says retooled process for opening overnight cold-weather shelters is paying off

“[... T]he city's moves to lower the temperature threshold to open shelters and announce their activation at least a day in advance were the result of community feedback. [Shelter operators also passed out hot food.]”

5. Helping Communities Find Funding for Nature-Based Solutions

““From coastal oyster reefs to urban stormwater greenways, nature-based solutions are becoming the new normal.” That’s because these types of projects are often less expensive to build and have additional community benefits, such as improving water quality or creating parkland.”

6. Saving the Iberian lynx: How humans rescued this rare feline from extinction

“Back in the early 2000s, fewer than 100 individuals roamed the wild, including only 25 reproductive females. [...] Conservation staff [...] shape these cats into resourceful hunters and get them ready for life outside the center. [...] They’re fine-tuning captive-breeding routines, improving veterinary procedures, and pushing for more wildlife corridors.”

7. Biden cancels student loans for 150,000 more borrowers

“The 150,000 new beneficiaries announced Monday include more than 80,000 borrowers who were cheated or defrauded by their schools, over 60,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities and more than 6,000 public service workers[...] bringing the number whose student debt has been canceled during [Biden’s] administration to over 5 million[....]”

8. PosiGen wins another $200M for lower-income rooftop solar

“PosiGen offers a ​“no credit check” [solar panel installation to] those with a higher percentage of their income going to power and fuel bills[....] “somewhere between 25 and 75 percent” of the consumer’s monthly energy savings could come from efficiency measures such as sealing heating and cooling leaks, replacing thermostats, and installing LED lights[....]”

9. Indigenous communities come together to protect the Colombian Amazon

“At this year’s COP, Indigenous peoples celebrated the [protection of] traditional knowledge, innovations and practices[... and] the Cali Fund, which ensures that communities, including Indigenous peoples, receive benefits from the commercial use of [...] genetic data derived from the biological resources that they have long stewarded.”

10. How the heartland of Poland’s coal industry is ditching fossil fuels - without sacrificing jobs

“[Katowice, a former coal city] committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 40 per cent compared to 1990, prioritising investments in green infrastructure, and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. [...”]The gradual departure from heavy industry did not bring high social costs in our city,” says Marcin Krupa, Mayor of Katowice City.”

January 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[so-much-for-subtlety]

The thing that gets me so worked up about universal healthcare is how people say that it will be so expensive for the tax payer.

This is long rant warning so I added a break lol.

The TLDR is that even in a low tax state like Florida, someone making 50k a year will have an effective rate of of 32% (for taxes, healthcare, costs for an undergraduate degree).

Someone making 50k a year in a 'high tax' country like New Zealand has an effective rate of 21% (for taxes, healthcare, costs for an undergraduate degree).

For an American and a Kiwi with the same salary of $50k, if they have the same disposable income, the Kiwi will be able to save an extra $75,000 over 10 years that they can use for a downpayment on a home to further build wealth.

Low tax states just have the costs shuffled to other places, you end up paying a LOT more for the same services.

Here's a comparison of someone who makes $50,000 a year in New Zealand and Florida (I chose Florida as an extreme example because they have 0% state tax rate) and each person makes $15,000 worth of purchases that are taxable.

New Zealand

$7,658 in combined income taxes and levies

$2,250 in taxes on $15k of purchases (15% sales tax)

Total of $9,908 - an effective total rate of 19.8% paid to taxes and purchases and healthcare

Florida

$7,945 in combined taxes (federal taxes, social security, medicaid etc)

$1,050 in taxes on $15k of purchases (7% sales tax)

$1,700 average annual health insurance premium for Florida

$2,060 average annual health insurance deductible for Florida

Total of $12,755 - an effective total rate of 25.5% paid to taxes and purchases and healthcare

Even in a low tax state, you're already have less take-home income than someone with the same salary in New Zealand.

But

... in New Zealand with your taxes you're also getting public education. It's not completely free, but costs are fixed, and you get one year of your undergraduate free, so for example a Bachelor of Arts would cost a total of $13,548 (USD $8,347)

If you can't pay that upfront, you can get a 0% loan from the government, which you don't need to start paying off until you earn at least $23k per year. For someone making $50k that would be an extra 6.5% deducted from your income ($270/month) until the loan is paid off (which would be 2 years and 8 months).

In Florida the average student loan debt is 25k and if you're making the same payments as someone in NZ ($270/month) then you'll be paying that off for 11 years. [Note: I believe that some private loan interest rates go as high as 15%].

Bachelor of Arts in NZ $13,548, paid off over ~2.7 years.

Bachelor of Arts in Florida $35,539, paid off over ~11 years.

So lets look at effective payments over 11 years (for simplicity salary stays at 50k).

New Zealand works out to be 21% effective rate over 11 years (including taxes, healthcare, and undergraduate degree).

Florida works out to be 32% effective rate over 11 years (including taxes, healthcare, and an undergraduate degree) - you're paying 52% more!

That means someone with the same income will effectively be able to save an additional $5,000 per year over 11 years, if they invest that extra amount and get a 5% return, the New Zealander will have savings of about $75k which they can use for downpayment for a home etc.

In conclusion, even though it may seem like you're getting a good deal in a low tax state like Florida, you end up paying soooo much more in healthcare and education costs compared to a country where taxes are a little higher, but you get public healthcare and education.

Why is the U.S. so expensive? Well once place to look is defense, intelligence, and police. In the United States this costs on average $3,700 per person. New Zealand spends $1,600 per person (USD ~1,000).

[blorbocedes]

I wish you would write more wag!nico a fic where girl!nico is married to michael but she fucks girl!lewis on the side 😁

a bridgerton inspired au, aka totally devoid of any actual regency customs/historical accuracy. please enjoy!

It is funny now but at the time it had felt like the end of the world.

In just one season, Nico’s life turned up in itself. It all happened in rapid succession. The Queen named Nico, daughter of Earl Rosberg, the diamond of the season. In manners, beauty, and pedigree she was unmatched. But the darker truth remained: the vicious storms that flooded left all her father’s lands upturned, all harvests spoiled – his emerald mining investments had failed, and gambling debt collectors were knocking at the door. Nico’s dowry was astronomical, she was the envy of every young miss and a bag of gold in a dress to every materialistic lordling. And then came the most eligible bachelor of the season: the newly widowed, wealthier than god Duke Schumacher in want of a new wife to secure his heir. It was a match the Queen herself approved. Nico’s opinion on the matter did not. She screamed and cried, she was supposed to be spinsters with Lewis forever on her father’s estate.

It wasn't until the gravity of their family situation which had been concealed to shield her was finally revealed, and the Duke’s promise to her father that he would settle the matter of the debts, that Nico finally relented. Above all else, she was a dutiful daughter. By the end of spring, she was in white to be married. Lewis did not attend the wedding, taking off to sail across the seas with her brother.

And then three years later, Lewis returned. Since locking eyes across the ballroom floor, and feeling her heart sing in a way it has not for so long, they were inseparable, occupied in each other’s minds to care for the stuffy, uppity world around them. Now Lewis has afternoon tea in Nico’s townhouse, sharing womanly vocations trading gossip and scandal, such as how the lady Browning’s oldest child bears a curiously striking resemblance to the gardener instead of the lord Browning.

“Put my sweet to sleep now.” Nico hands off the golden haired bundle of joy after it has finished suckling her breast to her handmaid. She lies back in the sofa, in no haste to fasten her laces, unashamed of the view she makes.

“Motherhood suits you.” Lewis remarks from across from her, at the other end of the sette. Her hair is tucked in the most intricate of braids, adorned in the latest fashions she picked up from France, her skin warm and a most healthy glow; the stunning image of a cosmopolitan, worldly woman.

Nico, by comparison, is tired and pale from having a newborn. “Yes, well. You say that now but when I was fat and round with child…” The maids practically had to force-feed her, while she bursted out of the seams of all her dresses, needing them altered. She lazily traces Lewis’ arm with her foot, thrilled at the touch of skin. It is unbecoming for a lady, for a duchess, but near Lewis she is a giddy maiden, spoiled for touch.

Lewis looks around to ensure no maids are in the drawing room, not a soul around, and then pounces on Nico; practically climbing atop, like they did so many times in their girlhood.

“I would keep you fat and round through ten summers straight if I could. A great big army. And you could not cease to be lovely if you tried.” Lewis whispers into Nico's ear. Her words make Nico’s cunt throb, her ears hot.

Nico pulls Lewis’ mouth inside hers, the place where it first learned how to kiss and thus always hers forever. Lewis pulls the neck of her dress down further, hand cupping Nico’s breast, still sensitive from nursing and fat with milk. Nico bites down on Lewis’ lip when she takes a nipple between two fingers and presses.

Nico’s knee presses in between Lewis’ legs amid her dress. Her pianoforte expertised hand chases under her petticoat, going up higher and higher, clawing her the soft flesh of thigh on the way. She smells intoxicating, like fresh apricot. Nico used the heel of her palm to put pressure and grind on Lewis’ cunt. They get lost in each other’s bodies, falling into a rhythm and soft moans and reluctant break from kissing to breathe pierces the ear.

She was always blessed with sharp ears, and could identity the sound of the carriage on cobblestone signalling her husband’s return home.

By the time her handmaid came to announce the Duke’s presence, Lewis and Nico were sitting at a respectable distance away from each other, not at all disheveled or in a state of half undress. Only the racing of their hearts could give such a sordid secret away.

The Duke is a tall man, taking up more space in a room by his daunting figure and the hard line of his jaw and beady steel blue eyes.

“Miss Hamilton, a pleasure to see you again,” Michael greets Lewis curtly before turning to Nico in German. “Emergency session at parliament, see to it my bags are packed. I shall be heading after dinner.”

“Of course,” Nico simpers, instructing the maids with a simple swish of her hand. She's careful in her tone, in German, while Lewis busies herself with a scone. “When will you be returning?”

“A week, at the least.”

The gears in Nico’s head shift, as she switches to English. “Husband, would it be possible to spare a carriage so Lewis can make way to her aunt’s house whom she is staying with? She would need to leave immediately to make it to town before sunset.”

A muscle switches on Michael’s handsome face. Nico provoked it on purpose, to send an unchaperoned lady away in the dark hours of the night at the Duke’s expense.

“Nonsense, miss Hamilton is our guest. In fact, I would insist she stay until I return. Give you two time to catch up on your bosom friendship.” Michael replies. His words may be sweet, but Nico knows after lady Browning’s scandal, Michael has been reluctant to leave Nico in his charge of his estate. Their gardener has not shown up for weeks, weeds growing overflown, and Nico is quite certain the new estate guards are eunuchs although she does not care enough to check.

With Lewis staying as a guest of the Schumacher’s, Michael can rest easy knowing Nico would not dare to bring another man to warm her bed.

“That is a most kind invitation. We do have much catching up to do.” Lewis smiles.

Her husband said nothing about another woman to warm her long, lonely nights.

[robertreich]

Socialism Fear-mongering is Bananas 

Don't get scared. I'm going to talk about something that’s caused a lot of fear mongering.

You see, advanced countries, like the United States, pool resources for the common good. How? Well, governments enact taxes and then spend that money on things that benefit everyone. Think of national defense, schools, highways, healthcare, unemployment insurance — basically government spending that protects the well-being of the people.

But since some folk, like your conservative Uncle Bob, think ANY pooling of resources for the common good is…socialism.

And since socialism is apparently so terrifying…

I'm going to use a different word to describe this taxing of individuals for the common good.  Let’s use.. I don't know.. How about…Banana! That's not scary, right? 

Great. So, there are essentially three purposes for which governments banana.

First, social insurance against the possibilities of misfortune and neediness, such as unemployment, poor health, disability, and so on.

Second, public goods that we all benefit from, such as parks, highways, public health, and national defense.

Third, public investment in our future, such as basic research, education, and efforts to address pollution and the climate crisis.

Whether we’re talking about Sweden, Spain, or Slovenia or the United States — all countries in capitalist economies banana to benefit the common good.

And bananing is how societies grow their economies, become more prosperous, and ensure a better life for their people.

It’s also how countries aid people in hard times — or when emergencies arise, like a global pandemic.

To simply call any government banana’ing “socialism...”  Oops, sorry I used the word.…Well it distorts our ability to think through how we banana and what we banana on.

And, it ignores the fact that the United States bananas LESS than most developed nations.

We’re among the worst when it comes to bananaing to reduce poverty, especially child poverty.

And pandemic aside, we banana less on unemployment insurance than nearly every other country.

Of course these countries generally have higher taxes than the United States to support all their bananing.

But they get more in return — better jobless benefits, better health care outcomes, debt-free education, more support for child care and elder care, and more generous retirement benefits.

And we could banana a lot more without having to raise taxes on middle or low-income Americans if the rich paid their fair share. Unfortunately, the tax code in the U.S. has been rigged so that the rich and powerful often skirt what they owe and get away with lower tax rates than regular people.

And the rich have done such a good job convincing people that any increase in banana’ing would be… you know, that S word ... that we just accept things as they are.

The only banana’ing they don’t seem to mind is on the military, where we banana more than the countries with the next 10 biggest militaries combined. That’s bananas!

All of this is a major reason why America has such staggering levels of inequality and poverty.

Whether bananing is “socialism” or not is a useless argument. Every country bananas. Capitalism requires banana’ing to ensure a degree of fairness and stability.  

So the next time your Uncle Bob decries any pooling of private resources for the common good — or bananaing — as “socialism”... share this video with him.  

And give him a banana.

[m1ssunderstanding]

I think your tags on the post about Paul's song Suicide got cut off. I was invested, and want to hear the rest of your thoughts :) Maybe you could put it all in a separate post if you don't want to add it as a reblog?

hey, thanks for this ask! It's always nice to have someone that wants to know my thoughts. I'd love to know yours on the subject too!

Okay super long text post under the cut

On “Suicide” 1956 and 1970

My interpretation of the meaning of Paul’s early song “Suicide” and its purpose on his debut solo album

The verse Paul had written in 1956 goes,

“If when she tries to run away

And he calls her back, she comes.

If there’s a next time, he’s okay

Cause she’s under both his thumbs.

She'll limp along to his side

Singing a song of ruin. I’d

Bet he says nothin’ doin’

I, I’d call it suicide.”

The song’s protagonist can’t leave an abusive relationship. The abuser knows it doesn’t matter what they do, the protagonist will always come back. Even when they’re limping, even when they vocalize their knowledge that this relationship is damaging, they’ll always come back, and the abuser is nonchalant. In the end,the singer likens the protagonist’s return to the relationship to suicide.

Just as the woman in the song is under her husband’s thumb, around the time this was written, Paul was very much under his father’s thumb. This was not due to any lack of self-direction or courage on his part. Jim was physically abusive (like the husband in the song) an addict, extremely controlling, and emotionally both unavailable and volatile. Still, in the same way that the woman in the song always goes back to her husband, Paul loved his father. It’s likely that Paul’s unusual degree of deference to his father was a combination of self-preservation and a genuine desire to help and please his father. Jim was also honest and well-liked, a lot of fun, intelligent, talented, a buyer of wonderful presents, and a supporter of Paul as a musician, and Paul felt great admiration and gratitude to Jim. And yet, Paul is not only the protagonist of “Suicide.” He’s also the singer. And the singer knows this relationship is destructive – bad enough to be likened to deadly.

So, “Suicide” is about Paul’s relationship with his father.

Enter John Lennon. Based on John’s perfect knowledge of “I lost my little girl” a full dozen years after being first shown it, I’m inclined to believe John was fully acquainted with the song “Suicide” and though I think pigs would fly before Paul would discuss its meaning with John, it’s not unlikely that he had his guesses.

It is also my tentative belief (based on the wording of the quote in which John talks about Paul and Jim and the issues with control and violence, the fact that John hit a lot of people, but never Paul, and the documented fact that John Lennon is intensely perceptive when it comes to Paul McCartney) that John knew Jim hit Paul. John hated Jim for all the same reasons Paul obeyed him. He hated that Jim was abusive, and he hated that Paul loved him. But. And here’s where I might be stepping on some toes. John and Jim share some important similarities.

Positives first. Both men are praised for being honest to a fault (Jim owning up to gambling debts and John being open and brash in interviews). Both are well-liked by almost everyone who knew them (People go on and on about what a gentleman Jim was, what a stand-up guy. People always think they’re John’s best friend after spending three hours with him) Both recognize Paul’s talent and give him the support he needs to pursue it (John obviously to a much higher degree) Both are described as being the life of the party and the center of attention.

Now negatives. Both men are highly susceptible to addiction. Both men pressured Paul about his lifestyle. Both are known to have been violent toward people they loved (although John was never violent toward Paul. This is important, and will be revisited). Both men had difficulty controlling their emotions or expressing them in a healthy way.

John eventually won his battle with Jim, as he states very proudly that Paul chose him in the end. He stood up to his father, as John claims he constantly begged him to do, and cast his lot with John, their partnership and their music. And, obviously, it was the right decision. Not only because it resulted in the greatest musical collaboration of all time, but because with John, Paul exchanged violence for softness. John was capable of a shocking level of care and tenderness, and for many years that was absolutely lavished on Paul. And I think they were both privately proud of that fact.

Jump to late 1969 / early 1970. John’s actions during the divorce (forcing Allen Klein – another violent and controlling man – on Paul, manipulating – self-admitedly – George and Ringo into turning against Paul, threatening – accidentally or on purpose – to treat Paul the way he’d treated Cynthia in their divorce, etc.) were hurtful enough to Paul that he was, in fact, suicidal (barely finding the strength not to suffocate himself in his pillow, taking way too much of everything, half-hoping he’ll overdose) and when he is finally pulling himself up again, he’s ignoring all John’s attempts to get him to come back (songs, interviews, letters, post-cards).

He puts out his debut solo album, the content of which makes John angry, though to an outsider, there doesn’t seem to be much there in the way of messaging.

Here’s what we get of “Suicide” a the end of “Glasses”, right before “Junk”

“ . . . song of ruin, I’d

Bet he says nothin’ doin’

I’d”

The part Paul chose to include was the abuser’s shrugging lack of surprise that the protagonist has returned, yet again, despite their knowledge that they’re walking back into abuse. I believe Paul’s message to John here is this: You were the one who taught me that there is a certain level of treatment I should expect from people who say they love me. Now that you’re the one who’s hurt me, you have to deal with what you’ve created. I’m not just going to come back to you with my tail between my legs and act like nothing happened. You taught me better than that. I’m really leaving. We’re really over.

[racefortheironthrone]

If the King/Queen of Westeros decided to implement a national bank of Westeros, how would they navigate relationships with the Iron Bank and any perceived competition? Thinking of the same way that the Rogare Bank might have fallen to Faceless Man assassinations?

I would personally recommend a more cooperative policy, because there are definite ways that a Westerosi central bank could be of benefit to the Iron Bank - especially since central banks don't tend to compete with merchant or commercial banks for the same kind of business.

To begin with, the existence of a central bank acting as lender of last resort to Westerosi moneylenders and merchants is going to be good for the Iron Bank's business in Westeros, because that's going to massively reduce the risk of default, which would mean the Iron Bank's loans would see a higher rate of return even at lower interest rates, and likely would lead to an increased volume of business, as more people would be able to afford to take out loans from the Iron Bank.

If the Westerosi central bank is anything like the central banks of Early Modern Europe, it might be quite possible that the Iron Bank would become a minority shareholder in the Westerosi central bank, and quite likely would be one of the central bank's major customers when it comes to the sale of royal bonds - if only because the existence of a central bank would make Westerosi public debt a much sounder investment than under the medieval model.

[drdemonprince]

I have about ~$3000 in student loans left but I'm chronically I'll/disabled/LC and unemployed for three years..no guarantee I will get a job anytime soon. I have about $5k in an old 401k, should I take out $ to pay down the debt? Right now I have no interest accruing bc I was on the SAVE plan but that's going away and interest is going to kick in again soon. I don't anticipate ever being able to work enough to really save money, just to barely scrape by.

I need a little bit more info to make a recommendation!

Is the loan private or public?

(If it's private, pay it off, as you're unlikely to get off the hook for it, the interest rate is probably high, and the collectors will probably be ruthless. If it's public, the stakes for not paying it are lower, so you might not want to).

What is the interest rate?

(If the interest rate is higher than the 5-7% range that a 401k would typically accrue, definitely pay it off! Paying off a debt is a guaranteed rate of return on investment equal to the interest rate on that loan. Less debt now & forever is a good thing for your overall financial stability). There's no reason to start paying down a debut until interest rates kick back on again tho, mind you.

Do you have any possibility of getting on an income-based repayment plan?

(If so, don't pay it all off! You could get forgiveness if you make the minimum payments for enough years, which, on zero income, should be low).

[plottwiststudios]

Women of Xal II Kickstarter: Delayed?

Hey, have you heard of the overly ambitious visual novel titled "Women of Xal" for Steam and Itch.io? (PC/Mac/Linux) Because that plays into why we might need to shelf the series for a few years. Full breakdown under the cut. (No spoilers)

For those who have gotten the True Ending, you should be fully aware that the story is about to vastly expand outside of Xuna's castle. It's a narrative must where everything that happens, happens well outside the scope of the original game in so many ways. And let's talk about scope! Especially if you have no idea what's so staggering about the original Women of Xal visual novel:

600+ optional choices we painstakingly programmed

Branching paths that people are still asking for guides on

A dozen romance options

Poly and gay options that interact with one another

Voice acting from now VERY popular voice actors

A 15 hour story full of mystery, lore, and tense politics

110 track soundtrack

4 Endings

Animations

Thousands of art assets (Bless Cat)

Years of hard work and long nights

No AI Art

100% positive reviews as of this post

Recouped $6000+, or roughly a fraction of the cost of development. After 2+ years of being released

Note that very last bullet point. Doing things for the art and passion is amazing and all, but I can't be investing literal thousands of hours into creating a game for a subset of a subset of a subset of people. I have bigger projects I want to finally get to work on. Ones I really hoped Women of Xal I would help a bit with funding. But it's not. And because of certain facts about the game, it may never be able to do so. To no fault of any of the players.

When I made Women of Xal I, my time was more readily available and I was quite a bit younger. The cost of running a company and creating a game like WoX as the first product hadn't quite hit me. I was also silly enough to believe "if you make it, they will come" to a degree. That part makes me grin in a not fun way.

But these days I have a job that takes me away from creating, but does pay the bills and debts. Debts I don't want to get into again in order to create the sequel that will undoubtedly come with far higher costs due to the game's scope. I have a better understanding of the costs of hiring returning and appropriate talent necessary to create a game better than the last. (I don't personally believe in being satisfied with an intentional steep downgrade.)

Yes there is the Kickstarter option for Women of Xal II, but there are plenty of costs and time investment that makes it an unviable avenue to explore during this point in time. After all, who but the people who sat down and explored everything the first game had to offer would understand how we came up with a $50,000 Kickstarter price tag for a visual novel's sequel? Especially since too many will look at the first Kickstarter and believe we made the first game with only $14,000.

I have thought about giving Women of Xal I a modernized facelift with a smaller Kickstarter, complete with a ton of new features and fun ways to streamline and highlight the narration's strong points, but there's a LOT of baggage that comes with that, including not wanting to go backwards when I still want to create my "pipe dream" projects.

So I'm thinking we'll give it a bit more thought these next few days, and if we can't think of a solution that we haven't already tried, we'll officially announce the delay (and before you suggest your own ideas, know that there's a 99% chance we've already tried it).

A long, long post just to say I do sincerely apologize for having people wait longer, but I am literally still a few thousand dollars away from paying off all my debt that came from funding the first game. It's a micro-trauma I do not feel inclined to repeating again. When the franchise is in a better place, or I am emotionally/physically, I will return back to Women of Xal to finish the story. If I cannot, I will release a summary of events that transpire after the first game's true ending.

But for now, I'm going to focus on financial and emotional healing, and creating projects that I feel will be more appreciated by both myself and people who are turned off by what "Women of Xal" offers.

Thank you all for supporting our small company these past several years. <3

-John

[dailyanarchistposts]

J.5.6 Why are mutual credit schemes important?

Mutual credit schemes are important because they are a way to improve working class life under capitalism and ensure that what money we do have is used to benefit ourselves rather than the elite. By organising credit, we retain control over it and so rather than being used to invest in capitalist schemes it can be used for socialist alternatives.

For example, rather than allow the poorest to be at the mercy of loan sharks a community, by organising credit, can ensure its members receive cheap credit. Rather than give capitalist banks bundles of cash to invest in capitalist firms seeking to extract profits from a locality, it can be used to fund a co-operative instead. Rather than invest pension schemes into the stock market and so help undermine workers pay and living standards by increasing rentier power, it can be used to invest in schemes to improve the community and its economy. In short, rather than bolster capitalist power and so control, mutual credit aims to undermine the power of capitalist banks and finance by placing as much money as much possible in working class hands.

This point is important, as the banking system is often considered “neutral” (particularly in capitalist economics). However, as Malatesta correctly argued, it would be “a mistake to believe … that the banks are, or are in the main, a means to facilitate exchange; they are a means to speculate on exchange and currencies, to invest capital and to make it produce interest, and to fulfil other typically capitalist operations.” [Errico Malatesta: His Life and Ideas, p. 100] Within capitalism, money is still to a large degree a commodity which is more than a convenient measure of work done in the production of goods and services. It can and does go anywhere in the world where it can get the best return for its owners, and so it tends to drain out of those communities that need it most (why else would a large company invest in a community unless the money it takes out of the area handsomely exceeds that put it?). It is the means by which capitalists can buy the liberty of working people and get them to produce a surplus for them (wealth is, after all, “a power invested in certain individuals by the institutions of society, to compel others to labour for their benefit.” [William Godwin, The Anarchist Writings of William Godwin, p. 130]). From this consideration alone, working class control of credit and money is an important part of the class struggle as having access to alternative sources of credit can increase working class options and power.

As we discussed in section B.3.2, credit is also an important form of social control — people who have to pay their mortgage or visa bill are more pliable, less likely to strike or make other forms of political trouble. Credit also expands the consumption of the masses in the face of stagnant or falling wages so blunting the impact of increasing exploitation. Moreover, as an added bonus, there is a profit to be made as the “rich need a place to earn interest on their surplus funds, and the rest of the population makes a juicy lending target.” [Doug Henwood, Wall Street, p. 65]

Little wonder that the state (and the capitalists who run it) is so concerned to keep control of money in its own hands or the hands of its agents. With an increase in mutual credit, interest rates would drop, wealth would stay more in working class communities, and the social power of working people would increase (for people would be more likely to struggle for higher wages and better conditions — as the fear of debt repayments would be less). By the creation of community-based credit unions that do not put their money into “Capital Markets” or into capitalist Banks working class people can control their own credit, their own retirement funds, and find ways of using money as a means of undermining capitalist power and supporting social struggle and change. In this way working people are controlling more and more of the money supply and using it in ways that will stop capital from using it to oppress and exploit them.

An example of why this can be important can be seen from the existing workers’ pension fund system which is invested in the stock market in the hope that workers will receive an adequate pension in their old age. However, the only people actually winning are bankers and big companies. Unsurprisingly, the managers of these pension fund companies are investing in those firms with the highest returns, which are usually those who are downsizing or extracting most surplus value from their workforce (which in turn forces other companies to follow the same strategies to get access to the available funds in order to survive). Basically, if your money is used to downsize your fellow workers or increase the power of capital, then you are not only helping to make things harder for others like you, you are also helping making things worse for yourself. No person is an island, and increasing the clout of capital over the working class is going to affect you directly or indirectly. As such, the whole scheme is counter-productive as it effectively means workers have to experience insecurity, fear of downsizing and stagnating wages during their working lives in order to have slightly more money when they retire (assuming that they are fortunate enough to retire when the stock market is doing well rather than during one of its regular periods of financial instability, of course).

This highlights one of the tricks the capitalists are using against us, namely to get us to buy into the system through our fear of old age. Whether it is going into lifelong debt to buy a home or putting our money in the stock market, we are being encouraged to buy into the system which exploits us and so put its interests above our own. This makes us more easily controlled. We need to get away from living in fear and stop allowing ourselves to be deceived into behaving like “stakeholders” in a Plutocratic system where most shares really are held by an elite. As can be seen from the use of pension funds to buy out firms, increase the size of transnationals and downsize the workforce, such “stakeholding” amounts to sacrificing both the present and the future while others benefit.

The real enemies are not working people who take part in such pension schemes. It is the people in power, those who manage the pension schemes and companies, who are trying to squeeze every last penny out of working people to finance higher profits and stock prices — which the unemployment and impoverishment of workers on a world-wide scale aids. They control the governments of the world. They are making the “rules” of the current system. Hence the importance of limiting the money they have available, of creating community-based credit unions and mutual risk insurance co-operatives to increase our control over our money which can be used to empower ourselves, aid our struggles and create our own alternatives (see section B.3.2 for more anarchist views on mutual credit and its uses). Money, representing as it does the power of capital and the authority of the boss, is not “neutral” and control over it plays a role in the class struggle. We ignore such issues at our own peril.

[weatheryear]

Gamestonks

There is a huge gulf between how stocks work, and how stocks are supposed to work.

The way stocks are supposed to work is that a company wants money, and so sell tiny portions of the company. At the end of the year, any money that the company made (gross profit), over costs, (net profit), that they decide to not hold in a war chest or reinvest in the company is distributed as dividends, based off how much of the company you own, i.e. stocks.

So, you look at the company, and it produced x-dividends the last couple of years, and so you decide, say, to buy it for 5x earnings. So, on the sixth year, you make 20%, which then climbs by 20% every year. (percent of initial purchase). For pretty much everyone, that would be a great deal.

Too good.

Instead, corporations work of projections, lies, damned lies, and statistics. The stock market value ends up with little to no connection to actual earnings. It's all derivatives of estimations of projections of lies.

Alright, how the fuck are you supposed to make money off of this.

Well, for one thing, YOU are not supposed to make money. THEY are.

And the way to answer the question is through arbitrage. Commodity markets always fluctuate. You have quarterly earnings reports, international currency fluctuations, speculations, short sellings, etc.

You have have one person make a typo and sell 10x what he meant to sell, and this creates a panick that upsets the market index funds, and the market index fund creates more disruptions.

This causes the market price of a stock to increase and decrease, several times over the course of a single day. This leads to day trading, where you buy and sell the same commodity in a single trading day.

Some terms:

Arbitrage: Change in the price of a good, without any change to the good itself.

Commodity: Interchangeable products. Say you buy a 1oz gold coin, and sell it, and buy another 1oz gold coin of the same type, and it would have the same price. If you do it for stocks, it doesn't matter which set of stocks you have for a company, as they are all interchangeable.

Speculation: Literally guessing. If someone thinks a stock will increase in value, they will buy up a lot of that stock. If they are a big enough of a broker, this might be enough to actually change the marker price of the commodity. Effectively creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Panick: If the price of the commodity drops enough, it could make investors worried, which will cause them to sell the stock. This can lead to a cascade of selling, which lowers the price of the stock further, and further, and further.

Leverage: Take debt out on a product that you then invest. So named because it acts like a lever, applying a much larger effect to the initial product. You can stand to make AND lose a lot more money. You can leverage other debt products.

Short Sale: You borrow a commodity with a specific date of return. You sell the commodity. You then buy the commodity later and return it. If the commodity's price drops in the interim, then it's cheaper to buy the commodity later, and so you make money.

Short Squeeze: With a short sale, you are required to buy the product back. If you are required to buy enough of the product back you can cause a short-term increase the market price. The opposite of a panick occurs. Short sellers see the price increasing, and so buy the commodity they shorted now, rather than waiting, when it will be at a higher price.

Now onto Gamestonks. A group of redditors wanted to stick it to the rich hedge funds.

Now, because the government inflates your money away, you CANNOT save for retirements. As your money would lose so much value in that time you might die from the stress of it. You have to invest it in the stock market.

Gamestop is a terrible video game retailer. The only reason they survived as long as they did is because they bought out the competition.

Their stock was dropping. And when a stock drops, you get a lot of short sellers. And the Redditors were ready to strike.

There was a new app on the market, called Robinhood. The obvious implication is that you get to rob the rich. It allowed the average person to play the stock market without brokerage fees. They used this to collectively buy a lot of Gamestop stock. If you have a large buying spree, this increases the price of the commodity. This caused the price to increase by around 30x in a single month.

This caused a lot of financial damage to hedge funds, who complained, because only THEY are allowed to manipulate the stock market. Who do these plebs think they are?

Oh, Robinhood?

. . .

If you don't pay for the product, you ARE the product. The software turned out to have been built by people who built High Speed Trading infrastructure. Everyone thinks High Speed Trading is bad, but it's much worse than most people could imagine. See the Addendum for details. But, the point was basic to gather information from users.

Robinhood, being the Robin Hood they are, FORCED the sale of Gamestop stock. This pushed it back onto the market, and pushed it back onto it's downward spiral, to save the hedgefunds. Or their own liquidity, which means they were trading beyond their means, and decided to NOT meet this commitment.

Addendum: High Speed Trading

Stock trading happens on exchanges. You say put in a buy or sell order for a commodity on your exchange. If there is a compatible order on the exchange, the commodities are traded.

If there is not, the exchange sends the order to other exchanges.

High speed trading has a much faster hardline between exchanges. So, they see an order on an exchange. They see it not be fulfilled. They know it will be sent to other exchanges. They send their own orders to these exchanges, faster. They reach the new exchange first.

So, let's say Able puts a $15 buy order on an exchange for X.

Hilariously, I can just use X.

Anyways.

So, Able puts $15 buy order for say, 10,000 of Galen stock on X exchange. This will buy any stocks from Galen at $15 or less.

There are is one $10 sell order on the exchange, for 5,000 Galen stock. So, they exchange it for $10.

But, there are still 5,000 units missing.

So, X exchange sends out calls to Yankee and Zulu exchange with the orders.

The $15 buy order for 5,000 Galen stock hits Yankee exchange, a split second faster than Zulu.

Bravo High Speed traders have a faster hardline between X and Yankee. So, they send their own $15 buy order for 5,000 Galen stock to Yankee exchange, which arrives before Able's does. They find a Sell Order for $12 for 5,000 units. They buy these 5,000 units and then immediately create a sell order for $15. So, when Able's order gets there, he buys 5,000 units for $15 rather than $12.

P.S. One of the best part of this is that the financial analysts quickly learned the gamestonks lingo so they could properly advise on it.