alt Hacker NewsI read recently that companies are getting almost resentful that they have to go through yuo to get your money. I keep thinking about that because I think it's true.
I read some of comments here and on other threads about PE and I keep seeing some variation of "this particular PE crime is an outlier, we can fix it". No, no you can't. PE isn't an aberration. It's just the natural extension to capitalism. It's inevitable.
This can be understood easily in Marxist terms, as unpopular as that is. What we're talking about is the workers relationship to the means of production.
You have a nusing home. The people who work there should own it. There's no reason not to. Instead there's this intermediary, some capital owner, who demands to extract profits from that. We've simply replaced the feudal lords of old with investment bankers. It's the ultimate in rent-seeking behavior.
Years ago I remember hearing about PE firms buying up trailer parks. For many this is their last refuge from being homeless. When they are homeless, it's not only devastating to them but it's expensive for everyone. Health issues, going to the ER more often, violence, law enforcement making sure homeowners don't have to see homless encampments, people can't hold down drugs, self-medication with drugs and so on.
We absolutely shouldn't drive up the price of mobile home pricing so rent-seekers can extract profits but we as a society choose that over housing security for people. That's not just wrong. It's state-sanctioned violence.
This nursing home PE squeeze is also state-sanctioned violence. Make no mistake. Arguably, it's even social murder [1].
And once again, it's super easy to understand in terms of the workers relationship to the means of production. Yet everybody thinks they'll be Jeff Bezos one day so it's super-important now to vote in the interests of the billionaire class. Yo uwon't be. And even if you are, do you really want to become rich this way? Is that what you want your legacy to be? That you made the last years of elderly people who needed care miserable?
Why do people think this is good? Or fixable by the politicians who are bought and paid for by the people profiting off of this?